New Campaign- Dawning Age

[i3ullseye]

Ok, our5 current campaign is winding down, and we need soemone else to take over the sessions. My current GM is running a great campaign, and I offerred to run the exact same characters in the exact same locale, and just have my PC bow out and let him actually play one of his central PCs. That or I was going to go back to my campaign in the New York area versus the Homeland Security forces.

But for various reasons neither idea is accepted by teh group as a whole. So I have decided to follow through with my initial campaign idea, and to forward the timeline a bit to alter the general play style a bit. I also integrated our current campaign into the mix to come up with a unique story that wraps around both and propels them forward to a new future.

Now I hope my other GM might jump back to this particular world when he restarts, but i figured I would post the initial concept document here for all to see. Now what WOULD be very cool is if other groups are looking for a unique campaign idea, maybe you jump into this world also, pick a sector, and post the results here for others to see.

I have not presented this to any of my group yet, but a few of them to read and post here, so they may get a bit of advance viewing if they are on the ball and read the forums.

So without further ado......

[i3ullseye]

Escalation to War:

In the year 2003 the United States government started the single largest mobilization against super powered beings in the history of earth. Most alarmingly was the speed and stealth with which the apprehensions and detainments took place. In under one weeks time almost the entire population of super powered beings in New York City, ground zero for hero activity on planet Earth, were swiftly captured, restrained, and initial stages of deportation to a specialized holding facility were well underway.

Only the intervention of a small group of relatively unknown heroes prevented the operation from being a total success. For the first time the move toward isolating normal humans form their non-mundane peers encompassed almost all powered individuals and not just mutants. The few freedom fighters who worked so diligently to free the other supers would go down in history as the first martyrs to the cause of herodom… a cause that was eventually doomed to fail.

After the events in Now York City mobilization started among the hero and villain groups of New York and its surrounding areas. They systematically decentralized their efforts in order to prevent single location actions from eliminating the majority of them ever again. To this end both heroes and villains took up residence in other major metropolitan areas across the continent. The most prominent became the 7 centers of super activity on the globe. Each a community unto itself, but ultimately still too focused to prevent eventual disaster.

The Seven Protectorates:

The first of the areas to populate was St. Louis, with the introduction of the central Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, and the soon followed increased presence of Hydra and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, once again united in a dire cause. Under the guidance of Hank McCoy and Kitty Pryde, the new Xavier institute became a second haven for mutants, but the soon to erupt protests and riots were to prevent it from flourishing to the fullest of its potential.

Second was the Oakland and San Francisco bay area. The West Coast Avengers were reinstated and this area became another center for super activities. The Hulk, fully in command of his Banner intellect, took leadership of this division and even openly recruited the likes of Venom. Though their methods were at times extreme, they were the strongest group to be present and no major enemies directly opposed them in great numbers.

Third was the move of Stark industries to the Vancouver/Seattle/Portland coastline. Not a super powered individual, Stark and his companies drew much of the development and security forces out of the east coast area, further adding to the strained climate in New York and the nations Capitol.

Fourth area to build up was the Tampa Bay area, under the likes of the Hellfire Club reunited. No major hero groups opposed them and the entire tri state peninsula area of SE America soon fell almost completely under their anonymous control.

Fifth was the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo northern coastline. The Great Lakes Avengers were reformed and a vast majority of the street level heroes and villains of New York migrated here by way of Buffalo. Cloak and Power Man took the reigns of control, with their headquarters in Toledo Ohio, central to all the cities they patrolled. Though they were far less powerful than the full scale groups organizing elsewhere, their opponents were often little more than street thugs and ruffians. But this in itself also proved to be the key to their ultimate demise.

Sixth of the major centers was Mexico City, where one of the heroes of the first plot in New York relocates to take charge of the massive population of Spanish and Bi-Lingual heroes and villains. Crime was certainly rampant, and only the prestige of his action in New York allowed the Gecko to form any form of cohesive unit to battle the tidal wave of unchecked super crime from destroying the very city itself.

With New York remaining a power base (2nd largest after Mexico City) the few heroes who fought to defend lady liberty were soon to be unable to cope with even the organized crime and gang violence that escalated in the absence of a strong deterrent. Each day a new story on the news found a way to twist this fact to illustrate how the super humans were either the root of this problem (each time a super villain went unabated), or had flatly decided to desert the city, and hence were not much for holding their word as its defenders.

The Mystical menace:

Nowhere was the confrontation more direct however than the first few months in St Louis. With the rampage over mutant kind never fully removed from the minds of America the battle raged on. It was the first city to implement the nullifier rounds (secretly developed by Hydra) that would become instrumental in the battles to come. But it seemed a new element was rearing its head in these early days, and that was of a magical bent.

