This week I've been talking about MARVEL HEROIC
ROLEPLAYING from a nuts-and-bolts perspective, but of course I've also
given some thought to what kinds of Marvel games I might run in some
happy alternate universe. I'm going to share a couple of my campaign
concepts with you. Note that these concepts aren't necessarily wedded to
the MHR system, just something that I developed while I was thinking
about that game.
Both of these ideas could be thought of as "What
If...?" stories of a kind, as they're both re-framing of Marvel concepts
from a certain newfangled perspective.
Today's campaign idea is essentially a re-working of the Marvel universe
with more female characters at the centre of it. As I was tinkering
with the MHR rules early on, and statting up some characters for a trial
game, one of my first thoughts was that there were less female
characters than I'd like in the main book. In working up stat blocks for
some of the Marvel female characters outside the "heavy hitters"
(including the likes of She Hulk, Sif, and Tigra) I started to imagine a
slightly different take on the setting as a whole.
The beginnings of my idea are in Howard Stalk having
a daughter, rather than a son, named Antonia (Toni) Stark. Other than
her gender, she would very much look like her male counterpart
(notwithstanding the moustache) -- a spoiled, rich brat with a taste for
pretty men and fast cars, and a brilliant, inventive mind like her
father. A shrapnel wound in Afghanistan or Iraq administered during a
kidnapping by terrorists leads her to develop an armored suit -- the
Iron Maiden.
In this version of the Marvelverse, Steve Rogers
becomes Captain America in the 1940s and battles the forces of Nazi evil
(including the Red Skull and the proto-Hydra faction we see in the
first Cap movie) but does not survive his plunge into the freezing
Atlantic. His body is eventually recovered by Howard Stark and an early
incarnation of SHIELD, and eventually the secrets of the Erskine Super
Soldier Serum are harvested from his cells. The second dose of Serum is
given to the finest candidate SHIELD has -- Maria Hill. Captain America
is born again! (I initially thought Carol Danvers was the perfect
choice, but on reflection it would be criminal to lose one of the great
female Marvel heroes by simply making her the new Cap, and besides I
like her as Captain Marvel.)
Thirdly, let us suppose that instead of Odin's
thunder-wielding son Thor coming to earth, the Asgardian who journeys to
Midgard is instead his friend and would-be lover Sif. Loki is hiding
somewhere on Earth after doing something suitably dastardly -- let's say
it is poisoning Odin -- and it falls to Sif to capture him. Thor is off
somewhere else in the Nine Worlds searching for a cure, and besides --
Sif knows that Thor is still his brother. If it comes to killing Loki to
stop him, she is more than capable of doing the job. Sif falling in
love with a mortal also has a little more dramatic potential, as Thor
always seems too busy for her -- but might take notice of a romantic
rival. And nobody wants the God of Thunder as The Other Guy.
I'm not sure what changing the "big three" of the
Marvel universe to women would do to the overall tone and content of the
game. Perhaps nothing, but perhaps it would provide a different lens on
the world.
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