The AMERICAN GODS

"Dead To The Last" cover image --

"Idiosyncratic Issues" cover image -- LARGE

"American Nightmare" cover image -- LARGE

"The Morality of Mortality" cover image -- LARGE

"High Cost of Living" cover image --

"America's Most Wanted" cover image -- LARGE

"Homecomings" cover image -- LARGE

"In God We Trust" cover image -- LARGE

[LARGE]

[LARGE]

[LARGE]

HEAR ME SURVIVORS.

You change the world. You move mountains. You define music, fashion & entertainment.
YOU are Godlike.

Sinner or Saint. Revolutionary or Radical. Anarchist or Terrorist.
YOU are Godlike.

Walk among the clouds. Walk between the stars. Walk as gods.

Because YOU...... ARE Godlike.

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-- Godlike Convocation

Welcome to the American Gods campaign wiki, the "series bible" for a face-to-face tabletop superhero role-playing game called "American Gods," played using the M&M system. The goal of this site is to collect information about our game in a way that anyone in our group has easy access to read and edit.

CAMPAIGN CONNECTIONS

• YAHOO DISCUSSION BOARD: American Gods Yahoo Group: For planning game gatherings and general group chit chat.
• BACK ISSUE BINS: This is the spot for game session recaps. The American Gods Serial Campaign is broken into Story Arcs.
  • Back Issue Bin - Arc 1: IN GOD WE TRUST
  • Back Issue Bin - Arc 2: HOMECOMINGS
  • Back Issue Bin - Arc 3: AMERICA'S MOST WANTED
  • Back Issue Bin - Arc 4: HIGH COSTS OF WINNING
  • Back Issue Bin - Arc 5: THE MORALITY OF MORTALITY
  • Back Issue Bin - Arc 6: AMERICAN NIGHTMARE
  • Back Issue Bin - Arc 7: IDIOSYNCRATIC ISSUES
    • INTERLUDE: From September 2006 to January 2007, following the single issues focusing on each member of the American Gods main cast in "Idiosyncratice Issues" the group took a sebatical of sorts to try another campaign. We chose to play Tales from Planet Zero which is a serial campaign of the sci-fi pulp variety using the ADVENTURE! rules system from White Wolf. You can read our tales on the TfPZ wiki.
  • Back Issue Bin - Arc 8: DEAD TO THE LAST

Setting Background

Fundamentally the same as the real world, things in the American Gods campaign took a dramatic turn on September 11, 2001, with an extra, fourth plane hijacked from Boston Logan airport. This plane, too, went down, but everyone on it survived, though they were lost to consciousness for four years. When they wake up they come to be called, variously, The Survivors and The Godlike.

It soon becomes apparent that the Godlike have each awoken with a special power as, unwittingly, they begin to exhibit abilities such as superhuman strength, flight, healing touch and even clairvoyance. Eager to revisit their past and reunite with those they love, two worlds collide as these people, acclimated to the world before their coming, are forced to deal with the new challenges of being god. They are people dealing with traumatic changes, driven by the mystery of what happened to them and why. This is their platform to explore politics, religion, society, responsibility and ultimately, the question of power: what it means, what it does and what it costs. It echoes the adage, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Hyped as a hoax by many, it is rumored that the Godlike were infected by some government experiment, that they are angels or demons ushering the end times, or perhaps they are the results of alien abduction. With the world understandably curious, rumors begin to spread about the Godlike's abilities and public opinion soon becomes divided between those who embrace the Godlike and those who fear them. As the members of the Godlike struggle to resume and rebuild their “life interrupted,” each will come to play a pivotal role in events still to come... events that will shape the destiny of the human race.

QUOTES & COMMENTARY

• Quotes from the American God Game Sessions: We try our best to have someone writing quotes they hear from other players, characters and NPCs. We don't always get them all and some will make little sense out of context but they greatly humanize the story looking back! Game Inspiration Quotes: Herein we see multiple quotes that we've found that have meaning to our stories and styles. Dangling Plotlines: These are the things that've come up in game but, for a variety of reasons, we've yet to get back to. Note ScratchPad: If you have an idea for the game, but don't have time to find a place for it, drop it here. ANYONE that would like to find a home for this info and format it is WELCOME to do so.

