Champions X: Introduction
Here's a bit more of an introduction into the world of the campaign that we're finally building up to running. It would probably serve as the opening text were this to ever be published as a proper roleplaying game. Not that I have any such ambitions at the moment, too much other stuff to write up, I reckon.
There have always been superhumans in the world. In ancient times, they were the firestarters and healers, shamen and witches. They brought fire to their people for cooking, read the skies for changes in the seasons and the stars for omens, saw the women through childbirth, banished the spirits who brought illness, and placated the ghosts of the tribes ancestors. Yet no matter the benefits that they brought to their tribe, they were always considered to be separate from their people, marked out as different by the gifts they possessed which no normal people could understand.
Times changed, and villages became cities and chiefs became kings, and so the need for the shamen diminished. Out on the rural areas, the villages still had their Wise Women - some of whom still had the powers of their forebears - but in the towns and burgeoning cities, different needs arose. As the self-correcting social unit of the tribe fragmented into the less coherent knots of disparate desires, a criminal element emerged. Talents and gifts changed to meet the needs of the new era: heightened senses to discern where the criminals lurked, enhanced strength and dexterity to safely apprehend the aberrants, powers to hide in shadows, or invisibility to be able to pursue the villains back to their lairs.
As humanity began to explore their world in deeper detail the superhumans were there to guide and inspire it to yet greater heights. Whenever men reached for the stars and sometimes over-reached, the superhumans were there to catch them as they fell. When the Wright Brothers took to the air, the superhumans were there to greet them. They showed mankind that the limits it perceived were false, and saved it from its worst excesses. As men explored the world around them, and their numbers grew, so too did the superhumans, shepherding the normal flock from the nightmares surrounding it.
In the world of 2024, there are plenty of nightmares from which mankind needs saving. In the last twenty-five years, aside from mundane threats such as natural disasters and ongoing religious and regime-changing war, a host of abnormal threats have arisen. Earth has been endangered by several extraterrestrial (and less well-known, several extradimensional) invasions, the latest being by the insectile N'grk'ree. A number of planet-class threats from beyond the stars have also appeared in that time.
Superhuman activity correspondingly seems to be on the rise, as more gifted individuals make the choice to use their powers to take what they feel that the world owes them. The "superkids today" refrain has become something of a running joke in the comedy circuits, of the retiring elder statesmen superhumans heading out to pasture and reflecting negatively on their legacy. The joke is quite literal, as the heroes of the Baby Boomers' generation tend to take a dim view of the corporatized, manufactured images and PR programs of their successors.
Trapped in a world of later on
In the twentieth century, the vision of the twenty-first was often one of hope and splendour. Disease would be cured, people would live longer and work less, food would be plentiful and healthy, transport would be clean and efficient. The truth of the early 21st century proved to be a promise of bright future dashed.
The so-called War on Terrorism engaged by the West became a multi-trillion dollar grind through Middle-eastern Asia. When it culminated in the Khyber Scenario, few strategists predicted the degree of civilian resistance which dragged the conflict into a complete standstill, with gridlocked forces unable to make headway against one another. Coupled with the financial near-collapse of numerous major currencies and economic blocs, the war forced nations into speedy retreat from social welfare and infrastructure building programs. The long-envisioned medical breakthroughs that required continued research funding failed to manifest results and were further cut. Powerful lobby interests hamstrung Green initiatives to the point of regress. Far-reaching programs, such as non-commercial space research, were also victims of a dwindling resource pool. No jetpacks or hovercars envisaged as the transport of tomorrow ever saw the light of day. Retrograde behavioural modes in certain demographics meant that AIDS returned as a virulent killer, and the dreamed-of cure for cancer remained an elusive dream...
Despite the internal threats facing humankind, the rise of external threats such as invasion from beyond the stars is not enough to bring humanity together in harmony. State-based aggression remains high, especially between rival economic powers, and "resource security" is a watchword for xenophobia and accusations of human rights violations. The developed world seeks to curb the excesses of the developing world powers, hampered by over-enriched citizenry unable to compete with labour-rich but resource poor nations which jealously seek to achieve the same levels of affluence.
