Red Alert!

[Lord Liaden]

Hmmm... I don't want the element to be too common, because I don't want the PCs to have ready access to it.  (Plus, I made her powers not work in the presence of an Uncommon element, and I don't want to redo all of that.)  Though I could make it a relatively rare Earth element that her home world didn't have.  (quick research - just found this listing of radioactive gems that might be useful.  There's even one called - I kid you not - Coffinite.  Though I'm inclined toward Chevkinite, which was named after a Russian general-major who was chief of staff of the Russian Mining Engineers Corps.)

 

Truly Evil GM Moment -- I could still have the meteorites (kinda like the sound of stalinite), which the players will immediately latch onto... but it doesn't have any effect on her at all.  ("Why are you waving that rock in my face, Honey Badger?  Is that supposed to be some American humor that I just don't understand?")

 

As to General Zima, that's an idea.  One of his kids, or grandkids, could be a member of Red Alert.  I'll have to think on that.  Thanks.

 

Since it sounds like you're using the official Champions Universe as the basis for your campaign, are you aware that the CU material, "kelvarite," is essentially this? Meteoric green-glowing extraterrestrial element, unstable and prone to exploding when struck or exposed to energy. People bombarded with radiation or fragments from exploding kelvarite sometimes gain super powers, most often (but not necessarily or exclusively) superhuman strength and durability, and enhanced movement ability like super-running or -leaping, flight, or teleportation. But kelvarite mutates are Susceptible to radiation from other pieces of kelvarite.

 

There's no reason for the only kelvarite to be on Earth. The world it comes from exploded millions of years ago, so some could have landed on other planets. A space ship could even impact a kelvarite meteor in space -- that might be what crashed Mother Russia's ship.

 

FWIW the element I was thinking of is cadmium. It's not very common here as elements go, so one is unlikely to encounter the raw metal randomly; but it's used as a pigment in some paints, and in electrical batteries, so it's not that hard to get your hands on. Cadmium is also made into the control rods in fission reactors, damping down the reaction by absorbing radiated neutrons. It's also quite toxic for Earthly organisms to come in contact with.

[Opale]

Another thought -- keeping a Superman-level being like Mother Russia under control requires some forethought.  I made her an actual mother -- son Ivan, age 6 and daughter Irina, age 2 -- and figure that the Russian government has her children, as well as her Earth parents, in "protective custody" as a means to keep her following orders that she might not like.  (Her husband was killed by a terrorist bomb a few years ago, prompting her to stop hiding her powers.  Citing possible terrorist reprisals is a good way to justify keeping her family under lock and key.)  I'm sure they'd also have a ready supply of the kryptonite-substitute on hand, so she doesn't threaten Vladimir directly or just grab her kids / family and run.

 

Ideally, the PCs might eventually figure out that they can really hurt Red Alert by getting Mother Russia out from under Putin's thumb, most likely by the PCs going to Russia themselves and rescuing her family members.  So I'd like to have at least the basics laid out of what they'd be facing.  Underground, lead-lined facility? 

 

What other measures would they have in place? 

Woot ! I like this thread ^^

 

First, Mother Russia's relatives should be kept under a really well hidden custody, one that Mother Russia can't look for (even more if she's going to have N-Ray vision or supersenses), so here are a few ideas where to keep them :

 

- in an ever moving submarine vessel

- in another dimension custody

- in her mind : i,e she THINKS she has relative but they are all a creation of a mentalist or gadget that make her thinks so (what about adding a mentalist in your Russian superteam ?)

- They are all dead already, and impersonated on videos by robots or VR icons.

 

As for Putin, I won't comment the full american way you see him all; no politics in post. I'd just say, in Champions normally you don't mess with Head of States personas. You don't fight Khadafi or Kim Jung Hun. You fight the minions, the villains, yu let politics to politicians and UNO.

 

Just my thoughts

 

Opale, in soviet cosplay

[mrinku]

There's a range of more or less nasty options, depending on how you want your Putin to be.

