Sorry to pile on, but my experience, not just in Hero, is that GMs & players alike are more blythely accepting of 'magic can do it' than 'tech can do it' (and a lot more accepting of both those than 'skill,' darring-do, courage and the like).
In particular, I've often had GMs balk or at least look askance at a gadget granting Power Defense, so I was quite surprised by that example.
That said, and perhaps for that reason, many GMs might be more willing to allow a gadgeteer PC than a mage PC in the first place, precisely because they feel they can keep a tighter leash on the former.
"... we're so sorry for your loss ..."
"... take all the time you need ..."
"... if you need anything ..."
"... they're in a better place ..."
"... not your fault ..."
"... just an accident ..."
"... random chance ..."
"... it's God's will..."
"... uncarring universe ..."
"... no one to blame ..."
"... Lina, we haven't heard from you in so long, please, don't do any-"
"That's odd! I've never pulled in a quantum alternate before. In every other case I've switched universes with the alternate - of course, you'd see me as the alternate - but, there's just no way it could have happened, I may have to revise quantum theory, entirely. If there is a Lina Bachmann in the alternate, we must swap places, if there isn't, I shouldn't be able to reach it, at all. Oh, I'm sorry, you look confused. I forget that not all of me went into theoretical physics. What did you?" "Oh, experimental, well, that's important too, why I'm doing experiments now, I couldn't *get* an experimental physists to help me on this project, it's too radical, but I guess you were-" "No? Particle physics? Now I was never interest -" "Why, no, of course I never married, my work is far more..." "Now, don't get upset, this takes some adjustment..." "What? Who? No I... oh, that jock I tutored in colllege who killed himself? Why I'd almost forgotten about it, tragic of course, but what's it got to do wi-"
Lina Bachmann, controversial quantum physicist, was found strangled to death, her lab was ransacked. Some investigators consider her to be the first victim of the supervillain known a Paradox. Paradox is a non-humanoid robot or small piloted 'mecha' it has two long leg that bend 'backward' at the knee and several much smaller manipulative and weapon-mounting limbs attached to or housed within it's oblong main body. It has something of an improvised appearance. It appeared suddenly and began a campaign of theft, focusing on high-tech components and materials. It seems able to vanish (presumably teleport a long distance, or shift to another dimension) or to exist in two places at once or occupy the same space as other objects. It's purpose remains unknown. Scientists and engineers have assured investigators that the technologies it is trying to acquire are no more dangerous than the robot itself, indeed, probably much less so, and would only be of interest to a physicist searching for the Higgs boson...
Karl Kolchak has worked the streets of Prague for years, looking for the hidden truths of things. He has learned a lot of secrets, and exposed some dark things. He has earned a reputation as the Faceless Man
CES
there were some private eyes that moved to television that can make the archetype with Mike Hammer being the most prominent. I admit my own example first character only appears on the Turner Classic Movie channel, but I assumed everyone knew the Thin Man.
CES
Kick Charleston founded the Society at the insistence of his wife. Proclaiming himself retired and living off her vast fortune, Kick combines a sharp mind with a charm that makes even his deadliest enemy sorry to see him go. People tend to say things that they should keep to themselves when he is around, and that's enough.
Like her Idol Bettie Page, Beatrix "Betty" Rubelle is a fetish model in the LA BDSM/fetish scene. When someone spiked her drink in a bar it could have turned out very badly for her but some sort of reaction to the drug or perhaps some strange contamination resulted in Betty gaining super powers.
Betty's power acts like super adrenaline temporarily enhancing her strength speed agility but triggering a violent rage.
The power is triggered by physical pain she also has an extraordinary healing factor she can recover from all but the most severe damage nearly instantly.
Betty is a straight up brawler in fetish wear.
She has a secret that none of the other team is aware of she is a submissive member of a very secret super BDSM club and has a long going relationship with a super-villain who acts as her Dom.
Megan Michaels was no-ones first thought of what a Hero looks like 5' nothing in her sensible shoes soft spoken an immensely patient she was the perfect kindergarten teacher. Then came a teachers worst nightmare an active shooter incident.
She did what she had been trained to hid her kids in a corner and kept them quite.
But when the shooter burst into her class room pistol aimed at her kids she snapped charging the man.
he was much bigger and stronger than her but she held on with all her strength to protect her kids.
And then there was that insanely loud noise and the coldness in her chest and again and again and she couldn't hold on any longer as she fell to the floor her vision fading all she could think was it wasn't enough who would save her kids. Megan's eyes closed for the last time as the gunman calmly reloaded.
Megan's eyes opened she felt amazing she leapt to her feet and charged the gunman once more as he took aim on her cowering charges.
She rammed into him hoping just to throw off his aim but she was amazed as she plowed him straight through the sheetrock into the empty class room next door.
she stood over the now trembling gun man as once more he leveled his pistol at her she flinched back covering her self but instead of the sharp pain followed by ice chill she remembered it felt like a light summer rain as 14 more bullets flattened against her skin and thunked to the floor.
She punched him once then and he lost consciousness.
when the police arrived a few minutes later they found an unconscious gun man hog tied with jump ropes and miss Michael's reading a story to her class to calm them down the only sign of the incident plaster dust in her hair and almost 30 holes in her sensible Cardigan and blouse.
Miss Might is now a super hero she still has her teaching license and tutors kids in some of the most dangerous parts of the city but feels that her powers require her to use them to protect people.
She is a little miffed that she didn't get the superhuman physique to go with her powers but it has proven advantageous as she is often overlooked and underestimated in a fight. She is mostly a very calm and focused fighter trying to minimise damage unless kids are threatened and then she has a tendency to get very angry and more than one villain has made the Oh **** face when they realise the storm they have unleashed.
She is pretty much a straight up brick superhumanly strong, nigh invulnerable, able to leap a considerable distance and with seemingly endless endurance
surprisingly her biggest asset to the team is not her powers but her people skills people open up to her and she is expert at defusing conflict.
She has said many times that dealing with superpowered alpha males and kindergarten have a lot in common.
