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Vagrant

Vagrant


Posts : 107
Join date : 2010-05-19

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PostSubject: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyThu Jul 28, 2011 11:37 am

So a while ago I started work on a "universe" for my altered PD and OS characters to play around in, never got too far but I do have all sorts of notes and bits and pieces. Not a story per se, but closer to a story than a comic, for sure. Below is the introductory teaser thread I used to introduce the concept of the universe at a universe-building forum I used to frequent. Just thought I'd post it here, may post up my background notes as well sometime, or even start work on PDU again, if I get the feel for it back.

After reading this, please note that my revamped Black Terror is a key player in this setting. My Open Source characters will be in this universe as well, including of course Fantastic Jack!

The Chicago Star, 12 February 1938 wrote:
COSTUMED CLOCK CATCHES CRIMINAL COUNTERFEITING CARTEL COLD

… the illegal operation was completely shut down upon the apprehending of the criminals involved… suspected to have connections with the Chicago mafia… officers discovered the trademark business card at the scene of the crime reading “The Clock has struck”… fifth arrest by the Clock in a fortnight… eyewitness sightings of the Clock describe him as “impeccably well dressed” and “covering his face with a black veil”… admiration for this “costumed hero” appears to be skyrocketing…

The world is Powered Damnation. This is a world of superheroes and supervillains, a throwback to the Golden Age of Comics.

The Morning Sun, 18 September 1939 wrote:
UNION-SUITS SLIP SOVIET SOLDIERS STRAIGHT INTO POLAND

… led by a pair of brave union-suits into battle… bright costumes and superior combat skills managed to overwhelm the Polish soldiers... no significant losses to the Soviet forces… “simply extraordinary fighters, I’ve never seen anything like it” enthused one young soldier…

The concept is simple. Utilise public domain characters and settings to build myself a new universe to play in.

The Daily Blade, 27 November 1939 wrote:
COUNT ONE COSTUMED CASUALTY – FIRST FRUITY FIGHTER FALLS

… gunned down by the heartless enemy soldiers… his proudly patriotic jacksuit torn to pieces... not the last to fall” warned our war commentator… proof that the two-fisted adventurer is not going to tip the scales of a battle just by being there… flesh and blood, these are normal men serving their nation, and dying for their nation…

Some of the public domain characters will be used as they already are, following their comic biographies, and beyond, into their old age. Some of them will be reinvented from the ground up using their original characters as a canvas of inspiration.

The Chicago Star, 8 April 1941 wrote:
CLOCK CAUGHT, KILLED BY CRIMINAL CARTEL – CORPSE CASTRATED IN COMMUNITY COURTYARD

… brutal discovery in the early hours of the morning… the costumed corpse was identified as none other than Brian O’Brien, well known district attorney... “absolutely mutilated, I’ve seen Mafia killings before, but this is at a whole new level”… earned the enmity of the organized crime syndicates by capturing many of their associates and putting a halt to many highly lucrative operations… Chicago in mourning for the masked hero, now being labeled as the “masked martyr of justice” and the “father of costume vigilantism”… brings into question whether conventional law enforcement is sufficient… “I believe this tragedy will only cause the public to side more strongly with those who risk their lives to stop these criminals. Public reception to costumed heroes has been lukewarm at best, but now”…

Aside from the public domain characters, faithful or reinvented, expect to see a host of new characters I'm turning into Open Source products, most of them extracted straight from my character contributions to the Omniverse Comix universe.

The Evening News, 11 August 1945 wrote:
JAPAN REFUSES TO SURRENDER – ATOM BOMBS WON’T STOP US, EMPEROR DECLARES

The project is part-way fueled by my love of old classics, part-way by my love of reinvention but mostly just fueled by me liking to write about fantastical comic stories in a completely unrestricted setting.

The Daily Blade, 7 January 1946 wrote:
BEYONDER PRESENCE ON WESTERN FRONT INCREASED

… this latest era of the war… the increasing numbers of beyonder soldiers on all sides of the conflict… seeing constant improvements in battlefield technology, from dissolvorays to imperbestos shields… Allied beyonders mysteriously disappearing at an alarming rate on the battlefield...

Another issue is simply the restrictions placed on me by the collaborative canon nature of Comix. Not having complete freedom to do anything with the universe is a factor, I admit, when I come up with stories and ideas I want to be able to follow them fully rather than being hamstrung. When I find ideas that do work without conflicting canon or being too unpalatable to other contributors, I'll throw them into Comix. Otherwise, it's over to Powered Damnation.

The Atom, 13 November 1952 wrote:
ATOM CITY OFFICIALLY OPENED, RIBBON CUT BY ATOMIC HERO, AMERICAN CRUSADER

… this new post-war era… economic prosperity for individuals, though the overall economic situation for the country is poor after the drawn out war… capturing the destructive power of the atom for the benefit of the nation… cutting-edge city of scientific advancement and research…

Really, one of the things I most enjoy about the concept of Powered Damnation is the angle of reinvention. As some of you may know, I love game remakes, movie remakes, cover songs, anything that takes something and puts a new twist on it. This is the appeal of Powered Damnation to me, reinvention of existing characters. Which is not to say there won't be any new characters.

