[M&M] Legacy of Justice (IRC campaign)

[Bethyaga]

Communities in the thousands will be extremely rare. As I'm putting it all together, I'm realizing that the world should feel like much more wasteland and much less civilization.

This is not to knock anything provided so far. Most can be used as is, and some will just need to be scaled down.

[Bethyaga]

The Sandpit bad guys

The Sandpit is a community of one or two hundred mostly permanent residents, and any number of thrill seekers passing in and out on any given day. The Sandpit offers visitors any sort of debauchery they may desire--booze, drug dens, whores, gambling--but the showpiece of the Sandpit is the Pit itself, where all sorts of gladatorial type competitions take place: supers vs. supers, mutants vs. mutants, hapless mundanes thrown in to fend for themselves against vicious mutants or bloodthirsty flux-altered animals. All competitions are quite bloody, and many of them are to the death.

The Sandpit provides employment opportunities for several "recruitment teams" that find new willing and unwilling participants for competitions in the Pit.

Panthra bad guy

A villian from the old days, Panthra was once the arch-nemesis of the Crimson Crusader. After the apocalypse, Panthra found herself in a world desperately in need of her particular talents. Her unearthly charisma and mystical talent for eliciting the darkest fantasies of her victims enabled her to build the Sandpit in the middle of the flux-shattered wastelands. Even now, in her 70's, Panthra is still quite active in the hands-on activities of the Sandpit. She is more the patron and proprietor of the small community than any official leader, but in times of crisis, the various parties that make up the community know who the true power is and will follow her lead.

[Cazmonster]

Flux Mutated Animals

Yep, it's Rolling Rock colored because I love it that much. Hell, there's a ton of game right there. How do you keep three score dirtgrubbers alive when their convoy of Winnebagos have broken down directly in the migratory path of 15 foot tall bisons?

And lets say Professor Aegis and her defense powers fail in the Vitrified Swamp of Chicago and she's dumped into the old Chicago river to fend for herself against three-quarter ton catfish that have managed to breath air.

Oh, now it's so totally on.

[kyle]

Okay, well, I'll finally weigh in-- I think this idea is the coolest game idea ever! As Brian once said to Brett, Benji and Jamie, "Best Friends Forever!" (which was also my idea).

That being said, Bethy, here's my character-- Aries.

The Greek God of war, Aries has seen the rise and fall of modern civilazation. Sprung from the Gods, Aries saw the enlightenment of the greek era of mortals. The father of Romulus and Remus, he also saw the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. In the last two millenia, he has borne witness to the birth and rise of the Christian and Muslim Faiths. He's seen the rise of both the industrial and the information eras. And now he has witnessed the fall of man-- the apocolypse.

Okay, maybe it's a Thor rip-off (I'll acknowledge that)- but I think this character has a lot of potential- the melancholy of witnessing what is believed to be the beginning of the end of time. From the perspective of an Immortal, this can be pretty profound. With the absence (and maybe death) of his fellow greek/roman/ancient gods, Aries finds himself (for the first time in his existence) wondering whether or not he has died and this is all an elaborate pantomime in purgatory. In his mind, there is a very good likelihood that either everyone else died in the apocolypse and he is the sole Immortal survivor, or he died, and this is all an elaborate test on his entrance to Mount Olympus. Can this actually be the end of eternity, or just a proving ground for his entrance to the rest of eternity?

Character specifics? I'm not sure, yet. The Mutants and Masterminds book I ordered hasn't come yet, so I can't give you specifics. Here's what I know- Aries is obviously strong and physical- very powerful in the field of combat. His weakness/vulnerability is his temper. He's overly aggressive and basically works on a "hair trigger". As the embodiment of mortal's instincts for "aggression, anger and survival" he acts appropriately, but also has an overriding sense of justice and the "universal right". Keeping with the spirit of his Golden Age origins, he's not an extreme uber-violent type (like Wolverine), but the strong, brute with a temper and aggressive disposition ("It's clobberin time!") Like Thor was a member of the Avengers, the only way I can work Aries in is if he was an original member of the Union.

Other things I will try to work in for Aries- some kind of kick ass weapon- not a sword, but maybe an axe, or a vicious double-headed spear. And if I can somehow work in my father's (Odin's) ravens somehow, that would be cool too- like maybe they would be the manifestation of some kind of clairavoiance power- I don't know. All this depends on the rules once I receive them. Does this sound do-able?

[Serious Paul]

Aries definitely rocks my boat. Great idae, and welcome aboard Kyle!

For whatever reason the idea of Aries weilding a Pole Arm sticks with me-some sort of PIke, that Double headed Spear you mentioned, a Halbred, Glaive whatever sounds right. I have an intresting question, and I realize I am not the Game Master here, so I don't get to expect answers, but I am just curious, how did Aries "fall in" with the heroes in stasis? How did he get on the team?

Anyways a very f'ing cool concept in my opinion!

[Bethyaga]

My brother lives!

Aries is excellent. You realize, of course, that Odin is Norse. Your father is Zeus. Hercules is your half-brother. Aphrodite your mistress. Etc. But that's a minor point.

I like the powers ideas. A typical brick/combat monster with a few godly extras thrown in. Very nice. You were once far more powerful than now, but when you awake, you find that this new flux-world has altered you, and limited your powers in some ways. When you get the book, you'll find that Power Level 10 is quite powerful, but hardly worthy of a true god.

For your weapon, you may want to go with something reminiscent of your old weasel headed spear. Maybe not a weasel, but something similar.

