Auspicious Beginnings

From Tab Wiki

The Zeotis is a traditional comic book-style supers setting, which is a house setting of mine dating way back. It has something of a Bronze Age feel to it, meaning it falls somewhere in the spectrum between the shiny campy Silver Age feel and the dark angsty Iron Age feel. Superheros are still recognizably superheroes--they have flashy costumes, they're not brooding psychos (unlike, say, the Punisher), but that doesn't mean darker issues aren't sometimes dealt with. Heroes tend to be more street-level superheroes (like, say, Daredevil or Spider-Man) than cosmic world-traveling superheroes (like Superman or the Fantastic Four). Actually, Spider-Man (except a superteam-based game) is a good approximation of the feel here.

The Vegas Vigilantes (PCs)

Midas: Trickster with a magic coin, a man of luck
Dr. Ion: A reformed supervillain mad scientist
Rook: A young mind magic-wielding sidekick
Meteor: A flying brick, charged with alien nanites

Rogues' Gallery

Go to the Rogues' Gallery

Campaign Quotes

Auspicious Beginnings Quotes

Files

Campaign Premise

A while back the events of the Showdown shook the foundations of Las Vegas (let's say somewhere between two months and two years ago... long enough for the collateral damage to be cleaned up, but also not so long that the destabilizing influences have shaken themselves out). The then-defenders of Las Vegas, the Dauntless Trio faced off against the evil Dr. Osmium. The end of the Showdown brought about the end of both the Dauntless Trio and Dr. Osmium, but it left the future of Las Vegas in question. With crime on the rise again and no local superheroes, who will step in to save the city? Enter our heroes.

Setting Background

The Zeotis General Setting Information

I have a whole page online with general background for the Zeotis setting at the link above. The most relevant parts of that page, however, are the sections describing how supers are viewed in society and the basic history of the setting. The stuff in the sections naming specific locations and characters might be mentioned in passing, but aren't particularly relevant to this campaign, unless for some reason you want to link your character to them somehow.

Campaign Background

Up until the Showdown, a while back, Las Vegas was defended by a team of superheroes known as the Dauntless Trio. This team consisted of: Sunbird (a blaster), Mainstay (a brick) and Flicker (a speedster). Together they fought crime and defended the city against a variety of supervillains, the foremost of which was the evil Dr. Osmium. When the Showdown tore across America, the Dauntless Trio stuck out at Dr. Osmium, as he was enacting his plan to destroy the city. A series of battles followed, as various superhumans were thrown into the mix. The city was virtually shut down for two weeks. When the dust finally settled, Flicker was dead, Mainstay had disappeared without a trace and Sunbird had been stripped of his powers. But Dr. Osmium was also dead, as well as most of his lackeys.

Some time has passed. The city has been cleaned up, the damage repaired. But the city has been left without superheroes, and the criminals are starting to take notice. Thankfully, that situation won't last for long. New heroes have taken up the mantle as defenders of Las Vegas: the PCs.

Places in and Around the City

Las Vegas is a frequented tourist destination, known for gambling and any other number of vices. The greater metropolitan area is home to 1.8 million people. It is a city of green parks and bright lights, all unnaturally sustained in the middle of the bloody desert. Who could ask for anything more?

The Ionosphere

A dome out in the desert owned by Dr. Ion. the Vegas Vigilantes often use it as their base of operations.

Las Vegas Strip

The Las Vegas Strip is the beating heart of the Sin City. Want gambling, booze or whores? You can find them here in spades.

Nevada Test Site

The Nevada Test Site (officially known exactly by that generic name) was one of the most active testing grounds in existence throughout much of the Cold War, particularly for the weapons that drove supers out of the government's focus: nuclear bombs. It is a vast flat expanse of desert, covered by a layer of radioactive dust, and located in Nye County, one county northwest of the city.

Hover Dam

Hoover Dam is a big dam, and a well-known one at that. At one time it as the largest dam in the world. It generates most of the power that keeps Las Vegas running. It is located 7 miles southeast of the city.