"Trixie" to her team, Triskaideka (Greek for 13) is, as far as she knows, the only super-patriot Witch in the United States. She is a middle-aged, olive-skinned, dark-eyed woman who wears a costume in an aproximation of late-18th century colonial style, a long, generous red & white striped skirt (7 red & 6 white, of course), an indigo-blue blouse adorned with 13 pentacles, and a yellow bonnet circled by a disturbingly realistic beadwork rattlesnake (that actually rattles when danger is near). She rides a litteral witch's broom (a bough taken from a tree infected with basidiomycetes) named 'Old Hickory' which seems to have a bit of a mind of it's own, flying her with apparent reluctance, sometimes, enthusiasm others, and even attacking enemies on it's own. She always starts out carrying an olive branch, with which she can use mind control to enforce peaceful behavior - until an affected mind breaks free, then it bursts into flames - after which she produces a sheaf of 13 arrows and conjures a 'moon bow' to shoot them. She continues from there, conjuring various weapons and magical paraphenalia, often with only very obcure patriotic symbolism ("what does a brass mace have to do with America?" "it's the clapper from a really large bell!"). In spite of all her magic, she is as vulnerable to gunfire and other forms of violence as an ordinary person, and it's not too unusual for her to be killed outright in a super-battle. However, her body vanishes, and she 'reincarnates,' the next time "the clock strikes 1" (the 13th hour) - standard time, mind you - waking up in a random "National Historic Site," /usually/ in the same State. In addition to flight and combat magics, she can use Clairvoyance to see to any place US currency is exposed to the light (as if she were looking out the eye on the pyramid) - which is less than you might think, most bills being in a wallet, purse, cash register, vault etc, most of the time.
When, like any super-patriot, she waxes elloquent about her beloved country, she tends to emphasize Freedom of Religion, of Speach, and of /Choice/, and, like a hokey PSA, the importance of voting rights.
And, of course, she is very big on the 13th Ammendment, especially while beating on so called 'human-traffickers.'
Simon écran is a mutant able to generate an incredibly potent force wall unfortunately he was only able to create it in one plane at a time a single flat unbreakable shield.
He developed his powers when he was 16 and decided to become a superhero. His early success saving people from a fire and rescuing a small child from a lake.
These acts of heroism where unfortunately overshadowed by his first foray into crime fighting when attempting to stop a bank robbery he managed to pin the robbers against the side of the bank with a force wall only for the getaway driver to sneak up behind him and cold cock him the robbers escaped and the whole incident was caught on camera.
Some pundit on national tv compared him to France's failed defences in WW2 and the name stuck no matter how much he tries to get people to use his official name "Bouclier" the shield he is still called maginot. villains often take advantage of his anger in the hopes it will make him sloppy.
Bouclair is kind of a one trick pony he can still only create a single rectangular force wall of considerable toughness but only in one direction at a time since developing his power he has developed a number of tricks to compensate.
His favorite tricks in combat are the wall smash where he quickly move the force wall forward or tilt it down onto opponents to slam them, the compactor where he presses enemies against a wall or other suitable surface applying pressure of needed(since the first failure he is much more aware of his flanks when using the attack) and the plow angling his force field 45 degrees and then charging does to send them head over heels.
Out side of combat Simon uses the wall to protect innocents and his team mates but also laying it flat to make bridges at an angle as a rescue slide or using the plow trick to move obstacles as he can generate the wall at and position he has learned to use it as transport too laying it flat and using it like a magic carpet he is the team's short range transport specialist he can fly them longer distances but as the field offers no protection from the elements they will usually travel in a vehicle carried on the wall.
This is only done in extremis as the field is not the fastest method of travel.
"Trixie" to her team, Triskaideka (Greek for 13) is, as far as she knows, the only super-patriot Witch in the United States. She is a middle-aged, olive-skinned, dark-eyed woman who wears a costume in an aproximation of late-18th century colonial style, a long, generous red & white striped skirt (7 red & 6 white, of course), an indigo-blue blouse adorned with 13 pentacles, and a yellow bonnet circled by a disturbingly realistic beadwork rattlesnake (that actually rattles when danger is near). She rides a litteral witch's broom (a bough taken from a tree infected with basidiomycetes) named 'Old Hickory' which seems to have a bit of a mind of it's own, flying her with apparent reluctance, sometimes, enthusiasm others, and even attacking enemies on it's own. She always starts out carrying an olive branch, with which she can use mind control to enforce peaceful behavior - until an affected mind breaks free, then it bursts into flames - after which she produces a sheaf of 13 arrows and conjures a 'moon bow' to shoot them. She continues from there, conjuring various weapons and magical paraphenalia, often with only very obcure patriotic symbolism ("what does a brass mace have to do with America?" "it's the clapper from a really large bell!"). In spite of all her magic, she is as vulnerable to gunfire and other forms of violence as an ordinary person, and it's not too unusual for her to be killed outright in a super-battle. However, her body vanishes, and she 'reincarnates,' the next time "the clock strikes 1" (the 13th hour) - standard time, mind you - waking up in a random "National Historic Site," /usually/ in the same State. In addition to flight and combat magics, she can use Clairvoyance to see to any place US currency is exposed to the light (as if she were looking out the eye on the pyramid) - which is less than you might think, most bills being in a wallet, purse, cash register, vault etc, most of the time.
When, like any super-patriot, she waxes elloquent about her beloved country, she tends to emphasize Freedom of Religion, of Speach, and of /Choice/, and, like a hokey PSA, the importance of voting rights.
And, of course, she is very big on the 13th Ammendment, especially while beating on so called 'human-traffickers.'
on a quiet street in central London is a classic town house belonging to a singular club founded by Sir Graham Warming who suffers from a rare medical condition that causes him to lapse into periodic comas in which his body is seemingly kept in suspended animation the first time he fell into a coma in 1810 he awoke 50 years later un-aged to find the world much different.
His wealth was much greater due to the powers of compound interest for the next several years he learnt all he could of the new world he met several other individuals who had similar experiences immortals time travelers and dimension hoppers.
due to his fear of the next time he would go into stasis he established the Morpheum club a place to maintain his body during his suspensions and provided with an in house librarian and historians who would create a definitive history for him. the Morpheum club is now a home away from home for the temporally or reality displaced with several specialists who help people adjust to the current time line the library has the finest collection of current events, histories, futuries and otherries in the world maintained by specialist librarians and historians the kitchen is superb and the chef is an expert at historical cuisine and the club has a very interestingly stocked wine cellar. the sleeping sir warmings is attended to in a bunker beneath the club and the upper floors contain a number of rooms for members without other accommodation.
membership is open to anyone from another time or reality weather traveler, accidentally displaced or immortal
Sebastian Quan, Esq. started his professional career as a hero-hater. He was convinced that these "masked hoodlums" were reckless lawbreakers that needed to be taken down, and used his considerable legal skills to that end. He didn't notice, though his friends and family did, that he was becoming steadily more irrational on the subject.
Then came the night when he was kidnapped by a villainous group that wanted to gain access to the extensive database his office had created of dirt on superheroes. When the Champions attacked the baddies, Mr. Quan disregarded his own safety and strode into the middle of the battle to harangue the heroes. A mishap involving magical probability bolts, radioactive waste and an exploding Malvan hyperdrive component put the lawyer into the hospital.
