Y'all know me; when it comes to the RPGs, I've always been a really plot-driven guy. I get big ideas for storylines to write out, then plan them in near obsessive detail, and if I'm really really lucky, I actually get to play them out. Unfortunately, the nature of the games isn't particularly kind on a lot of long-term plans. Sometimes a new player will come along and pick up a character who was integral to what you were wanting to do. Sometimes you reach a snarl in continuity and the story doesn't make sense in relation to what's already happened. Sometimes real life issues get in the way and you miss your window of opportunity. Sometimes the whole game just dies out before you get the chance. With that in mind, I'm making this thread as a tribute to all the great "what might have beens," all the ideas for stories and arcs that for whatever reason never happened. Lord knows I've got a ton of them myself, but I'd love to hear if any of you guys have some good ones that got left on the cutting room floor. I'll kick things off with one of my favorite could-have-beens: Heroes vs Villains: The Last Days of Norman Osborn If y'all remember, when I picked up Osborn in the HvV RPG, he had resurrected Harry and framed him for being the Green Goblin all along, while also forging a new identity for himself as the Iron Patriot. By rounding up major villains like Magneto and Doc Ock and running off Doctor Doom, the Patriot worked his way into SHIELD, and after a massive attack on the Helicarrier (supposedly by Latverian terrorists in response for defeating Doom), Osborn eventually becomes Director, rechristening the organization as HAMMER. Picking up from there, Osborn hires various celebrities to start doing pro-HAMMER propaganda ads, in order to put a friendly face on their activities. Among them is Mary Jane Watson (who had left Peter after his last encounter with the Goblin), being held against her will and forced into doing these ads specifically to provoke Spider-Man. To further bait Peter into a confrontation, Osborn stages an assassination attempt, framing Black Cat for the crime, and sentencing her to be executed. Spider-Man rescues Felicia and confronts Osborn, who unveils his 'problem solver' who had been silencing dissenting voices within SHIELD: an assassin who appears to be a young girl with reddish-brown hair. Norman reveals that the girl is none other than May 'Mayday' Parker, Peter and MJ's daughter who they believed to have been stillborn way back during the Clone Saga. Osborn had abducted the child, genetically accelerated her growth, and raised her in secret to be a loyal killer for him. Peter is unable to fight his own daughter, and flees with Felicia, leaving MJ still in Osborn's clutches and HAMMER pursuing him as an enemy of the state. Meanwhile, all of the supervillains captured by the Patriot begin to formulate a jailbreak, led by an unlikely alliance between Harry Osborn (still believing that he was the Green Goblin all along) and Doctor Octopus (who had been a partner of Norman before he turned on him). The villains break out, and lead an assault on the Helicarrier, resulting in a three-way battle between the villains, the HAMMER forces, and the Avengers who rally behind Spider-Man to take down Osborn once and for all. While the battle rages, Spider-Man infiltrates the Helicarrier once more to rescue his estranged wife. He's confronted by Mayday once again, whose body is deteriorating due to her accelerated growth. Peter is able to finally get through to his daughter, explaining what happened and what Osborn had done to her, and she agrees to help him free Mary Jane. Together they fight through the HAMMER forces, Mayday growing weaker and more frail as they go, until they reach her cell. Mayday uses the last of her strength to force the door open, and dies in her parents' arms. Outside, Harry and Octavius' villains critically damage the Helicarrier, before being confronted by the Iron Patriot. The Patriot makes quick work of both of the villains, but as he is about to finish them off, Harry crashes into him with the Goblin Glider and a full satchel of Pumpkin Bombs primed to explode. Harry is killed in the explosion, but the Iron Patriot is destroyed as well.....revealing it to be an automated drone. Back inside the crashing Helicarrier, Spider-Man confronts the real Norman Osborn, who attacks him in his full Green Goblin regalia. The two have a pitched and brutal battle, until the carrier crashes into the ground. In the rubble, Spider-Man presses the attack and utterly defeats Osborn. The remnants of SHIELD, taken back into command by Nick Fury, arrest Osborn, charging him for every criminal act the Green Goblin has ever committed. As they're reading him the list of charges, though, a shot rings out, the bullet hitting Norman between the eyes. Osborn takes two more shots through the heart, and falls dead. Spider-Man and the other heroes look on in horror as SHIELD has no choice but to arrest Osborn's killer, Mary Jane.
The more I think about it, the more I didn't really have solid, long-term plans with my older character. I do have them with my current characters, but that would be spoiling it. But the one story/arc I had planned out in advance was this: One Universe: The Major Crimes Unit Returns I ended my MCU first arc with the unit taking down Two-Face's organization, Gordon being fired for manipulating crime statistics, and the MCU being shut down. In reality, Gordon was framed by Deputy Commissioner Grogan and Colonel Flass because the MCU's investigation into money laundering began to tie to the mayor. Grogan became Commish, Flass his deputy. Meanwhile, one of Two-Face's enforcers, "Skinny" Peter Tillman, avoids the net and gets a job helping Penguin and his criminal enterprise in the Southeastern Gotham. The final posts involved Gordon in Greece, closing out the mystery of Gilda Dent's appearance, and Councilman David Kane, a mayoral candidate, paying Penguin to get rid of his drug addicted wife for him. Unknown to Kane, Cobblepot records their conversation. Now, when the next season kicked off, we see a man named Daniel Sullivan return to Gotham after a lengthy exile. He returns home to his elderly mother and young brother, Jimmy. Ten years ago, Danny was a major player in the eastside drug scene with his cousin, Michael "Mink" Sullivan. Some unknown tragedy has led to his exile, something involving the now deceased Salvatore Maroni. Sullivan is now working for the Penguin. Meanwhile, Homicide detectives and former MCU members Crispus Allen and Harvey Bullock investigate the murder of Dina Kane, David Kane's junkie wife. Eyewitnesses say she was killed on a street corner by a unknown assailant. After interviewing Kane, both Bullock and Allen realize the circumstances involving the case are fishy, but there's no proof to tie it to Kane. Three other former MCU detectives, Lieutenant Michael Atkins and detectives Maggie Sawyer and Renee Montoya work in the financial fraud unit. In her spare time, Montoya works through all the laundered money from the Two-Face investigation, properly tracing all the dirty money and contributions. Soon, she pulls Atkins and Sawyer into her investigation and they begin to trace the money back to a police officer: Deputy Commissioner Arnold