A brief history of Aries/Ares/Mars:

Mars has a mythological history, that goes backwards from Mars as a planet, Mars as ruler of the sign Aries (and also of Scorpio in traditional and Vedic astrology), and Mars as the Roman god of war. Following the genealogy of Mars we come to Ares, the Greek god. He was known as the despicable god of war, who "delights in the slaughter of men and the sacking of towns." Ares was loathed by all the other gods, including his own parents, Zeus and Hera. He was loved only by his sister, Eris (Discord), her son, Strife, and oddly enough by the beautiful Aphrodite (Venus). Ares fathered many children including Phobos (Panic), Deimos (Fear), and Tereus (Terror).

Ares was worshipped very little in ancient Greek religion, and there are few myths about him. Although Ares fathered many children he had no wife. His longest adulterous affair was with Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of love and beauty. He fathered several children with Aphrodite, even though she was married to another god. Ares and Aphrodite were the parents of Panic and Fear. They also had a daughter together, named Harmonia. For Aphrodite, Ares was "her muscular pretty-boy vandal." I guess the sexual appeal of the "bad boy" type of male goes all the way back to Aphrodite's lust for Ares!

Ares' father, Zeus, called his own son the "most hated of gods." Ares' sister, Discord, and her son Strife were Ares' companions on the battlefield, along with his own sons, Panic and Terror. The animal sacred to Ares was the vulture--a fitting totemic animal for the god of war. There were no Greek cities where Ares was worshipped. Epithets that were descriptive of Ares were "bellicose Ares" and "hard-hearted Ares." In war, Ares was unrestrained violence; whereas the goddess Athena, also a warrior, represented the strategy and tactics of war. The horses belonging to Diomedes (another son of Ares) were said to dine on human flesh.

Ares was the incarnation of blood lust. He is pure testosterone, known for war, violence, and unrestrained sexual passion. Both war and sex can be seen as forms of frenzy--the frenzy of killing in war; the frenzy of desire in sexual passion. Men engaging in acts of violence often experience a huge adrenaline rush--the thrill of blood lust, of violence, of killing. It is a "high" that leads soldiers to acts of heroism, albeit through bloody violence.

War can be seen as an extended frenzied high, a state of extreme action, outside of the flow of normal life. The energy of Mars, and the accompanying terror, panic, discord, and strife of war are at odds with civilization. Sexual passion, without restraint, is also a force that goes against the boundary of civilized structures. There are forces that hold a society together; and those that undo social structures. Illicit sex often breaks up marriages and challenges social norms. War breaks up nations, kills people, destroys all in its path of frenzy, fury, and fear.

Ares, when hurt or wounded himself, turned into a cry-baby. For all of his cold-hearted love of killing, he could dish it out better than he could take it. But Ares is indeed a very ancient god. Enyalius is the Linear B, or oldest name for Mars, prior to the Greek Ares.

Ares, in Roman times, became the Roman god Mars. The Romans were fonder of their god Mars, than the Greeks had been of the god Ares. The Romans themselves were a warrior people, conquering Northern Africa and much of Europe and the Middle East. The Romans were nothing if not the servants of the god of war, Mars.

But it's from an astrology site, so grain of salt and all. But I like taking this gruesome histoty as a base, but having him evolved to the modern day as the hero you describe. You may want to think of having a bloodlust/beserker weakness.

This makes me happy.

[Cazmonster]

Aries is excellent. You realize, of course, that Odin is Norse. Your father is Zeus. Hercules is your half-brother. Aphrodite your mistress. Etc. But that's a minor point.

Dude, she was everybody's mistress. McDonalds stole the 'millions served' from her.

Now I'm not only going to Hell, I'm going to Hades as well.

[Bethyaga]

Envisioned layout of a Legacy of Justice campaign sourcebook:

First of all, Green Ronin is nice enough to offer their M&M Superlink, a free license under the OGL that allows anyone to publish M&M compatible materials. For right now, I have no real plans other than putting it together, getting it polished, and then--if it's as good as I'm anticipating, maybe offering it up in PDF form on RPGnow or somesuch.

General outline:

Intro -- basic history + setting the tone

Players Section
Section I -- Flux Shattered Earth. This is a players section detailing the major aspects of the new earth, fates of the largest cities, notable landmarks & hotspots, major players, etc. It will be chock full of plot hooks and unverified rumors.
Section II -- Players Game Info. Tips and thoughts on playing in the Legacy of Justice world. Stuff to remember. World specific Skills, Feats, Powers, etc.

GM Section
Section III -- World Details. Stuff about Section I that is for GM's eyes only, plus a massive list of random communities and people and plot hooks that can be dropped in anywhere.
Section IV -- GM Game Info. GMing Classic heroes in a Post-Apoc world. Random Mutants table. Random communities table. Other useful charts and tools.
Section V -- Scenario. An introductory scenario--likely some version of the very one we will be playing.

[Bethyaga]

Ironwood Misguided

To the hungry traveler in the wasteland, Ironwood is truly a sight for sore eyes. A large stand of trees, thick enough to be called a forest. As one draws closer, they can hear the babbling of a fresh-water stream. They can see the huge ripe fruit trees...

But naturally, not all is as it seems. Ironwood is the result of powerful spirits of the land who banded together after the fall to create this miniature paradise, and they jealously guard their forest from mankind, whom they see as the ultimate enemy. Anyone who eats from the trees, drinks from the stream or damages the woods in any way without first seeking out its owners and asking permission will be dealt with harshly. And even if one could find the proprietors of the forest, it is unlikely that they will be inclined to kindness in any case.

