Origins of Powers

[Razorwing]

After watching the new Flash TV pilot, it got me wondering how many people play their games with some sort of major event that causes many people to acquire superpowers. I know that the default setting for Heroes Unlimited has no such "Major Events" that cause super-powers. However, that doesn't mean that such events can't happen... just that HU doesn't have them as part of the default setting.

In the show, the exploding super-collider unleashes large quantities of unknown energies that creates many superhumans. In Smallville, it was the meteor shower that caused a number of people to gain superpowers through exposure to kryptonite radiation (meteor rocks). In the Static comic, the Big Bang was a massive gang war that was broken up by the police and resulted in a massive explosion that included many barrels of an unknown substance that infected nearly everyone present (and some who were not).

The result of these is a population explosion of superhumans in an area (depending on how big an area the event affects).

Even in some of Palladium own games, some events also help define the setting... the Great Cataclysm... Dark Day... and others. While these events aren't always the cause of every superbeing in their respective lines (and I use the term very loosely in this respect), these events do cause changes in the world that results in a higher population of such extraordinary people. Some changes are dramatic (the Great Cataclysm that creates the world of Rifts)... others are a little more subtle (the Nightbane population explosion after Dark Day) to the obvious and blatant changes (as in System Failure and Dead Reign). Even ordinary people in these settings find they have to become extraordinary to some degree.

So... in all the games out there, have there been any major events that you have used explain the appearance of powers in a portion of the population (maybe even the powers of your players)? How big of an area did the event affect? Was it local (a single neighborhood), municipal (a city), regional (a state or province), national, international/continental, or even global? How wide of a population has been affected? Has the media in your setting gotten wind of the event and its connection to these supers? Have the come up with a name for them, like "Metahumans" or "Bang Babies"? Was the event an act of nature or something man made? If the latter was it an accident or intentional? Is anyone taking responsibility or advantage of the situation? What of the affected themselves... how many are using their abilities for their own gain, becoming heroes or just trying to ignore what they have become? Is there a stigma attached to those affected? Are they being blamed for anything bad that happened because of the event?

And what of those Supers that were around before the event... assuming any were, what are their opinions? Has this brought their activities into the spotlight and out of the shadows (unless they were already operating in the open)?

[Incriptus]

I had a game where the assumption was that super powers had existed since the beginning of time. However Major super powers were a new development. Suddenly Teens and Young Adults were developing powers much more intense than the previous generation, and only in the south eastern portion of the country. The secret was that (in this continuity) the Gulf of Mexico was created by an asteroid impact and some off shore drilling had impacted the Asteroid. The thing is that nobody knows why this was happening, but they wanted to. Making the South Eastern US a hotbed for activity.

My eventual intention was that each player would have two characters. One was a young unskilled person with tremendous power, and the other was an old professional with 4 random minor powers. The main theme would be to explore the idea of spontaneous major powers appearing from both sides. First as those with the powers, and second those without.

However I never got very far, as the players liked their characters and wanted them to be part of another continuity of characters. Thus with the origins of powers not being in dispute I just turned things upside down. In the past Major powers were negated in the Gulf States however something had changed making it possible for everyone to retain their major powers creating a new (excuse the pun) power imbalance

[Glistam]

I go with an event that is superficially similar to the event which triggered Novas in the game "Aberrant." It's in a spoiler tag so that the players in my game who don't wish to have this spoiled can avoid it.

Spoiler:

The catalyst I go with starts with a spaceship that time traveled from an alternate future. It parked invisibly in orbit around the planet, in geosynchronous orbit to North America. It's temporal engine was damaged beyond repair and unknowingly leaked excess Temporal Energy into the modern day the entire time it was above the planet. This began the eruption of superhumans and superhuman phenomena, which increased continually while the ship existed. After a couple years of this the ship exploded (due to certain circumstances) but by then the damage to the timline was done, and the superhuman growth rate stabilized after that.

[gaby]

I use this idea too,it,s up to the people effect to pic what to do with ther powers.

[Razorwing]

So, Gaby... what sort of "event" have you gone with for your games?

[gaby]

Well,I use the Old Meteor impact from Smallvill power range from Minor to Major.
What is your?

[Razorwing]

To be fair, I guess I should reveal the "event" I'll be going with for a game I hope to run in the New Year.

Actually, there are a few factors that are contributing to the appearance of Supers in my game.

The first happened over 10,000 years ago and it is still felt to this day. Back then, three powerful empires had risen, the Lemurians, the Atlanteans and the People of Mu. All three rose quickly by mastering the power of Magic, but their approaches were vastly different. The Altaneans mastered the more standard spellcraft of Invocations and similar specialties. The People of Mu used the Magic of the Mind (Psionics). Finally the Lemurians used magic to augment themselves through various means... creating what is commonly believed to be the "Super" gene that gives people super powers. Legends suggest that these three Empires became locked in a great war... though the nature of which has been lost to history. What is known is that when the war ended, their empires were no more and the survivors were scattered across the world... their legacies giving rise to legends of powerful beings who would be seen as Gods and Demons to those less developed. Over time however, their legacies began to fade as generations of breeding with normal human stock diluted these ancient bloodlines.

For the next 10,000 years, the number of active Supers world wide would be few and far between, for while the blood of the ancients remained within the human race, most of that power remained dormant. Maybe a dozen or two remarkable people would awaken their ancient heritage with each generation, but most remained ignorant of the power sleeping within them. Only 1 in 100,000 people would develop super powers, magical ability or psychic gifts.

The first event that would reawaken the power the Ancients left behind came at the end of the Second World War. Though there were rumors that both the Axis and Allies had "Super Soldier" programs that were at least partially successful, true Superheroes wouldn't be seen until after the first Atomic Bombs were detonated over Japan. The increased radiation from this and subsequent detonations by the USA and Russia would begin triggering the latent "Super Gene" that was the legacy of Lemuria. Additionally the sudden deaths in Japan also had Psychic and Mystical repercussions that would awaken the psychic legacy of Mu while also increasing the ambient levels of magical energy in the world's Ley Lines, reactivating the mystic legacy of Atlantis. Even so, the number of these newly Awakened would remain low enough to go nearly undetected... only 1 in 10,000 would discover their power and most tried to keep those abilities hidden.

Now, in the early 21st century, a new project is being undertaken by a truly gifted individual... one that will alter the course of Human History (though not necessarily in the way he hoped or imagined). Trystan Harthorne has unlocked the secret of Cold Fusion, allowing the creation of cheap, limitless energy. His original prototype generator powers his company's HQ and has been such a success that he has gotten the green light to build a bigger version to power an entire city. All seemed to be going well as the new reactor began to power up, but as it passed the 75% of capacity mark (which is what it was believed would be enough for the city's current needs), a sudden spike in power sent the reactor to nearly 200% or capacity... overloading nearly everything in the city and causing the reactor to explode. Fortunately, the building it was housed in was designed to contain and channel such an explosion to be as harmless as possible, but a variety of unknown energies were still released. Fortunately the fallout seemed harmless for the most part... but it has caused a dramatic increase of "Awakened" not only within the city, but also world wide.

After the Reactor incident, world wide incidents of "Supers" has increased to the point where 1 in 1000 people are likely to have some sort of unusual ability (super powers, magic or psionic), while in the city the number is higher still at 1 in 100 people having been affected. Part of the reason for the explosion was the fact that the reactor site had been (presumably unknowingly) built over a Ley Line Nexus... though how the fusion reaction and the nexus interacted to cause the explosion remains a mystery. However, many psychics and sorcerers have noticed that the local Ley Lines seem stronger than those elsewhere, as if they are getting more energy than they normally should. Additionally, Trystan Harthorne's company has closed off all access to the reactor site for unknown reasons (the reason is that the explosion has created a Dimensional Rift at the Nexus the reactor was built on... and it is still open).

I'm thinking of starting the game just a few weeks before the Reactor incident with the majority of the players receiving their powers as a result. They may even be contacted by Trystan Harthorne in an attempt to redeem himself by becoming their patron... showing that even this disaster has a silver lining.

So those are the factors that are going to go into the game I hope to run soon... though where it will go from there remains to be seen.

