Hey. I had a couple questions regarding the game idea that you had mentioned last Friday at group. Because it's a unique world setting there's a few things I would like to clear up so that I can get a better picture and view of what influences and things would effect my character and his background. I've got a rough idea of what makes him, but I'd like to further define it before I send it along to ya.
World history is much the same as we remember it. Super Powers have existed since the beginning of time in one form or another. In the modern age these things began in the early 1900’s with World War I. Those events resparked the emergence of superior beings. World War II involved super heroes on both sides, despite that it ended in much the same way as our world (ie Armies fought armies, Super Beings fought Super Beings). 50’s & 60’s had the original emergence of crime fighter. The next generation brought us the Naturals. The Naturals started the super science and started having the super children of the 80’s. By the late 90s / 2000s super heroes were active.
The Naturals: These are people who are simply better than at doing what they do that any normal person has a right to be. These people are the upper class of society. They’re often sport stars, scientists, business men, explorers and the like. There is a much bigger difference between the “haves and have-not’s” in this world than our own. While they’re clearly better than normal people, they can’t do anything we could not. I can kick a football, they can kick a football for a 75 yard field goal (making it a different sport than what you’re used to). They’re often responsible for the super-science of the day, often times stuff that doesn’t make it to the “street”. They started showing up after World War II. It is there work, their genes that lead to the super’s of that came after them.
The Supers: These are what most of us think of when we talk Super-Heroes. They have powers beyond the kin of mortal men. They vary in power level, in origin, in abilities, they’re sort of a catch all. While they first appeared after the first World war, They’re more commonly considered a creation of the 80’s and 90’s. General consensus is that they’re the obvious evolution of the Naturals. This is the category that our players are going to be in.
The Planetarys: These are the SuperMan. They’re the people who can influence the development of the planet if allowed. They seem to appear roughly every 1000 years, then disappear. Nobody seems to know why. We are current in a high point of Planetarys.
The Current "State" of Super-Powered Beings in the United States
1.) How does the public view super-powered beings and costumed heroes?
As Heroes. The original super beings come out of a World War II era. They were instrumental on both sides of the war. As such American’s declared those with super abilities to be heroes. This lead to the crime fighters of the 50’s. They were often people who were too young to join during the war. With the war won these young men and women turned towards the home front. They were often colorful heroic and inspiring. However, in the early 60’s organized crime took it to the next level. there were some very high profile murders of the crime fighters and there families. Those who did survive did so by having secret identities. This created an acceptance/assumption that those who fight crime should have a secret identity, a legacy that last in the modern era. Through the 60s/70s/80s there were still a handful of superhero / crime fighters but must were Naturals or Supers with few spectacular powers. However this lull wouldn’t last, as of the 80’s there has been a big influx in both New York and California. It is starting to create the equivalent of “The Mutant Problem” to those regions. Beginning in the late 90’s and extending to current there has begun to be a backlash against the Naturals as well, the average man doesn’t have a flying car but if you look at a news report out of LA you can see a rich man flying one.
2.) How common are they throughout the US? 1 per major State? 5 per State? 1 per major City?
New York and California have dozens. These are the home of the Super Beings. However there are about a dozen to two dozen supers (of varying powers) out of Texas, Michigan, Illinois, D.C. and Washington State. Naturals are equally distributed across the US, likely in the hundreds per state. In regards to the Planetarys the US has 3, Russia 1, China 1, Japan 1, Germany 1, England 1, Turkey* 1. The remainder are extraterritorial, or not of the earth.
3.) Do powers run the gamut of most unique origins? Are they more centered to mutants? Experiments? Some other theme?