Who exactly these spirits are, no one can say. Some have said that massive centaurs with magical spears and swords drive away all intruders, or that the trees move about to confuse and attack travelers. Some say the earth itself rises up to swallow men and use their remains to nourish itself. There are rumors that SPB's with earth and plant based powers are sometimes welcomed, but those are only rumors.

[kyle]

Okay, okay- So Odin's not my father. It's more than a minor point-- but inconsequential all the same because it can be modified to the right genre. I can't do much to get all the details down because I still haven't received the rules yet. But I'll flesh it all out.

As for the question of why Aries would join the Avengers--- OOPS, sorry, League of Justice-- who knows. The point is that when he joined, it was in a Golden Age of Superhero's type setting (similar to when Thor joined the Avengers or Valkyrie joined the Defenders-- anyone remember the Defenders?). I can easily come up with a plausible, common, greek myth character device (e.g., Aries is banished from Mt. Olympus after spurning Zeus by bedding one of his mistresses-- who consequently was also punished by Zeus by being transformed into a weiner dog.). It's a good point, though, I'll probably end up writing a two or three page backstory for the character to flesh it all out.

As for a weapon, I agree that some kind of whip ass pike/pole/spear/axe type weapon would be cool, but I don't want it to be gory b/c this is a good guy we're talking about. I really need to give this more thought.

As to powers, I'm not concerned about them at this point since the character and personality aren't power driven. But I figure for the most part it will be basic stuff- mainly super strength and invulnerability. I'd also like to work in the Ram somehow- either by having an actual war ram (but that seems awkward- but deserves more thorough consideration) or to work it into my weapon some how-- for instance a long handled battle axe or halberd with a blade on one side and a hammer on the other, I can even call it my battering ram (although the play on words wouldn't make sense because I've had the weapon since before English was ever developed as a language). I don't know. Finally, I'm going to spend a couple power levels on "inconsequential" abilities- i.e., the ability to sense the presence of other immortals, the ability to speak any language which had developed prior to the end of the world, ability to speak with Titans (long dead predecessor gods who cannot manifest themselves, but give damn good advice- although I should always take it with a grain of salt).

Most importantly, Aries will have to have his travelling companion, a space monkey named Gleek.

[Bethyaga]

Kyle's got a pretty good grip on the Union. Not surprising--we did share a comic collection, after all. But early Avengers is exactly the sort of feel I was going for for the pre-fall American Union of Justice.

The AUJ is the official super arm of the NSA, but despite being government employees, the AUJ had an unreal amount of autonomy. Major Justice was obviously the founder and leader (read obvious Cap America/Superman elements). The names listed in the Codicer's story indicate the current core membership as of the Apocalypse. But other than the Major, the rest are only names--I have no character development for any of them yet, so if anyone here wants to build a character around one of those names (Silver Sorceress, Apollo, Avenger, White Mouse, Nighthawk, Gantron), you are welcome to. Otherwise, we'll assume that other team members are the second stringers (can you say West Coast Avengers) and part timers who are all Union members, but don't have quite the same press.

And again, everyone is building characters that are Power Level 10, but you can claim that your powers have altered drastically since the Apocalypse. Like Aries, you could have been a massive wargod before who finds himself much limited now. Or maybe you were just a lowly sidekick before who finds himself endowed with awesome new powers. Whatever works.

Keep the ideas coming.

[Bethyaga]

The Sandmen misguided

The Sandmen have taken their name from old world garbagemen. The Sandmen feel it is their job to clean up the towns and communities they come to. Literally. They are a band of around 15, some with super powers, but some without. Although they all have some nifty "collection" equipment. They drive a massive truck into which they load all the refuse they recover. What they do with it ultimately is a mystery, as the truck is always empty when they pull into a new place. They do their work without being asked, but then typically expect a tribute or repayment of some sort for their labor. Occasionally, they come into conflict with communities over the exact definition of what is trash. Sometimes, they have had forcible confrontations with trash code violators.

All of the Sandmen tend to be tough-talking bad-asses who don't like to take shit from anybody.

[Bethyaga]

I've discovered that writing world elements for Legacy of Justice is so simple (and fun) that I've been trying to make an effort to follow every normal post I do with a new world element post. I don't always hold to it... but I try. The hardest part is coming up with good names.

This is what I want the final sourcebook to be. I want it to be so jam-packed full of world snippets, that no matter what the cover price, the reader feels he's gotten far more than his money's worth. Even in the rules sections, I want examples and sidebars and whatnot so that virtually every page of this book offers new hooks and possibilities. People who never ever play this game will still recommend the book to friends as an invaluable resource to mine for ideas.

Grand dreams, I know. But very very possible. Just needs some time and hard work.

[Bethyaga]

Roadapes flux mutants

They have their own name for themselves in their barking language, but travellers just call them roadapes. On average, they stand right around five feet tall and appear slightly built, but wiry--one can tell they have serious muscle under that greenish fur. Their faces are quite simian in appearance, but they walk upright and seem to be as intelligent as the average human. Quite a few of them speak English. They have very long prehensile tails which they can use as an extra (albeit clumsy) hand. They are fast and agile and extremely adept at sneaking and hiding.

Roadapes are typically brigands, travelling in bands of 10 to 30. They prefer to work by ambush and subterfuge, and will avoid a fair fight if at all possible. However, if they are directly engaged, they are freakishly strong compared to humans (super-strength x3 is a standard trait of all roadapes, making them eight times as strong as humans). They are good with hand-to-hand combat and typically have combat feats that allow them to use their phenomenal strength and agility to great advantage.

[Kai]

My Sunday crew is good, I have a book until I can get down to the store and buy one

Nighthawk as a batman-esque tech based hero would be a heck of a lot of fun I think, considering that tech would have either up and passed her by or degraded over the years making a once powerful hero a bit more limited. If that sounds cool to you, consider it taken.

