Post by dorkknight23 on Jun 6, 2014 14:10:52 GMT -5
Age of Mutants
High Fantasy meets Post-Apocalyptic Marvel Universe
Ancient scholars speak of a Great War between Man and Mutant, though many of the details have been lost to history and become shadowed in myth. The first mutants emerged sporadically, the Akkaban warriors speak of Lord Apocalypse as having lived for thousands of years before the Great War, but what is known is that man once ruled the world until the spark of Mutantkind grew large enough to challenge humanity's flame. Mankind grew fearful, and turned to their great magics to destroy the mutants. Some mutants retaliated, leading the humans to escalate, and soon the Great War raged between both.
This was an age of great heroes who's legends are still preserved by storytellers. There are local variations and permutations from village to village, popular ones include an oftentimes inhuman and often tragic or malicious trickster called The Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, or The Avengers, who often battled grotesque demons or corrupt gods (in fact, some of the gods were said to walk among them, like Hercules and the mighty Thor). Some say the heroes survived the Great War and tried to stoke the embers of civilizations, others say they were all killed in the crossfire between man and mutant, they were, however, believed to be often great warriors and powerful wizards.
Mutantkind emerged the victor, turning many humans into slaves, and the rulers of the last pockets of civilizations on the ruined Earth (the island Genosha is a faraway kingdom supposedly ruled by humans, but the mutants dismiss this as some sort of human myth). Most mutant communities are ostensibly meritocracies, but political appointments are often grounded in various types of favoritism (especially towards mutants and against humans, and favoring human-looking mutants over non-human looking ones,) or those who can muster the largest army. Naturally, while many mutants are the children of one or more mutants, many more are born into human slave pairings, so exterior organizations is required to regulate and educate them (after taking them from their parents, of course). Thus the three Great Houses emerged: House Xavier, House Magnus, and House Hellfire. House Xavier emphasizes asceticism, education, and self-control, they operate monastery-like schools where young mutants learn to control their gifts. They speak of the great scions of their house, the legendary X-Men, preservers of civilization and guardians of the mutant community, but they are by far the weakest of the three houses in terms of influence (although they are historically strong near Westchester County). House Magnus was inspired by the great hero Magneto, who led the Brotherhood to victory against the humans and their dark magics. They have infiltrated both the militaries of many fiefdoms and the Church of the Phoenix, where they try to advance both their political and religious ambitions, and protect mutantkind from exterior threats. House Hellfire's scions are often the most ambitious of the three houses, they choose very selectively and groom their charges for greatness, producing the most adept politicians and merchants, they have multiple, often conflicting, irons in the proverbial fire. All of the three Houses are publically allies, but privately spend more of their time stabbing each other in their collective backs than they do helping each other.
The Island of Manhattan was once a center of human civilization, and some of their great towers have been preserved, it is now ruled by Duke Magnus XXV, a blood descendant of the great Magneto himself. He commands a stretch of territory expanding through the lands of Westchester and as far north as the port town of Buffalo, most of the land has been converted to farmland. These areas are maintained by his Warlords (the term is gender neutral and includes both male and female leaders,) though most of them spend more time squabbling in the capitol and defending their holdings from border skirmishes to keep them from gathering too many people. The further one gets from Manhattan, the more untamed land is claimed by bandit-princes or minor warlords alongside the ruins of a once great human civilization. Much of the territory to the south (although nobody knows exactly how much) is claimed by the Akkaban Raiders, who are quick to dispatch those who deny the fitness of their Lord Apocalypse.
Advanced technology and super-science still exist, but they are entirely the purview of “wizards,” who rely on techniques researched by the ancients of yore and passed down between master and apprentice. There are also legitimate spellcasters who traffic in the occult secrets through extradimensional tutors like the Vishanti or Mephisto, most mutants find it not worth their time (although powerful mutant arcanists do exist in either of these traditions, both practices are lumped together as “witchcraft” and deemed heretical by the Church of the Phoenix, some practicioners of one end up picking up knowledge of the other, often by accident). Most warlords still have a wizard secretly on staff, the edge one can grant against an enemy is often invaluable.
