Necessary Evil

[HairyHeretic]

I'm planning on kicking on this campaign with my own group, but thought it might make a good online game too, so I thought I'd float the idea and see what kind of interest level there might be. Here's the introduction from the players part of the campaign book.

Setting the Stage
Of course it started on January 1st, 2001. The first ships appeared over every major city of the planet. There was no prelude and no demands. The aliens just attacked. They were an amphibious race that combined the nastiest aspects of sharks and crocodiles with an aggression matched by neither. They were the stuff of nightmares to most. The people called them “Fins.” New York became a war zone, Tokyo burned, and even sunken Atlantis was rubbled and its ruler—the legendary Aquarian—slain. Earth’s superheroes fought back immediately. The fins were terrifying, but no one ever doubted the heroes would win out in the end. After all, aliens had tried to invade Earth three times before, and earth’s defenders had always emerged triumphant. But the fins possessed advanced technology and savage bloodlust, so the losses were heavy. Earth began to worry.

The V’sori
Then came the turn of the tide the people had come to expect in these epic wars of aliens and supermen. Advance forces of another alien race arrived in earth orbit—the V’sori. They claimed to be the long-lost allies of Atlantis who had been searching for their missing comrades in arms for hundreds of years. During their quest, they had grown to become the defenders of the galaxy.

The V’sori claimed the Fins—or K’tharen as they called themselves—were rampaging mercenaries who ravaged world after world, but the V’sori had fought them before and would help Earth against them now. The world’s greatest superhero, Champion of Alpha Force, flew into space to meet them. He returned later and gave a stirring speech that called for humanity to hold out for just a bit longer. They did, though the final cost in blood was great.

When the V’sori arrived, the K’tharen fleet rose to fight them. The alien ships fought a titanic battle in space, but the V’sori won out, and even beamed the images of the fleeing Fins to earth. Humanity cheered their saviours and welcomed the advanced alien protectors with open arms. Anxious youths danced in the streets, proclaiming an era of peace and love. Less trusting commentators were booed and mocked in the national press. And some appeasement-minded governments even offered the aliens the figurative keys to their states.

Treachery
Of course that’s just what the aliens wanted all along. In every major city, heroes and world leaders joined together to welcome the aliens. The crowds cheered as the V’sori ships appeared overhead. Every superhero, sidekick, president, and even stars of sports, movies, and music attended these grand galas. The people of earth cheered as they watched their heroes greet the alien saviors on the news networks.
The cheers turned to screams when the V’sori ships opened fire on the gathered throngs. Moments afterward, the K’tharen warships returned—servants of the V’sori.

Champion was standing before the cameras when the V’sori hit. They knew his weakness—radiation—and targeted him with a concentrated beam of energy that turned the hero into a pulpy mass. Massive death rays then swept over the gathered throngs, slaying thousands of heroes, officials, generals, and innocents in moments. Within 30 minutes, the unthinkable had occurred. Earth’s greatest heroes were dead and its leaders vaporized.

The aliens had won.

Defeat
Soon, televisions and radios around the world carried an announcement from the admiral of the V’sori fleet. Earth was now under the control of the V’sori Empire. Resistance would be met with death. The V’sori Empire wanted Earth’s resources. They needed a way to study our defenses, and then take them out with a surprise strike of surgical precision.

They succeeded flawlessly. They claimed destroying more of our infrastructure and our people was counterproductive to their goal, gaining a new selfsufficient source of raw resources. The V’sori have placed Governors in charge of the former nations of Earth. The invaders and their Fin servants are now commonplace. There isn’t a single government left to oppose them, and they feel they have nothing to fear from Earth.

But they are wrong.

Earth’s heroes are dead, but there are other beings with extraordinary abilities on our planet. They are supervillains. And they are a necessary evil.

Omega
The year is 2004. The Earth has been under the control of the V’sori Empire for over two years. Humans with extraordinary abilities, commonly known as superpowers, have existed for nearly a century. Those who used their powers for altruistic reasons were known as superheroes. It is believed somewhere around 98% of them have been killed by the V’sori.

Various resistance movements have been quashed by the V’sori, but the most promising has only just begun to act—Omega. Omega was started by the greatest criminal mastermind of the modern age, Dr. Destruction. Its members are largely made up of former superhumans the world once called villains.

Dr. Destruction has said that only he is the rightful ruler of the earth—”not some alien scum from the back corners of the galaxy.” Omega is organized into cells, each of which is only aware of the other members of its own cell to prevent betrayal. Cells are contacted with their
mission information through blind drops, secret codes, and most commonly, encoded radio broadcasts.



Your mission is to drive the aliens off and defeat them. Anyone think this'd be fun?

[Muse]

oooh!  Nice!  May i play? 

[belsammael]

Supervillains as "heroes" instead of the regular heroes... ooh, I like this twist... and see possibilities; let's see if the villains can bond together long enough, or that their struggle will fail through internal strife... ;)

I like it.

[HairyHeretic]

If we get enough interest, sure. The rules are fairly simple, but I think I'd probably go freeform with it anyway ... I think that'd be more fun for a supers game. I can pass along the players guide (its a free download off the publishers site) so people can get an idea of powers, but pretty much anything goes. I've been trying to recreate my City of Villians characters, with assorted success.

[Jefepato]

Isn't this a Savage Worlds setting?  I have serious misgivings as to how superpowers could work in that system.

[HairyHeretic]

It is, yeah. I've not played any savage worlds before, but it seems ok to me. What issues would you have with it?

