Secret IDs: In or Out?

[Shaft]

I notice that Superheroes are moving away from Secret IDs. In mainline Marvel comics, a whole bunch of heroes have dropped their secret IDs (Captain America, IronMan, Spidey) had their IDs blown (Daredevil, Punisher- if he ever really had one, Hulk) or the IDs were never all that secret (Xmen). It looks like IronMan will be ratting out anyone who doesn't comply with what I call the "Super-Patriot" Act (a Superhuman registration act, for those of you who don't folloow Marvel). In the Ultimate continuity, SpiderMan's ID was cracked by the government pretty quickly, and everyone else seems to not bother with a secret ID. In DC, everyone's ID seems to be getting blown, and omnipotent beings keep intervening to make everyone forget. Or else, if someone keeps their ID secret, it still gets to the point where dozens of people know it (in the Justice League Unlimited series, even Batman's ID is cracked by the government).

 

I'm wondering whether the idea of maintaining a secret ID is becoming outdated as it becomes less plausible with modern information gathering technologies and methods? Yes, it is a classic genre staple, but these days it seems like it's easier to go public, get a book deal/media sponsorship about your power "experience" and use the royalties to surround your DNPCs with private security when you're not around. Unless you have a power that actively allows you to conceal your transformation (superspeed, teleporting, invisibity), it's too easy for the government to find out who a superhero is ("SpiderMan always heads out to Queens- lets leave a satelite out in orbit to see where he stops". "Hmm- why does the Batmobile always drive into that tunnel near Wayne Manor..." "Rewind that- did lightning just strike that kid before Shazam showd up? etc...).

 

Even in a game, if you want to keep your ID secret, unless the GM chooses to cut the players a lot of slack, it's too easy to crack a Secret ID, and when a secret ID is cracked, I can easily think of dozens of ways to do it without resorting to telepathy or other powers to do it. To truly have an uncrackable ID, you have to spend points, either in perks, powers, or both.

 

Personally, I like giving heroes with Secret IDs the slack needed to maintain them, because I think it goes against the genre to have every PC become paranoid, but I'm curious as to what everyone else's thoughts on this are. Are there GMs out there who give their PCs grief on the Secret ID, and what do your players do to maintain them if you do?

[Hermit]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

While I am not a fan of the "Civil War" storyline that unmasked Spider-Man to the public recently, the stuff I've been reading on other sites has be believing Peter (or his family) is going to pay the price for that unmasking and they'll find out just why Secret IDs are so important.

 

if you're going to insist on realism about Secret IDs, then you better expect your DNPCs to die, get maimed, etc a LOT more often unless you have them under guard. So yeah, I think cutting the Secret ID thing some slack is a wise way to go.

[Badger]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

I generally dont play characters with Secret IDs myself. My namesake was generally a recluse who lived outside the city in the forest/wilderness and came when needed/patrolling. But, I think Secret IDs should be kept secret. Unless a good reason for blowing it. And I always like the idea of the villain who does figure it out, "dying" off at the end without telling anyone.

 

That said I never got Superman's "cover". Dude, Clark Kent is Superman....w/ glasses. Even if you dont figure it out ( I mean they are seemingly different in personality) you would think Lois would go "hey Clark, has anyone ever told you that you look a little like Superman."

[Superskrull]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

Well, I've had Secret IDs, Public IDs & characters who just didn't sweat it one way or another. It tends to be a genre thing for me.

 

There's a real tang of Iron Age to simply handwaving that the govt knows Spider-Man is Peter Parker as recent writers established. It kind of bugs me that SHIELD can be presented as alternately all-knowing and unable to find it's ass with both hands and a roadmap. He used to never get unmasked and in the last few years it's all too common. Bah. Doesn't fit right for him. No Secret ID pulls him away from his common-man appeal in my opinion.

 

Some characters, this kind of thing works for, like Captain America. He used to has a proper Secret ID, but it was known by the govt, SHIELD & half a hundred superheroes. Oh, & the Red Skull. That the govt knew who he was facilitated the plot of many a Cap storyline. Works fine.