And I like your idea

Mercy Gypsies good guys

Rumor has it the travelling caravan of healers and doctors originated with the Sisters of Mercy and the Red Cross dealing with disaster sticken areas, but no one has really bothered to ask. The roving band never stays in any one place long enough to settle down, though they openly welcome any healers or doctors and their familes who wish to join them. They offer their services to any who need it, both good and bad, in exchange for a place to camp for a few days and permission to hunt and forage in the area. They have become about as close to neutral as you can get in the world, for even super villians have accidents and sick children.

[Salvation122]

There needs to be a "neutral" or "apathetic" alignment. I mean, calling the Sandmen misguided just doesn't feel right to me. It's not that they're trying to good but are going about it the wrong way. They're just picking up the friggin' trash. It doesn't seem like its much of a deep moral issue for them, I guess, and even if it is, I'm sure there will be groups that have no overriding motivation that still deserve mention.

[Bethyaga]

There needs to be a "neutral" or "apathetic" alignment. I mean, calling the Sandmen misguided just doesn't feel right to me. It's not that they're trying to good but are going about it the wrong way. They're just picking up the friggin' trash. It doesn't seem like its much of a deep moral issue for them, I guess, and even if it is, I'm sure there will be groups that have no overriding motivation that still deserve mention.

I completely agree. When I first came up with the broad-strokes alignments, I knew they would not be all encompassing, but I wanted some general categories to start, and I knew it would take fleshing out some actual concepts to see what broke the mold.

I had the same reservations about the Sandmen. I don't know--possibly "neutral" or something that indicates their single-minded dedication to a purpose (without being insane). Who knows? The alignments will likely fall by the wayside, eventually, but they are helpful to me right now.

[Bethyaga]

The Toreth

The Toreth were merchants, traveling between planets in their great voidships, buying and selling and moving on to the next planet in the circuit. Then without warning, the Toreth voidship Il-Ka was plucked from the ether and deposited 6 miles up over a Kansas cornfield. Fortunately, the stasis fields worked for a few minutes more and saved the crew from the ensuing crash, but the Il-Ka was ruined along with half its wares. The Toreth salvaged what they could of their equipment, but most was ruined. But they are ever a resourceful lot. Salvaging the few things of any value from the ship (spices, xeno-flora, art, textiles, some others), the Toreth did what they knew best... they traded. They travel from city to city around North America finding the highest profit margin. The Toreth resemble nothing so much as rhino-headed dwarves, and are quite unique in that there are all of 80 of them on the entire planet... so far. Presumably, their homeworld/dimension is still out there, but they have no way to return and no interest in doing so.

[Bethyaga]

Nighthawk as a batman-esque tech based hero would be a heck of a lot of fun I think, considering that tech would have either up and passed her by or degraded over the years making a once powerful hero a bit more limited. If that sounds cool to you, consider it taken.

Excellent. I came up with the name Nighthawk based on DC's Robin-cum-Nightwing. I think this would be perfect. Now look at the Gadgets power (I think that's it) in M&M. It's basically the ability to always have the right gadget at the right time (like Batman... or sometimes Mr. Fantastic). If Nighthawk wants that ability with a Limitation of a 10% malfunction rate, you could buy it up pretty cheap. Then, in emergencies, I'd allow spending a Hero point to negate failure... or maybe spending the Hero point means the malfunction happens in such a way that it saves your ass anyway.

Lots of possibilities.

[Kai]

Perfect I'll get to looking at specifics here and work up some ideas and numbers

[Cazmonster]

Here's a question, when exactly did the device go off. I realize that with super heroes, the alternate history is different, but did Woodstock or the Moon Landing get to happen?

In any case, barring a total lack of hippies I present...

The Aquarians of the Seventh House good

Population: 550

Dozens of free-love communes and egalitarian hippie settlements were active in the months before Armageddon. Tune in, turn on, drop out was an enticing chant when the Cape and Cowl Brigade seemed to be running the show, and leaving precious little for the average person to do.

But as the flux storms tore out of Washington DC, heralding an assault by legions of demonic creatures, most of these places crumbled and burned, like poetry on a bonfire. A bare handful survived the initial attacks, protected by desperate heroics, favorable terrain or just plain good luck. The Seventh House is one of those places.

Sheltered in a valley in the Catskills, the five hundred or so people live simply, but well. Like everywhere else, there are mutants and SPB's, but here, they are encouraged to use their powers for the common good. Peace is the goal, but it is tempered with reason.

[Bethyaga]

Here's a question, when exactly did the device go off. I realize that with super heroes, the alternate history is different, but did Woodstock or the Moon Landing get to happen?

The Day of Doom was August 1, 1969. In conjunction with that, most communities have a day of mourning or day of the dead on Aug 1 every year. In many places, that is preceded by a few days of Fair/Carnival as people get drunk and celebrate life, culminating in a huge celebration on July 31. (Much like Fat Tuesday before Lent).

The moon landing went off even earlier in their world than ours, so yes--a single trip to the moon was made before the fall of civilization.

Sadly, Woodstock was planned but never executed.

[Bethyaga]

Graceland

My sketch for this is still pretty rough:

Even today, Elvis Presley is still a legend. Though the King died of a heart attack in 1991 (at the age of 56), his influence lives on. The incredible techno/magical array of super-items he gathered for himself have passed to his only son Aron Jesse Presley (only 18 years old at the time of his father's death). Aron still leads the Mephis Mafia from the Presley's base in Graceland to defend their few hundred loyal citizens from all dangers. While King Aron rules with a stern but loving hand, some say it is the Queen Mother, Priscilla, who still wields all the real power from behind the throne.

