It would be interesting if every person had a different power because of their genetic makeup
like "fuck the hulk is attacking fucking new pontington? the fuck is that located? shiiiit, harry james is all we have near there. he's uh, he well. he talks to rocks."
Faynor on
do you wanna see me eat a hotdog
0
Garlic Breadi'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm aRegistered User, Disagreeableregular
See I figure that can be a good one-off story, but I don't want it to be a hard-fast rule. Simply because I want the writers to have as much freedom as possible.
As for the faith aspect, I only expect about 10% participation to actually go through to the end, that's why I am making it cross-forum, so as to fill out at least one anthology.
The satellite literally gives you any power you can possibly think of. When you are first activated, you get this standard bullshit greeting. Your powers are supposed to be based on the threat you are facing, but you can change them at will.
Since this is a compulsory registration and civic duty, such as Jury Duty, I think a clever name for the series is in order. How about:
Sentry Duty
I know the name/word Sentry might have negative connotations with people who don't like The Sentry. But this isn't about him. Its about the Sentry Protocol which gets beamed directly into the head of the lucky/unlucky recipient.
The satellite literally gives you any power you can possibly think of. When you are first activated, you get this standard bullshit greeting. Your powers are supposed to be based on the threat you are facing, but you can change them at will.
There's got to be a limit, at least for story purposes... otherwise there would be no challenge! Everyone would just pick perfect invulnerability, or telekinetic disintegration like dr. manhattan, or invisibility/intangibility, or psychic domination (oops sorry bad guy, you're my unwilling slave now!) or hell perfect mental control over time and space and just bypass things completely. Or all of those things.
And what happens when some troublemaker asks for a giant death laser beam and just blows the satellite out of the sky? Or just wishes it out of existence?
RingoHe/Hima distinct lack of substanceRegistered Userregular
edited July 2009
Thoughts:
1) Sentry Duty? Awesome name. Sentry Protocol as well.
2) Sure there are a ton of writers hanging around. Doesn't mean any of them will actually produce anything. And definitely doesn't mean that any of them will write something that's better than what you can come up with. So just give it a shot.
3) One satellite? Any power you want? Ehhh... I'm wary, TLB. I'm wary. I guess it moves the story from the standard "How do I possibly use my superpowers to overcome the odds?" into more of a character study. "What happens when Joe X is tasked to overcome a supervillain. What choices will he make when confronted with such an outlandish situation?" It could work.
But personally, my first idea was that there's a fleet of satellites up there (how else would you be able to get national or world coverage anyway?), which would allow for differing interpretations of the AI program. And then I thought - why just deal with the AI? Why not deal with a tetchy AI and a Superpowers Tech Support Call Center at the same time? And then my ideas kind of spun out of control from there.
For some reason I am really stuck on the "Any super power you want" thing though. I just want to be able to construct a set of limits and have my characters interact with them. Which is why I think the multiple satellites idea might be a good one. Sure, if you're in New York and you've got a fleet of brand new SRV-8870's beaming powers down left and right, you're only limited by your quick thinking and imagination. But if you're in Bumfuck, Idaho and the only satellite passing through your area is an old ED209 that's seven months away from being decommissioned and can only beam you powers once every three minutes and only then if it's a clear day AND the AI has developed some kind of split-personality in it's last fifteen years of service, you might be a little more hard pressed to defeat the Paper Necromancer terrorizing the farm.
Plus, more than one satellite means that bad things can happen to them - like being hijacked by villains. Or they go crazy and start giving superpowers out to goldfish.
I know the name/word Sentry might have negative connotations with people who don't like The Sentry.
This is unthinkable. I fully support the Sentry Duty moniker.
TLB, I would also like to put my name forward to help with proofreading etc if you need a hand.
Wildcat on
0
Psychotic OneThe Lord of No PantsParts UnknownRegistered Userregular
edited July 2009
I really like the idea. Could be a lot of fun to do. Even if the best it does is become another web comic in a sea of web comics. Wouldn't mind doing a short story or two here. Just some thoughts
Names: Sentry Project or Sentry Protocols are nice. Considering this could be any power or combination I think Chimera Protocols would fit as well.
