PDA

View Full Version : Supers Setting Ideas



Vknight
2012-08-22, 09:25 AM
Ok so I've been working on this for the last 2days.
A decent but brief history of a/the Supers Setting I may be playing

This is written out as what they would teach in schools or important things people know about. But I am also looking for secret society stuff that would be hidden from the public.
I've listed them in order. Month, Day, and Year. Some only Year
This is a rough copy so no grammar work yet.
Just what I've worked out for the setting. Sadly I'm way back in the 80's and I need the history to go to 2010 area.

So does anyone have any suggestions for important details.
Supers?
Events?
Any ideas for this settings background

What I have so far
-In 1894 a meteorite shower covered Western Canada.
-Canada Man joined the war efforts in 1915 the few Talents that came up to oppose him.
-1918 Is when governments passed laws stating Talents had to have connections with their governments
-Thanks to these laws most went Underground, some joining occasionally there nation and eventually they united forming the Ideal in 1950's. This means most Talents were people with super soldier drugs etc
-9/1/1939 Hitler marches on Poland with his tanks powered by Talent technology
-9/17/1939 The Soviet Union invades Poland with its Infantry and Steampunk powered soldiers
-11/30/1939 The Soviet Union invades Finland
-4/9/1940 Germany begins occupation of Denmark & invades Norway. The Soviet Union begins studies into Steampunk & Dieselpunk Hybrid tanks
-4/13/1940 Canada begins war on the moon against the Mi-Go invasion
-5/11/1940 Churchill commissions flight grade power armor
-5/26/1940 Dunkrik is not evacuated as Churchill's power armored force saves the day.
-6/12/1940 Germany enters Paris
-6/14/1940 Canada finishes work on Gungir orbital cannon and fires a cluster burst at Pluto
-7/10/1940 Battle of Britain begins German forces are given small doses of enhanced sense drugs. Made from the greatest strengths of various animals
-7/12/1940 First German to overdose and becomes the 'Chimera' disappearing into the wilderness
-7/14/1940 Research to make safer and separate the drugs into unique doses. Some for stamina, dexterity, strength etc.
-8/6/1940 The Chimera is seen in Italy
-9/13/1940 Italy tries to invade Egypt
-9/14/1940 Italy retreats from Egypt as 'Horus' is able to repel large enough amounts of forces
-9/15/1940 Italy invades again and is able to push Horus back with the 'Train'
-9/21/1940 Canada repels Mi-Go and wins moon war, Canada joins World War 2
-10/28/1940 Italy invades Greece
-11/14/1940 Greeks repel Italy super soldiers with the Olympians
-1941 More Talents begin appearing worldwide. Super Soldier serums become a bigger theme in government work. The same goes for Super-tech
-11/27/1941 Baba Yaga halts German attack on Moscow
-12/7/1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
-About the same as in history. With more Supers
-3/7/1944 The Tarralsk make contact with Earth
-6/7/1944 Tarralsk join war effort against Germany
-8/10/1945 Gungir is upgraded to full functioning space station with help of Tarralsk. Station makes contact with 3other Alien races. The Ruo, the Titans, and the Fenix
5/7/1945 Germany surrenders
8/6/1945 Atom Bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Ruo & Fenix fleets begin movement towards Earth
8/7/1945 Tarralsk, US, Canadian, and British forces begin work on several more sattelites
8/14/1945 Japan surrenders after 2nd Atomic Bomb
1/1/1946 Chinese Civil War easily won be even distribution of Super Serum
1/15/1946 Several nations begin secret work on Super Serums and expanding knowledge into Supers
8/14/1947 Inida and Pakistan gain independence... Pakistan is set on fire after attempting to assassinate Gandhi
4/4/1949 NATO is founded
6/8/1949 Red Scare reaches its peak
1/5/1950 UK recognizes the Peoples Republic of China
4/16/1950 The Fenix fleet makes arrival near Earth
6/12/1950 The Fenix send initial message to the people of Earth
4/23/1951 Pluto is heavily damaged from Cluster Bomb and Mi-Go are mostly destroyed
5/2/1951 A Fenix invasion force attacks Earth
6/5/1951 A group of Ruo Hive Ships arrive and attack the US, China, and Southern Africa
8-10/1-31/1951 Gungir is used to destroy several Hive Ships which crash in Mexico and South America
4-8/1-31/1953 Kandor secondary pocket dimension planet is formed and created as its own nation
1-4/1-31/1954 The Fenix retreat leaving behind debris of 7ships and stranded Fenix.
4/15/1955 A Elvin Colony Ship is stranded on earth from Hyperdrive jump
11/1/1958 Vietnam is invaded
11/10/1958 The Ideal is formed
1/12/1959 US government declares ideal members terrorists, communist sympathizers, and traitors
7/13/1960 Several different nations begin work on space stations and moon bases
11/19/1961 A group of Fenix battleships are spotted approaching earth
1/3/1962 The Ideal is recognized by the UN
1/7/1962 The Fenix stay in Martian orbit and begin construction of the Phoneix
4/1/1962 The Ideal discovers the purpose behind the Phoneix
4/11/1962 Twenty different nations across the world begin building a ship to transport a group of Ten Talents, Thirty Soldiers, Three Engineers, and One Tarralsk to destroy the Phoneix
7/11/1962 Ship construction complete
2/25/1963 First Vietnam talent appears
12/27/1963 Titan's make radio contact declaring themselves a peaceful party as long as humans remain to be no threat. Titans offer to begin construction of Dyson Sphere... This is declined
7/11/1963 Ship Arrives at the Phoneix
7/13/1963 The Phoneix is destroyed along with the guarding battleships.
9/20/1964 The team returns with Three Talents, Two Soldiers, One Engineer, and the Tarralsk. They are declared world heros
10/10/1965 UN declares the Super Defense act. Supers do not need to remove their masks for court cases. This adopted across the world with a few holdover up until the mid 1970's
4/5/1966 Canada reveals Gungir to the world
6/17/1968 UN declare's Supertech illegal unless a member of the ideal or a government orginization
6/18/1969 Supertech act revoked.
12/12/1972 The US recognizes the Ideal
4/30/1975 The Vietnam war ends
1/1/1987 A meteorite shower hits a area in the North East of the USA there are enough to make it the meteor capital of the world
11/9/1989 The Berlin Wall falls

