Campaign Ground Rules

General Description

This game will mix standard superhero set pieces with more mature themes. Yes, the characters may wear spandex and shoot rays out of their eyes, but they still face the same problems as you or I, and perhaps more.

The heroes of Newcomer are just that, heroic, because they don't have all the answers. Sometimes their powers aren't enough versus Dr. BadAss™ and they still have to face the IRS! They are heroic, not because they've have angst-filled backgrounds — their powers borne of demonic torture, but because they are trying to do some good, because it's the right thing to do. It ain't easy.

Importance of the PCs

The PC's are the "stars" of the game, but they are not the most powerful superheroes in the world. The PCs are assumed to have had some experience and are probably some of the tougher metahumans in their area. So, while they may bask in the knowledge that they are the local supermen, they also can't expect someone to come bail them out if they get in over their heads.

Campaign Tone

While the campaign will have some of the goofiness of Champions and the four-color genre, most of the situations are serious.
Morality: There will be examples of classic Good vs. Evil morality and stories involving shades of gray.
Realism: the physics of the world is unrealistic, but the affects of superpowers are not. There will be room for romanticism and tragedy.
Outlook: Seriousness balanced with lighthearted events.
Continuity: Mostly episodic with some continuing themes.

Physical World (Description)

I plan to ratchet back the four-color dial a bit from the standard setting, but not enough to turn the game into some gritty street-level Champions game. This has been done to emphasize the importance of the PCs and to deal with one of the most unrealistic elements of the genre -— the slow pace of technology in a world littered with alien technology and pocket fusion reactors.

Background Elements:

1. Aliens may exist, but any contacts they have had are still secret.
   
2. No big world-spanning superhero organizations exist, a la PRIMUS, UNTIL, etc. (...at least publicly).Why? The world is as balkanized as our current situation. After Korea, etc., it has only been in the past few years that UN interventions have become more common, and let's face it, they really have not been resounding successes. There may be talk of a UN-sponsored superhero force, but it is a political hot potato.
3. There are metahuman wings of current law enforcement offices. So a big city will have a SWAT-like team for dealing with supers, the FBI will have a paranormal wing, and their may be hidden agencies too.
4. Also, there probably will be supervillian teams, but the only VIPER-like organizations that are known would have been the ones that were discovered and destroyed. So, if there is a Secret Worldwide Allegiance of Super Villians, then it's really secret.
5. Villains and heroes have the same basic motivations as their non-superpowered counterparts. (There isn't a megalomaniac world-dominator in every abandoned warehouse by every waterfront in every metropolis.)
   
6. The origin of superpowers is not well known or understood. There are competing theories as to what causes superpowers. Superheroes have come and gone the high points being in the late 40's and early 70's - there are actually fewer superbeings now than, say 1980.
   
7. Supertech is often conditional. Many of the gageteers and inventors seem unable to replicate their work for others: "That's funny, my PowerBelt™ works for me?!?!"

Physical Setting

We will begin in San Angelo, although the characters do not have to own the setting book. If the characters wish to come from the area they probably should purchase the book and familiarize themselves with the basics of the city. If this is the case, see me about what you should not read