Categories
Altered Persons

Rough Timeline

A Rough Timeline

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Timelines are popular in alternate superhero settings, and they can do a good job setting the tone by describing ‘how we got to this point’. This is vague, so assume that many other wars and world events occurred that are not listed here:

  • 1954 – The first clue that Substance-D has entered the world occurs when a farmer in Germany creates a working perpetual motion machine. This is verified by many people, but the gentleman mysteriously disappears one day.
  • Early 1960s – Scientists are performing feats that no other can repeat. It is first seen as a product of genius, but it becomes increasingly clear that some are breaking the scientific method
  • 1967 – A U.S. man known as the Rubber Man becomes what is known as the first super-powered person (although this fact is often in dispute). A man is shot but the bullets merely pass through him, and his body rebuilds himself. He reaches fame and is hired as security for high profile events until three years later he is punched in an altercation and never grows back. He dies the next day.
  • 1968 – The United States is caught utilizing secret paratechnology in the Vietnam War. The tech does not push the tide, but a lot of death and destruction results in it. The shame helps protestors end the war in 1972. As a result, the protections of the Geneva Convention were expanded to involve the use of non-repeatable science in war, or science that could not be performed regularly by other technicians
  • 1972 – Fusion power becomes a reality
  • 1970s – Powered people and powered science becomes an increasing reality. The Ruby Spectre, Black Shadow, the Siren, Strongman are large names in the vigilante community from this early era. In the North Americas and the UK, some vigilantes are popular enough that they are permitted to actively work
  • Late 1970’s – The Cold War gets out of hand as it becomes increasingly clear the US and Russia are actively recruiting and trying to create super-powered beings
  • 1981 – The first cell phones come into use
  • 1981 – Damnoscopion HyperTachyonnic particles, among several others are first discovered. This is the particle that is increasingly attributed to parascience and superpowers, and is popularly referred to as Substance-D.
  • Early 1980’s – Superpowers become more common, and more commonly powerful, providing a new challenge to the police and peace-keeping forces
  • 1982 – The Ruby Spectre lets slip that she believes the world will collapse into chaos from the effect of Substance-D in decades time, if not sooner. When caught on tape, she publicly affirms that she will try to prolong the eventual global collapse into fascism or worse. This is not comforting, but few take her seriously
  • 1984 – A Bolivian super soldier almost single-handedly takes over the government for himself, nearly inciting a larger war
  • 1985 – A new international accord temporarily preventing the use of superpowered people in war is agreed to reluctantly
  • 1987 – A Russian Super Villain Argon (anglicized version of the Russian word for fire) tries to stoke racial tensions to weaken the United States by threatening to release a manmade virus that will murder people of color in national public office. This is narrowly halted by the Ruby Spectre who went with her own gut against public officials in regards to where the virus might be released. A brutally injured Ruby Spectre informs her closest confidante that she believes she can only continue this for another five years before she is killed. Her assistant informs her that he believes that she has a superpower after all, her highly predictive brain, and that she should utilize that to find a political solution instead.
  • 1989 – The first flying cars are invented
  • 1991 – The Global Civics Concordium is proposed by the Ruby Spectre who is working behind the scenes. Most countries balk, but it is agreed to try a trial program in Sweden.
  • 1993 – After some success and with fears that participating countries will be “hoarding” superpowers, more countries join
  • 1996 – The United States and Canada join the GCC
  • 1998 – The GCC and the Ruby Spectre push for the term “Altered Person” to be used to refer to people who are drastically changed by Substance-D.
  • 1999 – Flying cars become the dominant travel in non-rural America
  • 2000 – Power House becomes the first person the GCC claims may be near invulnerable. In an attempt to recruit him into the military, the US pushes for exceptions to recruit supers into the military with regulation and succeed
  • 2003 – The truth about the Ruby Spectre’s power is exposed, and she is labelled as a master manipulator who forced the behavior of world governments by using her predictive skills to guide their decisions. She announces that the GCC must be led by non-powered people going forward, and steps down from all official roles.
  • 2004 – This is when the United States first funds what will be infamously referred to as the Mutt Pack Experiments.
  • 2005 – The Ruby Spectre dies, the world mourns.
  • 2008 – The popular PowerHouse is murdered by a “mad”, and the public opinion is cemented further against them
  • 2009 – Super Soldier experiments continue to be funded secretly throughout the world, but the United States stops funding the Mutt experiment once it becomes clear how deadly the attempts to fuse alien and animal DNA with humans are. Apogee and his manager of this plot, the Walrus, continue in secret, as the psychopath Apogee wants to prove he can do it
  • Early 2010’s – Mads performing experiments on victims are seen as an epidemic, and the GCC is pushed to further use vigilantes to counteract their work
  • Early 2010’s – The first officially mandated superhero team program is instituted by the GCC. Rollout is slow at first. World governments agree to scale back altered person’s involvement in the military, to the chagrin of more conservative elements.
  • Mid-2010’s – The Mutt Pack experiment is exposed by Alley Cat and the Metamorphosis (Metaman). After high-profile senate hearings, the Mutts are granted amnesty for past actions while under the thumb of their creator and granted reparations by the US for their involvement in their suffering. Apogee and the Walrus go into hiding.
  • Late 2010’s – The Walrus and an army of new cat-like Mutts emerge from out of the ground in Washington DC. They attack the Capitol Building, nearly collapsing it into molten stone. The villain cannot be found after the attack, and he continues to demand that he be given sovereignty to an island nation of altered persons like himself (a Walrus man on a floating disc). Popular opinion turns against Mutts and many people start agreeing that displacing altered persons and collapsing the GCC would make them safer from parascientist threats. Metaman, known as the most powerful example of the Mutts, is convinced the Walrus is still in Los Angeles and does his own investigation. He eventually finds him, leading to a showdown in Griffith Park where the Walrus threatens to activate an EMP device that will likely devastate the power grid of a quarter of the United States. When it seems hope is lost and backup will not come in time, Metaman arrives and single-handedly turns the tide of the battle, runs into the lair of the Walrus, and drags him out. It is revealed that some elements in government were working directly with the Walrus in hopes to change policy regarding altered persons. They are tried for treason and work is done to help ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
  • Later 2010’s, Early 2020’s – After the Walrus is defeated, acceptance of heroes in the work against parascience is further cemented. The GCC is still pressured to relax provisions about the use of parascience in both government and vigilante work.