Jack of Spades
2012-08-22, 03:31 PM
Erm... Any chance of a summary? My brain shuts down with a straight-up list like that, and when I do try to read it I fail to understand the overarching meaning of any of it.

Vknight
2012-08-22, 05:00 PM
I'm trying to think of one.

And I'm also looking for help to expand said long list with ideas.

Attempted Summary
Supers appear in small numbers they help in World War 1. Governments declare the supers a military asset so most go into hiding.
World Governments look into Super soldiers and Super technology. This includes Diesel and Steampunk
Canada fought a war and destroyed most of the Mi-Go(yes)
Various Super soldier serums are created.
A Inter-Dimensional Alien race called the Tarralsk end up on earth after there own dimension is destroyed. They make a pocket dimension style city
There are 4other alien races that humanity has met.
Elvin a race from a different dimension
Fenix a species that tried to destroy earth
Ruo a Zerg race
Titans unknown anything. But they wanted to build a Dyson Sphere and offered it as a service
There is a law which protects supers from revealing there identity in court as its not Peter Parker but Spiderman who caught you. US government one of the last to accept these laws
Before 1972 all Supers were labeled Terrorists if they didn't work for the US government

There a summary of the events within.
Its all down to less than a page

Jack of Spades
2012-08-22, 07:53 PM
Thanks! :smallbiggrin:

So, to steal from the Marvel Universe, it seems like there would be quite a few anti-super nations (or at least factions) out there. Also, I'd expect some of the bigger powers to constantly work to keep supertech and alien contact alike in the hands of a select few nations (think nuclear power in today's world). So, I'd expect quite a few wars to break out between the larger, richer imperial powers and smaller nations the world over (like in today's Middle East). You'd probably see the Soviet Union remain solvent longer than it did in the real world if only because Supers should be able to suppress revolutionary influences better than a nuclear deterrent did.

Furthermore, as Earth's resources start to run out (which would happen a lot quicker in a steam/diesel punk scenario) I'd expect the early players in the space race to start building migratory fleets to colonize the rest of the solar system in earnest. That initial, practical push would find itself a lot more weight after the Fenix appear (the only real defense against interstellar-level aliens is to spread humanity as far and wide as possible).

That's all I've got for now, hopefully the bump will get you some other replies though :smallwink:

Jerthanis
2012-08-23, 12:13 AM
So this is a world with over a hundred years of superhero tradition? The meteors are then explicitly the source of superhuman powers? How did Talents affect the Cold War? Are they powerful enough that they could realistically deter a nuclear missile exchange, or are people distinctly street-level or just above?

Most importantly, what are the exact definitions of The Ideal?

