Traits of an Emerging Powers Campaign

[John Desmarais]

So, I've been playing and running Champions for a while now (roughly thirty years) and in all that time I have never done an Emerging Powers campaign. Well, I'm starting a new campaign shortly and my players have expressed an interest in going this way, so I'm starting to put together my setting notes. I've settled on a few items are already - some pertinent to the concept of "Emerging Powers", so not so much:

 

* Superpowers began manifesting about a year and half ago (yes, there is a singular cause, but that's part of the overall campaign plot mystery, so I won't say why).

 

* Era is "now", with a tech level appropriate for now (in comics, the emergence of superpowers seems to always have a strange impact on technology - but hat hasn't happened yet - so no super-tech type heroes).

 

* Law enforcement is not happy with the emergence of superpowered individuals. Superpowered villains are difficult to handle; and superpowered "heroes" don't follow the rules of evidence, take procedural shortcuts, and make it nearly impossible to secure an actual conviction - ignoring for the moment to various crimes they commit themselves in the course of "helping" (breaking and entering, aggravated trespass, assault, violating controlled airspace, etc.).

 

* The PCs will be one of the recently formed task forces being fielded by a previously secret branch of the Security Service (MI5) initiated to deal with superpowered threats to the realm.

 

So, why am I posting this? To take advantage of the Hero zeitgeist. What are some common tropes/traits that I need to remember to enforce the feel of an emerging powers campaign?

[Cantriped]

The most obvious trope that comes to mind is the Awe/Envy that Normals will have for Emergent Supers. There should also be lots of Disbelief regarding the existence of Supers: crime bosses won't believe that six of their goons got beaten to pulp by one dude in colored spandex, reporters won't believe the footage of super-battles they receive is real, etc.

[Doc Democracy]

Hmm, there should be the opposition (the evil guys) and the official opposition (whether army looking to minimise the security risk or regulators looking to classify and categorise) and some media interest (either castigating or cheerleading).

[Hermit]

The most obvious trope that comes to mind is the Awe/Envy that Normals will have for Emergent Supers. There should also be lots of Disbelief regarding the existence of Supers: crime bosses won't believe that six of their goons got beaten to pulp by one dude in colored spandex, reporters won't believe the footage of super-battles they receive is real, etc.

 

Agreed. We have folks that think we faked the moon landing. So let's definitely have a large group that thinks the supers are all done with CGI and photoshop

[John Desmarais]

I like the disbelief idea.  Not sure how to make it have impact in game, but definitely an idea to cogitate on.

[Hermit]

I like the disbelief idea.  Not sure how to make it have impact in game, but definitely an idea to cogitate on.

 

Well, you could have fakes show up pretending to have powers in order to cash in, unaware of the dangers they might put themselves in.

 

Some con man with a good SFX background shows the wonders of his superpowers would not be unlike someone forging miracles to take advantage of the faithful

 

Speaking of religion...

 

You can bet some religious leaders would have something to say about the gifted. Some would see them as blessed, others as powered by unholy forces. I would go for a mix. All one way or the other is too limiting and frankly not very realistic in my view (Well as realistic as superheroes ever get)

[Sir Ra]

Besides the AWE factor that showing even a MINOR power would occur there is the INABILITY to deal with the powers (FEAR).  Psychological effects can be varied...

[mrinku]

As well as sceptics there's also going to be rabid fans. And copycats/wannabees. You could run a scenario where the perp used conventional weapons and special effects to simulate powers as a misdirection for what was really going on.

 

This sort of stuff is going to go viral on youtube, snapchat, twitter and whatever the kids are actually using this week.

 

There might not be any "supertech" as such, but modern tech is pretty amazing anyway. You'll want to consider what extra effect smartphones, drones, wearables and social media have on powered individuals as well as for the authorities. 

[Chris Goodwin]

Behind a spoiler in case any of my players happen by...

 

 

 

I'm running one where superheroes have only in the past five years or so managed to go public, but there have been supers for thousands of years, going all the way back to the era of Gilgamesh and beyond.  They were worshiped as the ancient gods.  Many times throughout history the people have turned on them, and driven them away to other worlds (in space or other dimensions).  The US government has known about them at least since WWII, if not longer, but has kept their existence a secret all this time.  I've thrown in as recent history a prison break near Campaign City, which was actually used for holding (and experimenting on) metahumans.

