The heroes fight back and, just as they are turning the tide, there is a bright flash and it quickly becomes clear Tellax has transported them someplace very, very far away There is a state of emergency, as a Lor fleet is confronting a threat in space near the planet, and Republic soldiers are on alert for a possible invasion.
They naturally take the heroes to be invaders and attempt to arrest them. Whether they go quietly or not is up to them. In either case, the heroes appear before the Supreme Praetor of the Lor Republic and gathered members of the Senate, and learn of the threat looming in the outer reaches of the MagnaLor system.
They also have the opportunity to prevent the assassination of the Praetor at the hands of a spy, a Grue shapeshifter, ancient enemies of the Lor. Before the heroes can deal with this revelation, a figure appears in the Lor Senate chamber: Orizon, the Voice of Collapsar the Devourer, heralds the arrival of his master and the imminent doom of Magna-Lor.
The heroes have the opportunity to confront Orizon, but his vast cosmic powers make him a formidable opponent. Win or lose, the heroes are drawn back to Earth so Tellax can confirm all they have seen and heard.
The capitol of the Republic is doomed. Even a race as advanced and powerful as the Lor cannot resist Collapsar. The alien computer tells the heroes how the Preservers created it as a means of stopping Collapsar from consuming the cosmos, and it intends to fulfill its purpose by transforming humanity into a super-powered army under its guidance! The fate of the world—perhaps the universe—hangs in the balance! All rights reserved. The character creation system lets you make the hero you want to play, choosing from a wide range of skills, advantages, and power effects.
Customize your hero's powers with modifiers to create an almost endless range of superhuman abilities. It features a sturdy and practical 3-panel hardbackscreen with all the charts and tables you need to play the World's GreatestSuperhero RPG.
The kit also includes 4 quick reference cards and a combattracker that you can write on with wet or dry erase markers. Set in the same universe as the award-winning Freedom City, Emerald City provides a home base for your heroes and a place they can shine. This rich and detailed sourcebook describes a fully realized city that until recently was downright normal.
It didn''t have alien armadas filling the sky, or mad gods trying to turn it into a Hell on Earth. Things were stable Now criminal masterminds have cast aside years of fragile peace, ready to go to war to settle old scores and claim the throne of the city''s underworld. Emerald City has no established teams to call on in this crisis.
It is a city that needs heroes. Will you answer the call? Every hero needs an origin story and this can be yours! The book examines the genre of teen heroes and villains , provides players and GMs with all the information they need to create characters and run games featuring teenaged heroes, and includes pages and pages of plot ideas and story hooks.
Finally, Hero High includes information on the Claremont Academy, a private school for the "gifted," and introduces a team of eight playable heroes--and their evil counterparts from a rival school known as the Elysian Academy.
The cosmos is a vast realm of primal powers, alien empires, and wonders and dangers beyond imagining. Thomas, like Siegel, Shuster, and Schwartz before, had a long-standing love of science fiction. Under his auspices, Marvel books more frequently incorporated elements of the cosmic subgenre, as well as more of the thoughtfulness found in the best literary sci-fi.
With his 72 newsstand resurrection, Capt. Marvel became Starlins vehicle for cementing and expanding the existing elements of the cosmic superhero sub-genre.
Under Starlin, excursions into space became the order of the day for the Kree alien, giving the book a more cosmic scope and setting.
The previously unspectacularly powered Captain gained the more suitably godlike ability of cosmic awarenessbecoming one with the cosmos and Protector of the Universe. Captain Marvel developed this expanded consciousness thanks to Eon, the guardian of universal evolution itself and one of several embodiments of abstract concepts to appear in Starlins work.
Most memorably, the Captain came into conflict with the mad, murderous alien Thanos, as he sought to destroy all life and thereby impress his would-be girlfriend, the very personification of Death. Continuing Thomas messianic allusions, Warlock found himself confronting the Magus, head of the star-spanning Universal Church of Truth.
While the series was relatively short-lived, it demonstrated the increasing presence of the cosmic subgenre and social relevancy in superhero comics. Times had changedthe economy was shaky, and comics had fled the mass youth marketplace to become a niche item. Faced with a shrinking audience increasingly made up of older, longtime readers craving new thrills, comic books had to go big or go home. Big and ambitious by design, Secret Wars had to be more cosmic than anything previously published.
