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Cosmic threats in the CU
gradii
Posts: 11,717 Arc User
So, while I was asking for more actual cosmics to be added to CO, (Grond, Teleiosaur? that's not REALLY cosmic...) I started wondering, besides stuff like Takofanes and Kigatilik, who could they add who isn't yet in there, who actually classifies as a COSMIC level threat? as in a threat to the universe or galaxy itself?
I particularly am interested in these enemies since my main Sylviana is pretty much Legendary strength normally, and can push herself to low end cosmic in times of extreme need, at the cost of her life however if taken too far. (extremely stressful on her body to push herself beyond normal operating capacity.)
her concept kinda demands that power, but as a result most threats currently in game are IC not a biggie for her.
(actually the big magical ones she'd need help as that's her core weakness but still..)
Hence why I want BIGGER threats to be added.
I particularly am interested in these enemies since my main Sylviana is pretty much Legendary strength normally, and can push herself to low end cosmic in times of extreme need, at the cost of her life however if taken too far. (extremely stressful on her body to push herself beyond normal operating capacity.)
her concept kinda demands that power, but as a result most threats currently in game are IC not a biggie for her.
(actually the big magical ones she'd need help as that's her core weakness but still..)
Hence why I want BIGGER threats to be added.
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CU equivalent of people like Terrax or, possibly, Thanos.
Big bulky blue skinned alien warlord armed with cosmic halberd.
And he should be really brutal encounter. Not soloable.
Most of the high-powered non-magical "cosmic" threats in the setting are described in Champions Beyond. In particular, it thoroughly details what I call the CU cosmic Big Five:
Astron is a living, intelligent asteroid field, with an aggregate mass greater than the Earth. It wanders the galaxy literally consuming planets for sustenance, and it doesn't care if those planets have sapient inhabitants.
The Galaxars are reminiscent of the Elders of the Universe from Marvel Comics -- incredibly ancient, vastly powerful humanoids who have devoted their lives to a single pastime or field of study. CB writes up three up them who have interacted the most with Earth's superheroes. The Examiner puts beings of power, such as superhumans, through physical, psychological, and ethical trials and contests to test their responses. The Lawbringer passes judgement on the guilt or innocence of individuals or entire sapient species, sometimes fatally. The Warmonger loves physical battle in all its forms, whether between individuals, nations, or worlds. He may fight personally, lead one force or another, or just observe and study. If there are no "interesting" conflicts around, he'll use his powers to provoke them.
Xarriel is the godlike tyrant of the alien planet Ashraal, who aspires to conquer the Universe, even if he must destroy most of it to do so (either alternative makes the point of his supremacy). Xarriel is the CU's analogue to DC's Darkseid, although his personal power is somewhere between Darkseid and Galactus.
CB also mentions several menaces currently beyond the Milky Way. The most detailed of those are the Nibu Gemani, a fungoid hive-mind species who collectively wield immense psionic power. The Nibu Gemani swarm through space like interstellar locusts, descending on planets by the billions to devour all organic life, before moving on to the next world.
CB describes a few artifacts of immense cosmic power. The scariest of those is the Annihilation Scepter, the mother of all doomsday weapons, which can cause the entire universe to collapse into itself in a "Big Crunch" event, leading to another Big Bang starting a new universe. The wielder of the Scepter is also annihilated in the collapse.
In the official CU timeline, in the year 3000 AC V'han will launch an invasion of the Galactic Federation, an alliance of starfaring races (including Humanity) embracing almost half of the Milky Way Galaxy. Istvatha's vast legions of troops, advanced technology, and ability to circumvent defenses by moving between dimensions, will threaten to overwhelm the Federation. A future incarnation of the Champions superhero team will ultimately defeat her by recovering the legendary Lemurian super-weapon, the Mandragalore.
I thought Galactic Champions and Star Hero were ambiguously a part of the timeline as a 'what-if' future? I wonder what/how Cryptic/The Hero System writers will regard events once we actually hit 2020 in real-world time, if CO's still around by then.
Looking for a lore-based Superhero RPSG? Why not http://earth-guard.shivtr.com/?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
The idea of the "Galactic Champions" era was to give folks who wanted it a setting comparable to the Legion of Super-Heroes in DC Comics. Characters from the modern era and that future era travel back and forth fairly frequently. Just because events are unfolding in a particular way in our "now," doesn't invalidate that future "now." The thousand-year separation grants a degree of leeway.
In fact the Galactic Champions sub-genre is even more suitable for the kind of cosmic opponents and adventures you were asking about, than present-day Champions Earth. The heroes are out among the stars, responsible for protecting whole worlds and solar systems. They routinely encounter some of the mightiest forces in their universe. The bigger canvas allows for greater threats and more epic action.
Since to this point we have only theories about causality forward and backward in time, we don't know for sure that that's true. There might actually be a single timeline with a predetermined destiny we can't change. Or there might be an infinity of them, with any future you can imagine having existence. Until a TARDIS or nuclear-powered DeLorean comes along, we can only guess.
Plenty of time between Champions and Galactic Champions.
This one being predefined is hardly an issue.
Unless some PnP group really intends to RP all this time.
