(somehow) realistic Secret IDs

[Wanderer]

Assuming that one eschews the traditional genre assumption that even the minimalest facial alterations are able to keep a secret ID sacred, and realistic criminology investigative abilities are in place (not super-tech, just CSI stuff), what steps do you deem a superhuman should take to keep a Secret ID reasonably safe ? I was thinking of characters having to totally change physical appearance with power activation, or completly masking the face like Spiderman or Iron Man, always using gloves, taking care to keep identities wholly separate (no "my mundane ID is publicly known as best friend/business associate/main contact of my hero ID"), taking care to avoid plotting a pattern of appearances giving clues to location of mundane address, trying to destroy DNA evidence, etc.

 

Also, on a more ruleswise angle, do you think one should differentiate, pointswise, between a Secret ID that's supported by power-linked exceptional means of disguise (such as the character having shapeshifting powers (Martin Manhunter or Mystica), totally change appearance or physical form with Power Activation or OIHID (Hulk, Thor, Shazam/Cap. Marvel) vs. one that relies on mundane stealth and masking ?

[Trebuchet]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Assuming that one eschews the traditional genre assumption that even the minimalest facial alterations are able to keep a secret ID sacred, and realistic criminology investigative abilities are in place (not super-tech, just CSI stuff), what steps do you deem a superhuman should take to keep a Secret ID reasonably safe ? I was thinking of characters having to totally change physical appearance with power activation, or completly masking the face like Spiderman or Iron Man, always using gloves, taking care to keep identities wholly separate (no "my mundane ID is publicly known as best friend/business associate/main contact of my hero ID"), taking care to avoid plotting a pattern of appearances giving clues to location of mundane address, trying to destroy DNA evidence, etc.

 

Also, on a more ruleswise angle, do you think one should differentiate, pointswise, between a Secret ID that's supported by power-linked exceptional means of disguise (such as the character having shapeshifting powers (Martin Manhunter or Mystica), totally change appearance or physical form with Power Activation or OIHID (Hulk, Thor, Shazam/Cap. Marvel) vs. one that relies on mundane stealth and masking ?

I think to a large extent this depends on the exact genre of Champions your campaign is. In a Silver Age campaign wearing glasses and a quick hairstyle change constitutes an almost impenetrable disguise. And of course no one will ever figure out the mousy librarian is actually the glamourous Lady Liberty. In an Iron Age/CSI-type game keeping a Secret ID might be extremely difficult (You can always buy the chief forensic scientist at Police Headquarters as a Follower to help hide your secret.) I think you listed some excellent possible methods to help hide Secret IDs.

 

One way I think would be useful is to operate outside your actual city of residence. If you're quick enough, or have access to teleportation, basing yourself in San Diego but being a hero in LA will help prevent friends and family from becoming suspicious or recognizing body language.

 

In our campaign, we manage because our heroes all work for the same organization and the boss is the team's leader; plus we operate worldwide so nobody has yet figured out MidGuard is based out of Oslo, Norway. We don't do local street level stuff at all. Heck, we've only acted in Norway once but have been to Britain seven times.

[Wanderer]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Well, if we assume somthing like CSI-like state-of-the-art criminology works in the setting, we are in all likelihood working in a Bronze/Iron Age contemporary world.

 

For a Silver Age Secret ID to be plausible, we must either assume retro tech (the setting is in the 60-70s), or that the secret is really known by those with the means to know but kept secret (the char has ties with law enforcement/intelligence/the military, and they find it more useful to keep the Secret ID safe). I love lines like Nick Fury casually saying Thor "Of course we have been knowing your Secret ID for years; we are a *competent* intelligence agency".

 

Having the ability to Teleport from hidden base to location of current crisis is another excellent way to keep a Secret Id inviolate (and shield a char from casual, unfocused Hunted harassing) that I forgot to mention.

 

Having really quick Movement powers might be another good way, but I have the nagging doubt that satellites and NORAD/FAA airspace survelliance systems might eventually be able to triangulate origin area of the character (witness the way the speedster's Secret ID is eventually blown in Supreme Power). Maybe taking precautions like always flying below radar coverage, making detours on the ocean, having ECM stealth abilities, might work to defuse military and civil airspace survelliance systems. I don't know enough about modern survelliance systems to make a definite judgement. Or maybe really fast (Megascale) Movement Powers may be able to defy them. Yet they are set to track military aircraft.