Beginning with a sentient universe called the Beyonder who could reshape reality like Play-Doh, an Official Handbooks worth of the companys most powerful and popular characters were forced to do battle as the embodiments of Good and Evil on a distant planet. Secret Wars was grand, cosmic storytelling, truly awesome, and sold better than anything had in years.
In its aftermath, the comic book market became increasingly driven by such massive crossover events, many of them deriving their hugeness from revisiting cosmic-theme stories from the companys past, beginning with the inevitable Secret Wars II.
Similarly, an even-more-omnipotent Thanos again opposed by Adam Warlockwas back to his old tricks, threatening all reality and wooing Death herself in s The Infinity Gauntlet, appropriately scripted by Jim Starlin. Starlin, Warlock, and still more cosmic elements returned for the sequels, s Infinity War and s Infinity Crusade. As its storylines crossed over into every DC title, entire universes were done away with as regularly as Silver Age Lois Lane suspected Clark Kent just might be Superman.
Featuring nearly every character and fictional world created during its first half-century of publishing, and with the nigh-omnipotent Monitor and Anti-Monitorpersonifying creation and destruction obliterating and reconstituting reality itself, its difficult to conceive of anything being more definitely cosmic than Crisis on Infinite Earths. Just as Marvel had done, DC Comics then mined its cosmic past for future company-wide crossovers. Green Lanterns associated mythology figures prominently in s Millennium and s Blackest Night.
The good, old-fashioned alien invasion epics Invasion! The stalwart Marvel Comics heroes, fresh off their victory over the evil alien Skrulls in s Secret Invasion, still include the likes of the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Indeed, the cosmic superhero sub-genre will happily remain with us for the foreseeable future. Only our reality becoming as fantastic and wonderful as the stories it inspired seems capable of altering that fact.
This section outlines the major elements of the cosmic sub-genre: the space-y things that make it distinct from mainstream superheroes. You cant have cosmic without the vastness of the cosmos: the universe and all of its worlds, dimensions,. This section looks at outer space and other worlds from a comic book perspective: in other words, while it does occasionally bump into modern astrophysics by pure accident , this part is not about hard science, or even hard science fiction.
What this section does provide Gamemasters is a galaxyload of ideas and options to populate and describe a comic-book cosmos. We have to warn you: it does get weird For some like the Golden Age Superman , their alien origins are nothing more than a way to account for their superhuman abilities.
In that respect, theyre not substantially different from a mutant human, a living mythological figure, a wizard, or a previously regular person accidentally exposed to some beneficial radioactivity. Being an alien means profoundly more in the cosmic superhero sub-genre.
What kind depends on the precise taxonomy of the alien presence in question A characters native people may be one of the if not the galaxys great powers when it comes to peace, war, or trade. The presence of one of their own then heightens the heroes ability to influence matters involving that race, putting them in a key posi-. Thanks to their extraterrestrial buddy, the heroes alone may know the words and deeds needed to persuade an alien culture that humanity means them no harm, or the fatal weakness of their war machines if their alien pals countrymen go the usual route and try to conquer Earth.
Being the sole living remnant of an alien racean extant cousin, dog, and bottle city notwithstanding also carries with it certain burdens in this sub-genre. Traumatic memories of their civilizations end, survivors guilt, or loneliness often lead to complications like Acceptance, Phobia, Prejudice, Quirk, or Temper.
Being the last of your kind isnt all bad, however. Since youre the last survivor, it means your character had something the others didnt. It might be luck, intelligence, or extraordinary powers, but the hero is something truly uniqueand perhaps a power level or more higher than his or her colleagues because of it. Naturally, being the most powerful character in the room comes with a price.
Typically, the cost is extra complications like Power Loss, Weakness, or both, all stemming from some annoyingly easy substance for super-villains to acquire, like fire, lead, or radioactive chunks of what used to be the heros home planet.
Depending on the story, the featured extraterrestrial may be around to learn from the humans, or offer some interplanetary constructive criticism. In the first instance, the aliens culture regularly engages in a practice anathema to most human. It might be slavery, racial intolerance, sexual prejudice, religious persecution, or serving humans for dinner. Whatever the aliens failings are, the heroes feel compelled to show the extraterrestrials a better way. By being heroesdoing heroic things, giving heroic speeches, and modeling good heroic behaviorthe characters can affect at least the beginnings of a positive change towards a more humanistic alien world.
