"The Shield of the People"

[Hermit]

In Champion's Universe 5th Ed., we learn on page 73 of the "Shield of the People", a superhumanly strong personal bodyguard of Saddam Hussein. There is indication of an Iraq and Awad super soldier program collboration, that sort of thing.

 

Obviously, a lot has happened in the short time since CU was written. While I shy away from the 'Real World' in my games normally, I can't help but consider exactly what might be happening or have happened in the Champion's Universe version of Iraq.

 

I have recently started an 'officially sanctioned and government liescenced' campaign with my PCs, and they might be going around the world from time to time to protect U.S. interests against "super terrorism". Hence the reason I'm taking a look at CU Iraq.

 

A couple of thoughts have sprung to mind, but none set in stone...

1) Iraq is very much now as it is in the real world, the old regime toppled, but it's fate the subject of much controversey. Any super humans that worked for Saddam are either dead, captured, hiding or have likely fled the country.

 

2) The "Shield of the People" and any other 'super soldiers' under the Huissen Regime turned the tide against the Coalition, or at least hinder them immensely from making progress.

 

3) The Coalition 'won', only to lose months later. The Shield and other super powered allies, with support from ARGENT, have taken Iraq. Either the 'Shield' will rule as a new dictator, or ARGENT finally has a nation of it's own (and with the leader of Awad's blessing) .

 

Has anyone else considered this situation for their own campaigns? I don't want to start a flame war, and I know feelings on this subject can get heated, but from a purely 'Game setting' situation, what do you think is the current state of CU Iraq and the "Shield of the People"?

[Lord Liaden]

It's tempting to ignore or modify real world developments that screw up your game world. Heck, I've toyed with the idea of retaining the Soviet Union just so I could use the interesting political relationships between Soviet supers in the Red Doom sourcebook. With a situation as volatile as in the Middle East right now, though, it's hard to tell which way things are going to fall out, so I prefer to keep as much as possible to current events and assume that any supers on either side of the conflict pretty much cancelled each other out.

 

As far as the Shield of the People goes, I'm assuming that if he wasn't captured by coalition forces he would have fled to Iraq's CU ally, Awad. I don't think he would have been around long enough to have garnered enough of a powerbase to lead a revolution in Iraq, at least not unless and until the situation in that country deteriorates further.

 

Awad presents a rather different prospect, though. That nation is known to be the current base of operations and willing patron for ARGENT, an international criminal organization with access to cutting edge military technology and few scruples about who they sell it to. That makes for a far more credible threat to world peace than Iraq ever was. Given the recent military success in Iraq, it's hard to believe that some action wouldn't be taken to "deal with" Awad, and probably with much broader international support. And since Awad is entirely fictional, a GM has much more freedom to choose the course of action. (I proposed something along those lines in the "Plot Seeds" thread.)

[Hermit]

Thanks for responding, Lord Liaden.

 

Yeah, that's the danger of interfering with something so 'up in the air' in the real world too much. It could end up diverging on me major league. Not sure I mind that, but it might bother my players. We'll see.

 

And agreed about Awad and ARGENT holding all sorts of potiential. I'm seriously thinking of making a Middle Eastern villain group akin to Eurostar but with the covert backing of ARGENT and Awad.

[Lord Liaden]

Isn't there a Middle Eastern terrorist group listed in Champions Universe? The "(Something) of Allah?" I was just looking for the reference, but couldn't find it.

 

If you'd like a few name references as the basis for characters in a group such as you suggest, here are a few that I've applied to my games for characters from the Middle East:

 

Jihad ("Holy War"); pretty obvious one.

 

Hegira ("journey"), which refers to the flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina. Good for super-speedsters.

 

Sharia ("the way" or "the path"), which is the name for the code of Islamic law. Applicable to a mind controller and/or precog.

 

Kaaba, Arabic word for a square building, also the name of the structure in Mecca housing the sacred Black Stone. Appropriate for a "brick" character.

 

Ziggurat, the step-pyramid typical of ancient Mesopotamian architecture. Could be used for a brick with Growth powers, particularly from Iraq.

 

Shamshir, Persian name for a curved sword, from which the word "scimitar" is derived. Can be a master of bladed weapons.

 

Iblis, ruler of the djinn in Arab folklore, sometimes associated with a fallen angel a la Lucifer.

 

Sharru-kan, "true king", often rendered in English as "Sargon". Ancient Semitic term taken as the royal name of several Mespotamian rulers.

 

Imhotep, master builder, physician and general scientist, creator of the first Egyptian pyramid for the Pharaoh Zoser. Good for a gadgeteer villain.

 

The Mahdi, another figure from Arab folklore. The Mahdi will arise in times of crisis to protect Islam either from outside threats, or to its purity from internal corruption. Several historical figures have claimed the title of Mahdi.

 

One additional idea: I'm considering reviving the ancient sect of the Hashishim in the modern world, with the goal of restoring a "pure" fundamentalist Islamic government to the region. Rather than chewing hashish, though, this group will use a modern "super-soldier" drug developed by Saddam Hussein's scientists to give their operatives truly enhanced physical abilities.

 

Hope there's something there you can use.

[Hermit]

Thanks again!

 

Those are great! Thank you, Lord Liaden.

As for the other stuff, I know there is a single hero called "The Fist of Allah", who is Iran's official super. "The Children of Ataturk" are a quartet in Turkey. Also, interesting you should mention Hashishim, Dagger claims to know the secrets of that ancient Sect. Maybe he's a product of your new one?

[winterhawk]

From the excellent http://www.pantheon.org :

 

Berith: The alchemists' devil who would change all metals into gold.

 

Ha'il: "Terrifying". An Islamic angel, who resides in Barqiya. One part of his body is made of ice, from which God makes hail (barada). The other part is pure fire, from which God makes lightning (barq). The two parts exist together in one body.

 

Shihab: A rocket or fiery missile launched by the angels from heaven against the shaytans who are spying on them. A falling star.

[TheEmerged]

Actually, I've decided on a twist I find interesting -- when the coalition came, SotP sided with the allies claiming that he was being coerced into serving Saddam via a DNPC limitation.

[Lord Liaden]

Originally posted by TheEmerged

Actually, I've decided on a twist I find interesting -- when the coalition came, SotP sided with the allies claiming that he was being coerced into serving Saddam via a DNPC limitation.

 

Thereby practically guaranteeing a place for himself in the reconstruction, and a position from which to build power either with the British and Americans, or with those who oppose their presence, or with both. Or possibly to act as a fifth columnist for Saddam and/or Awad.

 

Sweet!

[BarryB]

I've used the "Fist of Allah" in a previous campaign. As the name implies they were a five-person team. They wore powered armor developed initially by the Egyptians, but obtained by other groups. They did not support any specific nation, but were pan-Islamic.

 

One element that degenerated was that the Fist could not speak English and so used recorded monologues against their enemies: "Fist One presses a button on his chest and a recorded voice is heard saying 'Die, infidel dog.'"

[TheEmerged]

Darn, I telegraphed that "claimed", didn't I...