WWYCD: Registration

[Yansuf]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

You could make a lot more trouble for either of them though!

[jkwleisemann]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

The thing is knowing the secret identity of 9 out of 10 superheroes isn't going to do you any real good. So you know Clark Kent is Superman or Peter Parker is Spider-Man. So what? That isn't going to make him any easier to take down.

 

No, not reallly.

 

However, besides the aforementioned 'making trouble' (You really think JJ would take well to finding out Pete's Spidey?), there's also the danger posed to family and such. Lois Lane and Jimmy ain't bulletproof. If your character has a DNPC and a Secret ID, then having said ID discovered means you'd better start invvesting in powered armor for them.

 

Or the sheer mayhem it could cause them for everybody to know who they are.

 

John Q. Public: "Hey! Now I know who I can sue for that villain sailing through my house and squishing my goldfish!"

 

And really, Clark would find any sort of a press conference impossible - folks would suddenly turn to ask him questions instead of him asking others.

 

And a lot of superheros aren't full-powered at all times. Joker and crew find out that Batman is Bruce Wayne, and he can look forward to having Wayne Manor brought down around his ears before long.

 

Have a grudge with Iron Man? Well gee - funny ain't it, how folks respect a hero a little less when they find out he's a recovering alcoholic. And he's a lot easier to kill when you don't have to go through several inches of titanium first....

[input.jack]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

When I GM the Mutant Reg.Act is always in play

 

Is that because you, yourself, feel that its necessary? Or do all your games portray the government as intrusive and heavy handed because you enjoy dystopian gaming?

 

Any time -all- your games feature the same specialized feature, maybe you should consider trying a game without it.

 

Many of my PCs might register.

 

Most of them would not. (Assuming the Registration in yur games requires full disclosure of identity). Most of my characters are loathe to make themselves hostages to the government. Or anyone else who can hack the government's computers

[assault]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

(Currently being driven mad by the spelling of "Villain" and "Villiage". IT MAKES NO SENSE!)

 

It makes more sense once you remember that "Villiage" is actually spelt "Village".

 

Madness is optional.

[David Johnston]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

No, not reallly.

 

However, besides the aforementioned 'making trouble' (You really think JJ would take well to finding out Pete's Spidey?), there's also the danger posed to family and such. Lois Lane and Jimmy ain't bulletproof.

 

As opposed to the present status quo where it never occurs to anyone that messing with Lois Lane is a good way to mess with Superman? They never kill her of course. Yes, yes, you bring up other reasons why a superhero might want to keep his identity unknown to the public at large and they're sound ones, but of course the occasional villain managing to get a look at the part of the list containing clues to a given hero's identity has no bearing on them. If they publish Pete or Clark's ID then they're going to have to compete the dozens of other people announcing that Superman is really JFK who faked his death or Spider-Man is really J. Jonah Jameson and all that Threat or Menace stuff is just a smokescreen. In fact, back in the Bronze Age, they once grouped people who had been publicly accused of being Superman into the same room for a banquet. There were over 30 of them. The fact is people have told J. Jonah that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. He just didn't believe them or was quickly persuaded otherwise just by having someone in a Spider-Man costume pass by while Peter was in the room.

[input.jack]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

It makes more sense once you remember that "Villiage" is actually spelt "Village".

 

Madness is optional.

 

>_<

 

 

...And I majored in English, too....

[jkwleisemann]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

As opposed to the present status quo where it never occurs to anyone that messing with Lois Lane is a good way to mess with Superman? They never kill her of course. Yes' date=' yes, you bring up other reasons why a superhero might want to keep his identity unknown to the public at large and they're sound ones, but of course the occasional villain managing to get a look at the part of the list containing clues to a given hero's identity has no bearing on them. If they publish Pete or Clark's ID then they're going to have to compete the dozens of other people announcing that Superman is really JFK who faked his death or Spider-Man is really J. Jonah Jameson and all that Threat or Menace stuff is just a smokescreen. In fact, back in the Bronze Age, they once grouped people who had been publicly accused of being Superman into the same room for a banquet. There were over 30 of them. The fact is people have told J. Jonah that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. He just didn't believe them or was quickly persuaded otherwise just by having someone in a Spider-Man costume pass by while Peter was in the room.[/quote']

 

Keep in mind that these are all the reasons that the superheroes would want to keep it secret. Granted, it might be the 'status quo' or 'genre convention' that anybody who finds out about the secret identity of Hero X rapidly forgets about it or can't prove it. But they don't know about that genre convention, or that it applies unilaterally, without fail. To argue that the heroes shouldn't be worried about people finding out their Secret ID's for these reasons is ignoring one of the key reasons that they have them in the first place (from a game-world perspective).