I don't know if Lisa-Marie is still alive and/or if she is still around at all, but I can build up from here.

[Bethyaga]

Flux Mutated Animals...
Hell, there's a ton of game right there...
Oh, now it's so totally on.

I agree. There are so many things that can be done, I imagine we'll have a pretty well-fleshed out menagerie eventually. However, after the core campaign book comes out, things like: Birds & Beasts of the Flux-Shattered Earth would make really good supplemental books, neh?

If you're going to dream, dream big.

[Bethyaga]

And in that vein...

Flux Dogs flux altered beast

The first flux dog must have been just some random mongrel, but the trait is inheritable, and now, large wild dog packs are likely to have one or two flux dogs mixed in. For whatever reason though--genetics, competition, whatever--it is rare to find more than that one or two in a single pack.

Flux dogs are larger and stronger and faster than the stock they come from; and some say smarter, too, as flux dogs tend to be the alpha dog of their pack. Their most disturbing trait is their ability to manipulate space-time. Some use the ability to fold themselves into side dimensions, remaining visible as a ghostly form but completely intangible until ready to strike. Others use the ability to fold the space around them, effectively letting them teleport over short distances. Lastly, some have been known to alter the flow of time, giving the hounds short bursts of super speed. Observation of the very rare domesticated flux dogs indicates that they are all capable of all of these feats, it is merely a matter of training and experience as to which capabilities they actually use.

Flux dogs are very agressive and don't deal well with being submissive--thus the difficulty in taming them.

[Cazmonster]

I thought of this this morning or yesterday, can't remember which now...

Sea Ghouls flux altered beast

Huge birds, capable of only limited flight, seaghouls are a constant threat and annoyance along shipping lanes. Their cacophanous cries disorient and confuse mariners long enough for them to swoop in for attacks. Dozens of the filthy creatures will stoop in for an attack run, slashing with their jagged beaks and clawing at any exposed flesh.

They are most dangerous because they are diseased. Wounds inflicted by SeaGhouls fester at nearly supernatural speeds, and leak a black oily filth. Victims lose higher mental function, but gain an amphibious talent. They can breathe water as well as air. Animalistic, they lurk in the margins, adapting to a feral life with frightening speed.

Worst of all, it seems that the oilslicked victims are under the SeaGhouls control. There are reports of coordinated attacks between the flapping horrors and the wretched victims of their disease.

[kyle]

I completely agree. When I first came up with the broad-strokes alignments, I knew they would not be all encompassing, but I wanted some general categories to start, and I knew it would take fleshing out some actual concepts to see what broke the mold.

I think the "broad-strokes" alignments are great, especially because I know we'll carry forward the D&D tradition of alignment languages. It will be great knowing that my character can speak to all people who fall into the "miguided" alignment!

[Kai]

I forgot a bit after my last comment

Forest of Silence flux altered place

It is said there are inhabitants in the Forest of Silence, but well, it would be nearly impossible to find out. Within the transformed remains of the vast Redwood forest, sound simply ceases to exist. One can intend to yell at the top of their lungs and simply nothing will come out. Birds sing no songs, dry leaves don't crunch, nothing disturbs the utter silence.

It seems to be a property of the combination of the soil and the trees. Green wood cut from the Forest and transported elsewhere has a muffling effect that lessens as the wood dries, but neither seedlings taken from the forest and grown or other plants grown in soil from the Forest seem capable of reproducing the silent effect. A few enterprising people have gathered both soil and seedlings but the lifespans of the trees outside the Forest are less than 5 years and any impurity to the soil ruins the silence effect permanently.

The Forest is usually skirted around, crossed only by the desperate, deaf, or insane as several days with no sound tends to drive people mad. The belief in mythical inhabitants of the Forest is due to all attempts to harvest more than a few trees from the woods meeting with accident or dissappearance.

[kyle]

It will be great knowing that my character can speak to all people who fall into the "miguided" alignment!

Heh- I'm funny. Forgot to give my contribution for a group.

The Church of Mark- Misguided, and boy-howdy are they misguided.

The Church of Mark (or Teeners as they are also known), are a group of a dozen snake-handling prosthelitizers who base their fundamental christian beliefs on the biblical passage Mark 16:17-18 which says, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." The surviving sect of the Church of Mark was originally based in rural, hardworking Kentucky. Mostly farmers and devout family. Prior to the apocolypse, the were like any strange, misunderstood religion that relied on swallowing strichnine, speaking in tongues when the spirit hit them, and (most importantly) handling snakes in their efforts to cast out demons and sin. When the apocalypse hit, most of the Church of Mark was decimated (like the rest of the human population) but several survived and accredited this amazing feat to their accumulated resistence to "sin" (aka flux). In other words, they think the poison and the snakes and the snake bites are what saw them through it. The Church of Mark actually takes advantage of the new found world by attempting to tame flux-affected snakes. But their true calling became apparent when the King Cobra ran into their ranks. King Cobra was a run of the mill, not very powerful villain prior to the apocalypse, who had the ability to communicate with and control snakes telepathically and was immune to all poisons including snake venom (the Union encountered him several times- never a problem). The Teeners knew of King Cobra before the end of the world, but he ignored their pleas and efforts to convert his wicked self to the Church of Mark. Having nowhere else to go, and no instincts to survive on his own after the fall, King Cobra quested to Kentucky and found the Teeners. He originally thought he would take advantage of them just to get food, but quickly fell under the spell and intrigue of the Teener's philosophies. After only several weeks King Cobra fully converted and, in a sincere effort to rid himself of his previous sinful like, converted to the Church of Mark and simply took on the name Mark. Now, the Church of Mark travels the countryside in a neverending fight to rid the world of sin and wickedness. This normally involves subjecting people to "tests" to see if they are too far gone, e.g., making them drink large amounts of poison or having them handle flux snakes. No one truly knows who is the brains behind the Teeners. The one thing everyone does know is that it is not Mark, who was always "touched in the head" even prior to his conversion.

