Variant rules: Damage bonuses in combat

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For the last year or so I’ve not been posting much as I continue working on my new game but also as I’ve not been running Superlatives other than the occasional one shot so I haven’t had as many opportunities to try out ideas.

Now I have a campaign again I should have slightly more content to play with. (My focus is probably still going to be on the upcoming game though). For the first of these new pieces of content I wanted to update that I have had the opportunity to update on a bit of playtesting I have been doing.

Combat in Superlatives is the only aspect reviewers have ever raised as an issue.¹

While you can have brilliant fight scenes as folk come up with a medley of combination attacks and counters to their enemies’ attacks you can also just have the fight scene bog down into endless rounds of “I hit them.” There’s also the (common to many RPGs) issue of having a big exciting attack roll let down with a disappointing damage roll.

Unfortunately this was not shaken out in the playtests as most had quite a large group of mostly physical fighters which meant fights were either set pieces where even a large group of heroes were on the ropes or were over quite quickly. (As an aside I have been playing a lot of 1970s games recently and find it notable how strongly these assume a large group without stating this – here I am seventy years latter falling into the same trap).

After experimenting with several ways to address the issue I have ended up adopting the following alternative rules which retains most of the spirit and ease of play of Superlatives while giving a (very very small) amount more mechanical crunch, reduces the need to look up tables of modifiers, makes the attack roll more meaningful and speeds up fights.

• When making an opposed check calculate a damage bonus by taking the difference between the tens value of the rolls and dividing by 10. In this fashion a character who beat their opponent by nine would have a bonus of 0 while a character who beat their opponent by 20 would have a bonus of 2 and a character who beat their opponent by 109 would have a bonus of 10.
• This bonus is then added to the damage roll for either hit points or control counters.
• Damage is not multiplied or divided.

Further house rules I am considering to manage the differences between the systems include:

• Bonuses to opposed checks can never go above double the base modifier (so a Super attack with a +30 base modifier can have a maximum of a +30 bonus, or two Super assists). As opposed checks now mean far more than they do in the core rules some rule of this sort, or constant GM vigilance will be needed to manage abuses. However the precise threshold should vary from game to game. A shounen inspired game will obviously allow bonuses to go far higher as escalation is at the heart of that genre.
• Control counter thresholds use the table below rather than the one in the core book. The control counter thresholds were based on mind control powers being fairly rare and not being able to take advantage of multiplying. As mind control becomes more common in my game, and can now take advantage of the damage bonus this table feels in need of an update.

Degree of control	Child	Human	Trained	Peak	Super	Hyper	Godlike	Cosmic
1st	1	1	1	5	6	7	8.4	10.8
2nd	1	2	5	22	30	35	42	54
3rd	2	3	10	44	60	70	84	108
4th	3	4	12	53	72	84	100	130
5th	4	5	17	74	100	118	140	182

Note that this is based on the 3^rd degree functionally ending most fights, the 1^st degree requiring 1/10 of the control counters to reach this point and the 2^nd degree requiring half the control counters to reach this stage. Each stage past this requires 1/5 of the total to attain.

• Giant monsters ignore the first X points of damage from each attack where X is their hitpoints divided by ten and rounding down. As mentioned above these rules have been introduced to make combat quicker and more dynamic for small groups of heroes. This rule is then designed to slow it back down for those occasions where you really should be assembling a large group of heroes. Occasionally this may even be applied to creatures who are not giant monsters like archvillains and deities although overuse will swiftly grow frustrating.

If folk do find these rules improve combat, or throw up some unexpected challenge, feel free to get in touch and let me know how it went.

1Well that and the lack of a POD option. Unfortunately offering POD requires redoing all the layouts virtually from scratch so its unlikely to happen.

A new game

So, I’ve been very quiet for the last few months.

There’s lots of reasons for this. Some of its just perfectionism, I don’t feel the expanded Odlican/Ultra Base I have been promising for a while is ready. Some of it is being drawn into other projects (for example I’ve been asked to help out with Dundee’s bid to host the National Student Roleplaying and Wargaming Championships). A lot of it is being distracted by books, video games and other indulgences. But part of this is that I’ve had my head down as I try and get my exciting new game ready to announce!