 

I don't think friends and family recognizing the hero would be the main concern in a "realistic" world (as long as the char keeps sensible precautions like using full face/body covering, and not dominoes, or removing glasses, and avoid hanging around with them all the time in hero ID). Body language may give a clue (mainly in the case the char has some really telling mannerism), but it isn't generally that much precise. It's the pervasiveness and depthness of modern survelliance and forensic technology that would be the main concern, IMO.

[zornwil]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

You would have to have some tricky ways of getting around and avoiding public cameras and the like. You'd have to change in out of the way places or known safe places; you'd constantly have to scout such places to assure they weren't being newly recorded/monitored. You'd have to ensure you didn't leave behind genetic or other materials (carpet fibers and such) at scenes of activity.

[Whitewings]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

There's also the Green Arrow approach: "All those years of doing my best to maintain a secret identity, and the only reason nobody figured it out was that nobody cared!?"

[Jhamin]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

It's only sort of related but...

 

I've always though that just about the only hero that could reasonably expect to both be a Hero and maintain a secret ID for years on end is Spiderman. And thats mostly because in the comics his Spider Sense warns him when he is about to blow his Secret or when a Sniper is about to off him.

 

Just about everyone else will be good until a supermerc with a sniper scope decides to end their interference.

[Supreme]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

I think one of the biggest things that a person could do to maintain a secret ID, from the law, is to not commit a crime. If there's no crime, then the police are probably not going to expend their limited resources tracking you down and expose themselves to a lawsuit from you in the process. This obviously doesn't protect you from any espionage or criminal organizations, but it's one less thing to worry about.

 

One thing that you would really have to watch is your voice. Voice can tell you where someone grew up, what their age range might be, and so on. You also have to have a suit that not only covers the body so no DNA evidence is left behind, but doesn't keep any DNA on it when you've handled it to put it on. It would also be a good idea if no one thinks your secret ID has access to such resources as DNA-proof textiles.

 

After all this is said and done, just observing your character in action will tell anyone who films him (there are 15 million camcorders on the streets of the US):

his height

his weight

right-handed or left-handed (or both)

which martial arts he's studied

 

Probably the biggest problem for the character will be blogs. As soon as someone notices that the Wombat-mobile always drives up the same road near their house when it "disappears" then a bunch of web cams are going to become fixed on that road 24 hours a day. You get the idea.

[Katherine]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

In a "realistic" campaign without some serious help or precautions maintaining a secret id will be next to impossible. You could try almost total obscurity, but that is only going to last so long. There's just to much informantion flow in today's society. If someone gets interested enough, they WILL find out who you are with the protection of genre conventions.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Disinformation. Leave lots of manufactured clues. Hard to sort any real data from the chaff. Make casual mention of "growing up in Oklahoma", etc.

 

Not very heroic, but the "leave no witnesses" approach could work.

 

Duplication, but always leave one duplicate maintaining the normal life.

 

Have very general powers, and change names/costumes from time-to-time.

[Guest Champsguy]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Don't appear on camera too much. That's easier when you're a character like in the Superman movie than when you're a character on a team like the Avengers. Pictures of Superman were almost always of him zipping by. You're not going to get too much information on him that way. He's also super-durable. I don't think he's leaving behind any DNA, and you can't even pierce his dead skin cells to get at the DNA anyway. So powers protect you from a lot of that (don't worry about leaving fingerprints if you're a super-strong guy--anything you use that strength on will be warped enough at your fingertips so you don't have to worry about prints).

 

But yeah, if you just show up, save puppies, pull people out of fiery buildings, and stop natural disasters, then no one will even bother to try to figure out who you are.

[Kristopher]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

The effectiveness of surveilance has been exagerated by its proponents, especially those selling it.

[Bengal]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

It's only sort of related but...

 

I've always though that just about the only hero that could reasonably expect to both be a Hero and maintain a secret ID for years on end is Spiderman. And thats mostly because in the comics his Spider Sense warns him when he is about to blow his Secret or when a Sniper is about to off him.

 

Just about everyone else will be good until a supermerc with a sniper scope decides to end their interference.

 

 

And I would say, cosmicaly-powerful heroes would have the best shot of covering themselves in this department, since nobody would think that SuperDude would spend 16 hours a day as Ned Nobody pushing a pencil in a cubicle.

[zornwil]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

One thing people might be underplaying here is the media - while rescuing lost animals and such won't get any undue police or villainous attention, the media will salivate over unmasking the masked man.

[sinanju]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Have very general powers' date=' and change names/costumes from time-to-time.[/quote']

 

I've submitted a character like that to a couple of online games, but it hasn't gone anywhere yet. A guy with telekinetic powers (flight, forcefield, TK, energy blast, entangle) with variable special effects. By selectively using his powers and employing different special effects with different costumes, he can pretend to be lots of different heroes (or villains).