The Star, 15 June 1956 wrote:
AMERICAN DEFENDERS SOCIETY SPLITS OVER MCCARTHYISM ACCUSATIONS

… this nation’s most iconic team of overmen … contentions over recent calls by Senator McCarthy for all costumed heroes to unmask themselves... “those who refuse to unmask must have something to hide”… esteemed scientist and overman Doc Strange yesterday called Senator McCarthy’s challenge to unmask or be seen as Communist to be “against the very idea of privacy, and patently absurd at that”… the last great collection of overmen from the war period, as many heroes have simply hung up their masks in response to the public’s growing dissatisfaction with hidden heroes…

The feel of Powered Damnation is not quite pinned down and for now is smoewhat schizophrenic, based on the time period I'm writing about and the perspective. For instance, sometimes you may get a complete Golden-Age look at something, with simple heroes doing their thing, big cheeseballs giving kids lessons for life, unbounded optimism, disconcern for continuity or explanation in favour of fun, and the like. Other times you'll have war-rationing, economic depression, atomic angst, Cold War politics, whatever. And then there are the occasions I just throw in whatever is cool to me.

The Sydney Times, 12 May 1957 wrote:
ATOMIC BOMBS EXPLODE OVER EUROPE, SUPERVILLAIN CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY

… unchallenged by heroes, Doctor Death detonated the bombs over major European locations… no reason behind the act, no ransom demands or negotiations with the government… senseless destruction and murder of hundreds of thousands, if not millions… fallout expected to irradiate most of Europe… evacuations proceeding, but at an alarmingly slow rate…

At first it's likely that this universe will expand in much the same way as Comix (if indeed it expands at all), with bios and factoids and similar, and not all that much in the way of stories or "in-universe" material.

The Metropolitan Times, 1 April 1965 wrote:
NO JOKE, AMERICA COMMITS TO WAR IN SOUTH VIETNAM – MUST STOP SENG’S MADNESS, PRESIDENT DECLARES

… the Mongol Emperor, Seng I, has invaded South Vietnam in an attempt to expand his territory… the exhausted nature of the other two superpowers after World War II means that Seng’s China may pose a grave threat... condemns claims that this new conflict “could escalate into World War III”, stating that this does nothing by incite hysteria and paranoia…

However, I will be trying to turn my focus more to one-shot fiction pieces, rather than the ridiculously drawn out and thus never-completed works I usually conceive of. More in the vein of Golden Age comics, I want to aim for concise, enjoyable, playing hard and loose with my own established canon.

World Tribune, 3 March 1979 wrote:
NUCLEAR BOMBARDMENT WIPES OUT AMERICAN EAST COAST, ALLIES SURE TO SURRENDER

… the long war of attrition will surely end resoundingly after Emperor Seng’s Mongol Empire successfully performed a bombardment of nuclear weaponry against the American Eastern Seaboard… American Crusader was able to protect Washington DC, but he lamented afterwards ... “even a superhuman is still just one human, I couldn’t be everywhere at once”… New York completely destroyed, along with… Seng has demanded unconditional surrender, and we are in no fit state to refuse his demands… global dictatorship will be formed when Emperor Seng cements the United States as his new seat of power…

Any questions, feel free to raise them. I'm throw a few more bits and pieces up in this thread as I go, since I have a lot more jotted down than just what's here, but for now... this is Powered Damnation.

The Moscow Bugle, 5 March 1979 wrote:
ABANDONED

… Black Terror has declared his intent to leave humanity to its own devices to sail the unknown seas… declared the last 65 years to be “the worst of humanity, worse than I ever imagined, I can’t stand it any longer”... was hoped that the renowned anti-authoritarian figure would lead resistance against Seng’s plan for a world empire… Flash Furnace, the Atomic Superman and symbol of hope, optimism and the good future, as well as the mayor of Atom City... disappeared after being seen attempting to intercept and stop nuclear bombs during the recent bombing... has not been seen or heard from since... possibly killed in the bombardment, vapourised by atomic forces greater even than his... American Crusader, the nation’s icon, has vanished… letter left at his home stated that “I have become disillusioned with the American way, and the ideals we hold”… “this charade of world leadership by a nation too exhausted to stand on its own two feet, this nation that I and other equally exhausted individuals must support on our backs”… “do not blame myself for not being able to stop more of the bombs, this was an act of humanity’s evil nature and I cannot stand by and support Seng’s empire”… “so tired of the fighting”… the greatest of heroes have left us to our own devices, what hope does the world have against the might of Emperor Seng’s Mongol empire?
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GoldenBard

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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyThu Jul 28, 2011 12:11 pm

VERY interesting, Vagrant. Sounds like a bit of a cross between Project: Superpowers and Malibu's Protectors, with a little bit of the dystopian vibe from Alan Moore's Miracle Man coming in later. Did you ever do anything more with this?

And, BTW, what is this "Omniverse Comix universe" of which you speak?
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Vagrant

Vagrant


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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyThu Jul 28, 2011 12:34 pm

Comix was a collaborative universe by a band of writers and universe-creators who wanted to make a fun pastiche of real comic universes, like Marvel or DC. Anyone was able to contribute to the canon of the universe, whether through stories or bios or other bits and pieces. All of my open-source characters originated from there, and have since been modified to be stripped of any reference to the creations of other people within Comix, to make sure they're entirely my creations.

Comix can be found here and is still technically active, people contribute from time to time. It's a highly developed universe, actually.

I'll probably post up my production notes in here once I get my computer set up again, it has a far more detailed timeline than this "newspaper timeline teaser", as well as rundowns of a lot of characters and how they fit into the setting.