The story of Retro Monster Hunter started long ago in a playground where a group of friends (many now distinctly nonplussed that Calum is still writing about it) slightly modified a game of “tig” so the catcher was themed as a werewolf. Slowly this game accrued additional antagonists, developed personalities and powers for those fleeing the werewolf and developed a continuity.

Years passed, players came and went, and I sought to codify the sprawling, half formed, continuity into a roleplaying game. Being still young, with ambition far exceeding my talent, I failed.

I tried again, and failed again.

And I promptly gave up.

I played more games, designed more games, and finally published Superlatives.

Now with this experience I thought, “now I can return to my beloved mess of continuity.”

I did. Coming with a (relatively) fresh pair of eyes and far more experience I could write a much better game. But this isn’t the game I’m announcing today. It was too neat, too professional, too far from the anarchy and imagination of the playground which spawned it.

I needed something more rough around the edges. But, I thought to myself, “the only way someone would pay for the original Retro Monster Hunter, warts and all, is if it was old enough to be new and exciting.”

While I lacked the time machine needed to head to the seventies and steal the march on Gygax, I could follow the footsteps of the OSR movement and imagine what Retro Monster Hunter would have looked like if it came out in the seventies.

As such I have been working away with three design goals:

1. Make a good (maybe even superb, but let’s not get carried away yet) game about monster hunting.

2. Ensure the game is authentically retro-styled.¹

3. Represent the world, characters, and storylines of the original continuity.

So, over the next few months, alongside irregular Superlatives content, I will be providing updates and previews of this new project.

However I should be clear this isn’t a true retro-clone. This game is, in a somewhat convoluted fashion, a retro-clone of a game which never existed which is in turn an adaption of a franchise that really only exists in my head.

Comedic Hooks

The “funny books,” are no strangers to comedic events and motifs so there was no shortage of inspiration for this week’s set of hooks. I have tried to lean heavily into the stupider events of comic book history, but obviously this should be allowed to adjust for taste.

A day with Firebrand

The characters receive an anonymous tip that the young photographer Jake Steel is in danger. However the anonymous tipster implores the PCs not to reveal themselves to Jake and his enemies. Instead they call for the PCs to observe him in disguise.

Twist

1. Jake’s enemies are not enemies at all, but Martians seeking to bring him back to his rightful position as ruler of Mars so he can lead them against the monstrous hordes of the resurgent Cascade.

2. There was no conspiracy targeting Jake. Instead he has tipped of the pcs in the hope that their discrete protection will give him an aura of mystery and excitement that will help him pick up women. Inevitably real danger swiftly follows…

3. The note came from Last Man I who is concerned that the aliens who once experimented on Jake are about to return.

4. Jake has been reincarnated hundreds of times throughout history. The time travelling ghost of one of his former selves is frustrated to learn that reincarnation foils his suicide attempt and travels to the future to kill his future self (current Jake).

Complications

1. Jake turns a corner and vanishes from sight – having fallen through a wormhole into a bamboozling extra-dimensional space. Although Jake himself can casually stroll through the mind-bending geometry of this space, PCs trying to rescue him find themselves ensnared in Klein bottles, tesseract and similar mathematical mazes. All the time the bandersnatch draw closer…

2. Jake trips and falls into a cannister of radioactive glue which just happens to by lying around – giving him the power to adhere to anything – and no control over this now distinctly inconvenient ability!

3. Shortly before the pc’s arrive Jake was kidnapped by a mad scientist and replaced by a robot. While the pc’s and whoever is after Jake fight over the robot the mad scientist is using the real Jake as a dimensional tuning fork to open a portal back to the stone age.1

4. Jake drinks radioactive cola which causes him to burp out bouncing spheres of destructive force at inconvenient intervals.

Adaption

The character of Firebrand/Jake is described in The City, and I have assumed that the reader is familiar with the various twists and turns of his personal history described therein.

However this adventure does not assume the tyrannical regime of Supreme within The City and this can be easily transplanted into any superhero setting that tolerates the aliens, robots, gods and the kitchen sink approach.

For those seeking to inject a bit of humour into an otherwise serious campaign Jake is perhaps not the right vehicle – but you can assume he is a reality warper of some sort – temporarily creating all the absurdities of his stories without affecting the wider world.

Finally, if Jake being the true King of Mars doesn’t make sense in your world the obvious answer is to just change the planet. But the obvious approach is not the Silver Age approach! Make Jake the King of Beta Mars- the secondary Mars kept out of phase by an ancient alien clock, or the hollow centre of Mars or the Mars in the far future.

