Nextworld
Nextworld.
I have been wanting to run a suddenly-super type game for years...characters are normal joes who suddenly gain powers in a normal world. Having played in a couple, though, I saw that sometimes, playera and GM's are spoiled for choice and end up not knowing what to actually do within the premise. A lot of the things that make superhero type games interesting are lost, as well...the gonzo backgrounds and super science, magic and aliens, evil powered villains.
I think a supers game needs some form of metaplot, too. Sandbox just doesn't cut it (which is what I normally run).
That's where Nextworld comes from...an attempt to create a game where normal to super remains the basic premise, but the metaplot brings more traditional hero types and tropes into the background in a limited way into play.
Obligatory narrative.
"There are moments when everything starts to change, where implications of new ideas create a runaway chain reaction that transforms the primate condition. Electricity, the car, the atomic bomb, the microchip...all of these things have transformed our world so completely that it would be unrecognizable to someone from 100 years ago.
I fear we have reached that moment again. Something happened during the Event, something that is changing everything around us even as we speak. Ignoring the devastation and world panic...there is something else going on. Now...and we haven't got a clue what it is. We can't see it, but we can measure it on our instruments. The Atomic constants are...fluctuating in stochastic leaps. This is generating waves of reality altering fluxes. We don't know how, why or what we're going to do about it. Not yet."
Dr Joseph Young, particle physicist and worlds smartest giant gorilla. Berne 1834hrs, 17th August 2014. (17 hours after the event).
" Widespread reports of scenes of total devastation... UNESCO reports areas scoured clean of all life or complex organic matter...entire regions of France, Germany, Italy, Austria are aflame or simply gone...Switzerland suffered losses in the millions, Geneva is gone..."
Game concept.
In a nutshell, characters are the first people with unexplainable, reality altering abilities on a 'normal' Earth. This will, however, not stop you playing an alien or legacy hero or someone who was born 10000 years.
Let me explain...
There is a singular event, manifesting as a giant explosion and energy discharge from an experiment at the Berne Reactor. For some reason, this has disturbed the cosmological constants of the physical universe. Amongst the most important of those changes is the manifestation of Reality breaking abilities amongst a select few.
Some of these people have had these powers for generations, or come from beyond the stars, or were part of secret projects from one of several wars. An entire history that never was now exists. Funny thing is, nobody knows it. Except, again, a select few.
The world has changed. somebody has to find out why.
Game proposal This is a limited series run, unlike my normal games...but if it works out well, there's no reason not to do a sequel. This particular game has a story arc, the length of which will depend on the players.
As part of it is finding out what the hell is going on, I'm being deliberately vague, but there is nothing to stop your Superman clone from trying to end world hunger...at least in the beginning.
Character Generation.
PC's will be of two types.
- Natives. The select few. Those who were directly affected by the exotic particle annihilation event and survived. Rolled up as normal humans, then 'powered' by the event. They are the only people who are aware the world is different. I'll discuss with players whether they want to start knowing their powers or not.
- Transplants. Any other form of superhero you desire. Their entire background, origin and history has become grafted onto reality and no one notices. This may include shadowy super agencies, enemies, lost races, etc. The hero will have the same nemesis as a complication.
Mechanics and PC Gen. PC's are created using the random power generation method from Villains and Vigilantes. The game will be run using Mutants and masterminds III with a slightly grittier damage system, so while superheroic, things remain gritty.
Houserules
- Characters start as a normal human and can choose a power level from 1 to 5. Transplants may choose PL6 (street level hero quality). This is the 'default' power level of the character.
- Random power generation, using the tables from Villains and Vigilantes. These will be as closely translated as possible into M&M terms, ignoring Power Level restrictions.
- All PC's have 180 power points as a default. If random powers use up all these points, character generation ceases. [Note: Random powers may end up costing more than the 180 points.]
- Any leftover points at this stage can be spent anywhere the player desires.
- Normally,PC's choose from a range of different tables to roll each power on. I'd like to tighten the choices a little to give different thematic flavours to Natives and Transplants.
The normal range of choices is: (innate)Powers, Devices, Magic/psionic items, Skills and Magic/psionics.
- Natives must roll at least once on the Powers table and are confined to the Powers, Magic/psionics and skills tables.
- Transplants do not have access to the innate powers table. Powers are earned, learned, or wielded through arcane talismans or super science devices.
Complications
Native PC's don't need to worry too much about complications, as they'll rapidly gain some. Setting up a reasonably detailed background for your character as a normal will be helpful in this regard. Transplants have a freer reign and can follow the standard rules. Once again, a detailed background will help here, but more for adding the (limited) more traditional superhero elements. If your character is a super soldier from world war two who got frozen in ice and saved by an international spy agency with cutting edge tech, they will be a normal and accepted part of the world.
All PC's will have the same nemesis. I dont want to say more than that at this point.
