WWYCD "super" registration

[hfergus]

I have not seen any thread like this, but if there is - ooops! If this does not aplly to your campaign, ignore as you see fit.

 

For whatever reason (depends on the campaign) a law is being proposed to regisgter all supers. If you do not register with the government, giving secret id (if one), address and powers, off to prison you go. "Super" is defined somewhat fuzzy; some Olympic athletes could be "super" in their field according to this law. You do not have to act on your powers, just have them and be caught. They have no way to tell right now if you lay low.

 

Does your character approve or dissapprove of this law? Do they state it publically? If so, how much? Do they obey the law if passed?

 

Volt would publically oppose it, asking to testify before Congress; even though he is an intensely private person hating publicity. He would feel that strongly. His desire for privacy is well known, and this would attract a lot of attention. He would argue against it logically and with feeling. If passed, he would not register and still try to fight evil as best he can. He'd fight the law legally in his secret ID as well.

 

Olorin would be very publically against it. "That is one of the most idiotic things I have ever heard, and I am 747 years old from a world where the question 'Why don't you just bring him back from the dead' is not an idiotic question; just rare, difficult and often quite expensive." He'd then launch into a well thought out logical, detailed and passionate attack on the law. If passed he'd play "catch me if you can:nya:" with the authorities (publically) while doing quite a lot of very public good. (Losts of luck catching this guy with his contingency spells and large VPP) Most people would give him sneaking admiration if not blatent approval:thumbup:. He could cause reversal of the law given time.

 

Black Tiger would hate the law, but lots of luck getting him involved. At best, you might get him to comment on the people who wrote the law saying "Idiots." If passed, he would not register, and continue to fight evil deep underground. (So deep he'd have to look up to see bottom.) He might go vigilante (beating up bad guys) saying "If you treat me like a criminal, I'll act like one occasionally."

 

Futurian, the man from the future, would oppose it publically saying "You have any idea what impact this would have on the future?" He would not go into any more detail, leaving the comment a mystery. If passed, he would not register and continue to fight evil whenever and wherever.

[Darkfire]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

oddly most campaigns I GM or play in have registration laws. In the one I run the US registration law is very much a soft to if you don't register the Government delays, refuses, or makes expensive its aid. also the if not registered heroes can be sued and held personally responsible for any and all damage their fights cause.

 

but to answer your question.

 

Darkfire: as a powerful sorceress with a superlative track record and a mutually beneficial relationship with PRIMUS she would push for a Dr. Strange style 'accommodation' with the Government. In general she would be neutral or slightly positive on the matter.

 

Ironhide: Would oppose the measure because of the risk to Family and friends would be under when not if the registry list was compromised. not to mention the violation of personal freedoms

 

John O'Malley II: As a member of the Dominican order and an Inquisitor sworn to destroy all heretics and monsters. He would see the registration as a potentially a good thing both to keep tabs on 'sanctioned' heroes and illuminate those who are so dedicated that will continue their work no matter the consequences. some might make good recruits or allies the rest might need to be purged.

hypocritically as a secret branch of the Church he would not register(to much risk) and continue his Delta Green style activities.

[psychonaut_raz]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Icestar would be quite happy to register....unless they want to classify/confirm the source of her powers. She pretends to be a mutant, but she really gets her powers from a mystical artifact and she can't afford to have that discovered.

 

So while she would be wholly supportive of the registration act in theory, she would try and come up with any kind of dodge she can to get out of having her own powers investigated in any real way...

[Metaphysician]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

As described, the law would be unconstitutional on its face in the US, and all my PCs local to there would oppose it on that ground.

 

Hermes, as usual, falls into 'situation not applicable' territory, as the society he lives in is *ruled* by superhuman god-kings.

[OctoberRaven]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Mr. Nonsense: Oooh! Well, my name is Mr. Nonsense. Yes, that is my real name. I think. Would you like a cheeseburger, Mr. Senator? (He wouldn't be able to divulge his real name, as part of his origin involves him having no memory of his previous life).

 

Shift: ...Registration, huh? Good for you. I'm moving to Canada.

 

Emerald Dragon: Well, I guess it's a good idea. I'll go along with it. Heck, it might give me a chance to go back to movies.