Flass. Former MCU cops, Sergeant Kasper Cole and Detectives Marcus Driver and Charlie Fields work in the Western District narcotics unit. Their target is Michael Gambol, a brash, young drug dealer who controls most of the westside through market control and intimidation. On the political front, Kane and Mayor Hamilton Hill are two candidates in a four candidate race that involves Bruce Wayne and Deputy Mayor Armand Krohl. Wayne and Kane are leading, with Hill placing third, and Krohl a distant fourth. As the story progresses, Danny Sullivan struggles to find a legitimate job. It's revealed he left town because he murdered Toots Leaggiro, Salvatore Maroni's best friend, after Toots and Maroni tried to encroach on Danny and Mink's territory. Danny reveals he wants to go legit, not so much because it's the right thing to do, but because he knows that once he gets back in the game, he won't stop until he's dead or in prison. All the while, Jimmy Sullivan begins to be attracted by Mink Sullivan's promises of fast and easy cash that he can get from Cobblepot. Soon, Jimmy goes on a job with Skinny Pete. Jimmy watches guard while Pete meets Gambol and his crew, passing them several kilos in drugs. Pete and Mink are seeing meeting with their other contacts, this one with the Pack Motorcycle Club, a notorious biker gang that traffics weapons and meth. Mink and Pete give them arms in exchange for high quality meth to be distributed on the eastside. Another meet is with a man named Carlos, a Latino man who provided Cobblepot, and all of Gotham, with drugs. Unbeknownst to Pete and Mink, Gambol follows them to a meeting. On the police front, Montoya brings her evidence on Flass to Internal Affairs. After careful investigation, IA brings Flass in for questioning. Flass cuts a deal, informing on his former deal with Two-Face, and revealing that he and Grogan framed Gordon. Both men are promptly fired and Jim Gordon is brought back as interim commissioner. Gambol makes his move, offering Carlos more money to cut Cobblepot out the deal. Carols declines, but informs Cobblepot of the deal. Cobblepot cuts Gambol off and declares war. After two weeks, bodies begin to pile up in the normally quiet southeastern district. Jimmy Sullivan makes his first kill, shooting one of Gambol's top lieutenants. Wading in a sea of blood, southeastern district commander Sarah Essen turns to Gordon. Gordon reinstates the Major Crimes Unit, placing Atkins in charge. Sawyer, Montoya join him, along with Cole, Fields, and Driver. Bullock and Allen, too busy with murder cases, can't take part. The MCU's task: Stopping the gang war by bringing down Cobblepot and Gambol's people. The MCU begin their investigation with surveillance and wiretaps. The web surrounding Cobblepot and Gambol begin to grow. They snap up the lower soldiers in both organizations, but cannot go past mid-level members. Their wiretaps catch hearsay and gossip all across the criminal underworld, leading to the arrest of Jimmy Sullivan. Sullivan is charged with murder. Jimmy rolls on Mink, Skinny Pete, and the Pack Motorcycle Gang, but is unable to tie it to Cobblepot. Upon hearing about his brother's imprisonment, Danny Sullivan snaps. He goes out into the night and finds his cousin Mink. After confronting Mink, Danny beats him to death with the butt of a pistol. Disgusted and appalled at what he has done to his own cousin, and the fact that he failed to save his brother, Danny turns himself in to the closest police station. In politics, it's a two man race between Kane and Wayne. While Wayne is more popular, his attitude as a carefree playboy is leading him to not being taken seriously. On election day, only a few points separate the two men. In custody and facing death row, Skinny Pete refuses to roll on Cobblepot, but he gives the police something better: He admits to murdering David Kane's wife. He admits to being paid to do it by Kane. With the ballots coming in and with a narrow lead, Kane is arrested at his campaign headquarters by Bullock and Allen. Bruce Wayne wins the election and appoints Armand Krohl as his Deputy Mayor. Two days into the job, he resigns and Krohl is appointed mayor in Wayne's stead. Krohl's first act is to remove Jim Gordon's interim tag. Fully restored as Commissioner, Gordon makes the MCU a permanent unit and appoints Atkins to Captain. In the epilogue, Cobblepot is talking on the phone with "Little" Walter Perkins, the President of the Pack Motorcycle Club. Little Walter says that half of his club were arrested for weapons trafficking and Cobblepot is to blame. After a back and forth, Little Walter promises to bring his crew to Gotham to make Cobblepot pay for his crimes. In the last post, we see a montage of images: Atkins becoming captain, Gambol meeting Carlos and getting drugs, the Sullivan Brothers in prison, both men with thousand yard stares. The final image of the season is two dozen surly and rough bikers, roaring down the freeway. Gotham City's skyline looms ahead of them.
GI Joe: The Illuminati Sanction The concept would be that Flint and several GI Joes are framed for a crime during one of their missions. They were Court-Martialed and sentenced to life in a maximum security stockade. No human contact or news from the outside world. It is a completely automated prison and they don't even have contact with one another. Then one day their cell-doors open up on their own, and as they step out they see General Hawk standing there. He manages to smuggle them out of the prison to an auxilary GI Joe base that Hawk and been working on for years in secret. A lot of the equipment is 20 years past it's prime, but it can still be used and best of all none it is tracable. Hawk tells them that it's been five years since they were locked up and the war between GI Joe and Cobra is now over. Many of them were killed in a battle with The Illuminati and those that weren't killed were taken prisoner and brainwashed and are now loyal to the Illuminati. The Illuminati is a group of men and women who feel it is their destiny to rule over the planet and everyone else is to serve them alone. Hawk saw this day coming and he was the one who set up Flint and everyone else to keep them out of the system, so when the time was right he would release them and they would wage war against the Illuminati. It was Hawk's plan they would meet up with others who would want to join them and that they would restart GI Joe. Hawk tells Flint that his first assignment is that Flint must kill him. Hawk tells him that the only way this will work is that if he is dead, because it's only a matter of time before the Illuminati finds him and they are able to extract the information out of him about Flint and the others. Hawk made a deal with certain members of the Illuminati that if he sold out GI Joe Hawk would be the head of their military and Cobra would be destroyed. Hawk thought he could destroy the Illuminati from within, he failed. Flint of course is resistant to doing this, until Hawk tells him that he was the one who executed Lady Jaye even shows him the video of it happening. Flint is about to execute him until a sword suddenly rips through Hawk's chest, and from out of the shadows is a badly wounded and beaten Snake Eyes.... And the game would pick up from that point.