[Daniel Stoker]

Most of my games leave it vague and similar to Marvel or DC's comics where there is no one event but I've run 2 specialty games before where I blatantly ripped off... was inspired by the Marvel New Universe line and had my own version of the White Event where everyone was normal until that day and then you have people all over the world develop powers and have some mutate etc. It went well but I admit just for my own personal taste I really prefer to have a broader and more vague origin for my gaming universe.


Daniel Stoker

[Stone Gargoyle]

I have mutagenic storms that hit from time to time in my game, caused by the bombs being dropped at the end of World War II. The weather does not happen often, but when it does, roughly 10% of the people hit by it gain powers.

[Nightmask]

I have mutagenic storms that hit from time to time in my game, caused by the bombs being dropped at the end of World War II. The weather does not happen often, but when it does, roughly 10% of the people hit by it gain powers.

Reminds me a bit of the Dragonstorm fantasy RPG. The titular dragon storms were dangerous magical events that were a byproduct of the Necromancers who ruled the land (they were called dragon storms as part of the efforts for the necromancers to frame dragons and shapeshifters for the destruction they cause) draining shapeshifters of their life force to enhance their magic. Anyone exposed if they had dragon blood in their heritage had the chance of becoming a shapeshifter (limited originally to werewolf, dragon, and gargoyle forms as the singular form they became at start).

[Razorwing]

It is true that most comics, like those that are produced by Marvel and DC, don't have a single event that creates all the various Supers within their universes. However, they do have events that do create a number of Supers (and even some events that strip Supers of their abilities). For example, the Bloodline crossover from the '93 Anuals in the DC universe had some xenomorph-like aliens come to Earth to harvest spinal fluid from humans... and while most who were harvested died, a few survived to gain superpowers becoming New Bloods (most of which have since died from various causes).

Even in the game I'm hoping to run soon, the Reactor Event I mentioned above isn't the sole cause of Super Powers in the game... just the most recent and noticed. Many Supers will also arise in response to the incident... and there are those who were around before it happened.

I'm also going to tweek the ratios a little so that the number of supers world-wide (and within the city where the event took place) isn't quite so high. I'm thinking after the Reactor went Nova, the number of Supers present in the city will rise to 1 in 1000, while world wide the number averages out to 1 in 10,000 (1 in 100,000 since the end of WW2 and 1 in 1,000,000 for the last 2000 years). Incidentally the current world wide number is going to be roughly the same as at the height of the 3 ancient empires I mentioned in my last post... when they became embroiled in the war that shattered those empires. This is significant because of a major Story Arc I hope to run with the return of the ancient enemy those empires fought (and sacrificed their homelands to see it defeated).

[Sir_Spirit]

Perhaps the incident where the rift was torn open violated the natural order so badly that it caused an angel to fall. Say, a Virtue, as they control the movements of celeastial bodies and run/enforce the laws of physics. Give him some force/ gravity powers, immunity to radiation. And a great deal of anger about his forced "fall"...useful antagonist...

[SolCannibal]

I'm also going to tweek the ratios a little so that the number of supers world-wide (and within the city where the event took place) isn't quite so high. I'm thinking after the Reactor went Nova, the number of Supers present in the city will rise to 1 in 1000, while world wide the number averages out to 1 in 10,000 (1 in 100,000 since the end of WW2 and 1 in 1,000,000 for the last 2000 years). Incidentally the current world wide number is going to be roughly the same as at the height of the 3 ancient empires I mentioned in my last post... when they became embroiled in the war that shattered those empires. This is significant because of a major Story Arc I hope to run with the return of the ancient enemy those empires fought (and sacrificed their homelands to see it defeated).

Honestly, i think even these ratios may be a little high already. The 1 in 10,000 average ratio could mean about two superteams of 5 (both good or one good, other evil) in a city of 100,000, about one hundred superbeings in a urban center of 1 million people.

For the sake of comparison, I think one the largest formations ever of the Avengers (around the cosmic Korvac saga back in the 70s) swelled to about 25 and that was with the half-dozen time-displaced Guardians of the Galaxy padding their ranks, or maybe the band formed in a crazy reality-reforming conflict against Morgan Le Fey. Both disbanded soon after the threat was gone, to a more usual arrangement of fourteen or 2 teams of seven. Animated's Justice League would start with 7 members and in its awesome-huge world superpower Unlimited formation would bloom to 50+ heroes. About the same goes for Grodd's Secret Society/Legion of Doom in villain roll call.

Now please take a look at this list, where you'll find dozens of metropolises with something between 3 to 24 times that 1 million people/1 hundred supers figure - and let it sink that those are the number for the cities proper, not of their metropolitan areas, the masses of people from suburbs commuting to their works can swell things considerably, as you can see. To focus on the classics, New York would have somewhere between 800 to 1.994, almost two thousand, superbeings between city proper and metropolitan area.

Read, if only 1 in 10 superbeings living in New York & its environs decided to use their powers for the sake of justice or unlawful gain, you might still have almost enough costumed people to make Unlimited's Justice League and Legion of Doom twice over. And while you may find no Superman in HU, i would point out that many heroes and villains are not Superman either and people like Grodd, Cheetah, Metallo, Shade and Luthor may be all too doable.

Oh, but DCAU is more tight and focused than the awesome mayhem that is a true blue comic book four color super hero romp of an universe, some might say. And it would be true indeed, so let me bring a "serious" sense of scale... ladies & gentlemen, the Marvel Universe:

Heroes
&
Villains

If you read the header above each list of links you'll see a total of 756 pages in the category "Heroes" and about 1.022 total pages in the category "Villains". A closer look at the listings will show these pages are not only about individual heroes and villains across the Earth but also their supergroups and a few (or not so few) heroic or villainious beings from other worlds, periods (like WWII, middle ages or the future), dimensions and parallel universes (for the sake of reference, "mainstream Marvel" is Earth-616). So 1.778 files (not supers per se) tops.

In none of this i brought the subject of unpowered thugs with guns, faceless minions and other supporting cast that individual supervillains might or not have. Or the 1 in 1000 ratio, seriously, i refuse to even touch upon that.

Sorry if it looks like i'm hammering it home a little too much but i felt from experience in trying to sketch out a whole 'verse it was relevant and important to bring some perspective on how crazy high can this kind of ratio actually scale up. Hope it gives some ideas instead of scaring too much.

[Nightmask]

I'm also going to tweek the ratios a little so that the number of supers world-wide (and within the city where the event took place) isn't quite so high. I'm thinking after the Reactor went Nova, the number of Supers present in the city will rise to 1 in 1000, while world wide the number averages out to 1 in 10,000 (1 in 100,000 since the end of WW2 and 1 in 1,000,000 for the last 2000 years). Incidentally the current world wide number is going to be roughly the same as at the height of the 3 ancient empires I mentioned in my last post... when they became embroiled in the war that shattered those empires. This is significant because of a major Story Arc I hope to run with the return of the ancient enemy those empires fought (and sacrificed their homelands to see it defeated).

Honestly, i think even these ratios may be a little high already. The 1 in 10,000 average ratio could mean about two superteams of 5 (both good or one good, other evil) in a city of 100,000, about one hundred superbeings in a urban center of 1 million people.

For the sake of comparison, I think one the largest formations ever of the Avengers (around the cosmic Korvac saga back in the 70s) swelled to about 25 and that was with the half-dozen time-displaced Guardians of the Galaxy padding their ranks, or maybe the band formed in a crazy reality-reforming conflict against Morgan Le Fey. Both disbanded soon after the threat was gone, to a more usual arrangement of fourteen or 2 teams of seven. Animated's Justice League would start with 7 members and in its awesome-huge world superpower Unlimited formation would bloom to 50+ heroes. About the same goes for Grodd's Secret Society/Legion of Doom in villain roll call.

Now please take a look at this list, where you'll find dozens of metropolises with something between 3 to 24 times that 1 million people/1 hundred supers figure - and let it sink that those are the number for the cities proper, not of their metropolitan areas, the masses of people from suburbs commuting to their works can swell things considerably, as you can see. To focus on the classics, New York would have somewhere between 800 to 1.994, almost two thousand, superbeings between city proper and metropolitan area.

Read, if only 1 in 10 superbeings living in New York & its environs decided to use their powers for the sake of justice or unlawful gain, you might still have almost enough costumed people to make Unlimited's Justice League and Legion of Doom twice over. And while you may find no Superman in HU, i would point out that many heroes and villains are not Superman either and people like Grodd, Cheetah, Metallo, Shade and Luthor may be all too doable.

