The Daily Rumble: Oh, Captain, My Captain, Round 5: Stargate or Jumpgate?

 

In this round we have yet another Captain of Babylon 5 going up against a veteran of television in general, a guy who originally could smarts his way out of anything, but took a dramatic turn when he went all military and started going to other planets. We have beauty and the beast this time around.

Captain Elizabeth Lochley (Babylon 5)

Taking over from the departing Captain-to-President Sheridan, Captain Lochley has a rigid set of morals that put her at odds with other, long-time crew-members. Hers was a time of adjustment and a rather unexpected addition to the station. She was certainly different than her predecessors, but it was nice to see that Earthforce uniform return to C&C.

Regularly known for being the guy who can solve any problem ... was not Colonel O'Neill. Not always quick on the uptake, he got the job done and wasn't afraid to break rules in order to do it. Hey, he had  a planet to protect! He went on to become General O'Neill and then ... I stopped watching the show, and I don't want to spoil things.

The Daily Rumble: Oh, Captain, My Captain, Round 4: The One

 

In Round 4 we have the somewhat stiff, but loved going up against a potential powerhouse in this tournament.

Commander Jeffrey Sinclair (Babylon 5)

One of three captains of the eponymous last of the Babylon stations. Veteran of the Minbari War and fought at the Battle of the Line when all seemed lost, Sinclair served one year as Commander of Babylon 5, and then was called on to greater things. He went on to lead the Rangers and serve as the first Earth ambassador to Minbar. He is the One Who Was, Entil Za, in Valen's Name.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly)

A potential powerhouse in the competition, Mal Reynolds definitely looks out for his crew. He'll do whatever it takes to keep his people safe, and he aims to misbehave on a regular occasion - up to and including kicking someone through their ship's engine and wearing a pretty little bonnet. Mercy is the sign of a great man, but he's alright. Veteran of his own battles and the browncoat of all browncoats.

The Daily Rumble: Oh, Captain, My Captain, Round 3: Gumshoe Science

 

While there were no surprises in the first round, this round is an interesting and somewhat obscure one.

Commissioner James Gordon (Batman: The Animated Series)

That's right, we got a little animation in the mix here! Jim Gordon, the only good cop in the city of corruption ,Gotham. He's a staunch ally of the Dark Knight, but he brings a level-head and code of honor to the role of Police Commissioner.

Captain Nathan Bridger (SeaQuest DSV)

Ah, vintage 1990's network Science Fiction television. Roy Scheider (from Jaws, amongst others), is the underwater captain of the large submarine, SeaQuest. This show came about because of the popularity and resurgence of Star Trek and other genre shows like Lois & Clark. The show took on a science-centered nature and had a very schizophrenic run.  Scheider was unforgiving about the show in interviews during the second season.

The Daily Rumble: Oh, Captain, My Captain, Round 1 Results

Kirk advances from the first round, 4 to 0.

via GIPHY

The Daily Rumble: Oh, Captain, My Captain, Round 2: Crook vs. Cop

The tournament continues, this time pulling from two very different genres.

In the first corner, we have the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch ... he knows nothing all the time and shanked his queen in the final episode (spoilers) ... We have Jon Snow from Game of Thrones! For the last part of his first life, he served as the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch when the former Lord Moremont was killed. Stabbed to death by his own men for taking in the Wildlings amongst others and throwing tradition under the bus, he was resurrected by the Red Witch and was King in the North for a time. Then he decided he wanted to win the war and got himself in with the dragon lady, who turned out to be related to him. Ew.

In the other corner, we have a Law & Order, dancing, and singing Broadway star in Captain Joe West from The Flash. He took in Barry as a boy and raised him alongside his own daughter. Later, he found that he had a son he never knew about, and then everyone (except him) got super powers.

The Daily Rumble: Oh, Captain, My Captain, Round 1: Legend vs. Legend

What makes a great commander? It's a staple of all kinds of television in history, and creates memorable characters we know and love, sometimes for decades.