[Jefepato]

The system seems heavily geared to pulpy or gritty adventures.  I can't figure out how something like superpowers could possibly fit in -- pretty much every super I can think of is either way more powerful or way more skilled than even a high-end Savage Worlds character.

But I'll take a look at the rules after I get back home tonight, and see if maybe I was wrong.

[HairyHeretic]

Well, if the system doesn't fit, I'm happy to go freeform. I think the setting idea itself is pretty good.

[indarkestknight]

Freeform does tend to be preferable in such cases.

*grins* Well, personally, among my favorite graphic novels have been the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Villains United (because the Secret Six just rock).

A question, though. Given the power of the enemy, how powerful will each individual need to be?

[HairyHeretic]

The Necessary Evil campaign is laid out so that the PCs can start with either a few powerful abilities, or a larger number of less powerful ones. As the campaign goes on, they advance in power.

There are something like 18 scenarios that are critical to the overall plot, and then the GM can toss in a bunch more on top of that.

Now, that being said, we don't want to be starting off with Magneto and Superman level of power. I'm afraid i'm not a huge superhero comic reader (though I do like Th' Main Man  :D ), so it's tricky for me to suggest appropriate characters to measure against.

[Jefepato]

Freeform games aren't my favorite, but freeform is probably better than Savage Worlds for...well, almost anything.  Still, I'll take a look at the rules and see if they pleasantly surprise me.

[Jefepato]

I can pass along the players guide (its a free download off the publishers site) so people can get an idea of powers, but pretty much anything goes.

Can you provide a link?  Google isn't turning up anything marked "free" for me.

[Ajoxer]

This seems like more of a Mutants and Masterminds game- Possibly with the Villains Incorporated or whatever it is system. Definitely seems like that kind of game.

But the overall idea looks awesome.

[HairyHeretic]

Can you provide a link?  Google isn't turning up anything marked "free" for me.

Its buried on the site .. I'm afraid I can't remember exactly where, so I've just uploaded it to my own site for handiness.

http://www.bazza.com/klingon/exalted/

It's the pdf you'll see there.

If we do go freeform, this could still give you an idea of different fun powers to take.

[Jefepato]

Wow, those rules suck.  But they do give an idea of the power level of the setting (i.e. not very high).

If we play freeform, I'm in.

[HairyHeretic]

I'm good with freeform, and it seems like we have enough interest to make a start. We can bounce around character concepts and powers on here, til I have time to check the starting scenario and see about getting a board set up.

[Jefepato]

I'm thinking of a gadgeteer type.  Everyone loves gadgets.

[Ixy]

I'm certainly intrigued... if I could join in?  I used to read some Marvel comics, and my vision of the super-villain(ess) is pretty much skewed by images of the old Hellfire Club... y'know, the White Queen and the Black Queen?  mmmmm.

I like a couple of ideas...

First, the gritty world you've described could provide with a goodly supply of desperate-to-survive henchmen, but the logistics of having multiple NPCs would be iffy.  But certainly playing an Underworld-Boss bitch queen who uses her superhuman abilities for her own benefit might be fun.  Extravagant outfits, indulgent of all vices, and cold as death.

Second, there's the loner type... a furious, deadly war-monger who, in the new world, has only the talents for murder, mayhem, and spreading chaos like a cloud of misery wherever she goes.  Whereas this would have earned her infamy as a supervillain, her unpredictable nature would have kept her separate from alliances until desperation calls for it... murder for hire, demolition, riot-induction and mercenary muscle would be the name of her game.

Third would be a combination of the two.  A cold, calculating, exceptionally careful, mutant assassin... detached, a void for a heart where a cold fire burns, fueled only by predatory glee and the self-indulgent reward of always coming out ahead.  Mystique meets Deadpool, perhaps.

I'm leaning toward number three.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Criticisms?

[HairyHeretic]

Sounds like fun, and we've room enough for you.

Anyone else got a definate character concept in mind then?

[indarkestknight]

Hrm... No real preference, personally, Ixy.

I'm thinking contortionist, ala Ragdoll of the Secret Six, though, depending on the power level that hairyheretic wants to set, I may include other powers, so I'm open to suggestions.

[Valerian]

...can't resist supers game...

Would there be room for a somewhat less nasty villain?  I'm thinking a shapeshifter like Mystique, but not so ruthless.  She'd actually be more a con artist -- on a grand scale, given her abilities, but not a world-conquerer or sadist or even much given to violence.  It's just that there are so many people in the world who have more money than sense, and she can't resist the fun of separating them from some of those funds, or whatever else might strike her fancy...

[HairyHeretic]

Should be fine, but given the game setting, she may find her talents less on conning money out of people, and more in an espionage role.

For reference, the game intro will start with something of a prison break. I'm going to be fairly busy over the weekend, but I'd like to try and kick things off properly at the start of next week.

Have a think about your character, powers, weakness, and so on. The PDF I linked earlier should give you an idea of starting power levels (figure on about 20 points worth of powers), but we will be playing freeform, since that seems the preference.

[Amberghylles]

I really like the game concept and would be interested in joining.

I like freeform and while I haven't had a chance to check out the pdf yet, I do have a rough idea.  Frenzy is fast and agile, with the power to control his body's atomic structure to a limited degree.  Mainly he can phase to pass through solid objects or avoid attacks and he can accelerate the motion of his hands to cause them to vibrate at a high enough speed to saw through most materials.

Not sure if that's in line with the power level, but I'm sure he could be tweaked to work. 

[HairyHeretic]

That sounds do-able. I know there's a phasing power. The hands could come under a generic power melee attack of some kind.

[Celestial Goblin]

Wicked cool!
Are we using the Savage World ruleset like in the original?