NOTES FROM AG GATHERING: These are the RAW notes from our gathering to be used to build the wiki better.

Cast of Characters

This Band of Brothers

• Jack Bennett - [age 21]: Reluctant Kennedy, Extreme Sports enthusiast-at-large.
• Brian Jaffe - [age 36]: The Beltway Insider.
• Arthur Redford - [age 35]: Ex-Army turned vigilante with a few issues to work through.
• Mandy Smith - [age 31]: New York Fire Department veteran who has lost all her family.
  • Personal Things: Main Cast Opinions: Listing the thoughts and opinions of each player regarding what their character's opinion of other main characters and any non-player characters. Main Cast Powers: A space for the Main Cast to describe the powers they possess. Main Cast STORIES: This is the one-stop shop for all "fiction" written as stories about/for player characters by their players.

The Wider World

• Everyday People: These are the many aquaintences, contacts, antagonists and supporting cast that have been in our stories - found along the way and the dozens of people who've walked into and out of their sight in countless smaller ways.
• Our Fellow Travellers: AA 283 Flight Manifest: The master list of everyone who was aboard American Airlines Flight 283 when it left Boston on 9/11/01 for LA and destiny. The people on this list are those who, as a whole, would come to be called "The Survivors" and "The Godlike."

News & Events

September 11, 2001

• the 9/11 Disaster: A history of the real-world events of September 11.
• 9/11 Timeline - A history of events on September 11, often different from the real world, often unique to The American Gods.
• the Planes: 265 people killed on four planes; 232 passengers, 25 flight attendants, 8 pilots. (Note that this total includes the 19 hijackers, who reportedly boarded the planes as passengers.)
• AA Flight 283 DECKPLAN: layout of the plane, seating chart of terrorists.
• BOS Airport Terminal: Map to Boston Logan International Airport, American Airlines.

The Survivors Announcement

• The Survivors Announcement: The statement made by Brian Jaffe announcing the existence of the Survivors to the world.
  • Survivor Press Conference Questions: A list of questions in response to the announcement; some were asked at the time, some only later found a voice.
• The "American Gods" Address: President Bush's speech, given to confirm the truth of Brian's words.
• Initial Reactions: A sampling of responses to the announcement from leaders in every field and average men and women.
• Survivor Brand: Marked not only by destiny but also by the hand of man, this mark is tattooed on each Survivor.

The World Reacts

• In the News: In character events from all media news sources.
  • the clicker part II:
  • the Catholic Church Reacts: "Could you baptise Superman?" and the definitions of Soul and Mind.
  • Conspiracy Theories: When gossip turns into questions - regarding the Survivors.
  • TIME Magazine Fall 2005: The first official confirmed image of Godlike ability in use.
    • TIME Magazine Fall 2005: Cover image without text.
    • TIME Magazine Fall 2005: Cover and Image.
  • Hopewell's "No More" advertisement: An advertisement created by the Hopewell Foundation regarding Survivor rights.
• Legal Matters: All things involving law and governmental matters.
• Media Campaigns: Press Releases and Issues Advertisements relating to the Survivors by various groups, both for and against.
• POLLS Regarding the SURVIVORS: various world-wide polls.
  • How To Poll: a guide to polling.
  • Opinion Polling Defined: Wikipedia.

Campaign Timeline

• TIMELINE - The series of events leading up and continuing in The American Gods.
  • Events of the 20th Century
  • Events of the 21st Century
    • 2005 Events

Important Groups

Government

• the US Government: Various United States Government Groups and the individuals involved.

Private Industry

• Biotech Industries: Various Biotech companies that could be involved with the Survivors.
  • BIO: The Biotech Industry Organization, a clearinghouse for in-industry trade and biotech governmental advocacy; the AARP of biotechs. Jack hopes that they might offer some of the support he's looking for.
  • Celera: The company that kept the Survivors in its care during the four long years of their "slumber."
  • Genzyme: The first corporate partner of The Hopewell Foundation
  • Serono: Biotech partner to Milos Wiazowski's King Farm.

