You won the lottery!! You get to be a superbeing.

[Adventus]

Yes, you have won the lottery!! You get to be a superbeing. It is up to you to decide if you will be a hero or villian. The price? You must give up your old life forever and embrace being a superbeing. You will be entering a new world of danger and excitement. This is your responsibility as a Citizen.

 

What kind of world would exist that would allow this to happen?

How would you get these superpowers?

How many superbeings are ther in the world?

Do all superbeings have superpowers?

What would cause this to happen?

 

I would like herodom's help to flesh out this campaign idea. It sound like a neat origin for a group of heroes. The idea is that most people will embrace the idea of being a superbeing. A few won't, but they won so they willhave to get the powers.

[CarlSagan]

Interesting Idea

 

Hmmm. It sounds a little bit like Strikeforce Moritori. In that world, a scientist had come up with a treatment to give ordinary people super powers. There was a catch, however. The powers did not manifest right away, but the treatment would kill you within 12 months. Even if your powers never manifested, you would still die within 12 months.

 

Earth was being invaded by an unstoppable alien horde, so the government recruited young and idealistic people willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the world. The whole tone of the series was very, very tragic and very much epic heroic. It was a very well done series. (I don't remember who drew it, but the artwork was great, too.)

 

I am not sure what style of campaign you are after, but your description reminded me (in some ways) of Strikeforce Moritori.

[freakboy6117]

seeing as theres been a lot of talk about the authority lately you could borrow two of there origins where a previous hero dies and upon there death bequeths there powers to a new generation.

so The Amazing Dave was given his piowers by a mystic artifact and upon his death his powers travel to the nearest worthy vessel suddenly some random nice guy gets blaste with teh power cosmic and is reborn a super hero

[CarlSagan]

Choosing a successor

 

I like FreakBoy's idea, too. It gives you some roleplaying opportunities. The old hero knows that the end is approaching, and he is searching the city for a worthy successor. There would be interviews, and perhaps also tests.

 

You could have a player write up a "Normal" or "Competent Normal" version of himself. He could then play the "Normal" for the first session, as he is being tested to see if he is truly worthy. Then the super powers could be bestowed upon him.

 

Nice idea, FreakBoy.

[Agent X]

If you go with the idea of passing the power down it would probably be cool to have a name for this phenomenon and an idea for how it works. Do they get exactly the same powers, a random set of powers, similar powers shaped to their personality, powers based on aspects of their true nature, or powers based on their subconscious desires, etc.?

[Ghost who Walks]

Hmm...I had a research lab develop the PRIMUS process back in the 1970's, in my campaign.

 

It allowed the creation of superstrong people.

 

Since then, the process has been privatized. (PRIMUS still has their own). If you pay enough money, you can get powers. Superstrength and some form of regeneration are the most common.

 

As a side note, IMC, the process was originally designed to help paralyzed veterans from Vietnam. It got sidetracked when it proved more effective than envisioned, and is now a Heartless Medical Organization. (HMO)

[freakboy6117]

Well the best comic book example is the green lantern.

 

The Guardian of the Universe select a worthy human and bestow the ring which gives them great power but that powers use depends on the user so John Stewart uses its immense power differently too how Kyle Rayner or Guy Gardener use theirs.

 

On the other hand star man where the powers come from the same source and so the abilities don’t change merely the way it is used.

[Mayday]

There are elements of the WildCard virus in this as well. You have no choice about it, you manifest and deal with it.

 

Most turn into grotesque monstrosities, a few gain livable powers, like the normal looking girl who can make water. And then there are the rare lucky ones who get USEFUL powers.

 

The virus was used by aliens who are similar to human and so were testing it on us before using it on themselves. Lucky us....

 

Strikeforce: Morituri was an excellent book, combining that with the dying hero searching for his replacement, I like that.

[Supreme Serpent]

You could go the "Mojo" route...they are given powers and then their adventures are followed and broadcast/made into comic books etc across the multiverse. Also ensures that things don't get too slow, as the producers will ensure something happens if ratings start to go down...