Thus when confronted by unearthly threats, the world powers spasm into ineffectual bluster, and it remains only within the unlikely capability of the superhumans to actually defend the planet. For all the misplaced pride that nuclear-capable states have for their destructive arsenals, they prove to be little deterrent to races such as the N'grk'ree, the Harvest or the Magellan Empire. In the case of the latter, their would-be beneficent dictatorship was even prompted by the presence of enough such weapons to devastate the planet, and only the lack of proper overtures meant that resistance to the invasion was as inevitable as it was regrettable.
Growing climactic change - prompting the concerns about food and water security in many regions - also seems to have precipitated a rise in the incidence of natural disasters. The self-same financial decay that hampers intra-national welfare has shrivelled foreign aid budgets to mere token gestures, and aid agencies desperate for funding have started to look the other way rather than question the origin of some of their beneficences.
In times when human losses seem to mount to mere statistics that few nations can afford to curb, again the presence of the superheroes brings relief. Superhuman strength achieves much when there are no bulldozers to dig earthquake victims from the rubble. The power to control the weather can bring rain, and so clean drinking water to drought parched nations. Telekinesis can stave off the worst destruction from storms or tsunami. The ability to fly can airlift victims to established medical centres instead of undersupplied field hospitals and teleportation can bring supplies to the needy in the blink of an eye.
Superhumans and humanity
For all that the superheroes have done for humanity, one might think that they could command respect and admiration from those that they serve on a daily basis. Instead, the superhuman, like the shaman from which he came, has always been an object of suspicion, distrust, and respect commanded by fear, not honour. Despite the constant sacrifice and selfless devotion that is given by the superhuman heroes, normal people remain petty and spiteful - Kierkegaard's double danger looms large for the superheroes. Fuelled by jealousy or mistrust, the media report each failing as another scandalous example of the superhumans abandoning responsibility.
Thus should Anaxagoras save a remote African village from a lethal landslide and yet simultaneously fail to avert the Challenger space shuttle disaster, few bother to recall that without his intervention the Apollo 21 mission would have cost the lives of its entire crew. Instead, it is uncharitably reported as yet another example of aloof powers playing a game of deadly choices. At each instance of a superpowered being choosing not to live a life of constant self-sacrifice, and instead seeking to exploit the advantages of a corporate sponsorship, it is portrayed as a sell-out, an abrogation of responsibility, rather than a decision not to open oneself to constant fear and criticism. And of course each instance of a superhuman choosing not to work selflessly for the betterment of mankind but instead to pursue a life of self aggrandisement is clearly a reason to support the extremists' calls upon otherwise impotent governments for the regulation and legislation of all superhuman agency.
For there are indeed those who choose not to serve others above themselves. The so-called supervillains plague the world with criminal and terrorist schemes both petty and megalomaniacal. Although there have been a number of ascriptions of the 'First Supervillain' title in the past, to such notable monsters as Vlad Tepes, Jack the Ripper, or the Yellow Emperor, without conclusive proof of powers that can be attributed to them, scholars are reluctant to make the assessment for any individual predating Baron Zolan von Klingersk.
Von Klingersk was a minor Austrian noble in the late 18th Century who came to his powers late in life. The von Klingersk family fortune was almost destroyed by his inveterate lifestyle of drinking, gambling and wanton pursuit of a certain (class of) lady. When he discovered a magically potent shield and sword in the family castle vaults - sadly, while attempting to find something suitably valuable to pawn for more money with which to try and recoup his losses - he chose to use the powers the artefacts invested him with to pursue a life of criminal activity. He cemented control over his few remaining holdings and gathered a band of ne'er-do-wells to his banner, seeking to expand his power base across much of Eastern Europe.
Many of his schemes brought him into conflict with an early superhero going by the name of The Paladin, whose secret identity ironically was the Lady Marguerite de Bouivoir, with whom von Klingersk had broken off an engagement. The Paladin and von Klingersk battled one another periodically over two decades, their conflicts igniting the imaginations of a bored European nobility until the latter met his untimely end as a victim of one of his ever more desperate and ridiculous schemes.