The rules are simple: Characters who claimed to have a rank of some kind and were generally in command of their ship and/or group. Someone had to call them by rank during the show regularly, i.e., "Captain," "Commander," or "General" are all acceptable titles.

How to judge? Well, that's entirely subjective on your part. Just ask yourself, which one is better? Which one do I like more? Which one would win in a fight? Whatever works for you, vote in the poll and the winners will progress in the Daily Rumble bracket.

The pairings are completely randomized, so some will definitely end up being one-sided. Some choices will be difficult, and it's bound to get more and more difficult as time goes on.

Captain Sara Lance, aka The White Canary.

Sara Lance originally appeared on Arrow as the Black Canary. She became a fan-favorite and was a recurring character on the show, even after her "death." The character was a completely new creation for the show and evolved into the "White Canary." She was brought on as a series lead in DC's Legends of Tomorrow and began serving as the Captain of the Waverider in Season 2. 

Captain James Tiberius Kirk, aka the Legend. 

What can be said about the measuring stick of all starship captains? We all know him, whether it's as portrayed by William Shatner or by Chris Pine, but he's a cultural icon. In Star Trek, Kirk is the template that everyone compares other captains to. Sometimes this is an unfair comparison, but I digress. Kirk was the quintessential Captain. Does he measure up now in comparison to the others in this tournament?

Heroic Re-Beginnings

I mentioned a while back that I had an idea for a superhero game. To be more precise, I had an idea on how to start a superhero game.

I've ran many campaigns over the years, and I've noticed of late I like to follow a formula. I've done it the last two campaigns I've run, including the one I'm running now.

Basically, it goes like this:

1. Heroes are together.
2. Big nasty bad guy shows up, wrecks stuff, and the heroes run away.
3. Heroes go on adventures to get tougher and try to find a way to stop the bad-guy.
4. The End.

In my superhero game I ran before, it was like this. The villain, Hans Kammler showed up, was way too powerful to defeat, and then left to do his own thing. The heroes then adventured around and gained power so they could fight Kammler later in the game.

I didn't use Kammler well, and I didn't do much with him.

Thing is - the game I'm running now, Deadlands, has the same problem. I introduced the main villain in the first session, and now we're four-years into the game and I haven't used him again.

I suppose it's alright, but I definitely feel like I could do better.

I was watching Viva La Dirt League Dungeons & Dragons on YouTube. They do comedy sketches out of New Zealand that are hilarious, and they started this D&D Actual Play channel that is equally as hilarious. For what it's worth, check it out, you will laugh a lot.

In the first episode of their regular campaign, they had this character played by Adam named Baradun, the High Sorcerer. He's 20th level and a total badass at the start of the game. The other characters are all first level, so how does that work?

Well, part of the first session involved Baradun getting all his powers sucked away from him and he was reduced to a first level Sorcerer.

This got me thinking. What if I started a superhero game with the players creating their penultimate characters - the greatest heroes in the world - The Avengers/Justice League of their universe. I can open it up with them already as a team, established and known world-wide. Then, in the middle of a fight with some horrifying menace of some sort, something happens - whether it's some cosmic entity, an energy burst, a meteor-strike, or what-have-you - and strips the heroes of their powers down to their basic levels where they started off.

I thought about this and it opens itself up to a fun bit of roleplaying for the heroes - they can't let on that they're way reduced in power or there will be a long line of villains that will come seek them out for years of payback. Also they would probably want to keep a lid on it to keep general panic down to a minimum - what if big nasty bad-guy X were to show up and the pre-imminent heroes of the world are too weak or ill-prepared to handle the situation. What if Darkseid shows up when the Justice League is reduced to a small fraction of their powers?

Then what about those nosy reporters? There heroes are behaving strangely - cancelling appearances, charity races/bouts/whatever, taking new tactics, seemingly taking harder hits and staying down just a little longer than usual - enough to get an intrepid reporter to ask questions.

That was just scratching the surface of what I had in mind.

Might be a lot of fun. Maybe I'll run that someday.