 

October Raven: I'd prefer not to register, and I'll vote against any measure put on a ballot. But if it passes, I'll be the first to register.

 

Tetsuhana: Get a lawyer to see if he applies (highly-trained normal martial artist) as a superhuman. If he does, see if this registration act will allow for protection for families of superhumans. If it doesn't, time to move back to Japan. If it does, he'll register.

 

 

Funny. I was pro-Cap for the Civil War, and three of my characters would register without complaint, four if you count Tets

[Southern Cross]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

I personally wouldn"t play a character who would support this law.

As described above,it would make Prohibition look like a reasonable law.I'd do my best to oppose it.

[JmOz]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Marksman would ignore it, might go as far as a underground railroad for heroes...

[Wyrm Ouroboros]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Freedom has been a villain and a hero on both sides of the Iron Curtain for decades; she's used to being the 'bad guy' of a piece. She would definitely refuse to sign up, and would go so far as to begin building (with those lovely 22 AP of Filthy Rich, Difficult to Dispel x2 numerous national and international corporations) one or multiple extranational haven(s) for supers as well as begin acting to influence, say, a 2nd/3rd World nation (Syria or Lebanon, perhaps -- maybe one of the -stans) to have them announce -- very publically, full-page ads in every major US paper -- that any Power who makes it to one of their embassies / consulates will be immune to US pursuit. And who would then be flown out of the country in that nation's car/airplane and then offered the opportunity to join up with Freedom.

 

Trust me, she doesn't frag around with crap like this. Magneto's Avalon? That times ten.

 

What would she do otherwise? The usual -- hammer serious bad guys, avert major disasters, etc. Then go calmly about her business -- but heaven help those Law Enforcement Sorts who show up to arrest her, because as soon as they try to force her into something, she'll treat them no differently than the aforementioned bad guys. And the Powers who try to take her down? Three strike rule. Major pain, major damage, death.

 

Of course, I am running a campaign on HC rather similar to this -- After the End. Though admittedly the 'situation' is a little more tense....

[wrestlinggeek]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Voltage: Would sign right up. He has a Public ID anyway. But, he would speak out very publicly and very loudly in protest to making heroes reveal their identities if said heroes would prefer to keep them secret. He would also have a big problem, and say so, with the "Register or go to jail" clause. Would suggest public use of unregistered powers become a crime instead. With the exceptions of using said powers to save lives or property, or if said use was first time the power manifested. Who knows, this might cause him to grow up some and start looking into politics.

[Badger]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Badger- oppose it, refuse to obey it, dare them to take him in if they think they can (if they are willing to lose a large chunk of the army taking him in go for it), and probably return to villainy.

[Wanderer]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

This is where Nova's Magneto Complex would kick in at godspeed. This is just the kind of worst-case scenario he has prepared himself to fight.

 

"I have no opposition to a voluntary registration scheme. Let them those supers who want to be cops or soldiers or want to reveal their secrets to the government, be. But mandatory registration of powers and identities only serves to open the door for servitude and discrimination of my people, if not far worse. The laws of man were not for supers in the first place, but superior beings stripped of the rights even mere humans enjoy and enslaved to serve the whims of demagogues and bureaucrats is outrage beyond words. I will never obey it, and assist all those who will resist it, by any means necessary. I will continue to do my best as I see fit, to make the world a better place. The moment someone tries to use force on me or any other super because of this Act, I will retaliate with proportionate force. The moment lethal force is used, I will acknowledge this as a declaration of war by this government against the whole paranormal race. You guys are asking for a war you cannot win, risking the loss of huge chunks of your armed forces, economy, and infrastructure. I regret the appalling destruction and loss of lives, but I will make sure the politicians and commanders, or whoever may be manipulating them, that caused this tragedy will be preferential targets. How good are your plans for continuity of government, folks ? It would be nice to have someone with the authority to talk about peace terms, when the dust settles on this tragic farce".

[Querysphinx]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Oh, very bad law. Anything that punishes someone for simply for being rather than actually for doing is fundamentally bad law.

 

Thunder Who is Jewish and whose grandmother mother, Donner, fought the Nazis in WWII, would see this as another potential holocaust. She's do everything she could to stop it. If she could not stop it, she'd go underground and keep fighting the law.