 

Edited to add:  I've made it more or less explicit in my notes that there have been a number of government conspiracies involved in keeping the whole thing secret.  In fact I haven't yet decided just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

 

 

[megaplayboy]

A few ideas:

1. Mixed reactions on social media--wild conspiracy theories; denialism; awe and hero worship; paranoia and wanting to control or eliminate superhumans

2. Mixed government reactions--politicians want to piggyback on popular heroes, others want to play on public fears and call for various countermeasures or regulations, some want more research or bills to protect the identities of superheroes

3. Media goes nuts--video features on the news almost every day, attractive heroes get a lot of attention, villains get blown up into global threats, etc.

4. Law enforcement has mixed feelings--some appreciate the help, some are flat out scared of supervillains who can bounce bullets and throw squad cars around, many want more conformity with legal procedure

5. "Doxxing" of heroes a major concern--protection of their identities is a big deal, and some experience tragedy as a result of public exposure

6. Some supers want to cash in on their abilities--commercial endorsements or using their abilities to make money in other ways.

[megaplayboy]

The first major supervillain "event" or crisis would get 9/11 level coverage.  And the heroes who stopped the villain would get greater acclaim than the Seal Team that got OBL.  

[assault]

1. World building is secondary to your game. Don't trap yourself into dead ends. There is no "realistically".

 

2. Decide what the game is "about" in terms of primary conflicts and antagonists, and set your background up to support that. Consult with your players to make sure they want to play in it!

 

3. Roughly how common are superbeings? How powerful? How are they distributed? You can change your answers later.

[Doc Democracy]

recent news in the UK turned my head to the way different people will react to being superpowered.  This covers a spectrum, not just hero and villain.

 

So, you have the people who feel the need to help others, you have the people that exploit the powers for gain.  You have people who use the powers to boost something else (like Superman who actually just wants to win X-Factor) and you have the people who look to make money in more legitimate ways (ever thought of an Uber style app for superheroes??)...others have covered the ideas related to religion etc.

 

Plenty more ways for people to react to this change in humanity.

[John Desmarais]

1. World building is secondary to your game. Don't trap yourself into dead ends. There is no "realistically".

 

2. Decide what the game is "about" in terms of primary conflicts and antagonists, and set your background up to support that. Consult with your players to make sure they want to play in it!

 

3. Roughly how common are superbeings? How powerful? How are they distributed? You can change your answers later.

 

Currently, the instances of detectable superpower manifesting is a little more than 1 per million, power levels spread across a pretty standard bell curve (really minor powers don't show up at all - impossible to detect - most fall within my campaign* "middle range" and a decreasing number of higher power levels).   As a part of the underlying plot the instance of power manifestation is is accelerating.

 

*Campaign power levels are "standard superhero" (built on 400 points). with the PCs representing the upper end of the middle range described above.  

[John Desmarais]

A few ideas:

1. Mixed reactions on social media--wild conspiracy theories; denialism; awe and hero worship; paranoia and wanting to control or eliminate superhumans

2. Mixed government reactions--politicians want to piggyback on popular heroes, others want to play on public fears and call for various countermeasures or regulations, some want more research or bills to protect the identities of superheroes

3. Media goes nuts--video features on the news almost every day, attractive heroes get a lot of attention, villains get blown up into global threats, etc.

4. Law enforcement has mixed feelings--some appreciate the help, some are flat out scared of supervillains who can bounce bullets and throw squad cars around, many want more conformity with legal procedure

5. "Doxxing" of heroes a major concern--protection of their identities is a big deal, and some experience tragedy as a result of public exposure

6. Some supers want to cash in on their abilities--commercial endorsements or using their abilities to make money in other ways.

 

4. The PCs will be part of a government department initiated in part as a response to the Law Enforcement concerns.   Even self proclaimed "heroes", operating independently, create problems for Law Enforcement as their involvement makes securing convictions very difficult. The "official" policy is that independent heroes are not tolerated. (The unofficial policy may vary by municipality.)

 

5. As part of an organization with experience in maintaining the privacy of it's field agents, I can probably ignore this problem - until I don;t want to ignore it anymore    (Hmmm...  Perhaps an overzealous investigative reporter.)

 

6.  I hadn't thought about this yet. 

[bubba smith]

a physically empowered super might be clumsy at first until he/she got used to his/her abilites

[John Desmarais]

recent news in the UK turned my head to the way different people will react to being superpowered.  This covers a spectrum, not just hero and villain.

 

So, you have the people who feel the need to help others, you have the people that exploit the powers for gain.  You have people who use the powers to boost something else (like Superman who actually just wants to win X-Factor) and you have the people who look to make money in more legitimate ways (ever thought of an Uber style app for superheroes??)...others have covered the ideas related to religion etc.