 

Besides - we're looking at DNPC's going from 8- to 14- overnight, as villains who might have simply happened to menace your loved ones suddenly start to actively hunt them. People who weren't DNPC's before suddenly becoming them, as Ma and Pa Kent get added to Luthor's hit list. Hunteds doing much the same, as they realize that they now know exactly who to track down and hit with a disintegration ray (there's a reason that Hunteds are worth more with a Public ID).

 

And there's still the little issue about what those heroes who don't have the same powers in their Secret ID are supposed to do. Like I said - Clark Kent is no more vulnerable than he is as Superman. Peter Parker isn't. Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark... little riskier there. Sure, Bruce has his martial arts to fall back on, but that's surprisingly useless against a sniper rifle while you're at a widely publicized charity event or opening, and are therefore in the open and probably visible from at least one good emplacement.

[Yansuf]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

I would like to interject a note on registration. Several post on this thread said something like "feeling sorry for my Yankee friends", and others talked about the "repressive Bush administration."

 

NOW, I REALLY DON'T want to get into a discussion of real world politics!

However, what are you people talking about?

 

Per Chanmpions and related books (I just read Champions Worldwide for instance) most countries in the developed world have superpower registration laws. While I haven't seen info on the "Official HERO Games position" on Canada, I have Canadian relatives, so I keep up on their affairs, and the probability that Canada would require registration before the US approaches unity.

 

Similarly, the various Champions books (I believe PRIMIS for example) make clear the US registration laws date from the 20th century, so cannot be laid at George Bush's feet.

 

Sorry, but the reflective America bashing and Bush bashing in those posts irritates me. Lets keep our discussion here to events in the Champions Universe.

[Vorsch]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

I dont think superpowere registration would ever come up "in the real world". The Inteligence comunity would of rapidly come to the blindingly obvious conclusion that without High powered heroes the world would be toast.

 

Any elected president/King/Prime minister would be advised most strongly that upsetting Superman or Thor would be "Inadvisable...at this time (being forever)"

 

Real world would also take the implications of heros presence into account, course you could just kill the X men (no repercussions there).

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

I would like to interject a note on registration. Several post on this thread said something like "feeling sorry for my Yankee friends", and others talked about the "repressive Bush administration."

 

NOW, I REALLY DON'T want to get into a discussion of real world politics!

However, what are you people talking about?

 

Per Chanmpions and related books (I just read Champions Worldwide for instance) most countries in the developed world have superpower registration laws. While I haven't seen info on the "Official HERO Games position" on Canada, I have Canadian relatives, so I keep up on their affairs, and the probability that Canada would require registration before the US approaches unity.

 

Similarly, the various Champions books (I believe PRIMIS for example) make clear the US registration laws date from the 20th century, so cannot be laid at George Bush's feet.

 

Sorry, but the reflective America bashing and Bush bashing in those posts irritates me. Lets keep our discussion here to events in the Champions Universe.

 

Because the question is 'what would your character do if Registration happened', and their characters are not in the CU, but are in a world where GWB is President and the Act is not in force?

 

And iirc, the OP specified it was the US (as opposed to Canada or the UK) that was instituting it.

 

 

So no, it is NOT reflexive bashing.

[catsman]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

Timberwolf (AKA The Dave) wouldn’t register, he views the idea of mandatory registration sounds a little to familiar (can you say concentration camps... anyone? Hum?). The truth of this becomes evident when we view the human condition, we fear what we don’t understand or can’t control. Dave is a BIG believer in freedom and is unwilling to give more control to the government.

Mr. American, being a patriot in all ways would happily register and encourage others to do so.

[Robyn]

Sorry, localized thread hijack

 

Mr. American' date=' being a patriot in all ways would happily register and encourage others to do so. [/size']

 

What would he do if a member of his team openly declined to register, and how would it affect his relationship with that person?

[catsman]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

Mr. American respects the decision of his teammates. It would not be an issue unless it was against the law. If it's truly mandatory he would try his best to convince his teammate that the registration is a valuable tool for the government and as such it is the lawful duty of any law abiding citizen to register. police officers and armed forces personal are registered therefore it should not be an issue. If the teammate still refuses he/she is braking the law and as a law breaker would have to be reported.

[Karmakaze]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

Delusion would absolutely not register. She's already an orphaned minor with a history of mental illness. The chances of someone without her best interests at heart arranging for custody are just too high. Of course, she's also a mentalist, and can manage most of her work plainclothes.

 

Dragonfly would protest the measure, but would comply if it made it into law. Her origin was a result of a public event, and anyone capable of breaking into the government database would also be capable of the right kind of data triage to locate her anyway.