Oh, but DCAU is more tight and focused than the awesome mayhem that is a true blue comic book four color super hero romp of an universe, some might say. And it would be true indeed, so let me bring a "serious" sense of scale... ladies & gentlemen, the Marvel Universe:

Heroes
&
Villains

If you read the header above each list of links you'll see a total of 756 pages in the category "Heroes" and about 1.022 total pages in the category "Villains". A closer look at the listings will show these pages are not only about individual heroes and villains across the Earth but also their supergroups and a few (or not so few) heroic or villainious beings from other worlds, periods (like WWII, middle ages or the future), dimensions and parallel universes (for the sake of reference, "mainstream Marvel" is Earth-616). So 1.778 files (not supers per se) tops.

In none of this i brought the subject of unpowered thugs with guns, faceless minions and other supporting cast that individual supervillains might or not have. Or the 1 in 1000 ratio, seriously, i refuse to even touch upon that.

Sorry if it looks like i'm hammering it home a little too much but i felt from experience in trying to sketch out a whole 'verse it was relevant and important to bring some perspective on how crazy high can this kind of ratio actually scale up. Hope it gives some ideas instead of scaring too much.

Something you're forgetting I think, not everyone with super-powers is going to end up becoming a super-hero or a super-villain. Depending on the powers some won't even realize they have super-powers to exploit, others would just rather be normal and end up using them to make life easier if possible (like the guy with Alter Physical Structure: Tar using it to save on gasoline for his car and fuel oil in winter for the furnace). So you could have thousands of supers in a city like NYC but the majority won't be doing anything any other normal person would be doing. The comics just show us the ones who do end up making a splash rather than the ones who decide not to in general (Spider-man once met a guy who was bit by a radioactive jackrabbit and got rabbit powers which included super-speed and a Danger Sense similar to Spider-man's and who refused to do anything super-heroic, and was quite willing to let Spider-man die rather than even try saving him to keep his secret).

[wyrmraker]

Nightmask raises an excellent point in that some people won't use their powers in a way to contributes to the public good. An EMT with Electrical powers, or an Oceanic Archaeologist with Underwater powers.

In one Marvel game, the group ran professionals that were getting into the hero thing. One guy had a mage who's regular job was as a Vegas stage magician, while I played a guy with True Invulnerability (and a host of other immunities) that was a professional stuntman.

We thought it was an interesting twist on the whole 'Becoming a hero' thing.

[SolCannibal]

I'm also going to tweek the ratios a little so that the number of supers world-wide (and within the city where the event took place) isn't quite so high. I'm thinking after the Reactor went Nova, the number of Supers present in the city will rise to 1 in 1000, while world wide the number averages out to 1 in 10,000 (1 in 100,000 since the end of WW2 and 1 in 1,000,000 for the last 2000 years). Incidentally the current world wide number is going to be roughly the same as at the height of the 3 ancient empires I mentioned in my last post... when they became embroiled in the war that shattered those empires. This is significant because of a major Story Arc I hope to run with the return of the ancient enemy those empires fought (and sacrificed their homelands to see it defeated).

Honestly, i think even these ratios may be a little high already. The 1 in 10,000 average ratio could mean about two superteams of 5 (both good or one good, other evil) in a city of 100,000, about one hundred superbeings in a urban center of 1 million people.

For the sake of comparison, I think one the largest formations ever of the Avengers (around the cosmic Korvac saga back in the 70s) swelled to about 25 and that was with the half-dozen time-displaced Guardians of the Galaxy padding their ranks, or maybe the band formed in a crazy reality-reforming conflict against Morgan Le Fey. Both disbanded soon after the threat was gone, to a more usual arrangement of fourteen or 2 teams of seven. Animated's Justice League would start with 7 members and in its awesome-huge world superpower Unlimited formation would bloom to 50+ heroes. About the same goes for Grodd's Secret Society/Legion of Doom in villain roll call.

Now please take a look at this list, where you'll find dozens of metropolises with something between 3 to 24 times that 1 million people/1 hundred supers figure - and let it sink that those are the number for the cities proper, not of their metropolitan areas, the masses of people from suburbs commuting to their works can swell things considerably, as you can see. To focus on the classics, New York would have somewhere between 800 to 1.994, almost two thousand, superbeings between city proper and metropolitan area.

Read, if only 1 in 10 superbeings living in New York & its environs decided to use their powers for the sake of justice or unlawful gain, you might still have almost enough costumed people to make Unlimited's Justice League and Legion of Doom twice over. And while you may find no Superman in HU, i would point out that many heroes and villains are not Superman either and people like Grodd, Cheetah, Metallo, Shade and Luthor may be all too doable.

Oh, but DCAU is more tight and focused than the awesome mayhem that is a true blue comic book four color super hero romp of an universe, some might say. And it would be true indeed, so let me bring a "serious" sense of scale... ladies & gentlemen, the Marvel Universe:

Heroes
&
Villains

If you read the header above each list of links you'll see a total of 756 pages in the category "Heroes" and about 1.022 total pages in the category "Villains". A closer look at the listings will show these pages are not only about individual heroes and villains across the Earth but also their supergroups and a few (or not so few) heroic or villainious beings from other worlds, periods (like WWII, middle ages or the future), dimensions and parallel universes (for the sake of reference, "mainstream Marvel" is Earth-616). So 1.778 files (not supers per se) tops.

In none of this i brought the subject of unpowered thugs with guns, faceless minions and other supporting cast that individual supervillains might or not have. Or the 1 in 1000 ratio, seriously, i refuse to even touch upon that.

Sorry if it looks like i'm hammering it home a little too much but i felt from experience in trying to sketch out a whole 'verse it was relevant and important to bring some perspective on how crazy high can this kind of ratio actually scale up. Hope it gives some ideas instead of scaring too much.

Something you're forgetting I think, not everyone with super-powers is going to end up becoming a super-hero or a super-villain. Depending on the powers some won't even realize they have super-powers to exploit, others would just rather be normal and end up using them to make life easier if possible (like the guy with Alter Physical Structure: Tar using it to save on gasoline for his car and fuel oil in winter for the furnace). So you could have thousands of supers in a city like NYC but the majority won't be doing anything any other normal person would be doing. The comics just show us the ones who do end up making a splash rather than the ones who decide not to in general (Spider-man once met a guy who was bit by a radioactive jackrabbit and got rabbit powers which included super-speed and a Danger Sense similar to Spider-man's and who refused to do anything super-heroic, and was quite willing to let Spider-man die rather than even try saving him to keep his secret).

And i honestly think you and wyrmraker completely missed something along the way...

If only 1 in 10 superbeings living in New York & its environs decided to use their powers for the sake of justice or unlawful gain, you might still have almost enough costumed people to make Unlimited's Justice League and Legion of Doom twice over.

So let me make this clear: "the JLA Unlimited and Legion of Doom twice over in New York & its environs" - read four supergroups in the 40-50+ groups - is already based in the premise that 90% of all superbeings do not end up becoming a super-hero or a super-villain.

If i did count everyone with super-powers in that area as you expected, we would have twenty supergroups of heroes and another twenty villain, all in the 40-50+ members range.

Now stop for a moment and pay attention to a little thing - i'm only accounting for New York and the many less populous cities directly dependent on it that compose its metropolitan area. Look at one of the links above - there are nearly a dozen metropolitan areas in the world greater than New York, with the Tokyo metropolitan at the top having close to twice its population.

And all of that i'm working from the "lower" ratio of 1 superbeing per 10.000 people, not the other one for the game's city, that would get me 10 times that... So, you made valid points but i had already accounted for them beforehand.

A sane & streamlined 'verse like the DCAU could function pretty well 1.000 superbeings to give lots of padding and mysterious shenanigans going under the noses of about 1 hundred active supers between heroes and villains. Make it 2.000 if you want lots of padding for aliens, supernaturals, obscure but active supers & etc AND keep true "that's only a tenth of the whole" ratio.

A chaotic/crazy universe hero 'verse shaped organically through decades and that you would need books or a database to decently track off could lose itself quite well in a mass of, let's say 18.000 superbeings, though 15-16K could work just as well, as writing up 1.500+ active, known supers just because sounds almost silly.

So, my suggestion is work on a total of superbeings, an "active to inactive" ratio that you as GM find convenient and then adjust or expand according to your story needs.