It was by the magical aid of Stephen Strange in New York that the heroes had overcome great adversity and almost certain defeat, though few at that time guessed at the enormity of the events to unfold. In St Louis the forces of the arcane were far from beneficial however, as at least 1 major incident recorded places a magician of considerably power at the center of a plot that would have been detrimental to mutants world wide if left unchecked. Even the trial of the original defenders of New York had an element of mysticism with the sudden disappearance of key legal officials and the seeming ritualistic slayings of their families that occurred and was sealed police evidence up until the disclosure of the year 2011.

Global Agenda:

As the year 2006 approached times were most difficult in the great lakes area. Many of the smaller refugees from European nations were migrating to this area, and the few heroes who were there were having a hard time keeping things from boiling over. The United Nations almost unanimously agreed that actions of the Homeland Security, and various local police forces in America, were abhorrent and should be avoided at all cost. Yet the measure passed with nearly 96% of delegates from member nations signing their approval of the “Provision for the Preservation of Sapiens” resolution, and all member nations were to implement this as law. The boon for Stark Industries was immense as they were the only company allowed free trade access to all member nations on the good name of their founder and CEO Anthony Stark.

And then things came to a head…….

[i3ullseye]

Street Violence:

In the spring of 2007 a massive riot in the Detroit area took the lives of Power Man and Tandy Bowen (Dazzler) as the street level weaponry of the common thugs had proved to be too much of a match for the lower powered heroes defending the cities. In a rampage Cloak openly killed gang members on a week long spree of violence that put the entire career of Frank Castle to shame. And a good portion of it was caught on video cameras. Most major police forces were now equipped with power neutralizer bullets and advanced Homeland Security model powered armors. The war had begun.

As the fighting escalated and spread the violence touched all the major super centers. For 3 years the battles raged, and most known heroes and villains formed a hesitant truce, as they huddles together to fight against an unstoppable onslaught of hi technology assailants. With the sales of the equipment through the United Nations other countries were soon to follow. By the end of the decade the fatalities on BOTH sides were too numerable to count. Earth had become a world without heroes.

Major sections of city were decimated, and the once strong centralized security forces fell into chaos as they no longer had a direct enemy to oppose. As the rebuilding started to take place the same technology that was used to stop the super ‘menace’ was being used by the new breed of thugs to rule the streets. Not since the dark ages, or the fall of Rome, had such a decay of the basic fiber of civilization occurred. Due to the ever increasing cost of technology and hardware maintenance the only law enforcement agencies which stayed cohesive were those that became properties of private corporations for funding.

Aftermath of Armageddon:

As the dust settled and the evidence was compiled, two alarming discoveries were made.

1) Magic had played such a key element early on (and throughout) the events because Loki had a hand in prompting the eventual war. Calling it his own private Ragnarok, the god of mischief was systematically enhancing individuals, and using his powers to create items to sow discord, in ALL of the major supers areas with the exception of Florida. As video of some of the greatest battles was finally played back and analyzed, it seemed that technology was not the true force swaying the hand of fate at MOST of the critical engagements of the conflict.

One of the original defenders of New York, the mighty Basalt, was directly shattered into a million pieces by a single blow form the hammer Mjolnir, Cain Marko (known as the Juggernaut) and Crusher Kreel (the Absorbing Man) almost single handedly destroyed the Great Lakes and East Coast Avengers, with only Hercules and Captain America surviving. Under the mental domination of Loki most beings of magical power were played as pawns in his giant chess game.

Systematically, and with complete domination over his half brother Thor, Loki accomplished that which he desired in the long run. The almost total elimination of super beings from planet earth, since mortal men are far less capable of resisting his domination.

2) The Florida area, and more importantly the Hellfire Club, had remained almost completely invisible throughout the events and are still not directly accounted for to this day.

Earth is now a home to very few individuals with more than normal abilities. The few ‘natural’ heroes are far outnumbered by the natural villains. And the balance of power in technology certainly favors those who would use it outside the law, and even those few mutants or supers who do make their way through this world know far better than to show their abilities to the eyes of the public, lest history repeat itself and they become the martyrs of a new age.

Dawning of an Age:

The year is now 2016, and most of the damage done in all sectors has been repaired. Only the remnants of what was once Oakland remain as a stunning reminder of the power that once walked the earth in the guise of mortal man. As the 2 mile crater still smolders at its heart, and the monument which reads “to die a god!” stands perched at its brim, nowhere is there a more haunting reminder of the consequences of powers wielded recklessly or with malice.

In a world where technology can create the illusion of reality on a personal level, in a world where police work for the highest bidder like mercenaries, a world where street thugs have the means to bring down entire buildings, there is still a hidden element of magic. There is still a sinister element of the unknown and unnatural.

And amidst all this, there is a heroic breeze stirring.