I'm interested, but...I'm already spread pretty thin on the RPGs...but I gotta admit...it would be fun...I need to think it over.
Back in the first Marvel RPG, I played Kasper Cole in season six and seven. He was my favourite to play of all my characters, playing him the longest alongside Cris Allen. While writing, I kept a text file with all my plans in shorthand. Unfortunately, the game stalled halfway through season seven. Season VI: "Everybody Loves Kasper" -> Introduction to cast Prologue: Gwen (girlfriend), Ruth (mom) and Jack (son) Part I: Josiah X (Justice) Part II: Hunter (White Wolf) Part III: "Black Jack" Cole Part IV: Danny Vincent (Junta) Part V: The Precinct Conclusion: Jack (son) "According to Kasper" -> Marvel Knights Prologue: The Tipper Part I: MS13/Latin Kings Part II-IX: Luke Cage Part X-XVIII: Cage, Moon Knight and Daredevil Conclusion: Home Season VII: "Kasper Meets World" Prologue: Kasper Cole in high school Part I-VI: Daredevil/Bushwacker Part VII-XIII: Captain America/Agent 13/Bloodshed Interlude: The other White Tigers Part XIV: Coming home, Gwen/Ruth/Jack Part XV-XIX: Echo/Elektra Part XX-XXIV: Zombie-attack/Cannonball and the other heroes Part XXV-XXXVIII: Echo/Daredevil/Kingpin/Japan (1) Interlude II: Angela Del Toro discovers Kasper's missing Part XXXIX-XXXX?: Echo/Daredevil/Kingpin/Japan (2) Conclusion: Kasper finds his apartment inhabitated by others Epilogue: Convo with Josiah/Ruth/Gwen/Sal Anthony Epilogue 2: Convo with Kingpin - pictures of meeting are taken Epilogue 3: Kasper meets Peter Parker at night shop - 'with great power...' --Status quo after "Kasper Meets World"-- - Gwen, Jack and Ruth live with Josiah. - Kasper lives in a one-room-apartment. - Kasper is suspended from the police force. Internal Affairs Detective Franklin "Delay" De Laguardia 'saves' him. - Kasper contemplates discarding WT identity "Kasper and the Man" Prologue: Killmonger, Black Panther/T'Challa, White Wolf/Hunter, 66 Bridges -> Set-up to "The Double Life of Kasper Cole" Part I: 'White Tiger No More!' Part II: Kasper visits Black Jack Part III: Gwen's parents come to visit, they accept Gwen again Part IV: Hatut Zeraze attack White Tiger - Hunter has disappeared/is dead Part V: Introduce Vin Gonzales and Carlie Cooper as Kasper delves in Hunter case Interlude III: Angela Del Toro keeping an eye on Kasper Part VI: 66 Bridges attack Conclusion: Final stand-off with Black Jack, Kasper lets his father escape --Status quo after "Kasper and the Man"-- - Gwen, Jack and Ruth live with Kasper again. - Kasper is back on the beat. - Black Jack has escaped from jail. - Kasper becomes the White Tiger even more often. "The Double Life of Kasper Cole" -> Everything comes crashing down -> Series of events destroy Kasper's life systematically -> Unclear who is behind it -> Either Killmonger, White Wolf or Black Panther (last one just a thought of Kasper's in "Everybody Hates Kasper") -> Fired from the police force -> framejob or clever manipulation? -> Gwen and Jack move out to Gwen's parents -> His apartment is destroyed by Bloodshed, who now knows of Kasper's secret identity -> His mother is brought to a hospital -> Kasper returns to the apartment, where he finds Bloodshed -> Bloodshed beats Kasper Cole to near death -> Defeated and broken, Kasper has a convo with 'ghost' Hunter/White Wolf Conclusion: Kasper finally turns to T'Challa, who tells him he can no longer be the White Tiger. --Status quo after "The Double Life of Kasper Cole"-- - Gwen and Jack have left to live with Gwen's parents. - Kasper is fired from the force. - Kasper is stripped of the White Tiger mantle, by T'Challa and the Wakandan elders. - Kasper essentially has no one and nothing left but his mother. "Everybody Hates Kasper" -> Pick-up where we left off: T'Challa stripping Kasper of the mantle -> T'Challa refuses to help, Kasper leaves angrily Part ??: Convo with Junta over phone about what it means to lose White Tiger mantle -> Junta can't help him -> Kasper Cole unearths the conspiracy and defeats his opponents -> Does so with the use of a public library computer, no Wakandan gadgets -> It is Kasper Cole, not the White Tiger, that saves the day Conclusion: T'Challa gives Kasper his White Tiger title back, Kasper tells his family about his superhero identity Season VIII - two/three months later: -> Kasper lives with Ruth, Gwen and Jack in a spacious apartment. -> Kasper is studying IT.