 

I'd tend to have him tread very carefully in regards to Mother Russia's family. Genuine protective custody would be my default. He will want to be working with this person and not against her. Making it so she can't find them? I'd not buy that. Giving them new lives and guarding them carefully, as with MCU Hawkeye's family, which earns her gratitude and establishes a level of dependence? That's more Putin's style, IMHO.

[death tribble]

As regards the team members they don't have to be dupes. They could be well aware of the faults of their system but that does not mean they like the alternative. Consider Russia was invaded by Germany in 1941 and lost an awful lot of people to Austria and Germany in the Great War. They had an empire which due to the switch to Communism they lost. This included the Baltic States and Poland. Russia was not a signatory having made a separate peace with Germany in 1917.

Consider also the Crimean War. Russia lost to France and Britain.

Russia has Islamic nations to the south and the Chinese to the South East. Then there is Japan.

They have a big country and a lot to worry about.

[BoloOfEarth]

Good points, all. 

 

In my mind, most members of Red Alert are more or less fully aware of the pros and cons of their government as well as the work they're being called upon to do.  (To be clear, I'm envisioning them as doing things that governments don't want talked about publicly.  That may include messing around with and in other countries, so they can run afoul of the PCs in America.)  I wanted one member to be, shall we say, less enthusiastic about this work, as a potential lever the PCs can use against the rest of Red Alert.  I've elected Mother Russia to that role.

 

I think that she would need at least infrequent access to her kids, if not regular access, so I don't want them completely hidden from her.  (But that doesn't mean they have to be 100% transparent with her about all the security measures in place around them.  Lead-lined walls and such protect them from prying eyes other than hers.)  However, with the terrorist thing (she really went off on them after her husband's death) I can easily see them having her kids in a secure location.  Definitely no explicit threat made to her by the government, though she may see an implied threat, real or not, if she doesn't toe the line.

[Cassandra]

Strategic Exceptions Force

[pinecone]

Hi, all!

 

I'm creating a Russian superteam -- basically, Putin's superpowered enforcement arm, which has a boring official name like Bureau 86 but is colloquially known as Red Alert -- and I'd like a little input.  Membership thus far is:

 

• Major Vasilov -- the son of the late Colonel Vasilov (from Champions 4E Classic Organizations' Red Doom), who is a literal super-spy thanks to cybernetics and super-solider serum
• Darkforce -- a darkness-controlling mutant with a sadistic streak, able to see/listen through shadows, teleport through them, and even summon a creature of darkness to do his bidding
• Mother Russia -- what if the baby sent from a doomed planet was a girl instead of a boy, and landed in Russia instead of Kansas? 
• Trickshot -- an archer, because one third of all superteams have archers, and the other two thirds suck.
• Wight -- barely alive former cosmonaut, horribly burned during atmospheric re-entry and able to drain / steal bio-energy; he's also the frequent nemesis of Maker, one of the PCs in my Champions campaign, since both got their powers in the same orbital accident.

1)  I'm still looking for a few more members for Red Alert.  I don't want this to be formerly-Soviet Stereotype Superteam, so please don't suggest "Comrade Collective" or the like.

 

2) Writing up Mother Russia, I need something to be her version of kryptonite.  Figuring that most of the rocks carried in the wake of her escape pod would have landed in the then-Soviet Union when her ship entered the atmosphere, I figure an element in meteorites discovered by Soviet scientists in the 1980s might have been given a USSR-centric name.  But what?  Sovonite?  Stalinite?  Mosconium?  Or am I breaking the rule in #1 above by doing this?

It Should be named for the Premier in power at the time of discovery, or someone else who can control funding. Maybe it was named after a certain super spy...?

[pinecone]

Good points, all. 

 

In my mind, most members of Red Alert are more or less fully aware of the pros and cons of their government as well as the work they're being called upon to do.  (To be clear, I'm envisioning them as doing things that governments don't want talked about publicly.  That may include messing around with and in other countries, so they can run afoul of the PCs in America.)  I wanted one member to be, shall we say, less enthusiastic about this work, as a potential lever the PCs can use against the rest of Red Alert.  I've elected Mother Russia to that role.