Galactic Champions is a completely different setting, a separate game. For this setting, her invasion is a present time.
But for characters who are playing in XXI Champions Universe, this future do not exists and may never exists. Since she's a villain in present time and it might be a possibility that players will get rid of her for good.
Just like for another Hero Games setting, the Turakian Age (a home time of Takofanes), our Champions Universe may look like a predetermined future, but it also may never happen, it's just another roleplaying game (An example, if player characters during the Turakian PnP RP session managed to kill Takofanes for good... For pretty obvious reason he can't appear in XXI century).
There is no need to think about it in the categories of possible/impossible future, since it's all story hooks and plot vehicles for different games.
Bellisario's Maxim sums it up perfectly.
The only reason I brought it up was to illustrate how vast a threat Istvatha V'han can be if one wanted to use her in a campaign of that scale.
But FWIW, gradii, the CU PnP books agree with your take on causality. The past can be changed. Captain Chronos is on present-day Earth to make alterations so that a disastrous event from his timeline's history will never occur. Istvatha V'han, who also has the power to travel through time, has changed the past of other dimensions and universes on several occasions, with dramatic results. Both of these travelers are very careful of what they do change, though, for concern over unintended consequences. V'han has experienced an extreme example of that risk, having unintentionally erased her own family from ever having existed. (How she can still be alive is only one of the paradoxical mysteries about her.)
While he isn't statted, Champions Beyond does describe another cosmic threat, maybe the greatest of them all. Lord Entropy is the living embodiment of the forces of decay and cessation. As a conceptual entity he's neither good nor evil, merely the personification of a natural force. But Lord Entropy sometimes manifests an aspect? offspring? alternate? called Thanaton, who truly is evil. Thanaton exalts chaos and destruction, and wants to spread them as far as he can
Thought I should verify whether you're interested in hearing about any of these, as well.
Tyrannon the Conqueror is the ruler of the dimension called Thulkos, but aspires to ultimately conquer and absorb all that exists. Tyrannon is an entire organization unto himself. His consciousness normally exists in 888 separate bodies simultaneously, all telepathically linked. They range in power from Emissaries, which can be matched by many individual superheroes, to Viceroys able to battle entire superteams, up to Thrones wielding the power to threaten worlds. Each Throne has a distinctive appearance, matched by the lesser forms a Throne controls: insectoid, octopoid, reptilian, avian, tree-like, and elemental earth, fire, and fluid. Tyrannon can combine all his bodies into a single form of immense power, capable of warping matter, energy, and space itself on a galactic scale. He does this to fuse a conquered dimension with his own realm of Thulkos, changing its appearance and physical laws to match. He can only do so at certain times, though, and only after establishing a body of worshipers and a dimensional "bridge" within a conquered dimension.
Tyrannon's legions of slave-soldiers number in the billions, armed with various enchanted weapons or spells. His most insidious minions are his Signifiers. These creatures are small and rather weak, not too intelligent, and totally enslaved to Tyrannon's will. They have only one attack, but that attack is a ray which changes the target into another Signifier. They can eventually overrun an entire planet like a plague.
The Conqueror is as yet practically unknown to Earth, but in the published CU future timeline it will be the thwarting of his invasion of Earth's reality in 2020 that banishes magic and ends the Age of Superheroes.
Tyrannon's forms and followers are detailed in Champions Villains Vol. 1: Master Villains. This info also appears in The Mystic World (for HERO 5E), along with a further description of Thulkos.
No one is sure of the number of Kings of Edom which exist, but more are known than just the ones worshiped by DEMON. Those aren't even the best-known of the Kings. For eons, the Kings and their Edomite servants rampaged across the Multiverse, invading one universe after another, enslaving or devouring all life, warping and devastating countless worlds, before moving on to another dimension. With each reality destroyed the Kings grew stronger. Finally, before the Earth had even cooled, an alliance of other great cosmic powers defeated the Kings. Although they were too strong to be killed, the Kings of Edom were bound within unique prisons: at the cores of dead worlds, within pocket dimensions, or even more exotic bonds. Most mystics and godly powers believe if one King of Edom gains its freedom, it will swiftly act to loose all its fellows, and the cycle of horror would begin again.
Each King of Edom is a unique creature, in its true form not even remotely human-like, with its own distinctive, vast powers. A King newly freed from its ancient prison is likely to be drained and weakened from its long confinement -- and hence potentially opposable by a team of powerful superheroes -- but will immediately begin sacrificing sentient beings (possibly numbering in the billions) to restore its full power.
Some of the most infamous Kings of Edom include:
Vulshoth, also known as the Eye of the Void, resembles an immense, roughly globular mass of slimy green-black tentacles, with five red eyes surrounding a parrot-like beak. Its enormous strength is matched by tremendous mental powers, including enslaving others to its will. This King is particularly served by Edomites called Spawn of Vulshoth, like smaller versions of their master.
Deizzhorath, titled The Dissolver, is a creature made up of energy and mathematics rather than matter. Its touch can utterly annihilate anything it comes in contact with. The Dissolver's essence and consciousness were scattered across space and time, so it cannot focus too much of itself in any one location. Sorcerers sometimes conjure a tiny fragment of this King, called a Hand of Deizzhorath, as a force of destruction. It resembles a tangle of colorless filigree fronds erupting from a bright point hanging in space.