I also want to get it restarted and writing bits and pieces for it more regularly, I'm just stuck on some of the atmospheric details and things like that. As I said, the universe feels very schizophrenic to me at the moment. I want some classic hammy Golden Age tales and heroes, but at the same time with all of this background going on it's hard to do that without slipping into a more realistic and cynical mode of writing/constructing.
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Transmooky

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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyThu Jul 28, 2011 3:24 pm

There are some great characters and scenarios coming out of these boards.

I've read two in as many days with Bard's, Metaman and Vagrant's little world. I'm positive that we can produce some entertaining stuff if we all contribute accordingly.

Nice work guys!
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http://scottclaringbold.com
Vagrant

Vagrant


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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyThu Jul 28, 2011 3:52 pm

Probably something worth noting is that whilst the PDU is going to be made up of Public Domain and Open Source characters, the standard laws still apply, in that my versions of the PD characters are copyrighted to me, as are my versions of the Open Source characters, even if they started out as my Open Source characters originally. If a character from PDU is going to be Open Source it will end up as a profile posted in the Open Source Characters forum, not here. I felt it necessary to mention because the below character is derived from Black Terror, but is definitely neither OS nor PD in this incarnation.

I chose this bio to post because it gives a bit of a "bigger taste" of the PDU world as a whole.

Also worth noting is this guy's birthday, and his current age, as from that you can tell what year the "current" setting of PDU is. As much as current means anything in a setting where I'll be writing bits and pieces from all sorts of time frames and will probably involve time travel shenanigans, at least Razz

Quote :
EL TERROR NEGRO

Alias: Porfiro Juarez Rivera

Occupation: Geneticist, bio-chemical engineer, crime fighter

Group Affiliation: The Terror Underground

Base of Operation: Mexico City

Birthdate: 2 May 1949 (age 37)

Origin: Porfiro Rivera was born in Mexico City, to a pair of hard-working and reasonably well-off parents, his father owning a small pharmacy that both he and Porfiro’s mother worked at. Though the pharmacy made a reasonable business, the outer regions of Mexico City were the territory of the gangs and the organized crime syndicates, and protection rackets were common enough that the Riveras were left with much less than they earned. Porfiro was a very intelligent child, and his parents put him through the best schooling that they could afford, hoping he would one day make a name for himself as an eminent scientist, as so many scientists were doing during the post-war boom period. Porfiro grew up in the time between wars, the tense moments of silence and psychological battle between the three great superpowers of the world, And during this time he grew to admire the many superheroes who defended their nations, their virtues and their concepts of justice. Amongst all the heroes that Porfiro grew up admiring, none drew his attention so much as the Black Terror, the dark pirate lord of the ocean. With strong personal morals, an outfit and persona that was undeniably attractive to a young boy and an anti-authoritarian bent that appealed to Porfiro, the Black Terror was far and away his idol and role-model.

Porfiro performed at the highest level academically, graduating his schools at the top of the class, determined and enthusiastic to learn, and ended up boarding at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, studying pharmacy like his father. Obtaining his pharmaceutical degree through an accelerated course, Porfiro then went on to study genetics and bio-chemistry, exciting new areas of study that he could be at the cutting edge of discovery with. He completed his degrees in genetics and bio-chemistry, and moved on to become a research scientist, working on medical solutions to long-standing problems. He was successful, wealthy and enjoying his life, when disaster struck one day during a return visit to his parents for the holidays. He was shocked to find that his parents were in a far worse financial position than they had been letting on in their letters and phone calls to him, the whole neighbourhood having noticeably changed in the six or seven years since he’d last been home. The neighbourhood was little better than a slum now, in the grip of the organized crime families and avoided by both the more affluent of society, the corrupt police, and the bureaucratically-mired government. During his stay with his parents, Porfiro had the misfortune to experience one of the monthly shake-downs of the pharmacy by goons for protection money. Whilst his academic knowledge was far greater than most people could ever hope, he was still a naïve young man with a childhood of superhero idols, and so he foolishly decided to try to intervene in the shakedown against his parents’ wishes, the end result being a brutal beating from the goons that left him hospitalized and comatose, with a broken back and complete lower body paralysis as reward for his actions.

When Porfiro awoke from his coma to find his life in ruins, he struggled to cope for a time, but found solace in his work, his research revolving around animal genomes and potential applications of the knowledge towards enhancing humanity, his own way of serving heroically like his childhood role-models. Soon enough, Porfiro turned towards animal genomes as potentially holding the key to repairing his body of the paralysis that plagued him, becoming fixated on the idea. He began to spend all his time researching and developing new treatment, becoming ever more depressed as each treatment failed. However, though depression began to consume him, the hope and determination he had held as a child continued to fuel him, and he began to make breakthroughs on a treatment that was derived from the genome of ants. His research, which had just begun to show promising breakthroughs, came to a grinding halt in 1979 as his life, and the lives of countless others, was changed irrevocably by the Mongol victory in World War III and the subsequent global dictatorship that settled across the world. Compounding on this was the departure of the Black Terror from the world as he set off to sail the misty and uncharted seas, disgusted by the overwhelming cruelty, suffering and inhumanity of the modern world. Like so many others, Porfiro keenly felt the loss of perhaps the world’s greatest hero, the beacon of hope whom so many assumed would lead a one-man war against the dictatorship of the Mongols, and he slipped further into his depression, his work now seeming to be hollow and pointless. The government began to place heavy restrictions on such research, and Porfiro was let go, his research halted and destroyed, except for what he took with him. Nonetheless, he kept working at it, if only to keep alive the barest thread of hope his life had become as the crime syndicates expanded under the absentee government that now operated in Mexico.

