Earth-641: Superman Timelines

I've found two alternate timelines online that combine the DC & Marvel universe, and I'm reading through both of them to get a feel for what is involved in this effort, and how I can get away with the least amount of work.

Here's an edited version that I've found on the HERO message boards (by Shaft) with the elements covering Superman's part in the universe:

• 1912 - Brainiac realises that Galactus will destroy Krypton- he begins collecting the planet's accumulated knowledge to ensure its (his) survival.
• 1914 - Galactus destroys Krypton. Kal-El is sent to Earth in a rocket ship. Brainiac escapes the exploding planet with the collected data.
• 1920 - Kal-El found by Martha and Johnathan Kent
• 1929 - Every once in a while, Superboy is spotted in Smallville, KS.
• 1938 - Superman makes his first appearance in Metropolis.
• 1942 The Invaders and the All-Star Squadron are formed by the numerous superheroes that join the war effort.
• 1946 - Superman reveals his identity to Lois Lane. They marry, but are unable to have children.
• 1953 - The JSA's actions in the Korean War help bring about an armistice.
• 1960 - The Silver Age heroes shy away from joining the JSA, which is perceived as an war veterans superclub. As the JSA members start retiring, Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl II and Aquaman team up to fend off an alien invasion and decide to stick together as the Justice League. Aquaman declines the invitation, and Batman opts to only work part time (though he provdies funding) but the rest of the team stick together. Some of the JSAers who are still fit for battle come aboard too.
• 1963 - An assassination on President Kennedy by Doomsday is foiled by Superman, but the world is shocked as Doomsday beats the Man of Steel to death on live television after a battle that rages halfway across the US. Despite Superman's return a few months later, decades later people still remember where they were when they heard that Superman was dead.
• 1972 - Lois Lane dies. With his parents dead many years earlier, Superman retires his Clark Kent identity and works as Superman full time - beginning the disconnect he will start to feel with mere mortals.
• 1996 - Magog kills the Joker after he wipes out the staff of the Daily Planet. Superman brings in Magog for murder, but Magog is acquitted. Superman goes into seclusion.
• 2001 - Magog leads a team of super powered vigilantes to bring in the Absorbing Man, who uses Parasite's powers to augment his own and mimic the traits of a nuclear reactor before setting his sights on Captain Atom. He loses control of his power and explodes in a nuclear blaze, destroying a large part of Kansas. Outrage results in the passing of a superhuman registration act. Steve Rogers is arrested when he refuses to bring in heroes that choose not to register. His imprisonment is viewed as unlawful and inspires a large number of heroes to stay underground. These underground heroes, the "Outsiders", are led by the Batman (who immerses himself into the role full time after his identity becomes exposed) & Luke Cage. The Justice League struggles as many of their members side with Batman. The Avengers are less torn since they've always been government agents since day one. Wonder Woman pulls Superman out of retirement to rally the pro-registration side, which Superman leads, with a heavy heart.
• 2001 - A Superhuman prison is built in Kansas to contain the villains and unregistered vigilantes. Batman gets a team into the facility where Steve Rogers is being held to rescue him, but Rogers chooses to stay in prison and fight the system from within.
• 2001 - As the nation is distracted by the Superhuman Civil War, 15 jets are hijacked for use as weapons by suicide bombers working with supervillains, including three military planes carrying nuclear weapons. 12 of them are stopped (the nukes are stopped by Superman who ends up comatose after the ordeal).
• 2001 - In the aftermath, the heroes realize that they still have to band together. Officially, registration remains, but failure to register is a misdemeanor until compounded with a violent crime, so the pursuit of unregistered heroes is low on the priority scale. Steve Rogers is released from prison, but quickly realizes that he can be more effective on the political stage than as a costumed crimefighter.
• 2002 - Wonder Woman gives birth to Superman's child.
• 2004 - Red Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Changeling and Nightwing II are the mentors to the third generation of Titans: Superboy II, Wondergirl II, Impulse, and Nightstar (Dick Grayson & Starfire's daughter).

