SSgt Baloo

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass? Just thought I'd repeat myself and emphasise something that most of you are overlooking. The question isn't "why is it this way in the Marvel universe?" Rather, the question is "how would you rationalize such a state of affairs where one subset of people with powers is singled out for prejudicial treatment?" In the Marvel universe, the answer seems to be "we've always done it this way". They've paid only minor attention to the whys and wherefores, because their mutant stories are about prejudice, so it's necessary to the story even if, upon examination, the stated reason for discrimination doesn't make sense. In the world I described in the OP, "mutants" were physically distinguishable from "the rest of us" by having characteristics and features that normal humans don't have, and that was combined with a belief that "progressive" traits and features were good, while "regressive" traits and features were "bad". Except by the use of expensive equipment, there is no way to distinguish a "mutant" from any other "super". Until such equipment falls into the hands of Joe Bigot, J.B. has no means of identifying mutants other than guessing or taking the word of people who claim to be mutants. Why should what ought to be a fringe movement (by now) have enough political clout to try getting a "Mutant Discrimination Act" passed by congress without being laughed off the world stage by people who know better? Never mind Marvel. Why would such a movement gain a foothold in the USA when the discriminated-against group is only distinguishable from the not-discriminated-against group by self-identification or the accusations of people who claim to have devices that can "pick them out" of the crowd? Why is this enough justification for discrimination? Likewise, how would you rationalize a world where "mutants" are sufficiently different from everybody else that such discrimination is even possible?

Do you invent your own worlds for your superhero campaigns or do you just take someone else's setting, file off the serial numbers and call it good? Do you borrow from different settings and mix them together (DC and Marvel, for instance)? Do you manufacture your world from whole cloth with no familiar nations and cities or do you slavishly copy maps of real places and never, ever use "generic" cities and settings? My own favorite worlds to run were: Pre-WWII America (1938-1941): Apart from some ficional events being true, and some true events being fictionalized, the world's history is essentially the same as in out world, up until Supers (the PCs) start to show up.World events unfold pretty much as they did in history except that the actions of superheroes and supervillains can change the course of history, if allowed to. The campaign was intended to segue into WWII, with the PCs as America's mightiest heroes, but I got orders to another base WW II -- Mutants and Supermen: Nicola tesla's experiments in the early days of the 20th century have unleashed strange energies into the world, mostly upon the North American Continent. This causes a number of changes, among which are that some people who seriously study magic find that they are able to perform "real" magic (as opposed to stage magic). Children are born with unusual abilities, and upon reaching puberty begin manifesting powers, abilities, and distinctive features that set them apart from the rest of humanity. There are two "classes" of altered humans: supermen and mutants. A superman (not named after the character but the Nietzschean concept of the Ubermann) is apparently normal but has abilities and/or powers ordinary humans can't do. Mutants are any human with a physical "defect" that appears (to the "experts" of the day) to be regressive or animalistic, sort of like evolution in reverse. While there are mutants with superpowers, they are still classified as mutants. Supermen are viewed as the next step in human evolution. Mutants are viewed as "unnatural" by many, and are often discriminated against. In America during the 1920s, the existence of "mutants" gives an extra boost to the domestic eugenics movement. Humans with "animalistic" characteristics are involuntarily neutered, often institutionalized, and occasionally "die at birth", an event which is viewed as a merciful act by many. By the time WW II rolls around, the NAACP has become the NAACMP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored and Mutant People). Most supermen aren't heroes or villains, just people with powers, but some have become heroes, others villains, and mutants with powers are doing the same. Elements of the campaign include trying to get otherwise decent people to recognize that their prejudice against mutants (and other minorities) is baseless. Nazi agents will attempt to increase friction between normals and supermen, mutants, etc., in an attempt to hinder America's war effort. Mutant heroes are encouraged, but can expect to meet a lot of uneducated people with wrong-headed ideas about supermen and mutants. Contemporary Earth with supers: It's just Earth as we know it, except for supers and the necessarily altered history to account for them. Supers have been around since just before WW II. History is different, with many more tiny countries around the world, many of them ruled by supers, both good and evil. There are no fictional cities in the US, but supers modeled after real comic book characters will live in whatever real city is the closest analogue to their fictional city in the comic. Superman is in Manhattan, Batman operates from Boston, Spiderman operates around New York City, the Flash from Oklahoma City, etc., provided of course, they exist at all in this campaign. When "real" supers (from the comics) exist, they are considerably nerfed compared to how they are portrayed in the comics. This way, the PCs don't feel like second-stringers who might have to call upon one of the heavy-hitters of things go bad. The PCs are the heavy hitters of this world. What settings do you like to use for your superhero campaigns?