Settings that are cosmic yet contemporary often include extraterrestrials that are here on Earth to teach us foolish mortals a thing or two. Characters of this ilk typically have the Doing Good motivation, orif their disdain for human folly includes legal systemsJustice. They frequently express their surprise and disappointment that humans still have poverty, war, and bigotry, and in addition to expounding on the superiority of their culture and heritage, engage in super-heroism to help human society progress.
Underneath their scolding, these alien characters believe in mankinds potential. As outsiders, they see. A good start in this process is for Gamemasters to consider some basic questions about what niches and roles extraterrestrials are to occupy in their series. This section presents a few to get Gamemasters started on their first contact with aliens of their own design. A world already accustomed to weird mutants, mystic wizards, fantastic technology, and humans transformed by chemicals or radiation just has one more thing to worry about.
By contrast, certain knowledge of alien life may fray the already tenuous bonds of civilization. Panicked fear of invasion may trigger desperate acts of survival, leading to violence, destruction, and a breakdown of essential services like electric power and food transport. Others may welcome their new alien overlords with religious devotion, certain they will soon arrive to bestow a utopia upon mankind.
Both reactions may persist to a lessened degree even after the heroes help restore order, with extraterrestrials regarded with prejudice and hatred, and various cults arising to worship the beings from the starsextremists who are bound to cause interplanetary incidents requiring the heroes intervention.
Earthly knowledge of this can lead to social disorder as described in the preceding section , but this is comparatively rare in published comic-book universes. More typically, humanity somehow doesnt know or care how very not alone it is as in both DC and Marvels prime universes. In many future-era series, mankind has acclimated and integrated itself into a truly universal community where alien worlds and civilizations mirror the relations between different countries and nations on present-day Earth.
Such a setting is wide open for potential stories if its in the universe, its available and for commentary on contemporary situations. Wars and famines involve whole star systems, illegal aliens really are, and racial prejudice includes differences in telepathic ability, number of tentacles, and corporeality.
In such a setting, heroes despite their noble intentions may find themselves the hideous invaders with unfathomable customs, and dealing with life forms to whom they are as amoebae. The best literary sci-fi a key influence on comic books uses a diversebordering on bizarrearray of aliens to explore themes that nicely intersect with those of superhero comics.
For example, whats the difference between a civilized alien race and an otherworldly monster? To most Earthlings, thats a call made on the basis on how similar they are to humans, but that short-sighted way of thinking is something heroes should be above. A good Gamemaster should give them every opportunity to show off their wisdom, and impart it to others as they save strange-looking but good-hearted aliens from harm visited upon them by ignorant humans.
With the power of unfettered imagination, the Gamemaster is able to introduce aliens so very weird they beggar the heroes and players conceptions of What Life Can Be. Non-corporeal creatures who cannot conceive of life governed by the petty demands of flesh or super-intellects who see the heroes as little more than pleasant entertaining monkeys, so dirty and foulfit the bill nicely. The galaxy may host machine-beings who, perhaps without feeling, still think and aspire, as well as energy beings who only intermittently perceive our dimension.
Heroes empowered and transported by high technology may similarly find their world-views challenged by alien magicusers, with abilities to rival their own. The possibilities are as limitless as space itself.
While normally we try to limit reality intruding into all the comicbook fun, its bound to be asked why exactly Earthout of typically countless inhabited worldsmatters quite so much, or really, even at all. The question is even more baffling in series set in the present day, when Earth is just a primitive backwater nobody in the greater cosmos normally chock-full of space-faring alien races. Iconoclastic Gamemasters may simply decide the Earth really isnt all that in galactic terms, and use the heroes mocked status as interstellar hillbillies as a recurring series element.
More traditional GMs follow the example of most superhero comics and devise at least one compelling cause why, sooner or later, the plot-lines always seem to lead to Earth. It may be a reason long-known among space-faring civilizations, or something recently discoveredperhaps by an alien ship that got really lost and blundered right into our very own Sol system.
In either case, Earths oh-so-attractive It Factor may be something humans dont even know about Earth may have the best interstellar highway access in the sector, or we may have resources and substances scarce elsewhere in the universe. It may be our women, water, or waffles, but whatever it is, the extraterrestrials are ready to beg, borrow, or steal for it.