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Categories
Altered Persons

Iconic Vigilantes

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These are some sample heroes to inspire your characters (and provide examples heroes for this setting, or to use if you so choose (especially for a one shot). If you want to create your own, I will be more than happy to assist or create it for you. These characters gender (and any identities/sexualities) can be anything you want them to be, this is simply my imagination.

Rat Man (M) – Martial Fighter (Rat Mutt)

  • Gist: Rat-man victim of the LA Mutt-Pack Experiments that did not get great powers. He uses grit and dedicated training to become a great, under-powered vigilante
  • Powers: Super-athlete, danger sense, unageing. Well-trained martial artist with some gadgets.
  • Source: Super-Soldier (Mutt)
  • History: Alan Alder was a down on his luck teen and young adult. He suffered from bad bouts of epilepsy even when it was well managed. He lived with his grandmother since his parents were mostly absent, suffering a lack of confidence that plagued his personal life. Under these circumstances, promises of a new experiment that would cure him lured him into the Mutt-Pack experiments. While technically cured of his epilepsy, he became an anthropomorphic rat man as a result, like the other animalistic survivors. A kind “egg-head” that worked at the lab, Mary Anne, snuck him out of the lab. She deactivated the implant that could be used to find or kill him and raised him while hiding in Aguanga, outside of Temecula. Miraculously, they hid from the Walrus successfully until the Mutt Pack went public. He decided to move back to the sponsor zone of Los Angeles and become a vigilante, training obsessively to use what powers he had to good use. He’s going to live a long time, probably, so he wants to use his tragedy to bring about good that he can be proud of.

Starshine (aka Gold Dust – F) – Flying Illusionist Shooter

  • Gist: Famous superheroine from the episodic dramedy “Gold Dust,” about an 18 year-old superhero played by someone with real powers! Now she’s a vigilante in real life, trying to make a different name for herself.
  • Powers: Light manipulation. She can shoot light, fly with light, shield herself with it, and make illusions.
  • Source: Mutant
  • History: Sally (real name) got her powers when she had a scare with a pool as a young girl. At 15, she was a star on the hit show Gold Dust about a young vigilante hero. She was supposed to be 18, but she was surrounded by younger characters, so they looked more like her target audience. Being an underage vigilante is illegal, however, and it would have been scandalous to attempt to portray it on television. A few years after her 18th birthday, she decided to join the GCC vigilante program and become a hero in her real life and find success as something other than Gold Dust. In the show, she was always surrounded by gold sparkles and light, but her real powers have much more range.