Also, because the OP mentioned them in passing, a list of Static Shock's presented Bang Babies, with about 35-40 total of them, some criminal, some misguided, a few good. It doesn't cover all supers that appear in the series, as there are guest appearances from Batman & Superman villains, not to mention the League itself, or independent origin metas like Shebang and others. Here's where one might tally them all.

[Tor]

The Skraypers plague is one of those events, perhaps if the Tarlok (or some other party) introduced it to Earth somehow?

[Razorwing]

While I did say that those numbers are world wide averages, that doesn't mean that those averages are uniform across the globe. Just because New York City has 8.4 million people doesn't mean that there will be 840 Supers there. There could be a lot less or a lot more for any number of reasons. Some see New York as a haven for those seeking a new life... so maybe the number has grown higher than the world wide average. By the same token, New York is also seen as a fairly dangerous place (though such a reputation is likely exaggerated), causing many Supers to go elsewhere reducing the number of active Supers to well below the overall average.

Some cities might embrace their Super population, which in turn encourages others to come there (putting them above the average)... while other cities may view Supers of any sort as a menace... resulting in many either leaving or hiding their nature (putting them below the average). As others have pointed out... not everyone with powers becomes a hero or villain... some lead ordinary lives (especially those in the categories that don't actually have any real "powers").

Also, the averages I presented was for ALL categories of Supers presented in HUCB and PU2... many of which don't have actual "Super Powers" as such.

[SolCannibal]

While I did say that those numbers are world wide averages, that doesn't mean that those averages are uniform across the globe. Just because New York City has 8.4 million people doesn't mean that there will be 840 Supers there. There could be a lot less or a lot more for any number of reasons. Some see New York as a haven for those seeking a new life... so maybe the number has grown higher than the world wide average. By the same token, New York is also seen as a fairly dangerous place (though such a reputation is likely exaggerated), causing many Supers to go elsewhere reducing the number of active Supers to well below the overall average.

Some cities might embrace their Super population, which in turn encourages others to come there (putting them above the average)... while other cities may view Supers of any sort as a menace... resulting in many either leaving or hiding their nature (putting them below the average). As others have pointed out... not everyone with powers becomes a hero or villain... some lead ordinary lives (especially those in the categories that don't actually have any real "powers").

Yes, there could less, there could be more, depending on a number of factors - still there's a reason an "average" is called that, read for one or more places with lower than average ratio, there will be at least one with a [url]greater[/url] than average ratio. If it is New York, Tokyo, São Paulo, Chicago or Oslo is mostly immaterial to the matter.

My intent was to bring a sense of scale of what a ratio can mean through an example, in this case a New York metropolitan area that could cover for a good chunk of the Marvel Universe. And it ain't even 0,3% of the world's human population.

Also, the averages I presented was for ALL categories of Supers presented in HUCB and PU2... many of which don't have actual "Super Powers" as such.

Well, I half-expected it to be - there's a reason i used "heroes", "villains" or just "supers" in my references instead of "mutants/meta-humans", beside including Metallo, Shade and Luthor in my list of "DC supers doable with HU" or mentioned Superman (alien) in the first place.

[Tor]

Interesting idea from HU2 is that a power set could be expanded to the entire human population via mass self-hypnosis that works for anyone, via the Empowered category.

[Razorwing]

Actually, before the Decimation event in Marvel, it was estimated that the mutant population was in the millions.

The Skraypers setting has a superhuman population in the billions.

What does it really matter if there are a "potential" 840 supers within New York? As has been stated before, a large number of them either don't see themselves as heroes, don't realize they could be heroes or just don't want to be heroes. Others just don't have the power level to anything spectacular... at best they might become a local hero, but even then the vast majority won't be saving the city... let alone the world or even the universe.

There is a difference between the estimated number of Supers and the number that become Heroes/Villains. Even if all 840 potentials in NYC were to make themselves known, they would still be outnumbered by the police... let alone the millions of people living there.

While there is the potential to have groups that out number groups like the JLA or the Avengers in shear numbers, the chances of that happening are relatively low.

The point is that I wanted a substantial population of Supers in this world... a population that couldn't be missed or dismissed as a hoax. The Nova Reactor incident has changed the rules... no longer can "Novas" hide in the shadows. It is like the Paris Peace Talks in the movie X-Men: Days of Future Past... where the secret of Mutants was revealed to the world. In this setting, it is the early days of the Justice League... when the world is waking up to the reality around them and superbeings really do exist... and in far greater numbers than ever suspected.

Not all the supers will make their presence known. Many will pretend they aren't super... others don't realize the are... and others couldn't care less if they are. Most are still just people trying to get by... and becoming a super hero doesn't tend to pay the bills (villainy on the other hand might... but most people tend to be honest... at least until circumstances force them to take other methods).

So again I ask you what difference does it make if there is 8 or 800 supers in NYC?

[Sir_Spirit]

If only 1 in 10 of the 840 became supers, that is 84 supers. Due to power corrupting we weight that toward villains, so that's 30 Heroes, and 54 Villains. So that gives us, maybe
Legion of Doom, and half a JLU....more likely, you have several smaller groups most of the time.

[Nightmask]

If only 1 in 10 of the 840 became supers, that is 84 supers. Due to power corrupting we weight that toward villains, so that's 30 Heroes, and 54 Villains. So that gives us, maybe
Legion of Doom, and half a JLU....more likely, you have several smaller groups most of the time.

I disagree with the idea of 'power corrupting', power is empowering. So what you see is either the Peter Parker who once he has power becoming a hero in response to the abuses he's suffered or the Owen Reese who becomes a villain to get back at the world. Without the empowering event they never have what it takes to embrace who they truly are inside.

[gaby]

Only having One minor powers can not make a Super-heroes or Super-villains,ther the ones who only got improve mundane skill,like a perfict memory,better ther normal healing,growing ony one foot and ther the powers that are inadenuate for being a hero or villain like you can change your skin to any color of a railbow and so on.
To be a Hero or a Villain you need the Right power or set of them and the Drive to be.

[Razorwing]

I have to disagree... it isn't the powers that make a person a hero. After all, there are quite a few heroes in comics that have no powers at all. What makes a hero (or even a villain) is the drive and opportunity to take that step. It takes a certain type of person to rise above (or give in to) their situation to become a hero or a villain... and the path they follow isn't always an easy one.

While it is true that having some of the more flashy powers can make the transition easier (maybe even inevitable), it is still a person's choice to take that step. While it is unlikely that someone with a single Minor Power will become a Super Hero, it is still possible that those powers could help them in other ways. They may never save the world or the universe (or threaten them for that matter), but chances are they will use them to some capacity, depending on their alignments.

Powers, in and of themselves do not make a hero... it is the desire to use what skills and abilities (including powers) as a hero that does. The same is true for villains (though rarely does the villain consider himself a bad guy).

[Nightmask]

I have to disagree... it isn't the powers that make a person a hero. After all, there are quite a few heroes in comics that have no powers at all. What makes a hero (or even a villain) is the drive and opportunity to take that step. It takes a certain type of person to rise above (or give in to) their situation to become a hero or a villain... and the path they follow isn't always an easy one.

While it is true that having some of the more flashy powers can make the transition easier (maybe even inevitable), it is still a person's choice to take that step. While it is unlikely that someone with a single Minor Power will become a Super Hero, it is still possible that those powers could help them in other ways. They may never save the world or the universe (or threaten them for that matter), but chances are they will use them to some capacity, depending on their alignments.

Powers, in and of themselves do not make a hero... it is the desire to use what skills and abilities (including powers) as a hero that does. The same is true for villains (though rarely does the villain consider himself a bad guy).

Got to agree wholeheartedly with this, someone could easily decide to be a hero and not even know he had a power until it came up later on (never had a clue he had Waterbreathing until he survived that dump in the river by gangsters at the end of a concrete block for example). Plenty of people become heroes without powers, we just mostly saw earlier heroes being the result of the liberating aspect of super-powers (at least when the super-hero genre got going proper, earlier age science heroes were generally non-powered or minor-powered inasmuch as they were peak human mental and physical capabilities and extremely well educated and had the money to support their activities). Some heroes remain heroes even if they lose their powers (such as when Storm was depowered for a while) once the powers liberated them, as they knew they had what it takes and didn't see the loss of powers as 'game over' status.