Re: A Thread for Random Videos

Re: A Thread for Random Videos

Re: Ok GM's weigh in. We've been talking players CvK...how do you handle these things *Applause* Repped.

Re: What defines a Superhuman?

Re: A Thread for Random Videos

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass? Best explanation thus far. Repped. I still think anti-mutant sentiment would not get to the "pass laws against it" phase unless there were a malign intelligence behind the movement. Left alone it would be a fringe movement. Westboro Baptist Church anyone? If there were mutants, WBC and anyone like them would be against mutants. "They want to eat your children!"

Re: What defines a Superhuman? I think it boils down to this: if you have to invoke magic or rubber science to fully explain an ability, then its a superpower. For example, a long-distance runner is only able to sustain a certain speed so long as he consumes enough fuel to provide the required energy, his lungs can provide enough oxygen to sustain the effort, and his body can shed the excess heat generated by his physical exertion. Exceeding these limits requires more than training and willpower, it requires some way of assisting the athlete (superpowers) so that one or more of these barriers to "improved performance" is pushed back.

Re: When, if ever, would your character kill?

Re: When, if ever, would your character kill? The ones where all the cops involved were arrested on civil rights charges and subsequently acquitted?

Re: What defines a Superhuman? I'm beginning to believe that the line between super human and any other kind of human is a matter of "what the GM says". If super/not super is an important distinction in your campaign, you should probably take care to query your players to ensure what they believe about the matter won't unhinge your scenario at some crucial moment.

In a world where mutants are considered a subset of "people with powers", what could possibly set them apart in such a way as to allow persecution of "mutants" but not other "supers"? Is it even possible to come up with such a scenario? The one campaign I ran where "mutants" were an issue was in a (barely) pre-WWII campaign where whatever made people "super" often had unusual distinguishing features like fur, scales, horns, a tail, etc. People with features that seemed like a step down the evolutionary scale were clinically referred to as "subhuman", but were often labeled as animals, beasts, monsters, etc. People with features that seemed a step up on the evolutionary scale were called "supermen", not after the comic character, but after the Nietschean ideal. People with both "up" and "down" characteristics were usually lumped in with the "subhumans" unless their visible "down" characteristics were aesthetically pleasing in some way (angelic wings, for example). I'm not asking about the logic behind anti-mutant sentiments, but about something else. This isn't a thread about why Marvel has two classes of superpowered beings, one of which (mutants) is judged, often negatively as a whole while the other group is seen as individuals, each deserving to be judged upon his merits. This thread is about how to rationalize such a system in the first place (apart from truckloads of denial).

Re: A Thread for Random Videos

Re: A Thread for Random Videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HTDqIcnfYc

Re: Making Hero 6E More Dangerous (Skyrealms of Jorune Conversion) ?

Re: Creepy Pics. Ewwww!

Re: The cranky thread Some of my income is supposed to be deposited in my bank tomorrow (I get payments from three different agencies, on different dates). According to my bank, there is no pending deposit. I called the number for the agency that pays me and I can't get through. "We are unable to complete your call at this time. Please try again later." ETA: The penny dropped. The payment in question is due on the fourth wednesday of the month, not the third. Poop.

Re: Ctrl+V http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kyperry3/Blue_Fugates_Troublesome_Creek.html

Re: The cranky thread I understood it and I'm still cranky. Knock yourself out.

Re: Could you get a spacecraft to Mars? First attempt (that succeeded) 10 months & change. Best of several, 5 months, 3 days.

Re: Cool Guns for your Games I wasn't suggesting you didn't know that. I was just pointing it out for the benefit of those who didn't know. On the few gun sites I visit, I have seen brass-framed reproductions declaimed as "bogus reproductions" or even "counterfeit" because they had brass bits, and "everybody knows Colt didn't use brass".

Re: Cool Guns for your Games What he said. Please.

Re: A Thread for Random Videos I Was dumbfounded when I watched this. Now I want to see the whole movie. I hope there is one.

Re: Making Hero 6E More Dangerous (Skyrealms of Jorune Conversion) ?