 

Shinobi wouldn't, not because she would think it wrong (although she probably wouldn't like the idea), but because she comes from a long line of mystics who protect from the shadows. By tradition, the help is supposed to be subtle and anonymous anyway (the idea is that the work is supposed to be the focus, not gratitude of those helped). She'd just retire the superhero id and go back to the old ways. She only had it in the first place to facilitate team-ups for things one person could not handle alone. She would go along with the "at least give us a contact number", although it would be a magical signal rather than a literal telephone number (she spends a lot of time in places with no cell reception).

 

Roxy is already an illegal alien - literally. Since she's already on the planet without the appropriate paperwork and risks extradition if caught, registering with the goverment would be a bad idea...

 

I'd been toying recently with the idea of having superpowers handled not under the law enforcement branch of the government, but under the CDC. Basically, if you're going to be using your superpowers in public, they ask you to submit to a brief physical to make sure you're not a health threat. This may be done anonymously (just as you can get AIDS testing done anonymously). Technically, regulations would require anyone with a nonstandard physiology to check in, but if you can go through life without anyone noticing, they don't bother hunting you down.

[Robyn]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

I'd been toying recently with the idea of having superpowers handled not under the law enforcement branch of the government' date=' but under the CDC. Basically, if you're going to be using your superpowers in public, they ask you to submit to a brief physical to make sure you're not a health threat. This may be done anonymously (just as you can get AIDS testing done anonymously). Technically, regulations would require anyone with a nonstandard physiology to check in, but if you can go through life without anyone noticing, they don't bother hunting you down.[/quote']

 

Heh. If a character can kill someone with Casual STR, does that make them a threat to the public's health? Or is this just for stuff like diseases, germs, exotic bacteria, and the like? I could certainly see how superheroes immune to disease could be unwitting carriers for a dangerous germ or two.

 

I could also see Kaja melting into a puddle of goop. Sucks to be part of an organization that considers you expendable when it comes to keeping their secrets

[dbsousa]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

Malcolm took his money out of the US, and built a cabin in Canada, when the registration came. The rest of the group joined him, and we (the players) got into a long argument with the GM about how we couldn't believe the rest of the country was rolling over. We told him that if he wanted this to be the focus of the game, we would do our paranormal investigations from Canada, and encourage an underground railroad for metahumans (It was a world where we were among the first supers).

 

I always make sure my players are on board before I change the world in a way they can't change back. For 70 years, superhero fiction has been about restoring the status quo. I don't change that genre staple without getting buy-in from the stakeholders.

[Zed-F]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

Soulbarb wouldn't register. She's more of a work-from-the-shadows type. When you look like she does, it comes with the territory.

[Karmakaze]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

Heh. If a character can kill someone with Casual STR, does that make them a threat to the public's health? Or is this just for stuff like diseases, germs, exotic bacteria, and the like? I could certainly see how superheroes immune to disease could be unwitting carriers for a dangerous germ or two.

 

I could also see Kaja melting into a puddle of goop. Sucks to be part of an organization that considers you expendable when it comes to keeping their secrets

 

I expect in the case of a high STR, the concern would not be so much in the category of "what can you bench" but rather, "can you pick up an egg without breaking it". A more serious concern would be "if you catch a cold, will your sneezes knock over buildings" (in which case, we ask, please call one of our specialists if you happen to feel a sniffle and try to make your primary base of operations someplace you don't suffer from allergies.).

 

Now that I think of it, that could make a cute normals campaign: You're all normal doctors and bureaucrats working for the CDC who've been assigned to the MetaHuman Health Project. You've been given a budget that will barely keep you all in coffee and carbon paper and most of your primary subjects (a) won't give you the time of day and ( can throw cars at people who annoy them. And while you only have the communities best interests at heart, do you really know where all of those confidential reports you're filing will wind up?

[OddHat]

Re: WWYCD: Registration

 

Style: Ignores it completely.

 

Flesh Gordon:

I’ve got to go down to the PRIMUS office and register?

 

I already have a voter’s ID card.

 

Register as a Hero?

 

Groovy.

 

Say, that bicycle messenger girl is very nice.

 

Hello there, I’m Flesh.

 

 

Did I register? For what?

 

Oh.

 

Fair enough, I’ll head over.

 

Say, that girl in the power suit is looking good. Hello, I’m Flesh.

 

 

In my own campaign, there is no registration law as such. If you want government sanction and support, and especially if you want legal authority to act as a crime fighter and liability coverage, you need to sign on with the OSI or a private company. Otherwise you're just a private citizen with powers, and likely to be sued and otherwise legally harassed if you start playing vigilante.