It was within a year of the Black Terror vanishing that the hollow and pointless work transformed, as Porfiro made a vital breakthrough with the ant research. By treating himself with a series of injections that altered his organic chemistry at a genetic level, Porfiro found that his body was beginning to reconfigure his musculature and construct a redundant nervous system, and he believed that when it was complete he would be able to work once more as the damage to his spinal column was bypassed. He waited, and the changes occurred, and nothing happened. The redundant nervous system wasn’t passing signals along the nerves, and he despaired once more, having come so close to success, yet failing once more. The night of that failure Porfiro contemplated suicide, but instead drank himself into a stupor, in which he experienced an odd fever dream. His subconscious continued to work at the problem and it came to him in a flash, jolting him awake in his sleep. The formic acid of the ants he was using as his genetic base, he theorized, could be used to reinforce the redundant nervous system and perhaps allow it to function fully. He carefully synthesized the formic acid into a substance he named ‘formic ethers’, and then breathed them in deeply, hoping against hope that his inspired theory was correct.

The results were beyond Porfiro’s greatest hopes, his nervous system sending signals along the new redundant network and around the damaged spinal column, allowing his legs to function once more, and allowing Porfiro to walk for the first time in years. However, that was the least of it, as Porfiro found that the formic ethers also pushed his restructured musculature structure and granted him super strength, as well a degree of enhanced durability and stamina. Overwhelmed, Porfiro found that his miracle recovery had ignited the flame of hope within him once more, and he decided to do his part to help out the troubled world. He elected to don a costume styled after the outfit worn by the Black Terror in honour of his great deeds, and to reflect the Terror’s parting words, “Someday perhaps I will return. It may be in the distant future, or perhaps sooner than expected, but if I do return, it will not be as you see me now”. Naming himself El Terror Negro, Porfiro burst into the spotlight, as the first of the new Black Terrors, to an oppressed world holding its breath for the return of the legendary Pirate King. Within a few days of his showing up and the global media seizing upon him as “the returned Black Terror” other Terrors began to emerge from the woodworks, some to challenge him for the mantle, others to challenge the Mongol rulers, and still others simply to do good deeds. Porfiro never once accepted the mantle of the returned Black Terror, asserting himself simply as a disciple and respectful follower of the Terror, but this did little to dispel the opinions and the hope as rumours began to spread that the Black Terror’s spirit had reincarnated itself into his body, leaving him unaware of his true nature. However, despite refusing to support the notion that he was the returned Black Terror, El Terror Negro was eventually one of the five Terrors who would found the Terror Underground revolutionary movement.

Porfiro soon encountered a problem with his newfound health and powers, as the formic ethers proved to be merely temporary, and when they faded from his body the redundant nervous system would go silent once more, returning Porfiro to his paralyzed state, confined once more to his wheelchair. At first Porfiro used this to his advantage to model a double life and a secret identity, but soon enough he began to find himself becoming psychologically addicted to the ethers, little by little, not being able to bear parting with his legs for increasingly shorter and shorter periods. Additionally, he found that extended use of the ethers began to alter his mental state as El Terror Negro, making him impatient, easy to anger and prone to violence in his blind rage. At first this issue was also manageable, until eventually it built up to the point where he was no longer able to bear the idea of breathing the ethers, but neither was he able to bear the thought of being paralyzed, and he was left in a dark and barren place. His fellow superheroes noticed the changes and intervened, seeking help for him. It took a year of therapy and treatment to get Porfiro to where he is now, but he has re-entered the field of crimefighting, doing his best to tread the thin line between his psychological dependence on the ethers and the lurking rage that the dependence brings, as well as working on accepting his life as the cripple Porfiro Juarez Rivera.

Equipment and Abilities: A brilliant geneticist, bio-chemical engineer and generally highly knowledgeable in the physical sciences, Porfiro utilizes his keen intelligence in battle and in his chemistry. The formic ethers that allow him to become El Terror Negro grant him the use of his paralyzed lower body, and also grant him a high degree of super strength, as he is able to lift up to 60 metric tons of mass, as well as limited super durability, able to repel bullets at any range, although high-powered penetrating weaponry can inflict some damage to him at close ranges. The increased super strength allows him to make great jumps, able to leap up to the top of a several-storey building with relative ease, and survive the impacts of such jumps unharmed. Unfortunately, the formic ethers have only a temporary effect, lasting for about six hours before wearing off and leaving El Terror Negro as the crippled Porfiro Rivera once more. El Terror Negro also carries a Luger handgun for times where hand-to-hand combat isn’t an option, and has relatively good skill with it, having trained with it for years since his injury.

The character himself is not necessarily so important at this point in the proposal as the little details about the 'verse and the history of it that it lets you guys in on. Not really anything the newspaper articles didn't cover, but a different perspective, which is important, I think.
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argosail

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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyFri Jul 29, 2011 7:19 am

Yeah, it definitely should NOT be assumed that anything that appears on these boards is open source. In fact, it should never be assumed, unless the creator specifically states their intention to make it so.