Essentially All Origins exist. Some were more “popular” than others during certain eras. Up until the late 80’s all super powers were genetic. However during the 70’s & 80’s the Naturals, and Super Brains started to develop super-tech. So in the Modern 2015 world we still have born mutants and genetically altered humans, however Robots and Cyborgs are available and have been active for a few years. Aliens are rare but known to exist. Magic is believed to be super-powers that superstitious folks can’t understand (They’re wrong, magic is real and separate)
4.) What about "Mega" powered Super Heroes (or Villains)? I.e. power levels on par with Superman, Silver Surfer, Shazam, Dr. Manhattan... you get the idea.
Yes. There are roughly a dozen “Planetary Class” beings on the earth at this time.
5.) Are there any social idioms that should be considered in regards to fantastic super-powered origins? For example, if there have been multiple super-powered heroes that have come as the result of being intergalactic life-forms from other planets/galaxies, does America now view NASA and exploration of space with disdain and/or embrace it moreso? Have there been strange almost "cult groups" that wish to be taken aboard alien ships or whatever (we kinda get some of that even in real life). You get the idea, sorta coincides with #1.
Socially there is a degree of “Hero Worship”. They’re considered celebrities in most places. However like any celebrities there are admirers who take it too far, and the obvious backlash to it. People with fantastic powers are kind of expected to travel to New York or Los Angeles. Each has a school for young people with powers, as well as a large organization for adults. Aliens are known to exist, however there has never been a full on alien invasion. We don’t have embassies with alien worlds. Space Travel is something that is viewed with a combination of Awe and Envy. They can make a space ship that can travel to the moon in an hour but the average person still has to fly for 6 hours to get across country. There are several places were faster than light travel is being developed by some naturals/supers (perhaps a nice place for some bad men to do some shopping)
6.) Stepping outside of the U.S. what about the rest of the world?
Superbeings and Naturals seem to be a Northern Hemisphere phenomenon. Most historians point to the weapons of mass destruction created during the first World War to be the jump start of both Naturals and Super Beings. Since most of the action took place in Europe that’s where a lot of it started. However Europe lost a lot of its young men with that potential while the US didn’t. As such the US still out numbers the rest of the world in Supers 3 to 1. South America and Africa are unfortunately under represented all together, leading to exploitation of their people.
7.) Sticking with a more global approach, are there any super-powered beings that control the interests of a country? As a governor, president, government representative or even despotic warlord from a third world country that would be known or prominent?
There is a planetary class being who has taken over a part of south eastern Turkey. He’s area is officially recognized as an independent nation, and a sponsor of terrorism. Unusual for that part of the world they have a significant number of Supers. Some believe he’s capable of creating them, since they never seem to run out. Several places in South America, Africa, and South East Asia are in constant civil war between different tribes/groups of naturals/supers, who are all too often natives of another part of the world. Other than that the world’s governments are often stacked with Naturals to one degree to another. Elite Natural Special Forces are common throughout the world. Supers are rarely militarized and those who are, rarely have fantastic powers (it’s difficult to put someone who can blow up a tank with eye beams through basic training). However some speculate that within the next generation that could change.
8.) Are there any super-powered groups known to be global? Justice League-esque.
One of the two groups out of New York are often asked to assist with NATO/UN actions. they have protocols for an extra-terrestrial event. While there has never been an invasion there was a false alarm in the early 2000’s. They were instrumental in stopping the complete fall of the Turkish government.
9.) Are there any events that have transpired, on national or global scale that have shaped the course of history involving super-powered beings? Like how the terrorist events of 9-11 shaped history for the U.S.
Despite the presence of Naturals and Supers and a Few Planetarys the history of human events fairly well parallels our own. WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Cold War, War on Terror all these things happened. WWI happened as we remember it. WWII introduced Supers on all sides, enough die to cause a super-still in the 50’s&60’s. Vietnam was the rise of the Naturals. Cold War brings us the Super-Naturals, which gets shortened to Supers to remove the magical/religious connotation. The generation after the Cold War lack a conflict to funnel them into, this beings the era of Super Heroes. The Turkish civil war of 2002 was the largest super conflict since WWII. However 2015 appears to be the “Year of the Super Villian”
