Mythic Eighties: Technology

Technology will play a big role in any Superhero game, particulary one set in the Mythic Eighties. Below are some rules for vehicles, machines and some special groups.
Though technology will be pretty standard, though devices more advanced than those we currently have are available - but they're usually very expensive, and usually only rich or powerful individuals and organizations (or the scientific geniuses who create them) have access to them.
The mythic Eighties has a large number of powerful groups that make, use and misuse all manner of odd technologies. But as with all things in the Mythic Eighties, these devices are always larger than life, flashy and with that odd, quirky feel.

This is for the Mythic Eighties Setting, and using the Four Color RPG rules.

VULCAN INDUSTRIES
A powerful megacorporation that is the leader of super technologies in the Mythic Eighties. This corporation is based primarily at Vulcan Tower in Manhattan and in Los Angeles, but has factories and offices all over the world. Though possessing very high technology, this megacorp works closely with the SDIO and the SIA to determine the impact of super-tech on the world at large. A great many super-villains go to great lengths to stel Vilcan technology.
Superhero equipment, accessories and clothing can all be purchased from Vulcan Industries. These include assorted utility belts, costumes, bugging equipment and body armor and similar devices so loved by certain heroes.
Inspirations: Stark Industries, Lexcorp, Wayne Enterprises.


------------------------------------------


Super Technology of The Mythic Eighties
Super Technology of the Mythic EightiesDevices more advanced than those we currently have are available - but they're usually very expensive, and usually only rich or powerful individuals and organizations (or the scientific geniuses who create them) have access to them.Technology can also come from outer space or different timelines. Robots and similar creations, including cyborgs, can have superior intelligence when they are created as sentient beings.
Traits: Maybe a vehicle supplies a super power such as flight, force field, water movement or something even stranger. This can be very strange in the Mythic Eighties.

--------------------------------------------

Super Technology Catch-Terms
Terms that a wily Game Master can throw out there to catch the imagination of players. Dont worry about how the thing works, just throw some neat names and terms out there!

Orgone Energy: A kind of psychic energy or "force" that can affect all sorts of energy. Alien technology often uses this stuff for propulsion, fuel, artificial gravity etc. Unfortunately, this energy is dangerous, causing mental distorders, dimensional distortion and mutation.

Engram: Biochemical storage of memories, often used in super-science concerning a sort-of psychic blueprint of the sunconsciouse. Mad scientists might use rays of injections to change or pass on the engrams of a person, altering ideas, memories or personalities.

------------------------------------------------

Clones
Perfect or near-perfect copies of a person. Creation of clones is almost common in the Mythic Eighties, though reserved to the super-rich and powerful. Such processes are dangerous though, with many clones having physical mutations or mental problems. Some are completely insane versions or the original, usually possessing great strength and a love/hate relatinship with the original.
As with most super-tech, clones are only for the super-rich, government big-wigs or mad scientists. Most folk will react with disbelief if told that someone is a clone, thaough rumors do exist. Superbeings tend to feel uncomfortable about cloning, as having copies of oneself made always results in having to do battle with said creature at some point. And most heroes prefer to not have to battle a foe identical to themselves.
Traits: Clones typically have higher than norman Appearance, Athletics and Body traits, though not often into the superhuman. Most clones have some subtle (or not-so subtle) flaw, either physical or (more likely) mental in nature such as various forms of insanity.


Robotics
Robots most certainly exist, having been in use as laborers and war machines since WWII! Most robots are either unthinking machines that obey simple orders, or as intelligent as a human being. Intelligent robots ALWAYS rebel against their masters, or otherwise gain self-will. Morality in such beings is an individual choice.Robots can be completely mechanical, or near-human androids. Strangely, it is the androids that are most likely to become self-aware, especially if they are physically attractive. Non-woman robots who become self aware are almost always villains bent on the destruction or enslavement of mankind.
Most heroes fight so many robots in their career that they dislike them, as even a small or otherwise "cute" robot is dangerous. Still, a hero can really cut loose on robots, as these things are not alive and thus a hero can strike without fear of killing his opponent.
Traits: High, and often superhuman Body and Perception, and at least a Body Armor of 2. Other traits vary considerably.

Powered Armor
Robot-like armor is extremely popular amongst super villains and government groups in attempt to allow normal humans to give battle to super powered beings. Superhoroes rarely use these devices as it is seen as "cheating."
There are many different models of powered armor, ranging from clunky, but tough "mandroids" to sleek and fast units. The faster sort are preferred by would-be heroes (bought as a standard superhero).
When worn, these suits replace the pilots Body, Perception, Wound Levels and Powers as appropriate. If the suits wound levels are exceeded, the suit is destroyed and any additional damage is inflicted on the pilot.