"The Mountain"

Officially known as the Region 8 Metahuman Containment Facility, most people simply call this maximum security prison "The Mountain", as it is literally carved into a mountain peak high up in the Sheep Range, just a few miles north of the Las Vegas city limits. This prison houses all the the captured superhuman criminals caught and sentenced federally in Region 8 (Nevada and California). It currently houses some twenty inmates, with specialized equipment for neutralizing powers and containing any manner of supervillain.

Notable Personalities

The following people are well-known or important individuals in and around Las Vegas.

Mayor Tom Bartleby

Mayor Tom Bartleby (D) has been in office for ages. He is an elderly man who likes to show up at events in a cowboy hat and suit and make lame jokes. He has a grandatherly demeanor, but over his many years in office he has been implicated (albeit never charged) in a variety of corruption scandals. He is a known gambler and playboy.

Police Chief Linda Scruggs

Chief Scruggs is a middle-aged woman with a broken nose that never healed right, who has clawed her way to the top of the Las Vegas police force through years of work investigating particularly dangerous cases. She has a reputation for being tough and particularly hard on corruption, a real enemy of crime. But she also has a distaste for supers, both good and evil.

Mainstay

Mainstay used to be the Brick in the Dauntless Trio. He has been missing since the end of the Showdown, and is presumed dead. His old sidekick Knave, a young lady who tended to work her powers from the shadows is also missing.

Flicker

Flicker was known as the fastest woman in the Western Hemisphere. She was one of the Dauntless Trio, but she died in the Showdown fighting Dr. Osmium, being struck down on top of Caesar's Palace by a hoard of Osmium's killer androids.

Sunbird aka "Clint Carrington"

Sunbird, before the Showdown, was the leader of the dauntless Trio--the supers team who defended Las Vegas. Since the Showdown, however, the old team is no more and Sunbird was left stripped of his superpower--the ability to fly and shoot deadly beams of light from his fists. No longer being a super, he has laid aside his costume and gone into retirement under his civilian identity: Clint Carrington.

Dr. Osmium

A mysterious mad scientist who threatened Las Vegas and was the primary nemesis of the Dauntless Trio, he died in an explosion near the end of the Showdown, and his corpse was found and taken away to the cemetery, although his civilian identity was never identified. His sidekick, Creeper, survived, but was caught and now is incarcerated in the Mountain.

Gameplay & Optional Rules

In this campaign we will be playing with both the Combat and Mental modules, as well as a variety of optional rules. These variations are described in detail below.

The Combat Module

We are playing using the Combat module. However, we are using several optional rules that differ from the ones we've used before. In this campaign we will not be using a combat grid, we'll just describe how the characters move and estimate distances, just like movement in most RPGs. Nor will we be using the Health track; instead we will be using the optional Hit Points system described on page 41 of the Saga Machine core rulebook. The severity of the wound consequence taken will be the severity of the highest hit, rather than thresholds (method 1, if you're looking at the text). Finally, we're going to treat lethality and DR as a bonus to the attack or defense roll, respectively. This will simplify attacking in combat, and while it may not be the most realistic option, I think it will work well enough for the supers genre (particularly given what are likely to be comparatively low lethality and DR values, see the Supers Equipment section below).

The Environment Module

Other than making use of the Fatigue trait, we will not be using this module. If anything comes up that this module would otherwise cover, I'll just eyeball it and make something up.

The Mental Module

We are playing with this module. We will be playing with a "Composure Points" variation that works pretty much like the Hit Points variation does for Health. The only differences are in the rate of recovery: You recover a composure point after a period of time passes equal to the recovery of a point of the highest composure consequence taken. After that the consequence drops a severity, and repeat for the new severity. All powers are using the Fixed Strain rule (page 97). Power traits may be taken up to a severe ranking. Finally, powers may use an alternate power use roll or an alternate strain (page 96-97), if it makes sense for their theme with the character and get the GM's approval.

The Social Module

We are not making use of this module, except for the Abstract Wealth rules. Wealth isn't generally that important in supers games, but it's someful to have some system there just in case it comes up at some point.