Billow (M) – Teleporting, Weakening Shooter

  • Gist: A “Mad” who wants to normalize parascientists to the community at large. Uses tech to make his body follow the quantum superposition of his mass and arrive in a new space. He also uses this tech to damage or destabilize his enemies. His powers manifest by a cloud of black particles.
  • Powers: Flies along many min-jumps of his molecular “shunting”. About five times per day, he can shunt his body much longer distances before needed to recharge the device he straps to his chest. He also shoots a damaging OR weakening blast.
  • Source: Parascientist
  • History: Leeroy Pierce was a regular Quantum Physicist who loved science and his imagined future career. When working in University, he was able to successfully observe Quantum Superposition. But to his devastating dismay, was able to get large, complicated molecules to perform this feat easily, in an observable fashion. He was ratted out by the colleague working with him, and he was registered as a parascientist and could no longer work in his field. After the incident with the Walrus, he jumped at the new opportunity to practice non-repeatable science and be an example of responsible use of parascientific powers. He is now sponsored by a wealthy friend from his college days, and his lab is heavily monitored lest he use his tech beyond his own use as a vigilante.

Daisy (F) – Debuffing Martial Fighter (Skunk Mutt)

  • Gist: Victim of the LA Mutt Pack experiments, appears as a skunk. Can spray an alchemical stink like her appearance implies, but her powers go far beyond, giving her many more options besides subduing others by an awful stench. She also has super-natural athletics like most Mutts and can put up her dukes.
  • Powers: An Olfactory Factory that dazes, impairs, weakens toughness OR weakens strength. Close-combat, danger sense, unageing.
  • Source: Super-soldier (Mutt)
  • History: She spent three years in the yards before the Mutts went public and tried to live a normal life when they did. After the events with the Walrus (whom she met and hated as much as any other Mutt), she decided to see if her powers could be put to better use. She ended up loving the thrill of crime-fighting and being a public figure, even though many days in this work are unexciting. She now keeps up her fur and appearance meticulously and tries to make her animalistic nature a feature rather than merely a problem.

Incandescent (M) – Martial Fighter w Explosions & Flight

  • Gist: Mutant with the ability to affect his own alchemical state in specific ways. Can make his skin harder than steel and supplement his attacks with insane heat.
  • Powers: Martial fighting enhanced by heat-based damage. Can cause an explosive heatwave centered from his body several times per day. Summons armored skin, can daze by touch.
  • Source: Mutant
  • History: Tyler Fitzroy was a typical construction worker who found himself in a serious car accident on the way to work one day. While unconscious in his wrecked car, the stress activated his powers, causing him to unintentionally make his vehicle explode, severely injuring the other driver. She was unable to sue him for damages due to the accidental use of his powers. Now he works with a vigilante team these powers for good, and to supplement his income so he can assist the woman who was disastrously injured.

Metal (F) – Super-Resilient Martial Powerhouse

  • Gist: Was the victim of an extreme experiment when kidnapped abroad. They transformed her skeleton to fuse with a parascience alloy and grafted bio-engineered organs inside her newly indestructible ribcage that helps her regenerate and come back from almost any injury.
  • Source: Super-soldier
  • History: While vacationing in South America, Ellen Carter she was kidnapped and forced to participate in a super-soldier experiment. When the attempt to give her powers proved successful, she was able to escape due to human error in their security. The GCC then rescued her from the project’s pursuers, and with her help rescued a handful of other remaining survivors. When she returned to the United States, she was observed by the GCC like any other altered person and deemed stable and safe enough to continue a public life and work as a vigilante. She claims to have an undiagnosed personality disorder, but secretly believes her subdued personality originates from the excruciating experiments. She found that the GCC seemed less likely to fear her or discriminate against her if this condition was a preexisting one. Despite not displaying emotions neurotypically, she enjoys helping others and doesn’t seem cut out for a lot of other work.

Gravitas (M) – Gravity Bending Flyer and Shooter

  • Gist: Mutant that can use gravity powers to fly and punch from a distance. Also can grab or otherwise place an oppressive weight on others at a distance.
  • Source: Mutant
  • Powers: Gravity punch/push, grab at range, oppressive area affect at range, flight
  • History: Jim Jennings is a basic guy that literally flew into the air after his first kiss. After being evaluated by the GCC, his powers were thankfully well under control and not too dangerous to the world at large. He and his supportive parents moved out to LA where he continued the family business of maintaining and repairing old ground-cars. When his partner received a near-fatal injury due to an incident with an altered person, he decided to become a full-time vigilante instead.