Public Sector

• The Hopewell Foundation: A non-profit think tank and advocacy group founded by the Main Cast.
• The Human Foundation
• International Organizations
• The Godlike Foundation: A private organization that exists to aid and help realize the potential of those people with the unique genetic condition, or rather an endlessly varied set of conditions, referred to as the Godlike power.
• The Lucidity Institute

Locations of Interest

Connecticut

• Hartford: The location of Brian Jaffe's family home. Current home of his father's new family. Brian's mother currently lives with her mother (Brian's Grandmother) in a suburb of Portland, Maine.
  • Earthquake on Hartford and it's Antipode: Brian Jaffe seemingly created an earthquake that rippled through the earth at both points on which he "squeezed" the planet with his power over the Higgs Field the first time Jaffe returned to Earth from orbit. The event caused quakes and aftershocks measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale in the Hartford, CT area and the opposite point on the planet at the same times off the coast of Perth, Australia and its effects are felt as far away as Washington, D.C. Although it's not conclusive that it was his power that created this phenominon he has since been much more careful.

Florida

• Daytona Beach: One of the world's most famous beaches and second capital of NASCAR racing (after Indianapolis).
  • Daytona International Speedway: The site of Arthur Redford's race with a horse, a cheetah and Dale Earnhardt Jr..

Maryland

• Annapolis: Home to the U.S. Naval Academy, which hosts not only a shipyards and naval base, but also some of the country's most extensive RADAR and detection equipment. It is the site where Brian Jaffe safely brought down a Navy pilot who had lost control of his plane.
• John Hopkins University: One of the leading academic and research universities in the United States, if not the world. Brian claimed, once, to have applied to their law school, but been turned down. The administration recently offered to award Brian an honorary doctorate (in an unknown field - presumably law or international relations) if he'll serve as commencement speaker.
  • John Hopkins Hospital: One of the nation's leading research and teaching hospitals, it's so-far been the medical center of choice for the main cast. They brought Jack here after he was shot, Carrie here to recover from her burns and Arthur here after Carrie stabbed him. An unknown Survivor works in the hospital as a Physical Therapist.
• Oakland: A town in the far west of Maryland, this is the home of Thomas Reagan and the site of his unfortunate accident.
• Rockville: The third largest city in Maryland, located almost at the state's geographic center.
  • CELERA campus: This is the site where all of the Survivors first landed on the East Coast. This is also where the main cast discovered the four cloned corpses of Bryce, the [Unborn Child of Mary Beth Manly].
  • King Farm: An enclosed, 430 acre neo-traditional planned community founded in 1997 within the Rockville city limits. Milos Wiazowski recently announced that due to funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others, King Farm has now become an enclosed community specifically for the benefit of the Godlike.

New Jersey

The site of the first defining moment for the Godlike: their plane's fateful crash to the earth. Since then, it's served as temporary home to Harold Redford and become the not-entirely-top-secret site of the government's latest "Area 51"-like facility.

• Hopewell: The location of crashdown for AA Flight 283. The site is just outside the town of Hopewell across the river from Washington Crossing State Park.

New York City

• Midtown East: Midtown east stretches from 42nd Street north to 59th, and East of Fifth Avenue to the East River. Major landmarks include Grand Central Station and the United Nations Building. It is also home to some of the world's most well known department stores, including Macys, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue. Midtown, NYC on wikipedia
  • Waldorf Astoria Hotel: The location of Jack Bennett's mother's penthouse apartment. Loc: 301 Park Avenue (between 49th and 50th Street) Area: Midtown East, The Waldorf Astoria is a luxury hotel, located on Park Avenue, in the heart of New York. Built in 1929, the hotel was completely renovated in 1999, to bring all the charm and elegance of the original structure into the modern times. The Waldorf Astoria is justly famous. Waldorf Astoria on wikipedia

Washington

• Bothell: A small city outside of Seattle, Bothell straddles King and Snohomish Counties.
  • Seattle Genetics: A research ally of Celera, SG's Bothell campus is where The Survivors woke up and where they stayed for the first two days thereafter.

Washington, D.C.