Mandroid Armor (Pictured to the left)
These usits are used by elite agents of The Overmen, Russians, Metagang and some independant groups. They are potent weapons, and can quickly spell trouble for heroes.
Suit Traits: Body 4(2), Perception -2.
Powers: Body Armor 4(4), Laser Blast 3, Life Support 4, Radar 3. Wound Levels: 44
CP Cost: 30


Some Programs for Inspiration
The 80's had alot of wonderful movies and television to inspire a Gamemaster in the sort of gadgets. Below are some examples:

Knight Rider (pictured above): A crime fighting David Hasselhoff and his robotic supercar!Airwolf: Secret super helicopter in the hands of patriotic heroes.
The Voyagers: Time travellers.
Small Wonder: Truly awful show about a home-made robot kid. Really, really bad.

Art Classes

I will be teaching some teen art classes at the Rome Art & Community Center this spring. So if you are in the region, and have a teen looking to learn some illustrative techniques, stop on by!

Creature Design
This course explores the art of creating believable monsters, aliens and fantasy
races in illustrations. The course will explore aspects of animal and human
anatomy, as well as the use of historical clothing, weapons and tools in creating
a believable and eye-catching creature. This course requires some drawing
skill, and a sketchbook.
Begins: March 16, 2009— 6 weeks
Mondays, 6-8 pm
Instructor: Aaron Siddall
Tuition: General $60, RACC Members $50
Level: Ages 14-19

Myth and Folklore Illustration
Begins: March 14, 2009— 6 weeks
Saturdays, Noon—2 pm
Instructor: Aaron Siddall
Tuition: General $60, RACC Members $50
Level: Ages 14-19
This class will explore the art of illustrating characters and themes from folklore
and mythology. Several specific myths will be referenced, though additional
tales supplied by students will be welcome. Basic drawing skills will be required
of all students. Sketchbooks will be required of all students.

Mythic Eighties: Some Good Guys

You have to have some good guys to add a little texture to the game! Below is a shy but potent super-lady by the name of Lady Praxis (a Greek word for Action!), and her missing father.

Mythic Eighties Setting

Four Color RPG: Its a fun, FREE game. Check it out!

----------------------------------------------------------------

THE PANTHEON

An organization of the worlds most famous heroes, the Pantheon stands as a beakon of hope and justice. They seek, above all to organize the worlds mightiest heroes against threats to the Earth. Founded in 1949 by the mightiest Heroes of WWII, this group has earned the fear and respect of foes across the world and even the stars!

Founding members include such noteworthy supers as Telos, The Pheonix, Argos, Mr. Mystery and The Minuteman, but has grown to a hundred dedicated heroes over the decades. They maintain good relations with The Superhero Intervention Association and The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, with many members also belonging to those groups.

All members are expected to be ready at a moments notice to aid in Pantheon efforts as the need arises. Individual members may continue personal efforts as they wish, as long as this does not conflict with Pantheon efforts. Members can expect to be directed against aliens, monsters, supernatural threats and super-villains of all sorts on a regular basis.

The Pantheon maintains a permanent base on Earths moon, named Olympus Base, as well as offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Sydney. Members may reside in any of these fascilities, including Olympus Base, though this requires the ability to get there under ones own efforts.

Inspirations: The Justice League, The Avengers, Legion of Superheroes, Stormwatch.

Heroes of The Pantheon:

Lady Praxis (aka Melissa Rawls)
Daughter of the superhero Telos (MIA as of 1978), Praxis is an powerful and attractive woman of tremendous physical might and solid ideals. Being half human and half Paidean (Telos world of origin), Praxis was raised to seek personal perfection and to uphold justice and truth at all times and to the best of her abilities. She is regularly puzzled by how few people share her passion for excellence.
Praxis is an attractive, statuesque woman with blonde hair and powerful muscles. Despite always keeping in top shape, Miss Rawls superhuman powers only manifested recently, and she is still getting used to them. Flying in-particular is awkward, though she is a fast learner. At present she prefers running and taking "extended leaps" rather than flight.
Praxis is a recent member of the Pantheon and as such is eager to prove her mettle. Her father was a founding member of this group, and as-such she has a lot of people looking to her as the next Telos, a pressure she feels distinctly.
Traits: Appearance 4, Athletics 4(2), Body 4(5), Perception 4, Persuasion -2, Unarmed Combat 3.
Powers: Flight 0 (more extravagant jumps at this stage), Body Armor 4(5)
Oomph: 2
Wound Points: 53