When he awoke several days later, Sebastian found his mind clearer than it had been for years. He now remembered meeting with a man who later became notorious as a mind-controlling supervillain, and being subjected to brainwashing. This same villain had repeated the process several times to keep him enthralled. That villain visited Mr. Quan in the hospital, but this time his powers had no effect, and the villain was captured.
Under the circumstances, Sebastian Quan felt obligated to undo some of the damage he had caused, and his law firm now aids superheroes with legal issues. You accidentally blew up the mayor's car? Your trademarked catchphrase is being used without payment? You need zoning clearance for your hero base? You don't understand the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor, and the other heroes laugh at you? Angels' Advocate will help you out.
The universe was doomed. Every scientist, ever theologian, every leader agreed. It was inevitable. Afterall the universe was a closed system, even if it was an astounding 1.775e+25 times the radius of the one known inhabbited world within it, and it's central core was inherrently unstable, once the unimaginably masive core split, the cataclysmic energies released would erase existance as everyone knew it. Perhaps some other universe or universes might follow after it, but surely no sentience would survive the transition.
But there was one particularly outre physicist - or perhaps, philosopher, at his level the distinction was often moot - who disagreed. He theorized that the universe was neither finite nor closed, but made up of a potentially infinite number of parallel, separate but similar universes, and that travel out among them, in some vastly greater Macroverse, might be possible. Not for a being as infinitessimal as a person, but for beings, themselves, composed, each, of many usiverses, unnamable beings vaster and older than time itself. To prove his theory, he set out to become one of them, expanding his mind to encompass the whole known universe and slowing his thoughts until whole lifetimes slipped by in an instance, he waited for the inevitable end and harnessed that release of energy, riding outward, ever outward, ever expanding his mind and building for himself a form unimaginably vast...
... Macronaut appears, in our universe, as a transparent, midnight-blue humanoid with brilliant points of lights - almost like stars or galaxies - suspended within it. It is less cohesive than normal matter ( cf: https://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/101181-a-variant-density-decreasealternate-desolid-idea/ ) and can expand it's form eventually becoming intangible, then invisible, then ceasing to exist (X-D move to the next-greater 'macroverse,' perhpas), or compress itself (Shrinking +DI), eventually dropping back into a 'microverse' (XDM again). Unfortunately, it's diffuse body is made up mostly of fissionable atoms, and it needs a steady supply of more to sustain itself, and, even more dangerously, if it chooses to compress itself while feeding, can trigger a fission chain reaction. Thus it is a villain, or at leat a danger. From it's point of view, our world is a place of elder beings of alien form and hideous complexitiy possessed of ponderous, calous, incomprehensible mentalities - to the Macronaut, we are not just monsters, but Lovecraftian horrors.
Bárðarbunga Hvannadalshnúkursdottir is /Huldufólk/, one of an ancient tribe of peaceful other-dimensional fairy-like beings living, from the earthly perspective, in large rocks. When Bárðarbunga's rock was blown to bits for a road-cut, she was, fortunately, out shopping ( /Huldufólk/ do all the same everday things as humans), but when she returned home to find herself homeless, she was miffed. After driving the unfortunate construction company out of business with unexplained accidents, she wandered off in search of a new home. Sadly all the nice big lava rocks on the island were taken, or had exhorbidant rent (again, they're just like people), so she headed overseas. After much wandering, she found a "haunted house" somewhere in North America and participated in the humans' amusing ritual of scaring eachother. It was fun, but it didn't last, so she went looking for similar places, putting several fun houses out of business until Ring Master recruited her.
In her natural form, at least, on the earthly plane, Bárðarbunga is a three inch tall pudgy humanoid with frizzy bright red hair that stands on end prettymuch all the time, and, superfluously, she can turn invisible or shunt herself into the otherworld if she really doesn't want to be seen. In combat, she uses limited telepathy to intuit a victims instinctive or childhood fears and briefly grows to an appropriate size to assume the form of that fear, then vanishes again. Enemies who spot, or worse, hurt her, and those she can't read fears from, she'll attack in a human-sized warty-green-skinned black-haired (still standing on end) superhumanly-strong 'troll' form, preferably employing 'growth momentum' to really wallop them.
While it's a really low bar, Pop-Scare is probably the most dependable member of the group, able, for instance, to patiently wait in ambush or for a signal, and the most nearly likely to stick to a battle plan for a phase or two before getting distracted by someone with a really amusing fear.
Darren Watts specifically credited The Invisible Ray for inspiring his use of Radium-X for Champions. Darren reportedly did even more with it in his Silver Age Champions campaign.
This movie has to be one of the earliest uses of a radioactive mutagen as a plot feature in fiction.
At various times I've mentioned here that, since the official Champions Universe is a hobby of mine, I found myself becoming a sort of unofficial "lore-master" to the Champions Online player community, answering their questions on the game's forums about elements of the setting. That has sometimes prompted me to compile information on particular topics for their easy reference. Occasionally I've transcribed some of that info here for our tabletop gaming community when I thought it might be of general interest, and that has been received positively.
The Champions Universe, being inspired by the major mainstream comics companies, embraces the full range of classic super character origins you see in those comics: mutagenic accidents, genetic mutation, radical scientific inventions, mystic martial arts, aliens, sorcery, gods and supernatural creatures, cosmic entities, etc. However, there are a number of origin concepts described in Champions books that IMHO are more original and distinctive to the setting, but don't require characters with backgrounds so unusual that players would need a lot of information or elaborate setup to use them. Even if you don't use the official CU, these origin concepts can be inserted into most original four-color super campaign worlds without much effort. So I thought outlining origins in that category might inspire some of my fellow Champions gamers.
I'd be happy to flesh out more details on any of these origins if anyone asks; but every entry cites the published books in which folks can read more about them. I hope some of you find this useful.
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Alien Gene-Tampering: Superhuman powers resulting from aliens mucking with Human DNA is a well-established comic-book trope. On Champions Earth the repeatedly-invasive Qularr are one likely candidate. The main reason the Qularr invaded Earth in the first place was so they could study the Human genome on a large scale, to understand why and how Humans manifest superpowers with greater frequency and average power than nearly any other species, including the Qularr. They hope to engineer that capacity in themselves. At least one experiment along those lines has yielded a super-powered hybrid, although by accident. It's highly likely other similar experiments are being conducted by Qularr currently on Earth, or perhaps on Humans kidnapped and brought back to Qularr space.