Since the times of The Paladin, there have been more and more superpowered individuals who have donned "the mask and cape" to seek to save the world. There has also been a growing number of individuals opposed to them; several theories advanced by luminaries in the Centre for Paranormal Studies try to draw a correlation between the existence of superheroes and the supervillains, suggesting that without the former in significant numbers, there would be less of an exemplar from which the dark reflection could be cast. Naturally the more outspoken superhero representatives and apologists will deny such claims, citing cases of villains arising in complete isolation of any heroic intervention. Others just consider the idea of casting supervillains as a "dark reflection" to be the inane outpourings of certain psychologists' and sociologists' wet dreams - which muscular men and women in bright primary-coloured skin-tight clothing, often as revealing as it is concealing, could very well constitute.
The public remains unconvinced by such cogent argumentation, instead choosing to accept fearful suggestions that ring of paranoia. The superhumans are engaged in a massive conspiracy to keep normalkind under their yoke by forcing them to rely upon superhuman agency when normal law enforcement proves inadequate, for example. The more fearful elements of the populace stridently call upon their governments to address the "superhuman problem" although in most cases, none but the most atrocious and totalitarian regimes have any recourse for actually doing anything about the operations of the superheroes and villains. Even in the case that they were able to bring the superpowered villains to face justice most sovereign nations prior to the 1970s were unable to do anything effective about incarceration of these criminals.
Superhuman powers and the justice system
In the instances of superpowered beings being brought before the justice system, a number of problems present themselves. Foremost amongst these is the question of proof of identity; criminal activities conducted under the guise of a costumed persona showed to be extremely difficult to prove to be the act of the individual standing in the dock without eyewitness unmaskings.
Superhuman powers that defy modern science are also troublesome; not only are there questions of legal proof of violations of individuals' rights through powers like mind control, but the nature of the charge to be brought against a cat burglar who can literally walk through walls (i.e. as one highly 'celebrated' super-crime specialist lawyer once argued, it is not technically the crime of break & entry if the criminal doesn't actually break to gain unlawful access). Another problem presents itself to the authorities seeking to prosecute and punish a superpowered offender, namely how to contain such an individual. Obviously regular penal institutions would prove inadequate to the task, as the aforementioned cat burglar could easily escape from a normal bricks and barbed wire facility.
As has so often proven to be the case in the past, it required a superhuman answer to a superhuman problem. The answer came in the form of a super prison designed by two of the more brilliant minds of the late 20th century: The Futurist and Synergy. Resolving to deal with the ongoing issue of supervillains being caught, handed over to the authorities only to see those self-same offenders back on the streets within weeks, they proposed and constructed New Alcatraz.
As a gift to the people of the United States of America, the facility was constructed by the powers of the two superheroes, in conjunction with an alliance of other powered beings, at the offshore Guantanamo site. The prison allowed the USA to prosecute and sentence supervillains with a high expectation of being able to assure that the sentences would be carried out. In time other governments worldwide were able to exploit the same facility, conveniently placed outside US territory, and also conveniently outside the purview of any extradition treaties (which the USA does not uphold).
Despite this, and the continuing tireless work of hundreds of heroes across the world, few people have any trust that they will not one day find themselves under the yoke of some evil mastermind. Their faith in their elected officials to actually do something about the rising number of super beings is eroded to the point of open cynicism. No political party has a worthwhile proposal to present to their people and legally appointed authorities remain ineffectual in their attempts to police the activities of the superhuman population. Much as they hate to admit it, the normals are reliant upon the morally positive individuals inside the superhuman community to deal with their morally lax cohorts, and this reliance breeds discontent.
The Money of Powers
Given the inherent distrust levelled towards the superhumans, it may seem particularly contradictory that the Megacorporations would seek to contract them to provide a brand with an extraordinary representative. One would think that it would be more damaging to a brand to associate itself with an object of fear and suspicion instead of one of comfortable familiarity or safety. Amazingly this is yet another example of the power of the corporate marketing machinery being able to shift public perceptions. Sociological studies conducted by the CPS have discovered that the public perception of a corporate or branded superhero is often moved towards a sense that the individual is in many ways under control; the motivation of a 'privatised' superhuman who chooses the "sell-out" option is far more comprehensible and acceptable to the general citizenry than the non-self interested outlook as evinced by the public superhero.