There are alot of scrapped plans and ideas, but the one that probably went through the most revisions was probably what would have ended the first incarnation of the Ultimate DC RPG. As some may remember, my version of Batman in the first game was essentially like the mainstream Batman - as much as I wanted to ingrain his continuity with changes and plenty of clever little reinventions, I was just too attached to the idea of playing the character at all to step too far beyond the limits of what I knew to be the general mythos. That was set to change by the time that we moved into the "Crisis" season of UDC, set to be the final season before a reboot would ever come - and it eventually did, but only after Season Three up and died. Spoiler Batman - Ultimate DC Volume 1, Season IV (Crisis) In a move proposed through MSN conversations with Andy C., Season 4 would have started out with a huge League of Assassins presence, infiltrating the many factions controlling Gotham City - the GCPD, the Mayor's office, Arkham Asylum, you name it - and manipulating them all to specifications under direct orders from Ra's Al Ghul, soon to arrive in Gotham to extract a long-planned vengeance against Bruce Wayne for the death of Talia (which was one of the few things that remained consistent between versions). Leading the charge would be Ra's new agent of the League, and his ultimate weapon to set loose against Batman: a Russian-bred and highly trained assassin under Ra's guidance named Arayna Alisov, having taken up residence in Gotham City as struggling actress 'Selina Kyle'. Trained specifically to become Bruce's equal, made to closely study the methods and skills of The Batman, Ra's would have brainwashed her into believing that he was responsible for the deaths of her family many years ago, giving her the exact same drive that pushed Wayne to become Batman in order to turn her into Ra's primary lieutenant, the deadly Catwoman. Through his encounters on the parallel world that the Justice League visited in Season Three, Batman would have upgraded his arsenal considerably. Abandoning the traditional Batsuit and gadgets, he would have started utilizing something a bit more in line with Batman Beyond: Everything on the suit would be designed, more or less, to make Bruce appear the least human as possible and really sell the myth that Batman is a creature of the night, complete with retractable glider wings to forgoe the cape, a cloaking feature, vampiric teeth, leathery skin-molded armor, the works. The idea was that while Batman needed to be a heroic presence in Gotham, he was becoming less feared by an increasingly ruthless criminal element that had only been further inspired by freaks like The Joker, Two-Face, The Scarecrow, and others. So Bruce needed to step up his game, willing to take a few more risks than usual. Around the time of Ra's assault, while Batman was busy trying to contain the chaos and fight off Catwoman at every turn, The Joker would have acquired some information that only a select few are privy to: that Bruce Wayne is Batman, something that would have slipped out of Harleen Quinzell during one of their sessions at Arkham. Harleen had dated Bruce briefly, and while the relationship would have ended abruptly and - to Harleen - regretfully, Joker would have unwittingly manipulated her into giving away the secret she had figured out through simple psychological profile. Plotting to bring ruin to his enemy and drive him to the brink of insanity, The Joker would have suddenly and inexplicably vanished. John Grayson, who Eddie Brock had established as a Detective working for the GCPD, would have died in the same way that it more or less played out in the timeline before the current RPG: Spurned on by threats against his family, particularly his son Dick, Grayson relentlessly pursued mobster Tony Zucco for most of the season. This would prove to be his undoing, because despite asking for Batman's help to kill Zucco in a moment of weakness, Batman would have rejected him - putting a wedge between him and the Detective, aswell as Gordon and the GCPD in general, who didn't know the depth of Grayson's desperation or what he intended to do when he got to Zucco. The firefight would have ended before Batman could eventually arrive to control the situation, leaving John with a mortal would in the chest. Asked to look after John's son, a guilt-ridden Batman would have accepted. Gordon, still oblivious to the fact that Grayson wanted Batman to help him murder Zucco, would have nevertheless blamed Batman for failing to save John in time and turned against him. 13-year-old Dick Grayson would last be seen in an orphanage, socially outcast from the rest of the kids there, only to be approached by Alfred Pennyworth with some fateful news: That billionaire Bruce Wayne, for whatever reason, wanted to adopt him. Getting increasingly serious with District Attorney Rachel Dawes, who I had established as one of Batman's primary confidants, Bruce would entertain the idea of eventually giving up the Batman role when he was forced to answer questions regarding the suffering of his own sanity due to recent events. In an extreme move to help himself purge the desire to be Batman, Bruce would have asked Rachel to marry him once "the war" would start drawing to it's inevitable close. She would have accepted, and a short-lived engagement would have shown a different side of Bruce's psyche - the part of him that would want a normal life, and the part that could even show promise of happiness and willingness to move on from his parents' death. That would have all come to a tragic end, when The Joker would have reappeared after a month of inactivity, taunting Batman with oddly specific crimes against Wayne Enterprises and Lucius Fox, whom The Joker would have savagely beaten and left for dead. So distracted with hunting down the criminal, Batman wouldn't have noticed when The Joker made a play for his fiancee, viciously attacking her and strapping her to the Batsignal, stained with blood, to lure The Dark Knight into a bitter confrontation. The two would clash and Batman would desperately try to save the woman he loved, but it would be too late: In the midst of the struggle, Joker would rig a dummy pistol to go off whenever Batman snatched it from his grasp, striking Rachel and effectively killing her. Thrown into a severe state of rage as Joker taunted him, the two would have a fight that would span across the entirety of Gotham. Night after night, their private war would only escalate, causing destruction and chaos the likes of which nobody would have ever seen. The Joker, in a final taunt, would even rope Bruce's former love Harleen into the mix, turning her into the sadistic Harley Quinn by edging on her feelings of resentment towards Bruce for abandoning her. Harley would prove to be the catalyst for things to come, as Batman's rage would have blinded him to his duties as a hero so severely that when The Joker unleashed his master plan - to destroy Gotham with a nuclear powered earthquake device, helped achieved by an offer from Lex Luthor - he would be unable to stop Harley from pulling the trigger. Gotham would crumble, beginning with Wayne Manor and The Batcave, pinning Alfred away and killing him just as he would manage to save the newly adopted Dick Grayson from certain death aswell. The quake would extent to select parts of the city, ripping it apart and forcing Batman to take cover. By the time that the violent quake would end, only two men would be left standing in the wreckage - him and The Joker. Of course, Batman would best him eventually, but not before making him pay for everything that he had stolen from him. Picking up a gun and directly breaking his vow never to use firearms, a spiritually broken Batman would shoot the clown directly in the face, shattering his porcelain harlequin mask into several pieces and slaughtering the Realizing what he had done, Batman would drop the gun, march out to the site of the destruction, and drop to his knees with his hands behind his head - waiting for the oncoming GCPD and Gordon to arrive to arrest