Powers: I would say for sake of story and drama it would be best to limit the "God" characters that can do anything on the fly. Infact I would suggest the first person to unlock more than 5 'gifts' at time should be a hobo with mutiple personality dissorder and he constantly shifts through powers, and apperances, as diffrent personas take the front.
Storylines: I say for the most part, at least at first, one shots and short arcs should be done to introduce the world / powers / etc. Similar to how 100 Bullets set the stage before starting the real first act. Perhaps the heavy contributers [regular writers, editor, and main artists] could choose their favorite characters or writers to do a "3 issue" story arc. Then if the story editor wishes for some sort of event he could choose a main writer/artist from the best of that year and such and they could do the core story line while the other writers can do "side arcs" based of specific guidelines. If public domain storylines are viable for storylines could do something huge with the Cthulhu/Elder Gods.
If you plan to keep this as an ongoing project setting up a wiki with guide lines / reserved characters [writers keep creative "control" over their guy unless they give permission for him to be used] / current story arcs / what have you.
I have an old RP character that I could work into this as a series of short stories/arcs and several possible one shots with just random storylines that jump into my head as things get going.
RingoHe/Hima distinct lack of substanceRegistered Userregular
edited July 2009
I wouldn't want to limit anything until we have amassed a body of work where it's easy to say "These stories seem to fit into a coherent structure, and these ones do not. How should we either change the outliers or modify the structure to encompass them?"
I guess my earlier post is outlining a certain framework that I feel would be successful, but I don't think anyone should heed it if it's stepping on their creative toes. It was just an idea that I thought might broaden the possibilites and account for different types of stories.
And also I thought it was cool.
By the way TLB, this whole idea is a very cool one. I'm pretty excited by it!
So, other then the magic satellite, this is just a regular super hero universe, right? We could use superhero characters that are just regular super heroes, and perhaps are a little pissed off that they spent seventeen years learning kung fu and building power armour and then Joe Bumfuck comes along and is all WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP I'MMA SHOT LAZORS
One of my ideas is about a superhero who is "off-duty" and gets chosen for a super villain fight. I'm trying to decide if the satellite negates his normal powers or if he's got the extra problem of not only adjusting to his given powers but also trying to avoid using his normal powers.
One of my ideas is about a superhero who is "off-duty" and gets chosen for a super villain fight. I'm trying to decide if the satellite negates his normal powers or if he's got the extra problem of not only adjusting to his given powers but also trying to avoid using his normal powers.
It's definitely a cool idea, although personally I think just giving some random person the chance to choose any power they want perhaps gives them a little bit too much freedom to do some retarded-ass bullshit. It seems like it'd make more sense if the AI or whatever chose the best power for the specific threat they're facing. Then again presumably if it's a draft it wouldn't just be bam, one day you have powers, there would be some sort of training program to prepare people in case they're called up? Which I guess would also serve to weed out the nutjobs.
I too fall into the 'can't draw for shit but willing to write' camp, so if I have time I'll probably contribute something. Though as Geebs says I can see there being a lot more would-be writers than artists :l
fray on
"I told you," said Ford. "Eddies in the space-time continuum."
"And this is his sofa, is it?" said Arthur.
Infact I would suggest the first person to unlock more than 5 'gifts' at time should be a hobo with mutiple personality dissorder and he constantly shifts through powers, and apperances, as diffrent personas take the front.
Man, you were sitting in my mind when I read TLB's pitch, because you totally just vocalized the very first idea that popped into my head (well, I wasn't thinking about overloading a hobo with a debilitating psychosis with a vast array of powers, just the idea of a hobo being the only person in an area able to fend off an attack. I love hobo-heroes, as my avatar might suggest). Anyway, I still totally want to write this idea (although I'll try to think of some more).
TLB, this is a pretty awesome idea and I'd really love to participate. I can write pretty OK, definitely can't draw, and can do some editing if you need.
