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Blood of Heroes: The Omega Files
Revised
06/30/05
The following is the background for the game I ran at
Dragon*Con 2000 – I made pre-generated characters for the players to select
from.
WORLD
BACKGROUND In 1985, the
world changed drastically. Although
there are several different reports on file, the “official” version of the
events goes as follows. NeoTek
Industrial Laboratories, a fast growing firm established in the late seventies
was attempting a breakthrough experiment in long-range teleportation, using
spatial displacement physics, a kind of momentary wormhole effect.
They had proved a short-range experiment to some degree, but there were
several concerns about the feasibility going beyond the 100-foot range that they
had done. However there was nothing
to indicate a problem. Unfortunately,
they hadn’t counted on industrial sabotage.
NeoTek
had two main Labs, one based in the New York City area, and the other in Denver
Colorado. The experiment was
to send a small box with seven items of various shapes and substances from
Denver to New York City. When
the fateful day arrived, everything checked out and was a go.
The button was pressed, and the box was “pushed” through the
wormhole. And then all hell broke
loose. An energy surge caused as
most of the evidence indicated at the Denver facility by person or persons
unknown disconnected the two wormhole openings.
The wormholes at both labs now connected to somewhere else. Energy
began to flow into the labs in vast quantities, shorting out systems, affecting
the structure of the buildings. All
the reports afterward seemed to concur that the wormholes were now both one-way
openings, draining energy from the other side, an alternate dimension.
The few survivors of the two “gate” rooms
said the rooms were a swirling mass of energy , like tiny balls of
lightning, pulsing with a steady beat.
These
tiny UFOs were sighted all over the World, but dominated North America, and
primarily the eastern two thirds of the United States.
They were seen coming into contact with people, animals, and objects.
Sometimes they did so with no apparent results, and sometimes with very
vivid effects. As
some of the results and countless reports later would seem to indicate, the
energy pulses were somehow alive. In
our “alien” dimension, they could not survive independently.
But they could survive by merging with something in our world. It would seem that in those frantic seconds after
the gates closed that each pulse was looking for something in this world that
somehow “matched” them. If
they didn’t find such a match, the results of their mergers were… unpredictable. AFTERMATH Certain
people all around the world began to show bizarre powers and mutations.
Various animals did so as well. A
zoo chimpanzee learned how to speak, and soon became quite the
conversationalist. A blue
whale with a harpoon-proof hide began sinking whaling ships, showing
uncharacteristic intelligence, even leading herds in attack.
And certain objects, usually respected or revered in some way, did so as
well. A statue of the
Virgin Mary at the Vatican began showing a true halo, and was later found to
heal almost any normal ailment if they were brought into the light of the halo. It
wasn’t at all good news – A variety of mutated predatory animals proved
deadly for many communities. Two passenger jets were brought down by bizarre mutations
spontaneously occurring in mid flight.
Whether by the mutation or the panic it caused was never officially
determined. Several other
people went to hospitals worldwide with bizarre deformities the likes of which
had never been seen by modern doctors.
Over a hundred thousand cases were reported worldwide. Some mutations never made it to the hospitals as frightened
people or mobs turned on them, sometimes with fatal results.
For others, their powers were not as controlled or instinctive as they
were for others, and accidents in those first days did result in several deaths.
Many of these had to be isolated while they attempted to control their
abilities. In some countries,
some of these individuals The
NeoTek Lab accidents and the timing of the mutations, as well as the sightings
of millions of these energy pulses leaving the labs, seemed to point blame at
them. Within the following weeks,
NeoTek was sued into oblivion by an endless parade of damage suits by injured
parties. Much of their records were
lost, several of their staff dead, several “altered”.
Bankruptcy courts divided up the spoils into a bare pittance for the
injured parties. THE WORLD ADAPTS
Over
the next few years the world adapted to the changes.
Laws had to be changed or adapted to encompass the various powers that
some people now exhibited. At first
a few individuals with powers did attempt careers as vigilantes, with mixed
success. Many disfigured mutants tried to lead normal lives, but were
usually running into problems that led to more than a few discrimination
lawsuits. Businessmen who were now 8ft
tall or extremely broad strongmen had problem riding cabs, trains, and
especially airliners. A man with burning blue flame for hair couldn't find
a place to live because he was a living fire code violation. Others tried to find jobs
as policemen, with the army, but it was quickly found that metahumans and
normals didn’t work well together all the time.
Normals couldn’t compete with the metahumans, and in the era of
fairness, that wasn’t to be tolerated.
Normals would try to overcompensate, leading to accidents. Attitudes would
become bitter and harsh, tempers short. Unions
complained when metas violated their areas of interest and the argument ensued. Some metahumans could live in secret as normals, not
letting on to their abilities, but others couldn’t, usually because of some
level of deformity or obvious physical changes.
How could these metas earn a living? By
1990, the number of crimes by metahumans was on the increase.
In part this was due to the struggle that some had succeeding in ordinary
life. Others saw how easy it was
for them, and took that easy road. Normal
police procedures did not work well against them, nor did normal jails work
against all metahumans. The Police wanted help, but experiments to get metahumans to work in a
normal police force didn’t work. In
Los Angeles a compromise was achieved when a group of three metahumans formed a
company, earning their living by turning in wanted meta-criminals for the reward
money. They were so very
effective that they eventually had to expand, starting branches in Dallas and
New York. Several
corporations caught on setting up special teams of metahumans to use as
security, specializing in security against meta-criminals.
After a few years others developed, but they were usually for special
purposes that could not be easily achieved by normal means; deep-sea salvage and
recovery, satellite repair, etc. Even
several military forces worldwide developed meta-teams.
Finally, several large cities developed teams of Metahuman Operatives to
work as metahumans policemen, emergency rescue squads, and general
troubleshooters. It was long and
coming, but the world was mimicking the comic books. The
changes to living beings seemed somehow genetic in nature, or maybe the energy
force inside them could replicate with the human cells, because by the year mid
nineties, the next generation were born and becoming children inheriting
versions of their parents powers.
Some mutant animals seem to be on the verge of becoming new species,
creating in some cases new environmental headaches. TODAY
You
are a member of Team Atlanta- a squad that works for Atlanta, but serves the
entire Atlanta Metro area. Some of these members have public identities and are well
known, while others maintain secret identities to the public.
Most of these have families or friends that they fear for.
The Squad occupies a special building in downtown Atlanta.
At least one member is present at all times when the squad is not active.
Many of these individuals have been tagged with a name by the press that
has become a “super-hero” name, although the civil authorities frown on the
use of that term, preferring Metahuman Operative.
All operatives have had courses in rescue training, and varying levels of
police procedures and techniques. They
work as a team and are usually called in when the situation warrants
meta-assistance, or shows signs of metahuman criminal involvement.
They are occasionally high profile, and treated like celebrities.
NOTE: Two
of the player characters provided, Mystery and Replica, have powers that could
be difficult for beginning players to use.
It is really necessary that anyone wanting to play either of these
characters must have previous experience with the MEGS system.
The shape shifting powers of Mystery require a good feel for the
attributes and powers, and a good knowledge of animal forms and the “powers”
they may represent. Replica’s Mimic ability may bring into play dozens of
powers and may require the player to be familiar with those abilities and how to
best utilize them. It will be VERY
difficult to explain some details related to either of these character’s
powers during the game without risking slowing it down.
Out of consideration to other players, if you do not have experience with
the game, pick one of the other players characters.
Thanks DISCLAIMER: NeoTek
is a fictitious corporation and is not meant in any way to represent any company
existing or known to have existed. Any
similarity is purely coincidental. |