That said, thanks for sharing! This is an interesting universe you've got going...
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GoldenBard

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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyFri Jul 29, 2011 10:27 am

I really dig your El Terror Negro back story, Vagrant. It's a great way to update the origin and continue the legacy.

I do have one concern, though. You keep mentioning Black Terror in terms of sailing/piracy/swashbuckling. I COULD be wrong, because I certainly haven't read every Golden Age/PD Black Terror story, but I never saw the pirate/Jolly Roger connection until the current Dynamite series, which might put you outside PD realm.

Of course, if you have seen it in a story, just disregard my last paragraph and keep up the good work!
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Vagrant

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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyFri Jul 29, 2011 10:46 am

Given that the pirate connection isn't a hard one to make I'm not worried. the actual character of my Black Terror is vveey different to the Dynamite one so again not concerned. Also I don't intend to publish PDU so not worried.
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Vagrant

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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptySun Aug 14, 2011 1:44 pm

History of the Powered Damnation world
• 1754: Captain Robert Benton leads his pirate crew to an island said to hold the treasures of the Leviathan, but when it is found that there are no treasures the crew mutinies and abandons him on the island. He discovers the slumbering spirit of the Leviathan and becomes imbued with the magicks of the Ocean God, becoming the Terror of the Blackest Seas.
• 1938: The first true ‘costumed hero’ emerges in the form of the vigilante Clock. The emergence of the Clock, in combination with the great things that the Black Terror has been recorded to do, soon inspires a wave of costumed heroes to emerge.
• 1939: World War II breaks out, and many of the heroes from various nations fight to end the war. This is a period of enormous technological growth, and with the experiments comes an array of new heroes and villains. Hitler, the leader of the Axis forces, discovers how to create duplicates of himself, and many heroes end up fighting and capturing or killing duplicates mistaken for the true Hitler.
• 1945: The Human Torch becomes one of America’s prime deterrents, forming up a “Flame Corps” that razes Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the ground over the course of a mere few hours. Unlike our reality, Germany and Japan continue to keep fighting, supported by their own superpowered troops, as well as their technological advantages. Instead of being a time defined by the atom bomb, this stage of the war becomes about the hunt for the greatest superhumans to support the cause. This high-level focus on superhumans as WMDs delays the development of the atomic bomb by several years.
• 1951: WWII ends finally, and shockingly, with a single atomic bomb detonated over Tokyo, the first atom bomb used in live combat. The death of the Emperor signals the defeat of the Japanese and the collapse of their support for Germany. The war finally ends, but at a far higher price for the Allies overall. World economies plunge as the globe attempts to recover from the great war.
• 1952: Tensions between America and the USSR flare up as the US realize that the USSR haven’t given up on a united Communist world. The Cold War begins. At the same time, a new optimism sets in, the power of the atom promising a bright future for America and its allies, whilst condemning the nations that don’t hold any A-bombs.
• 1954: The successful testing of a Soviet A-bomb ends the period of Atomic Awe, triggering a period of Atmoic Angst as the two superpower nations of the world threaten each other with city-destroying bombs. Much of the optimism of the western world becomes melancholy depression and superheroes begin to fall out of favour, as more and more people begin to think that by comparison to an A-bomb, a superhuman is a poor protector.
• 1955: An era of McCarthyism results in a modern witch-hunt for Communist sympathizers throughout America. Some supers support McCarthyism, whilst others do not, leaving the super community divided. Within a year many supers are accused of being Communist sympathizers and even those who are not are told by the government to unmask themselves. Some supers obey the wishes of their government whilst others exert their right to privacy, and general public distrust of superheroes becomes intensified.
• 1956: The American Defenders Society splits over internal politics on support and protest against McCarthyism, retiring supers and old rivalries, this iconic team’s split signaling the end of an era, the Golden Age of Heroes.
• 1957: A supervillain manages to strike several areas of Europe with atomic bombs, leaving parts of Europe irradiated wastelands, and altering the culture and politics of the region.
• 1965: The Vietnam War begins, but quickly escalates into World War III as the Mongol lord Emperor Seng I unites the majority of Asia under his control and engages the rest of the world in a long and drawn out conflict of attrition, capitalizing on the weakened states of many nations from WWII.
• 1979: Emperor Seng I and his forces emerge victorious from WWIII, being able to mass produce and deploy nuclear weaponry, striking several key locations throughout America, the UK, Russia and other important nations. The combined casualties of WWII and WWIII, as well as the strict policing and control enforced by Emperor Seng I immediately afterwards, sees a significant drop in the number of superpowered beings in the world, and the world enters the Global Dark Age as inspirations such as the Black Terror and the American Crusader go into exile or otherwise vanish, leaving the world bereft of hope.
• 1982-85: In recent months, an underground resistance movement has sprung up world-wide, fighting the control of Emperor Seng I. At the same time, the resistance inspires many heroes to come out of retirement, as well as welcoming in a new generation of heroes, and several important stashes of captured or otherwise disabled heroes are discovered and liberated, freeing these heroes into a world as far as 45 years into their future. This is a new era, the Dawn of the Hopeful Age.
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Vagrant

Vagrant


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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyTue Aug 16, 2011 12:00 am

Just a little teaser of how revamped Daredevil looks in his new outfit. But don't worry, the old costume will be sticking about as well.