There are a plurality of religions that man and mutant both find comfort in. The Church of the Phoenix is the dominant social force, which believes in the Phoenix Force is the summation of all life in the universe, which acts through a single Host who manifests the flaming Phoenix Effect and has phenomenal powers. The Phoenix has been missing for over a century, and the Church's Council of Cardinals has made its efforts to try and enact the will of the Phoenix (although this is often easier said than done). There are a score of lesser gods and cults of fluctuating degrees of influence, the gods of Asgard are most popular with worshippers believe they once walked the world during the Great Wars and will return one day to lead the world into a new Golden Age, but there are many other fractuous lesser gods fighting for power as well. Both the Church and the worshippers of Apocalypse among the Akkabans allow the practice of other faiths, as long as the Phoenix and Apocalypse are granted primacy (this leads to interesting cross-polination of myths, like Thor's hammer Mjolnir supposedly being blessed by Apocalypse so that only the strongest individual may lift it, or the Phoenix holding gods like Thor, Neptune, and Hercules as “enlightened Host-like beings.”) The relics of older religions have been found to hold great power in those who believe in their forgotten sources of power. The Cult of Neptune is also favored due to relations with the Atlanteans. Dark cults exist dedicated to Mephisto and the Lords of Hell or Shuma-Gorath, they thrive best either in extreme seclusion or by hiding in plain sight. The Church of the Phoenix and the faith of Apocalypse end up clashing most strongly and frequently, although there are many other minor skirmishes between other powers and their worshippers.
There is little in the way of a strong political force, outside of the court of Duke Magnus most warlords control only a small territory, and many of them have to make severe moral sacrifices to maintain their grip. Thousands of miles (although this account may be inaccurate) are held by the Akkaban raiders dedicated to their absent Lord Apocalypse (who is said to be immortal, and waiting to return to lead his army of Fittest warriors into battle). They do not shy away from the use of wizardry to make themselves “more fit” in the image of the one they call En Sabah Nur, a practice that makes them more technologically advanced despite their nomadic lifestyle. The oceans are home to the Atlanteans, who regularly trade with Manhattan and Duke Magnus, although relations have periods of great strain, especially given the amount of naval traffic both sides engage in. Duke Magnus himself has an Atlantean mutant wife, named Amphrite, as an attempt to reinforce alliances with the Atlanteans, but the Atlanteans remain chilly. Subterannea has been conquered by the Moloid Empire, ruled by a powerful and ancient wizard known as the Mole Man, contact with the surface is sporadic and usually punctuated by extreme violence. Human rights are a contentious issue as well, with radicals within House Xavier speaking most openly about human equality (a prospect the other Houses consider close to treasonous).
These chaotic times are a ripe one for ambitious adventures to earn wealth, prestige, and possibly powerful ancient artifacts by exploring the ancient ruins of civilization or working for patrons. You are a band of such adventurers, a loose assemblage of mercenaries and sell-swords who crawl through dungeons, fight the dangers within, and hopefully leave with your lives and your souls intact.
In short, this is a fantasy game set in a post-apocalyptic Marvel Universe ruled by mutants. Tone is sort of high fantasy with a potential grim and gritty undertone. 30 stones+max 10 in challenges.
Crunchy Stuff:
Human (3 stone challenge) will be subject to extreme prejudice in most territories. Humans cannot have non-Intelligence abilities above 3, the Reflexive Dodge or Toughness modifiers above (+2), and most other power-based actions and modifiers are banned (GM discretion, I'll permit things on a case-by-case basis. Mental Defense and Good Luck are more justifiable than, say, and access to Wizardry could be used to justify limited equipment or enhancements based on your AN.) I am not disallowing human characters, but keep in mind the challenges.
Mutates is a catchall term for humans who have been alternatively cursed or blessed through magic. Being a known mutate or Wizard is a 1 stone challenge, you can't hold political office or be a member of the Church of the Phoenix but generally people respect their power enough to do anything else but discriminate against them. (Mutant Wizards can also gain this 1 stone challenge.)
