Paranormals as Weapons of Mass Destruction?

[EvilGM]

With everything that's been going on lately, it got me thinking about the effect that paranormals would have on the world they exist in, and about the often found storyline of attempts to control/regulate them.

 

In a world where it is felt paranormals need to be controlled because they are dangerous, has anyone ever taken it to the extreme where they have been declared a world-wide danger, on par with conventional weapons of mass destruction? If so, how did you handle it?

[death tribble]

It was usually the mutants who got this. They were declared dangerous and attacked without warning. The other heroes lobbied the government to make sure that this was never officially backed.

And although several of the team should have been declared Weapons off Mass Destruction, it never actually happened.

[winterhawk]

There is a really good example of this in the first story arc of the Authority. Issues 1-4 I think, and I know there is a trade paperback of it. A rogue nation clones an army of supermen and takes on the world. They destroy a couple of cities before the good guys can stop them.

[JohnTaber]

Hi Gents,

 

I am doing something similar in my new campaign. The general populace considers them a serious threat. They have extablished a large powerful government group to handle encounters. I'm using UNTIL for this purpose in my world...

[Arthur]

Depends on how powerful the paranormals are. If the characters are built on 200 or even 150 points, they just aren't powerful enough to be that destructive (barring extreme specialization).

 

That's the type of game I hope to GM sometime soon. The PCs are 150-point supers: they can either report to the concentration camps ("Paranormal Detainment Centers") or be fugitives.

 

Being a tiny minority and being different, especially if dangerous, is a surefire recipe for persecution. Humans don't have a good track record of tolerance, unless pressured into it.

[Doug McCrae]

Paranormals as WMDs! That's a really cool idea and I don't think it has been done before. Sure we've had superheroes as persecuted minority but we haven't had superheroes as WMDs.

 

Produced by governments, possibly 'loaned' to terrorist groups. The most potent, the equivalent of nuclear weapons, were only unleashed once, against Japan in WW2. Since then they have been idle, the destruction (or creation) of mountains/forests/rivers in remote areas of the globe signifying tests of these mighty beings. The USA has the most of course (they always do). The major powers of the world act in concert to thwart superhuman production by 'rogue nations'. Evidence is argued over, a nation could even be invaded over it.

 

Imagine - Hans Blix and a team of inspectors discover a girder bent into a knot; a discarded suit, hat and pair of spectacles; some partially dissolved webbing. Eye witnesses report a man shouting a word that sounded like 'Shaboom', 'Shazman' or something similar, followed by a clap of thunder. The US thinks this is clear evidence of a breach of UN resolutions. France stall, they say it isn't conclusive and want to give the inspectors more time.

 

That's why the Israelis bombed that Iraqi nuclear plant in 1980(date?). Every child knows radiation creates superhumans and has done since the 40s. The Iraqis were deliberately exposing soldiers to radioactive material.

[Tom McCarthy]

The WildStorm universe has quite a few titles that suggest that governments measure their strength against each other using superhumans as the yardstick. The superhumans of the WildStorm universe are indeed WMDs, being just as destructive, just as concealable, just as hard to detect, and having just as few defences. Notably, WMDs are actually used (as covertly as possible) against rogue superhumans.

 

StormWatch (pre-Authority and post-Authority) often focused on the race between the UN and the nations of the world to secure and exploit any edge from alien technology, cybernetics, or the 'comet effect'. Chemical and biological weapons abound, and in the WildStorm universe, a team of 4 or more superhumans can actually change the geopolitical landscape, slaughtering an army, expelling invaders, or even wiping a planet clean of life.

 

In the Wildstorm universe, fanatical terrorists aren't limited to hijacking planes or buying WMDs; they can go for full cybernetic replacements and buy alien energy blasters.

 

In a less overwhelming way, Rising Stars deals with a small group of superhumans and how they change the world and human race. They don't see themselves as being WMDs, but their enemies do. (One of the few books that made me want to run a campaign with an extremely limited set of origins.)

[MarkusDark]

There would need to be some sort of legislation about licencing and what is considered a WMD in regards to an individual. A person is not allowed (to my knowledge) to own or use a flame thrower but a paranormal may have the ability to hurl fire. As "heroes", they would probably need to go through some sort of police academy and be properly 'deputized' for the job of law enforcement. But, just as the government would like to know about any individual in the US who currently had an EMP rifle that could hurl car-sized objects at high speeds, they would want to know about any paranormal who had the ability to do the same thing.

 

In my games, anyone who had the power to do the amount of damage equal to basically any weapon that a soldier couldn't carry, they had to either be in the employment of the government or had to be registered and NOT use their powers to that level of destruction.

[Evil Toki]

Interesting

 

I am approaching thsi situation in my own games, and I will have this addressed, as the game plays out as the United Nations debates wether or not making all paranormals, called elites register with the United Nations. Thus that would allow the United Nations to keep tabs on all of the elites of the world, and those that didn't register would be labeled terrorists or criminals to pressure other elites to come forward...