him and lock him away in Arkham for the rest of his life. At the end of the day, even he wouldn't have been able to escape the insanity brought about by Gotham's poisonous influence. Since this was the last season of that continuity, I felt no real need to give him an ending on a high-note. Rather, everything was designed to directly tie into what I would eventually do in the new Ultimate DC RPG, reflecting the state of all of my changes to the mythos in varying ways: For example, with the elder Alfred dead and Wayne Manor destroyed, that would have hinted at my inclusion of a younger version of the character and the switch to a penthouse suite in Wayne Tower. John Grayson would be dead, having become a reference as Bruce's "Gordon" like ally in replacement of Gordon himself, and Dick would be adopted and ready to be set on the path to becoming Robin. Gordon's turn against Batman would echo his reboot aswell, as it had always been the plan for Batman and Gordon to be at odds in the new continuity - Catman just ramped it up to 11 whenever he introduced that Jim is not only strictly anti-vigilantism, he's also a bit unhinged himself. Catwoman would have eventually learned the truth and saw through Ra's lies about Batman's involvement in the deaths of her family, which in reality were orchastrated assassinations by the League of Assassins themselves, leading to Catwoman and Batman teaming up to undo Ra's plan. This would have lead to the reboot I had planned for Selina right up until just before the RPG started: As Bruce's on-again, off-again steady girlfriend who was fully restored as an American socialite, destined to become an undead version of Catwoman as a callback to Batman Returns. With the way Eddie introduced her, however, I was very much relieved to have never gone through with this. His version of Selina was far superior, and a greater ultimization than I could have ever done. Spike and I planned to have done the whole Bane rivalry exactly as it played out in the new RPG, except that at one point, we thought about the notion that The Joker would have played more of a direct part in his scheme to further torment Bruce Wayne. He wouldn't have influenced Bane or anything, but he would definitely have secured a ringside seat to what would eventually be "the breaking of the Bat", something that became increasingly difficult to picture fitting into the end of Season IV - which led to where we are now, with it having been completely transitioned over to the reboot. I had other small changes too, like Jonathan Crane being cleared of his crimes as The Scarecrow and becoming a public psychiatric expert on costumed criminals, Harvey Dent working towards rehabilitation and becoming more like his movie counterpart from The Dark Knight, Arkham Asylum being burnt to the ground to make way for Arkham Island and the "first encounters" with most of the villains in the reboot, and The Joker being reintroduced as a mute serial killer with a permanent grin who could only express himself through his bizarrely artistic crimes and sadistic murders. That, too, was something I was kind of glad to see negated whenever Johnny Blaze introduced the Belsaraph Circus ringmaster version of the character. A mute Joker would have only worked for so long. But yeah, that was my plan for the other RPG. Take your time if you're really foolish enough read it, I know it's longwinded as ****.
Annnd I just stumbled upon this, too. Back when World of Heroes was wrapping up (you may have remembered that I failed to properly give the RPG or Superman a proper close before the closing of the thread), I had a pretty detailed plan for how to end the Superman mythos for that continuity. It was just a little to daunting for me to actually write into the game, so my final posts as Superman suffered for trying to rush an ending together that would fit with the actual ending of the plans and still seem like a worthy end to World of Heroes. The plan would have involved alot of the major rogues, but it would have been set off by the return of one of Superman's more infamous: Doomsday. Spoiler As Doomsday edges a path of destruction closer to Kent Farm, Superman is intercepted by Parasite on flight there. Discerning that Parasite is another alien duplicate created by Brainiac, he's nevertheless nearly drained of his powers. Rescued by Supergirl, the two fight Parasite off as he begins to exert varying enemy abilities (ex: Zod, Metallo, Brainiac, Livewire, any others). Superman and Supergirl both fly fake Parasite clone into space, destroying him by flying him into the sun. Doomsday arrives at Kent Farm. The monster fights off Krypto, Martha Kent's only means of protection, and nearly destroys the Kent house before Superman finally touches down. The battle begins, and Doomsday is more powerful than before. Supergirl attends to Martha, flies her off to the Fortress. Doomsday (revealed to be another duplicate) begins to speak, revealing himself as Brainiac returned. Superman pushes himself to absolute limit to stop Doomsday, but realizes that he can't stop the beast, flying back to Metropolis and baiting Doomsday to follow. Both crashland at STAR Labs. Superman calls upon Dr. John Henry Irons, who's given up his life as Steel to become head of research and development. As Doomsday attacks the facility to get to Superman, Dr. Irons breaks his sabbatical to unleash an ultra-prototype of a new Steel armor to fight him off as Superman searches for the Phantom Zone projector, the only thing that can successfully isolate Doomsday from Earth. Steel and Doomsday continue their battle as Superman tries to call in backup from the League. Diana is on her way, Barry is in the middle of a crisis, Batman isn't availible, Hal Jordan doesn't respond, Supergirl is still at the Fortress. Distraught, Superman manages to break through the underground bunker of STAR Labs once finding the Phantom Zone projector - only to witness Steel's death at Doomsday's hands. Overcome with grief at the loss of Steel, Superman forgoes the projector and faces Doomsday head on, unleashing everything he had felt over the last few months, beginning with the death of Johnathan Kent. He keeps beating on Doomsday until Wonder Woman arrives to talk him down and convince him to use the projector. Superman relents and Doomsday is banished to the Phantom Zone. Superman takes Steel's body and flies it away to be given to relatives. Unable to cope with the guilt of having let Steel die, Clark briefly considers if he's done more harm than good while being Superman. Lois convinces him that while the loss is great, the loss would only be greater if he had never decided to be a hero. The two decide that while he won't give up the identity of Superman, he can afford to table it for now until the birth of their child. Brainiac's last duplicate, that of Darkseid, descends upon the abandoned Justice League Satellite and attacks Supergirl and various other heroes, including Captain Atom, Black Lightning, Fire, Zatanna, Cyborg, and John Stewart/GL. Clark wrestles with the decision to go and help, but once Darkseid taunts him over the communications' line, he flies off to save them. Bringing Krypto along, who's barely healed from the encounter with Doomsday, Superman and Darkseid square off with Darkseid fighting Superman on the moon. They crash back into the satalliete and Superman activates the emergency shields. Darkseid nearly beats Superman within an inch of his life before Batman (Byrd) finally arrives to lend a hand. Brainiac finally reveals the location of his host shell, the ruins of the planet Krypton. Superman departs from the scene and flies into deep space. Back on Earth, however, things take a turn for the traumatic as Lois Lane goes into labor with their child. While Perry tries to call an ambulance, a disturbance downtown causes the building to nearly crumble. Superman confronts Brainiac. Brainiac reveals his plan to test the endurance of Superman's abilities to finally remove him from the equation of his plan to consume the knowledge of Earth. Superman becomes enraged that Steel had to die for Brainiac's "study" and