aftermath
n 1: the consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic event); "the aftermath of war"; "in the wake of the accident no one knew how many had been injured" 2: the outcome of an event especially as relative to an individual; "that result is of no consequence"
~ Introduction ~ Make A PC ~ PCs & NPCs ~
~ Campaign ~ The World ~ Contact & Updates ~
18 years ago something big happened. What it was isn't really know - odd radiation, reborn gods, a plot by Satan, angels manifesting on the world, alien experimentation, a quasar, a white hole, a black hole, a rogue sun, the Illuminati, a government experiment, an experiment gone awry.... There are hundreds of explanations for how the world got this way, but none of them can be proven. The result was quite simply that people began to manifest powers that were superhuman, magical, miraculous. You could see them as gods or demons or anything between, but no one saw them as normal, no one tried to help them or understand them, just to use them.
Case in point: in less than one month the city of Boston was subject to some sort of nuclear explosion caused by heroes trying to stop rioters, was cut off from the world for a few days, was fixed as if nothing had happened, had the entire population taken into some floating castle ruled by a madman, and was returned to it's ruined state because the fixing had apparently been an illusion. Africa become Eden, most of the schools in Britain got blown up, a man claiming to be King Arthur tried to force NASA to fly him to the moon, Washington and Moscow and Kansas got nuked, all nuclear weapons in the world vanished, Kansas was de-radiated and Boston partially rebuilt, an incident involving a mysterious construction company and a flying castle. And that's just the highlights. After that, things seemed to quiet down, as if our energy had been spent or some threshold or line reached that people wouldn't cross. Some called it the lull before the storm, but they seem (in retrospect) unduly pessimistic.
The remains of Washington and Russia served as a signpost and warning to humans and super humans about what could be done. The humans who'd thought that super humans were evil or demons or the biggest threat were forced to look into a mirror and, to quote Dr. Elrond Windchaser, "the real monster was staring right back at us." It's difficult to consider someone a threat to the world when they're not the ones who dropped nukes. (There are, of course, the usual conspiracies about supernatural mind control being at fault, but the answer and cause of the nukes died with Washington.)
This is not to say there have not been problems, but the ultimate riot had been accomplished, the penultimate expression against super humans resulting in the nuclear assault on Kansas by the US government. Compared to that, the Saigon Massacre of '04 and the Untouchables Riot in '06 were anti-climatic.
| The Present |
consequence
n 1: a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon; "the magnetic effect was greater when the rod was lengthwise"; "his decision had depressing consequences for business" 2: the outcome of an event especially as relative to an individual; "that result is of no consequence" 3: having important effects or influence; "decisions of great consequence are made by the president himself"; "virtue is of more moment that security"
And now? Well, it's been 18 years. A rough tally for the world could be summed up into: Biology good, computers bad. AI, never having lived up to it's promises, has largely been scrapped and many, many organizations and governments began to devote time and money to figuring out the why and how of super human abilities. Rumours of super humans bred or captured for testing are still very prevalent to this day. (There's even a story about a lonely factory that produces copies of the infamous Void daily. One variant claims they're boxed and the energy put into Barbie dolls that are sent out everywhere as plans for a war.)
Biology and genetics have risen to new heights (there are perhaps a handful of new diseases we can't prevent babies from getting or cure) and eugenics is becoming increasingly common, despite some strident opposition. Surprisingly, nuclear technology has rarely been rebuilt, and often led to direct hostilities against any nation doing it. For most nations, having super humans working for the government is weapon and threat enough. They just have the problem of keeping those operatives in line, as the disastrous Congo situation in '09 showed.
But for the most part, the world is very different. Dangerous, to be sure, with heroes and villains battling it out in the streets on an almost daily basis but it's also grand and beautiful in a way no one expected before, with flying people and men and women who can do things no one can explain an example to us all of what we could one day become. This is the age of the superhuman, like it or not, and they will be our gods or guides to what we may become - if the world doesn't ruin them first.
| Campaign Overview |
wake
n 1: the consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic event); "the aftermath of war"; "in the wake of the accident no one knew how many had been injured" 3: the wave that spreads behind a boat as it moves forward; "the motorboat's wake capsized the canoe" 4: a vigil held over a corpse the night before burial; "there's no weeping at an Irish wake"
v 1: be awake, be alert, be there 2: stop sleeping; "She woke up to the sound of the alarm clock", awake, arouse, awaken, come alive
This game is set in the year 2020, 18 years after Hubris and the world has changed. For one thing, it's now more comic-book like (there are established teams of heroes and villains), for another people have grown used to superhumans, and adapted to them a lot (hence the laws) but, and most importantly, this is a real world. You have lives, besides dressing up and fighting people. You have friends, family, neighbours. There are things you like, and dislike, people who love you or fear you or loathe you - you're people, and heroes. You're out to make the world a better place in spite of itself.
The PCs are going to be part of a team of some sort, geared towards giving them a reason to get together. The exact nature of this team depends a lot on the PCs made (Sanctioned, Vigilant, or Illegal being the most likely possibilities) as will whoever funds it. This isn't going to be a comic-books style super team: you're individuals thrown together by fate, not people with perfectly complimenting powers or ones who have to even like each other.
All PCs must answer the questionnaire about why they want to join. Keep in mind that you must have a completed background. What do I mean by that? Look at Stella (StarChild), Wesley (Bloodhound) or Wendall (Wrath) for very good examples of what I mean. A well developed background leads to a well developed PC. You must have relatives and friends, of some kind. Work with the GM and I'll work with you. Your background must be done prior to the first game session you play in.
The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.
- Auguste Rodin
And, lastly, Aftermath is going to be labour intensive like Hubris. It's going to have news and session summaries. While the latter is the GMs responsibility, I'd much appreciate help with the rest. Make up news articles, super hero (or villain) NPCs and the like. Have fun with it, create stuff for it. Be a part of the game in depth.
~ Introduction ~ Make A PC ~ PCs & NPCs ~
~ Campaign ~ The World ~ Contact & Updates ~