Preparing for a sentinels game, have some lore questions

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
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So, I'm prepping for the release of the Sentinels RPG, and I have some lore questions.  I have been slowly but surely going through the podcasts, but if I forget some bit of lore or something, I need to listen to the entire podcast over again, and I don't know where other parts of the information are.

So I'd appreciate some help building my RPG world.

My RPG will stick pretty close to the RPG timeline with only one major change.  The biggest change is that Legacy/Heritage is creating several smaller teams that the Sentinels of Freedom (or whatever team name the Freedom Five turn into), and have been recruiting heavily, both to boost their numbers in the aftermath of OblivAeon, and as a vanguard in case any other galaxy-destroying threats come knocking.  Pauline/New Legacy's group (Dawnguard?  Daybreak?  can't remember) is officially designated Megalopolis Alpha.  There will be a Megalopolis Beta, and Megalopolis Gamma will be the PCs.  There will also be Rooks Alpha and Beta stationed in Rook city, obviously.

So, for my first lore question, I want the PCs to have an NPC contact who is their dispatcher/"Guy in the Chair,"  Don't wory, he's not going to be a GMPC, he's basically there to jump-start a few plots, and to relay information to and from Freedom Plaza when the crew are on a mission.  

*Spoilers ahead*

Thing is, I want his backstory to basically be that he was a cultist of gloom for a short while, not really realizing what he was in.  Gloom noted he had an aptitude for magic, and was training him to be one of their spellcasters that could channel eldrich power to their master, but he was still a novice when Nightmist still broke up one of his operations and showed him what the cult of gloom was all about.  She took him under her wing and trained him for a bit, at the same time as Harpy, but it was clear that her efforts were focused on Harpy and not this guy.  So she tried to set him up with other mystic masters across earth, like gurus and mystics, and he learned some, but always felt that Nightmist should be his real teacher.  Unfortunatly, before he could return to her, OblivAeon happened, and she was dispersed among the multiverse.

What's going to happen is that this NPC (The Scarlet Apprentice) will start steering the PC team on missions in an attempt to save Nightmist or at least let her soul find rest.

Does this jive with lore?  I figure she freed him from the cult somewhere on the leadup to the Spite/Gloomweaver event.  Maybe the cult was trying to steal something for the ritual to make skinwalker, and he was there and found out what the cult was actually doing?

 

I'm not saying he'll succeed by the way, I know Adam and Christopher have made it clear that Nightmist CANNOT come back, but he has to at least try.  But he's worried what telling people that he's dabbling in that kind of magic will do, so he's playing this close to the vest.

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Nothing seems really off about that to me, but I'm no lore expert. :B

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If I understand things correctly, that's not even a change.  In the RPG timeline, the Sentinels of Freedom are working on training up lots of new heroes/hero teams.

And as far as lore sources, the wiki is pretty good.  And you might not have to listen to the whole podcast again if you can find the information you're looking for in the podcast summaries on there.

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Why not literally use The Harpy?  She's already Nightmist's apprentice, and is serving much in that "Oracle" role in the new Dark Watch.  She'd have a vested interest in seeing Faye either returned or put to rest, so it fits lore-wise, and it provides a more free-form structure than that of the Sentinels of Freedom.

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PlatinumWarlock brings up a good point, but either way you go it, I like what you're thinking. Especially with the officially designated teams, I hope you don't mind if I lift that concept. (I would make a joke about being full-deck Idealist here, but I'm still not quite sure what her concepts do.) But yeah, as far as I can see, all your lore checks out, Meg Alpha, Felicia's team is Daybreak. The Sentinels of Freedom are doing the hero-recruiting and team-building anyway, so you really didn't change much, and anything that can try to bring Nightmist back gets points from me (Maybe then we'll have a full DW team grumble grumble) So yeah. Hope it works out well for you!

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I don't think they ever said that utterly, possibly, there is 0% chance that Nightmist could ever be reconstituted.  She's definitely gone, but come on, this is comic books.  Even if they never bring her back, you absolutely can do so in your campaign and it isn't even a stretch.  Wager Master could probably do it.  A particular member of Daybreak who I'm avoiding naming could probably manage it at some point, perhaps with help (rescuing La Comodora would be a start).  And there are entities in the multiverse whose potential hasn't even been tapped yet (other singular entities, especially the freed Faultless; the Host; and entities of other Realms not yet named).

It's a little non-traditional for the "guy in the chair" to be an arcane character instead of a technological one, but it could certainly work.  I don't see any other problems with your idea.

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I like it too.

From the publishing verse's standpoint, it sounds like Scarlet Apprentise is a character who was introduced sometime after Harpy, and then forgotten about when OblivAeon stuff started to happen and the writers were told to wrap up their stories. Then, when he was reintroduced in the Sentinel Comics timeline, it was retconned to explain that he wasn't there for the big stories because he was sent to train around the world while Nightmist focused on Harpy. Does that sound good?

