The (Mutant) Revolution Will Not Be Televised (an Uncanny X-Men PBP)

The (Mutant) revolution Will Not Be Televised is an Uncanny X-Men PBP game set on Marvel Universe Earth-2015 and run using TSR's Marvel Super-Heroes RPG (FASERIP). The original pitch by Bellerophon is:

Hello, True Believers and Children of the Atom!

After a few years break from my (and many other awesome collaborators) Avengers game, I'm back and ready to launch an X-Men game.

If you're curious of what sort of tone I typically go with, please do take a look at that game, or my JLA one, to get an idea of what it looked like.

This time out, what I'm going for is a very 70s/80s Claremont style X-Men. We'll be relaunching from the ground up, so no need to worry about pesky continuity or reading reams of comics - our game takes place in an alternate Marvel-that-never-was, where things are still recognizably the characters you know, but we aren't bound by continuity.

I'll be reworking the timeline from the Avengers game to give you an idea of what state the Marvel U is in, but for now, just assume that something resembling the Lee/Kirby run happened, and this game will be picking up with an All-New All-Different X-Men!

Recruitment Thread

IC Thread

OOC Thread

Gamemasters

Bellerophon

Cast

Bullwinkle J. Moose as Spider-Man (FASERIP) (inactive)

Bunch as Moon Knight (FASERIP/ICONS AE)

Captain Astounding as Dr. Druid (FASERIP/ICONS AE) and Dr. Pym (FASERIP)

Dogr_Dollarsson as Titanium Man (FASERIP/ICONS AE)

drreamscape as Wasp (inactive)

Fred as Sunspot (FASERIP) and Gray Hulk (FASERIP)

GetterBurai as Tigra (FASERIP)

Ryan L as Iceman (FASERIP/ICONS AE)

ScottL as Scarlet Witch (FASERIP/ICONS AE)

Sonsaku as Kid Omega

Timeline

2014

• Four amateur astronauts return from the first privately funded space flight with mysterious abilities granted through cosmic radiation. They save New York from subterranean invasion and begin careers as "Science Adventurers," dubbed the Fantastic Four. This marks the beginning of the so-called "Age of Heroes".

• The mutant terrorist known only as Magneto makes his first public show of force, his terrorist group the Brotherhood of Mutants triggering an EMP in Lansing, Michigan that leaves thousands of Americans without power for weeks. Federal response is heavily criticized for its unpreparedness for the disaster. Public opinion is dire for the rising Mutant Menace, with reports of more mutants appearing every week. Geneticist Charles Xavier urges caution, claiming that "we know so little about these mutants, considering them a threat would be premature."

• The original five X-Men, teenagers at the time, are formed to help give a counterpoint to this anti-mutant hysteria following Magneto's attacks. Note: the general public isn't aware that blue-furred Avenger Beast is a mutant, or that he was a member of this original team.

• Roberto da Costa's mutant ability awakens during a soccer match.

2015

• The Avengers are founded to combat Loki, the would-be Conquerer of earth. WW2 Era hero Captain America is unearthed from the ice.

• The Earth's heroes defeat the world-eater Galactus, saving the entire planet from certain destruction.

2016

• Teenager Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, changing everything for him.

2018

• Present Day. Birth of the All-New, All-Different X-Men

Story Arcs

Summaries by ??.

Point of No Return

There was an official meeting of the new lineup under Chairwoman Van Dyne (the Wasp) to vote on Spider-Man's membership. He had been sponsored by Ms Marvel (Carol Danvers) who abstained, Dr. Druid who was seemingly annoyed about some change in official software was against but talked into abstention. The Vote hinges on Namor...

Unbeknownst to the team the government is dispatching one Henry Gyrich to look into team practices.

The vote is abandoned when Skurge breaks in, he's battered by the automated defences and stands down when the Avengers all stand ready to fight him. He is without his Axe and tells a tale of the Enchantress gone mad, dealing with forces she could not control. He was taken into custody and gave Spider-Man a letter saying she had headed to Stonehenge. Druid lectures people on the importance of protecting the place, then has a premonition of great danger there.