What virtually no one knows is that one reason Humans do manifest powers more often, is because that genetic potential was placed in them by incredibly ancient and advanced aliens called the Progenitors. Two million years ago the Progenitors advanced the evolution of Humanity's ancestor species to the next stage of sapience. Half a million years ago they experimented on Homo erectus, creating the first of the ageless superhuman Empyrean race. Champions Universe suggests they might also be responsible for the creation of the Birdpeople of Thaar twelve thousand years ago.
In any case, the Progenitors still exist, continuing their experiments and periodically monitoring the progress of past ones. It's not unreasonable to assume that they would do some "followup" work on Human DNA.
You can read much more about the Qularr and Progenitors in Champions Beyond. The Birdpeople of Thaar are described in Champions Universe.
Coruscations of Power: In the worldwide accidental cataclysm which devastated the alien planet Ashraal centuries ago, and gave birth to the awesome cosmic villain Xarriel, discreet bursts of energy from the main explosion were cast across space and time, emerging in random locations in the space-time continuum. To date at least five of these "coruscations of power" have appeared on or near the Earth in recent years, and affected humans in their vicinity, creating the supervillains Photon, Stareye, Sunspot, and Vector, and the superhero Victory.
The coruscations can manifest as bursts of light from space, but in the past have been mistaken for solar flares or lightning storms. Powers induced by them can, but not must, include various forms of energy projection, flight (usually very fast), mind-affecting abilities, enhanced physical strength, speed, and durability, and the ability to survive in hostile environments (even space).
Xarriel is fully detailed in Champions Beyond, while the other villains mentioned are in the Champions Villains trilogy, and Victory in Champions Universe.
DEMONic Experiments: One of the classic superhero origins is the person unwillingly subjected to villainous scientific experiments who uses their newly-gained powers to escape. In the CU quite a few official supers came about that way, particularly due to actions by VIPER and ARGENT. But DEMON, the worldwide supernatural villain org, often conduct their own magical analogues to scientific research, which have spawned magical superhumans.
One official villain, named Riptide, was a young runaway girl before a member of DEMON found her and turned her over to his Morbane. The Morbane attempted a magic experiment to bind the girl to a water elemental, hoping to create a strong but mentally pliable minion. But Riptide's crazed fear at what was done to her was now backed with elemental powers, enabling her to force her way to freedom. The supervillain now called Morningstar was the result of a tactic that DEMON often uses since it became estranged from the rulers of Hell: forcing a summoned demon to temporarily occupy the human body of a DEMON Brother, giving the Brother a measure of demonic power but with the human personality in control. For unknown reasons, Morningstar's possession proved permanent. He fought DEMON's enemies for some time, under enchantment to ensure his loyalty, until a battle with magical heroes severed the control spell and returned his free will. Morningstar left DEMON to become an independent supervillain. (Both characters are detailed in Champions Villains Vol. 3.)
Another villain in the service of DEMON, Professor Samedi, was a minor DEMON member, and lackluster musician, before his Morbane had him try to play an enchanted fiddle the Morbane had acquired. Samedi found he could cast several potent spells with the fiddle's music, but it changed him physically, making him look almost skeletally gaunt; and changed his personality, to more actively, confidently malevolent. So there's precedent for a Morbane to have one of his disposable minions "test drive" a magic item. Perhaps a given item would change the wielder's personality in a more positive way. (Prof. Samedi is detailed in DEMON: Servants Of Darkness.)
Department 17: Since World War II, the United States government has researched ways to safely and reliably create superhumans, as well as to more effectively control them, with few successes. Their efforts have often resulted in severe, even fatal physical and mental side effects to their subjects, and produced as many supervillains as superheroes. During WW II the US military set up Project Rainbow for this purpose, at Fort McLaughlin (now McLaughlin Air Force Base) near the small town of Haynesville, Kansas. After the war the Project was declassified and officially shut down, and McLaughlin AFB appears nearly abandoned today.
This was a ruse. Project Rainbow was never shut down. Still secretly based at McLaughlin, what is now titled Department 17 is the Defense Department's hub for research into superpower generation and superhuman control. Under its current director, General Clarence Smith, it conducts a wide variety of research involving drugs and chemicals, radiation treatments, genetic engineering, and other exotic methods. Much of the Department's current research focuses on refining the Cyberline procedure used for PRIMUS's Avenger program. The Department's scientists are also very interested in investigating any reports of new manifestations of superpowers.
General Smith might go to great lengths to keep 17's existence and activities secret. He's also used some "creative" accounting to keep his department funded. Department 17 is described in Champions Universe, as are PRIMUS and Cyberline.
"Divine" Intervention: In the Champions Universe, all the gods and demons of myth and religion that humans still remember actually exist. Although very powerful in their home astral dimensions, a metaphysical barrier called the Ban prevents them from manifesting on Earth with their full power. But there are a few ways divine beings can create lesser-powered Earthly agents to champion their causes.
One of these ways is to infuse some of their power, and sometimes personality, into a deserving human host, creating a superhuman reflecting the qualities of his or her patron deity. Quite a few official Champions heroes and villains have been empowered in this way. In keeping with comic-book origin conventions, their empowerment typically comes under unusual and dramatic circumstances, often at a key turning point in the life of the hero. For example, the first Johnny Hercules was given an amulet by an "apparition" of Zeus when the circus he worked for toured Greece, containing the "Hercules Force," the power of Hercules as a demigod which he abandoned when he became fully a god. The Nigerian hero Ogun gained power over metal after being beaten near to death by criminal thugs, when he received a vision of the Yoruba god of the forge of the same name.
Ogun is thoroughly detailed in Champions Worldwide, while the current Johnny Hercules is featured in the PDF book The Hercules Force, available from the Hero Games website store. Much more on CU gods and the Ban can be found in The Mystic World.
Empyrean Heritage: For hundreds of thousands of years, the immortal superhuman offshoot of humanity called Empyreans have existed alongside their human cousins. While they maintain their own city of Arcadia in Antarctica, hidden from human discovery by advanced devices, the majority of Empyreans choose to live incognito among humanity. The general population is ignorant of their existence; only a few superheroes have been trusted with the secret, although the Lemurians know of Arcadia and have been enemies of the Empyreans for many millennia. A few Empyreans have acted as superheroes or villains in the modern era.
Empyreans sometimes have children by humans, who are always either normal humans or full Empyreans. These children may grow up unaware of their true heritage; but the Empyreans' leaders scan the world for any new Empyrean offspring, and when they discover one induct him or her into their society. But individual Empyreans can follow whatever activities they like, provided they don't reveal their race's existence to mankind.