Into the Silver Age

Argentum University is putting on a science fair – showing off the advanced research of the various scientists. Among the attractions is the dimensional viewer which promises to reveal other worlds. However, not all of these worlds are happy to be observed and an army of telepathic gorilla from a perpendicular dimension storm into the exhibition hall!

The arrival of the gorilla throws the hall into chaos and various other exhibits begin dangerously playing up.

Twist

1. An ant colony inside the university was accidentality dowsed in intelligence serum a few months before the events of the adventure. The now super intelligent ants sent spies out to sabotage the dimensional viewer to spread chaos as a distraction so they could steal a rocket sled and portable nuclear reactor2 and flee to make their own secret ant city.

2. The telepathic gorilla could be friendly, but were tricked into thinking that the dimensional viewer is being used to start an invasion by Great Mind who has secretly tampered with the machine.

3. The gorilla aren’t real – and are all illusions created by Mary3 to test human emotional reactions.

4.The gorilla are all from an alternate universe version of Argentum University – and among their number are ape versions of the heroes.

Complications

1. A robot is improperly calibrated thanks to the attack and goes on a rampage through the hall.

2. Several citizens hide in the body swapping machine- leading to various hi-jinks.

3. Several citizens hide in a rocket sled which activates and traps them on a far off asteroid.

4. A petrification ray activates – turning all the scientists who knew how the petrification ray and dimensional viewer works into statues.

Adaption

Although Argentum University is described in Superlatives Opportunity – this should be easily replaced with any sufficiently large collection of super scientists – The Baxter Building, STAR Labs, The Hall of Miracles or Peregrine Island could all take the University’s place.

Mistaken Identity

Basil Bramberly (or Martha Maudlin if needed) is in trouble. After a series of bad investments he owes the mob money so he tried to earn money through a whacky scheme featuring posing as a musician – which earned him the fanatical devotion of creepy stalker fans but not nearly enough money.

Fleeing his fans and the mob he heads to the PCs’ city. However, in a contrived twist he is identical to one of the PCs (ideally the character most protective of their civilian identity).

While working or relaxing in their civilian identity this character finds themselves confronted with Basil’s agent who is desperate to get Basil back in time for a scheduled concert and tries to bundle the character into a car. Regardless of whether the character flees, resists or plays along they quickly find themselves besieged by fans, mobsters and private investigators hired by each faction. To make matters worse a supervillain has figured out the hero’s identity – but has kidnapped Basil instead!

Twist

No twists here; this although you should try as hard as you can to prevent anything from being explained.

Complications

1. The hero is lured into a church where a woman dressed as a bride throws themselves at him. Round about the same time Basil’s wife storms in – catching them in a compromising position. If the hero has any love interests they should also storm in round about now!

2. A group of fans break into the hero’s house and steal various items as mementoes.

3. A group of press photographers start following the hero around – inconveniently just as an unrelated disaster begins.

4. The mob kidnaps the Basil Bramberly fan club to threaten him with. The PCs should probably rescue them: although if the players are happy to do so you haven’t played the fans annoyingly enough!

Adaption

The essential elements of this adventure (embarrassment, celebrity culture, debt and gangsters) exist in almost any superhero setting. The main adaption needed is to tailor the misunderstandings to your player’s comfort levels.

1Normally I would list this as a twist – but for Jake this is perfectly normal.

2Both perfectly normal things to have in a university in the silver age.

3A super intelligent computer based in the university’s abandoned computing building.

2021 recap

So, before January slips away from me I thought I should do a quick round up of everything I published in 2021 and offer a little preview of the content to come. Although 2021 was not quite as busy as 2020 the year still featured plenty of content for Superlatives.

My series of regular plot hooks continued with hooks themed around journeys, religion, quests, rescues, resistance against tyranny, leading a community, military adventures, investigations, commercialism, survival, disasters, and my mid year grand finale hook describing a world where the various villains described in the main Superlatives rulebook conquer the world.

I also launched a more limited series (starting here) talking about how to create a setting for superheroes, while building the cyberpunk setting of St. Epipodius to highlight the process.