[Doc Democracy]

I like the idea of there being a limited amount of something - either artefacts or spirits that combine with a human being to produce the superbeing.

 

Thus, the number of superbeings at any one time is absolutely limited. When a superbeing dies then the artefact/spirit returns to a particular place/relic and the next person to enter/touch the place/relic recieves superpowers.

 

The history of this could be scientific or mystical or religious and thus you get the growth of the lottery. When a superbeing dies perhaps the relic glows and the authority in charge of it know that they need to run the lottery to allow a new superbeing to be born.

 

My first thought of a scenario was that the villainous superbeings had worked out how to corrupt the lottery and began to kill heroes and replace those heroes with placed men. Thus the balance between good and evil is disrupted and if the heroes don't work it out then the earth will be dominated by villains for the rest of time...

[Wombatman]

And here it is...the background for my (as yet) unstarted campaign. I am just waiting for the Sidekick rules to come out so that I can indoctrinate a new group into the world of HEROdom:

 

Brave New World

 

All throughout the late 90’s, everyone was concerned about the “end of the worldâ€. People built shelters, hoarded food, and prepared for the worst. On New Years Eve, 1999, the world held its breath…and let out a sigh of relief as the clock passed by the turn of the century with a whimper instead of a bang. The moment had passed, and life began to return to normal as fears of “the End†were laughed away.

 

What no one realized was that the countdown to the end of the world had begun.

 

At that precise moment, a new object was seen in the heavens by the US Astronomical Agency. It was catalogued and mapped, and over the next few months it was tracked. By mid July, it had drawn attention to itself by the fact that, although it got brighter, there was no lateral movement to speak of. Larger telescopes were brought to bear, more sophisticated computer functions and analysis diverted to the problem, and by September the scientists had reached a conclusion.

 

Dr. Martin van Buren, Special Counsel to the President of the United States, informed the President on September 15, 2000, that the new star was in fact an asteroid and that its trajectory indicated a 94.6% probability of impacting the earth sometime in the year 2005. Measurements taken showed that the asteroid was approximately the size of the State of Illinois. Conservative estimates figured that all life on the surface of the planet would be destroyed. The President asked for options.

 

Thus the greatest arms race in the history of mankind was begun. Every country in the world that was capable of building nuclear weapons began converting 100% of their production capacity into generating the most powerful bombs ever created. These warheads were attached to missiles designed to hurl them into space on a trajectory that would intercept the asteroid and, hopefully, destroy it before it was close enough to the earth to wreak havoc.

 

The pessimistic despaired. The optimistic remained hopeful. The realists prayed for a miracle.

 

January 1, 2005 the missiles were launched. The sky lit with fire as volley after volley flew to the heavens. Mankind held its collective breath for 10 months. October 21, 2005 the missiles reached their target and there was a night without darkness. Millions of tons of explosives cracked and fractured the asteroid. The second volley broke up the pieces. The third reduced them even further. By the time that the fourth volley struck, most of the asteroid was reduced to small enough fragments that they would break up in the atmosphere.

 

Mankind rejoiced.

 

Christmas Eve, 2005, the darkness of the sky was broken by billions and billions of mini meteors. Dust and debris from the remains rained down upon the earth, creating a shower of falling stars. All who saw it felt their hearts swell within them as what was referred to as “pixie dust†lit up the night…a beautiful storybook ending to an awful tragedy narrowly averted.

 

“Pixie dust†is what we called it. The magical dust that Tinkerbelle used to give children the power to fly away to Neverland. Little did we realize how appropriate that name would be.

 

It was the end of the world as we knew it.

[Wombatman]

The point behind this "history" was that it allows me to put each player in a situation that is basically "You, the player, have just been granted superpowers by this event...what are you going to do with them now?" A lot like your "lotto" theme.

 

Just a bit of wish fulfillment there I guess...but hey, if it helps to get them involved then it is worth it.

 

And the reoccuring villain in this whole thing will be...

 

drumroll please...

 

...Mechanon...

 

...who is not really fully a robot, but rather the subconscious of a renowned robotics scientist that has been projected into a computer while his body lies in a coma. Mechanon "believes" he is a robot and that mechanoids are the perfect beings. All based off of the scientists subconscious belief in the superiority of robotics.

