Victorian Superheroes?

[Benny]

I think for the purpose of balanced and fun game play maybe Empire of the dead would work best. If you want the one super powered hero you could take a gentleman's club group and go crazy with the steam punk devices. In my opinion you can use the steam punk device rules but sculpt the figure dfferently. Say the powered exo suit rule applied to a Ben Grim Thing figure to cover his super strength.

Maybe a Douglas Mawson style arctic explorer for Captain Cold?

A Ghost Rider riding a steam powered Penny Farthing with flaming wheels?

An gent in a diving suit with the heavy diving bell style helmet painted all black as Black Manta?

A clockwork Robot as Ultron 5?

[HerbyF]

The predeseser of the Ghostrider was a nother Ghostrider western gunslinger on a hell horse.

[hendybadger]

Reaper do a nice clockwork robot.

[smokezombie]

Aaarrrrr.... Must resist urge to buy new rule book ( EOTD)

[Benny]

I know the predecessor of the current Ghost Rider was on a horse, and that would be a cool mini as well. But i was thinking of more along the lines of a VSF, hence the steam powered penny farthing. But both would work.

Maybe a boxer rebellion type of Shang Chi? With the pony tail?


A Modok that looks a little more like Frankenstein? Different body parts stitched together to form a giant head and put into a life steam powered support system?

 
Professor X in one of those old wicker 3 wheeled wheel chairs with a knee rug on?

[axabrax]

Wow--that Spring-heeled Jack is BRILLIANT! 

I've done a Hyde (Malifaux Seamus Avatar) and a Spring-heeled Jack ( Converted Reaper mini)




 I am always on the look out for more VSF Superheroes. That Rhino mini is a must!!!

PM

[Hat Guy]

I had a big chat with Benny last night about the idea of Victorian Superheroes, we cam up with a few ideas that I thought I'd share.

1. Why Victorian Superheroes? If I want to do Superhero gaming, there is ample opportunity to do so in a 'regular' Gold/Silver/Iron/Modern Age setting without the challenges associated with converting one genre to another. If I want to include my favorite characters in games of EOTD or Gaslight, then I can understand working on the one or two characters that I would want. If one were to be VSF/Gothic Horror/Colonial focused in their gaming and wanting to break into superheroes without having to get whole new rule-sets and terrain, there I can see a motivation. Maybe, just maybe, some of us excited by this idea are just suffering the usual wargamer "IT'S SHINY AND I WANT IT!" syndrome, which I understand.

2. Given the above, if I were to game Victorian Superheroes, I'd want it to be different to the Supers I already have and play. (Again Gaslight and EOTD fodder) This inclines me to present supers in a way that differs from their normal state. I know we're all gushing over Victorian Batman, but in game terms, how is he any different to Contemporary Batman? If I have a game in which Batman is fighting Two-Face and thugs, set in Victorian London, it may as well be that they were sucked there in a time warp then be Victorian doppelgangers for all the difference it makes. 

To take a leaf out of the old TSR Marvel Superheroes RPG, supers can be divided into several broad categories:

Altered Human: (Spiderman, Captain America, Fantastic Four) A normal human who, though misadventure or experimentation has become something more than human.

Robot: (Rom, Ultron) A Robot, but can also be any kind of automaton or even artificial intelligence.

Mutant: (X-men) Born "Different" with powers inbuilt.

Magic: (Doctor Strange, Zatana) Human who learned to wield arcane forces.

Skilled Human: (Punisher, Batman) Human who trained to battle crime.

Alien: (Thor, Martian Manhunter) A creature with innate abilities born of its' race.

Tech: (Green Lantern, Iron Man) A human who uses technology to expand their abilities.

Now, as cool as it is to have Mutants, Magic users and Skill monkeys tearing it up in London in the 1880s, none of them are really going to change beyond the cosmetic, Batman will always strike from the shadows, Jean Grey will always be psychic and Doctor Strange will always be Sorcerer Supreme. That said, Tech, Alien and some Altered Humans give us a great deal of opportunity to do something different and with a true VSF/GH/19thC flavor to it.

For me, some great examples are the Marvel 2099/Noir series. Both of these present Marvel heroes in a different space of time. One of the best things about them is that they're willing to change everything. In neither is Spiderman Peter Parker, or even a teenager, even his powers are completely different. I think we can take this idea and do something more interesting than Batman with a lantern and rope. Take a look at a few of my ideas:

Martian Manhunter is a Thark who was transported to Earth in the same manner as John Carter was to Mars. He was a leader and lawmaker of his people and seeing the chaos of Earthmen, he decided to help them find their way to true justice.

Black Manta is a Colonial rebel seeking to make a new undersea nation for his people, free of the great powers. He uses his electrically-powered submersibles to wage war on his enemies.

Ringmaster is the head of an organised crime syndicate that his disguises as a circus. He is a master of misdirection and oration, he really knows how to "work" a crowd.

Ant Man is a sideshow worker who has an affinity for training insects. After discovering the Ringmaster's true nature, he vowed to use his arthropod friends to help right the Ringmaster's wrongs. 

[Benny]

I also have been thinking. What about Manbat with links to the Island of Dr Moreau? A former colleague that was altered by the experiments or maybe just a bat that ended up on the operating table?

Solomon Grundy is Frankenstein, Essentially they operate the same in terms of abilities and powers, so all you need to do is combine both back stories into the one and your good to go.

That being said i would love to see some weird VSF or steampunk gadgets and twists on the more mechanical heroes and villains.

[axabrax]

I like the idea of reinventing the heroes somewhat. No reason to just plop them down with a new costume. There's an an artist on deviant art who's done a Rockabilly alternate Batman universe where all the characters have different backgrounds. For instance, Bruce Wayne isn't a billionaire but rather owns a garage and works on drag racers.  So maybe Victorian Batman could be a tinkering scientist, a stage magician, or an escape artist a la Houdini? Certainly most of the villains could be from a freak show!  Food for thought...

[Malamute]

Westwind have just added a Victorian super hero type to the EOTD Kickstarter as per recent request for a Victorian Batman.

Scroll down the link and below and you can see him at the £62,000 pledge level.He is wearing a pair of mechanical bat wings and is wielding two pistols.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/832150598/empire-of-the-dead-requiem-0?ref=live

[Van-Helsing]

Don't forget the Steam Knight!!!!

[thebinmann]

Have you seen these:

[Van-Helsing]

Thats what we were talking about 

[Benny]

Sorry if this is the wrong thread to ask the question but i cant find an answer anywhere else and this seems as involved with Empire of the Dead as any other.
Is the kick starter of empire of the dead reprinting the rulebook with new stuff added or is it the same rulebook? I am going to order the rulebook, just wondering if i order it now or wait for the kickstarter.

[Malamute]

Bendy,

The original rule book is not being reprinted. There is a PDF of the rules coming out after the has finished  with all the new factions in.