 

Query Whose powers come from "The Book of Ultimate Answers," would assume the govt. would steal the book if they knew about it. After all, it purports to have all the answers to everything in it. She'd fight the law. If unsuccessful, she'd leave the country.

[ghost-angel]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Enigma would oppose this loudly, publicly, she'd definitely start to show her street punk side and really tear into the "authority figures" of the government. She would encourage peaceful civil disobedience, testify to congress, whatever it took. If it passed she would register and continue the fight to have it repealed. She would not ask, encourage, or force anyone else to register. And if forced to do that ... things go downhill.

[incrdbil]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Universal opposition.

 

Seer shrugs. He lives off the grid. He might decide to check for some sort of mental influence on the leadership of the nation. He has his mystic friends check for demonic influence (this really works with the current campaign, so much that Seer isnt even suprised) Depending on how hard they come after him determines just how intense his reponses get. But being a psionic prodigy, if he determines the government is violating its own laws due to normal human motivation, well, their choice. He just ignores the law, as he has been for some time. PSI and Takofones already are on his dance card, may he may as well add the government.

 

Hornet musters public opinion, has the team mentalist checking for mnipulation, the teams secret ID reporter checking contacts, the teams public ID mega billionaire lobbying, funding challenges, and helping with a massive Pr campaign to attack the law. He will represent supers in a lawsuit against the US government, and is certain he will win if the entire government hasn't turned corrupt. (a 45 INT and 18- KS-Law)

 

Ultimately, if the government proceeds on a clearly unconsitituional law (and it is..regardless of what the supreme Court says) he begins reading the Declaration of Independence for reference material. He would go underground, but fears the Governments tyranny wouldnt stop there, so someone has to fight it.

 

Ranger works for the government, though his loyalty is to his own agenda. He knows thsi is stupid, and seeks to cripple the policies implementation from within while finding out who is the main mover, and trying to obtain leverage on that person.

 

Blaze simply tells the press. "Thats bullcrap. If they can enforce it, bring it. Who are they going to send, the hapless rubes we have to bail out on a weekly basis?"

 

His teammates later beat him over the head for making things worse.

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Jake the Troll - is Canadian; but if he wanted to travel in the US, he'd probably have to (he's too obviously not human to hide.) However, that just means his parents wouldn't let him go south of the boarder.

 

Icon - wants to be a fed when she grows up, so she's resigned to being in some sort of federal database anyway. But she also knows the law, and would also understand that this is prima facia unconstitutional. Thus, she'd register, but encourage others not to.

 

Shinji Miromoto - is a mystic, which means you're forcing him to register his religion, which is 2x unconstitutional.

 

Widower - unlikely to either. Now, if it was a "register or we won't support you in your vigilante activities", then that's another story. But as others have stated, this is an extremely bad law just on the face of it.

[Mephron]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

We had this in Balabanto's campaign.

 

One of my PCs, the martial artist Steel Thunder, informed her team that all such acts should be considered illegal under the constitution, and then told them about her great-uncle, who moved to the United States in 1935... and died in an internment camp. The team went on the run, trying to track down who was behind it.

 

Outback, the Aussie sorcerer, was doing an illegal walkabout in middle America at the time (illegal because he had no legal right to be in the US at the time), and ignored it, as he was dealing with what it means to be a wandering sorcerer with 15 points of Physical Limitation: Weirdness Magnet.

 

Gomi-no-Sensei was quietly bringing economic factors to bear when it all reached a head.

 

Warpage, who has powers because of a super-fight gone wrong, shrugged and kept on going on with his schooling. His argument was that he had to register for the draft at 18 like everybody else, so they could use that. Not like someone who's twelve feet tall, has cybernetic implants as a voluntary nervous system, and is deep blue can't be found easily...

 

Monsegneur Jean-Claude des Champes is a French citizen, and an envoy for His Eminence, The Bishop Of Rome, The Holy Pontiff, to the religious superhumans of the world. Please, sir, to ask me what this means to me?

[Badger]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Trying to figure what my other (frosty Bob) would do.

 

Let's see. He has fought for America in several wars (WWII onwards), so they pretty much know about him. But, he is also if nothing else a loose cannon. No real powers other than immortality and guns. Probably start his militia/underground/2nd American revolution. He can survive in the wilderness indefinitely if need be (Badger can too for the record, actually Badger pretty much lives in a cave in the forest outside town).

