Defenders of Supremeopolis

Welcome to Supremopolis, the greatest city in the Realm. The Big Fig, the City of a Thousand Kingdoms, the Crown of the Sapphire Coast and the most influential member of the Twelve Metropolises of the known world. It is the capital of its own city-state, with its hinterlands encompassing many nearby settlements, farmlands and forests, and sits atop several land and sea-borne transport routes that have contributed to its growth to such a massive size. It is home to races from right across the world, humans, elves, dwarfs, orcs, and others from many different tribes, however intermingling between them is so common that unless you came from far out of town it's assumed that everybody has some mixed ancestry. Its population numbers in and around a million souls, albeit there are believed to be entire sub-communities living in the catacombs beneath the city streets.

The city is shaped like a lop-sided star with two of the spokes cradling a bay, cut down the middle by a river with the great tower of the Temple of Justice rising up and above the skyline, atop it sitting the Lantern of Justice. The city prides itself on it's commitment to the rights of all its citizens and the rule of law instead of the mighty, having an extensive system of rights and protections for all citizens that are the envy of the world, encoded in the city's charter kept within the Temple. That said, the city is far from lacking in haves and have-nots, with a rich and powerful upper-class dominating the City Council and the position of High Chancellor.

Supremopolis is a hub for commerce, culture and philosophy of both the natural and metaphysical natures. This is as much a boon for the city as it is a hindrance at times, because the constant flow of wealth and money also attracts organised crime and wars of assassination between the powerful Merchant Families, and the presence of so many magic guilds and centres of experimentation mean that when something goes wrong, it's usually the rest of the city that has to deal with the consequences. And to say nothing of the outside threats that desire to claim the city and all its riches for themselves.

Whenever things do go wrong, and the city is menaced by threats that the mortal forces of the City Guard or the mage guilds cannot contain, then the citizens will turn to the pantheon of local semi-divine protectors. These are no ordinary heroes; they are mythic heroes, possessing power and attributes above the usual mortal folk. They are an eccentric mix, some of them having once been mere mortals who rose to the position of a legend, others being true demigods born from the cosmic realm. Together they are a band of heroic fighters who will put their lives on the line to defend the people of Supremopolis, some hiding amongst them in plain sight in civilian disguise and only appearing in their divine garb when summoned.

When a threat arises it is usually the Oracle who is the first to know. She is a demigoddess, a priestess who has mantled the divine spirit of the city itself. Whenever it or its citizens are in danger she will feel it and be able to pinpoint the site of the disturbance; the fidelity of her ability to locate threats usually depends on the severity and immediacy, so she will rely on the PCs to figure out what exactly is causing her concern when it isn't something immediately obvious like a giant monster stomping about. Whenever she needs you to assemble, she can activate the Lantern and either cast the light out across the city, telling the PCs to assemble at the tower, or focus it into a beam with a crystal, creating a signal across the sky pointing to a crisis where they are needed. She is also able to send out white ravens kept in the temple who act as her messengers.

Setting Rules

Born a Hero (SW) - Heroes may ignore the Rank qualifications for Edges during CharGen.

Comic Book Combat (SPC) - allows for combined attacks, knockback, power stunts and large improvised weapons.

Conviction (SW) - Players can get a Conviction die as a special reward.

Villainous Conviction (SPC) - so can major villains...

Creative Combat (SW) - If a Wild Card succeeds with a raise while in combat, they roll on the creative combat table.

Death & Defeat (SPC) - Alternative Incapacitation rules.

Larger than Life (SPC) - You may take 1 additional major Hindrance and use the additional points normally.

Mega Destruction (SPC) - Buildings & the environment are prone to being destroyed.

Never Surrender (SPC) - Incapacitated Wild Cards are dealt Action Cards as usual during a fight. If dealt a Joker, immediately regain consciousness and return to the fight Shaken.

Throwdown (SPC) - Ignore the Unarmed Defender rule.

Wound Cap (SW) - Wild Cards never suffer more than four wounds from a single hit.