Azi (Azalea) (F) – Super Strong Powerhouse

  • Gist: Super strong, stocky woman whose powers come from pure strength and toughness.
  • Source: Mutant
  • Powers: Super Strength, Super resilience (tough and radiation immune), Leaping
  • History: Azi was a long-distance trucker in a past life, but her powers awakened one day while vomiting after a heavy night of drinking. After being evaluated by the GCC, she was deemed too powerful to retain her old life, but safe enough to live in a sponsor zone. Luckily, her partner was willing to move with her to Los Angeles, where boredom and a desire for improved healthcare got her into vigilante work (she also has improved opportunities for travel as a vigilante). She now enjoys fighting the good fight, even though she was a little hesitant to fight for the GCC. She thinks she would like to move to other sponsor zones someday, if her partner is willing.

Luckman (M) – Fighter w Time Slowing Powers/Luck

  • Gist: Protected by a Forcefield that slows objects and combatants around him. Unfortunately, his shield is less useful against beam weapons. He also is lucky, a power he is unaware of.
  • Source: Mutant
  • Powers: Slows combatants/projectiles around him. Luck. Martially trained and wears a cool jacket that makes up for some of the vulnerability to beam weapons.
  • History: Frank Alvarez came into his power after coming out to his parents (he is either gay or has some other secret the player is comfortable with). He is cynical about the GCC, and while he fought for the GCC since before the Walrus days, he has become more of a believer since the event. He cares about his image and costume for his own sake and wears one of his own design.

Battle-Kate (F) – Armored Super Suit

  • Gist: Flying suit of armor that goes shootie and is pretty safe and cushy
  • Source: Parascientist
  • Powers: Armored, flying suit that can go near-indefinitely as long as it is occasionally charged. The kinetic force from her battery powers ranged attacks and other feats
  • History: As the GCC loosened restrictions after the Walrus incident, being a law-abiding, registered parascientist finally paid off for Katelyn Collymore. She was able to continue her research into her specialty, a ridiculously long lasting-battery. She was able to modify this technology to fashion a long-range kinetic blast that wasn’t too deadly, and with some modifications could incapacitate people or electronics. She had to borrow from other parascientist designs to complete a suit, which is naturally less impressive than the work linked to her specialty. She enjoys tinkering with her work and is not too involved in the politics of being a “Mad” unless it affects her personally. While she has a good heart, in some ways, to her being a vigilante is the equivalent of playing a game like robot-wars. She wants to make the best suit she can and see it work in the field!