Powered Damnation Daredevil


Last edited by Vagrant on Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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great dude




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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyTue Aug 16, 2011 10:33 am

Wow,That is awesome,keep up the good work.
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argosail

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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyThu Aug 18, 2011 11:56 am

Sweet! Love the new take on DD!
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Vagrant

Vagrant


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PostSubject: Re: Powered Damnation   Powered Damnation EmptyTue Nov 08, 2011 6:46 pm

MAJOR PLAYERS

The Lost Heroes

Clock: Brian O’Brien was a wealthy district attorney, but he became frustrated by the fact that the gangsters had a firm grip over the city he was DA for, and inspired by the rogue justice of the Black Terror he became what most people now consider to be the first modern “costumed hero”. Striking out at night against those who walked free from his courts during the day, the Clock in turn inspired many others nationwide and then worldwide to take up vigilantism, the father of modern heroism. With his great wealth the Clock was able to afford many handy gadgets that assisted his crime-fighting activities, a secret underground base of operations and pour more money into the justice system. Clock was also skilled in hypnotism and was a master of disguise, becoming famous for the calling card he left behind with captured criminals, boldly stating that “The Clock Has Struck”. In 1941 Clock was captured by the mafia and brutally executed, then made an example of by public display of his corpse within the town square. The Clock’s death became viewed as a form of martyrdom by many, causing many to believe that tougher stances were needed with criminals, and it is widely held that this event caused many people to accept costumed vigilantism as necessary and something to be supported. Since his death there have been many clock-themed heroes seeking to emulate him.

Captain Battle: The absolute patriot and the ultimate soldier, in the vein of Captain America or Big Boss, Captain Battle was born in 1900 and served in WWI, being the youngest person to serve as a member of the American Expeditionary Force. He lost his eye during the war, but returned home nonetheless, turning to military research, in order to collaborate with military scientists on what the modern soldier would need. He served in WWII again, this time operating as the leader of a Special Forces group of Allied ‘breakers’, generally soldiers with some kind of low level wild talent. Though he had no powers himself, Battle armed himself with the latest gadgets and his tactical mind, seeing the majority of his squad through the war. During the war, he rescued an orphan from the Black Dragon, Nathan Hale, and he became Battle’s sidekick. He was captured by the Nazis, but his son, Captain Battle Jr, rescued him from the death camp and he continued to serve in the war effort. After WWII, at the age of 51, Battle retired from active duty and began working at the Department of Defense. He served as a highly ranked commander and advisor during the Cold War, retiring from the military in 1965, right on the brink of the Vietnam War. Battle is captured right from his home by Mongol agents and taken out of the country to be tortured for the valuable information he possessed, but never gave anything away, dying instead from the increasingly extreme levels of interrogation he was placed under. The rescue operation that Nathan Hale led arrived too late, but destroyed the base and retrieved Battle’s body, allowing him to receive a proper military burial and posthumous medals. Battle is still regarded to be the finest soldier to ever serve in the American military.

Black Terror: The Pirate King, Robert Benton. Imbued by the powers of the Leviathan, he became immortal, invulnerable and immensely strong, as well as having a vast pool of Ocean Magicks at his fingertips. Granted the ability to control the ocean with ease, Black Terror was a gentleman pirate, and would travel on waves until he created the Flying Dutchman, his magical flagship. Already a highly intelligent man, Benton was granted all the knowledge of the oceans, and in his 225 years as the Black Terror became highly educated on many other academic subjects, making him something of a polymath, broadly skilled in most anything. Despite being bestowed with incredible power, Benton was not corrupted, and continued to be a noble defender of the ocean in his new persona. As the years passed he developed a newfound sense of justice and was swift in dealing it out, fearless and bold, but also barely containing lurking wrath beneath his calm façade, like the angry storms that dwell beneath the surface of a calm sea. Bound by no government or authority, he can be a terrible force to behold. In 1979, when he sees the end of WWIII and the uniting of the world under the rule of Emperor Seng I, Benton decides that he’s seen enough of humanity’s worst side, declaring the past 65 years to be beyond what he could ever have imagined. He then sets sail to seas unknown on board the Flying Dutchman, vanishing into mystical mists, never to be seen again. This comes as a terrible blow to the faith of the oppressed, as his rogue and piratical actions had led to hope that he would be the core of a revolution against Emperor Seng I.

American Crusader: Archibald Masters fought valiantly throughout World War II and World War III, becoming the national hero and symbol of America’s might during the war. He also led the way in developing new technology and cultivating new heroes to help the war effort, but as the wars stretched out and America began to spiral downwards Archie grew disillusioned with the American ideals, struggling to continue the charade of being the fighting leader of America in the wake of all the cruelty and barbaric battle he saw, and all the problems in his home country. The systematic nuclear bombing of many of America’s key locations and its subsequent conquest by Emperor Seng saw Archie’s faith in America and the ideal of freedom shattered completely, and he vanished, exiling himself to some secret location in 1979. A decade has passed, and the Underground has searched for him for all this time. Finally though, it seems someone has found Archie and convinced him to come out of hiding. Whether the Archie that emerges is still the beacon of hope and light that he once was remains to be seen. Though chronologically 80, Archie is still a man of only middle age. His powers include supersonic flight of up to Mach 20 if he pushes himself, ground level superspeed, the ability to lift more than a thousand tons, a high degree of durability, and the ability to generate electromagnetic pulse blasts that can be varied from being used to disable machinery, through to powerful destructive blasts. In terms of power, American Crusader was considered to be the strongest of America’s heroes and certainly one of the strongest in the world.