[Cazmonster]

I just thought that John Lennon could be alive and Yoko either dead or never around!

Woo Hoo! Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band can be real!!!

[Bethyaga]

Graceland good?

Elvis wanted to be a cop. He wanted to be a karate master. He wanted to be a secret agent. Elvis Presley wanted to be a superhero. And with his fame, money and influence, he became one... sort of.

Elvis bought up all sorts of techno-gadgets and consulted with scientists of every stripe for ways to gain super abilities. Ultimately, he met with disappointment at every turn. But his luck changed when he pursued the mystic arts. Somewhere in eastern Europe, Elvis parted with a very large sum of money and returned to Graceland with the Cloak of Shandu--a floor length dark silver cape that endowed Elvis with the amazing powers he had searched for. Calling himself the Silver Streak, Elvis played at being a superhero and even applied several times for membership in the American Union of Justice, but he was denied.

Elvis slowly became more eccentric and given to excess, but all of that changed after the fall. The apocalypse refocused and re-energized Elvis. He turned Graceland into a veritable fortress to protect his family and friends. His Memphis Mafia, now armed with many of the techno-items Elvis had collected over the years, served as his loyal footsoldiers. Graceland expanded slowly, as children were born or as Elvis admitted very occasional new citizens, especially those with super powers. However, Elvis's paranoia was such that he was always careful to never allow admittance to anyone who might be a threat to his power. [GM note: other than Elvis, all SPB's in Graceland will be Power Level 6 or less.]

In 1974, Elvis and Priscilla welcomed the birth of their second child, a son, Aron Jesse.

Always paranoid and eccentric, Elvis became much more so when, in 1982, Priscilla and Lisa Marie were killed when one of Graceland's tractors rolled into a ditch while bringing them back from the stables. It appeared to be a random accident, but Elvis was convinced it was arranged by one of his many enemies. Elvis put on the face of a good father and benevolent ruler for his people, but beneath the surface, he was increasingly unstable. Those closest to him bore the brunt of his increasing madness.

It was almost a mercy then when in 1991, the King finally died of a heart attack. Political infighting was immediate over what was to become of Graceland, but the previously quiet and reserved Aron surprised everyone when he, at only 17 years old, took up his father's magic cloak and assumed the title of Elvis.

Elvis Aron rules with an iron hand and has a reputation of being grim but fair. He has since married and fathered three children--2 girls and a boy. He is grooming his oldest, 10 year old Lisa, for leadership, and he has made it clear that when he is no longer able to rule, Lisa will become Elvis.

[Bethyaga]

Firebugs mostly insane

Three minds, three bodies, but with a single purpose. Firefly, Cherry Bomb, and Salamander are all pyrokinetics, immune to heat and flame and able to generate and manipulate fire. Alone, they wandered the wasteland, looking for things to burn, reveling in the destruction they created. But then they found each other, and together, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The three of them feed off of each other, travelling from place to place looking for ways to create newer and bigger conflagrations. They compete with one another and can spend days at a time playing their game, starting and dousing fires around each other, destroying all they find without heed for what or who might be in their way.

[Bethyaga]

Orion & Artemis bad

A brother and sister, Orion and Artemis live together in a large lavishly appointed mansion on a hilltop in the center of a ruined ghost town. Visitors are welcome and will be treated to every comfort available. Once inside, a guest will immediately note the vast number of hunting trophies mounted on every available wall. There are animals and beasts of the normal variety as well as plenty of mutated and flux-enhanced creatures. Some of them, though, are disturbingly human in appearance--creatures like the roadapes who are known to be intelligent despite being mean and despicable creatures.

The truth is that Orion and Artemis are both world class super powered hunters, and they compete regularly to see who can bag the toughest and/or most exotic game. This includes superbeings of all types (although they keep those trophies in back rooms where guests are not welcome).

[kyle]

Flux dogs are larger and stronger and faster than the stock they come from; and some say smarter, too, as flux dogs tend to be the alpha dog of their pack. Their most disturbing trait is their ability to manipulate space-time.

I don't want to be a stickler for "flux consistency", but does the idea that all breeds of one animal are mutated the same way? Or maybe what is meant by flux beasts is that when a breed is affected, they are all affected the same way.

This doesn't seem to be consistent with what occurred. All humans affected by flux aren't affected the same way, right? I don't want to shit on a great idea (because I truly think its cool to basically be able to create a post-apocolyptic monster manual) but it just doesn't seem to fit for me, which is too bad. Uh oh, I gotta turtle head stickin out me bum.

[kyle]

Just to clarify. It would seem that animals, like humans, should be affected randomly. Some dogs affect space time, others have abnormally large tails. But are flux alterations inheritable? If so, maybe one dog who controls space time can also have his or her offspring do the same.

[Bethyaga]

Sorry, wasn't clear enough. Originally, there was only one flux dog, but it has passed its flux-altered genes on to future generations--potentially 20-30+ generations by now.