 

Well Bob being immortal I guess the surviving in wilderness indefinitely is an oxymoron. He does need to eat (though only on occasion).

 

 

Anyhow, one not done character (the half-banshee that I mention on occasion) would also be in a conundrum of sorts. First would be opposed to it for one. But the other is she would be afraid of her Hunted (DEMON) hacking into the supers database and finding her. No real option for her other than going into hiding before having to register. And finding a way to lay as low as posible.

Maybe sneak into Canada.

[Enforcer84]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Enforcer would Punch Mark Millar into orbit.

 

 

all kidding aside. He'd probably register he has nothing to hide, and has a deep respect for law enforcement and the law. However, he also is a legal scholar and a lover of freedom and the rights of the individual and if those began to be trampled on he'd publicly fight the law.

[Comic]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

You register for taxes, and that's about things that are really important: money and write-offs.

 

What is listing off a few powers compared to that?

 

I mean.. money.

 

If you've already surrendered your accounting to your government, what are little things like superpowers?

 

It's not like they're asking for sacred things, like your DNA, your gun, or your opinion.

[Amber Nytstar]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Diana Papillion (Luna Moth), the Flying Kittens, and the Kittens' parents would be publicly against this bill, for varying reasons, and would seek to have it legally struck down. Out of the group mentioned, only the Kittens would register their super identities, if given a chance; Diana would just mention the Tear and her gift for finding thermals on the form and leave off anything connected to the Moth, while the Kittens' parents will move out to the middle of the ocean to build their own super-sanctuary and would attempt to take their children with them.

[Wyrm Ouroboros]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Yeah, but it's an unconstitutional law -- though in my world, the Supreme Court has struck down challenges to the treaty/law via a 'clear and present danger' sort of approach.

 

In the campaign backstory, the majority of the superhumans of the world -- roughly 55,000 of them of varying power -- had wound up being manipulated into running battles which wound up leading them into a huge 3-day-long battle throughout Mexico City. It is estimated that less than four million of Mexico City's twenty-one escaped the Slaughter before the national superpowers ended it with a ToT of every nuclear weapon in every arsenal. Except for those very few Powers who were injured badly enough to get sent home early (on the first day), and except for those eleven who fled (seven who felt the missiles being launched, four who could actually escape at the last second), every other Power who was there was slain. Superman, Wonder Woman, the JLA, Jean Grey, Magneto (well, no -- Magneto --> Freedom, and she's one of the Seven Who Fled), the Avengers, Apocalypse, etc. Everyone dead. Powers aren't precisely outlawed, but by international terms, every Power must appear in front of the ICCAP (International Court for the Control and Application of Power) for a hearing on your power, how it's BEEN applied, and how it could BE applied -- and what, exactly, you want to do with it.

 

Most of the Powers that go in front of the ICCAP vanish. Some get 'power dampeners' put on them, a few are 'tagged' and permitted to work as a closely-controlled hero -- no criminal stopping, no superfights, just 'saving the pooch'. A very, very few are executed for crimes against humanity.

 

It's getting fun now.

[Comic]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Apologies to Nat King Cole:

 

Every time I look down on this timeless town

whether blue or gray be her skies.

Whether loud be her cheers or soft be her tears,

more and more do I realize:

 

I love Dystopia in the springtime.

I love Dystopia in the fall.

I love Dystopia in the winter when it drizzles,

I love Dystopia in the summer when it sizzles.

 

I love Dystopia every moment,

every moment of the year.

I love Dystopia , why, oh why do I love Dystopia?

Because my pain is near.

 

-------------

I'm not sure there is a constitutional guarantee of a right to a secret identity meant to keep people from being able to hold you to account for the actions you take.

 

Sure, by syllogism, any reactionary could speculate that having to stand behind one's actions when called to answer for the harm they have done one's fellow citizens might lead to widespread panic, looting, lynching and the downfall of civil society. That is to say, a lot of people have asserted this would be the case.