 

Flight alone is great--he can fly, he can "superleap", he can "cling to walls", he can "levitate", he can fly with a (fake) jetpack....

 

With a forcefield and using TK at touch range only, he can pretend to be a brick.

 

That kind of thing could make secret identities a lot easier to keep. If someone gets close to one, you just abandon it in favor of popping up as an (apparently) entirely different guy with different powers.

[Guest Champsguy]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

One thing people might be underplaying here is the media - while rescuing lost animals and such won't get any undue police or villainous attention' date=' the media will salivate over unmasking the masked man.[/quote']

 

And they have been sooo effective lately.

 

Dan Rather appears on TV, promising to reveal the "shocking" truth about SuperDude's identity. "SuperDude is really... Kobe Bryant!" (a passing look at SuperDude reveals a white chin underneath his cowl)

[Trebuchet]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

And I would say' date=' cosmicaly-powerful heroes would have the best shot of covering themselves in this department, since nobody would think that SuperDude would spend 16 hours a day as Ned Nobody pushing a pencil in a cubicle.[/quote']Yes, we all saw how well that worked for Robert "Mr. Incredible" Parr in "The Incredibles." Nobody ever noticed this mild mannered pencil pushing insurance adjuster was nigh on seven feet tall and had muscles that made the Governator look like a girly-man.

[Moody Loner]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

And they have been sooo effective lately.

 

Dan Rather appears on TV, promising to reveal the "shocking" truth about SuperDude's identity. "SuperDude is really... Kobe Bryant!" (a passing look at SuperDude reveals a white chin underneath his cowl)

 

Cut to Superdude's secret hideout, with the TV news reporting the end of Dan Rather's career, and Kobe Bryant wiping off the white makeup and laughing...

[Trebuchet]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Cut to Superdude's secret hideout' date=' with the TV news reporting the end of Dan Rather's career, and Kobe Bryant wiping off the white makeup and laughing...[/quote']

 

Rep for you.

[OddHat]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

In my own campaigns, Secret Ids tend to be something that heroes only maintain at the start of their careers. You can't work 40+ hours per week and still fight crime; it's hard enough to find time to go shopping.

 

I just trade it out for other disads.

[Wanderer]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

I've submitted a character like that to a couple of online games, but it hasn't gone anywhere yet. A guy with telekinetic powers (flight, forcefield, TK, energy blast, entangle) with variable special effects. By selectively using his powers and employing different special effects with different costumes, he can pretend to be lots of different heroes (or villains).

 

Flight alone is great--he can fly, he can "superleap", he can "cling to walls", he can "levitate", he can fly with a (fake) jetpack....

 

With a forcefield and using TK at touch range only, he can pretend to be a brick.

 

That kind of thing could make secret identities a lot easier to keep. If someone gets close to one, you just abandon it in favor of popping up as an (apparently) entirely different guy with different powers.

 

An Aberrant character of mine sustained a triple secret identity: spoiled dot-com billionaire playboy (Mark Fassari), superpowered mercenary in Third-World brushfire wars with a "honorable warrior" ethic keeping the "karma scale" balanced with relief work in natural disasters (Fate-Bringer), and metahuman supremacist/ecoterrorist activist (Omega Hour). Shapeshifting, Costume Cosmetic Transform, and lack of need for sleep work wonders.

[TheEmerged]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Bottom line is, unless you have powers that can help you no Secret ID is going to stand up to any realistic scrutiny. This goes double if your campaign has an equivalent of the "nova detect" powers (Detect person lacking Normal Characteristic Maxima, Detect Active use of Nova Powers...)

[Kristopher]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Bottom line is' date=' unless you have powers that can help you no Secret ID is going to stand up to any realistic scrutiny. This goes double if your campaign has an equivalent of the "nova detect" powers (Detect person lacking Normal Characteristic Maxima, Detect Active use of Nova Powers...)[/quote']

 

The effectiveness of surveilance has been exagerated by its proponents, especially those selling it.

[Katherine]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

The effectiveness of surveilance has been exagerated by its proponents' date=' especially those selling it.[/quote']

 

Build on that. Examples? I'm intrigued.

[Kristopher]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Build on that. Examples? I'm intrigued.

 

Example: Contrary to the long-standing claims made by the people selling it as a security panacea, facial recognition systems still pretty much suck at recognizing faces.

[TheEmerged]

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

 

Forget surveilance. It falls apart long before you get there, usually at the "human intel" level.