begins destroying the ship. Brainiac offers him an ultimatum in order to spare himself, giving Superman the crystal nessecary to raise up a New Krypton on Earth. Superman declines the offer, Brainiac is defeated, his remains floating off into deep space never to return. Superman takes the crystal and shatters it, deciding some memories are better off as memories. Realizing that he too may share this fate as he becomes increasingly older, Superman flies back to return to Lois... only to realize something is terribly wrong as he approaches Metropolis. As Superman speeds towards the crumbling Daily Planet, he's shot down by a giant kryptonite beam. Lex Luthor steps out onto the streets, having returned. This begins the final fight with Lex Luthor. Wonder Woman, The Flash, Supergirl, and even Ferro-Lad join in to help, but it is ultimately Superman who stands against him alone. Lex reveals how he managed to live past his death, using a Luthor from an alternate universe to die for the cause. The extent of Superman's affliction is also revealed, with Lex asking Superman the ultimate question - choose between a future where he is Superman and Lois is dead, or choose a future where he isn't Superman and the whole world suffers. Lex is defeated, of course, but a gravely weakened Superman rushes the injured Lois to a hospital. Realizes that she and the baby may die before it can be birthed, and distraught by the traumatic revealation, Superman flies off to retrieve the one tool that he can possibly use to save Lois' life - the same birthing matrix that brought him back to life when he was thought dead. But in order for it to work on Lois, and in turn the baby, Superman would have to give up his Kryptonian DNA and become human. Superman drains his own power and, using the technology of the Fortress, creates a formula that houses his DNA. But rather than use it to return his powers, Clark uses a boom tube from the Fortress' weapon room to teleport him, the matrix, and the formula back to Metropolis General. As Lois lay dying, Clark gives her the formula and has the doctors place her into the Matrix, with instructions from Superman after 'all that Miss Lane has done for him'. As her DNA begins to transform into a Kryptonian's, Clark heartfeltedly explains that he'll do whatever he can to make sure the world always has a Superman, even if he isn't one anymore. The process works and Lois is healed just in time to deliver their baby boy, who they name Christopher Samuel Kent. With a tear of joy, Clark experiences his first moment of pride and happiness as a human - embarking on a new life with his family. The final post cuts to twenty years in the future, where Clark Kent is working as a partially retired reporter specializing in human interest pieces, living just outside of Metropolis in a rebuilt version of the Kent farm. He has not been Superman since the day that he gave his powers up to save Lois and Chris. Lois is now editor-in-chief of The Daily Planet, who has sent along a message that says she'll be late to dinner. Chris arrives home between his studies in college. Clark's son has grown to be just as respectful and courteous as his father, as evidenced when he begins helping out and speaking fondly on his experiences. Just as the two begin to share a moment of bonding, Chris' super hearing kicks in, alerting him to a danger within town. With his father's permission, Chris rushes off, tearing open his shirt and revealing a familiar emblem underneath, indicating that he has become the next Man of Steel. We end on Clark watching his leave from a distance with a wide smile, joined by a returned Lois. Just as they see the red and blue blur fade into the city, Clark begins to notice that he's gently floating off of the ground. Lois notices too, and in her surprise, can only remark on Clark's only reaction - amusement. "Heh." The end. My intention was to always write this into the end of WOH as a completed arc, despite the closing of the thread, but unfortunately that was months ago and I still haven't gotten around to it - probably indicating that I never will. It would have required some revisions, because I discovered a similar Brainiac/Doomsday arc with Andy's Superman in the season prior, negating that angle and forcing me to scrap it for the sake of not ripping him off. Which is where Bizarro came in during my rushed alternative in the actual game, when I was fighting against time to wrap Supes' story up. But ultimately, it would have always ended the exact same way. Eh, oh well.
Damn. I had a vague idea of how I was going to close out Superman before I dropped him, but yeah, yours is way better.
World of Heroes DC RPG Catman_prb and I had contrived this plotline for Rose and Tim that we wound up not finishing because I left the RPGs. Rose was pregnant with Tim's baby at the time. Tim was also cheating with Spoiler, which Rose would come to discover and grow bitter over. We had intended on having Rose lose the baby in an accident, and blame Tim. She was to then leave and go into her own exile as she meditated on her bitterness only to be recruited by the Suicide Squad. The Squad would've been comprised of all Titans enemies and, led by Rose, the Squad would've assaulted the Titans at their tower. During the conflict, Rose and Tim would have it out as they battled. When Tim realized how much he hurt Rose, he drops his guard and Rose comes up behind him as she stabs her sword upwards through his rib cage and out through his chest saying, "Now you know what it's like to be stabbed in the back." Having accomplished her goal in getting revenge on Tim, she would stand down and the Titans would gain victory over the assault by the Squad. Tim would later recover in the hospital, meanwhile Rose would be committed to Arkham Asylum. Months later, Tim would visit Rose in the Asylum with a child - their child. Tim tells her that she never lost the child because Tim was able to save him. He didn't know at the time if the child would live, so he didn't want to tell her anything that could give her false hope. Tim then tells Rose he hopes she'll get to meet their child one day when she's better. Tim then tells the boy, "Come on, Terry, you'll see mommy again someday." Their kid's name was an obvious nod at Terry McGuiness. We even planned on doing an arc with a possible future where their son was Batman Beyond.
Back when I was toying with the idea of rejoining World of Heroes, I had the idea that the Parasite had replaced Superman at some point and was infiltrating the Justice League for some purpose that I hadn't come up with (maybe it was just to be a jerk). I think Andy was playing Supes at the time, so I might've discussed this with him at some point. It was going to be building for a long time, with Superman's behavior slowly slipping into the supervillain category over the course of maybe an entire season or two. Very gradual buildup. The League eventually confronts Clark and a fight breaks out and the team starts to conspicuously get weaker and weaker as it progresses, until Superman suddenly shapeshifts into the form of the Parasite. No ending planned for how he would eventually get defeated. It would've been Superman's player filling the role of the character until the moment of the reveal, when I jump into the driver's seat in what I had hoped would be a big surprise to the other players as much as it would be for their characters. Anyway, the real struggling point for me on this was trying to come up with a motivation for Rudy. When I left off with the character, he had reached a realization of how pointless his life as a supervillain had been. And he had recently gone through an arc with his baby daughter where he discovered how dangerous and horrible he'd be even when trying not to be a villain, where his murderous nature would inevitably come though. There was just no reason for him to start picking another fight with Superman or any other hero at that time. So I ditched those plans, although shades of that storyarc were present in the UDC season finale of Dr. Destiny controlling Superman and a fight breaking out with the League.