 

Thor & Iron Man both have had varying degrees of secret in their IDs. Nick Fury has apparently known for the longest time about both of them. No biggie. They're high-power movers in the superhero community. Spidey would have to really bust his hump to be a national menace. These guys could flatten a major metropolis if they wanted. Still, most people never knew about Thor being Dr. Don Blake or Jake Olsen. He worked with SHIELD to give his Sigurd Jarlson ID a paper trail. Iron Man was always connected to Stark but Tony pulled enough tricks to keep people from being sure if he was the man inside or not. Worked for them, considering what type of stories they were in.

 

Then there's Doc Strange. Known as the Sorcerer Supreme, he's seldom interacted with the public enough for this to matter. No disad either way.

 

Hulk, totally Public ID. Now, stop setting him off with your paparazzi antics and your feeble Army toys. It's like ignoring the Do Not Feed The Bears sign. However, this bear can shred tanks and has a toothache making him all cranky anyway.

 

I'd like to keep it where appropriate. It's a more entertaining story to me when the feds don't knock on your door and go all "Pfft, we've always known who you were, Generic Hero X. Now put on some pants. We want you to do a job for us." It's one thing for the crusty superspy head of the special organization to personally know, but when faceless mooks get to know who Spidey, Daredevil or Cap is, that's just stupid sounding.

[Victim]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

While I am not a fan of the "Civil War" storyline that unmasked Spider-Man to the public recently, the stuff I've been reading on other sites has be believing Peter (or his family) is going to pay the price for that unmasking and they'll find out just why Secret IDs are so important.

 

if you're going to insist on realism about Secret IDs, then you better expect your DNPCs to die, get maimed, etc a LOT more often unless you have them under guard. So yeah, I think cutting the Secret ID thing some slack is a wise way to go.

 

I'm not really convinced that having DNPCs drop like flies without a secret ID is realistic.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

I have a lot of issues with Secret ID's, and I'm the kind of player that usually has one.

 

First of all, I hate Secret IDs consists of putting on or taking off a pair of glasses, a blond wig or some similar non disguise. sI tend to feel that this insults the intelligence of all the players and NPC's in the game. This is significantly magnified when the civilian ID is downright famous! Either Clark Kent has an acting roll in the upper 30's or Lois Lane, Lex Luthor and even Batman are all god damn morons.

 

Second, I'm not a big fan of Secret ID's for characters with inherent powers. There's too much guilt waiting to happen there. This type of secret ID tends to only work if the GM is totally on your side. If the GM isn't totally working with you, eventually you are going to go looking for that phone booth to change in and people will die while you are screwing around. It's a little bit more plausible if you have all your powers OIHID or a Multiform that takes a long time to change into. In that case, you probably had to find the phone booth because you couldn't have done anything super had you wanted to.

 

I'm not a big fan of playing a character with a secret ID on a team of characters with outright public ID's. I then feel the need to play even more paranoid about my ID when others aren't bothering to protect theirs. "I can't be seen in public with you in my civilian ID! Everyone knows your Hero X!". Besides, if everyone knows that Steve Rogers is really Captain America, then Steve Rogers suddenly becomes the character you go after to find out the Secret IDs of the rest of the Avengers...

 

And finally, it's rather important what kind of villains you are facing. Vindictive telepaths and hunters with Discriminatory and Tracking Small do not generally make for long standing secret ID's...

[Vestnik]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

 

That said I never got Superman's "cover". Dude, Clark Kent is Superman....w/ glasses. Even if you dont figure it out ( I mean they are seemingly different in personality) you would think Lois would go "hey Clark, has anyone ever told you that you look a little like Superman."

 

Check out how Supes disses Lois over this very issue: http://www.superdickery.com/dick/15.html

[Trebuchet]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

A Secret ID is supposed to be a Disadvantage. You have to occasionally work to keep that secret; that's why Hero gives you points for it. If it didn't create problems, it would be a Perk (such as Deep Cover or Alternate Identity).

 

Clark Kent made a lot more sense as Superman's alter-ego when he was just an investigative reporter for "a great metropolitan newspaper"; when he crossed over to being a TV anchor it stopped being plausible.