This is how most flux-beasts will come about: a single mutated individual that passes it's traits on through Darwinian evolution. However, there are also things like the roadapes, where there hasn't been time for so many to develop, leading to speculation that a flux effect altered a whole village in the same way at the same time, or that these are beings from another dimension (like the Toreth) or that they were somehow intentionally created by... by someone.

A thousand years from now, humans may well see a division into various races as their super-traits pass on and some are weeded out. But it's a slow process, because our generations are 15-20 years long. With lesser animals, this process can be quicker. And again, while I agree that flux will not cause identical alterations to all members of a species worldwide, it's very possible that the entire population of a limited area was all hit with a single effect. And they can certainly spread from there.

And it's a comic book. My logic is good. Not perfect if one works out all the numbers, but good enough for Lee and Kirby.

Hell, a better question is, "Where do some of these people get their food?" Answer: we don't care.

[Cazmonster]

Okay, I don't care how cheeseball it is. I can give Pete Seeger, my favorite folk singer of all times powers! One of the cool things for me is Pete has a banjo that on the face of it has this written: "This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender." If ever I get a tattoo, its that.

So, to the details.

Abayoyo and the Voices of Freedom good

Filling the waters around the Hudson river with music, the giant minstrel Abayoyo was once the noted folk-singer Pete Seeger. He and a dozen or so super-powered beings work hard to deflect the power of so many demons away from their protectorate.

[Bethyaga]

Just to clarify. It would seem that animals, like humans, should be affected randomly. Some dogs affect space time, others have abnormally large tails. But are flux alterations inheritable? If so, maybe one dog who controls space time can also have his or her offspring do the same.

This wasn't up as I started typing before. Good point. Some flux alterations are inheritable, and so you will see things like the flux dogs that all have the same abilities. But you're right, there will also be animals of all types with various unrelated flux expressions. Calling this particular genotype Flux Dog is just a name, and is not to imply that all flux affected dogs are like this.

[Cazmonster]

I also want evil necromantic sasquatches and dance-magic capable sentient platypi who have bound spirits of unreasoning violence (armed with two handed swords) to themselves. But that's just because I feel nostalgic and I know it will make Bethyaga twitch just a little.

[kyle]

And it's a comic book. My logic is good. Not perfect if one works out all the numbers, but good enough for Lee and Kirby.

Hell, a better question is, "Where do some of these people get their food?" Answer: we don't care.

Look, you may not care. But to say you're not going to come up with answers to logical questions because you can chalk it "comic book logic" is intellectually corrupt. I understand the comic book genre, but it's not a comic book-- it's a game and a world we and others will help create. That's the difference and it is important. You can come up with good answers to these things (as we did in this case), but you can't just dismiss it out of hand. That's not doing justice to the world or the player.

[kyle]

But I don't mean to call you Intellectually Corrupt.

Okay, but I do because your answer was catty, high hat bullshit.

More importantly, other than all of us railing off different cool, isolated places-- is there anything you need? I mean, coming up with this shit is fun, and will make a great compendium- but what else do you need for the world? Here's some important questions I have come up with-

How cool is my character and where can I get some art of him?

If I tattoo my new character on my chest, but then we never get around to playing, am I literally branded a loser?

Kidding. What do you need developed other than the type of stuff we're doing? I was thinking of going into some detail with questions on the survival of the infrastructure and transportation systems (do the rails still work?)- but then I realized that gets away from the spirit of the game. In a way it's supposed to harken back to D&D where you can simply be a band of characters travelling across the landscape in search of some eccentric quest. So maybe, in the end you are right in that it is a comic book and we don't need to question these things or else we end up in some convoluted steampunk world with a million explanations for everything which detracts from the kick ass supers action.

Sigh. Okay, you're right. After all, didn't it ruin the original Highlander when, in Highlander 2 they tried to explain that they were all immortal because they were aliens from another planet. Did we really have to know why they were immortal? As Jimmy said when he united the South Park Bloods and Crips, "I mean, come on."

[Bethyaga]

But I don't mean to call you Intellectually Corrupt.

Did too. Fucker.

If I tattoo my new character on my chest, but then we never get around to playing, am I literally branded a loser?

If Aries looks anything like Marvin the Martian, then you're halfway there.

What do you need developed other than the type of stuff we're doing?

I honestly don't know. I want a solid, consistent voice for the campaign world. That is, I want a well-developed, well-established tone/style/flavor. What we're doing now is really doing that for us, because as I read back through them, there are certain things that stand out more than others, and I look at them and say, "Yeah--that's it." And it guides me as I write more.

I was thinking of going into some detail with questions on the survival of the infrastructure and transportation systems (do the rails still work?)- but then I realized that gets away from the spirit of the game.

I need to go find the description of the Apocalypse I first gave to Caz...

...

...

Okay, fuck. I'm never going to find it. In any case, the flux storms that ravaged the earth in the years immediately following the activation of Doctor Apocalypse's doomsday device were massively devastating. Flux storms had variable effects. Sometimes, they tore up the landscape and destroyed everything in their path. Sometimes, they killed the people and left the town standing. Sometimes they had mutating effects. Etc. Etc. There is nothing left of the infrastructure except in very localized ways. There is no highway that still spans more than a hundred miles. Communications beyond one's immediately locality are non-existant. The rails may still exist in some places, but like roads, they don't go far and may no longer have vehicles to run on them. Again, everything only exists on the level of an immediate community. And remember, everything went boom in 1969, so it's not like we had a satellite network or any significant computing power. Hell, we didn't even have remote controls for our TV's.

In a way it's supposed to harken back to D&D where you can simply be a band of characters travelling across the landscape in search of some eccentric quest. So maybe, in the end you are right in that it is a comic book and we don't need to question these things or else we end up in some convoluted steampunk world with a million explanations for everything which detracts from the kick ass supers action.