This makes the otherwise insignificant Earth matter, and periodically puts it at risks invasions, mass kidnappings, interplanetary heists only the series heroes can extricate it fromespecially if humanitys technology isnt up to intergalactic snuff. By the same token, the special something thats attractive to extraterrestrials just might be human beings themselves. Concealed within our primitive monkeybrains might be secrets untold, like how to unlock the capacity for truly extraordinary abilities which the series central superpowered heroes may in fact be the harbingers of.
Perhaps, in all the universe, only humanity created music, Picasso, Hostess Fruit Pies, charitable giving, or a never-say-die attitude. Whatever it is, the rest of inhabited space is impressedand not a little jealousand Earth will never again want for alien attention. Its the heroes job to make sure the interest remains healthy for all involved, and be prepared to intervene when it doesnt.
Some film and TV space explorers wander the galaxy, sipping their tea and regularly fretting over somehow interfering in an alien culture along the way. Cosmic superheroes, on the other hand, are all about. As noted in the section Being Alien and What It Means, extraterrestrials are often present in a story as a vehicle for social commentary. Combining that with the cosmic sub-genres core trope of interacting with the infinite, the heroes are sometimes confronted with entire societies engaging in various unsavory practices.
It might be forcing others into gladiatorial games, environmental irresponsibility destroying their biosphere, or planning an attack against their peaceful galactic neighbors. Forget lecturing the neighborhood kids on the dangers of drugscosmic superheroes have to make entire worlds mend their ways.
The tendency in comic books is to resolve global problems such as these via incredibly simple methods. Similar Earth woes remain immune and intractable, but once in space, instant miraculous changes become possible. Warlike extraterrestrial cultures can turn pacifist after the heroes smash up their invasion fleet.
Long-winded heroic speeches can change the alien rulers mind about sexism or slavery, or racial hatred, or whatever his prejudice , and his entire civilization immediately then falls into line behind him.
In truly cosmic series, heroes are capable of resolving a worlds ills in mad, beautiful Silver Age fashions, such as fixing global warming by nudging the planet away from the sun just enough to cool things down acceptably.
The simple answer for such concerns is to ask oneself, what doesnt strain credibility in superhero comic books? Once your imagination has accepted, say, cosmic radiation overdoses giving people super-powers, one has in large part surrendered the right to question believability.
The more substantial reply involves possibly making the solutions more in line with the scale of the problems at hand. Instead of altering an ancient culture overnight, the heroes may be in for a more long-term struggle, winning one battle at a time, and changing minds only gradually.
The tactics dont necessarily have to change they can still punch out the aggressive alien soldiers but the rewards are scaled down and doled out over time. CHANGES If pondering the vastness of our own universe ever becomes pass or jejune, consider the possibility of other universes: ones where history took a different course, or where reality adopted a different set of physical laws.
See, now were talking cosmic! They allow for social commentary like alien-inhabited worlds, even if the statement is simply Nazis are evil. What really makes this sub-genre element enticing is the ills the Gamemaster wishes to comment upon are visited upon the heroes and all they value to a degree rarely possible in the series normal setting. The heroes, their beloved supporting characters, their cherished objects and locations can all be turned evil, killed, maimed, or destroyed without the originals being affected.
Thus, the players experience the dramatic impact of these changes, butas a reward for successful heroism in the alternate universeget to return to familiar, comforting surroundings in time for next weeks game session.
A universe where magic is as common as technology and the latter may exist only rarely, or not at all presents a challenge to characters normally spoiled by their smart phones and powered armor.
An anti-matter continuum where superpowers dont work at all or perhaps only temporarily, after expending a hero point is an even sterner test of the players ingenuityin devising a way back to their home universe, for a start. Exploding buildings and jewel thieves dont measure up in cosmic storieseven world conquerors are small potatoes here. This sub-genre is the realm of imploding universes note the plural , the embodiment of Death itself extinguishing all life, and godlike villains subjugating reality itself.
Its quite alright for the players to feel overwhelmed and insignificant in the face of such menaces; in fact, thats rather the point. Theres only trouble if the Gamemaster is the one overawed by how to make his or her tiny group of puny superheroes matter when confronting the infinite. They key is devising a way for the characters heroism the things they can doto deliver unto them the means to limit that which seems limitless. Doing so definitely shouldnt be easy, but it should be do-able.