 

I think that she would need at least infrequent access to her kids, if not regular access, so I don't want them completely hidden from her.  (But that doesn't mean they have to be 100% transparent with her about all the security measures in place around them.  Lead-lined walls and such protect them from prying eyes other than hers.)  However, with the terrorist thing (she really went off on them after her husband's death) I can easily see them having her kids in a secure location.  Definitely no explicit threat made to her by the government, though she may see an implied threat, real or not, if she doesn't toe the line.

If you want to go full on weird how about the weakness fields from Hancock? Her children are litteraly her weakness, in their presence she's just a well built, very healthy woman, when seperated she becomes Super. She bears the seperation soley to create justice in an unjust world...?

[BoloOfEarth]

OTOH, there's some evidence that the apartment building attacks by "terrorists" in the late 90s/early 2000s were staged by Russian intelligence services.  Those attacks led to a renewed war in Chechnya and greatly expanded Putin's presidential powers.  Also, Putin basically made a deal with the oligarchs, they get to keep their oligopolies and he gets a cut.  He now has a net worth between 80 and 200 billion USD, and owns several hidden dachas around the country.  

 

There's a range of more or less nasty options, depending on how you want your Putin to be.

 

I'd tend to have him tread very carefully in regards to Mother Russia's family. Genuine protective custody would be my default. He will want to be working with this person and not against her. Making it so she can't find them? I'd not buy that. Giving them new lives and guarding them carefully, as with MCU Hawkeye's family, which earns her gratitude and establishes a level of dependence? That's more Putin's style, IMHO.

 

I'm thinking along the way of combining these two thoughts -- that at least some terrorist attacks (in my game world) were orchestrated for political profit, and that my world's Putin would try to play on Mother Russia's fears, perhaps by having a "terrorist" attack attempt against her family - which of course his security people stopped, in an attempt to earn her gratitude.  But it's not always easy to fool a mom, and she'll be getting increasingly suspicious of his earnest intent (albeit with no concrete reason, just her "mom senses" are tingling).

 

As to Putin himself in my world, I'm seeing him having a certain level of corruption and manipulation.  In my game world, he'll be the political equivalent of Kingpin or the like -- pulling a lot of strings, exerting power when and where he wants, etc.  Red Alert will just be a tangible example of him exerting power, one that the PCs can fight or otherwise try to stop.

[mrinku]

Kingpin is a good template for a version of Putin. Fisk definitely sees himself as a benevolent dictator, and has a genuine softer side (unlike most versions of Lex Luthor).

[assault]

I don't see any need to make Mother Russia anything other than a conservative patriot and devout Orthodox Christian. Add in a little bit of self-interest in terms of her family being looked after, and there is no reason for her to not be totally loyal.

 

Until things go too far.

 

I'd also be careful with the way I portrayed Putin.

[BoloOfEarth]

I'd also be careful with the way I portrayed Putin.

 

Why?  Is he going to send someone to have a "talk" with me?    Though I doubt he frequents RPG discussion boards.

[mrinku]

The sad thing is that Putin almost certainly hasn't had to invent anything in relation to control of the press and fixing elections. Those were all well established during the Soviet and Yeltsin eras, and he just inherited them. Of course as ex-KGB he was very familiar with them as well.

 

Things were really bad when Putin took over and he genuinely did a lot of good in stabilising the country. No one would have benefitted from Russia falling further into chaos in 2000, except maybe China. Even Gorbechev admits that Russia really wasn't ready for democracy and things were going to have to be rolled back. He ultimately may be taking notes from China and be building a compromise economy and polity.

 

Meh! Enough real world stuff! Play Vladimir Vladimirovich however you choose - evil bastard, paternalistic patriot, mind controlled 4th Reich puppet or Alien Android! It's sufficient to have had the discussion to explore the options.