 

Plenty more ways for people to react to this change in humanity.

 

 

Re: winning X-Factor.  I've been mulling over this concept since reading megaplayboy's post.  Still mulling...

[Doc Democracy]

Re: winning X-Factor.  I've been mulling over this concept since reading megaplayboy's post.  Still mulling...

 

Obviously a key template for this kind of hero would be Booster Gold.

 

Personally I like the Uber potential - who ya' gonna call??  By the time the hero team get to an incident there is a well-meaning, untrained paranormal trying to resolve the issue.  

 

:-)

 

Doc

[Chris Goodwin]

If the PCs have gotten some publicity, there'll be people coming to them with problems they may not be able to solve.  

 

Other people who gain powers will try to go to them for advice and help that they might not be able to give. 

 

See also the audition scene in Mystery Men for the kinds of people who will try to "join" the PCs' team.

[Era Scarecrow]

Emerging powers... hmm... Seems like it would be similar to these steps and/or phases.

 

1) lots of clumsy use of powers, accidents, accidental discharges, loss of some life but mostly it's property damage.

 

2) Increased crime. A sudden uptick of recruiting for gangs and robbery while the police and law enforcement can't keep up or being unable to handle them until they call in higher military gear.

 

3) Legislation, trying to quantify and how to handle the sudden uptick in crime and powers, perhaps quickly passed laws that ultimately do very little

 

4) R&D for detection and restraining technology for law enforcement, including darts, nets and fields, new guns, etc.

 

4b) Once developed there will be plenty of false positives ultimately making most of the tech useless as they are outlawed until they are more precise.

 

5) powered communities; Those leaving home to try and limit damage/destruction and thus probably getting into a community whom are similar to them; By coincidence the increased concentration somehow cancels out most of the accidents.

 

6) random rag-tag 'heroes' start appearing, wearing pajamas and masks, and soon enough getting enough support and even payments from local government that they can have actual costumes.

 

7) Within 10 years things will stabilize, accidental changes and discharges would be similar to x-men, where sudden onslaught of powers cause most of the problems, although a number of the powers might be quite benign and invisible, or easily controlled and thus you'll also have many in the community who have powers but choose not to use them.

 

8) while many superpowers are feared, it would be more or less accepted it exists, and like carrying a firearm you would only worry if someone was brandishing it.

 

9) technology is more or less perfected for some detection and restraining of powers, however they would likely be entangles and/or drains and little more.

[Chris Goodwin]

How well is the government prepared for the sudden emergence of supers?  Is there a lot of generalized denial?  Is someone immediately thinking, "These people are here so we'd better figure out how to deal with them, and now!"?  For values of "deal with" to include help, work with, work around, exploit, capture, imprison, study, vivisect...

[Era Scarecrow]

I'd think they would see them as a threat.

 

Mind you I don't know the amount of points of powers we're talking about. Could be a 75+75 characters, who then over the years become stronger and as the powers get stronger so does everything else after a few years.

 

In more authoritarian regimes you know they wouldn't want anyone who could challenge them and all emerging powers are killed off so only the military has the appropriate strength...

 

In the west I'd guess they would jail at first, and then decide to register or give a pass for benign powers. Or the smart governments would go on a recruiting spree to take up as many of them as possible, so the new firepower is within their control (or at least monitored).

[Christopher R Taylor]

The last campaign I ran, I had the PCs build non-powered characters and play them a few sessions before getting powers.  That way they had a sense of who they were and what they did other than have superpowers.  And I had the only people with superpowers be villains, criminals, and thugs.

 

It depends a lot on the tone you want for your campaign.  If you want a gritty, realistic sort, then Era Scarecrow has a pretty good framework.  If you want a more romantic, four color approach, then having the heroes able to help out extraordinarily in crises (like Superman saving an airplane) to great public acclaim, acceptance, and respect is the way to go.  

[mrinku]

One comic worth reading which covers superhero celebrity and somewhat counts as "emerging powers" is Grant Morrison ad Steve Yeowell's  Zenith; originally serialised in 2000AD, the collected volumes are still in publication.

[John Desmarais]

How well is the government prepared for the sudden emergence of supers?  Is there a lot of generalized denial?  Is someone immediately thinking, "These people are here so we'd better figure out how to deal with them, and now!"?  For values of "deal with" to include help, work with, work around, exploit, capture, imprison, study, vivisect...

The Government (in the larger sense) is comepletely unprepared. One small department is oddly well prepared (also part of background plot).