Their salvation might be an ancient alien MacGuffin device, shrouded in intergalactic legend and hidden on a distant and now hazardous world. Whatever the means of deliverance, for it to feel thematically and dramatically right, it must involve the characters heroism being ultimately tested to its utmost. Their particular motivations provide excellent guidelines for devising such supreme tests. The successful conclusion of a truly cosmic adventure can ask those moved by Doing Good or Responsibility to lay down their lives, or heroes craving Thrills and Recognition to give up their superhuman powers.
Characters who seek Justice might have to let an archenemy go free to secure his help in saving the day, while a hero craving Acceptance might have to betray his friendsor a character with Patriotism, his countryto achieve the same end.
Sweet-natured Gamemasters can opt to have self-sacrificing heroes walk away unscathed, with their willingness to give all enough to pay the price for victory. More interestingly, the selfless heroes attempts to regain whatever they lost can be the focus of the next game session. Drown them, burn them, melt them, suffocate them, or worsein any case, there are times the whole world really is out to get them.
This includes darkness as on the dark side of the moon or a. Great starting points for hero endangerment, all. Future Earths experiencing environmental problems, commentary-worthy social ills, rule by sentient machines, or global war are all valid concepts with great story potential.
But why stop there? The cosmic sub-genre offers up nearly limitless possibilities for inconvenient and nasty things alien worlds can do to the characters, just for visiting there. As the Gamemaster, all you need are the Affliction and Weaken powers plus the boundlessness of cosmic super-heroic adventures.
Worlds that change the characters into cavemen, senior citizens, apes, water-breathers, evildoers, toddlers, paranoiacs, or dinosaurs are guaranteed to be a change of pace from the usual game session of punch the villain, save the day.
Even better for the Gamemaster, unlike more conventional environmental hazards, these effects cant be avoided by a few points investment in Immunity, and can be explained away by a factor unique to this planet or the like. Threatening hazardous environments work best as a bit of plot seasoning for another, larger story.
Those with a taste for the whole cosmic experience are better served by a setting in some far-off era, where space-y elements abound. There, travel across the galaxy is as common as catching a red-eye to Atlanta, and interacting with alien life, other planets, personified abstract concepts, and godlike beings becomes simpler to arrange and much more common. The heroes can go to the infinite, rather than making the infinite do all the work of coming to them.
Technology is inescapable in a cosmic superhero series, and sometimes that fact of life can be extremely life-threatening. Very little that is cosmic happens in a series without fasterthan-light spacecraft and other wondrous devices, and for that reason items like advanced supercomputers and nonpolluting energy sources are understandably taken for granted.
This section is about the more worrisome, autonomously murdering and conquering type of machine. Cosmic-genre tropes do provide a clear warning its protagonists never heed. The caveat here is: Any machine that talks will eventually try to kill the heroes, usually with the aim of taking over the world shortly thereafter. Whatever the nature of the enemy, the heroes are going to have to kill what isnt truly alive and, as the Gamemaster knows, is just a fast upload away from a future return appearance.
Traditionally, defeating the runaway technology hinges on something that validates the ultimate superiority of mankind. No matter how much murder and destruction the rampaging robots have perpetrated to that point, humanity has to have the last triumphant word. Whether its a once-surly android suddenly developing emotions it cant cope with, a killer robot whose head explodes when immersed in illogic, or an alien master-computer crippled by running whatever virus-laden software the heroes upload, mans humanity triumphs over machine.
At their core, futuristic series are much like the standard superhero setup; the main difference is again one of scale. The heroes are helping police their solar system and galaxy instead of home city and country, and moving from planet to planet rather than neighborhood to neighborhood.
There are fewer street-gang members fighting Wise people counsel against discussing religion in polite over turf, and more interstellar alien empires warring company, and still wiser people follow that advice. Its also over star systems. If you want to see a more fleshed-out been the general rule in suexample, check out Freedom perhero comic books, put out City in Chapter 5.
Cosmic superhero setting, future Earths in of our lives. And remember, my friend, future series are sometimes an excosmic superhero settings events such as these will affect you in the ception, but even then cretend toward the utopian, but future. Putting the probchange all the names, and. With any resemblance or most of the resemblance, at least to any religions living or dead safely removed, the way is clear for evil planetary or galactic cults to show up as implacable bad guys.