To Platinum, Who's to say they're not working together on this? Or they're both working on it seperately and don't know that the other is doing the same? It's all up to Degausser, regardless.

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I don’t have any issues with someone using a new NPC, but the OP seemed to be concerned with maintaining continuity. It just makes sense to me that, in the wake of OblivAeon, the Harpy is in a position to fulfill everything the OP wants out of the Scarlet Apprentice. Given that, why bring in a new character to fulfill the role an already established character is doing.

It’s your game, Degausser, do what you like. I’d just personally avoid reinventing the wheel, especially when it’s already rolling.

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I mean, bringing in new characters is kinda the whole point of the rpg. Why bring in any new heroes when Daybreak and the Paradigms fulfill the crimefighting role already? Plus I'm pretty sure they came up with the character first before figuring out what role to put him in.

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I get where you're coming from, but we're also not talking about an actual PC--those, undoubtedly, are going to be new characters.

I'm all for creating new NPCs, especially NPC adversaries--hell, I've devoted literally the last 7 weeks to creating new villains for the SCRPG--but to me (and again, totally my opinion), it seems superfluous to write in an NPC that 1) was a pupil of Nightmist's, 2) has arcane/magic abilities, 3) serves in an "Oracle"-style dispatcher role, and 4) wants to see Nightmist return to the world following OblivAeon....when there's already an in-universe NPC that does all of that to the letter.

If there was some additional nuance or change to the Scarlet Apprentice, I could see bringing in someone new.  Maybe he actually learned from The Master and hopes to collect Nightmist's essence so that he can absorb it or derive power from it.  Maybe he's actually still a cultist of Gloom.  Maybe he's a cultist who's still in thrall to the Cult of Gloom and is hoping that Nightmist can break the geas they have over him.  Maybe he's turning into a vampire.  Maybe he and The Harpy are actually rivals who actively dislike each other; if so, why?  Maybe he's a poseur, hoping to rob the Aerie blind of its arcane artifacts.  Maybe he's Joe Diamond, reincarnated into a new body, following the Skinwalker Gloomweaver event, hoping to bring back his granddaughter.  

Any one of those would give the proposed character something new that The Harpy doesn't have within the SC canon.  Those would be a great reason to bring him in.  As he stands currently, he's redundant.  

Again, it's your game.  Do what you want.  I'm not going to leap through the screen and tell you you're gaming wrong.  Unless he's suddenly developed powers, Christopher isn't either.

For me--*for me*--I would sooner use the already-existing character in Harpy to fulfill this role, rather than build a character from scratch to serve as a quest-giving NPC.

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I'm of two minds since I can see both sides here.

If the OP was writing a fanfic, I'd be 100% behind PlatinumWarlock's POV, as I've always preferred seeing fanfics with canon characters over OCs unless there's compelling reason to make an OC.

But since this is instead someone's RPG campaign, I can also see how someone might feel more comfortable/have more fun RPing their own character as a regular NPC (since an NPC is still someone you're roleplaying as a GM, after all) rather than a canon character.

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To answer your question Platinum, I did it for three reasons.  Firstly, I wanted to avoid baggage from using an established character.  Secondly, Harpy works for Darkwatch, thirdly, one of my objectives with this character is to make a sort of ‘mystery man’ that the PCs don’t know the background of (inside or outside of the game.). Also, I imagine he has some baggage being ‘passed over,’ by Nightmist which could lead him down a dark path, as opposed to the (mostly) reformed Nightmist.

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@Degausser:  Okay, that's good.  Your third point, right there--having "baggage being 'passed over' by Nightmist"--makes him a more interesting character already. If it's me, work with that. Give him something different/unique to make him stand out.  As described so far, he's just a generic mage character; make him an NPC to remember, not just a proverbial "exclamation point" to get missions from.

By all indications earlier, you seemed to want to stay as much in-canon as possible; your second paragraph literally opens with "My RPG will stick pretty close to the RPG timeline with only one major change".  Given that information, I raised the question of bringing in a non-canon character when a canon character was already fulfilling a near-identical role.

I guess my other question with this is:  why the aversion to working with DarkWatch?  Based on all the already-existing lore, the new DarkWatch does much of what your'e already wanting:  small, independent teams of heroes patrolling the streets, with pooled resources and intel.  With so much of your campaign hinging on Nightmist--one of the founding members of DarkWatch--why not just use them instead of the Sentinels of Freedom?  

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Oh yeah, I could totally see there being at least some tension between Scarlet Apprentice and Harpy, considering Nightmist essentially chose one over the other.

@Platinum: He probably sounds generic here because we were only given a general outline. Are you asking them to tell us the campaign's entire story right here?