 

I suppose there would still be ways to live with it and reasonable ways it might stay secret. Supervillains might avoid attacking heroes' NPC's for fear their own might be targeted or harrassed. Heroes and villains might have "mutual assured destruction" and both know each others' secret ID; thus neither reveals it to the public (That's how it worked in our campaign; where our megavillain knows most of MidGuard's secret identities and secret base of operations but they also know his ID as the President of Columbia and Venezuela. Both sides stay carefully quiet in an unspoken "gentleman's agreement"). The governmental agent that ferrets out the hero's secret ID might decide to keep mum about it; either because he appreciates what the hero can accomplish outside the establishment or because he might be useful down the road. Under those circumstances, a government agent or agency might actively collude in keeping a secret identity; possibly even without the hero's knowledge - "Oh, look. These [phony] credit card receipts prove Peter Parker was in a New Jersey Starbucks when Spider-Man was fighting the Hobgoblin in Manhattan."

[Hermit]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

I'm not really convinced that having DNPCs drop like flies without a secret ID is realistic.

 

Given witness protection programs, and secret service provided not just for politicans, but their families, I think you have to take it into account if you're going for 'realism'. My point is too much is sacrificed on the altar of realism, and when one staple is cast aside too quickly, there's a danger of others collapsing as well.

[Publius]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

I'm wondering whether the idea of maintaining a secret ID is becoming outdated as it becomes less plausible with modern information gathering technologies and methods?

This is what I found most interesting about your comment, I'm not sure if someone can blow their nose without big brother finding out about it (if they were looking -- more on that later).

 

The technology and experience needed to find out the nitty gritty on practically everyone and everything has been out there for some time; at least the last decade, more like the last two. A Secret ID worked in the 40s, when it was a throwback to the Scarlet Pimpernel, but today institutions like the government and media seem technologically capable of discovering it, especially if you are leaving your DNA all over battleground areas, getting your picture taken (for minute analysis) etc.

 

"If the government is looking" becomes another possibility for success with secret IDs despite the powerful capabilities of government and other institutions. The Mystery Men of the Pulp era often had anonymity on their side. Some of them were mere rumors -- like the Shadow -- which other people had heard of but no one really knew existed or not. But that takes a seriously different type of campaign, a Champions: the Animated Series or something similar, because Megadude fighting battlesuited Agents of Spike in broad daylight tends to persuade folks you really do exist.

 

The practical feasibility of Secret IDs vs. their use as a genre staple and as a desirable thing for the hero to attain though are different issues altogether. There I certainly like their use, whether is it truy realistic anymore or not.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

I think cracking a secret ID would be harder than you think than simple forensics.

[yamamura]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

I also tend away from Secret ID for most of my characters and worlds. Yes cracking it may be tough but if your hero becomes popular, trust me there will be an army of paparazzi aiming to be the one that unmasks that hero. That being said if I am running a four-colour universe then a simple removing of glasses and hair style works.....

[Balabanto]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

In my opinion, without secret ID's, the Superhero Genre falls apart. Allow me to explain this, both as my literate master's degree in English Literature self, and as only the Brawling Balabanto can!!!!

 

A secret ID creates the illusion that the hero is someone else. This illusion is both perceptual, and occasionally psychological. For some superheroes, their personality may change completely when they "Transform" into their hero ID, even if it's just something as simple as putting on a costume.

 

Removing the secret ID removes the illusion, it makes the hero exactly who they appear to be, revealing their relationships, flaws, and disadvantages as well as highlighting their natural strengths. Is it more or less heroic, that's for you, the GM or the player, to decide.

 

BUT...

 

The illusion of the Superhero is what is actually important, regardless of the heroicness of the individual character. If I am "Partacel" and my father dies, and no one, with the exception of a few people in the government, know who he is, I take up his mantle and I BECOME him. And no one is the wiser.

 

As long as the concept of the mask is present, barring an inabilty to have a secret ID, it is possible for the hero to metamorphose into something more. And that is when a HERO becomes a LEGEND. An ICON, something greater than himself or herself. And it is this that formulates the concept of the secret identity. The idea that when the character puts on that mask, they become the REPRESENTATION of something that is good, that is true, that is right, that is wholly representative of that which is ideal. Read Nietzsche's Man and Superman, which a lot of these ideas come out of.

 

And this is why bringing too much realism into the whole business stinks. Because realism, folks, isn't real. It's just realism. It's a philosophy, almost akin to a religion, like Kant's belief in the supernoumenal (Also important here), or the very churches and temples and mosques that many of you go to to pray each day.

 

Stan Lee understood this, true believers, and that's why he used to call people true believers all the time. Because he KNEW. He understood that the calling to be a hero frequently meant that you would have to hide that secret from the people closest to you, not only for their own safety, but because the very nature of that heroism depended on the doubt and wonder of who was behind that mask.