 

Perhaps in tiem they may even become to be seen as a threat... but that is a few steps down the road I think

[TheEmerged]

I can only answer for my own campaign world.

 

Since there isn't (yet) a way to "force" normals to erupt into novas (translation, no way to make superheroes), the novas *themselves* aren't restricted. However, one of the things the UN is tries to restrict are programs to try and break this restriction -- and this is one of the points of tension between the US and UN.

 

Initially, the UN tried to also restrict nations from employing novas in their armies. All this did was to create the "citizen national teams" in the countries with novas (America has the SAT Project, for example). Elites, mercenaries with nova powers, also allowed countries to bypass this rule. As such it's one of those "unenforced rules", but remains a point of tension between the US and UN (because the US insists that its citizens can join the military of their own free will after erupting, or stay in the military should they erupt as a soldier).

[Balok]

Based on what I've seen around me...

 

I think everyone would be nervous around metas. I think certain small groups would make a very big noise about it, for various reasons (political and religious top the list). The government would certainly be very interested, likely fanning the flames of public distrust, and then responding to the "perceived need" by cracking down hard on such individuals.

 

Some groups would hire investigators to "out" secret identities -- and what's a hero to do? Kill that individual?

 

Imagine the controversy over a meta who can cure -- or kill -- with a touch. The tremendous demand for his or her services. The number of people who would gladly kill to possess exclusive access to such a power.

 

I think things would become dystopic rather quickly; we're probably better off such people exist *only* in the pages of comics, and in our imaginations.

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by Balok

I think things would become dystopic rather quickly; we're probably better off such people exist *only* in the pages of comics, and in our imaginations.

Naah. It would be business as usual in the real world every time some new phenomenon pops up - some good would come of it, some bad would come of it, but *always* the world becomes more complex.

[CrosshairCollie]

Mass Destruction Paranormals

 

I have to admit, I've never really run with that. I tend to run more 70s style games, at least in tone, wherein supers weren't dumped on just for being supers. With the rare exception (your occassional bigot, basically), people will judge a super on his actions. Distinctive Features affects this, of course, and other things like villains plotting to make heroes look bad, but I've never had the government(s) do anything like a Registration or Licensing act.

 

However, I do generally rule that any crime that involves superpowers or supertech is considered to be a use of Weapons of Mass Destruction, meaning that any crime involving superpowers becomes a serious felony. A little something to help keep the PCs in line, mostly, since a missed shot isn't just 'negligence', it becomes a Weapons Of Mass Destruction deal, and thusly a *lot* more severe.

[assault]

Re: Mass Destruction Paranormals

 

Any PC in my games, especially the ones _I_ play ain't registered. The whole Cold War thing may happen, but my PCs don't play the game. If some geek wants to take us over, "we" (including my characters) will try to stop them, but otherwise we are more likely to completely disregard all this horse apples.

 

My present day personal PCs tend to be telekinetics. They have force wall, TK, flight, and a certain amount of telepathy, mind control, enhanced strength and all the other junk.

 

If somebody holds up a bank, "I" can chuck a force wall in front of the hostages. Somebody else can whack the bad guys. It works for me.

 

Alan

[SleepyDrug]

Marvel Comics has touched on this a few times. In different places it is mentioned that

 

1) Supers were part of the Nuclear Treaty talks and are not allowed to join conventional armies because they are considered WMD's.

 

2) Contingency plans were designed by NATO and other military alliances for dealing with individuals such as Magneto.

[ZootSoot]

Re: Paranormals as Weapons of Mass Destruction?

 

Originally posted by EvilGM

With everything that's been going on lately, it got me thinking about the effect that paranormals would have on the world they exist in, and about the often found storyline of attempts to control/regulate them.

 

In a world where it is felt paranormals need to be controlled because they are dangerous, has anyone ever taken it to the extreme where they have been declared a world-wide danger, on par with conventional weapons of mass destruction? If so, how did you handle it?

 

Very few superhumans would qualify as weapons of mass destruction because most are extremely good at directinmg their abilities. It is very unlikely that most supers would have destructive effects beyond their specific targets.

[William Bushway]

Very few superhumans would qualify as weapons of mass destruction because most are extremely good at directinmg their abilities.

 

It really doesn't matter what the paranormal's degree of control is over their powers: I would say "threat" is more based on potential damage their powers could cause, and on whose behalf they'd be willing to use them.

 

For the classic example, read Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan singlehandedly wins 'Nam for the U.S., and makes nukes obsolete by his very existence.

 

Even if a paranormal has no control over his abilities, there will always be someone out there with a scheme to exploit them as a weapon. See innumerable issues of the Hulk for examples.