Well... yeah. I mean, I think the world needs a little more justification and sophistication than, say, Thundercats or GI Joe. But not by too much.

After all, didn't it ruin the original Highlander when, in Highlander 2 they tried to explain that they were all immortal because they were aliens from another planet.

Dear God, it did.

I don't know. I guess what I really need now is a lot more of the same, plus some consideration for what sort of things might actually be universal. For example, I gave my one paragraph blurb on costumes way back, because I think it's important in this world that we establish that superheroes still wear costumes, no matter how silly that may seem. Hell, it was silly that they put on tights in the PRE-apocalyptic world, but it's part of our style. Are there other things like that that need a universal explanation?

I'm so tired. I'm going to bed.

[Bethyaga]

I also want evil necromantic sasquatches and dance-magic capable sentient platypi who have bound spirits of unreasoning violence (armed with two handed swords) to themselves. But that's just because I feel nostalgic and I know it will make Bethyaga twitch just a little.

*twitch*

[Cazmonster]

I will look for the Flux Storms. I think they are on Bulldrek v2.0.

[Bethyaga]

Yeah, they are. Somewhere, you asked how to destroy a world, and I gave my initial description of the flux storms and then stole them back. I looked all over v0.2, but it didn't jump out at me.

[DV8]

So I've been reading this thread pretty regularly, and I have been mainly focused on a character concept, trying to incorporate everything that you guys are coming up with. I have a very direct character creation question, which I feel doesn't really belong here. Shall we open up a OOC thread to keep this thread relatively clear for world building?

[Anguirel]

Yeah, they are. Somewhere, you asked how to destroy a world, and I gave my initial description of the flux storms and then stole them back. I looked all over v0.2, but it didn't jump out at me.

You mean this thread? That's because it isn't on v0.2. I remember it.

[Bethyaga]

Sweet! Thanks, Ang.

Create a new weather phenomenon... call them flux storms or some such. After some unnamed catastrophe that opened/tore the fabric between planes/worlds, the flux storms were born. Flux storms are massive swirling, sparking waves of death, they tear through the land with mindless fury, cutting miles wide swaths of destruction with the unpredictability of a tornado. Due to the magic/extraplanar/quantum properties of flux storms, they have different effects at different times (depending on the "weather"). Sometimes, they are just great destructive walls, pulverizing everything in their path. Sometimes, they just disintigrate stuff (presumably whisking it off to some alternate plane). Sometimes, they deposit bits and chunks of unrecognizable matter from some other place (imagine a literal rain of boulders). Sometimes, they disrupt electrical & chemical phenomena. Sometimes, they leaves everything dead in their path without harming the landscape.

Use any or all of the above effects, and call them magic or bizarre physics or whatever fits the genre. Now imagine that the storms raged across the world nearly non-stop for a decade (conveniently killing 3 billion people), and over that time, the frequency and intensity of the storms slowly diminished.

Nowadays, flux storms don't pose the constant danger they once did, but they are still around, like tornados or monsoons or hurricanes. Once in a while a flux storm rises, causes destruction and then fades again. Some areas or seasons may be more prone to flux storms than others.

[Bethyaga]

So I've been reading this thread pretty regularly, and I have been mainly focused on a character concept, trying to incorporate everything that you guys are coming up with. I have a very direct character creation question, which I feel doesn't really belong here. Shall we open up a OOC thread to keep this thread relatively clear for world building?

You got it.

Good idea.

[Bethyaga]

The Sound Man

Power: Audio Imprinting. Any sound he hears, he can psychically "imprint" upon any object as he listens. Thereafter, anyone touching the object will hear the imprinted sound played back in full. Direct skin contact is not needed, simply being within a quarter inch of the object is sufficient. Once contact is made, the sound plays out completely, even if the object is removed. The Sound Man has been known to make sound imprints of up to 20 minutes long. The effect is permanent, and will remain on the object until he chooses to remove the imprint. Any sound can be used, and any object, but the object must be a single solid piece. He cannot imprint a sound upon an entire car, but he could imprint it on just the steering wheel. He typically just uses small rocks. He can make two simultaneous imprints (holding one object in each hand), and can also transfer a completed imprint from one object to another, but cannot make copies. Breaking or altering an imprinted object destroys the imprint. No one knows if he has ever tried to imprint a sound on a living thing. Note--when someone "listens" to an imprinted sound, no actual sound is generated; it is all a psychic effect and therefore does not affect machines.

The Sound Man has no other name. He appears to be in his early 20's. He is short and rather non-descript. He is mute. His powers make him quite popular wherever he goes, and he never finds himself short of food or a place to sleep. His favorite thing is to record music of any kind. Listening to a performance, he will typically make two simultaneous imprints as he listens. He always keeps one for himself and gives the other to the performer to do with as they wish. He rides a largish donkey from town to town, and the animal's primary baggage is bag after bag of collected sounds. Certain favorites he keeps on his person, and on his belt he wears a bag of "talking stones" that have imprints of the most common phrases he needs--phrases recorded by past friends and customers.

The Sound Man carries no weapons, but he does have a bag of screams and explosions and other horrible horrible noises. If attacked or cornered, he with pitch a handful at his attacker. The effect of a half-dozen of these noises all playing in one's head simultaneously is temporarily disabling to most people, giving him time to escape. (Although he almost always goes back to the scene to recover as many of his stones as he can.) Note--The Sound Man can choose to shut out the playback of an imprint. Others cannot. Anyone rifling through his stuff who jams their hand into one of his sound bags is in for a nasty surprise.