Where a publicly-sponsored superhero would spell the downfall of any government of the day, a corporate-sponsored superhero can increase market share immeasurably over competition that lacks any such representation. Where two Megacorporations in the same market space, such as Acme Ultra, Inc. (security, paramilitary and mercenary companies, cyber-security, bio-engineering, etc.) and Peregrine Consolidated (military logistical outsourcing, security enhancement, tiger team intrusion testing, social engineering, etc.) both hold a corporate sponsored superhero on the books - Ultraman and The Peregrine, respectively - their highly staged and televised rivalries and battles can eclipse all other competition and establish unassailable duopolies. Accusations of cartel-like behaviour in response to such corporate strangleholds usually remain consigned to the latter pages of financial news reporting.
It is the corporate face of many superheroes that give the otherwise socially unacceptable superhuman existence a sense of glamour and desirability leading many to want to join their ranks. Where the rank and file of normal people would rarely dream of wanting to don the mask and cape alongside the Overwatch, The Ultimatum or Vimanarama, nor their opposite numbers in the Ultras, The Sinister Seven, or the Carrion Crew, many would love to join the ranks of the like of Ikon II, Chandra (light), Black Raven, and other "high flying" corporatized superhumans. The sponsor Megacorporations ensure that their groomed and polished images appear on the right red carpets, with extraordinary security measures in place to assure that there is minimal chance of some random supervillain making an unscheduled appearance to disrupt the stage managed event (nor endanger the public, or worse, the potent branding the superhuman represents, by having them lose a grudge match prompted by Rivalz.net).
The desirability of such a superpowered Rock Star lifestyle very likely fuels the market for Meta-Human Drugs. With little chance of naturally "breaking through", when the odds are approximately less than one person in a million, a sizable contingent of those who seek to become superhuman will choose the pharmaceutical / narcotic route. Most will admit that they realise that the chances of actually breaking through are negligible, but the market for MHDs remains at an all-time high.
The public relations issue facing many "freelance" superheroes is exacerbated by the fact that a significant proportion of their ranks is made up of gifted individuals whose very humanity is in question. Aside from the obvious examples like "Gaia's Guardian", the animate, mute, plant-based life form in the Overwatch superhero team, there are undead superheroes (The Regulators), alien superheroes (Starchilde), uplifted animal superheroes (FizzGig, a psychic cat), and even ephemeral thought-forms such as The Imaginarium. Although it might be conceivable that public trust could be invested in someone like Anaxagoras, a two-thousand plus year old Greek philosopher-come-superhero, as he at least conforms to some levels of human norms, the nature of some of the aforementioned beings is so foreign to normal human beings that they cannot readily accept their existence, let alone their unregulated superheroic activities.
The State of the Nation
The rise in power of the Megacorporations, and the diminishing responsibility of government ensures that social decay has set in within many former First World nations. The War on Terror remains a deadlock in the Khyber and Pashtun regions of the MEAO. A spreading scourge in the form of Meta-Human Drugs, permitting users for a short time, to join the ranks of the gifted at the risk of permanent physiological or psychological damage, has renewed the War on Drugs as well.
Humanity has lost faith in its gods, trust in its governments, and control of its desires to the corporate marketing machine. Now, moreso than ever, people have abrogated their personal responsibility to make the world a better place. The 'Average Joe' will blame their troubles on others and do nothing to fix it. "The government is to blame" is the catch-cry and yet no one bothers to show up to vote. The corporations have too much power, and yet their products fuel the hamstrung economies to keep entire nations afloat. Executive corruption is to blame for the worst excesses of the companies but nobody holds them to account.
Where religion has failed to give comfort to the oppressed and downtrodden, material greed grants a momentary salve. Science held out the promise of a better future and failed to deliver on that promise. Without hope, people turn on one another and the cities of the Western world have become cesspits of social disorder that understaffed and underpaid law enforcement agencies can no longer control. Their failings are even more pronounced when the actions of supervillains threaten the few remaining law abiding citizens in sheltered suburban sprawls. The rise of community sponsored vigilante activities - in the form of overblown security firms who are little more than armed thugs themselves - has turned even these walled sancta into demilitarized zones hoping for a saviour.
Desperately trying to stem the tide of crime, social decay and terror, the superheroes are the last, best hope for mankind. It is their lot to say "No", to draw and hold the line against the steady descent from the Rule of Law into the Misrule of Chaos. They are the ones to lift up the fallen, while being spat on from below. Welcome to 2024 gone wrong. Welcome to a world that should never have been, a world that needs saving from itself, by people that it rejects. Welcome to Champions X.