It seems like the type of world you're creating is one which is about politics and the world's reactions and legal status of superpowered individuals, so keep that in mind... that the setting you're creating seems to be optimized for people talking at length about the liabilities and repercussions of superheroic action, and that it doesn't appear to be a setting optimized quite so much toward "I am the Underminer, I declare war on peace and happiness", "Halt evildoer!" style adventures.

Of course, I might be reading into this because the former is more what I look for in Superhero settings.

Geostationary
2012-08-23, 12:57 AM
So this is a world with over a hundred years of superhero tradition? The meteors are then explicitly the source of superhuman powers? How did Talents affect the Cold War? Are they powerful enough that they could realistically deter a nuclear missile exchange, or are people distinctly street-level or just above?

Most importantly, what are the exact definitions of The Ideal?

It seems like the type of world you're creating is one which is about politics and the world's reactions and legal status of superpowered individuals, so keep that in mind... that the setting you're creating seems to be optimized for people talking at length about the liabilities and repercussions of superheroic action, and that it doesn't appear to be a setting optimized quite so much toward "I am the Underminer, I declare war on peace and happiness", "Halt evildoer!" style adventures.

Of course, I might be reading into this because the former is more what I look for in Superhero settings.

In a similar vein, why is no one more concerned about Canada? They've fought and won two wars of extermination all while possessing an orbital cannon capable of leveling Pluto- this is not exactly something you can hide, trust me.

Also, what's the Phoenix? You make it out to be important, but never say why.

Kitten Champion
2012-08-23, 01:22 AM
A lot of exposition is necessary for the 20 or so years after the initial meteor shower to understand how the changes in causality came about for this alternative reality. Why go from the sudden appearance of superhuman powers into traditional notions of masks and capes with heroic monikers? If meteors are the cause, how do super abilities spread beyond Canada? Supers are the core of the your history and the most interesting aspect thereof, fleshing them out is what grips the reader into the setting.

Vknight
2012-08-23, 04:38 AM
Jack of Spades
There probably are several organizations opposed to the idea of a powered individual/group

Thinking of some bases and stations on the first 4-5planets of our solar system and there moons.
Also seeing about harvesting alien technology.
Thinking of including fabricators

Jerthanis
Its supposed to be much more your actions and acts have consequences.
You break a building so your masked identity could be charged.
Think Spinnerettehttp://www.spinnyverse.com/2010/02/09/20100209/
I actually don't like Hero's doing things like blasting 3skyscrapers and able to just walk away

Nah those Meteorites were just on of many cases which lead to the development of supers. Its just it was the most sustained continuous and carried the most repercussions of any before it

Talents would be reason enough. Guys like the Chimera who ate his way through a Panzer division and continued to grow stronger.'
Some governments were worried they would create something
Others feared retaliation from Nukes or Supers
The simple fact was if your city was gone then your nukes would be airborne and your supers would be out for blood and no one wanted WW3

There are several people and groups of supers that are distinctly street. It just depends who your looking for or where your looking them.



In a similar vein, why is no one more concerned about Canada? They've fought and won two wars of extermination all while possessing an orbital cannon capable of leveling Pluto- this is not exactly something you can hide, trust me.

Also, what's the Phoenix? You make it out to be important, but never say why.

Its just one of those things that doesn't make sense in the universe
Actual Reason why no one is concerned... :smallfurious: My notes didn't save :smallsigh:

The governments never declared what it was cause they didn't know exactly what type of weapon it was until they got to it.
It was a Gravity Cannon that would push the moon into the earth, like a giant railgun, it could also fire other large objects including ships and bombs(the size of a cruiser and larger). Actual accuracy is unknown because it was destroyed before hand.
In popular cultures it was dubbed 'Our Deathstar'

Kitten Champion
Exactly what I'm trying to work on. I got lots of things from what was going on to how things happened in places but I'm missing large chunks of time.
1894-1939 The first big jump.
1989-Present Day...
And why I posted this to help me.

Thank you.

I'm thinking. The Shower was a big event most power directly hitting Canada with a Fallout going across the planet over the next few years covering 30-40% of Earth and weakening along the way.
The work into super suits and serums begins probably in the 1920's to protect people from natural supes.
I'm thinking the initial buzz lead to people fearing and reacting far more violently then they should have to people with powers. Simply put misplaced information.
People confusing facts and everyone collectively freaking out

The Ideal: Hero's/Supers look out for there own. We protect the world from ourselves and those dangerous threats the world cannot handle.
Mix Justice League and Delta Green has always been my take on it

Vknight
2012-09-15, 11:46 PM
Why do I see masks and capes coming about?

