Herolover Posted May 5, 2003 Report Share Posted May 5, 2003 Here is a neat question. I, at my players behest, am going to be running a "X-Men type campaign." However, the characters are not mutants. I am pretty sure I know what I am going to do, but I am wonderiing what HEROdom out there would do. How would you run the "underground" super team campaign without mutants? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuadha Posted May 5, 2003 Report Share Posted May 5, 2003 Make the world hate and fear all paranormals, regardless of what the origin of their powers. Whether a super-person was bitten by a radioactive spider, given a magical amulet or comes from another planet, he/she has powers beyond those of most men and because of that he has the potential of hurting a lot of people. Make an organization, school or whatever that acts as a haven for paranormals and funds the group that does good and tries to show to the world that not all super-people are evil and that some are trying to do good. Whalla! You have the X-Men without mutants! Also, you should keep power levels fairly low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celtic Cowboy Posted May 5, 2003 Report Share Posted May 5, 2003 Put something in charge that doesn't like anybody messing with them, be it mutants, highly skilled normals, or guys with powered armor. Think fifth column type stuff as in V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haerandir Posted May 5, 2003 Report Share Posted May 5, 2003 Well, if all of your characters do you the favor of coming up with similar origins/sources of power, then you're all set. Just make whatever that is (be it magic, psionics, battlesuits or whatever) the thing that everyone is afraid of. Fluff up a reason why people would be afraid of that thing, and run with it. If not, then consider having a government agency (possibly a rogue group working 'above the law' as it were) that wants to oppress/co-opt the characters. Sort of a 'work for us or die' angle. Then it doesn't matter whether or not people in general hate or fear the characters, just that some super-powerful government agency that doesn't have to answer to anyone is out to get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnTaber Posted May 5, 2003 Report Share Posted May 5, 2003 That's pretty close to what I am already doing...check it out...maybe it will give you some ideas... Link to Reliance Reforged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnOSpencer Posted May 5, 2003 Report Share Posted May 5, 2003 Originally posted by JohnTaber That's pretty close to what I am already doing...check it out...maybe it will give you some ideas... Link to Reliance Reforged Looks good, A very interesting read. Almost seems plausable. John Spencer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZootSoot Posted May 6, 2003 Report Share Posted May 6, 2003 Re: X-Men campaign w/o Mutants Originally posted by Herolover Here is a neat question. I, at my players behest, am going to be running a "X-Men type campaign." However, the characters are not mutants. I am pretty sure I know what I am going to do, but I am wonderiing what HEROdom out there would do. How would you run the "underground" super team campaign without mutants? Simple enough. there are no types of superpowers that do not have the origin of choice. People with super powers are seen as threatening, particularly since the ones everyone knows of are genocidal megalomaniacs (or at least engaged in very anti-social criminal activities in which their superiority is flaunted). Hero team has primary goal of getting their class of being accepted, unfortunately they are usually distracted from this goal by having to protect the bigots from the monsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperPheemy Posted May 6, 2003 Report Share Posted May 6, 2003 As mentioned dozens of times already, the X-Men story is a metaphor for racism, bigotry, and prejudice in society. Being a "Mutant" is a superpowered McGuffin for being black or gay, or any number of other groups discriminated against for being who they are. The heroism shown in the stories comes from a "thankless heroism" concept. The X-Men can save the world a hundred times over, and they'll still be considered "filthy muties" by a society that insists on hating them and refuses to understand them. To catch that same core theme, the heroes have to be different somehow. This can be achieved as simply as having them have superpowers. Being a person who can fly, lift tractors, and shoot beams of killing light from their eyes certainly sets them apart from the majority of the population who cannot. You can also use physical looks, make all the oppressed heroes visually different from the mainstream. Thus, the 8 foot brick with four arms and green scales gets looked down upon, while the telekinetic supermodel gets endorsement contracts. One of the strong elements of Marvel Mutant Hysteria comes from the fact that Mutants don't have to look different. Thus, if paranoia is whipped up in society, witch hunts can run rampant. That could also throw characters for a loop. What if they have powers, but are falsely accused of being Mutants? How do they disprove the origins of their powers, especially if their power origins need to remain secret? And proof in the court of public opinion can be a very fickle thing. For example, if Captain Armor Lass flies around in a powersuit of her own design, she could be accused of having a mutation that makes her super-smart. How can she disprove that? How does she survive long enough to disprove that without becoming a villain in self-defense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acroyear Posted May 8, 2003 Report Share Posted May 8, 2003 Read Beggars in Spain... genetic engineering which SELECTED improvements. However, that story doesn't go underground in quite the same way. It's way out in the open and nigh untouchable. It's RDUNeil's style, I bet You could go with psionics. Alien tampering. The very watered down, extended lineage of dragons...The awakening of a modern age of gods. The "mutant" label is the most mutable aspect of the whole X-Men schtick. Hell, even if you don't unify the origin type... just make the superhuman aspect feared and hated. Even more terrifying, the more superhumans there are... it seems like more events create superhumans... so they literally can steal your children from you and turn them into those... those things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astralfrontier Posted May 8, 2003 Report Share Posted May 8, 2003 Public perception vs. the truth One possibility is that super-powers may actually come from all sorts of unique accidents and sources and such. But, that doesn't help your average research scientist, who wants to snag that billion-dollar grant or Nobel prize, or any of the innumerable other people who would probably like supers "made to order". The public may believe - because it has been told to, or because it wants to - that powers come from some singular general source, be it mutation or other ("ever since the Comet, supers have been springing up like flies" - even if the Comet was only something that brought a lot of existing supers out of the woodwork). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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