Finally, I participated in a BAMF podcast on Suicide Squad: https://youtu.be/ydOTOuDPMYM

Moving into 2022 I have already continued with some of the plot hooks I failed to complete in 2021 – starting with some hooks themed around moral dilemmas. The final outstanding hooks from my original list are comedic hooks, although I suspect the end of the list of themes I originally started working with won’t mark the end of this series (even if it does lead to a break).

I also promised to expand the map of Odlican and Ultrabase. While there was little progress on this in 2021 I expect to provide a bit more in 2022.

Finally, as regular readers will remember, I took an extended break last year to work on a mysterious new game. This game, which I can finally announce is an urban fantasy game of monsterhunters in a modernish world, is entering its first round of playtests (at least in its current form). While this means Superlatives updates may be somewhat less regular for a while, updates on this new game are likely to start trickling out with a greater frequency.

Moral Hooks

This week’s theme is a bit of an odd one, each hook is meant to revolve around a moral message or dilemma. Writing adventures with a heavy handed moral message, as well as being a bit off putting in the way many overly preachy stories are, is also risky when players can (and should) introduce their own perspectives and threaten to send everything veering off track.

Therefore each of these adventures features an awkward situation where the real challenge is not so much to resolve the situation (although that may be tricky) but to figure out how the situation should be resolved at all.

Note that, in a variation of the usual format, there are no twists in the moral hooks. All to often fiction sets up what looks like a sticky ethical situation- then with their characters marched up into the heart of the irreconcilable dilemma, “reveal” that there isn’t a problem at all and wave away the dilemma. In these hooks all the information is swiftly presented – but what should be done with this information is still not clear.

Reform or Retribution

For decades the vicious mercenary Urtica slaughtered his way through the annals of superhuman history – leading coups, crushing revolution and spreading chaos throughout the world. He murdered saints and sinners alike – and perhaps most unforgivably murdered scores more perfectly mundane people whose deaths happened to set up further phases of his plans.

Recently Urtica has vanished, with who know him assuming he is working on a new diabolic scheme.

After a few months the pcs receive a clue (possibly when searching one of Urtica’s old hideouts) that leads them to a quiet, out of the way, village. Here Urtica is living as a peaceful mechanic. Although he tries to conceal himself, when it is clear he has been cornered he surrenders without a fight.

As he explains, “I was planning another operation – destroying some villages which had resisted the predations of a bush warlord- when I started to question why I was doing all of this. I have done hundreds of operations – merging into a near indistinguishable blur, and I was just fed up of it all. I spent a little bit of time covering my tracks, I quit and I came here where I could lie low and try a decent life for once.”

Telepathic examination and similar means of truth telling confirm Urtica’s genuine epiphany. However, while Urtica has no intention of resuming his life of crime, he will not submit to justice. “I’m fed up of violence and killing. A prison or an execution is hardly going to provide a respite from this. You may be listening to me now, but once the courts and media get their hands on me, they shall certainly bring the full weight of the law against me. Its the quiet life I need, not a trial.”

Twist

Complications

1. Urtica and The Stem have had a long career of bitter antipathy. If the pcs wish to leave Urtica in his retirement The Stem arrives seeking vengeance.

2. Urtica has already impressed several locals and they rally to defend him if the pcs wish to bring Urtica to justice.

3. Urtica has previously served Seth in many of his schemes and the god of treachery feels the mercenary knows too much to be allowed to fall into the grip of conscience. Therefore he dispatches howling ghostly spirits, a nightmarish swarm of beetle monsters and a terrific storm to silence him permanently. Finally Seth secretly empowers Urtica’s Aurea seed so that the alien personality can seize control of his body and assail the pcs.

4. The bush warlord who almost hired Urtica still plans to go ahead with their vicious campaign.

Adaption

The character of Urtica appears in Superlatives Nightworld, although this hook does not make use of the eponymous apocalyptic events.

Ideally, before this sequence the pcs will have thought Urtica once or twice.

Alternatively you can replace Urtica with a suitable antagonist from your own world. Generally the villain must be a relatively significant and serious villain (few ethical dilemma revolve around Paste Pot Pete), who is seen as culpable for their actions (so that the question of punishment arises in a way that it wouldn’t for a mentally ill supervillain) and is one you are willing to retire (or has an endless succession of clones to keep up villainy while the original retires).

Once an appropriate villain has been selected it should be easy to insert appropriate enemies and former allies to complicate the picture.