[pinecone]

Hmmm kind of left feild...Diety or Dietys become convinced that man can only move foward on their own so all the divine power is divided into X packets (a weird sacred number like 79) and gets randomly sent out...when a super dies the packet goes out again...sounds like a Beyonder plot dosen't it?

[freakboy6117]

or highlander

 

theres a finite amount of the energy that ebeus super powers a super hero dies on his won this power is sent out to a random human.

if he's slain by another super the power is passed on to his killer.

 

slowly over time more supers are created until the entire stock of energy is in play at which point they all fight to see who will become to all intense and purposes a GOD.

[Adventus]

I like the idea of there being a limited amount of something - either artefacts or spirits that combine with a human being to produce the superbeing. Thus, the number of superbeings at any one time is absolutely limited. When a superbeing dies then the artefact/spirit returns to a particular place/relic and the next person to enter/touch the place/relic recieves superpowers. The history of this could be scientific or mystical or religious and thus you get the growth of the lottery. When a superbeing dies perhaps the relic glows and the authority in charge of it know that they need to run the lottery to allow a new superbeing to be born.

 

I really like this idea. This is kind of what I was thinking of for the world. There is a world government. The superbeings are created and handled by the Superpowered department, a division of the DOD. They have a complete list of superpowered beings. They tried to create their own army of superbeings but something in the process backfired creating a group of anti-heroes to stop the Government. Something in the process keeps a balance of power in the superpowered world between the heroes and villians. This is not public knowledge. They covered it up and appointed a very serious and upstanding person to head the organization.

 

 

My first thought of a scenario was that the villainous superbeings had worked out how to corrupt the lottery and began to kill heroes and replace those heroes with placed men. Thus the balance between good and evil is disrupted and if the heroes don't work it out then the earth will be dominated by villains for the rest of time...

 

This would be a great beginning of the campaign. The villians have upset the balance of power. The players are created to restore the balance of power in the world. They have to keep the secret afterwards to conceal the fact that villians have to be created or the artifact will create them and they will be more powerful.

[Adventus]

I am still looking for suggestions on the type of government the world would have. Would it be an evil one or more beneficial? What effect would the lottery have on the world? Would our freedoms be limited by the lottery?

[Adventus]

I have come up with some Questions that I am drawing a blank on answering.

 

1. When and how was the Artifact found?

 

2. What happened to the person who found it?

 

3. Why hasn't the government kept this Artifact under a cloak of secrecy?

 

4. Why does everybody know about it?

 

5. Why does the Government run the Lottery instead of just sending its own people thru the Artifact?

 

6. Is everybody allowed to play the Lottery?

 

7. What form does the Lottery take?

 

I would appreciate some help here.

 

:confused: :confused:

[freakboy6117]

Lets see the artifact was brought to earth by the Roswell aliens who are in fact intergalactic ultra vision producers who regularly visit earth to make "reality TV" hidden camera shows like "galaxies funniest rectal probes" "abductees say the funniest things" and "cattle mutilation super bingo"

 

Unfortunately these shows are losing ratings so taking a leaf out of earth culture they have decided to spice things up with SUPERPOWERS. The artifact has bonded with the human they selected as there representative on earth Pop Idol’s Simon Cowell.

 

The artifact grants Simon hisown super powers super sarcasasm ego shattering presence attack duplication he also has the power to bestow super powers on others.

 

All the governments of earthy must participate generally there are a lot of threats should they renege on the contract you know orbital bombardment that sort of thing and if they go along they get cool alien technology (really its crap from the home shopping network but what do we dumb apes know).

 

So a random selection of the population get to go on the show are interviewed by super Simon and selected to form part of the super team meanwhile secretly (as in unknown to the human public not the alien viewers who watch who wants to be a super villain.) Simon gets to select those he wants as super villains. after the intergalatic viewer vote takes place Simon grants super powers to the winners tailored to enhance there viewerappeal and they go out to do battle with the forces of evil all the time watched by intangible subspace ultra vision cameras.