 

Actually, here's an idea... in a superhero world maybe the relentlessly macho V.V.Putin is himself an enhanced being. I'd be thinking super-soldier/bionics, though Mind Control or super-persuasion powers could fit right in.

 

Or bitten by a radioactive bear! Yowza!

[DusterBoy]

Just to throw something else into the works "Stalin" means "Man of Steel", so there's a plot point for you.

[IndianaJoe3]

If you do get tempted by some of the cornier suggestions made here, it's worth pointing out that the KGB's symbol was a Shield (to defend the revolution) and Sword (to smite its foes). My old GM had Shield and Sword as Soviet supers.

 

 

And yes, these are folks sent on covert black-ops missions.  Including an assassination of a defecting Russian spy, which also resulted in the death of an American super who was guarding the defector.  Nothing provable linking the deaths to Red Alert, but everybody in the intelligence community pretty much figures they were responsible. 

 

Two teams. The, "Shield" team is the public one, defenders of Russia. Team, "Sword" is covert ops.

[Opale]

Two teams. The, "Shield" team is the public one, defenders of Russia. Team, "Sword" is covert ops.

I use to think having two teams called "hammer" And "Scythe" would be better, as related to Russian flag

 

Soviet Opale

[IndianaJoe3]

I use to think having two teams called "hammer" And "Scythe" would be better, as related to Russian flag

 

Soviet Opale

 

If I may indulge my pedantry...

 

(Spoilered for image size)

 

 

 

 

Soviet Flag:

 

Russian flag:

 

 

[Lord Liaden]

So, Team Red and Team Blue?

[Ninja-Bear]

So, Team Red and Team Blue?

Is there any question? Team Red!

[mrinku]

But the symbology is a little backward, The hammer represents the industrial proletariat and the sickle represents the agricultural workers. They're not weapons. Plus modern Russia eschews overt Soviet symbology. Save that stuff for cold war settings, really.

 

The Federal Security Service do continue to use the old KGB sword & shield badge, but with the soviet emblem replaced with the Russian Federation one. Same job, same symbolism.

 

The Russian Federation patriotic colours are red, white and blue. The national emblem is this:

 

 

I could see a flag suit called Russian Eagle (Русский орел - Russkiy orel); white bodysuit with the shield on the chest and blue and red trim. The rider is St George killing a dragon with a spear, so there's another image you could run with. Make him from Georgia for a double dip of patron saint.

[Lord Liaden]

I'm sure it's because I've been watching a bunch of PS4 game play videos on YouTube lately, but I immediately thought that thing would make a pretty cool daikaiju. Only one head short of King Ghidorah.

 

Yeah, I know, .

[mrinku]

Mole Man's got a three headed dinosaur.

 

Just sayin'.

[Jmonty]

Russian superhero movie:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardians_(film)

[BoloOfEarth]

So, the players got to meet (actually rescue/capture) Major Vasilov, as well as encountering a Shadow Creature summoned by Darkforce.  The best part was when Shadow Boxer figured out that the hero team was being spied upon through nearby shadows -- which is usually his gig. 

 

The plot involved the Boston Commons (at Secession Squad's behest) kidnapping the son of a certain unnamed political figure when said son was secretly meeting with Vasilov.  The Commons captured Vasilov as well, and had staged things to look like the hero team was responsible for the kidnapping.  When the heroes found out about Vasilov, they further researched Red Alert enough to learn a bit about Mother Russia. 

 

During the actual rescue mission (mainly the heroes wanted to clear their own names), as they were preparing to teleport out, they realized they couldn't force Vasilov to go with them.  So their mentalist used a Mental Illusion on him to make herself appear to be Mother Russia and convinced him to go along willingly.  (And yes, the mentalist knows how to speak Russian.)  All in all, a successful mini-introduction of Red Alert.

 

Many thanks to all for your suggestions and comments.  I plan to use them to further flesh out Red Alert, as this team will likely play a part in future adventures.

[Mister E]

Russian superhero movie:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardians_(film)

GUARDIANS Trailer (2017) Russian Superhero Movie: