Here's the next thing I've got some notes for. I'm going to try another way to supplement The Stalwart Age and keep that game going. This is a team that is going to be my version of the 80s X-Men / New Teen Titans: the Progeny of Kyn. I plan to release their 'issues' starting from issue 1, but each will be a summary and cover (as I do for the Doc Stalwart page) with some historical notes, but it will also have a significant amount of game material - some heroes, some villains, a few animals or weapon or vehicles or new powers... or a little bit of all of that.
Here's the 'in world' context:
In 1985, New Stalwart Press was riding a wave of success. “Team Stalwart”, the anonymous creative group behind the Mighty Doc Stalwart from issue 251 forward, had seen sales slowly climb. Issue #250 had brought several new readers into the fold, and many stayed with the series going forward. “Team Stalwart” added another artist to their group, launching a second series set in Doc Stalwart’s world, but featuring a new, younger cast of characters. This book premiered in April 1985 as Progeny of Kyn: Issue 1.
Here's the basic pitch:
Kyndaron of Q'o was a rogue alien scientist who came to earth in the 1960s, experimenting on hundreds of humans without their knowledge. Now in the mid-1980s, some of their children are coming into adulthood, as their mutant powers emerge. While the High Council of Q'o has sent robotic assassins to destroy the mutants and undo the work of Kyndaron, his younger syster Kyndra has come to earth to rescue the mutant teens and help them. Meanwhile, Kyndaron wants to return to earth to claim his creations for himself, and he's bringing along a number of mutant aliens he's created on other worlds. The first four mutants have become Kyndra's core team, the Progeny of Kyn.
By the way, getting the color scheme and design for these costumes took like an hour. I had the line drawing done, but I just couldn't get a costume design where the colors worked, and where it had the aesthetic I wanted. I'm pleased with how they turned out. By the way, I always preferred my X-Men in matching costumes, as you can see.
I figure that Doc Stalwart has the whole Avengers / Fantastic Four / Justice League aspect of the game covered, but I've got a whole Teen Titans / X-Men undercurrent that I haven't really tapped in to. The idea is to do stories here that wouldn't work for Doc Stalwart. Furthermore, the I hope that GMs could use these 'issues' and the way they are presented as a campaign setting. There's a short plot summary of what happened in the 'official' version of events, but there's enough flexibility to play your own version of each scenario. As the characters 'level up' in the comics, I will be updating their character stat blocks.
Their working monikers are (from left to right): Remit, Aspire, Buoyance, Credence. I think that they get code names not based on their powers necessarily, but on the weaknesses in their character that Kyndra is focusing on as she works with them; Remit needs to work on forgiveness, while Aspire needs to work on optimism; Buoyance needs to be lifted up from his struggles with depression, and Credence needs to be honest with himself and others. It gives me a concrete focus for character development, which is going to have to take place in the context of the relatively brief 2-3 paragraph summaries of each issue.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Looking forward to the supplements, and to watch these characters grow. The approach to their code-names is interesting, too!
ReplyDeleteI want them to give off Teen Titans / X-Men vibes, but I don't want them to be clones of those teams. I think I'm finding a middle ground with them.
DeleteDeep Stuff Dr. D, complex character development in just a paragraph. Quality and original. Would like to see more of this type of writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks. In large measure, their character flaws are going to drive a large part of the action. One character's flaw is the reason there's a 'fight scene' in issue one.
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