[Razorwing]

The "Act of God" mini series from DC's Elseworlds saw the entire DC universe striped of super powers and how the various heroes coped with the loss (and how many villains took advantage of it). Some tried to find mundane jobs that would allow them to continue serving the public, like becoming a cop. Others were haunted by their personal failures during the event and the people they couldn't save. Some found themselves as outcasts, unable to live an ordinary life due to an unusual appearance. A few turned to religion to help them make sense of what happened... and a few just turned their backs on everything. Then there were those who sought to reforge themselves into something new... a hero without powers... not unlike a man who took after a "winged rodent".

Of course, if a cosmic event can strip an entire universe of super powers, then another event could lead to a new generation of heroes and villains... of all stripes... to rise.

[Nightmask]

The "Act of God" mini series from DC's Elseworlds saw the entire DC universe striped of super powers and how the various heroes coped with the loss (and how many villains took advantage of it). Some tried to find mundane jobs that would allow them to continue serving the public, like becoming a cop. Others were haunted by their personal failures during the event and the people they couldn't save. Some found themselves as outcasts, unable to live an ordinary life due to an unusual appearance. A few turned to religion to help them make sense of what happened... and a few just turned their backs on everything. Then there were those who sought to reforge themselves into something new... a hero without powers... not unlike a man who took after a "winged rodent".

Of course, if a cosmic event can strip an entire universe of super powers, then another event could lead to a new generation of heroes and villains... of all stripes... to rise.

Too bad that Elseworlds was flawed in its execution, since Kyle Rayner shouldn't have lost his powers since he didn't have any he had a technological device that should have remained working just fine and people like Martian Manhunter, Superman and Aquaman didn't have super-powers they had natural racial abilities. It also didn't help with Batman being such a condescending jerk to the depowered heroes that came to him for training since being a non-powered human he had no clue what they'd lost AND he conveniently ignored just how many lives they'd saved and how the event made it clear just how much more death and destruction would have happened without those heroes around since Batman certainly couldn't have done anything to save any of them. Frankly they should have gone looking elsewhere for training after telling Batman off for his jerk behavior.

[Ranger]

In my games, I tend not to try and explain the explosion of why powers have surfaced...unless one of the character's tries to research it.

Then sometimes it is because of freak accident (comet, solar winds, etc) or a evil genius who changed the world's eco system in some way to make humanity evolve at a faster rate.

[SolCannibal]

The "Act of God" mini series from DC's Elseworlds saw the entire DC universe striped of super powers and how the various heroes coped with the loss (and how many villains took advantage of it). Some tried to find mundane jobs that would allow them to continue serving the public, like becoming a cop. Others were haunted by their personal failures during the event and the people they couldn't save. Some found themselves as outcasts, unable to live an ordinary life due to an unusual appearance. A few turned to religion to help them make sense of what happened... and a few just turned their backs on everything. Then there were those who sought to reforge themselves into something new... a hero without powers... not unlike a man who took after a "winged rodent".

Of course, if a cosmic event can strip an entire universe of super powers, then another event could lead to a new generation of heroes and villains... of all stripes... to rise.

Too bad that Elseworlds was flawed in its execution, since Kyle Rayner shouldn't have lost his powers since he didn't have any he had a technological device that should have remained working just fine and people like Martian Manhunter, Superman and Aquaman didn't have super-powers they had natural racial abilities. It also didn't help with Batman being such a condescending jerk to the depowered heroes that came to him for training since being a non-powered human he had no clue what they'd lost AND he conveniently ignored just how many lives they'd saved and how the event made it clear just how much more death and destruction would have happened without those heroes around since Batman certainly couldn't have done anything to save any of them. Frankly they should have gone looking elsewhere for training after telling Batman off for his jerk behavior.

Well, i didn't really read it but would say the mini series title was quite direct on the conceit/logic behind why everybody arbitrarily lost the powers.
That said it already shows the writers were going for simplistic and deep like a papercut, what also explains Batman's behavior.

On the matter of origins, unless it relates in some major way to the storyline i'm working on as a whole, i just leave things open and sometimes do away with the "supers are a recent phenomena" as a whole by exploring proto-supers from interwar period in the 20th century, crazy scientific geniuses & investigators from victorian age like Holmes, Moriarty, Robur, Nemo or many other less notorious ones and unreliable cases of the fantastic and eerie across early modern period, middle ages and classic era, maybe going back all the way to Atlantis - supposing you're insanely resourceful enough to effectively collect evidence of all that stuff, obviously.

None of this accounting for alien visits from other worlds or dimensions, obviously, that might appear at any period of time, sometimes even before humanity existed in fact.

[Razorwing]

In regards to the Those you claim were arbitrarily depowered (Kyle, Superman and such), in the case of Superman, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman, the "Black Light Event" was intended to render anyone to a base-line human power level, even if they weren't human to begin with... which means that while their powers may have been natural in origin, they were still above the baseline human level which everyone on the planet was reduced to.

In Kyle's case, the Power Ring is of extraterrestrial origin and operates on scientific principles that are not understood by anyone outside of the Guardians. The ring itself may not have actually been affected by the Black Light event, but Kyle's connection to it was, thus he was prevented from actually using it.

Okay, a bit of a stretch explanation wise, but the result is the same... everyone who relied on extraordinary powers was stripped of them and now had to cope with living in the world as ordinary humans. That was the point of the story... coping with the loss of what made these heroes "Super". When you are used to saving nations and planets, how do you lead a "normal" life where you may not even be able to save yourself?

It's the reverse of leading an ordinary life when suddenly you develop the powers that could save cities, nations and worlds... so how do you use that power? Some decide not to use that power. Others try to use it responsibly in their daily lives. A few try to exploit their power for personal gain (without necessarily becoming a villain). Only a few will actually use their powers as either a hero or villain.

[Nightmask]

In regards to the Those you claim were arbitrarily depowered (Kyle, Superman and such), in the case of Superman, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman, the "Black Light Event" was intended to render anyone to a base-line human power level, even if they weren't human to begin with... which means that while their powers may have been natural in origin, they were still above the baseline human level which everyone on the planet was reduced to.

In Kyle's case, the Power Ring is of extraterrestrial origin and operates on scientific principles that are not understood by anyone outside of the Guardians. The ring itself may not have actually been affected by the Black Light event, but Kyle's connection to it was, thus he was prevented from actually using it.

Okay, a bit of a stretch explanation wise, but the result is the same... everyone who relied on extraordinary powers was stripped of them and now had to cope with living in the world as ordinary humans. That was the point of the story... coping with the loss of what made these heroes "Super". When you are used to saving nations and planets, how do you lead a "normal" life where you may not even be able to save yourself?

It's the reverse of leading an ordinary life when suddenly you develop the powers that could save cities, nations and worlds... so how do you use that power? Some decide not to use that power. Others try to use it responsibly in their daily lives. A few try to exploit their power for personal gain (without necessarily becoming a villain). Only a few will actually use their powers as either a hero or villain.

And why exactly would something turn every superhuman into a baseline human when they've a wide variety of origins for their powers and for those who weren't human to begin with end up being stripped of their natural abilities? Heck apparently the entire population of Atlantis DIED since if everyone was turned into a baseline human even when they weren't human then every Atlantean drowned when stripped of their natural ability to breathe water and survive the crushing ocean depths since to them they weren't extraordinary powers they were natural abilities.

Also why exactly would it matter the origin of the technology since Kyle's ring was in fact technology and shouldn't have been bothered at all? Even as Cyborg Superman managed to remain powered up in spite of it being explicitly a super-power that left him alive in the first place (and Metallo explicitly magically powered for his ability to assimilate technology). Then of course all the magical characters just disappear without explanation.

The point of the story seemed a lot more about bashing super-heroes as somehow being filled with hubris because they had super-powers and for some reason that made them proud in spite of them being anything but and touting how the only 'real' hero was someone like Batman (ESPECIALLY Batman) who can't even clean up Gotham City while Superman kept crime rates down in Metropolis. Even the heroes who relied on technology like Steel inexplicably became instant cannon fodder, easily taken out and their technology stolen when they were anything but pushovers in the mainstream. But not Batman, in spite of him relying just as heavily if not moreso on technology as Steel or Booster Gold.