I mean anything that would make you strong enough to take out the satellite quicker than it can stop you is a no go
also you can't have any power that would physically alter your body
no wings
no breathing in space/water
and remember the powers may be immense
but the second the villain is defeated you lose them
so you do something stupid like mind control
the villain is subdued
but whoops you lost your powers and now a villain's gonna kill you
So, um, how "serious" is your concept of this universe? You mentioned Silver-Age in the OP, but I think that was just in terms of how ridiculous the powers could be?
Is it sort of a take-all thing, where one story can be all upbeat and hopeful, and the next wouldn't be too out of place in the mid-90's of Comics? Because that could really change what happens to Joe Schmoe when he loses his powers in the middle of a fight because of something stupid, like you said.
Wouldn't most people - given powers like this - simply not help? I mean, you'd have prisons full of people who weren't willing to risk their lives just because some crazy satellite picked them. Not to mention conscientious objectors in general.
Worse, wouldn't a ton of people become villains themselves? Who makes the determination of whether the power is reasonable? If I request super-speed plus invisibility, how is it going to track me down to remove the powers? What's going to keep me from going invisible and hurling a spear at the satellite? It wouldn't have a heat signature, and would likely have too small a profile to do anything about (much less even detect it) before it destroyed the satellite.
What if I got mind-reading/control, and used that to subvert the people controlling the system? What if I got technopathy and directly manipulate the satellite?
Wouldn't most people - given powers like this - simply not help? I mean, you'd have prisons full of people who weren't willing to risk their lives just because some crazy satellite picked them. Not to mention conscientious objectors in general.
Worse, wouldn't a ton of people become villains themselves? Who makes the determination of whether the power is reasonable? If I request super-speed plus invisibility, how is it going to track me down to remove the powers? What's going to keep me from going invisible and hurling a spear at the satellite? It wouldn't have a heat signature, and would likely have too small a profile to do anything about (much less even detect it) before it destroyed the satellite.
What if I got mind-reading/control, and used that to subvert the people controlling the system? What if I got technopathy and directly manipulate the satellite?
That's my story idea...
a guy in the middle of a police standoff while robbing a store is chosen. What will he do?
What will he do??
Sentry on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
wrote:
When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
it could lead to some interesting stories where the powers most people would pick (flight, super strength, etc) may not be very helpful in the given fight they are drafted for, and they screw up royally.
I thought of objectors too. A pacifist being picked, or something. They would pick the worst power, like some sort of calming aura. SENOR APOCALIPSIS Y LA BRIGADA DE LA MUERTA is not affected by some calming aura, you hippie!
Wouldn't most people - given powers like this - simply not help? I mean, you'd have prisons full of people who weren't willing to risk their lives just because some crazy satellite picked them. Not to mention conscientious objectors in general.
Worse, wouldn't a ton of people become villains themselves? Who makes the determination of whether the power is reasonable? If I request super-speed plus invisibility, how is it going to track me down to remove the powers? What's going to keep me from going invisible and hurling a spear at the satellite? It wouldn't have a heat signature, and would likely have too small a profile to do anything about (much less even detect it) before it destroyed the satellite.
What if I got mind-reading/control, and used that to subvert the people controlling the system? What if I got technopathy and directly manipulate the satellite?
thanks for sucking the fun out of tlb's awesome concept
One thing that I'd like to see is regular criminals being picked to stop super-villains. I'm not sure how that would go over. I imagine that some people would be like "Alright, I was just gonna mug that guy, but now I can laserblast him, shit yes! Let's you an me team up and trounce the heroes.", and some will be like "Well, I was only gonna take this dude's wallet; you're trying to level the city block. I gotta live here too, so have at you, demon-spawn ::pew pew pew::"
As for picking power sets that are too powerful, why don't you just take that concept and write a story about it? What happens when a guy picks "undetectable by super-power satellites" as a power? What if a guy picks a power that the satellite physically can't give him? What if he picks a power that's on a list of restricted powers, and that sends up red flags, and now the government is watching him? What if there's a crime-spree, and the satellite's reserves are fully tapped, and it can't give power to a guy who's about to be eaten by Sky Shark, the Flying Jaw of Terror?