Captain Flash/Flash Furnace: Professor Keith Spencer discovered in 1954 how to administer a “biological nuclear furnace” to himself, allowing him to create a miniature atomic explosion within himself when he claps his hands. This explosion temporarily granted Spencer superspeed, superstrength (25t) and enhanced durability initially, but after 45 years of triggering atomic explosions within his own body, the atomic energy has permeated his being and even without triggering the explosions he has these base powers, whilst initiating an explosion enhanced his superstrength to levels above 2500 tons, and pushes his speed up to the speed of a lightning bolt, as well as practically rendering him invulnerable to anything in this state. In this state Captain Flash can also fly at great speeds, does not need to breathe and can survive in space or underwater unassisted, and is able to unleash vast atomic blasts from any part of his body at will, and generate powerful radiation screens that can protect others from attacks. However, the overuse of his powers over the years has, whilst also massively strengthening him, forced Spencer to become a recluse as his body now permanently radiates out dangerous levels of nuclear radiation at all times. It is also believed that when Keith Spencer does die his body will detonate in a nuclear explosion of a hundred or more megatons in power. This is the greatest tragedy; that Captain Flash is at the same time the most powerful man in the world, and also the biggest threat to the world at the same time.

The Resistance Movement

Nathan Hale: The orphan that Captain Battle rescued, Nathan was only 15 at the time. Still, with no parents to return to and no memory of his former life, he stuck with Captain Battle, and showed a primal battle prowess, a remainder of his previous form as a Dealgo. He wore the same costume and utilized the same gadgets as his adopted father, and when Captain Battle retired after WWII, Nathan continued to serve, moving through various special forces until in 1962 he became the leader of the same Breaker specops team that Captain Battle had lead in WWII. 39 when the Vietnam War broke out. He served in various roles, first as a field specops agent, then later as a field commander, through to the end of the war. With the defeat of the Allied forces came the reduction of power to the US military under Seng’s rule. Hale left the military and became an underground revolutionary, becoming the founder of the nationwide Resistance Movement and the head of the Revolutionary Committee.

Power Nelson, the Futureman: Gene West was a Resistance militant who fought more openly against Emperor Seng’s forces than most, and he hates Seng’s rule with a deep passion. It was because of this passion that he volunteered to be a testbed for the Resistance scientists to apply new cybernetic technologies on, in the hope that he could better serve the world afterwards. He was reborn as Power Nelson, and granted superstrength in the range of 50 tons, as well as toughened carbon-nanotube weave skin that grants him a reasonable degree of invulnerability. Now Power Nelson is the face of the Resistance, inspiring others to rebel against Seng, but is only a poster boy, being manipulated by the people who run the Resistance.

Daredevil: Bart Hill was captured by a Japanese task force and sealed away in cryogenic stasis in 1946, the Imperial Army attempting to perform flash imprinting on his dormant mind to reprogram him as an Imperial double agent. However, the task is never completed. In 1985 he’s freed when agents of the Resistance liberate a collection of stasis pods and release the heroes within. Daredevil takes to the role of a Resistance member quite easily, and is pivotal in relocating the main base of the Underground when Seng’s forces discover and destroy it, taking the core of the Resistance to the desert heartland of Australia, to set up inside a canyon near where he lived when he was young. He seems to have good understanding of Australian Aboriginal spirituality and rituals, and has some basic ability to perform native magic he learned from them.

Human Torch: An artificial creation of the late Dr Horton, the Human Torch was a synthetic being who could burst into flame without harming himself with any contact with oxygen. The Torch adopted the human persona of Eddie Cabrera after escaping from the lab and becoming a free individual, and served as one of the foremost supermen of the Allied front, being the commander of the Flame Corps that scoured Japan's cities to the ground. After World War II the Human Torch became a prime experimental subject, until he fled the US Government and put himself into a synthetic stasis, avoiding World War III completely. In desperate need of breakhumans with power to face off against the supermen of the Mongol Empire, the Resistance Movement found Cabrera and reactivated him. He has since become a high-level commander of the Resistance Movement, and is considered to be one of their big guns.

Ray: Hubert Terril gained superpowers at a young age, and became a subversive reporter for the Resistance, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Wonder Man. Unfortunately, he’s considered a bottom-rank breakhuman as his only apparent abilities are the ability to absorb sunlight to replenish energy, and to glow. One of the core characters from a story point, follows the evolution of the Resistance Fighters that Terril works with, alongside the evolution of his powers to full blown flight and light blasts.

Bulldog Denny: A gruff war veteran, Denny is a tough-as-nails mercenary with a particular skill at hunting and slaying monsters. Demons, scientific abominations, aliens and supernatural beings, Denny has hunted them all. His most persistent foe is Prometheus, the creation of Denny's ancestor Victor Frankenstein. Denny has great skill in assembling just the team necessary to complete unconventional missions and before his time in the Resistance earned major money capturing wild beasts and monsters.