Motivated by fear of their dark gods, all manner of evil can be ascribed to the alien cultists, and their great numbers cant be intimidated or reasoned with. The presence of evil cults in a setting fairly calls for a more balanced view of religion. Devising a benevolent faith again, changing the name and making it safely alien if desired is quite easily done, and makes for a good source of aid for heroes down on their luck on an otherwise strange world.
If said benevolent faith is entirely pacifist in nature, it provides the characters a group of good, otherwise helpless people for them to protect as true heroes are bound to do. Characters with religious beliefs of their own and Complications derived from them potentially have some interesting challenges in a cosmic superhero setting.
The sub-genre is prone to having godlike beings roaming the universe and interacting with the heroesnot to mention all the personified abstractions like embodied Life, Love, and Order. How such a character reacts to an entity that seems a lot like the god s he or she worshipsbut most decidedly isnthas some hero-point worthy role-playing in store. Its hard to get much more cosmic than the characters coming face to face with universal Death, Chaos, Avarice, or Time themselves.
By nature, these beings are Power Level X and can do whatever the Gamemaster needs to advance the plot. Game statistics are also unnecessary for entities the heroes really shouldnt have any hope of besting in a direct confrontation, the implications of which are too weird even for the cosmic sub-genre. Can the characters actually punch Death dead? Is it possible to trip Hate itself? Abstract entities nonetheless serve three valuable purposes in cosmic superhero series. First, their very presence carries with it the proper sense of awe and things just got real for a cosmic series.
They add gravitas to a game session simply by showing up. Secondly, immensely powerful as they are, abstract entities are not immune to every Golden and Silver Age heros stand-by weapon, the long-winded speech. By no means. Lastly, abstract entities invariably have an equal and diametrically opposite number checking most every one of their direct actionse. These grants of power can be permanent, if a continuing character needs a cosmic origin.
They can also be temporary if the characters only need such awesome abilities long enough to resolve some great reality-threatening crisis.
If the aliens are old school, Earth is their target. They may be after our land or to make brunch of us, but whatever their aim, Earth is in for a sock to the planetary chin. Other times, Earth is just an innocent bystander as two alien dominions slug it out. From a human point of view, the conflict may begin wholly unnoticed or without much interest. However, events soon draw Earth into the conflict, perhaps as a sideshow battleground in the much larger galactic struggle.
Wars are notoriously tough to stop once started, and being a superhero doesnt make the task that much simpler. The cosmic sub-genre typically offers one of two possible solutions to the good guys. Resolution Number One is a star-spanning detective story, as the heroes suspect a third partythoroughly evil and standing to benefit from a war that kills countless billionshas orchestrated the whole conflict and tricked both sides into going to war.
All the characters have to do is outwit and outfight an enemy clever and powerful enough to fool two interstellar civilizations, get definitive proof of the ruse, escape, then persuade two furious warring nations it was all a set-up. Solution Number Two comes into play when Earth-based heroes are defending their home turf: beat up the aliens, destroy their weapons, and find their Achilles heel in the process.
As noted in Being Alien and What It Means, any extraterrestrials in the series hero team are very likely to see their brethren invade Earth at some point, and are even more certain to hold the key to saving Earth.
This premise also holds great interest for aliens whoerroneously, as it turns outthought they were the last surviving member of their race. They are still crucial to Earths salvation, but their former allies may not look at them the same once. To make matters even more compelling, a heroic alien not entirely clear on how he or she came to Earth to begin with may really have been originally sent for nefarious reasons reasons that might just become clear at the worst possible time for the good guys To be truly cosmic, the distances traveled must also beggar the imagination.
Faster-than-light journeys across the galaxy are a start, and from there other universes, alternate realities, and time travels await. What happens once the heroes arrive at their far-flung destinations is discussed elsewhere in this chapter.
The advice here is to never allow the trip itself to become routine. If a trip of a million light-years ever feels to the players like a cross-town bus ride, the awe and mystery of the universe that makes the cosmic sub-genre special and fun is lost. The best way to prevent interstellar ennui from setting in is to periodically make the voyage itself the adventure, or at least a sizable plot point.
However the heroes get around, the Gamemaster can make getting there half the fun Even in settings where space travel is commonplace, the number of things that can go wrong while wandering amongst the stars is large. Computer glitches, hull breaches, black holes, meteor showers, space pirates, rogue planets, and supernovae are just a few complications that can test the mettle of even the most jaded space jockey.
