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Hmm...how to adapt a character's backstory to the Champions Universe?
vendince
Posts: 296 Arc User
Since the Lore thread seems to have been unposted in for too long, I'll have to make a new thread.
The character Velheya-Ayd-Thail is one I've played for a long time, and it's been nagging me like anything that I'm having a hard time fitting her into the Champions universe.
Allow me to quote her profile:
"Princesses have more fun? Not if you're the younger sister of the woman hailed as the reincarnation of your people's fabled monarch who always appears when your people need her. From an early age, Velheya was driven by a need to prove herself to be as good as her sister, or better. She never quite managed to, though her perfectionistic drive to succeed won her many battles.
This could have ended quite badly, if not for one incident that shook Velheya to the core. Being a millitary leader, she had her own team. Some of who apparently idolized and emulated her. While Velheya was recuperating in a millitary hospital after a particularly harrowing battle, one of her underlings took a terrible risk, like Velheya herself would have done, and ended up dead for it.
This led the shaken Velheya to finally reconcile with her sister Cer-Ayd-Thail, who had tried for years to contact her. But there had always been one more battle, one more millitary campaign...
Having had a lot of soul-searching to do, Velheya realized that Millennium City could use a hero. Besides, it would serve a double purpose. Between the Lemurian rebels and a certain old TV show, lizardpeople really didn't have the best reputation on Earth. And it fell to Velheya to try to change that."
My first thought was that she could be a Lemurian (they're lizardlike, which fits, and they have royalty, which also fits.) But that's the obvious one.
So I've been wondering if there's another species that would fit. I could tweak details if need be to fit things into the lore. Just not sure what to tweak or how.
The character Velheya-Ayd-Thail is one I've played for a long time, and it's been nagging me like anything that I'm having a hard time fitting her into the Champions universe.
Allow me to quote her profile:
"Princesses have more fun? Not if you're the younger sister of the woman hailed as the reincarnation of your people's fabled monarch who always appears when your people need her. From an early age, Velheya was driven by a need to prove herself to be as good as her sister, or better. She never quite managed to, though her perfectionistic drive to succeed won her many battles.
This could have ended quite badly, if not for one incident that shook Velheya to the core. Being a millitary leader, she had her own team. Some of who apparently idolized and emulated her. While Velheya was recuperating in a millitary hospital after a particularly harrowing battle, one of her underlings took a terrible risk, like Velheya herself would have done, and ended up dead for it.
This led the shaken Velheya to finally reconcile with her sister Cer-Ayd-Thail, who had tried for years to contact her. But there had always been one more battle, one more millitary campaign...
Having had a lot of soul-searching to do, Velheya realized that Millennium City could use a hero. Besides, it would serve a double purpose. Between the Lemurian rebels and a certain old TV show, lizardpeople really didn't have the best reputation on Earth. And it fell to Velheya to try to change that."
My first thought was that she could be a Lemurian (they're lizardlike, which fits, and they have royalty, which also fits.) But that's the obvious one.
So I've been wondering if there's another species that would fit. I could tweak details if need be to fit things into the lore. Just not sure what to tweak or how.
Post edited by vendince on
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That said,
https://www.herogames.com/get/HSGBG%20Final.pdf
lists an ~alien~ lizard race from Star Hero system:
http://www.herogames.com/championsPlacesAndThings.htm
Atlantis: The fabled underwater city, home to the magic-wielding Atlanteans
Lemurians are the enemies of both the Atlanteans and Arcadians
The Empyrean are also mentioned a lot...
Basically, those are the four names that I would try to research if I had more time: Lemurians, Atlanteans, Arcadians, and Empyreans. In the time I have, google was not terribly helpful.
Furthermore, the Champions Online wiki has a lore section with all the lore pieces presently in the game in it. That can help you with figuring out a backstory which fits snugly into the game. Do keep in mind though that this is a tremendously cheesy game (in a very good way), and as such, almost everything one could imagine could fit this Universe. Even werewolves are easy, since genetic engineering one literally amounts to: Hey, let's unlock the wolf gene!!! 8D
It's silly, I love it.
Here's one example for you. I have a bird guy who was originally a member of F.A.R. Corps - an elite U.N.T.I.L. squad designed to meet supernatural threats and deal with them. They had special training and weaponry provided them to do this with, and they were very versed in alien technology. It's the current belief of U.N.T.I.L. that magic is simply a highly advanced and foreign form of technology, so similarly advanced technology can hurt it.
On one mission F.A.R. Corps were dispatched to save the avian avatar of a bird deity from Nama, the spirit goddess who disinterestedly heads up V.I.P.E.R. (ALL OF THE ACRONYMS). The avatar is rescued, but is greatly weakened by having his power supped upon and siphoned away by the scurrilous serpent, as such, he passes his mantle on to the injured F.A.R. Corps guy who managed to free him. This not only saves his life, but gives him an entirely new one, too.
Hey, I had bird costume pieces and I had to do something with them.
But yeah, just about any cheesy bit of nonsense fits the Champions Universe. And it's fantastic. So you probably shouldn't worry too much about it.
I just love being able to reference lore in backstories, it's a weakness of mine.
The newer ones would be a shoe-in though for actually getting some valid lore to base characters on. And there is one that deals with Lemuria, I believe. But my memory is horrible. I'll also say that some of the important folks involved with Hero Games hang around the forums, so you could maybe message them if you could find them. But again... memory. Sorry!
But maybe someone else will come forward with their names. If you can poke them, they can likely help you out and tell you the most relevant Lemurian sources.
Where it is out of date is largely due to the online MMO having moved on in time a bit in regards to the state and nature of Lemuria. The book assumes that Arvad is not a FORMER evil man who has had a change of heart, but an actively evil one and Lemuria has not factionalized into human-seeming Lemurians and the reptilian versions and there's no civil war between the two.
Although interestingly the seeds were laid for such a rebellion because it mentioned that one noble house was hiding reptilian "throwbacks" from Arvad that could not hold their human form for very long.
But - Hidden Lands was also first printed in 2005. At least 4 years before the MMO was launched. So basically the state of things as of the time the book was printed was accurate and still dovetails nicely into the current MMO timeline in that regard.
The other small detail that seems to be different is in the physical description and nature of Atlanteans. In the book, they essentially would be able to pass for normal looking humans except for green (sometimes shading to blue) skin, gills on their necks the come up to just behind the ears, and webbed hands and feet. They still have normal hair on their heads and no fins. The MMO portrays Stingray as having no hair and fins along her head. I'm not sure if she's supposed to be a normal representation of an Atlantean in the MMO, or if her magic has changed her somewhat. I think there's a basic overview of Atlantis in the basic Champions Universe 6th edition book. But I don't currently have access so can't confirm whether there's been a change one way or the other.
But I seem to recall at least where it comes to the history and timeline of Atlantis and Lemuria that the 6th edition material did not contradict the older 5th edition book except in the areas that I've mentioned.
Where Hidden Lands is invaluable though is in the section on Arcadia and the Empyreans. The 6th edition material has been brief and sketchy for the most part but does not contradict anything in the 5th edition Hidden Lands book. The MMO barely even touches on the Empyreans at all. You never see them. Only their constructs. Hidden Lands for 5th edition is where you'll learn everything you need to know about them.
Regardless of any changes 6th edition and the MMO have retconned in, Hidden Lands is still an incredibly detailed and rich book to read. And you'd still be well served by getting yourself a copy of it for your own personal table-top campaign or to research story ideas. Even if it were completely apocryphal and out of date I'd still recommend it. It's that good.
I do know there's differences, I've noticed that both in Book of the Destroyer and the Vibora Bay book as well. But even then, it should be an interesting read.