A taste of my superhero campaign world.

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Darrin Kelley
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:47 pm

A taste of my superhero campaign world.

Post by Darrin Kelley »

One of the big organizations handling and governing superheroes in my campaign world is the UNSEC. The United Nations Security division. And in association with Interpol, they handle the weird stuff that normal local and national police can't handle. And they are the organization that supported the setting's first known superhero and superhero team.

One of the big things in the setting is the fact that most major governments decided to work with the superhero phenomenon. Instead of against it. Police level training and arrest authority are given to those who become officially sanctioned superheroes. When the SWAT teams are outmatched, that's when the superheroes are called in. They handle the situations that conventional police can't.

How does this deal with independent heroes? Well in most cases, the independent heroes give medical samples for identification to the police departments and are offered training. Those who wish to remain largely anonymous do this. And their privacy is accommodated. They are not regarded as vigilantes. They are officers who simply have special needs.

There isn't a mass hatred of superhumans in the setting. Like there is in Marvel or DC. The issue of hate groups is treated as being fringe.

The first known publically known costumed superhero appeared in the early 1970s. And the first superhero team shortly after. Up until that point, costumed adventurers and the like were largely an urban myth. Things that are seen mostly in pulp magazines or comic books. And the heroes of that age preferred it that way. More than a few of the retired heroes from that age translated their memoirs into pulp stories.

So what does that leave us with? A world that never lost its Pulp sensibilities and themes. The Pulp age never ended.
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Poodle
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Re: A taste of my superhero campaign world.

Post by Poodle »

I guess the underlying premise of most superhuman worlds is that a lot of people with "powers" would choose to abuse that. The other premise is that humanity in general struggles with anyone or anything that is too different. History seems to support this view. However not every genius becomes a super criminal, not every strong guy becomes a thug, not every religious person is conservative and xenophobic. A "pulp" world would be fun to play in, a little campy, smattering of cheesiness, low power and great hats.
When I think Pulp I think 'The Shadow', and 'The Phantom', good-old fashioned two-fisted heroism.

Have fun with your game, sounds awesome.
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination circles the world. -Albert Einstein.
Darrin Kelley
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:47 pm

Re: A taste of my superhero campaign world.

Post by Darrin Kelley »

You and I share definitions of Pulp. I wanted to keep Pulp style heroes as a viable choice.

None of the heroes in the world are the most powerful of anything. I've left that for the villains.
Darrin Kelley
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:47 pm

Re: A taste of my superhero campaign world.

Post by Darrin Kelley »

I wanted a differing take in the world. And not have to retread the old mass hatred of superhumans trope that came to dominate the big two comic book companies. I wanted my world to be different. And in some ways, a bit saner.

The greatest hope of any hero is to change the world for the better. And well, I wanted that to be actually possible. Instead of wallowing in endless doom and gloom.

Heroes have to feel hope. They have to be able to have a firm focus on what they are fighting for. And hopelessness runs counter to that. There has to be a light at the end of the tunnel for the heroes to eventually reach.
Darrin Kelley
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:47 pm

Re: A taste of my superhero campaign world.

Post by Darrin Kelley »

The first superhumans were the ancient gods. Born of the earth to be a part of its immune system. They are but a single expression of that immune system. The other most famous expression of it is the Kaiju. Though the relation between the two is not publicly known.

Earth itself is a sentient creature. And it has created avatars to be able to communicate with species inhabiting it. They exist in many forms. Most are inobvious. But a few have been more overt.

The Sun is also sentient and has created its own avatars over the eons. Nearly every pantheon has a sun god. Who are those avatars.
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