Supers Equipment

The use of equipment is a pretty stylized aspect in the supers genre. More often than not supers just use whatever thing they have that fits their shtick, and leave other equipment alone. So here's how the equipment rules work for this campaign:

All equipment normally grants a lethality or DR bonus of +0. It just does "normal person" damage. Equipment still can grant the properties granted by the object, though. So, for example, attacking with a handgun still grants you the ability to attack at range. Attacking with a sword still grants you the ability to deal cutting typed damage. The only way to get a lethality or DR bonus above 0 is to buy a piece of "super equipment" that matches your shtick, represented by purchasing either the Natural Attack and Damage Reduction trait. Lethality and DR bonuses granted by those traits are as normal, since they're part of your shtick. Finally, there is no penalty for using an improvised weapon--hell, pick up a car and throw it if you want, it's all in genre.

Finally, note the part about losing equipment in the Superhuman trait. You may be able to loot that death ray off of the fallen mad scientist, but that doesn't mean the death ray is going to stick around for the rest of the campaign.

Powers as Equipment

Some superpower traits may be to model equipment in the game world. For example, taking a form of Natural Attack with range may model having a gun or bow as part of your shtick. Any trait modeling a super's equipment in this manner should mark that trait as being "super equipment." Traits marked in this manner come with a built in benefit and drawback. As a benefit, they can be loaned in a pinch to other characters without reducing their effectiveness. As a drawback, they can also potentially be stolen. Shtick equipment stolen or loaned in this manner returns to the character (or is replaced) at the beginning of the next session, or at the next period of significant downtime, at the GM's option. Either way, the character who took the trait has the equipment back--or an otherwise identical piece of equipment--and the person who had it no longer does.

Additional & Altered Traits

The following traits have been added to those available or have been altered as written.

Traits That Use Movement Points

There are a few combat traits out there that use movement points as a resource. Since this campaign is not making use of the Environment module, characters do not have movement points. So instead we will be using the following abstracted method with these traits.

Characters either have movement or they do not. This is binary. At the beginning of each round, whether they had movement or not before, they now have movement. If the character does an action that would normally take movement points--moving, standing up, using a trait that costs movement points--they lose movement. (Remember, movement is binary, they have it or they don't.) If using a trait that costs multiple movement points, they are considered to have as many movement points as they could spend on the trait at the rank they have it. A character may use a Hustle maneuver to regain movement for the round.

Power Access Traits

Since all power and open traits are fair game for this campaign, there is no need for Power Access traits. Any trait that would normally affect only traits from one Power Access (such as Power Resistance or Anti-Power) instead affects all powers associated with one Alignment.

Alignment [Open]

Cost: 0 XP

Every super should have at least one Alignment. These alignments represent the source of the super's powers. (Don't use the sample alignments from the Saga Machine core rulebook.) The different alignments available in The Zeotis are as follows:

Mystical Rites of Old: There are a variety of ancient magical traditions. And buried among the old, moldy tomes are occasionally functioning mystical rites that evoke real power. Whether you stumbled upon this knowledge, or are the heir to a magical tradition through intense training, you are able to cast spells and make use of this knowledge to your benefit.
Medical Experiments & Accidents: It is common in supers literature--someone with more technological know-how than common sense does some sort of amazing and breakthrough experiment on a human subject. Something goes wrong (or very right), the subject develops strange powers and the whole lab burns to the ground, destroying the researcher's notes and ensuring that the experiment is not reproduced until a convenient plot-point for a similarly-powered nemesis eighty issues down the line. That's this source of power in a nutshell.
Advanced Technology: Scientists in comics invent wondrous new technological devices regularly and these may be the source of a super's power. Whether cybernetic implants, ray-gun machines delivered from the future or a mysterious alien helmet that grants one telepathy.
Esoteric Energy: Call it prana; call it qi; call it Kirlain bioplasma. In some sense esoteric energy is an off-shot of the "mystical rites of old" source. When one gains one's power through esoteric energy, it's usually from training in the use of the energy from a wizened old master or some similar source. Occasionally though, the energy is infused into one's body through some sort of ritual or accident.
Acquired Nature: Some supers characters have their powers because they have become innate to the character's nature. For example, some supers are vampires or powerful aliens. They have their abilities simply because they are those things.
Cinematic Training: Some supers are super-skilled at what they do, but are otherwise normal people. Like Batman. This alignment can only be associated generally with traits from the Open category, although the GM may make an exception for a rank of Natural Attack or Damage Reduction.