 

So embrace the secret identity. Because like it or not, whether you want to admit it or not, we all have one inside somewhere.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Balabanto again."

[Roth]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

The other thing about secret ids is that joe average doesn't really care. If hero X is Joe Smith... so what? who the hell is Joe Smith? Unless he or she is some one already famous, then it won't matter a wit. And (as shown in Spiderman 2) sometimes Averge person will keep a guys id a secret, especially if they only have seen your face and don't know your name. I usually use secret ids for my characters, because most of them have the typical paranoia about their loved ones becoming targets. The ones that don't ususally have no particular id because they have some radical physical difference from joe average. Or they have no loved ones to keep safe. An as a DM I usually help out, but I also make the disadvantage a disadvantage.

[garou]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Balabanto again."

 

Got it for ya. (Well, part of it, anyway.)

[yamamura]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

I usually use secret ids for my characters' date=' because most of them have the typical paranoia about their loved ones becoming targets.[/quote']

 

Just to play a little devil advocate here but with that logic should the police also be masked to protect their loved ones against retribution? How about the judge that sentences the criminal, isn't he and his family also in danger of retribution by this villain? Should all judges also be masked? Or is hiding behind a mask or a symbol just a way to avoid full responsibility for being a crime fighter?

[garou]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

Just to play a little devil advocate here but with that logic should the police also be masked to protect their loved ones against retribution? How about the judge that sentences the criminal' date=' isn't he and his family also in danger of retribution by this villain? Should all judges also be masked? Or is hiding behind a mask or a symbol just a way to avoid full responsibility for being a crime fighter?[/quote']

 

No, police, judges, et al need not be masked. One of the tropes of the superhero genre is that the police are, in general, helpless when confronted with superpowered villains. Sure, Warlord could go after the baliff at the trial, the judge, the jury, the cops at the precinct house, but there is no point - it's not even a worthwhile revenge, because they can't put up a decent fight. And besides, once those pesky heroes are out of the way, if the villain is still looking for revenge, they can hunt down the cops later.

 

Edit - left thought a bit incomplete: Supervillains are not targeting the DNPCs because they are looking for random victims; they target the DNPCs because they know it will bring Hero X running into the trap. If you know that Hero G always responds to ecological devastation, you cause a massive oil spill. If you know that Hero X will come to save his infirm uncle, you kidnap Uncle Wheels.

[Weldun]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

I have a couple of characters that have specific arrangements to help this.

 

One is Arbiter. He's a Telepathic Superhero who actually has both a Public ID (Merrick Bahan) and a Secret ID (Arbiter). As Merrick Bahan, he's a well known Telepathic Mutant and Criminal Psychologist who is the author of several books and has a publicly available biography. But he also venture's forth as Arbiter, a robed figure whose telepathic abilities have brought full on superbrawls to a complete stand still. One of the reasons why this actually works is that Merrick is well known for having an obsession with Arbiter, which explains why he always seems to be in the same city as Arbiter. It helps that he possesses psionic invisibility and is a psychomorph (Shapeshift for Mental Group). Even other telepaths (Menton included) would have to be very lucky to probe deep enough into his mind to find that the two are the same individual.

 

The second was Leatherback. As he was attending college on a football scholarship, he had to hide the fact that he could turn into a 8ft tall Grond with only 2 arms (including a celular shapeshift). Not because his friends and loved ones might be endagered, but because his scholarship would be endangered, due to either the "must not engage in activities that would bring disrepute upon the image of the University of Nebraska, be it the Kingdom City campus or the College as a whole, or he could simply be kicked off of the team because there was no way of knowing for certain how much of Tommy's athletic ability came from his mystical avatarism. He primarily achieved this by always retreating to the river than ran through the middle of the city, and then entered to sewer network from there. Everyone just assumed that Leatherback lived in the sewers.