Defectors from the Stars

A damaged alien ship crashes on Earth – assuming the pcs rush to investigate they find a collection of Thramar, Usura and Kheperi who have rejected the customs, and mutual antipathy of their nations. Their respective governments consider this treasonous and have dispatched troops to hunt them down. Now the aliens seek asylum.

The main dilemma the characters are presented with is the obvious principles vs. practicality point. While this group are clearly persecuted dissidents any of the empires pursuing them could easily turn the entire surface of the Earth to glassy rubble and all are perfectly willing to wipe out a few cities to make their point.

However, before escalating to military solutions the faction most likely to appeal to the pcs (Thramar for conservative, militaristic or law and order types, Usura for those more concerned with democracy and individual liberty or Kheperi for any group with bohemian or aristocratic tendencies) seeks them out. They argue that while the pcs think they are taking a principled stand they are interfering with the culture and justice system of nations they have (almost certainly) no understanding off. They contend that it is more appropriate for mankind to step back and let each empire address its own difficulties.

Twist

Complications

1. The Usura infiltrate the media and government, disrupting any effort to formally legitimate the aliens’ position and either driving the authorities to expel the alien dissidents or, failing that, to paralyse any organised opposition.

2. Swarms of activists arrive to defend the new arrivals, but the crowd is organised and infiltrated by Usura agents who seek to use the cover of the protest to kidnap and carry off their people.

3. Some Usura dissidents sneak away to hide among the masses of humanity. As word gets out xenophobic groups warn “they could be anywhere,” and point to this as proof that mankind should not trust any of these aliens.

4. The Thramar and Kheperi begin a ground assault, but are as keen to fight each other as the pcs and dissidents.

5. Any (and all) of the races are willing to begin an orbital assault if their demands are repeatedly denied. Even a single botched turn on the part of Earth’s defenders could easily lead to the destruction of entire cities.

6. One of the dissidents is secretly dying of a disease beyond human medicine’s ability to cure.

Adaption

As with many hooks, this adventure is predicated on the use of the three races outlined in Ultra Base.

Each of these races are primarily depicted as antagonists but have potential for peaceful interaction – closer to Romulans than Borg. The Sha’ir, an eccentric Green Lantern faction or the Peacebringers could all be drafted in to play this part.

The Other Me

After an accident with an experimental duplication ray leaves two copies of the most morally outstanding pc. Initially (if the characters can overcome their suspicion) this seems like a boon. However both original and duplicate begin feeling pains and either a mage or super scientist can swiftly figure out that there is some esoteric feedback between them. If both heroes continue to exist – both will die!

However, both are identical (other than any alterations which happened since the accident) and it is unlikely that either will be pleased with the possibility.

Twist

Complications

1. While debating the issues involved a pair of crises the duplicated characters are especially well suited to tackle (forest fires for fire manipulators for example) happen miles apart.

2. The duplicate tries to see the originals’ supporting cast, leading to various inconvenient misunderstandings.

3. Learning about the problem a sadistic and technologically sophisticated supervillain (ideally one the pcs have foiled before) seeks to keep both alive so they can watch the pair slowly die.

4. A delayed effect of the duplication ray kicks in and both original and duplicate begin “budding” spawning scores more duplicates!

Adaption

Clearly the principle issue here is the super science. In your own campaign a collision of parallel universes, a cloning spell or a time travel thing could all set up the dilemma. As long as death is the only solution to the crisis any excuse will work.

Disastrous Hooks

Although heroes tend to spend more time fighting supervillains or dismantling criminal conspiracies, Superman and his ilk are well known for battling meteorites, volcanoes and similar natural disasters.

Asteroid hurling to Earth!

The astronomers have checked and double checked. They now know for certain. The latest asteroid they have detected is definitely coming straight for Earth.

Governments and heroes alike recognise that this asteroid could spell the end of civilisation and scramble to find a way to stop or redirect it.

Twist

1. The authorities fear panic and cover up the asteroid.

2. There is no asteroid, this is an elaborate hoax to secure more funding for astronomy.

3. There is no asteroid, this is an elaborate hoax by a supervillain trying to get space based weapons.

4. The asteroid is actually a living creature who will defend themself from any efforts to stop them.

Complications

1. As word of the asteroid spreads, panic buying and mass movement to the countryside breaks out, leading to violence at chock points and sold out stores.