The Mongol Empire

Satanas: A brilliant scientist from Pluto who was banished to spiral through deep space for all eternity due to the horrendous crimes he committed. Eventually he managed to develop a way to control his craft crudely, and crashed to Earth, in the region of Japan. Feeling that humanity was too wartorn and primitive to resist should he attempt a take-over, Satanas began working with the Japanese government, providing advanced technology and knowledge for production and dissemination, becoming a shadow political player. However, he soon came to realize that whilst the superpowers of the Axis were his allies for now, if they joined forces with the Allied superpowers then they could severely hamper his conquest plans. With this in mind Satanas developed a new item for the Japanese army to field, small spheres called Jonbal, which translates roughly to ‘prison jar’. Each Jonbal could turn a single individual into an energetic form and store them indefinitely, though it was found later that extended time inside a Jonbal could cause mutations, superpowers or personality changes to emerge in those who had been captured.

Captain Battle III: The son of Nathan Hale, Jack Hale was born in 1949 and serves with the US military. He is proud of his nation, no matter the fact that it is ruled by Seng, and he continues to serve with the military in order to serve his nation, hoping that more change can be affected from the inside than from the disruptive activities of the Resistance Movement. He is not aware that his father is head of the Resistance, and does his best as a member of a black ops team to hunt down important Resistance figures for treason. He wears a similar uniform to that of Captain Battle, and even similar gadgets, though he has access to recon satellites to see what is going on anywhere in the world due to special high level access clearances he has. As a veteran of WWIII, he is admired by some of the public and reviled by others. He understands that his team is effectively controlled by a corrupt political organization that only wants to capitalize on his gadgets and battle genius, but is determined to fight his own personal war as he feels is best.

The Unnamed Soldier: The Unnamed Soldier, more often just referred to as the Soldier, is the sole successful test subject for the S.U.P.E.R. SOLDIER project, receiving his powers from the Supersoldier Serum. The serum does have the side effect of destroying his memory though, and due to the confidential nature of the tests all traces of his history have been erased.

Battlebreakers: Battlebreakers are a secret project of the US military, cloning the body of Captain Battle and subjecting these clones to various ‘origin stressors’ in order to try to trigger wild talents. Later iterations attempted to blend in specific ‘breaker genes’ with Captain Battle’s genome. Due to the poor quality of the cloning most of the clones are genetically flawed in some fashion, usually sporting accelerated aging or physical defects. However, whilst the majority of Battlebreakers aren’t actually breakhuman they are certainly peakhuman for at least a time before the genetic deficiencies set in, and during this time they serve their nation with complete loyalty due to flash obedience programming, usually as black ops teams or guards at secret facilities. Though the project was officially shut down after the death of Captain Battle, it is rumored that Emperor Seng has restarted the project, altering the genome patterns and programming for his own devious needs.

The New Heroes

Blue Beetle: Dan Garret is a rookie cop in America who chafes under the oppressive control of Emperor Seng’s forces. Utilising a police lab to homebrew Vitamin 2X out of the information he can gather on superpower-chemicals from the previous wars, he becomes the Blue Beetle, suiting up with impervium chainmail stolen from the evidence room, along with a variety of pieces of tactical police protective gear. He patrols the city utilising his standard-issue police scanner, and as a cop is willing to shoot to wound or kill if necessary. One of the more visible New Heroes.

Arrow: The original Arrow was killed during the last stages of WWII, in 1950. In the 80s, a new hero dons a red costume and a compound bow, becoming the new Arrow. No relation of the original Arrow, he is merely a fan, a skilled young archer who possesses old media releases showcasing the adventures of the Arrow. This new Arrow, Jessie Ryles, is not American, rather he stalks the European Slums. Due to the harsh nature of the Slums, Jessie is just as willing to kill a true criminal as Ralph Payne was, and just like the original Arrow he saves a special black Executioner Arrow for those occasions. He has a variety of trick arrows that the original Arrow never would have had access to, but still primarily relies on his regular arrows. Jessie is the secret European contact for the Target. In the poor conditions of the Slums, Arrow has settled into a role similar to that of the legendary Robin Hood. Whilst he does not simply steal from the rich, he is very much an activist and a vocal proponent for further aid and assistance to Europe, and will liberate material stolen by criminals to give to Slummers.

Captain Future: The original Captain Future, Andrew Bryant, was one of the more powerful heroes of yesteryear, serving as a meter of justice as WWII stretched on. However, as the war entered into its second era, post-Hiroshima, and the Axis kept ramping up its technology and superhuman troops became one of the key forces any military could have, he stepped back and worked on developing a mass production system for inducing regular troops with GIRwaves and granting them the same abilities as him. Unfortunately, the mass-produced energy infusion machines had the side-effect of inducing radiation poisoning in the user after just a few uses, causing skin blistering, loss of hair, sterility and other such side effects. Bryant was never able to resolve the problems with the Ray Intermixers, as he was killed in a fateful car crash near the end of the war, and the Future Project was shelved. His widowed girlfriend married another man and had a child, Andrew Jackson, who showed a great interest in his mother’s ex-boyfriend hero. When he turned eighteen, just before the end of WWIII, his mother gave him Bryant’s old Ray Intermixer technology. Andrew worked on refining the technology, and became Captain Future II. After 12 years of use with the technology, Andrew has found that it does induce radiation poisoning, though not nearly as quickly as the mass-production models, taking years of usage to build up such levels of poisoning in his system. Unfortunately, the only thing that keeps Andrew alive at this stage is the advanced regeneration granted to him by the device, and so despite the fact that it progressively poisons him further and reduces his life to constant pain all the time, Andrew continues to poison his body with the Ray Intermixer and continues to fight on as Captain Future. He is able to project gamma bursts, fly at speeds of 300 km/h, and has the ability to lift between 70 and 80 tons.
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