All Empyreans are ageless, physically superhuman to a greater or lesser extent, and can fly. They can manifest a wide range of mental or energy powers, although the type and degree varies based on innate ability and the interest a given Empyrean has in developing specific powers, usually related to their preferred pastimes. The Empyreans and Arcadia are extensively described in Hidden Lands.
Golden Age Legacies: In the real world the earliest comic-book superheroes appeared starting in 1938, and continued to be created over the course of World War II. Champions Earth's first actual superhumans also began to appear during this period. Most of those heroes eventually retired, to be replaced by newer generations; but often those newer heroes were inspired by their predecessors, in many cases even to the point of adopting their code names as an homage. Most such "legacy heroes" were either the relatives or proteges of the originals, or sought their blessing to carry on their names. However, certain lineages originating in the Golden Age have been particularly fertile in continuing to produce new heroes to uphold the family tradition.
In the winter of 1939 Kiril Lenskii was a young officer in the Soviet army serving in his country's war against Finland. Badly wounded in an attack that wiped out the rest of his unit, and overcome by the severe winter cold, Lenskii collapsed unconscious over underground caverns which released strange gasses. As they entered his lungs his body began to change. He awoke to discover that not only was his body healed and stronger than before, but he was now immune to the cold, and could even create intense cold, snow, and ice over limited areas. Given the code name, General Zima ("winter"), over the course of World War II Kiril Lenskii became the Soviet military's leading superhero, and remained so for many years.
The three sons of fisherman and former naval sailor Morimoto Takashi (by a mysterious woman who may have been a supernatural spirit) were each born with extraordinary abilities: enormous strength and durability (Ichiro); incredible speed (Jiro); and probability manipulation (Saburo) manifesting as phenomenal luck for himself, and phenomenal misfortune for his opponents. The three young men were recruited by the Japanese government to fight their country's foes, first China in the 1930s, and later the Americans and their allies during WW II. They were among Japan's most prominent superhuman champions during and after the war.
Each of the three Morimoto brothers had more than one superhuman offspring, while all seven of General Zima's children developed super powers. Today there are over two dozen "super" members of the extended Morimoto family, and descendants of General Zima, active in their respective homelands. It would be reasonable to expect a few of their relatives to have emigrated to other countries at some point.
Although the histories of these characters don't explicitly state it one way or the other, there's no reason to assume superhumans from their lineages necessarily manifest the same types of powers as their ancestors. The mutations of all three original Morimoto brothers were radically different from each other; while General Zima's origin implies his abilities resulted from his body adapting to a specific environment.
The full write-ups for General Zima and the Morimoto brothers appear in the latest edition of Golden Age Champions (for Hero System Sixth Edition).
Hzeel Biomatter: Champions Earth has experienced several alien invasions in the past, and is currently dealing with renewed intrusions by the Gadroon and Qularr. What no one on Earth knows yet, is that another aggressive species, the Hzeel, also have the Earth in their sights. These short, blue-skinned humanoids have scouted Earth for nearly two decades, wanting it as an advance staging area in their war against the Dorvalans (Ironclad's race).
At least two Hzeel scout craft have crashed on Earth and been discovered by humans. One of these was salvaged by Roger Warwell, aka the Warlord, and its technology became the basis for his own weapon designs. Hzeel technology is partly biological, and can have radical unpredictable effects when it comes in contact with human tissue. Two humans, the solo supervillain Howler, and the Warlord's minion Warcry, gained superhuman vocal powers when Hzeel communications devices were implanted in their throats (this happening spontaneously on contact in the case of Howler).
The effect also extends to tissues from Hzeel themselves; VIPER's staff supervillain Oculon gained his powerful eyebeams from eyes from an Hzeel corpse transplanted to his sockets. (Hzeel don't have eyebeams, they're the result of interaction between the two species' biologies.) Anyone using recognizable Hzeel materials would undoubtedly be of interest to both the Hzeel and the Warlord.
The Hzeel have a whole chapter in Champions Beyond, as do the Qularr and Gadroon, and the Dorvalans are also described there. The other villains mentioned are in the Champions Villains trilogy, except Oculon who's written up in VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent. Ironclad and the rest of the Champions superhero team get full write-ups for their beginning careers in the Champions genre book, with more experienced versions in Champions Universe.
Kelvarite: This mysterious, green-glowing extraterrestrial mineral has been found in meteorites from several falls. It's a powerful source of energy, but is extremely unstable and prone to explosion when disturbed. Some people who have been bombarded by radiation or fragments from exploding kelvarite have gained superhuman powers, typically (but not exclusively) superhuman strength and durability, and some type of enhanced movement capability, e.g. super-running or -leaping, flight, or teleportation. They also acquire a susceptibility to radiation from other samples of kelvarite. Known superhumans with this origin include the solo villains Tachyon and Thunderbolt II, Dr. Destroyer's servant Meteor (all in the CV trilogy), and the African superhero Gazelle (in Champions Worldwide).
Large organizations such as the US government and UNTIL have secured all the kelvarite they can find, but sometimes lend samples to research laboratories. Other kelvarite meteorites remain to be discovered. However, what no one is aware of is that what they call kelvarite is actually impure samples, which is why it's unstable. Pure kelvarite doesn't resemble the impure mineral, and is extremely rare on Earth. Its energies respond to the will of intelligent beings in physical contact with it, allowing them to wield formidable and versatile energy-projection powers. (It isn't obvious that the power comes from the kelvarite itself.) The only pure kelvarite discovered so far was made into rings worn by the four men who have used the superheroic identity, Meteor Man.
Kelvarite is described in Champions Universe, while the first Meteor Man is written up in Golden Age Champions.
Martial-Arts Temples: For centuries, hidden enclaves have existed in the Far East where dedicated monks have practiced the most advanced physical and spiritual martial-arts techniques, including virtually superhuman abilities for those with the skill and determination to master them. Several official Champions heroes and villains were trained at such enclaves. The most legendary of these sites among knowledgeable martial artists are Yengtao Temple, somewhere in the mountains of China; and the city of Shamballah, in a cave beneath a mountain in the Himalayas. Both sites are hidden from the outside world both physically and magically, so that only those already highly disciplined in body and mind can find them. But those who do can study almost any martial art that has ever existed, and perhaps achieve abilities like the heroes of legend.
Various students at Yengtao Temple have returned to the outside world to become heroes, or villains. In the present day the Millennium City superhero Nightwind, his bitter rival Jade Phoenix, and the Hong Kong hero Golden Dragon Fist, all learned their extraordinary skills and ch'i powers from Yengtao. Jade Phoenix was responsible for the destruction of Yengtao Temple and murder of the monks in 1996, but there may be other former students alive in the world. And Shamballah, second only to Yengtao as a repository of mystic martial-arts secrets, still stands.
