I'm starting a new Champions Campaign based loosely on the setup form the early, early Superhero game 2044, where a Dr Ruby managed to destroy most of the heroes and villains in the world (including himself) via his volcano gun.
Here's the quick history:
Paranormals first begin to appear in the late 1800s in the American West.
Still rare, in the 1900s Paranormals begin to appear in Europe.
During World War I, the conflict in Europe seemed to accelerate whatever process was occurring.
The Great Depression after the end of the war did nothing to slow the process.
World War II saw the first government sponsored teams on both sides
After the war (especially with the burst of science toward the end and the unlocking of the atom) paranormals continued to grow in number.
Dr Ruby arose to prominence in the late 90s and as a villain grew to be incredibly powerful.
In 2001 Dr Ruby creates his 'Volcano Gun'. Really a large, immobile device for creating volcanoes elsewhere, it was a major threat.
Dr. Ruby wipes out Cobra (my name for Viper, sorry, like the GI Joe name better) when they refused to serve him with a series of volcanoes created over their Atlantic Undersea bases. This served to polarize both villains and heroes against him.
Hundreds of villains and heroes converged on his Pacific island base. In a climactic battle, the Volcano Gun was apparently fired at the island itself. No survivors were seen immediately afterwards, and no one has stepped forward in the ensuing eight years with a valid claim to have been there. The world mourned at this sudden, sweeping loss.
Lately, within the past few months, paranormals have begun to appear again. An eager public has spawned an entire news and gossip industry all geared toward following their exploits and learning about them.
This whole setup serves to let the players play new heroes in a world with a history of heroes and villains without being overshadowed by them (I call this the 'Why are all of the problems of the world coming to us when Captain X can solve it in his sleep?' question).
I'm blogging it online (http://draconus-rpg.blogspot.com/ and the whole thing got me thinking about how other people go about setting up and running their superhero games. Any takers?
Chris