Initial reactions to this are:

• the strong influence of the now-classic Elseworlds-or-is-it storyline Kingdom Come. It was much like the Civil War storyline that later came out in Marvel, except for the fact that humans became another side in the war between two sides of the superhuman world;
• the questions raised about Krypton and the many other alien races out there in the DC and Marvel Universes -- the Kree inclusion is an interesting one;
• the impact that having Superman (and the other heroes) would have on historical events is significant, and successes or failures in stopping things like assassinations and wars and terrorist attacks would likewise impact the character itself.
• interactions between Superman and Captain America, as the classic flag-waving characters of either universe, would be particularly fiery during the Superhuman Civil War.

The next timeline comes from www.writeups.org, with a slightly different take on things:

1918

    The planet Krypton explodes, killing most of the inhabitants. Scientist Jor-El manages to save his infant son Kal-El by sending him in a rocket to Earth. Two cities, protected by atmospheric domes, survive: Argo City, a peaceful scientific colony; and Kree-Lar, a military outpost. The two clash over the division of resources, and a long civil war begins.

1938

    Kal-El, a.k.a. Superman I, makes his public debut.

1940

    The Kree discover Kal-El's presence on Earth, and send a scout ship to capture him. But a malfunction in the ship causes it to explode in Earth's upper atmosphere. Two escape pods survive the destruction and land at different locations. A mortally wounded Mar-Vell lands near Fawcett City and staggers into an abandoned subway tunnel. There he meets the ancient Egyptian wizard, Shazam, who saves Mar-Vell's life by placing him in stasis in the other-dimensional Negative Zone. Shazam then gives a pair of mystical bracelets to a young orphan named Billy Batson. The bracelets allow Billy to trade places with Mar-Vell for a few hours at a time. Americanizing his name to Captain Marvel I, the Kree warrior becomes a powerful force for good on his adopted planet. Yon-Rogg, meanwhile, lands in Germany, where he forges an alliance with Adolph Hitler and takes on the new name of Captain Nazi.

1941

    In the wake of Pearl Harbor, the Justice Society attempts to invade Japan. Unfortunately, a young prodigy named Victor Von Doom uses a mind-control device to prevent the most powerful members from entering the Axis territories.

1942

    With the JSA unable to enter the war effort, British Prime Minister Winston Chruchill suggests forming a second team to fight in Europe. Captain America I, Bucky I, Human Torch I, Toro, and Sub-Mariner answer the call as The Invaders. Later in the war they are joined by such stalwarts as Black Condor, Doll Man, the Human Bomb, the Ray, and Phantom Lady.

1945

    Superman I and Lois Lane are wed, and their son Superboy is born nine months later.

1951

    In response to accusations from Senator Joseph McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee, the Justice Society disbands. The chief witness against them is Captain America III, a man recruited by the government to assume the role.

1958

    Superboy travels to the 30th century to join the Legion of Super-Heroes. Though he spends several years there, he returns only a few moments after he left. Now an adult, he adopts the name Superman II.

1959

    The Kree attack and destroy Argo City. The only survivor is Kara Zor-El, who escapes to Earth and meets her cousins, Superman I and Superman II. Inspired by them, she takes on the identity of Supergirl. Superman I arranges for Kara to be adopted by his friends Fred and Mary Danvers, and she becomes "big sister" to their young daughter Carol.

1960
    Superman II, Batman II, Flash II, Wonder Woman I, Green Lantern II, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter gather together to form The Justice League of America.

1963

    While suffering from amnesia, Superman II meets and falls in love with Sally Selwyn. When his memory returns, he reveals his true identity to her, and the two are wed. Before long, they have a son, Clark Kent III.

1966

    Galactus makes his first attempt to consume the Earth. He is thwarted by the Fantastic Four and his own rebellious herald, the Silver Surfer, who is exiled to Earth as a result.

1971

    Darkseid, evil lord of Apokalips, takes an active interest in Earth. His schemes are opposed by the heroes of New Genesis: Mr. Miracle, the New Gods, and the Forever People, as well as Jimmy Olsen Jr. and his allies The Teen Brigade.

1973

    Against their fathers' wishes, grade-schoolers Clark Kent III and Bruce Grayson take on the identities of Superman Jr. and Batman Jr., respectively.

1976

    Superman II's daughter Kara, a.k.a. Power Girl, makes her superhero debut.

1985

    A mysterious being called The Monitor from Beyond gathers the villains of Earth into a massive army to conquer the universe. In return, he grantsthem increased power and renewed youth. Earth's heroes attack and eventually defeat this army, and many of the older heroes sacrifice their lives in order to destroy The Monitor.

Initial reactions to this are the much more generational approach to the Super-Family. There is a stronger presence of the tension between the Kree & Kryptonians; there's also a mention of Galactus, who is never identified as a possible cause for the destruction of Krypton either (an idea I've heard before, and I think actually saw in a comic book once).

After reviewing this, my approach would consist of the following guidelines:

1. review the published cross-overs to see what they have to say about things;
2. review the alternate timelines and Earths to see what they have to say about things;
3. follow the generational approach as a primary philosophy -- to give the Supermen and Superwomen of the different eras a chance to shine and to retire (or go out in a blaze of glory);
4. establish their role in key comics events like the Kingdom Come / Civil War saga, the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the coming of Galactus, the Kree-Skrull War, and so on.
5. establish the ongoing role in the current gaming universe: perhaps one where the Super-Family isn't quite so dominant that they can swoop in to save the day when the PCs are in a jam.
6. Figure out what effect natural friends and rivals might have on the history. Case in point: Kingdom Come / Civil War -- what would Batman or Captain America or Shazam or Captain Mar-vell or Wonder Woman do?

Piecemeal System Reviews: Saving Throws in D&D and related systems

First Encounters

To be honest, I didn't hate saving throws at first. D&D was the only RPG I'd ever played, so I figured that saving throws were how you handled certain things.

Sadly, it was the vagueness of what those "certain things" were what initially gave me trouble. Unless it was explicitly stated in the rulebook, I didn't call for saving throws. And because of that it was hard for me to judge when -- in an adventured I'd created -- something would get a saving throw unless such a thing was stated in the monster description, or spell description, or magic item description.

I was very young back then, didn't really get the idea of 'guidelines' as opposed to 'rules', and even when that was brought up, didn't know when you could 'guidelines' something or stick to the rules because the other folks I played with would then attack with very rudimentary rules lawyering arguments.

Failed Save = Death

Eventually, a growing dissonance between the hit point mechanic and the saving throw mechanic emerged in my mind. It was too easy to die by failing a saving throw in comparison to melee combat.

You had two chances to avoid certain death: (1) a botched attack roll; or (2) a low enough damage roll, as opposed to the classic "save vs. poison or die" scenario, where a single die roll decided everything.

It was because of this, and the fact that I didn't really understand when a given saving throw would be applicable ("don't I get a saving throw vs. death every time I'm about to die?" "do I save vs. wands or save vs. magic in this instance?") I eventually began playing to avoid any situations where a saving throw might be needed - but still held the mechanic in contempt.

Departure and Return

Saving throws become a non-issue when I eventually left the system and began my march through many different RPG systems, some of which stayed with me (HERO), some of which I never wrapped my mind around (Cyborg Commando).

Then 3rd Edition happened, and there were only three saving throws -- Fortitude, Reflexes, and Willpower -- which didn't matter so much to me as a simplification, but as a revelation. I finally realized the whole character class + racial bonus/penalty = your chance to avoid something nasty. After that, I had little issue with saving throws as a mechanic.

Expanding on the Saving Throw (M&M, True20, C&C)

I've actually been interested in some of the variants on the saving throw rule since. In particular, I like Mutants & Masterminds / True20 and the way that the extended the saving throw rule to handle damage and eliminate hit points. I also like the way Castles & Crusades extended the number of classic saving throws to six so that there could be a correlation with each stat.

I wonder what other uses this old mechanic has in store in the future?

Some Games I'd Run

Following up my last post, here's a list of some of the games I'd be interested in running:

Fading Suns

No surprise there, I've posted a lot on the attraction of this kitchen sink setting.

It also allows me a fair amount of latitude in terms of the types of game sessions I can run, and gives me any number of excuses to take away high technology away from the players when I need to have the isolated, out of touch, and without any wonderful tech devices.

It also grants some rationale for a Science Fantasy campaign where swords and guns can be used.

D&D (of some kind)

Whether it's Labyrinth Lord (or one of the retro-clones), D&D 3E or one of the D20 spin-offs (like True20), or one of the neoclones like Castles & Crusades, I'd be up for running a short campaign of around 3 months or so.

It'd be one part exploration of dungeons, one part exploration of the world, and one part killing monsters. I wouldn't really take it too much in the direction of a city-based adventure, as my knowledge of medieval technology and life is somewhat challenged; I would do what I feel D&D excels at: helping players -- through their PCs -- explore the unknown, kill the nasty monsters that inhabit it, and claim the best of that dark wilderness (below or above ground) for their own.

Star Hero

I've not mentioned this at all, but I'm quite fond of Star Hero. I'd probably run a military-based campaign rather than a trader-oriented one. Missions, politics, espionage, and a heavy amount of combat. It's the kind of thing that I feel the Hero System excels in -- a set of flexible tactical options that can handle a wide variety of special effects.

Like the campaign that inspired it, I'd have players make two characters -- one for the ground forces and one for the space-based battles -- and let the discoveries and progress of the campaign unfold from those two vantage points.

For ship-to-ship combat, I might use the rules for Starmada: Admiralty Edition.

Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition / DC Adventures

Yeah, I know I'm expected to say Champions given my history with the Hero System. But the sad fact is that there aren't that many players who are willing to tinker with the system themselves and build new characters. Hence the Mutants & Masterminds ruleset which is similar enough to the rulesets most of them know (D20) and a lot of templated archetypes to get started quickly.

If there were some like-minded Hero players, I'd run Champions though.

Or give alternative supers rule systems like Icons or G-Core a try. I think BASH! is another system I'd take a look at, although the classics like Mayfair's DC Heroes and the TSR Marvel Super-Heroes RPG would also spark my interest.

On the Radar: DC Adventures -- Heroes and Villains Vol. I

Interestingly, at around the time that we expect to see the Flashpoint versions of reality along with the new batch of #1s from DC Comics coming out, we see a new DC Adventures book come from Green Ronin.

Those of you following at home may remember Green Ronin's approach to this particular property was to build 'iconic' versions of the heroes and villains, while steering clear of any very specific backstory (i.e. ridiculously convoluted continuity). With the recent revelations from DC Comics themselves, one wonders if they were given some prior knowledge of the move, or if they just hit upon a sound decision by coincidence.

I, of course, love the DC and Marvel Universes. Not sure if I'll drop money on this one, but Green Ronin has been coming up with quality stuff for DC so color me interested. Also, the blurb says that you'd be getting characters A through K, so don't look for Wonder Woman or Zatanna in this volume.

Green Ronin Games: A Word from the Boss

The big boss at Green Ronin Games (Chris Pramas) has posted what 2011 will look like on their blog.

Want a quick summary?

Mutants & Masterminds
They're going to release a new city for the official setting of M&M 3rd Edition: Emerald City. This is going to be a West Coast fictional city that is going to be slowly revealed in the following manner:

1. Threat Reports -- an ongoing PDF series that introduces various antagonists from the city (already available in RPGNow);
2. Heroes Journey: Emerald Knights -- a six-part PDF series meant to introduce players to the city, which will start some time in Feb 2011;
3. The Emerald City Sourcebook -- which you're going to have to wait for GenCon to see.

In other M&M 3rd Edition news, they're coming out with two GM-related books -- the GM's Guide (which seems to be more genre and source material-oriented) and the GM's Kit (which includes useful tools like a GM's screen and a quick, balanced, random (!) character creation system).

DC Adventures
Closely related to M&M 3rd Edition, the remainder of the three book RPG deal with DC Comics should be fulfilled this year. Expect two villains-oriented books and one book about the DC Universe.

Awesome.

Dragon Age
A game I largely ignored as an MMORPG-tie in property suddenly leaped to the forefront of my gaming awareness when I found out that a fan-made PDF for Mystara using Dragon Age rules exists. I downloaded the sucker and it is a gorgeously laid out PDF 110-pager.

So I guess I'll be looking for Dragon Age Set 1 (levels 1-5), Set 2 (levels 6-10) and Set 3 (levels 11-20) as they come out this year. Well, Set 1 is already out, but I don't have it yet.

Freeport
I was a fan of their Freeport stuff back in the D&D 3E era. Never got to run it, but they sure look nice and read nicer. They're not doing much for it now, but apparently they're watching sales of their Freeport Companion for Pathfinder to see if they'll come out with more for that system. I wonder if I should pick up the Castles and Crusades version to vote with my wallet for that one?

Dang, they gots several flavors of that book for different systems!

I've got to save up
Damn you Green Ronin for making me want to spend so early in the year!