Really, the story was one long run of character derailment for nearly every hero involved right down to Wonder Woman turning her back on her gods in spite of knowing they were real (heck they literally gave her life) and becoming a Christian. Kyle Rayner goes basically insane and kills himself to take down the villain he couldn't stop when his ring inexplicably failed, and Lois abandons Clark because he hasn't powers anymore and she can't be bothered to be supportive of the man she loved for effectively ending up horribly handicapped compared to what was natural to him. It really was poorly done and really wasn't a decent look into the consequences of such an event (and of course failed to be consistent and removed an entire section of one type of characters simply because they shouldn't have been affected and would have been most likely to find out what happened and perhaps reverse it).

[SolCannibal]

Ergo, my comments about the writers narrative conceit being a simplistic narrative gimmick deep like a papercut.
And i didn't even read, that's what i get from the commentaries about it.

But anyway, origins are not a big deal unless they are supposed to be a big deal to whatever plot i have in mind - and nowadays i prefer to set up an universe i can use to tell different kinds of superheroes histories, plot-oriented 'verses i can buy a bunch of specific RPGs setting modules for.

[Nightmask]

Ergo, my comments about the writers narrative conceit being a simplistic narrative gimmick deep like a papercut.
And i didn't even read, that's what i get from the commentaries about it.

But anyway, origins are not a big deal unless they are supposed to be a big deal to whatever plot i have in mind - and nowadays i prefer to set up an universe i can use to tell different kinds of superheroes histories, plot-oriented 'verses i can buy a bunch of specific RPGs for.

Yes, I've never seen much point to some kind of meta-plot where everyone's powers stem from a single event. Having a variety of origins just makes for a nicer mix of things to me, although the original New Universe from Marvel with the White Event was okay, since at least until they decided on the time loop deal it wasn't like it had any impact on what everyone was doing they could have gained their powers in completely unrelated things in a short period of time and it wouldn't have made things any different.

[SolCannibal]

Ergo, my comments about the writers narrative conceit being a simplistic narrative gimmick deep like a papercut.
And i didn't even read, that's what i get from the commentaries about it.

But anyway, origins are not a big deal unless they are supposed to be a big deal to whatever plot i have in mind - and nowadays i prefer to set up an universe i can use to tell different kinds of superheroes histories, plot-oriented 'verses i can buy a bunch of specific RPGs for.

Yes, I've never seen much point to some kind of meta-plot where everyone's powers stem from a single event. Having a variety of origins just makes for a nicer mix of things to me, although the original New Universe from Marvel with the White Event was okay, since at least until they decided on the time loop deal it wasn't like it had any impact on what everyone was doing they could have gained their powers in completely unrelated things in a short period of time and it wouldn't have made things any different.

Indeed - and the time loop came up more to bring in a narrative finish to the universe than anything. Not to mention in the case of some of those involved, the kids from Psi-Force and Tensen from Justice, it seemed like the powers already existed before the White Event, it just exposed things.

In fact the White Event is something that could easily be adapted to a megaverse context as some major temporary PPE boost opening rifts for people from other worlds or dimensions (Tensen, the old man from Star Brand) or boosting the psychic/mystic potential of some people (Psi-force, Nightmask, DP 7) - in some ways a less sinister version of the Dark Day of Nightbane.

[Nightmask]

Ergo, my comments about the writers narrative conceit being a simplistic narrative gimmick deep like a papercut.
And i didn't even read, that's what i get from the commentaries about it.

But anyway, origins are not a big deal unless they are supposed to be a big deal to whatever plot i have in mind - and nowadays i prefer to set up an universe i can use to tell different kinds of superheroes histories, plot-oriented 'verses i can buy a bunch of specific RPGs for.

Yes, I've never seen much point to some kind of meta-plot where everyone's powers stem from a single event. Having a variety of origins just makes for a nicer mix of things to me, although the original New Universe from Marvel with the White Event was okay, since at least until they decided on the time loop deal it wasn't like it had any impact on what everyone was doing they could have gained their powers in completely unrelated things in a short period of time and it wouldn't have made things any different.

Indeed - and the time loop came up more to bring in a narrative finish to the universe than anything. Not to mention in the case of some of those involved, the kids from Psi-Force and Tensen from Justice, it seemed like the powers already existed before the White Event, it just exposed things.

Stuff like that was a problem of not having everyone on the same page writing for the setting, some didn't realize that nothing about the world was supposed to be different than ours until the White Event so you got Justice supposedly from a different world and Spitfire and the Troubleshooters with high end power armor that just doesn't exist in real life just to name a few (although the retcon/reveal on Justice did a fabulous job making it actually fit the original narrative making it be just a combination power/drug induced hallucination).

Of course after the events in Quasar the Star Brand ended up being stolen (even though that should have been impossible) by an evil sentient robot that was left imprisoned in the otherwise dead New Universe while the New Universe Earth ended up sealed behind an impenetrable force field created by the Living Tribunal orbiting the Stranger's Lab world to keep it from contaminating the main universe with Starbrand energy. A sad ending for things, just loved the Star Brand and the New Universe in general.

[Damian Magecraft]

This is one of the settings I created awhile back for a HU campaign.
The old setting had run its course and had become cripplingly over populated with supers. So at the request of the players I ran a campaign designed to parse the super population. The campaign worked; Far better than expected.

The premise of the parsing campaign was an all out alien invasion of earth. The Aliens invaded with the intent of conquering and controlling the super population as slave warriors. In this universe earth was unique in that it was the only planet that produced such a diverse variety of powers in its peoples.
But I digress...
Anyway...
The war against the aliens waged for many sessions (over a year and a half real time) spanning a year of in game time. The players were so desperate at one time that they offered amnesty to the worlds super villains if they aided in the Earths defense. By the end of the campaign; New York City was reduced to a glass crater and the super population had been reduced by 99% (We were aiming for a 50% reduction... but the players really got into the "He died fighting for Earth" thing and even started trying to out do one another on whose character could achieve the most epic death).
Well I had been asked to run a new HU campaign but not in any of my normal established settings (I have almost 10). And since the old group had gone its separate ways (life; it kills the best of groups at times) this setting came to mind and I mulled over it for quite awhile and then the concept hit me...
The title of the campaign is...
Rebirth of Heroes.

The premise.
It has been fourteen years since the war, and the loss of New York City. What happened after the aliens fired that destructive beam is still a mystery... All that is known is that seconds after the city and its inhabitants died so too did every alien invader every where on Earth and in orbit around her.
The people of Earth have recovered but not forgotten the Heroes that sacrificed themselves to save the planet.
Crater city grew quickly (thanks in part to the technology of the invaders) out of the remains of New York. But the Planets protectors were gone; there were no more Metas, Mystery Men, or Vigilantes to keep the streets safe any longer...
Or so it was thought.
A few of the surviving villains realized that without heroes to stop them they would dominate the world.
They were wrong.
The first of the New Breed (as the papers dubbed them) was The Penitent. A ruthless force force for good who seemed to know the villains next moves before they did. His tattered costume and demonic masked visage strikes terror in the hearts of criminals everywhere. Each flickering shadow could be Him! waiting to rip apart their souls and lay bare their sins for all to see.
Next came Punchline a costumed clown (literally) wielding magic in an unconventional manner. He too began chasing down the every two bit thug with a blaster or a power; often defeating them in the most comical and embarrassing ways imaginable (some defy imagination).
The third came from the stars he calls himself the Silver Knight; A being of vast power, he claims to have been sent to solve a mystery and crime of galactic proportions. What ever happened to the invaders on Earth in the final moments of the war; happened to every single member of their race at the exact same moment galaxy wide. While he scours for clues he too defends the Earth from all that would threaten it.

While they were the first they were not the last.
It has been fourteen years.
Others have come; some taking up the mantle of their fallen heroes as an homage.
Others as new Heroes honoring the exploits of those long gone but forging a new path.
Here is where the PCs begin.

[gaby]

Well,here is another idea I have,This Earth was normal until january 1,1991,A Flash of Light appear and the world changed in two ways,the First is only North America it,s the year 1991,in the rest of the world,every other continent is from a different time in the past,Europe is from 1941,Australia is from 1891,South america is from 1841,Africa is from 1791 and Asia is from 1741.
the Second is 200 people who are age 19 on each continent gets superpowers.

