The Bronze Age (1974 - 1992) Mighty marvel mutant
madness hits Neptune City? (The shift from Silver Age to Bronze Age tone is
really a very gradual thing.)
Campaign Tone -- What does “Bronze Age” mean
anyway?
This campaign was written to be mainly Bronze Age in tone. As
promised, I’ve tried to put together some more thoughts on what I mean by that.
To me, the Bronze Age represents a balance between the camp & absurdity of
the Silver Age, and the grimness & excessive violence of the Iron
Age.
The Silver Age was full of evil clones & alternate versions of
characters from other Dimensions (“No, that’s the Superman from Earth
4…”), alien imps who play super-powered pranks on the heroes, and the like.
Villains like the Penguin actually use armies of penguins, and imprison
captured heroes in Giant Pinball Machine death-traps. Kid sidekicks and/or
super-powered pets are obligatory. People rarely ever die. Morality is (almost)
completely B&W, and thanks to the Comics Code characters can’t have sex,
drink, or do anything else controversial. Think of the `60s Batman TV
show, or the Chris Reeves Superman movies. Foxbat thinks he’s living in a
Silver Age comic.
At the other extreme, the Iron Age attempts to be much
more “realistic” mostly by amping up the violence and deleting any sense of
morality. OK, that’s probably too harsh; there have been some excellent Iron Age
comics. But if the Silver Age was too B&W, most Iron Age tends to be too
Grey for my taste, at least as a sustained diet. The line between hero and
villains is thin, subjective, and changes from issue to issue. “Heroes”
routinely manipulate, abuse, and even kill people because the ends justify the
means. Government is (almost) always corrupt and manipulative, tho to be fair
usually no more so than the “heroes.” Most problems can be solved by getting
bigger guns. All supporting characters are required to be addicted to
drugs/alcohol/porn, and/or to have been abused as children; so are most heroes,
for that matter. If you can’t kill off a supporting NPC, have them get kidnapped
and raped, or mutated into a flesh-eating monster. All attacks are
killing attacks, and it’s not a decent fight until someone’s brain matter gets
splattered on the wall. Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, and
Straczynski’s Supreme Power are examples of Iron Age at its best; Dark
Knight Strikes Again and Marvel’s current Civil War saga are Iron Age
at its worst IMHO.
I see the Bronze Age as a happy medium between those
two extremes. Characters are three-dimensional people with human frailties &
weaknesses, but heroes generally act like heroes, or at least try to. People
sometimes die, whether innocents (Gwen Stacy), villains (Green Goblin) or even
heroes (Jean Grey/Phoenix), but it’s a Big Deal when it happens and they
(almost) never die at the heroes’ hands. The Comics Code is gone, so sex, drugs,
and other “mature” issues can be portrayed; morality isn’t always B&W;
government isn’t always just and well-intentioned; and good doesn’t always
triumph over evil. But those elements are used primarily as “seasoning” and tend
to be the exception rather than the rule. Similarly, you have a few characters
who are a little more Iron Age in outlook (Punisher, Wolverine), but they’re
there primarily for contrast. The Death of Gwen Stacy arc in Spider-Man,
the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix saga in X-Men, and the Wolfman/Perez run on
New Teen Titans are standout examples. The Death of Jean deWolff
storyline in Spider-Man is also an excellent example of a late-Bronze Age story
that plays with darker elements and greyer morality. I would say most of the
better superhero movies in recent years have a primarily Bronzish feel to them,
including the Spider-Man movies, the first two X-Men movies (the
third went seriously Iron Age IMO), and arguably Superman Returns. I’d
even say Batman Begins is borderline Bronze-Iron, in that Batman always
strives to be a hero in spite of the darkness around him.
Anyway, that’s
my take on it; see also the “Code vs. Killing” guidelines I sent around awhile
back (posted in the Files section of the NewChamps group). Based on the initial
conversations we had and your answers to that Questionnaire I asked you all to
fill out before we started the campaign, I concluded that Bronze Age best
described the type of game you all wanted to play. If everyone doesn’t agree,
please let’s talk about it; I’m happy to adjust the tone if it’ll make for a
better game. Similarly, I’m fine with having one or more “contrast” characters
who might be a little more Iron (or more Silver) in outlook; as far as I’m
concerned, contrast makes for good roleplaying. But at the same time, the
contrast can’t be so extreme that your characters can’t work together as
part of a team.
Bigdamnhero (Mar 5th, '07, 11:49 AM, Hero Games Discussion
Board) | The Feel of the
Bronze Age Social relevancy is the buzz word for the day. Stories (and
characters) now have a depth that was missing in previous eras. Heroes don’t
just have the occasional girl friend problem; they face real dilemmas that are
relevant to the readers. Also, the stories take on a slightly darker edge.
Suddenly, the hero might not always be able to save the girl. True heroes still
don’t kill, but a new breed of anti-hero is starting to appear – and they will.
In many respects, we see a return to what the original Golden Age stories we
like. Not quite grim and gritty, but the heroes are no all nice. Patriotic
heroes become rare, and those who have been around from earlier eras begin to
question their own blind patriotism. The conceptual walls built by the Comic
Code Authority are starting to crack and the heroes begin to face issues that
previously would have been forbidden.
Bronze Age Characters Bronze Age characters become more
rounded and deeper than their Silver Age predecessors. Motivations are much more
complex and their personal problems are frequently a larger part of the total
picture than their powers or heroic deeds. Common origins are being
magically cursed by sinister supernatural forces, finding or making a costume
with circuitry built into it, being rebuilt by secret government programs into a
living weapon, deliberate genetic engineering. Classic Power Origins for the Bronze
Age
- Alien or space god
- Mystical
- Horror monster - vampire,
werewolf, demon etc.
- Gadgetry
- Mutant
- Taught kung fu
- Cyborg
- Genetic engineering
- Being the son or daughter of a
superhero
Character are, in general, less powerful
that their Silver Age predecessors, although in game terms they will be built on
the same number of points but with the expectation that more points will be
spent on skills and less on powers. The Bronze Age is also an era of tightly
defined teams who actually practice working together (as opposed to a group of
super-powered pals and gals who get together once a month for a club meeting).
As such, the Teamwork skill would be very common for characters.
Character Build: 200 point base + 150 points in disadvantages
Defining Events in Neptune City
To the world at large, their greatest hero has
been struck down. More importantly, a super villain has finally crossed the line
and succeeded in killing a (popular) superhero. This changes everything. Slowly,
new heroes begin to enter the scene who are grimmer and rougher. Some heroes
begin to try to address serious social issues (with only limited success).
Villains, in response, start appearing who are not merely villainous, but
actually mean and nasty. More heroes (and occasionally villains) die, and the
Mental Midget drops out of sight.
|