Mutant is no longer a challenge, Non-Human Appearance is rated instead from 1-2 stone challenge instead of 2-4, 1 representing humanoid forms with non-standard hair or skin color or mutants who can appear human, where 2 represents extreme non-human forms that cannot be hidden.
Robots may exist, but PM me to discuss to let me approve your concept before you make a CAD.
Other non-human things? PM me first and I'll try and work it out.
Being Atlantean offer no challenge stones on its own (although their inability to stay on land for prolonged periods of time is either worth a 3 stone challenge or require a custom solution to this weakness that is a 1 stone challenge Requires Power/Equipment to Survive On Land). Atlantean mutants also do not receive any additional challenge stones for being mutants. Atlanteans may have Strength in excess of 3 (4-5 is normal) and need to have both “Survive Deep Sea Pressures” and “Breathe Underwater.”
Wealth is renamed Resources, representing the amount of stuff you could gather or trade for, a barter-based Net Worth.
The Technology action is not allowed, neither is Inventing or Genetic Engineering. They're replaced by the Wizardry Action. Ninja however, is, under select background circumstances. Psycho-Centric Power Template is not very sensical in this setting, but I'm not disallowing it, I just don't want to see it unless it really fits your character concept.
New Action: Wizardry
Cost= CL+6
Options: +2 to Cost Level for Intelligence bonus
This action allows you to determine any advanced technology you discover (like the Technology action normally would). It also allows the crafting of technology items and the manipulation of creatures (like the Inventing or Genetic Engineering actions), using the techniques of all the old masters of the ancient age. Practice of Wizardry is considered heretical by the Church of the Phoenix, so most wizards operate in seclusion or some degree of secrecy about their techniques.
Specialties might include things focused in your character's super-scientific repertoire, things like, but absolutely not limited to: Pym Particles, Repulsors, Anti-Gravity, Laser Weaponry, Stilt Legs/Tentacles, Pumpkin Bombs.
Looking for 4ish players, PM me with comments, questions, whatever.
High Fantasy meets Post-Apocalyptic Marvel Universe
Ancient scholars speak of a Great War between Man and Mutant, though many of the details have been lost to history and become shadowed in myth. The first mutants emerged sporadically, the Akkaban warriors speak of Lord Apocalypse as having lived for thousands of years before the Great War, but what is known is that man once ruled the world until the spark of Mutantkind grew large enough to challenge humanity's flame. Mankind grew fearful, and turned to their great magics to destroy the mutants. Some mutants retaliated, leading the humans to escalate, and soon the Great War raged between both.
This was an age of great heroes who's legends are still preserved by storytellers. There are local variations and permutations from village to village, popular ones include an oftentimes inhuman and often tragic or malicious trickster called The Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, or The Avengers, who often battled grotesque demons or corrupt gods (in fact, some of the gods were said to walk among them, like Hercules and the mighty Thor). Some say the heroes survived the Great War and tried to stoke the embers of civilizations, others say they were all killed in the crossfire between man and mutant, they were, however, believed to be often great warriors and powerful wizards.
Mutantkind emerged the victor, turning many humans into slaves, and the rulers of the last pockets of civilizations on the ruined Earth (the island Genosha is a faraway kingdom supposedly ruled by humans, but the mutants dismiss this as some sort of human myth). Most mutant communities are ostensibly meritocracies, but political appointments are often grounded in various types of favoritism (especially towards mutants and against humans, and favoring human-looking mutants over non-human looking ones,) or those who can muster the largest army. Naturally, while many mutants are the children of one or more mutants, many more are born into human slave pairings, so exterior organizations is required to regulate and educate them (after taking them from their parents, of course). Thus the three Great Houses emerged: House Xavier, House Magnus, and House Hellfire. House Xavier emphasizes asceticism, education, and self-control, they operate monastery-like schools where young mutants learn to control their gifts. They speak of the great scions of their house, the legendary X-Men, preservers of civilization and guardians of the mutant community, but they are by far the weakest of the three houses in terms of influence (although they are historically strong near Westchester County). House Magnus was inspired by the great hero Magneto, who led the Brotherhood to victory against the humans and their dark magics. They have infiltrated both the militaries of many fiefdoms and the Church of the Phoenix, where they try to advance both their political and religious ambitions, and protect mutantkind from exterior threats. House Hellfire's scions are often the most ambitious of the three houses, they choose very selectively and groom their charges for greatness, producing the most adept politicians and merchants, they have multiple, often conflicting, irons in the proverbial fire. All of the three Houses are publically allies, but privately spend more of their time stabbing each other in their collective backs than they do helping each other.