 

However, historically, far more often the case is that the unaccountable, the anonymous who commit perfidious acts and escape under the rocks they crawled out from beneath, the sort of people who would just love to have their identities closeted, are the villains who perpetrate lynchings, mob violence, and persecution of the defenseless.

 

Now, if everyone who registered were forced to wear a pink triangle, a six pointed star, or a tattoo numbering them sequentially, then it's likely those anonymous, secret villains are already in power.

 

Similarly, if those who were deemed 'different' were rounded up without trial, held without counsel or Habeus Corpus, weren't protected by the laws of the land.. oh, wait, sorry. That's already been happening for over half a decade. Nevermind. Carry on.

[Metaphysician]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Yeah, but it's an unconstitutional law -- though in my world, the Supreme Court has struck down challenges to the treaty/law via a 'clear and present danger' sort of approach.

 

In the campaign backstory, the majority of the superhumans of the world -- roughly 55,000 of them of varying power -- had wound up being manipulated into running battles which wound up leading them into a huge 3-day-long battle throughout Mexico City. It is estimated that less than four million of Mexico City's twenty-one escaped the Slaughter before the national superpowers ended it with a ToT of every nuclear weapon in every arsenal. Except for those very few Powers who were injured badly enough to get sent home early (on the first day), and except for those eleven who fled (seven who felt the missiles being launched, four who could actually escape at the last second), every other Power who was there was slain. Superman, Wonder Woman, the JLA, Jean Grey, Magneto (well, no -- Magneto --> Freedom, and she's one of the Seven Who Fled), the Avengers, Apocalypse, etc. Everyone dead. Powers aren't precisely outlawed, but by international terms, every Power must appear in front of the ICCAP (International Court for the Control and Application of Power) for a hearing on your power, how it's BEEN applied, and how it could BE applied -- and what, exactly, you want to do with it.

 

Most of the Powers that go in front of the ICCAP vanish. Some get 'power dampeners' put on them, a few are 'tagged' and permitted to work as a closely-controlled hero -- no criminal stopping, no superfights, just 'saving the pooch'. A very, very few are executed for crimes against humanity.

 

It's getting fun now.

 

How exactly did mass nuking kill everyone? Quite a few of the people you listed can plink nukes.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

Black Cat would be against it. She has no superpowers (she used, but not anymore, long story), but her combat capabilities are super level. She holds that that can be reached by anyone with the correct training.

She has a public ID. She would speak out against the law with everything she had, and would no register. As she is in the team that is the JLA in that world (and one of the founders) that would carry a lot of weight.

She would then try and find out what mind controller was making the government do such things.

Meeb wouldn't care. He's alien (and legally speaking an illegal one, he crash landed in America and has never got a work visa or green card. ). He'd register, and watch the fun of the people registering him try and write his real name down (his native language sounds a lot like the Thermians from Galaxy Quest).

 

Angelfire would do so - she has a public ID and is not a superhero - she's a rockstar. The fact that she tends to get into superfights is just an odd coincidence.

 

Sift would fight it. She wouldn't register and she wouldn't give up her Secret ID (like Firestorm she is actually two people merged).

Terminal Velocity would, aside from the Secret ID thing. He'd protect that at any cost. Possibly getting a teammate to make a fake background, and register under a false secret ID.

Smokeater - "Look, I'm busy saving the world from an inter-dimensional invasion. Get back to me later." He's a true blue hero, but would likely balk - it just seems Un-american to him. He'd likely end up doing underground railroad, and such.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: WWYCD "super" registration

 

This is a law to register just for having a superpower, right?

 

I can't think of a single one of my characters who wouldn't fight this tooth and nail by lobbying every available member of Congress (or the legislature); and who, if the law passed, wouldn't bring a lawsuit calling for it to be declared unconstitutional based on multiple provisions.

 

No, scratch that. I can think of two: Sky Prince would just ignore it (as he does most Earth laws; all he wants to do is get home), and Mental Man would remain blissfully unaware of it until the authorities tried to arrest him.

 

On the other hand, a law requiring registration for just those desiring to function as superheroes would get a mixed reaction from my characters. Some would support it as a responsible measure to separate good, helpful citizens from simple vigilantes; a few would see it as an unnecessary government intrusion. (Come to think of it, two of my most recently-created characters, separately-working father and daughter, might come nearly to blows over the issue.)