But Shamballah also guards a dark secret even further beneath the mountain: its evil twin city, Agharti, prison of the Dark Monks, also extraordinarily skilled but utterly corrupt. While the Shamballans prevent the Dark Monks from escaping, they don't forbid outsiders from visiting the city, or leaving afterwards. The villain Zhua Teng ("grasping vine") received training in Agharti.
The story of Yengtao Temple, and description of some of its unique techniques, appear in Champions Universe. Shamballah and Agharti are described in considerable detail in Hidden Lands. Nightwind's latest write-up is in Millennium City, while Jade Phoenix is in Champions Villains Volume Three. Zhua Teng is fully written up in Martial Enemies Volume 1.
Mythic Forces: Under the entry for "Divine" Intervention, above, is the story of how circus strongman Johnny Hercules received the Hercules Force in an amulet bestowed by Zeus. Johnny died in the Battle of Detroit, and his amulet, apparently powerless, was buried with him. But the Hercules Force continued to exist, and over a decade later "chose" another human vessel for its power, a student of Classical culture, who became the second and current Johnny Hercules. One of his greatest foes is the monstrous Typhon, once a bitter, angry archaeologist who was the recipient of the Typhon Force, a sort of balance to the Hercules Force.
The PDF book, The Hercules Force, which fully writes up both characters, suggests that other "forces" could exist based on other gods, demigod heroes, or divine-level monsters. The examples imply that these would be mythic figures who are either dead or imprisoned, e.g. Achilles, Python, Baldur, or Ymir. Powers granted would be consistent with the legendary abilities of those entities. The forces are most likely drawn to people with personalities similar to the original source being and/or familiarity and strong attachment to the culture it comes from. They would differ from empowerment directly by a mythic god in that there would be no potential meddling in the character's life by their patron divinity.
Professional Armorers: One of the staples of the superhero genre is the gadget-using super, with no actual super-powers but employing equipment made of special materials and/or incorporating advanced technology. Most comic-book heroes build their own gadgets, or have them designed for them by benevolent patron inventors or agencies. Some heroes acquire prototype devices by accident, including "liberating" them from their villainous makers (often earning them pursuit by the vengeful villain). But it's not unheard-of in comics for a scientist -- usually one of criminal bent -- to sell his technological services to whoever will pay.
In the official Champions Universe there are several possible sources of scientific expertise for hire to aspiring supers. Most of these are considered criminals by most world law-enforcement, so don't typically contract with anyone of obvious heroic bent who might cause them trouble. But for another criminal, or a mercenary or vigilante of grey morality, they're often the route to quick super status.
Millennium City is the home base of Wayland Talos, a brilliant inventor with a pathological hatred of superheroes. To strike back at them he supplies villains with everything from questionite hand weapons, to energy blasters or jet packs, to full suits of powered armor. He's considered one of the underworld's premier armorers, with few individual competitors. One of those competitors is known as Brainchild, a telepathic gadgeteer who primarily supplies tactical and technical support to other criminals, rather than take the risk of committing his own crimes.
On the international front, the Warlord is a powered-armor villain and would-be conqueror who's also a major dealer in high-tech armaments, and who has created super-class weaponry and armor for individuals for the right price. The unscrupulous corporation called ARGENT does a thriving business in service to criminals; not just supplying gadgetry, but even physically augmenting a person through bionic implants or experimental biochemical treatments. The independent city-state of Larisagrad was once a center for the USSR's classified scientific research, including advanced weaponry, and experiments to create true superhumans. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and thus their funding, the scientists of Larisagrad chose to freelance to the highest bidder.
The only truly benign inventor engaged in remotely similar activity is named Ralph Polarewski. Formerly the full-time technical supervisor to the famous Sentinels superhero team, Ralph left them after a bitter argument with the team's leader. He's become a well-known freelance contractor to members of the superhero community who use gadgets but have no technical skills of their own. As written he primarily works for people already established as heroes (and would never sell his services to someone of questionable morality), but would be well able to supply an equipment-based origin to someone who could convince him of their sincerity and dedication.
ARGENT and Larisagrad are described in Champions Universe. The Warlord and his organization are fully written up in Volume One of the Champions Villains trilogy, while Brainchild and Wayland Talos get the same treatment in Volume Three. Ralph Polarewski is detailed in the book, Everyman.
Project Sunburst: In 1994 a group of American "rogue generals" assigned over 200 volunteer soldiers to what they were told was a war game. In fact the generals were experimenting to try to create superpowered soldiers resistant to radiation, by detonating a nuclear device near them while they wore protective suits. Most of the volunteers soon died of radiation poisoning, while a handful slipped into comas. Most of the comatose were placed into a secret holding facility, codenamed "The Crypt," while a few were stored at other sites.
In the intervening years, several of these survivors have developed superhuman physical and energy powers. A few, such as the master villain Sunburst and his follower Radium, awakened spontaneously. Others, like Dr. Destroyer's security chief, Gigaton, were aroused with help from other villains. Some escaped the Crypt on their own, while others were "liberated." All the active survivors except Gigaton and the powered-armor villain, Armadillo, have joined Sunburst. However, the remaining comatose subjects are still being kept in secret in the Crypt, not just from the public but from the generals' own superiors.
Most of these villains are fully written up in Champions Villains Vol. 1: Master Villains, although Armadillo is in Vol. 3
Radium-X: This radioactive element has been known to science on Champions Earth since at least the 1930s. It's well known for its radiation's mutagenic properties, able to induce radical, even super-empowering mutations in living organisms under certain conditions. For example, it's a critical component of Dr. Phillippe Moreau's process for creating Manimals. The late superhero Tiger, a former leader of the famous Sentinels superhero team, was a former UNTIL agent who became a man-tiger hybrid through accidental exposure to radium-X and some of Moreau's chemicals during a raid on the Doctor's lab. In 1940 a Bulgarian laboratory researcher gained formidable magnetic powers after the failure of an experimental magnetron being powered by radium-X flooded her lab with radiation. She took the code-name Leitstern ("lodestar") and was drafted to fight with Germany during WW II.
The preceding examples suggest that the specific mutations caused by radium-X are thematically linked to the environmental conditions applying at the time. The origin of Leitstern also highlights another major use for radium-X, as a concentrated high-energy power source for various devices. The Golden Age villain Liquifier needed that element to power his Matter-Liquifier Ray, which could change any inanimate solid matter to a liquid state. It's possible that other radical technology can only be powered by radium-X's unique radiation.
Radium-X can be purchased legally. Various research laboratories are noted as studying or using it. However, the clear implication of references to it is that it's rare and expensive, leading to attempts to steal it by people with less than upright intentions for it.