I also had the idea in One Earth with Bruce Banner to round out his character over the course of an entire full season before ever turning him into the Hulk. Make the guy likeable and nice to the heroes he meets, but establish to the reader (but none of the other characters except for Leonard Samson, his friend and psychiatrist) that he's just a mess of repressed rage and other emotional problems on the inside. He eventually departs from LexCorp and begins helping the superhero community on the technology side of things, and the season ending finale would be his gamma-related accident that turns him into the mindless version of the Hulk and having a raging fight with the heroes for an action packed climactic finale. I was really gung-ho for this one, but one thing after another kept cropping up in real life that demanded my attention until Banner's story eventually just fell through the cracks.
That reminds me of the stuff I had planned for Tim, whenever I took over. It wasn't nearly as detailed or intricate as your plan, and it certainly wasn't one of those mega-length posts I just did, but the basic premise of my run was that Tim was saying goodbye to everything from his youth. Becoming a soon-to-be father would force him to grow up before he'd ever thought he'd have to, and he didn't necessarily want it to happen. I had planned for a bunch of stuff to happen that would reference different periods of his life, such as a final mission as a member of the Teen Titans before retiring from the team, a team-up with Damian Wayne that would have had Tim - despite his morality clouding his judgement of Damian being Robin at all - showing him the ropes and parting off some trade secrets to working with his father, a one-on-one showdown with each of the worst Gotham City criminals that I could get my hands on, a budding romance with a more matured Stephanie Brown, and finally, protecting Captain Boomerang from being assassinated whenever he'd be implicated in the death of a mobster's wife during a botched robbery. Even though Captain Boomerang killed his father, and would make no secret about never regretting it. This would all culminate into a huge showdown with Deathstroke, looking to steal and corrupt Rose and Tim's child, that would be the crux of both Syn's arc and mine. Having finally absolved himself of everything that kept him tied to his past, Red Robin would prove himself more formidable against Deathstroke than even he would have imagined, systematically taking out Slade's series of weapons cache within Gotham and making it clear that his son was off limits to his grandfather. Of course, this would only be the warmup to the actual Tim/Rose fight, but it would be the final step in proving that Tim had graduated into full adulthood. After he recovered from the injury suffered to his heart, Tim would ask Stephanie to move with him and Terry to New York, where Red Robin would find his own city to protect. She'd agree, they'd kiss, and the three would leave Gotham behind for good - leading to the final post, where a 30-something Red Robin and Batgirl, now a seasoned Stephanie, would take on a street gang in Manhattan while 10-year-old Terry watched from the sidelines, being looked after by his uncle Dick and aunt Barbara.
Here's another one that I quite enjoyed thinking up, but had to scrap due to the fact that it would have interfered with the storyline plans for.....well, everyone. Ultimate DC: Luthor's World Order Specifically UDCv2, but major portions of this were originally conceived back in UDCv1, so I consider it a concept for both games. When Season 1 of UDCv2 ended, Lex Luthor had unveiled his master plan to Superman: create massive global upheaval via a worldwide nuclear holocaust, rebuilding civilization completely from scratch according to the vision of himself and the other members of the Society. With Superman dying from Kryptonite poisoning aboard Luthor's Watchtower on the moon, and no one else in the Justice League aware of what had happened, there seemed to be nothing standing in the way between Lex and world domination. When Season 2 picked up, the plan had been subverted by a mysterious interloper, who would later be revealed to be Brainiac. However, that wasn't what I originally had in mind. In my original plan, Lex's master plan would be stopped by.....nothing at all. Lex and the Society carry out the greatest act of mass murder in human history, wiping entire nations off the map, and bringing civilization crashing down. Convinced he's no longer a threat, Lex dumps Superman and Lois Lane off in the Arctic and leaves them to die, before heading back into the world to go about the process of reconstruction. Superman and Lois survive thanks to a monitoring device inside Kal-El's ship, which finds the dying Kryptonian and transforms into a shelter around him, becoming the Fortress of Solitude. Clark eventually recuperates from the Kryptonite poisoning and returns to Metropolis, to find the world has completely changed. Metropolis is the one major city not hit by the nuclear attack, and thus becomes the de facto capital of a recovering world. It's choked with refugees from other cities, and brutally policed by LexCorp's private security forces. With conventional energy sources eliminated, survivors are completely dependent on Luthor's mysterious free-energy source called 'The Blue' (revealed to be a comatose Dr. Manhattan, since UDCv2 allowed characters from Watchmen and Vertigo, etc), making Lex the one lifeline keeping society going. Across the world, the Society enforces order. The remaining populations of China, Japan, India, and southeast Asia are brought under the heel of Ra's al Ghul. Russia and Western Europe unite under the iron-clad rule of Vandal Savage. Felix Faust uses his magical power to restore stability to Eastern Europe. All of whom spread Luthor's Blue-powered technology to their regions to create a world order that views Luthor and his cronies as their savior from an apocalyptic wasteland. Of course, not everyone takes all this lying down. Wonder Woman (assuming that Superman's still out of action from the K-poisoning) leads the League on a crusade to expose and depose Luthor. Batman becomes a major disrupting force against Luthor's mercenary police, who have been abusing the refugees and survivors within the massive ghetto that is the remains of Gotham City. Perry White and the Daily Planet crew become an underground pirate press, spreading information tying Luthor to the attacks that destroyed the world in the first place. Millions of refugees escape the land and head to sea, living among a massive fleet of ships ranging from cruise ships to fishing boats, a floating city patrolled and protected by Aquaman. The Society brands the League as terrorists trying to destabilize the global order, and secretly unleashes the Legion of Doom on them (the current Legion is led by Vandal Savage, but in the UDCv1 version, it would've been the Joker, and included Parasite, Grodd, Bizarro, Cheetah, Black Manta, and Professor Zoom) While Luthor intends for the Legion of Doom to hunt down and kill the League, Joker betrays him, opting instead to turn his new-found firepower on the surviving cities just for the sheer hell of it. The Justice League spends the majority of the Season attempting to fight off the Legion, as well as liberate the world from Luthor's grip. This was more of just a 'new status quo' thing rather than a fully fleshed-out story, so I don't have a lot of details in the exact whens and wheres and whys of the three-way world war between the League, the Legion, and the Society, but it ain't pretty, and the body count is pretty staggering. I do know the way I wanted it to end was that the League would revive Dr. Manhattan, who would vaporize Luthor for enslaving him, then leave the Earth without so much as a thank-you-kindly. However, the League would still have one trick left up their sleeve: a temporal tunneling device based off of the Cosmic Treadmill. Assuming Flash is killed during the final battle, Superman is the only one fast enough to operate it. Harkening back to the end of Superman: The Movie, Clark flies into space and gives the machine every ounce of speed he's got, fueling the device just enough to travel back in time to when Luthor abducted Lois to the Watchtower. This time, future-Supes grabs the chunk of Kryptonite out of Luthor's hands, flying out into space with the poisonous rock as it kills him, but allows past-Supes to stop Lex, rescue Lois, and prevent the global catastrophe from ever taking place.