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Categories
Altered Persons

Altered Persons  – What You Need to Know

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  • This setting takes place in an alternate universe that was bombarded by rays of particles referred to as Substance-D. Their reality-changing properties made great feats of advanced super science (parascience) and significant mutations in the human body possible. If someone gets blasted by radiation and is gifted with superpowers instead of death this is a consequence of Substance-D. Not all people are equally likely to get powers or be able to perform feats of parascience. These people are especially sensitive to the rays and absorb them differently in their bodies.
  • The politically correct term for people that have been drastically changed by Substance-D is “altered person”. Not all people who change develop superpowers, and many of them become horribly disfigured or inconvenienced. The phrase ‘altered person’ is supposed to not put undue emphasis on those who receive awesome powers vs those who are simply disfigured. Although the term is widely used, its success as intended is varied.
  • This setting is a high-science setting. For example, in Los Angeles, most people get around by using air cabs (flying cars).
  • To handle the unique challenge brought upon by Substance-D, most western countries and others elsewhere have an agreement to regulate the use of parascience through a UN organization known as the Global Civics Concordium, referred to as the GCC. The role of the GCC is primarily in two parts:
    • To help countries regulate their own and each other’s access to parascience (or “super science”)
    • To slowly integrate the existence of altered persons into society and ensure that civilians are kept safe from potentially dangerous or uncontrollable powers. The GCC is supposed to model the positive governance of altered persons.
  • GCC soldiers are used to police parascientists and powered altered persons. Super-powered vigilantes are also a regulated force that help perform this police work. They help supplement the soldiers that are often underfunded and not numerous enough to do the work by themselves. The vigilante program also gives local citizens the opportunity to get involved and prevent the impression that an outer-national presence is solely regulating and controlling superpowers.
    • GCC soldiers are often referred to as G-Cops, and GCC soldiers, regulators and social workers are sometimes nicknamed Gee-Cees.
    • G-Cops often wear battle armor in the Green and Gold colors of the GCC
  • PCs will fall into one of three categories, unless a player has an idea I have not considered. These are mutants, super-soldiers and super scientists. You can see some examples of typical heroes in the “iconic” heroes’ document.
    • A “mutant” came across their powers during a period of stress.
    • A super-soldier refers to anyone whose powers were created intentionally, usually as a victim (it is illegal in any case to seek out powers).
    • A parascientist (“mad” as in mad-scientist) is a class of people who can use advanced super-science that doesn’t work for others besides themselves. Their powers come from tech.
  • “Super-Normals”, like Batman, are less common in this universe, although there are some examples of heroes that rely on training more than their powers. Child superheroes are prohibited by the GCC and likely the campaign. Magical or other mythical natured heroes are off-setting and would be assumed to have a non-mythical explanation.
  • In most countries, those with significant or dangerous powers are usually kept in geographically limited areas. These places are usually called GCC sponsor cities or zones. Travel outside these areas for powered altered persons is regulated and must be approved in advance. The idea is to concentrate resources for handling the problem of superpowers into defined areas and to eventually slowly integrate altered persons into society at large. These controversial policies are detested by some for limiting national access to parascience and superpowers, and by others for limiting civil rights. These opposed objections are what make it difficult to move away from the special zones (although California is considering becoming the first sponsored state in the U.S., as some small European countries operate).
    • Many elements in society feel prejudice toward altered persons and fear their integration into society. Some also fear about “perverting” human gene pools or limiting nationalistic power by making GCC presence more universal. They will often refer to altered persons as mutants or muties, or a more generic terms like freak.
    • In the United States the sponsored zones are as follows: Los Angeles (county), Seattle, New York City, Chicago, and New Orleans.
  • Many people respect altered persons and they are guaranteed rights as citizens. The GCC in America only restricts powerful or dangerous altereds to sponsored zones (if they can live outside of intensive care). Parascientists, on the other hand, do not have as much respect and are often referred to as “mads” (mad scientist) rather than their politically correct term. They and their craft are strictly regulated, and are permitted to perform limited work for the GCC and world governments (one is more likely to be permitted to create a cure for a cancer than create a death ray).
    • A test as to whether a scientist will be permitted to do her work is whether that science is repeatable. If a scientist does something that cannot be repeated by another, it is deemed non-repeatable science (parascience) and typically illegal. These individuals will often be more closely regulated and surveilled than those with superpowers.
    • Vigilantes typically fight parascientists and their creations at least as often as they fight crime and other superpowered beings.
  • Registered vigilantes are typically altered persons and must be trained and registered to work legally. The more difficult it is for the individual to use their powers without permanently harming or killing others, the longer their training takes since that is the primary purpose of training: safety. Since powers are varied training regiments must also be tailored to them.
  • Professional vigilantes typically perform the following tasks:
    • They bring in dangerous altered persons to be tested and evaluated by the GCC
    • They bring in parascientists to be incarcerated
    • They help local law enforcement with high-tech or dangerous crimes that may or may not be aided by non-repeatable science
    • Be on call by the government to travel and assist with problems in non-sponsor zones (much more common for teams of superheroes)
    • There are opportunities to perform “patrols” as a hero as well. They can also register with the VYGIL app which is an Uber-like service, although these jobs often involve less important tasks or people not seriously in trouble. People also like to hire altered persons as personal investigators and the like, although this is technically not encouraged by the GCC.
  • Parascience themed heroes are more regulated than other altered persons that receive their powers naturally or permanently
    • In the United States, after a national terrorist act performed by the parascientist “the Walrus”, rules were loosened to allow some super science in vigilante work, such as powered suits. Their non-repeatable science work must be documented and surveilled, however, to ensure that the individual only uses their tools in permissible ways and doesn’t leave their hands.
  • Many people that receive powers are victims of illegal experiments by parascientists. Because these powered-people were intentionally created, they are often the most powerful (although of course any background that fits the setting is permissible by PCs). It is illegal to intentionally seek out these scientists or otherwise seek out superpowers. Naturally, people trying to do this is a large problem. In the United States and most other places, there is a large burden of proof that the victim intentionally tried to seek out powers and knew that was the intent of any experiments they participated in, so often they do not get punished. There is a large underground community of people trying to get powers and provide advice for getting them. Fake tests as to whether one is susceptible to Substance-D is also a problem, as legitimate tests are expensive and rarely administered.
    • Many people who try to get powers often get hurt or simply die
    • People that come about their powers naturally often come into them by accidents or just emerge during stressful situations (car accidents, job loss, death in the family, etc.).

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