2. The asteroid is less an asteroid and more a full rogue planetoid – so large that its gravity starts to create tidal waves as it draws close.

3. Initially the government, or a super scientist, seems to have things under control- but at the last minute their countermeasure malfunctions and another solution needs improvised.

4. One of the observatories tracking the asteroid stops providing information and the pcs are asked to investigate.

Adaption

The threat posed by the asteroid, and the ease with which the asteroid can be falsified, will vary dramatically from setting to setting. In a relatively low powered setting like City of Heroes or the cinematic version of the X-Men this asteroid will be as apocalyptic as this hook implies. In a high powered setting like the MU & DCU only the living asteroid or rogue planetoid variants will elicit more than passing concern.

Lost Land Inferno!

During one of their other adventures the characters find a strange secret world of dinosaurs and cavemen, aliens and robots, fairies and knights.

During a visit to this peculiar otherworld the characters hear a commotion. Upon looking up they see smoke rising. An inferno blazes, and threatens to annihilate this little corner of magic!

Twist

1. The inferno is actually a colossal fire elemental.

2. The inferno is just the first of many disasters caused by magic fading from the world/alien technology maintaining this realm breaking down/the collapse of the space-time rift which preserves this lost world. Regardless, the entire realm is imperilled.

3. The fire was started by poachers seeking to smoke out exotic prey.

4. The fire was started by a duel between two witches – and they are only just getting started…

Complications

1. A stampede of dinosaurs comes bearing down on the pcs.

2. A baby stegosaurus – separated from its herd in the chaos- stands alone on a hill as the fire sweeps towards it.

3. At the heart of the Lost Land is a lake which the players probably think to use in their firefighting efforts- but doing so disturbs a gigantic octopus lurking in the lake.

4. Predatory packs of raptors take advantage of the chaos to strike at the fleeing animals.

Adaption

Clearly the nature of this adventure will be heavily shaped by the nature of the Lost Lands of your own campaign. A Savage Land style dinosaur jungle is presumed here, but with minor adjustments this could focus on aliens, mythological creatures or any other strange and exotic set of life.

Great Storm

A hurricane bears down on the characters’ hometown.

Twist

1. The storm was created by a malfunctioning weather control machine.

2. At the heart of the storm two giants duel.

3. The storm was created by an imbalance (natural or magical) generated by the pc’s powers.

4. The storm was created by a perfectly functional weather control machine wielded by a villain with no demands – just a ruthless pursuit of reducing civilisation back to nature.

Complications

1. Flooding associated with the storm drives various monsters lurking beneath the city to the surface.

2. The storm tears open the defences of superbases – indiscriminately revealing villainous lairs and exposing heroic bases to attack.

3. Raw sewage and rare chemicals from various labs mix in a potent cocktail scattered far and wide by the storm: leading to a rash of poisonings and uncontrolled origins.

4. In the aftermath of the storm blocked roads prevent food and clean water from being brought in.

Adaption

As with the other disasters here, the precise threat level of this storm will obviously vary from setting to setting. However, a bigger impact is in how “gonzo” your campaign is. The various complications described here assume a world where there are dozens of super villains, monsters and conspiracies in the city. In a more realistic setting the emphasis will instead be on cleaning up and repairing the damage caused.

Also, more technically hurricane rarely form far from the equator, so storms in more northerly or southerly locations will have a different label and origins; but this should not significantly affect gameplay.

Surviving Hooks

Although at first blush the daily battle for survival might look like a poor fit for the supers genre there’s no shortage of wilderness themed superheroes (Wolverine and Kar-Zar most prominently) and many other heroes have had the occasional adventure where they are cast out of their familiar urban terrain.

As a side note, there are only two hooks in this article; rather than the usual three, since No City for Old Heroes was originally conceptualised as a survival themed adventure.

Hunter of the Future that is also the Past and might be the Present

The characters wake up in a strange primeval landscape of sun scorched rocks, colossal ferns and mighty reptiles. Clearly they have been sent back to the time of the dinosaurs! … Except as they explore they find a village of cave men who scavenge from the ruins of a now overgrown modern city.

Complicating matters further the characters encounter a formidable robot clearly more advanced than the robotics of their own time- and pools of terrible mutated monsters apparently from a dreadful war.

Somewhere in this jumbled timescape are the answers the characters need. But they are friendless in an environment where their modern comforts are rotting in ruins. Before they can uncover the truth they must scavenge to survive.