Esleggua, the Fear Eater, looks like a huge pillar of fanged mouths and slimy tentacles. Its howl numbs fear and all other emotions of those who hear it; repeated exposure turns victims into sociopathic worshipers of the Kings of Edom.
Mgatrraor specializes in atomic-scale psychokinesis, transmuting and reshaping matter at will. It appears as a cone of blue-black jelly with a single eye ringed by tentacles. Its base can extrude tentacles with maws full of stone or metal teeth.
Orogtha's true appearance is unrecorded, but it is said to bud Edomite monsters from its own flesh, and is known as the Great Spawner. Orogtha has the power to mutate and reshape living creatures; worshipers of the Kings of Edom who want to become Edomite monsters themselves often propitiate Orogtha.
Pthaar, called The Phantast for its skill with illusion, was imprisoned in an alien planet's core. Over billions of years sapient life somewhat resembling humans evolved, who now worship Pthaar as their god. They assist it in materializing projections of itself from psychic force, called Pthaarkin, usually resembling a fusion of snake and toad with bat wings and tentacles around their mouths.
Besides the creatures mentioned above, and sapients such as humans who are deceived into worshiping them, the Kings of Edom have other loyal Edomite followers, such as:
Anglers, appearing as masses of shimmering, zigzagging lines. Their one-dimensional bodies cut through the atoms of any matter, while most attacks against them pass through their nearly massless forms;
Mind Thieves, resembling a blend of spider and crab, which burrow into, and ultimately devour, a victim's brain. While within a brain the thief can control its body and have access to all its skills and knowledge;
Squrms resemble huge squids flying on membraneous wings. They're quite intelligent and can wield quasi-psychic powers through complex movements of their tentacles.
All of these beings are described in the PnP book, Arcane Adversaries.
Actually, scientists recently disproved Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. You can, in fact, know both the location and velocity of a subatomic particle.
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Would be the best closure the game can have.
These are only imaginary people, you can always write whatever alternative story you'd like.
Only end of new metahumans.
Besides... I doubt much of community cares about fluff that much.
And nothing is ever acceptable to community as a whole, so who cares? I'd be a last dance for the game anyway.
Destroyer-related stuff has already been dealt with to a substantial degree in the game. Tyrannon would be something brand-new. What's cool about Tyrannon as a direct opponent, is that all by himself he's both extremely diverse and highly scalable in encounters. His many forms have wildly differing appearances, and in many cases their power effects look quite different from each other. And they range from minor super-level obstacles up to army-crushing power. Throw in his various minions with their own abilities, some of his more subtle tactics, and a sojourn across his dimension of Thulkos to confront the mad god's core form, and IMHO Tyrannon could carry an epic story arc.
Eclipsar wields immense dark powers, particularly during major celestial events like solstices or eclipses. In her first appearance in the city of Lima, Peru, during the 2000 summer solstice, Eclipsar blotted out the light of the Sun over most of South and Central America, then began slaughtering every human being in sight. It took the combined forces of the famed superhero team the Justice Squadron, South America's premier hero team La Brigada de Victoria, and a small army of UNTIL agents, to halt her rampage. Eclipsar was captured and imprisoned in UNTIL's Guardhouse by both technological and magical means, but escaped in 2004. She hasn't been seen since, but it's frightening to contemplate what she may be planning...
Queen Lyrane: A would-be galactic conqueror from the ancient past, Queen Lyrane is physically
powerful, fast, smart, and possesses a vast array of energy control and projection powers. Lyrane first fought
the Star*Guard hundreds of thousands of years ago. They thought shed been destroyed for good in the blast that ended her evil campaign; but the blast had combined with Lyranes powers to thrust her forward in time to the modern era. She has since battled the Guard several times, and is now hiding somewhere in the Milky Way, no doubt planning yet another scheme of galactic conquest.
Korggon the Butcher: An immensely powerful mutant from an unknown planet, Korggon revels in battle, destruction, and conquest. He wields a strange alien weapon that looks partly like an axe, partly like a sword, and partly like a spear.
Legion: This teleporting duplicator can turn himself into entire armies in the blink of an eye then cross dozens of light-years and ambush you in another blink. Defeating him typically requires mustering the entire Star*Guard, every superhero they can call in to help, and a few dozen law enforcement agencies and militaries.
Thrale: Usually referred to as the sludgemonster Thrale, this being is best described as a gigantic, intelligent swamp that can survive in outer space. It journeys from planet to planet looking for life to consume into its vast morass. Defeating it usually involves tricking it into moving close enough to a sun or like heat source to dry it up to the point where it enters a hibernation-like state.
Zractor: Composed of pure living energy, Zractor feeds on any major energy source a star, the motion of a planet, an inhabited worlds entire energy grid. The results are often catastrophic. Unfortunately fighting him is difficult, since he can also draw energy from Star-Staffs, living beings, and the like. He usually appears as a humanoid outline made of energy, but he can change his form at will.