Scarlet Witch arrives called in by Wasp to help with the situation. Druid declares a plan to protect the team with Wanda's help. He's told they need to do it on the Quinjet and goes to get supplies. Wasp pulls Ms Marvel aside and tells her she's been made acting chair while Wasp goes to make a West Coast branch.

Druid and Wanda manage to complete the ritual on the plane.

For a while Spider-Man and Moon Knight have had suspicions something's up with Namor. The rest of us are unaware.

We arrive to find missiles fired at us that Scarlet Witch deals with, our ritual drops the mask that hid The Enchantress and her mercenaries, including Nathan Garret, The BLACK KNIGHT! (the famous one's villainous uncle) wielding the Executioner's Axe!

Druid stands around pretty uselessly while the rest of the team start to deal with the threat. Enchantress is revealed to actually be MORGAN LE FAY! who awakens a hill Giant to help fight us, leaving the Black Knight to attack Druid.

Druid continues to be utter useless and is saved by Wanda while the rest of the team fight Morgan, and defeat the mercenaries and hill Giant in grand style.

In the confusion those no preoccupied see that Namor was actually... some kid... not like a teenager either, like tween at best. but Thor says he's LOKI GOD OF MISCHIEF! which is weird given Loki's a grown adult imprisoned in Asgard.

Being thoroughly schooled by Scarlet Witch Black Knight whinges to Morgan to give him his money. which she does, as he starts voomiting it, falling from his flying horse and dropping his sword. It doesn't look good for him, but Druid thinks he needs to deal with the possibly C'Thon powered sorceress before he can try to save the villain and uses his mastery of the mind to fire a mighty psionic blast at her.

She is less than pleased by this and summons flames, ready to engulf Druid.

The whole God of Mischief thing caused some concern when Loki tried to pick up the Ebony Blade that Garrett had dropped, Wanda cast a hex to stop it, and Spider-Man stepped in to take up the sword, but will it be safe?

House Rules

Advancement

You can buy straight to the next rank. Stats that aren't already superhuman are kept at human limit.

Body Armor

A common criticism of this system is that the Body Armor power, granting damage reduction essentially, is a bit too powerful, and outright prevents certain characters from being useful. As a compromise, I propose that attacks with Red results ignore Body Armor, representing finding a critical weak point in its structure. Additionally, attacks with Yellow results ignore Half of the Body Armor score. If this proves a bit too much, we can revise it, but I think it will, overall, allow for more fun battles.

Defensive Actions

Defensive Actions - A common criticism of FASERIP is that it's too easy to hit dodgy characters, like, say, Daredevil. ;) We're going to rectify that by reducing the hefty penalty given towards taking multiple actions when taking defensive actions (Dodging, Evading, Blocking, Shielding). Usually, this gives a -2 CS to all other actions taken that turn, which can be a real drag. I'm reducing this penalty to -1 CS. Additionally, characters with a power that might apply towards this sort of manuever may substitute their power rank for that ability rank. Therefore, Daredevil for instance could use his Enhanced Senses power rank of Monstrous to roll for Dodging rather than his Incredible Agility. I'm not super sure how these changes to Defensive actions will work out in play, so this is subject to change, but let's see.

Karma

Traditionally, Karma serves the double-purpose of being both an in-game resource and an advancement resource, which leads to somewhat crappy situations where the characters that need Karma least are the ones using it for advancement. I propose that there be two separate pools of Karma - one normal pool for use in-game, and one of "spent" Karma which then becomes available to be used for advancement. This encourages heroes to be heroic, and I think fits the genre better than hoarding Karma.

Power Stunt

Once you've done a stunt THREE TIMES successfully and it becomes "Established", the Karma Cost will be reduced to 10, and you won't need any feats other than the normal one.

Karma Awards

This includes only the general awards. Individual gains due to roleplaying, game contribution, etc. are not listed.