The Island of Manhattan was once a center of human civilization, and some of their great towers have been preserved, it is now ruled by Duke Magnus XXV, a blood descendant of the great Magneto himself. He commands a stretch of territory expanding through the lands of Westchester and as far north as the port town of Buffalo, most of the land has been converted to farmland. These areas are maintained by his Warlords (the term is gender neutral and includes both male and female leaders,) though most of them spend more time squabbling in the capitol and defending their holdings from border skirmishes to keep them from gathering too many people. The further one gets from Manhattan, the more untamed land is claimed by bandit-princes or minor warlords alongside the ruins of a once great human civilization. Much of the territory to the south (although nobody knows exactly how much) is claimed by the Akkaban Raiders, who are quick to dispatch those who deny the fitness of their Lord Apocalypse.
Advanced technology and super-science still exist, but they are entirely the purview of “wizards,” who rely on techniques researched by the ancients of yore and passed down between master and apprentice. There are also legitimate spellcasters who traffic in the occult secrets through extradimensional tutors like the Vishanti or Mephisto, most mutants find it not worth their time (although powerful mutant arcanists do exist in either of these traditions, both practices are lumped together as “witchcraft” and deemed heretical by the Church of the Phoenix, some practicioners of one end up picking up knowledge of the other, often by accident). Most warlords still have a wizard secretly on staff, the edge one can grant against an enemy is often invaluable.
There are a plurality of religions that man and mutant both find comfort in. The Church of the Phoenix is the dominant social force, which believes in the Phoenix Force is the summation of all life in the universe, which acts through a single Host who manifests the flaming Phoenix Effect and has phenomenal powers. The Phoenix has been missing for over a century, and the Church's Council of Cardinals has made its efforts to try and enact the will of the Phoenix (although this is often easier said than done). There are a score of lesser gods and cults of fluctuating degrees of influence, the gods of Asgard are most popular with worshippers believe they once walked the world during the Great Wars and will return one day to lead the world into a new Golden Age, but there are many other fractuous lesser gods fighting for power as well. Both the Church and the worshippers of Apocalypse among the Akkabans allow the practice of other faiths, as long as the Phoenix and Apocalypse are granted primacy (this leads to interesting cross-polination of myths, like Thor's hammer Mjolnir supposedly being blessed by Apocalypse so that only the strongest individual may lift it, or the Phoenix holding gods like Thor, Neptune, and Hercules as “enlightened Host-like beings.”) The relics of older religions have been found to hold great power in those who believe in their forgotten sources of power. The Cult of Neptune is also favored due to relations with the Atlanteans. Dark cults exist dedicated to Mephisto and the Lords of Hell or Shuma-Gorath, they thrive best either in extreme seclusion or by hiding in plain sight. The Church of the Phoenix and the faith of Apocalypse end up clashing most strongly and frequently, although there are many other minor skirmishes between other powers and their worshippers.