• Map of the DC Area
  • The National Mall: Map of the central area of Washington DC
    • the Lincoln Memorial: the location of the meeting of the main cast Survivors following their homecoming trips and sight of Jack's near-fatal shooting.
    • The Hopewell Foundation: With a main office located just off the National Mall and between the White House and the Capital Building in downtown Washington, this is the nerve-center for the main cast's efforts to unite and care for their fellow Survivors.
    • Brian's Condo: Located between just off of Scott Circle, at the border of Downtown Washington and Dupont Circle, this is the posh home of Brian Jaffe.
  • Georgetown: Georgetown is a neighborhood of Washington, DC, the capital of the United States. It is located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington on the Potomac River waterfront.
    • Clyde's of Georgetown: 3236 M Street, NW, Phone 202-333-9180. Where Brain Jaffe, with input from several fellow Survivors, wrote The Survivors Announcement. The streetcorner outside is the site of the bus/taxi accident that was the first public usage of super abilities.
    • Georgetown University: Georgetown University Wikipedia
    • BLUEGIN: the latest edition to DC's growing number of nightlife entertainment venues has finally arrived. Bluegin is a two-story, 4500 square foot newly renovated lounge/club space located in the heart of Georgetown.
  • Parkfair Apartments: Owned by Harold Redford. Located at 1611 Park Road, N.W., Washington, DC. Harold used his savings and retirement package to purchase this apartment complex in the NW Washington D.C. He resides with Arthur on the top floor of the building in a penthouse made from three apartments converted into one residence. Mandy lives in a basement apartment in the building, along with Beth.
  • AGT's Star Cinema Megaplex: A new Movie Theater, Opening in Washington D.C. AGT's chain of Star Cinema's, wich are secretly owned by Jack Kennedy
  • Prospect Hill Cemetary: The site of Arthur Redford's burial. Not interred at Arlington because of dishonorable discharge, this is the site where his empty coffin and headstone lies next to his mother.

West Virginia

• Clarksburg: Located in Harrison County. Where the Main Cast met with Jeremiah Jack to get keys/directions to his hunting camp on Ware Mt. Clarksburg on wikipedia
  • Meadow Brook Mall: Clarksburg, WV. Where Brian, Mandy, Arthur and Harold met up again before their "retreat."
    • Centrailia, WV: Ware Mt., Located in Braxton County - just below the geographical center of the State. Approximately 1-2 hours from Meadow Brook Mall.

Science & Technology

• Jack
  • Electronic Skin to Give Robotics Human-like Touch
  • Domestic Robot to Debut in Japan
  • Whole damn world now covered by satellite.
• Brian
  • Theories on the "Orbital Swimming": Having tested his abilities Brian learned he could "feel" orbital bodies...
  • Brian and the Higgs' Field
  • Antipode Map
  • How to Break Mars
  • New Developments in Gravity Theory
• Arthur
  • Spacetime Theories

Theory & Interest Topics

• Vigelantism
• the Yet
• Stages of Mourning
• Celera Database information: based on the questions Cat gave to be answered about the data collected in issue #35.

Campaign Construction

Who are the American Gods? ... The American Gods... aka. the Godlike... aka. the Survivors... aka. them freak-os... The players take on a role as one of 283 humans imbued with godlike powers in our modern world. This is a "what if" story of having been given great power in the real world setting of the modern day. The main protagonists are human first, and may or may not become heroes in the classic comic book ideal. The choice is theirs. They are Godlike. The flavor of the game is remenicent of the comic "Supreme Power", the tv show "the 4400", the RPG "Aberrant", and the movie "Unbreakable" among many others.

• Campaign Background
• Themes
• American God COVERS: Imagine that these images are the covers for the collected trade paperback graphic novels of each story arc. Each image is meant to symbolize the contents of its arc; those symbols are discussed within.
  • Hero Points: updates to the Hero Point rules for use with our campaign. Also the addition of Villain Point options.
• 3x3 Questions
• Roleplaying Game Terms

Resources

• visit Green Ronin's home page: Green Ronin Publishing
• visit Mutants and Masterminds' home page: M&M "Headquarters"
• visit the M&M Forums: M&M Forum - "the Atomic Think Tank"
• What else can I Wiki? Wikipedia
• What is a RPG? RPG Wiki
• What is M&M? M&M Wiki
• What is a GM? Game Master

• The most AWESOME Random Name Generator: Simple and quick for normal people names!

SPOILERS

• American Gods Spoilers: GM EYES ONLY, NOT for players of this campaign!!

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M&M RPG Wiki