I guess I make theses suggestions because I envision this anthology as having loose continuity, so a story might pick up certain aspects of other stories, or might ignore them. That may not be what TLB or other people are interested in, though.
I would hope that the satelite has some brains, like Brother Eye. One would assume the sat. would also be able to track the power-users too. I can't imagine something like this being so poorly thought out.
"Yes, Mr Congressman, the satellite can give the user almost any power imaginable."
"No, Mr Congressman, tracking of the users has not yet been implemented at this time"
"Mr Congressman, what happened to our funding?"
Wouldn't most people - given powers like this - simply not help? I mean, you'd have prisons full of people who weren't willing to risk their lives just because some crazy satellite picked them. Not to mention conscientious objectors in general.
Easy solved, convicted criminals are given a much more limited select of abilities and a time limit, if the crisis is not resolved within said limit then the satellite detonates their brain or something like that.
It'd make for an interesting story, a non-violent con-man is selected, given his task and a ticking clock, and is then forced to break out of prison and evade the law while tracking down & defeating the villain who outclasses him, all whilst racing against a ticking clock.
Wouldn't most people - given powers like this - simply not help? I mean, you'd have prisons full of people who weren't willing to risk their lives just because some crazy satellite picked them. Not to mention conscientious objectors in general.
Worse, wouldn't a ton of people become villains themselves? Who makes the determination of whether the power is reasonable? If I request super-speed plus invisibility, how is it going to track me down to remove the powers? What's going to keep me from going invisible and hurling a spear at the satellite? It wouldn't have a heat signature, and would likely have too small a profile to do anything about (much less even detect it) before it destroyed the satellite.
What if I got mind-reading/control, and used that to subvert the people controlling the system? What if I got technopathy and directly manipulate the satellite?
Wouldn't any number of things that happen in comics not happen in the real world? Even once you've accepted that superheroes and aliens etc exist, I mean. There's always some suspension of disbelief necessary when you read comics. I think it's a cool concept that gives the opportunity to tell a lot of interesting stories about how ordinary people would react to suddenly being given powers myself.
fray on
"I told you," said Ford. "Eddies in the space-time continuum."
"And this is his sofa, is it?" said Arthur.
Wouldn't most people - given powers like this - simply not help? I mean, you'd have prisons full of people who weren't willing to risk their lives just because some crazy satellite picked them. Not to mention conscientious objectors in general.
Easy solved, convicted criminals are given a much more limited select of abilities and a time limit, if the crisis is not resolved within said limit then the satellite detonates their brain or something like that.
It'd make for an interesting story, a non-violent con-man is selected, given his task and a ticking clock, and is then forced to break out of prison and evade the law while tracking down & defeating the villain who outclasses him, all whilst racing against a ticking clock.
Interesting point, but you misunderstood me: I meant that tons of people would refuse to help, and thus be breaking the law and have to be imprisoned (if you don't imprison people who refuse, why would almost ANYONE help?).
Posts
like "fuck the hulk is attacking fucking new pontington? the fuck is that located? shiiiit, harry james is all we have near there. he's uh, he well. he talks to rocks."
(except not with the Hulk)
It once took me two hours to write what became a six sentence introductory paragraph
As for the faith aspect, I only expect about 10% participation to actually go through to the end, that's why I am making it cross-forum, so as to fill out at least one anthology.
I have a few ideas, but want some more info.
yes you can
Sentry Duty
I know the name/word Sentry might have negative connotations with people who don't like The Sentry. But this isn't about him. Its about the Sentry Protocol which gets beamed directly into the head of the lucky/unlucky recipient.
There's got to be a limit, at least for story purposes... otherwise there would be no challenge! Everyone would just pick perfect invulnerability, or telekinetic disintegration like dr. manhattan, or invisibility/intangibility, or psychic domination (oops sorry bad guy, you're my unwilling slave now!) or hell perfect mental control over time and space and just bypass things completely. Or all of those things.
And what happens when some troublemaker asks for a giant death laser beam and just blows the satellite out of the sky? Or just wishes it out of existence?
I need answers dammit
http://lexiconmegatherium.tumblr.com/
it should be different for every person
(i'm just kidding TLB, this is an awesome idea that I can see you've put some work in to!)
I mean anything that would make you strong enough to take out the satellite quicker than it can stop you is a no go
also you can't have any power that would physically alter your body
no wings
no breathing in space/water
and remember the powers may be immense
but the second the villain is defeated you lose them
so you do something stupid like mind control
the villain is subdued
but whoops you lost your powers and now a villain's gonna kill you
also lucas I like that title
I wasn't even thinking about titles until after the thing was done
1) Sentry Duty? Awesome name. Sentry Protocol as well.
2) Sure there are a ton of writers hanging around. Doesn't mean any of them will actually produce anything. And definitely doesn't mean that any of them will write something that's better than what you can come up with. So just give it a shot.
3) One satellite? Any power you want? Ehhh... I'm wary, TLB. I'm wary. I guess it moves the story from the standard "How do I possibly use my superpowers to overcome the odds?" into more of a character study. "What happens when Joe X is tasked to overcome a supervillain. What choices will he make when confronted with such an outlandish situation?" It could work.
But personally, my first idea was that there's a fleet of satellites up there (how else would you be able to get national or world coverage anyway?), which would allow for differing interpretations of the AI program. And then I thought - why just deal with the AI? Why not deal with a tetchy AI and a Superpowers Tech Support Call Center at the same time? And then my ideas kind of spun out of control from there.
For some reason I am really stuck on the "Any super power you want" thing though. I just want to be able to construct a set of limits and have my characters interact with them. Which is why I think the multiple satellites idea might be a good one. Sure, if you're in New York and you've got a fleet of brand new SRV-8870's beaming powers down left and right, you're only limited by your quick thinking and imagination. But if you're in Bumfuck, Idaho and the only satellite passing through your area is an old ED209 that's seven months away from being decommissioned and can only beam you powers once every three minutes and only then if it's a clear day AND the AI has developed some kind of split-personality in it's last fifteen years of service, you might be a little more hard pressed to defeat the Paper Necromancer terrorizing the farm.
Plus, more than one satellite means that bad things can happen to them - like being hijacked by villains. Or they go crazy and start giving superpowers out to goldfish.
TLB, I would also like to put my name forward to help with proofreading etc if you need a hand.
Names: Sentry Project or Sentry Protocols are nice. Considering this could be any power or combination I think Chimera Protocols would fit as well.
Powers: I would say for sake of story and drama it would be best to limit the "God" characters that can do anything on the fly. Infact I would suggest the first person to unlock more than 5 'gifts' at time should be a hobo with mutiple personality dissorder and he constantly shifts through powers, and apperances, as diffrent personas take the front.
Storylines: I say for the most part, at least at first, one shots and short arcs should be done to introduce the world / powers / etc. Similar to how 100 Bullets set the stage before starting the real first act. Perhaps the heavy contributers [regular writers, editor, and main artists] could choose their favorite characters or writers to do a "3 issue" story arc. Then if the story editor wishes for some sort of event he could choose a main writer/artist from the best of that year and such and they could do the core story line while the other writers can do "side arcs" based of specific guidelines. If public domain storylines are viable for storylines could do something huge with the Cthulhu/Elder Gods.
If you plan to keep this as an ongoing project setting up a wiki with guide lines / reserved characters [writers keep creative "control" over their guy unless they give permission for him to be used] / current story arcs / what have you.
I have an old RP character that I could work into this as a series of short stories/arcs and several possible one shots with just random storylines that jump into my head as things get going.