Perhaps space travel is possible in the series, but still employs technology that makes the journey a bit of a crap shoot. Alternatively, the heroes may rely on super-powers e.
Some comic-book hero teams have a whole fleet of faster-than-light ships at their disposal, while more humble heroes have but a single means of transportation. In the latter case, players are kept more on edge, wondering if a wrong move might lead to difficult repairs, or leave them stranded on a distant world. Either way, the next weeks adventure is set, Gamemaster. Its quite a time-saver for the good guys, but a headache for the Gamemaster whose villains can be ambushed at any second from light-years away.
If the Gamemaster allows such a means into the series, he or she is strongly advised to build in some plot safeguards. Whatever its Achilles heel, it prevents heroes from saving the day too quickly and easily. Heroes in series where news travels faster than they do face the near-constant handicap of no element of surprise.
Wherever they go, the bad guys are more than ready for them long before they arrive. Alternately, the heroes travel more quickly than any means of communication. In these series, every game session begins with at least some amount of detective work, as the heroes acquaint themselves with whatever local changes have occurred since they were last in contact with their current whereabouts.
If travel outpaces communications throughout the galaxy, the heroes and everyone else, for that matter operate in a setting where nearly everything is governed by word of mouth, at least in the near term. In such a series, players can never be sure exactly what sort of reception theyre in for, even if its a world theyve visited before. In any situation where a disparity between travel and talk times exists, any hero with an unlimited Communication power or close to it would become one of the most important and sought-after individuals in the galaxy once their ability became widely known.
The power of instantaneous communication would be invaluable to a star-spanning empire, and the seed for many game sessions to come. The effects on someone other than a crimson-clad ensign venturing into the void unprotected are as follows. Fatigued characters who fail a check become exhausted, then incapacitated, at which point the characters condition becomes dying after another failed Fortitude check.
Gamemasters who want more agony, less science in their hard vacuum can bump this figure up to every minute, or every round if theyve truly given into their hate and embraced the Dark Side. Failure typically leads to a rank Weaken Stamina effect, but at the GMs discretion can lead to other effects, such as damage to a heros power ranks causing a temporary decrease in powers. If the check fails, or when the character simply stops holding his breath, he begins to suffocate, and on the next round, he becomes incapacitated.
The following round, hes dying and cannot stabilize until returned to a normal atmosphere. On the third and each subsequent round of exposure to vacuum, a character must succeed on a Fortitude check DC 20 or suffer from aeroembolism the bends. A failed check means excruciating pain as small air bubbles form in the bloodstream; said character is stunned and remains so until returned to normal atmospheric pressure. Two or more degrees of failure impose the incapacitated condition.
Science says explosive decompression doesnt actually happen in a vacuum, but theres nothing in comic-book science preventing Gamemasters from including it as a final showy demise for those characters unlucky enough to be killed by any of the real dangers of vacuum exposure. Other than a timely rescue good thing there are superheroes around, eh?
One rank in Immunity takes care of all the cold, radiation, or vacuum worries or, even better, three ranks for all three. Two ranks allows a character to kick the oxygen habit and never fear suffocation ever again. A total of five ranks, then, makes a hero completely vacuum-proof. Obviously, an investment of five power points isnt much of a sacrifice for most characters, particularly those in a cosmic series where players know in advance theyll be spending a lot of time in space.
That modest expenditure also absolves more unscientific Gamemasters from having to worry about space hazards distracting the players from other, more colorful menaces in their storylines. So why exactly doesnt vacuum hurt your character?
It may therefore be in everyones best interests to give characters ready access to some type of space suit. Even more frugally in that case, the five Immunity ranks needed to become vacuum-proof can be bought with 5 equipment points total cost: 1 power point.
DARK STAR When a big enough star burns up the last of its fuel, the remaining bits collapse into an unbelievably dense chunk of material that gives off more than enough gravity to grab and hold light itself.
In short, it becomes a black hole. Obviously, if light isnt fast and intangible enough to avoid being doomed, the much slower and heavier player characters are in serious trouble, being drawn ever closer to the event horizon. This line of Beyond-Certain Death is where the fatal grasp of gravity becomes inescapable, and the player characters are mashed into little hero meatballs One option is to gain enough speed to achieve escape velocity.
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