Super Heroes/Vigilantes

[Setanta]

In my years role playing on City of Heroes and Champions Online I've slowly built a cast of characters of my own for my own stories. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to put those stories into action within City of Heroes and the community in Champions was less than interested with anyone outside of their personal cliques. And as I kept odd hours because of my job, I didn't have the chance with my own group. Upon discovering this site, I figured here would be the best place to try and bring my ideas to life with others.

Needless to say my ideas about super hero themed role plays may be a bit skewed after playing those two games.

My on-going stories consisted of a five man band of vigilantes. Heroes in their own mind but not so much in action. They had no qualms about killing criminals, in fact, they deemed it necessary for the protection of civilians. They lived double lives unlike they're hero counterparts who had places to gather safely and relax out of their spandex and be themselves. A couple in the company doubled as a hero by day and ruthless killers of killers by night.

So what I'd love to know from those interested:

1: Perspective
Do we tell the story from the lenses of heroes sworn to put a halt to these murderous punks and bring them to justice? Having their morals tested when faced with these supposed villains and making unusual alliances when the enemy is too tough to tackle alone.

Or do we play from the eyes of the vigilantes, long since dissatisfied with the repeated game of cops and robbers, trying to bring an end to villainous masterminds before they're too powerful to be stopped while heroes become a constant annoyance.

2: The World and Major Organizations
I intend to keep the world the role play is set in confined to one mega city. I feel no need to have my players running all over the country or the entire globe. Some help building various organizations that work within the mega city would be valuable and appreciated as will be sectioning up the city and deciding what's in each sector. The era will more than likely be modern day, maybe a little bit forward into the future.

3: Tech Levels, Power Levels
It's probably best to decide as a group how advanced the tech our characters will wield will be and just how powerful they could.

4: (Optional) Dice System
If necessary or if everyone would like, I'm a big fan of the Fate system. If we want, we can use it. Or we can use it just to keep fight fair.

 

[Setanta]

After much thinking I've come to a few ideas about the world we'll play in.

The World Thus Far

In our alternate universe of Earth, the year will be 2030. The location will take place in a re-imagined Washington D.C. and some of the surrounding area.

Super Humans have always been present but not so numerous until the Cataclysm of 1989. Super Humans before the Cataclysm we're practitioners of magic primarily with the occasional mutant arising in isolated cases. After the Cataclysm, mutations became much more common. Magic users still exist but are seldom seen in society, being cast out to their secluded places of gather. Few super heroes are mages and fewer still are open about it. With the advances in science and technology, mutations in humans can be isolated, reproduced, and implanted. Artificial Engineering super humans quickly became illegal.

Science has advanced far enough for the advent of energy weapons, cybernetics, and power armor. Energy weapons widely replace your standard gun as energy packs are rechargeable, deadliness can be controlled, and cost less for law enforcement and military, making it affordable to use power armors when situations call. Laws soon passed to limit the production of power armor and regulate how many law enforcement and military can have operation at any given time. Civilians are unable to own, operate, or construct their own power armor unless they register under the Heroic Patriot Act of 1995.

The Heroic Patriot Act of 1995 made it so all super humans had to register their super human abilities as weapons, even non-lethal abilities. This even includes power armor and those with enough cybernetic enhancements to put them well above your average human. This piece of legislation is hardly enforced, if at all, knowing that the underpowered populace may lose their super human protectors if pressured too much. Still, many law abiding super humans do register giving them the benefits of having assistance from the United States Super Human Task Force, an organization put in place initial to keep tabs on the nations super heroes and develop technology to decommission them in the event they went rouge. Now, The Shift, as they've come to be called, aid Super Heroes and law enforcement in dealing with the rise of super powered criminals and the gangs of thugs some of them command.

Magic and those who use it I am still working on and I'll flesh out some of the major events in this world's history as I do so.

 

[Setanta]

For magic users and those of you who may be interested in playing one I direct you to what's below.

Magic In The World

Magic has been and always will be a part of the world. Few have ever had the willpower to summon and control such energies. With the rise of religions that would one day be commonplace through-out the world, magic wielders have kept their talents most to themselves, hiding away from the world to practice with these energies in peace. Until the Cataclysm of 1989, it took a great deal of planning and willpower to summon even the smallest morsel of energy. Now, it's abundant. Energy from multiple planes of existence pour into the realm Earth inhabits making it far easier to call out to those planes and their entities to summon their energy. It's given rise to a new wave of magic users, and it's theorized by well studied mages that the tear and the abundance of planar energies is what's causing the mutations in humans. However, the practitioners of magic remain in seclusion, fearing the world will never accept and understand magic as they do.

The Cataclysm of 1989

During the Cold War a great eruption shook East Berlin, one historians claim could be felt around the world. Mages loyal to the Third Reich spent the last thirty years plotting to pick up where World War 2 left off, only with the aid of forbidden gods on their side. In all their planning, however, the small circle of mages was not enough to contain or control the massive amount of extra-planar energy they had summoned and the spell backfired resulting in a near nuclear-esque explosion.

Though the common man had no idea at the time, mages around the world could feel a tear in the veil, the fabric of cosmic energy that naturally resided over their plane of existence. The veil kept extra-planar energies from passing through which was the original reason your average mage needed a few hours to summon a mere fireball. With such a large tear in the veil and planar energies seeping into Earth's plane of existence, mages only naturally grew more powerful.

The Council of Elders

Fearing a violent reaction and the persecution of their kind, mages across the globe gathered in secret to discuss what this tear in the veil meant for them and for the world. Knowing full well that this tear would bring rise to a great number of new magic users, they scattered, setting up secret societies to protect and nurture their own kind until they were ready to face the world with their newfound abilities. They would convene often to discuss how best to deal with upstart mages bent on world domination or planning to summon Eldritch horrors upon the hapless masses. It's typically the oldest, and most powerful from each society that gathers to discuss magical world problems. Once a plan has been settled on, these elders will send their most powerful pupils to deal with whatever problem has arisen, typical. If matters are too dire, only then do the Elders act themselves.

Mage Politics

This method of dealing with occult problems has led to the established hierarchy of mages as it is today. Most common mages will only know of their elder that governs their region from stories shared down the grapevine. Few have ever seen an Eldritch abomination and fewer still have been given the honor of dealing with such things. And all of this is done, mostly, out of the eyes of the general public. This method has led to something of a power struggle in the magic world. The only way to mingle with the great mages and learn their secrets is to become one, typically by back stabbing someone of greater skill than their own as hard work and study typically takes one years to reach such greatness and skill.

The Science of Spellcasting

Spells are concentrated, controlled masses of planar energy to create an effect. From throwing lightning and fire to glamour to summoning imps and other extra-planar creatures. Mages connect with the inhabitants of these planes who in turn may or may not allow them to take energy from them. Thus where willpower comes into play. Should an inhabitant not wish you to use it's energy it must be overpowered, in a sense. Failure to do so usually results in a spell fizzling or worse, backfiring. The higher willpower one person has, the easier it is for them to call on and control larger quantities of planar energy.

 

[Dakota K5]

If this is still a thing then i'm interested.

 

[Cerulean]

I am also interested.