I've got a biggie from the Star Wars game...but I'm hesitant to post it because I'm hoping to be able to see it through at some point....but it doesn't look like that game is gonna be restarted...
The Return of Spider-Man (Ultimate Marvel v.1) For those unaware of this, I got to briefly play Ultimate Spider-Man in Ultimate Marvel after Syn, the previous player, taking over from MB who had played the character after Spider-Man9x17's run, had left the games. Now, while I did get to play him, it was very brief, and I technically was playing Peter Parker/Ricochet, being that I had picked him up after Syn's Ultimate version of "Spider-Man, No More...", in which Peter tried living a normal life after General Nick Fury of SHIELD told him he could not be Spider-Man anymore after an incident at Midtown High involving Peter's rogue clone after having bonded to the Venom Suit. However, after having tried to live a normal life, Peter realized (with the help of Mary Jane) that he had to resume his superheroic responsibilities. However, he did this under the new identity of "Ricochet", a darker, more serious vigilante employing the use of miniature disc weapons as his primary form of offense. Under this new guise, he could continue to help people and even took down Hydro-Man (a fight I got the pleasure of writing the end to after having been approved before it's conclusion) and that's where I took over. During my tenure, I had the character form a more friendly bond with his clone, Tarantula, and had another Spider-Man roaming the streets and causing havoc, tarnishing the hero's name (even more). This "Other Spider-Man" was briefly played by Mr. Marko and then Matt Murdock, before the game came to it's end after the initial face-off between Ricochet and the evil Spider-Man. My final post was of Peter awakening from the state of unconsciousness he was left in after his defeat, only to find himself in SHIELD lock-up, and Nick Fury standing outside his cell. Fury, seeing the impostor and all the destruction he's causing, FINALLY decides to allow Peter to resume being Spider-Man and subsequently releases Peter, allowing him to find the Spider-Fake and challenge him to a rematch. The post ended on an ominous note, with Fury telling his right hand woman as to why he allowed Peter to be Spider-Man again, saying how it didn't matter, because as soon as he was legal, Parker would be under his control, whether he wanted it or not... They all would (implying every superhuman not already under his employ). That was when the game unfortunately died and was rebooted. My plans from there were going to be Peter facing his double who would be revealed to be Carnage (as per Matt Murdock's suggestion). However, my original idea while Marko played the fake was going to be that the fake was going to be a long lost clone of Peter and the Ultimate version of Doppelganger, featuring the ability to turn into a more "Spider-like" form, sharing traits with the other clones (Tarantula's extra arms, Spider-Woman's biological webbing, Kaine's "Mark of Kaine" ability) as well as the traditional Doppelganger teeth and animalistic behavior, and he was also going to have stingers like Peter did after "The Other" in 616. However, I decided to have it be the shape-shifting Carnage, being that I didn't really see the need to introduce ANOTHER clone when Carnage could basically be a monstrous Spider-Impostor like I had intended Ultimate Doppelganger to be. The final fight was intended to take place atop The Daily Bugle, where I was going to have Spider-Man lure the impostor there for the final fight. However, that was just the beginning, as I wanted to eventually move the fight to Times Square, where Carnage would finally be defeated, but Peter lost his mask during the fight... However, just as camera crews all tried to get a shot of the hero unmasked, every electronic device within range of Peter had mysteriously stopped working, giving Peter ample time to find his mask and swing away, his identity only known to whatever strangers laid eyes on him in Times Square, none of whom knew who he was at all. Just some kid, they thought. As for the blackout, it was going to be revealed that it was Fury's doing. He didn't want Peter's identity to be made public, so he arranged for one of his SHIELD agents, the Prowler, whom he's ordered to keep tabs on Parker after his release from the Triskelion, to set off an EMP after Peter lost his mask, effectively doing the young hero a favor, and from there, I was going to have the Ultimate version of Prowler be an antagonist/ally of Peter's and even reveal him to be Nick Fury's son... Also, one of the concepts I wanted to introduce was Peter deciding to take up photography as a high school elective class, as well as have him reveal his identity to J.J. somehow, causing Jameson to no longer slander Spider-Man's name. I also had an idea for Peter to form a "network" of teen heroes for him to call upon for help when there's a huge threat and the Fantastic Four, X-Men and Ultimates are busy, featuring his good clones, Iceman, Johnny Storm and Kitty Pryde as well as other teen heroes he's friends with. I was going to introduce this network when Peter tries to resist being drafted and come into conflict with the "Young Ultimates", Nick Fury's team of underage heroes he wants Spider-Man to join so he can finally be under his thumb, but Spider-Man with the help of Iceman, Human Torch, Kitty Pryde and Tarantula would defeat them and tell Fury off. They were gonna be the new Ultimate Patriot (Rikki Barnes), Ultimate Iron Lad (Amadeus Cho), the previously introduced Kate Bishop (under the codename Mockingbird) and Hulkling, and finally rounding out the team was going to be Ultimate Thunderstrike (Kevin Masterson) based off of the MC2/616 version, son of Eric Masterson, wielding the Thunderstrike Mace, which was going to be similar in look to Ultimate Thor's hammer. But anyways, that's as much as I had planned... Man what I would give to play Spider-Man again. Oh well...