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Platinum: For one, Darkwatch and Rook city tend to be more gritty crime related, and my PCs have indicated a preferance for silver age genuine super-heroics.  Also, not all missions are going to involve a secret mission from the Scarlet Apprentice.  That is just one plot thread I am setting up.  There will be more, and will have other superheroes from the card game involved, such as Tachyon, Heritage, Wraith, and others.  I also want to bring in the reminants of F.I.L.T.E.R. trying to re-assert themselves as a power, etc.  This is just one thread for the larger game for me to toy with.

And as for the not wanting to change the timeline bit, I actually came up with this BEFORE I heard the official Timeline for the RPG.  I heard that Legacy was thinking of retiring, I knew that the PCs would make some new heroes, I just kinda made the logical conclusion and it turned out to be what the creators had thought of already, so when I said I was sticking to the main timeline as much as possible, that's more because of my idea for a campaign than for thinking I had to follow through with the Gossipel of Adam and Christopher.

But yes, I plan for the Scarlet Apprentice to start off being a bit gruff, and untrustworthy, knowing more than he should about the cult of Gloom ...  make the PCs question his loyalty.  Should make for some good storytelling.

 

And of course, the Scarlet Apprentice will be consulting with Harpy, Argent Adept, and Parse (to see if she can see 'flaws' in magic or in the fabric of reality).  But he kind of feels like this is HIS project, so he can prove to Nightmist that he was worthy of being her apprentice all along.

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The additional information definitely helps give a clearer view of what you want out of your campaign and is starting to give a clearer view of your Scarlet Apprentice acts like as an NPC. That’s good – it means your players will have some hooks to work with.

I do question the wisdom of hanging a significant layer of your campaign around what are pretty heavily dark, horror-influenced characters when your players lean more towards Silver Age heroics, but again, that’s your call to make, not mine.

If it’s me, I have SA play up the bright, shiny angle, wanting to be the Big Damn Hero that even Nightmist never was. Only when discordian magic or cult stuff arises would he tip his hand, making the PCs get a bit paranoid as to his real motives. Then, you can get a neat dramatic reveal of what his real plans are, and how they can contribute.
I would still include the rivalry with Harpy though; that’s too rich to leave on the table.

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Platinum: If you want a more clear view of my campaign, go over to my other thread and check it out.  I detail rough outlines of the first several story arcs that i have planned, and The Scarlet Apprentice is only a major part of one/two of them.

I was aiming for a sort of Batman the Animated series (from the 90's) vibe, where sometimes there were dark tragic episodes, such as the Baby Doll, Mr. Freeze, and Two-face episodes, but then there was also the episode with the Condiment King.

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It took me a moment, but it turns out I've not only read that other thread, but I even replied to it at one point.  I honestly didn't put one and one together to realize that these were the same game.  Even then, the first mention of the Scarlet Apprentice is a three sentence paragraph in post #14; compare that to the amount of time spent on The Pusher, and I think it becomes clearer as to why I didn't relate the two campaign threads.  I genuinely didn't grok that they were the same game.

And, for what it's worth, the episode with the Condiment King you're referencing--"Make 'em Laugh" (s3e07)--is a Joker-centric episode wherein he mind-controls the judges and competitors of a comedy competition using the Mad Hatter's technology to feed his own pathological need for approval.  It's not exactly quite Silver Age fare, in as much as a daytime-airing cartoon deviates from that.

 

 

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Another thing I was thinking of doing was introducing a few more NPCs that are mystical, culminating in a large story arc where the Scarlet Apprentice tries to bring Nightmist back.  That way, the PCs will have some mystical NPCs to fall back on when the Scarlet Apprentice inacts his plan.  I mean, most of the mystics are gone (Nightmist, the Scholar.  All we have is the partially trained Harpy, and the Ardent Adept who really doesn't KNOW anything so much as he just intuits stuff.)

One thing I saw was that the Host (Listen to the Fanatic Podcast if you don't know) are a relativly underused story element, and I was wondering if I could use that as a basis for a hero.

IIRC, Hosts can be bound to objects to imbue those objects with power, that's how the crazy preacher (I forget his name) got his power.  I know that what HE did was evil, but I was thinking there might be some other way of doing it that would be better?

The idea was that, hundreds of years ago, people in Japan made a shrine to Amaterasu, the Kami of the Sun.  So strongly did the people of this one village venerate Amaterasu, that it caught the attention of a host spirit that decided to inhabit the shrine and it came to life.

Amaterasu is aware that she was a host, but has spend over 1,300 years living on earth, and has changed in that time.  She has grown more complex than most other spirits, taking on all aspects of Amaterasu's portfolio, not just the initial spirit of Guidance.  She has chosen to remain apart from humanity for hundreds of years, watching and guiding, but not directly interfearing, until OblivAeon came.  She helped defend Japan during the event, and has come to realize that the earth needs more protection than it currently has.

Is this . . . is this how the Host work?  Does it make sense?  Like I said, the host is not very well defined.

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Idolater, I believe his name was.

If not it should, because I think that's a pretty rad character/npc idea.