Dr. Phillippe Moreau and his followers are fully written up in Champions Villains Volume One: Master Villains, while both Leitstern and Liquifier are detailed in Golden Age Champions. Tiger has never been given a full background story or Hero System character sheet, but is mentioned and briefly described in CV Vol. 1, Champions Universe, and Book Of The Destroyer.
The Swords of Nama: During the Dark Ages the serpent-god Nama, who is today the patron deity of VIPER, set out to become a great power among Men. He gathered six mighty warriors from across Eurasia to be his agents and generals, to conquer an empire in his name. For each warrior he forged a powerful enchanted sword. But before they could achieve any major successes the warriors quarreled, which ultimately led to all their deaths. The Swords of Nama were scattered. Over the intervening centuries some of these legendary swords reappeared, and a few were destroyed; but others remain to be discovered in ruins across Eastern Europe.
The story of the six "vipers upon the land" appears as a small part of the history of Nama and VIPER, on p. 6 of the book, VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent. Aside from being called "serpent-blades" the Swords of Nama aren't described, nor are any of their qualities defined, which leaves a player free to imbue a particular sword with any powers desired. Note that Nama is neither good nor evil, and has helped heroes or villains as the mood struck him; so there's no inherent reason for his Swords to be one or the other.
Teleios, the Perfect Man: The foremost genetic engineer on Champions Earth today, Teleios is infamous for being a cloner of people, and a creator of animalistic monsters, but the range of his genetic expertise goes far beyond that. More than half a dozen official supers, villainous and heroic, owe their powers or very existence to The Perfect Man.
Teleios has the skill to induce almost any super power in any human, whether or not that person already has powers or the potential for them. Teleios will do this for pay, or in exchange for services or favors, as he did for the supervillain-turned-hero Flashover (Champions Universe: News Of The World), and her brother, the villain Hurricane (Champions Villains Vol. 3: Solo Villains). Teleios has been known to bestow powers on someone on a whim, whether or not they want them, like after a dalliance with the Indian woman now known as Monsoon (Champions Worldwide).
The Perfect Man can grow completely original, humanoid or human-looking superhumans with any abilities he chooses. He sometimes sells his creations, as when he supplied VIPER with the powerful monster named Obelisque (Champions Worldwide). Sometimes Teleios turns a creation loose in the world uncontrolled (although not unmonitored), to see how it responds and develops. He did this with the beings labeled the Landsman, and the Lodge (both in Champions Of The North).
The master geneticist can program his creations with whatever skills he or his employer desires. He can even implant elaborate false memories, to the point where the person has no idea he or she is artificial or has any connection to the Perfect Man. This is how Teleios programs the cloned soldiers he sells to other villains and groups. The superheroine called the Teen Dream (Teen Champions), whom Teleios designed as an experiment in social manipulation, is unaware of her real origin and considers herself a true hero. When he makes a creature Teleios implants controlling genes that make it psychologically impossible for that creature to harm him, or may even make it a loyal follower (although those controls have been known to fail on very rare occasions). Those controls can be so subtle that a person isn't consciously aware of them. Although the lore doesn't specify it, it may be possible for Teleios to do this to humans he augments. He definitely is known to build exploitable secret weaknesses into their genetic code, should they turn against him.
Teleios is fully written up in Champions Villains Vol. 1: Master Villains.
Vandaleur Bloodline: Founded a thousand years ago by their immortal progenitor, Adrian Vandaleur, this widespread clan of sorcerers is one of the premier occult dynasties in the Western world. Although the majority of Vandaleurs have no more talent for magic than most people, the gift for spell casting is far more common among them than in the general populace; and their ranks include some of the most powerful mages in the world.
Members of the family are aware of each other, and sometimes cooperate, sometimes conflict. But Adrian Vandaleur, whose power dwarfs that of his kin, keeps any factionalism from descending into violence. Otherwise individual Vandaleurs are free to follow whatever activities they like. Their personalities and morality vary widely. Some are benevolent, even heroic; others are amoral and ruthless, up to megalomaniacal psychopaths. Most are simply concerned with their own interests.
Any Vandaleur with magical ability and desire to develop it could find family members able and willing to train him. The Vandaleur family are described in detail in Champions Villains Vol. 2: Villain Teams.
The Vita-Man Clan: Percy Yates was born in Los Angeles in 1910. Brilliant but sickly throughout his youth, he studied biology, chemistry, and nutrition to find ways to improve his own health. In 1939 he discovered a compound which when administered in a pill had a miraculous effect on him, transforming his body to one of perfect health and exceptional physical vigor. Further experimentation led to additional pills granting him true super-powers, including X-ray vision, invisibility, flight, growth to giant size and strength, or shrinking to the size of a mouse.
Yates's discoveries had two major drawbacks. Their effects were only temporary -- his main vitalizing pill lasted about an hour per dose, while his additional abilities endured for only a minute. Yates was also unable to make them work for anyone else -- they interacted with his own unique physiology. Nonetheless he used his new abilities to fight crime under the costumed identity of Vita-Man. Vita-Man was recruited by the Drifter as one of the founding members of the Justice Squadron superhero team, protecting the west coast of the United States during WW II.
Percy Yates's health continued to deteriorate over time, leading to his retirement as Vita-Man in 1948, and his death in 1964. But in the intervening years he learned that several of his family members shared the biological factors which would allow them to use his empowering treatments. Today half a dozen of his kin are using "variations of his discoveries" (wording suggesting that other powers are possible).
Vita-Man's full background and character sheet are included in the Golden Age Champions Secret Files, a PDF collecting outtakes from the manuscript for the latest edition of Golden Age Champions.
The Zodiac Working: In 1979 the late master villain Archimago, greatest sorceror of the Twentieth Century, attempted this fearsome ritual, to impregnate twelve women by twelve powerful demons. The resulting hybrid children could be used by the demons as hosts to incarnate themselves on Earth with all their power. The ritual was interrupted and the women rescued by the superhero team, the Fabulous Five. The women seemed unharmed and weren't pregnant, so returned home.
Two years later one of these women married and gave birth to a girl who later manifested powers of destructive energy, as well as a propensity for rage and vandalism. She grew up to become the supervillain Frag (fully written up in CV Vol. 3). She has no knowledge of her true origins, thinking herself a mutant. Although she usually appears human, when enraged her form becomes more demonic-looking.
Another of these women gave birth to a son, who now acts as the superhero Pagan (described in the book The Ultimate Mystic). In his superhero identity (resembling a satyr) he's physically superhuman and can project powerful mystic light. Pagan discovered his true heritage when his demonic father Belial attempted to seduce him to his service. Although his diabolical inclinations are strong, Pagan's inherent decency has so far won out.