[taalismn]

In my 'Mutantech' Robotech/Heroes Unlimited xover setting it was a mutagen that was generated in Protoculture-powered equipment based at Alaska Base. When the Grand Cannon powered up, the Protoculture was altered, and when the GC blew up, the mutagen was ejected into the jetstream and sent around the world. Those closest to the Grand Cannon were affected first, resulting in a number of horribly deformed(and insane( supermutants(including an utterly deranged T.R. Edwards) in the immediate vicinity of Alaska Base. Rock and Lisa are also exposed and mutate soon after reaching the SDF-1. Others are less profoundly affected, but the mutations spread, and the mutagen both sensitizes others to effect from protoculture exposure, and also mutates other quantities of protoculture(including the large amounts released by crashing Zentraedi ships and destroyed mecha).

(reposted material)
The Premise
Protoculture, the bastard child of the Flower of Life, is, under certain circumstances, a powerful biological mutagen...as evidenced by the psychic abilities sometimes manifested by long-term consumers of the substance.
The Zentraedi Rain of Death on Earth in 2010 AD and the subsequent destruction of the alien fleet, unleashed tons of a powerful mutagen pollutant into Earth’s atmosphere and eventually into the water and soil. Thousands of Protoculture-fueled energy systems, both on Earth and aboard crashing alien ships, spew the altered DNA of the Flower of Life into the terrestrial environment.
Though the fragmented Protoculture residue is not intact enough to replicate into new Flower of Life plants, the material can still be altered by exposure to radiation and environment before and after release from its containment matrix. Earth’s atmosphere becomes charged with a variety of new Flower of Life-based radical substrates that begin actively combining with DNA in Earth’s ecosystem. Effectively, a new gene-line of Protoculture-based viruses.
However, the biggest source of Protoculture pollution is the Alaskan Grand Cannon site, exploding with a force of a hundred Krakatoas, and spewing a particularly nasty cocktail of radioactive fallout, exotic radiologicals, and massive amounts of an especially bio-active strain of Protoculture into the atmosphere...

The first to show symptoms are those closest to the initial blast.....two starcrossed, and frustrated, lovers who will find their world shaken up even more than they could believe possible.....

The only two known survivors of the Grand Cannon explosion, Lieutenant Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes, are the first to feel the effects, being so close to the initial blast. Within hours of reaching the sanctuary of the returning SDF-1, both young people succumb to what looks at first to be severe, terminal, radiation poisoning.....severe nausea, dizziness, skin discoloration, and severe radiation burns...Despite the best efforts of a diligent, but admittedly overworked and overwhelmed shipboard medical staff, the two lapse into comas, and hope is dim for recovery...Rick Hunter’s skin darkens, suggesting a spreading cyanosis or radiation-induced necrosis, while Lisa Haye’s brainwave patterns fluctuate wildly, from death knell flatline to hyperactive spasm and back, threatening to burn out her nervous system....With a world of burned, maimed, and irradiated victims to see to, the overworked medics of the SDF-1 figure that all they can do is make the two comfortable in their last moments and wait for them to pass away....
Only they do recover, against all expectations, though disfigured from their exposure...and CHANGED....At first their doctors can hardly believe what they are seeing, then they deny, then they can only look on in wonder....
Then it becomes evident that there are others also manifesting paranormal abilities...and their numbers are growing....
And nothing will be the same again....


Power Types in Mutantech

Protoculture mutagens are at large in Earth’s ecosystem and its populace, inducing a new wave of radical changes(some scientists are optimistically calling it ‘accelerated’ or ‘facilitated’’evolution’). Radical new abilities, previously unknown to science, and more akin to the realm of the fantastic, are cropping up at an incredible rate.
In the world of Mutantech, perhaps 15% of the surviving Terran population will develop some form of mutant ability, and another 10% will develop some sort of Psychic abilities.
Zentraedi are far less inclined to acquire mutant abilities, owing to their already altered DNA, which is resistant to tampering. However, in the post-Rain of Death era, during the micronization process(in either direction) when the Zentraedi genetic structure is in a state of flux and hence vulnerable to the influence of mutagenic DNA, they can be affected. This applies to any Zentraedi or Protoculture Chamber exposed to the mutagenic Earth environment(and thus considered ‘contaminated’). Perhaps 6% of Zentraedi will acquire mutant abilities in this manner, and another 5% will acquire psionic abilities. By the time the Zentraedi begin having children, the second generation will show mutation rates similar to baseline humans.
Super Abilities in Mutantech are limited to Mutants, Experiments, Psionics, and Cybernetics/Bionics. The majority of superbeings willl be Mutants(of either psionic or super power bent). Experiments(regular and Supersoldier) and Imbued Heroes become more common as a result of government projects, though some Supersoldier programs actually PRE-date the arrival of Zor’s Battlefortress; the result of Cold War and Global Civil War ‘black projects’.

Empowered heroes can be fairly common after(or during) any of the Robotech Wars, as the ‘walking wounded’ seek to overcome their disabilities and survive in war’s aftermath....

Crazy Heroes(and villians) are particularly common after the Zentraedi Rain of Death as traumatized and deranged people try to cope with the sudden changes in their world.

Imbued Heroes are typically the result of Global Civil War supersoldier drug trials, or experimentation with Protoculture/Flower-of-Life-derived chemicals(the latter becomes especially common during the Invid Occupation/New Generation era).

Super Inventions are surprisingly common in the tech-heavy Mutantech setting, as mutant intellects and advanced alien technology combine with surprising(and sometimes disturbing) results. Many of these super-science devices are of limited use, being only capable of being used by their inventors, or embodying theories and construction that cannot be duplicated, but other devices herald bold new directions in Robotechnology, or other arcane sciences....

Eugenic Superbeings are very rare among Terran factions, due to limited knowledge of advanced genetic engineering, until later in the timeline, but the Robotech Masters, and certainly the Invid, will have the ability(if not the time and immediate resources) to assemble Eugenic superbeings. Rumors of the Masters possessing templates for super-specialized Zentraedi super-warriors persist, and the Invid, with their Genesis Pits, certainly try their hand at producing both ‘evolved’ sentients and advanced bio-weapons(especially after they arrive on Earth).

Gestaltic superbeings are rare, but very possible among human and animal mutants. The Robotech Masters and the Invid may well attempt to create psychic gestalts by networking the psyches of their clone Triumvirates and Hive Drones to create power pools.

Alien and Protoculture ‘Immortals’ are very rare, but possible....The most likely candidates are aliens like the Invid, or certain ancient Zentraedi....Human Immortals are unlilkely to discover or suspect their immortality until the Invid War or later, when evidence of their reduced aging becomes apparent.

Symbiotic Superbeings are the rarest of all; and are not likely to be encountered until late in the Sentinels or the New Generation, though it is possible that alien symbiotic organisms may arrive on Earth earlier in the holds of crashed Zentraedi ships, or may spontaneously evolve from germinating mutant Flower of Life(!)....



Superpowers and Protoculture in Mutantech
Because of the relationship between mutant Flower of Life/Protoculture DNA and the resultant mutant paratalents, there is the option of a strong interaction between FoL and mutant superbeings beyond the initial catalytic reaction and mutagenic ‘ignition’.
This could manifest itself in a variety of ways...

Protoculture Sensitivity---Any mutants with enhanced senses may be particularly attuned to Protoculture emissions, and able to detect and track active and inactive Protoculture(and Flower of Life to a lesser degree), in a manner related to their particular sensitivity(i.e., mutants with an enhanced sense of smell will detect a distinct odor, Enhanced Vision possessors can see a ‘ripple’ or ‘aura’ in the air, beings with advanced hearing may hear an unusual chiming or alien music, etc.)

Protoculture Dependence----Some Mutantech mutants(especially Imbued Heroes) may be dependent on consuming/assimilating Protoculture to keep their talents going, or just to stay alive. Others may be able to temporarily boost their abilities by infusing themselves with Protoculture, enhancing their powers. Thus, ‘Protoculture Vampires’ are possible, hunting for reflex reactors to drain, in order to survive(or at least to use their powers). Also, as an option, Crazy Heroes(and Villians) may decide that their powers come wholly from the presence of Protoculture, and do not work unless the person is in contact with, or near, Protoculture....
This dependence can extend to, or be satiated by, Flower of Life (Protoculture in its raw state) or Sekiton(Karbarrean Ur-Flower Peat), though (GM’s option) their powers may be operating at diminished capacity, or erratically.