I guess my earlier post is outlining a certain framework that I feel would be successful, but I don't think anyone should heed it if it's stepping on their creative toes. It was just an idea that I thought might broaden the possibilites and account for different types of stories.
And also I thought it was cool.
By the way TLB, this whole idea is a very cool one. I'm pretty excited by it!
However, my question is there a established history/back story to this idea, or is it going to be more or less made up by the writers on the fly.
I too fall into the 'can't draw for shit but willing to write' camp, so if I have time I'll probably contribute something. Though as Geebs says I can see there being a lot more would-be writers than artists :l
"And this is his sofa, is it?" said Arthur.
Man, you were sitting in my mind when I read TLB's pitch, because you totally just vocalized the very first idea that popped into my head (well, I wasn't thinking about overloading a hobo with a debilitating psychosis with a vast array of powers, just the idea of a hobo being the only person in an area able to fend off an attack. I love hobo-heroes, as my avatar might suggest). Anyway, I still totally want to write this idea (although I'll try to think of some more).
TLB, this is a pretty awesome idea and I'd really love to participate. I can write pretty OK, definitely can't draw, and can do some editing if you need.
I'm bad at participating, so good luck running this.
So, um, how "serious" is your concept of this universe? You mentioned Silver-Age in the OP, but I think that was just in terms of how ridiculous the powers could be?
Is it sort of a take-all thing, where one story can be all upbeat and hopeful, and the next wouldn't be too out of place in the mid-90's of Comics? Because that could really change what happens to Joe Schmoe when he loses his powers in the middle of a fight because of something stupid, like you said.
Worse, wouldn't a ton of people become villains themselves? Who makes the determination of whether the power is reasonable? If I request super-speed plus invisibility, how is it going to track me down to remove the powers? What's going to keep me from going invisible and hurling a spear at the satellite? It wouldn't have a heat signature, and would likely have too small a profile to do anything about (much less even detect it) before it destroyed the satellite.
What if I got mind-reading/control, and used that to subvert the people controlling the system? What if I got technopathy and directly manipulate the satellite?
That's my story idea...
a guy in the middle of a police standoff while robbing a store is chosen. What will he do?
What will he do??
thanks for sucking the fun out of tlb's awesome concept
As for picking power sets that are too powerful, why don't you just take that concept and write a story about it? What happens when a guy picks "undetectable by super-power satellites" as a power? What if a guy picks a power that the satellite physically can't give him? What if he picks a power that's on a list of restricted powers, and that sends up red flags, and now the government is watching him? What if there's a crime-spree, and the satellite's reserves are fully tapped, and it can't give power to a guy who's about to be eaten by Sky Shark, the Flying Jaw of Terror?
I guess I make theses suggestions because I envision this anthology as having loose continuity, so a story might pick up certain aspects of other stories, or might ignore them. That may not be what TLB or other people are interested in, though.
"Yes, Mr Congressman, the satellite can give the user almost any power imaginable."
"No, Mr Congressman, tracking of the users has not yet been implemented at this time"
"Mr Congressman, what happened to our funding?"
Easy solved, convicted criminals are given a much more limited select of abilities and a time limit, if the crisis is not resolved within said limit then the satellite detonates their brain or something like that.
It'd make for an interesting story, a non-violent con-man is selected, given his task and a ticking clock, and is then forced to break out of prison and evade the law while tracking down & defeating the villain who outclasses him, all whilst racing against a ticking clock.
I want a story where a dude defeats a villian in an aerial battle high above a city and immediately plummets to his death when his powers cut out
Wouldn't any number of things that happen in comics not happen in the real world? Even once you've accepted that superheroes and aliens etc exist, I mean. There's always some suspension of disbelief necessary when you read comics. I think it's a cool concept that gives the opportunity to tell a lot of interesting stories about how ordinary people would react to suddenly being given powers myself.
"And this is his sofa, is it?" said Arthur.
Interesting point, but you misunderstood me: I meant that tons of people would refuse to help, and thus be breaking the law and have to be imprisoned (if you don't imprison people who refuse, why would almost ANYONE help?).