 

Which brings me to this little point about Secret ID. It's not just to reflect that you maintain an identity seperate from your superheroic persona, but that in doing so, you could have conflicts where you have an obligation to live up to, but are also needed to stop the latest Monstrous Rex that has gone rampaging throug downtown in the middle of rush hour. Peter Parker had a horrible reputation as being unreliable (highlighted in the second movie) because of how his activities as Spiderman conflicted with his personal and professional life. (Marvel Superheroes had a karma/experience system that often meant that you didn't stop the bank robbery, because your grandfather's funeral was in less than 20 minutes on the opposite side of town and that the later was worth more in karma). Another reason behind Secret IDs is that most characters nee a place to live and food to eat. And they need to pay for it somehow.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

Given witness protection programs' date=' and secret service provided not just for politicans, but their families, I think you have to take it into account if you're going for 'realism'. My point is too much is sacrificed on the altar of realism, and when one staple is cast aside too quickly, there's a danger of others collapsing as well.[/quote']

 

My thoughts exactly - rep to you!

 

And isn't being in the witness protection program being given a secret identity?

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

Got it for ya. (Well' date=' part of it, anyway.)[/quote']

 

I got him too.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

Just to play a little devil advocate here but with that logic should the police also be masked to protect their loved ones against retribution? How about the judge that sentences the criminal' date=' isn't he and his family also in danger of retribution by this villain? Should all judges also be masked? Or is hiding behind a mask or a symbol just a way to avoid full responsibility for being a crime fighter?[/quote']

 

No' date=' police, judges, et al need not be masked. One of the tropes of the superhero genre is that the police are, in general, helpless when confronted with superpowered villains. Sure, Warlord [i']could[/i] go after the baliff at the trial, the judge, the jury, the cops at the precinct house, but there is no point - it's not even a worthwhile revenge, because they can't put up a decent fight. And besides, once those pesky heroes are out of the way, if the villain is still looking for revenge, they can hunt down the cops later.

 

Read a bit about the inability to slow down the drug trade in south and central america. The authorities are afraid of harm to themselves and their families. This is also a trope of many cinematic genres.

 

Judges and police, as examples, are somewhat protected by the fact that, if it weren't that judge/cop, another would have done the same thing. There is some safety in numbers. But how many of Spider-Man's enemies would just shrug and say "well, someone else would have stopped me anyway"? Another genre trope is that no one else could hav eprevented the villains' evil plot.

[assault]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

The other reason for superheroes maintaining a secret ID is that being a superhero is illegal. Being a cop or a judge isn't.

 

If, of course, you are being "realistic" enough for your hero to eventually be busted, your campaign is going to be rather short and frustrating. Unless you are playing government supers. That can be quite enjoyable, and there is nothing wrong with it.

 

On the other hand, once you are willing to accept someone can fly and breathe fire, any realism you choose to add is a little arbitrary.

[Cardinal]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

Just to play a little devil advocate here but with that logic should the police also be masked to protect their loved ones against retribution? How about the judge that sentences the criminal' date=' isn't he and his family also in danger of retribution by this villain? Should all judges also be masked? Or is hiding behind a mask or a symbol just a way to avoid full responsibility for being a crime fighter?[/quote']

 

Actually, in certain countries where there are significant issues with drug trafficers (Colombia and Peru), the drug police wear masks and the identity of judges are often hidden. This is necessary because the government does not have sufficient control to serve as a credible deterent to physical threats to those who represent the government.

 

In short, hiding behind a mask is an acknowledgement that you are not capable of protecting yourself and those that you love.

[sinanju]

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

 

The other thing about secret ids is that joe average doesn't really care. If hero X is Joe Smith... so what? who the hell is Joe Smith? Unless he or she is some one already famous' date=' then it won't matter a wit. And (as shown in Spiderman 2) sometimes Averge person will keep a guys id a secret, especially if they only have seen your face and don't know your name.[/quote']

 

That works for a while. But once your identity is discovered, you can expect to become tabloid fodder. Just like tv and movie stars, you may start off anonymous, but once the public gets interested, there's an entire industry devoted to chronicling every moment of your life. Your childhood, your relationships, your every appearance in public, will be documented.

 

Brad Pitt may have the money to keep the paparazzi at arm's length--but Peter Parker sure as heck doesn't. They'll be interviewing the people in the apartment next door, Flash Thompson, J. Jonah Jameson, Robbie, Betty Brant, etc. Everyone who ever interacted with Parker and has an axe to grind will get his 15 minutes of fame.

 

And that's what happens when the tabloids aren't actively out to get you. What about those who are? What about criminals who've been fighting you for years? Now they know who you are, who your friends and relatives are, where you live, all of it.

 

"Hey, Spider-Man is just some anonymous guy!" works--for a short while.