Well here is why.

The initial heroes that had no costumes just looked like people so its a factor of showing who or what you are
The masks were needed after some hero's family was strung across Chicago... sometime in the 1910-1930area
Unless you work for a government office then you could be hunted down so a secret identity protected u from the governments taking u to secret lab and turning you inside out

Kitten Champion
2012-09-16, 06:50 AM
I was thinking about this actually.

What if the first hero, Captain Canada or whatever you wish, was a Metis or Native Canadian. Adopted by the government and raised by scientists after recognizing his superhuman abilities, but still in a time stuck in a colonial mindset. Come WWI hiding him away in the background, when he'd prove extremely valuable in both concrete strategic terms and as a propaganda force, would be unreasonable. Thus they put him in a full-body outfit, playing a role somewhat similar to Captain America in Marvel but with far more inconsistency between his real self and persona-- his name and costume would be rough and cheesy because no one would know how these things should go.

It would be the baseline on how states and ordinary people view superpowers internationally. The fact that his persona is slightly... under thought... along with his value to the war effort -- ending it considerably earlier -- would ingratiate himself rather than provoking the very real fear and hostility you'd expect from god-like humans who can take on tanks and withstand artillery fire.

That is, until the first villains appear. Imagine the emphasis on creating literal superhumans in the age of fascism?

As for the spread of superpowers, I would start with states. The first person, Captain Canada, would be a rogue incident -- an accidental incarnation of superhuman abilities. Everyone else exposed to the meteorite material suffer poisoning, cancer, and disabilities we associate with nuclear radiation. A certain few, 1 in 80,000, have some primordial hidden code in their DNA awaken to awesomeness, as a result from some secret alterations employed by extra-terrestrials with clairvoyant insight on the future and a master plan. In the years proceeding the meteor impact, the Canadian and British governments -- influenced by a secret cabal who knew of genuine superhumans in history but disguised them as mere myths in order to control the phenomenon -- push genetic research and theoretical physics into overdrive by some 80 years in a mere 20.

Experiments, both legal and otherwise, lead to 2 more supers. One, a British nationalist, develops superhuman intellect for machine in particular. He would develop the first power-suits, whose reliability and functionality would push British towards more steampunk-robotic angle rather than continue risk the erratic experiments with the meteorite fragment. The second, a Quebecois woman of all of 16, would be granted teleportation abilities and become central to While Canada is discretely conquered by the cabal, and is being pushed towards space exploration developed ludicrously fast by the British tech-boom which lasted from the end of the World War I all the way to the second.

The cabal's goal is to proliferate superhuman abilities and supertechnology, regardless of moral consequences, in order to survive the aliens who are coming according to their ancient text. As such, using new genetic screening technologies and meteorite fragments-- they start secretly injecting people with the serum where the media attention will be most fervent -- they use psychological profiles to select the best targets to create mayhem or resolve it as a sort of display to the world. The need to arm themselves against villains and growing support for heroes. They are however, troubled by the waning supply of meteorite fragments. They decide to take a gamble and hand the meteorites through to cabal members in Germany, Soviet Russia, and Japan, as they start developing their war industries, along with most of their research.

It would be in '39, when the German scientists discover a means of synthesizing the serum using chemicals extracted from other Supers. Leading to their sudden rise as military superpowers in spite of the British war machines and skyfleet. Leading to the first truly superpowered war. A war the Nazis may have won if they'd given the new formula to their Axis allies, or used it on the whole of their population, rather than those who fit their ideological perfectly.

After the new formula becomes known in a half a dozen countries, although incredibly difficult to create especially without a sample from a Super. Russia however, perfects it. Supers suddenly appear in half a dozen conflicts between socialists and colonial states -- held on tightly by British supertech who were in desperate need for materials to resource their boom.

The global stage is immensely risky, second and third generation super have started to appear, new laws are passed for international conventions on the ethical use and treatment of Supers. Meanwhile Canada, who has been developing secretly in space, was already years into a war which no one has even heard of against omnicidal alien forces and is now dragging the world kicking and screaming into the reality of their situation.

Well, it interrupts some of your timeline -- but I like the feel you're going for and tried to emulate it.

Man on Fire
2012-09-17, 09:05 AM
You have put way too much things into one setting, cut out what's unnecessary, combined some things, remove others - you jsut don't need to much of everything.