Innate Protoculture Energy Signature----Conversely, mutants with particularly energetic super-abilities, like Energy Expulsion, Flight, Alter Form, or the like, show up as active Protoculture sources, when they’re using their powers, to the Invid, allowing the aliens to better track and target them. MINOR abilities seem less likely to arouse Invid alarm than Major abilities, being roughly equivalent to Protoculture-powered small arms or inactive Protoculture sources.
Psionics, even those initiated by Protoculture/FoL exposure, are NOT detectable by the Invid, since psychics’ abilities seem to powered by their own strength of will, as opposed to some sort of ongoing internal Protoculture reaction.

*Omegas---For the sake of discussion, I refer to those people closest to the Grand Cannon’s center, and survived the blast, as the Omegas....they are all tremendously powerful as mutants, but also horribly disfigured, mentally and physically, and would be a serious challenge for any of the other mutants further from the blast, except that most of the Omegas are quite mad, and seem content to languish around the Alaska region, building their own society in the remains of Grand Cannon support facilities, that seems part survivors’ club and part mutual delusion. After the first few heavily armed and armored expeditions and contact missions were torn apart, even the EBSIS mutant elite leave the Omegas alone.
By the time of the Invid War, most of the orginal Omegas have died out, but a few survivors might have regained enough of their sanity(or gained enough courage) to leave Alaska and journey south to take on the new waves of alien invaders, and become either heroes or new threats in their own right. Of course, by then, there may be REF mutants who can match them in power.
Omegas constitute less than 1% of the superpower-enabled mutant population. They can be considered Mega-Heroes/Villians with regard to powers, with a much higher amount of deformities/weaknesses/insanities.
So far, I only have two Omegas of note:T.R. Edwards and Admiral Hayes

**Alphas----’Alphas’ are hailed by the media as the ‘First of a New Breed’ when their metaphysical properties become self-evident. Alphas would be those further from the initial event blast, or who were generated by smaller protoculture explosions during the Rain of Death. Alphas are not as powerful as the Omegas, nor are disabilities and deformation(if any) as radical or debilitating, but they still suffer some damage and appearance change(20% chance), and they are a bit more powerful than the average mutant; either having more SDC/MDC or more abilities on average.
The disability factor is in part for drama...as Rick and Lisa are the first Alphas the RDF encounters, their injuries and mutations are at first seen as true disabilities...a good reason to have them removed from active duty. It’s only when the two, off-duty, take down another Alpha or three, likely mutants making trouble, that people begin taking another look at them and what they can really do....After that, they quickly become celebrities of a sort, being hailed in some quarters as the first and most powerful of the ‘new Humanity’....litte suspecting the existence of the Omegas.
Roughly 30% of the superpowered mutant population falls into the Alpha classification. Master and Major Psychics are often grouped in under the Alpha class.

***Gammas
Gammas are the mutants generated by the less powerful aftermath events of the Grand Cannon explosion, and by subsequent exposure to the DNA spewed forth by it(breathed or ingested it, rather than being irradiated by fall-out from Reflex systems), as well as by long term exposure to Protoculture-powered systems(Robotechnology), which may make them more susceptible to the altered mutagen. Gammas are also typical of second- and third-generation births, especially among service personnel who have worked with Robotechnology. Disfiguring mutations are less severe among Gammas(5% chance), but so is the overall power level and individual number pf powers available to them(typically 1 Major power or 1-3 minor abilities). If using Powers Unlimited Book 2, Gammas can be considered to fall into the Minor Hero class. Perhaps 70% of superpowered mutants fall into the Gamma category. Minor Psychics are often classified as Gamma-level metatalents.

[Razorwing]

In the setting I'm working on, there are still many different origins... but many are linked to these events. There is even an ultimate source for many powers... namely 3 ancient civilizations.

This is not uncommon in a lot of comics. While mutates like Spiderman and the Fantastic Four have vastly different origins, the source of their power... and those of mutants... is from ancient genetic manipulation by the Celestials. They left within the human genome the potential for super powers. In most people it has remained dormant, but add a little cosmic radiation or an irradiated spider bite and... well you know. In a small percentage, the potential is self-realized (either at birth or at puberty), resulting in the mutant population.

The setting I was working on is of a similar nature... the potential for super-powers is present within a large portion of the population, but remains dormant until certain events trigger it. And there have been a number of events that sees the number of Heroes (and Villains) rise. This doesn't mean that everyone's powers are linked to these events... many are not (especially those without actual super powers), but those events are what is noticed... not unlike how we mark of eras of time.

The first of these events is more or less lost to history... having happened 10,000+ years before the present. This was the age of Atlantis, Mu and Lemuria (my versions for this setting) and their great war with an ancient enemy. This is when these civilizations introduced super-powers, psionics and even magical aptitude into the human genome... legacies that would be carried for the rest of humanity's existence. While the war was won, their nations were shattered, scattering the survivors across the world and introducing their "powers" to the rest of humanity. This is the origin of most power categories that draw on super powers, psionics and even most magic (mystic study, mystic weapons and objects). Unfortunately, the war also drained much of the mystic power of the Earth, causing the latter group to more or less fade from history (save for myths and legends). The former two power categories didn't fare that well either as their power became diluted with each generation being a little less powerful than the one before. By the time of the earliest remembered ancient societies, most of the power from these ancient civilizations had long been forgotten... though every now and then a few individuals would develop such powers... leading to many myths and legends of Gods walking with Mortals.

It wouldn't be until the end of the Second World War that there would be a dramatic rise in the number of Supers. From the 1800s onward, the level of technology begins to develop rapidly... culminating in the detonation of the Atomic Bombs at the end of WW2. This had a significant effect on the world, in more ways than one. First, it showed that technology was a power to be reckoned with... and would lead to Experiments, Hardware and eventually Robotic/Bionic power categories. Second, the increased radiation would awaken the dormant genes that expressed super powers and psionic abilities, seeing the power categories of these individuals grow a little more common and powerful. Mega Heroes would also begin making a return, though their numbers are far fewer. This is also the time when Aliens begin to take notice of Earth... the Atomic tests being an indication that Earth has begun developing technology that could take them to the stars... thus the number of Alien visitors will begin to rise. Finally, the sudden deaths of so many people causes a flood of power into the Earth's ley lines, bringing their power levels up dramatically, and reawakening the mystic potential of many descendants of Atlantis... and reactivating many mystic weapons and objects who begin looking for hosts to wield them (not to mention drawing the attention of entities capable of bestowing mystic power on humans).

Even with this event though, the number of Supers remains fairly low... and most choose to remain out of the spot-light. Unsolved mysteries of criminal activities spike... as does vigilantism (heroes operating from the shadows). Most dismiss these as rumors, urban myths and tabloid fantasies... and those who do know these supers actually exist have a vested interest in keeping things quiet (sometimes because they hope to control the Supers... other times because they want to prevent mass panic that might result if the existence of Supers became public).

Then comes the latest event... the Nova Reactor. This reactor going critical unleashes massive amounts of energy... many times greater than that released by the Atomic Bombs at the end of WW2. Fortunately for the city, the majority of the blast was channeled skyward, preventing the city's destruction... but that also causes the energy to spread out over a far greater area. Additionally, the reactor was built over a ley line nexus... which also channeled some of the energy from the explosion... and caused a rift to open in the heart of the reactor. Like the Atomic Explosions, this event triggers a new population explosion of Supers... even if not all of them are directly affected by the event. The rise in powered "Novas" causes many organizations that knew of their existence to deploy robots, cyborgs and other "equalizers" to level the playing field. The population world wide has grown to the point when not even the general public can dismiss their presence anymore. Of course this happens gradually over the course of years... though a few individuals become public knowledge sooner than others.

The number of Supers or "Novas" increases dramatically... even if the event itself isn't directly responsible for the powers. Except for the first event (the deliberate creation of Supers by Atlantis, Mu and Lemuria) which only created the potential for super, mystic and psionic powers within humanity... the actual cause or activation of many powers is quite open.

As for the number of Supers world wide... the actual percentage is actually a lot lower than it was for the Ancients. Surprisingly (or is it intentional ) the number of supers active in the present setting is more or less equal to the number active during the war the Ancients had... and since the Nova incident was felt by that ancient adversary (due to the rift that was formed because of the explosion), it is a good thing there are enough supers to fight them, yes?