To date nothing has been revealed about the other ten victims of the Zodiac Working.
While not powerful mages individually, the Coven can imbue one of its members with great power for a period ranging from one to, at most, 25 hours (from midnight to 1 am the following night). The powers gained, however, depend on the member's position within the Coven and the challenge they are trying to overcome, but generally center around one of: commanding an apect of nature, like weather or fire or plants or animals, transformations either transforming others into harmless animal forms or allowing the chosen member to assume a powerful bestial or mythical form, or influencing the senses or mind, or most severely 'twisting fate' to bring about certain outcomes without apparent direct agency. When opposing those who abuse magic, the Coven can invoke & enforce the "law of threefold return" which visits the trebbled consequences of malevolent magic back upon its caster or, on the other extreme, grant an obsessive mage the object of his desire in return for setting aside magical powers (thought it's depressing how often mages, when granted what they tell themselves they have taken up magical power to attain, instead choose to continue weilding magic for its own sake). When working with the other Messengers of the Goddess, the Coven will sometimes enhance an ally's powers instead of sending one of their own into action.
The Coven, itself, is subject to the Law of Threefold Return, but they distribute the consequences among the whole, thus their empowered representative can afford to use magic to harm or even kil - sparingly.
(Yes, that's meant to count as a single character, though they could also function as background 'agents' and support when not putting all their effort in empowering one of them to superhero levels.)
Mirror-Mirror appears to be a human almost completely covered in a reflective costume that shows only their vaguely almond-shaped, dark, eyes. Their form is so distorted and constantly shifting that it is impossible to determine their bodily proportions, and they do not seem to understand any language nor do they speak except to laugh. Laughter that ranges from hideous and maniacal to carefree to lilting to childlike to bitterly ironic or even barely distinguishable from hysterical tears. Mirror-Mirror is a shape changer, or perhaps rather shape-distorter or even space-distorter, and changes size (growth/shrinking) and proportions (stretching) virtually every time they move. It's not at all clear if those powers are voluntary.
Americat is better known to most superhero fans as Fatso, the pet of Melting Pot of the Capitol Patrol. An orange tabby, he was normal until the day a villain tampered with Melting Pot's powers, causing her to fuse Fatso and Captain Justice into one being temporarily. Captain Justice seems to have come out of it with no lasting effects, but Fatso was changed forever. He is now as strong as a lion, and can run as fast as a cheetah. He also has a red, white and blue tuft of hair on each ear. Americat has a square-jawed hero kind of personality, which comes off really weird in a cat, and is more or less the leader of the team.
Oh, and somehow he's no longer fixed, but no one tell his mistress, okay?
While not powerful mages individually, the Coven can imbue one of its members with great power for a period ranging from one to, at most, 25 hours (from midnight to 1 am the following night). The powers gained, however, depend on the member's position within the Coven and the challenge they are trying to overcome, but generally center around one of: commanding an apect of nature, like weather or fire or plants or animals, transformations either transforming others into harmless animal forms or allowing the chosen member to assume a powerful bestial or mythical form, or influencing the senses or mind, or most severely 'twisting fate' to bring about certain outcomes without apparent direct agency. When opposing those who abuse magic, the Coven can invoke & enforce the "law of threefold return" which visits the trebbled consequences of malevolent magic back upon its caster or, on the other extreme, grant an obsessive mage the object of his desire in return for setting aside magical powers (thought it's depressing how often mages, when granted what they tell themselves they have taken up magical power to attain, instead choose to continue weilding magic for its own sake). When working with the other Messengers of the Goddess, the Coven will sometimes enhance an ally's powers instead of sending one of their own into action.
The Coven, itself, is subject to the Law of Threefold Return, but they distribute the consequences among the whole, thus their empowered representative can afford to use magic to harm or even kil - sparingly.
(Yes, that's meant to count as a single character, though they could also function as background 'agents' and support when not putting all their effort in empowering one of them to superhero levels.)
Funny, that's so close to one I actually used *many* years ago. The last two where Command Hierarchy.
They were a high tech (alien tech, since their leader was the exiled dictator of planet Medusa) rather than supernatural group, and wore uniforms in black & periwinkle.
Yes, periwinkle. I was a teen, I cut teen-me some slack.
Decades later I found out black & purple are the colors of anarco-feminism.
Around the same time a less young GM I gamed with also used the acronym, but it was supernatural, each word meant 'witch' in a different language Hexe is the only other one I still remember.
I was also trying to think what WARLOCK could stand for.... and I realized, well, WAR may or may not stand for anything (WITCH Auxiliary.... ?), but they'd certainly be /locked/ ....
On 3/20/2021 at 1:30 PM, steriaca said:
I'm kinda stuck on the "man-be-gone" designer disease. That of course can be the ultimate end game. But they need stuff to do before unleashing that. Also, they want to know if there afterplan of one gender reproduction is possible and will work first.
In the meanwhile, plots about upsetting man's dominance of the world should happen. Rob banks and give the stolen loot to women shelters. Threaten politians for the passage of a "woman friendly" bill. Murders of known women beaters. Murder of known child molesters. Kidnapping young boys to be a slave to a mystical dominates goddess of semi-Celtic origin. A prison raid to scrounge up new members (female only).
Hmm... so, as far as killing off all the men, why not enslave them, instead? But, if you're going to, maintaining population shouldn't be too hard. It's far more practical to clone females than males, and the male genetic contribution is abundant and can be efficiently frozen. So you harvest a generous selection of diverse genetic material and you're fine for many generations, until you perfect cloning or become immortal or whatever.
My version of WITCH just wanted to conquer the world and have women rule. Such a modest goal, IDK why there was such resistance to it. ::shrug:: Of course, they did so through terrorism they were particularly fond of assassinating leaders when there was a fair chance of their replacement being female. They agressively recruited supers, hero or villain, too. And, thanks to the alien technology, they'd already conquered and united two countries in Central America and started trying to implement their program... turned out, not the best choice of cultures to try to invert gender roles in, but, when you're an alien dictator sent hurtling through interstellar space, you can't always control where you land. And, it was ultimately all so their leader could uplift humanity and re-conquer her homeworld, anyway. If Earth had already been matriarchal, she'd've come up with some other rationale.
Utlimately, of course, WITCH in my world worked against the 2nd-wave feminism of the day (being actually about equality), and WITCH was just extreme sexism from the other side, entirely counterproductive.
And, yes, as someone said up-thread the whole idea was very 70s "battle of the sexes" the 70s hadn't been over that long. ;)
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