More Skill Points (SW) - Player characters in advanced or specialized settings start with 15 skill points.

Giant Foes (FC) - Creatures two or more Scales smaller than another may attempt to climb up the larger foe with an opposed roll of Athletics. If the smaller creature wins, he's attached and moves along with the larger creature on its turn. If the larger creature wins, the smaller creature falls or is shaken off, taking appropriate Falling damage.

The Defenders

Character & Player	Pace	Parry	Toughness	Edges and Racial Advantages	Hindrances and Racial Disadvantages	Attributes	Super Powers
MK-∞β Eplov	4	9	10 (4)	Dirty Fighter, Elan, Improved Frenzy, Iron Jaw, Missile Deflection, Nerves of Steel, Unstoppable, Construct, No Vital Organs, Sleep Reduction	Clumsy, Dependent (Supremeopolis), Distinctive Appearance, One Eye, Obese, Quirk, Secret	Agility: d4-1 Smarts: d8 Spirit: d8 Strength: d6 Vigor: d10	Extra Actions + Fast Action; Teleport; Gifted; Energy Control (Time); Ageless; Scan; Wall Walker; Healing; Melee Attack; Malfunction
*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Setting Notes

- Generally speaking, semi-divine figures like the PCs are referred to as Mythic Heroes or Mythic Villains. The city is part of several metropolises who host a chapter of a knightly order known as the Aegis, made up of mundane mortals who seek to learn ways to protect the populace from Mythic threats. They use a mix of subterfuge and powerful artifacts that they have accumulated over the years, some of them being items of dark magic that they only use when necessary. They man a special prison for extramundane threats on an island off the coast, and view the PCs with suspicion. Their Grandmaster is a gruff fellow with an eyepatch.

- Whilst wizards and great heroes of a mortal nature exist, they are presumed to be below the PCs in terms of power level; you are super heroes, and only super-tier characters will be Wild Cards. The Realm, the world that the game takes place on is a mostly earth-like planet aside from the presence of magic, nonhumans and monsters, and a second moon in the sky - one much smaller than the main moon, but said to have great arcane significance and acting as a bringer of both luck and bad omens.

- There is another semi-mythical figure in the city known as the Couturier who the PCs are all aware of but is not a fighter of evil. They are a legendary weaver of silks, capable of creating magical, high durable garments that are lightweight yet can survive many of the threats you'd encounter such as fire, acid, grime and wear. They don't offer much additional protection, but they do allow for mythic heroes to wear brightly coloured costumes that sport emblems representing that hero. Most mythic heroes wear their own costume but the temple maintains a selection of uniforms created by the Couturier for times when the Defenders prefer to appear as a unifed force.

- Speaking of the Temple, it also stores a small ship that belonged to an ancient demigod figure from the city's past, Aquilon the Wayfarer. The ship's most notable feature is the pair of magical wings on either side that can be unfurled to allow it to fly, providing a method of rapid transportation beyond the city if required.

- As a consequence of the use of dark magic by various Mythic Villains and would-be conquerors, there is a certain amount of dark magical pollution in the environment that has been causing some individuals to be born with powers viewed more as a curse than a gift. These mutates, referred to unkindly by the populace as Abnormals, are feared by much of the populace and many of them have either joined gangs as the only ones who will accept them or live in their own shantytowns outside the city where they are free from harassment. There are rumours of a particularly powerful Abnormal philosopher who has been gathering them at his manor outside of town, who goes by the name of Master Xenos.

Allies & Villains

The Whisperer by the Water, water (and mind) bending nymph seeking mindless worship and divine ascension. An annoying nemesis to the Death Knell, and incidentally the reason why Galan sought out the Vulture's Veil so that his wife would stop getting almost drowned by that pesky Mythic Villain in question.

The Court of Carrion, a minor order of murderous vigilantes specialized in absurdly elaborate death traps. They worship the Death Knell. Every time she tries to teach them a lesson they're like 'Lo! Our divine mistress, the Death Knell, has tested us once more so that we may learn from it!" and take it completely the wrong way and continue to cause chaos in her name and embarass her.