Pitch: Golden Years, Iron Age

Originally published September 29, 2014

Another post in my continuing series of campaign ideas. This week I have something a bit different and less horror infused: superheroes!

Taking a bit from the various eras of the comics (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Dark/Modern) and the movie RED, this pitch has retired superheroes from a brighter age having to save the world once again. As with all of my pitches, let me know if it sounds like something you would like to hear more about.

Golden Years, Iron Age

You were once the world’s greatest heroes. You fought the Red Menace, toppled the Fourth Reich, and stopped the alien invasion of ‘78. You have outlived enemies and allies, buried sidekicks and lovers. Now in the twilight of your life, you find yourself called upon to serve your country again. Put on your cape, recharge your power armor, and ready yourself for heroics again.

System: We will use Microscope to establish the history of superheroes from their (commonly agreed upon) origins to the present day. Then we would use Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Edition (because that is what I own) to build the characters at Power Level (PL) 12 but with their level derived traits capped at PL 10 due to the ravages of time and age.

Themes:

• Too old for this shit: the player characters are veteran heroes but they are also all over 70 years old at this point. Their old nemeses, allies, and even their proteges and kid sidekicks have either passed away or are old and gray themselves. Expect age and infirmity related complications as even superheroes have a limit. Bad backs, failing hearts and quaking hands hinder those who were and would be Earth's mightiest defenders.
• No world for old superheroes: In much the same way that the Silver Age of Comic Books eventually transitioned to the Bronze Age and still later the gritty Dark Age of Comic Books, the world has changed since the heroes were in their prime. The heroes of this age are smaller, less colorful, and more willing to kill to achieve their aims. Where once things were black and white, now everything is gray.
• The past doesn't stay buried: But to save the day, only the heroes of yesteryear can hope to win. The current threat to the world comes from their own past. Can they follow the trail of skeletons from their pasts, the defeated villains, scorned allies, and lingering fallout from doomsday devices, back to the true danger before it is too late?

Influences: Batman Beyond, Watchmen, RED (the movie).

Additional Thoughts

There are a lot of open questions in this pitch. For instance, what is the threat that faces the heroes?

The answer will only appear once the history and characters are constructed. Here's how I would proceed.

First we would establish the origin point for super powers. Personally I favor WWII, both for the possible Nazi action and because it will distort existing history less than some of the other options. But perhaps it occurred at the dawn of civilization, was infused into our genetic code by aliens, triggered by a mad scientist in the 19th century, caused by the first atomic bomb blast, or was the result of experiments during the Cold War.

Once we have that and the general theme of the power source (Science, Magic, Mutation, and so on), we would play Microscope to fill in the space from the origin point to the modern-day. We would treat "known" history as sticky. That is to say that events should tend to work out to create a society, geopolitics and technology level similar to our own. But if a cool enough idea comes along I would run with it.

I would steer the event and era creation to focus mainly on the larger arcs of the superheroes of the world. Thus we would create origin stories, major struggles, team-ups, and villainous plots. Any deaths should be left mysterious so the character can come back if it would make a sufficiently compelling story. The players should feel free to describe their powers as they feel fit without regard to power level. After all the characters might have diminished in power with age.

After that first world creation session is complete we can complete character creation and make any final changes or additions to the timeline. Then (assuming there is still time to fill in the session) I would run a simple story where the characters get to interact and show off that even in their twilight they are a force to reckon with.

From there we jump into the larger story of the game. Here are a possible few directions that jump out at me:

• Perhaps superpowers originally come from a secret serum developed in WWII. The serum didn't work on everyone but the children of those exposed all had the chance to be superpowered as well. But what about the unknown side effects, the ones that only appear in the 3rd and 4th generations?
• Perhaps there was an alien invasion during the heroes' watch. When they defeated the threat, how many of their foes' shapeshifting spies remained behind? Who hasn't been who they say they are? And for how long?
• My last concept works best with a central reoccurring villain. When the mastermind was finally killed did his plots really stop? Or did he have backup plans in case of his own demise? Perhaps his final doomsday device been slowly ticking along, bringing Armageddon closer day by day?