Jack-of-All-Trades [Open]

Cost: 10 XP

Whenever making a skill roll in a skill you have no ranks in, the modifier for having no ranks is treated as -2 instead of -3.

Natural Weapon [Closed]

The lethality enhancement costs the same as the Accurate enhancement.

Secret Identity [Weakness]

Cost: 0 XP

You have a secret identity that if it came out would cause you no end of trouble with your enemies targeting your assets, friends and family. You will do whatever you reasonably can to keep your true identity a secret.

Superhuman [Closed]

Add the following property to the Superhuman trait

Scene Healing: At the end of any scene a super may spend a luck point to heal as if she had rested for the night.

Character Creation

We will be making characters as a group--both concept and mechanics. I feel this is particularly important for supers as a genre, due to the openness of the genre and how divergent powers and power sources can be. More so than most genres, the GM has the final say over whether characters are green-lighted for the campaign. Character creation for this campaign will use a variation of the character creation system presented in the Character Generation module. The variant used is summed up below.

Step 1: Concept

Superhero stories are generally carried forward primarily by the weight of characters' personality and shticks. Think of a good concept. An important rule of the Zeotis universe is that every superhero attained their power somehow. No one was just born with it. How did you get your powers? Who do you that's important to you? Most heroes have their supporting cast: friendly police commissioners, nemeses, love interests or side-kicks. What does your costume look like? It's not quite comic book-style supers without the colorful costumes.

Go ahead and pick your Creed and Idiosyncrasy traits now. Make them something fitting your character concept. They might be a superhero catchphrase, or part of a code of conduct. They might have something to do with a side effect of your power, or something flashy like that.

Step 2: Stat Generation

Instead of picking a Template as per the usual Character Generation module rules, instead supers will use the Supers array. Just assign each of the numbers below to a stat of your choice. Finally, you may rearrange up to 3 points.

The Supers Array: 10, 9, 8, 7, 7, 6, 5, 4
The Normal Array: 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2 (for other characters)

Step 3: Buy Traits

Characters in this campaign will begin at Distinguished level (150 XP). However, that starting XP is divided up into three pools.

The first 50 XP is taken up by the campaign's required traits. Every PC must take the Superhuman (Superhero) trait [50 XP], which grants a number of benefits befitting a superhero, as well at least one Alignment trait [0 XP] for the source of the character's superpowers.

The next 50 XP represent the character's "normal" capabilities--mostly those she had an a normal person before she gained her powers. All traits purchased with XP from this pool must be Open Traits, and cannot be traits listed as being part of the Combat Module, or having to do with the Powers system from the Mental Module. As a Distinguished level character, you can purchase anything up as if you are Distinguished level.

The final 50 XP represent the character's super abilities. These can be used to purchase traits from any of the Open, Closed or Power categories. Power traits of Light to Severe rankings are available. Any trait purchased with these points must be associated with a power source Alignment trait.

Step 4: Weaknesses

Every character may have up to five Weakness traits. You may pick Weakness traits from either the Open or Closed categories. Pick something that sounds fun to you. Don't feel obligated to fill all five slots if you don't want to, but having at least one or two is pretty helpful, as Weakness traits are a good way of getting back luck points, and luck points fuel a lot of the super abilities, just look at the Superhuman trait.

Step 5: Equipment

If you have some weapon or armor that is specifically a part of your super-shtick, then you're better off buying it with the Natural Weapon or Damage Reduction traits (see the Supers Equipment rules above for why that is mechanically). However, some supers have other specialized equipment that they carry on them. If so, but that now. If you want something not listed in the book, ask the GM and he should quote you a price. Don't worry about buying all the mundane stuff you own, stuff like an apartment, basic car, flashlights, toothbrush and all that jazz is covered by your Lifestyle. Oh, and your wealth rating starts at 4, unless you have a trait that modifies it.