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Winterking
2007-04-12, 06:02 PM
Every trimester at the college I attend, the Sci-fi/Fantasy club runs a weekend of one-shot roleplaying games, everything from Feng Shui, homebrew systems, and Tales From the Floating Vagabond to D&D, White Wolf: The Everything, and Shadowrun.

Anyway, for this term's event, among the sessions I plan to run is one inspired by the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the comics, NOT the movie), just placed in a different time/setting.
My ideas are 3:
1: A far earlier league, in dark ages/early medieval Europe, using characters from legends and old stories, including Beowulf or Grendel, one of Arthur's knights, possibly an Irish saint.
2: A Wild West-era league, based off of classic Western TV shows and movies. Characters could include The Lone Ranger and/or Tonto, one of the several B. Mavericks, and one Dr. Quinn.
3: A Wild West-era league, but based off of classic American/native American folktales and tall tales. This league could have such luminaries as Pecos Bill, Calamity Jane, P. Bunyan, and Coyote the trickster.

However, for any of these, I'd want to have at least 6 potential characters, and I cannot think of other good choices besides the ones listed above.

Do any of you have ideas for similar fictional/mythical characters? Beyond that, which of my three possibilities should I go with?

(I'm probably going to be using White Wolf's discontinued Adventure! sourcebook for the basic rules--White Wolf's "D10s only" system is very elegant and easy to use for people unfamiliar with the rules, and it can be modified relatively easily to accomodate unusual abilities.)

Fax Celestis
2007-04-12, 06:07 PM
Medieval league would be neat. Completely ignoring historical timeline, I'd go with Percival, Beowulf, Merlin, Robin Hood, Taliesin, and Gilgamesh (who has survived this long due to his 2/3ds divinity).

jjpickar
2007-04-12, 06:20 PM
I like #1 and #3 best, but if you have to use #2 please include John Wayne and Clint Eastwood Characters. The mysterious stranger from Fist Full of Dollars should do well for Clint.

Indon
2007-04-12, 06:21 PM
Hmm. The first few crusades are in the dark/early mideval timeline, right?

You could use Saladin as one of the members (or perhaps a villain or anti-hero).

Hmm... other than that, I can't think of anything else offhand.

Lemur
2007-04-12, 06:26 PM
TV/Movie Wild West- you have the Man Without a Name (i.e. Clint Eastwood) and/or potentially Tuco. Maybe lift one of the Magnificent Seven (I like Slim- the knife throwing guy, personally)

Edit: Remembered another good extrodinary one from TV: Brisco County Jr.

Mythology Wild West- John Henry comes to mind. There are also a variety of gunslingers and outlaws from that era, like Billy the Kid and Doc Holiday.

Indon
2007-04-12, 06:28 PM
Oh, and for the TV/Wild West, you could have Paladin! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Gun_%E2%80%94_Will_Travel)

Jannex
2007-04-12, 06:29 PM
The dark ages/early medieval setting sounds like fun. Another idea that could work well is classical Greece: Orpheus, Medea, Odysseus, and the like.

Good choice on systems, by the way; White Wolf's system is simple and flexible, and who doesn't love rolling a handful of d10s? :smallsmile:

Krellen
2007-04-12, 06:30 PM
Dark Ages: Tap the Book of A Thousand and One Nights for characters: Ali Baba, Alladin or Sinbad the Sailor would be great choices. If you want to mix up gender, pick Scheherezade herself instead. From China, the legend of the Monkey King is ancient, making for another good choice. Merlin, I think, is far more an "Extraordinary Gentleman" than any of Arthur's knights, as well.

Wild West TV: James West is a must - draw from the 60's show Wild Wild West, not Will Smith's movie. His accomplice, Artemus Gordon, is also a good choice. It fits the era, and was technically a "Western", so Kwai Chang Caine from Kung Fu would be a good choice too.

Wild West history: Billy the Kid, although historical, was also legendary. You might pick him. The same applies for the figures from the OK Corral, so Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday could fly as well. Calamity Jane was real, and she has a natural "partner" in Wild Bill Hickok. John Henry would also fit into this category.

(And, for the love of sanity, if you do pick Saladin, make him a hero. His history is mostly heroic, and only villainous in that he defeated European Crusaders, who were, let's be honest, invaders in the first place.)

Winterking
2007-04-12, 06:37 PM
Krellen: 1001 Nights, that's an excellent idea--my mind was too fixed on Northern Europe (Beowulf was the first idea I had, and the inspiration for the game idea)
jjpickar: If I go with #2, a Man Without a Name will probably make an appearance, but I might use him as a villain/NPC.
Fax_Celestis: Ooh! Robin Hood, that would be another good one; or maybe one of Robin's less-known merry men...Will Scarlet or Allan a'Dale.

Krellen
2007-04-12, 07:11 PM
This big problem with Robin Hood is that he is late Medieval - specifically post-Crusades. Without the Crusades, his story just doesn't work.

Indon
2007-04-12, 07:59 PM
This big problem with Robin Hood is that he is late Medieval - specifically post-Crusades. Without the Crusades, his story just doesn't work.

Only the third crusade or so. The time frame isn't that bad.

Meat Shield
2007-04-13, 10:26 AM
I think everyone has covered the PCs fairly well. Let me say I like the idea of the Dark Ages as well. Any thoughts as to storyline? Would they be recruited by Charlemagne, much as the original Gentlemen were recruited by the British govt? Mayhaps to recover Durandal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durandal) from evil clutches? Durandal of course being much more than a good sword.

EDIT: Or Joyeuse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyeuse) - that may actually work better as it was the actual sword of Charlemagne. Other ideas include anything from Christian mythology - Spear of Longinius, Shroud of Turin, Holy Grail, the Crown of Thorns, etc

storybookknight
2007-04-13, 12:06 PM
I like the idea of the Joyeuse better than the christian mythos things... they come up way too often in literature as convenient plot devices or shocker moments - I call it Dan Browne syndrome, where you steal plot elements from more talented authors than you. (Umberto Eco is awesome!)

Fax Celestis
2007-04-13, 12:10 PM
Durandal and other mythical weapons already have D&D stats as Weapons of Legacy in the book of the same name. Durandal, for instance, is "Durindana."

blacksabre
2007-04-13, 12:21 PM
Depending how your alternate univers goes, and the factions between american indians and pale face


There are a number American Indian characters that could be fun..
Cochise
Crazy Horse
Geronimo
Roman Nose

Telonius
2007-04-13, 12:25 PM
For #1 - Check out the Nibelungen saga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibelungenlied) for a whole bunch of possible personalities - Siegfried, Hildebrand, Hagen, Dietrich, Bruennhilde... Tons of superhero-ish figures to choose from.

For #3, Mike Fink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Fink), King of the River, fits into the general timeframe. So does John the Conqueror (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Conqueror).