There is little in the way of a strong political force, outside of the court of Duke Magnus most warlords control only a small territory, and many of them have to make severe moral sacrifices to maintain their grip. Thousands of miles (although this account may be inaccurate) are held by the Akkaban raiders dedicated to their absent Lord Apocalypse (who is said to be immortal, and waiting to return to lead his army of Fittest warriors into battle). They do not shy away from the use of wizardry to make themselves “more fit” in the image of the one they call En Sabah Nur, a practice that makes them more technologically advanced despite their nomadic lifestyle. The oceans are home to the Atlanteans, who regularly trade with Manhattan and Duke Magnus, although relations have periods of great strain, especially given the amount of naval traffic both sides engage in. Duke Magnus himself has an Atlantean mutant wife, named Amphrite, as an attempt to reinforce alliances with the Atlanteans, but the Atlanteans remain chilly. Subterannea has been conquered by the Moloid Empire, ruled by a powerful and ancient wizard known as the Mole Man, contact with the surface is sporadic and usually punctuated by extreme violence. Human rights are a contentious issue as well, with radicals within House Xavier speaking most openly about human equality (a prospect the other Houses consider close to treasonous).
These chaotic times are a ripe one for ambitious adventures to earn wealth, prestige, and possibly powerful ancient artifacts by exploring the ancient ruins of civilization or working for patrons. You are a band of such adventurers, a loose assemblage of mercenaries and sell-swords who crawl through dungeons, fight the dangers within, and hopefully leave with your lives and your souls intact.
In short, this is a fantasy game set in a post-apocalyptic Marvel Universe ruled by mutants. Tone is sort of high fantasy with a potential grim and gritty undertone. 30 stones+max 10 in challenges.
Crunchy Stuff:
Human (3 stone challenge) will be subject to extreme prejudice in most territories. Humans cannot have non-Intelligence abilities above 3, the Reflexive Dodge or Toughness modifiers above (+2), and most other power-based actions and modifiers are banned (GM discretion, I'll permit things on a case-by-case basis. Mental Defense and Good Luck are more justifiable than, say, and access to Wizardry could be used to justify limited equipment or enhancements based on your AN.) I am not disallowing human characters, but keep in mind the challenges.
Mutates is a catchall term for humans who have been alternatively cursed or blessed through magic. Being a known mutate or Wizard is a 1 stone challenge, you can't hold political office or be a member of the Church of the Phoenix but generally people respect their power enough to do anything else but discriminate against them. (Mutant Wizards can also gain this 1 stone challenge.)
Mutant is no longer a challenge, Non-Human Appearance is rated instead from 1-2 stone challenge instead of 2-4, 1 representing humanoid forms with non-standard hair or skin color or mutants who can appear human, where 2 represents extreme non-human forms that cannot be hidden.
Robots may exist, but PM me to discuss to let me approve your concept before you make a CAD.
Other non-human things? PM me first and I'll try and work it out.
Being Atlantean offer no challenge stones on its own (although their inability to stay on land for prolonged periods of time is either worth a 3 stone challenge or require a custom solution to this weakness that is a 1 stone challenge Requires Power/Equipment to Survive On Land). Atlantean mutants also do not receive any additional challenge stones for being mutants. Atlanteans may have Strength in excess of 3 (4-5 is normal) and need to have both “Survive Deep Sea Pressures” and “Breathe Underwater.”
Wealth is renamed Resources, representing the amount of stuff you could gather or trade for, a barter-based Net Worth.
The Technology action is not allowed, neither is Inventing or Genetic Engineering. They're replaced by the Wizardry Action. Ninja however, is, under select background circumstances. Psycho-Centric Power Template is not very sensical in this setting, but I'm not disallowing it, I just don't want to see it unless it really fits your character concept.
New Action: Wizardry
Cost= CL+6
Options: +2 to Cost Level for Intelligence bonus
This action allows you to determine any advanced technology you discover (like the Technology action normally would). It also allows the crafting of technology items and the manipulation of creatures (like the Inventing or Genetic Engineering actions), using the techniques of all the old masters of the ancient age. Practice of Wizardry is considered heretical by the Church of the Phoenix, so most wizards operate in seclusion or some degree of secrecy about their techniques.
Specialties might include things focused in your character's super-scientific repertoire, things like, but absolutely not limited to: Pym Particles, Repulsors, Anti-Gravity, Laser Weaponry, Stilt Legs/Tentacles, Pumpkin Bombs.
Looking for 4ish players, PM me with comments, questions, whatever.