Telos (aka Maximillion Rawls)
An extremely powerful being from a distant world (Paidea), Telos came to this planet somewhere in the 1930‘s, adopting Earth as his own, and becoming an American citizen. He quickly drew the attention of the planet by his super-heroic efforts.
Telos has had many battles and saved the entire planet from certain disaster more times than can be counted, and helped set the standard to which all heros are held in the modern era. Sadly, while battling the dread titan Kronos in August 7th 1978, Telos disappeared into a dimensional vortex, and has not been seen since. He is missed by the entire worlds, even by his arch-nemesis The Harvester who has often sisnce been heard to despair over the "poor quality of heroes these days".
Telos was of human appearance, and of statuesquely rugged good looks. His powers placed him in the “nigh-indestructible” category, rendering him immune to physical assault or restraint. It is now known that he has a half-human daughter who has recently come into her powers, and has joined the Pantheon(see Praxis).
Traits: Appearance 4, Athletics 4(5), Body 4(5), Detective 2, Knowledge (Astrogation) 3, Knowledge (Galactic History) 2, Luck 4, Perception 4(5), Science 3, Unarmed Combat 4(5), Willpower 4(2).
Powers: Flight 4(5), Body Armor 4(5), Space Travel 4(2), X-Ray Vision 4.
Oomph: 4
Wound Points: 53

Mythic Eighties: Agents of The Overmen

I have to say that of the power players mentioned in the Mythic Eighties, it is the Overmen that I feel drawn to most to as villains. Theres just something about Nazis as charismatic villains. Few people sympathize with them, and so they make for enemies one feels *safe* to call evil without political correctness getting in the way.
Gamemasters should use The Overmen with care. These arent stupid foes, though weird plots hatched by agents can be quite excentric (even, dare I say MAD?), involving death rays, time travel and giant kill-bots and the like. Whatever their methods, The Overmen should always have class. Beautifully appointed lairs, snappy clothing, classical music and fine art are always present in even the rudest hideouts.
That said, below are some excellent agents of the Overmen to bedevil the efforts of the heroes.

Note: This is intended for material to flesh out the Four Color Role-Playing Game, but could be used for other systems.

The Harvester (Dr. Krohn)
A handsome and deadly superman (seen here as an up-and-coming Nazi soldier) and true believer of the Nazi cause. Over 80 years of age, though appearing as in his late 30’s, and possessing tremendous strength, speed, endurance, as well as tremendous intellectual and technical abilities. Krohn embodies the Aryan ideal of physical perfection and towering intellect. He is now the leader of the Overmen and a living symbol of its cause.
Blond and extremely handsome, the Harvester is as evil as they come though not without manners towards those he considers intelligent and civilized foes (non-jewish whites for instance). Wherever he is found, Dr. Krohn is always in the center of a web of evil, with numerous zealous operatives.
Traits: Appearance 3, Athletics 4(2), Body 4(2), Inventor 4(4), Knowledge (history) 3, Luck 4(5), Medical 4, Perception 3, Persuasion 4, Ranged Combat 3, Science 4(4), Unarmed Combat 4, Wealth 4(2), Willpower 4(2), Oomph 2.
Typical Equipment: Pistol, exquisite clothes, german sports car, gorgeous woman, weird super-science device.
Wound Points: 44

Gamemaster Notes: Above all, Dr. Krohn has class, gorgeous clothes, beautiful women (who are always madly in love/lust with him), classic cars and beautiful lairs/hideouts are all in his MO. He will have many goons at his disposal as well as gadgets of every sort. When taking action himself, The Harvester is a killer without pause. So heroes beware!

The Wolfsange (Werewolf)
Elite operatives of The Overmen. These guys are as evil as they come, obeying the elite of the Overmen without question. They practically worship Dr. Krohn. All are blond haired and blue eyed men and women of tremendous physical condition and considerable combat and survival training.
These are not thugs, but elite soldiers of great skill and intelligence. They are also completely loyal to the Overmens cause, and will gladly die for their beliefs.
Traits: Appearance 2, Armed Combat 2, Athletics 3, Body 3, Knowledge (any one) 3, Ranged Combat 3, Unarmed Combat 2, Survival 3, Willpower 4.
Typical Equipment: pistol, machine gun. Weird weapons and sometimes powered armor.
Wound Points: 41

Some other Nazi stuff for use in The Mythic Eighties (or other four-color) games.

The Omega File: all about the possibilities of a Nazi base in Antarctica.

Nazi UFO's: No really!

Nazi Superscience: Below is a propaganda film from Nazi Germany. Great stuff!

Mythic Eighties: Aliens and the S.D.I.O.

As a continuation of the Mythic Eighties setting, I will be adding some tidbits, technology and a few characters from time to time. As stated there, this is meant as a super-hero setting for use with the four-color rpg, but can just as easily be fitted to other games.

STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE ORGANIZATION
The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) is an organization of patriotic Superheroes and Super-Scientists (see Superhero Interventian Association) working in cooperation with the United States Department of Defense, that that is dedicated to defending the United States from nuclear attack. SDIO maintains an orbital base (STAR WARS I) from which agents of SDIO can watch the skies against attack. This base possesses an experimental Nuclear powered X-Ray Laser cannon, designed to shoot down rockets from orbit and to battle attacking alien threats.Supers wishing to join MUST be of a patriotic bent, and must have either super intellectual or technological abilities, or be able to move through space under his or her own power.

--------------------------------------------

Aliens

Aliens come in all shapes and sizes, almost all of whom are very advanced. Seen by many Earthlings including pilots, veterans and normal citizens, these things are hardly a mystery in the Mythic Eighties.

In all great comic book series, aliens are around. They invade fairly regularly, held off by the Earths stalwart defenders, often in the middle of urban areas, but just as often in remote places, the moon or in space itself. Despite the confirmed existance of these beings, mankid at large is prettly ignorant of these creatures, and the military is almost always woefully unprepared. Of course this is where heroes step in...
Aliens will be friends, enemies, friends and family to player characters, so consideration to such creatures is greatly encouraged. As with most narrative games, aliens should be based around the characters and the action that they get up to. If a hero is created that is from an alien race very different from those presented below, then dont worry about shoehorning in greys or reptoids. The game should be fluid and adaptable to create all manner of aliens.

------------------------------------------------

Grey
Little grey or green humanoids of varying heights and facial structure, these aliens have been visiting Earth down through history. Despite claims that these things are friendly, they have a nasty habit of abducting humans and subjecting them to all manner of nasty probing of orifices (dirty little creeeps).
All greys have some psychic ability, and access to very powerful technology, utilizing energy weapons, time distortion and incredibly advanced spacecraft. Once captured, greys have special devices that negate the use of a supers powers or superhuman levels of physical might.
Role-playing Notes: Do not speak, or make any vocal sound, only stare, poke and prod. Be cold and detached, like the crueler sort of military dentist, deaf to the squeals of the “patient”.
10 Willpower 4 (2)
Perception 3
Piloting 2
Medical 4 (2)
Ranged Combat 3
Science 4 (4)
Powers: Telepathy (highly useful, rating 4(4), cost 20)
Equipment: Laser Gun (Ranged) Range-200, Damage 8, weird devices and vehicles.

----------------------------------------------

Reptoids
Big, reptilian monsters of terrible disposition, these monsters are feared and hated across the stars. They are described as ranging between 5 to 9 feet in height and having slales and crocodile like features. Some large specimens are alaimed to have horns or even wings.
Reptoids are seemingly all evil monsters, seeing humankind as little better than playthings and food. In ancient times, reptoids have set themselves up as gods on Earth, creating extensive cults of human sacrifice to feed the sadistic lusts of these monsters. Many legends of rapacious demons and dragons are believed to have been half-remembered stories about the reptoids.
Small Reptoid
These common reptoids can be found anywhere. They are typically 5-6 feet in height and often go about in silvery jumpsuits or unclothed.
Armed Combat 1,
Athletics 1,
Pilot 1,
Ranged Combat 2,
Streetwise 2
Wound Points: 29
Typical Equipment: Pistol
Large Reptoid
These 9ft monsters are apparently leaders amongst the reptoids (called Drakon). They are all emmensely strong and have been known to wade through gunfire as though through a fog. Few have survived direct battle with them.
Athletics 3,
Body 4 (2),
Unarmed Combat 2,
Appearance -2,
Persuasion 1,
Science 4 (2)
Wound Points: 44
Powers: Winged Flight (Medium Level, rating 2), Scales (low level, rating 4 (2))

------------------------------------------------

Humanoid Aliens
Alien super heroes and super villains attest to the presence of many alien races that look, speak and act much like humans. Differing skin color, and some internal deviations are all that seem to differentiate between Earthlings and “Space Humans”.
Treat most “common” humanoid aliens as normal folks, but possessing Science 4 (2) or higher and access to all manner of weird weapons, armor and vehicles. One example of a humanoid alien race can be found below.


Pleiadeans (pictured to the left): Also known as Errans or Nordic Aliens, are tall, fair beings that have visited Earth many times in the past, often setting themselves up as gods. Though they are attractive and friendly in a condescending way, they seem to bring out the worst in human followers (most notably the Nazis). They are believed to maintain a base in Antarctica, deep underground, and under the sea (Atlantis?).
All Pleiadean NPCs are created as standard humans, but with Appearance 4+, Intelligence 4 (2), Science 4 (2) and all manner of neat gadgets. Pleiadean pcs are created as standard characters though they must have high Appearance, Intelligence and Science scores.