Twist

• 1. The characters have travelled into the past. Specifically they, and everything else here has been transported into the past by a powerful malfunctioning time machine indiscriminately summoning chunks of Earth’s history.

  2. The characters dwell in a psionically created landscape conjured up by a distractable eight year old reality warper.

  3. The characters dwell in a theme park filled with robots. They may be the only real people there, or they may be unknowingly robotic duplicates of themselves.

  4. The characters are in an arena created by a band of powerful aliens who are about to begin gaming – hunting, wargaming or more bizarre challenges – using the PCs and the other inhabitants of this realm as their pawns.

Complications

• 1. 1. Winter is coming. There’s no zombies, no dark magic, just the ruthless deadline of ever worsening weather, plummeting temperature and increasing scarcity of food. If the characters can’t stockpile food and find a source of warmth they face undignified deaths of hypothermia and starvation.

     2. The characters can try to ally with (or dominate if they are less heroically inclined) some of the tribes of cave folk but recent raids between the mountain tribe and the coast tribe have set the two groups against each other and war looms. The characters will be expected to join the war, or be assumed to be spies for the other side.

     3. Any injury risks infection. Gangrene, tetanus and all manner of similar conditions that rarely trouble modern superheroes await the incautious adventurer in these wastes.

     4. Storms roll in, lashing the landscape and destroying shelters and stores.

Adaption

Since this setting is explicitly outside the normal structure of its setting this should need little adaption to fit other worlds (other than tweaking the explanation to suit your own game).

However precisely how harsh the conditions should be should be adjusted for taste.

 

Into the Cold

FreeBrook is running low on medicines and some of the rarer materials needed can only be found in another major city. The characters must set off across the frozen wastes of Nightworld to recover supplies.

Twist

1. When the heroes arrive they find another group of survivors with the same mission, and not enough to go around.

2. When they heroes arrive they find the medicines had run out in their destination and the whole mission was futile.

3. The heroes find the lab where the rare medicines can be found: and inside it discover a mad scientist’s lair.

Complications

1. The characters face a white out storm which threatens to drive them off course.

2. A patrol of frost giants looms over the characters.

3. The characters unwittingly walk across the frozen surface of a lake, until a super battle begins to crack the ice beneath them.

4. The characters encounter a well stocked supermarket – which is kept well stocked by a vampire seeking to lure in looters.

Adaption

Clearly this hook is predicated upon the supernatural apocalypse of the Nightworld setting. However, strictly this can be adapted to any wilderness haunted by monsters. A desert stalked by mummies, a jungle filled with dinosaurs or a blasted waste patrolled by flying saucers could all be traversed by desperate heroes.

 

No City for Old Heroes

Before I launch into the latest round of hooks I wanted to update that this should be my last post for a while as I go into a “tunnel” phase of intensive work on a few projects I have been working on the background for a the last few months.

Hopefully I will make good progress, get some positive playtesting, and be able to announce some new stuff; but it is possible the outcome will be that I’m not happy enough to continue with these. (Which is why I’m being so vague for now).

Knowing this would by my last post for a while, I wanted to do something special, hence the current extra long hook featuring almost every villain from the core rulebook.

Also, regardless of the outcome of my mysterious project, I intend to return to writing this series of hooks latter in the year so I would be interested in hearing which hooks you enjoyed the most, and what sort of hooks you would be interested in seeing in the future.

Now, without further ado let us turn to the adventure:

No City for Old Heroes

Years ago Arch-Enemy managed to forge an alliance of virtually every extant villain to overwhelm the world’s heroes. After a string of epic battles the villains were triumphant, driving the few remaining heroes underground.

The villainous alliance then turned their attention to the worlds’ governments who rapidly fell before their might. However upon the eve of his victory Arch-Enemy was slain by a last desperate strike by elite GLOBE agents.

Now deprived of both their leader and their common enemy the villains proceeded to fall upon each other, eventually carving out their own fiefdoms.

Doctor Caldas now rules South America, filling its jungles and mountains with his monstrous progeny which hunt the few remaining humans who have fled the bonfires of the continent’s former cities. The Chessmaster has seized control of California, with the aide of The Anachronism. His domain is now patrolled by his dreaded Bishops who enforce his strict edicts against computers while his towering clockwork Knights and Rooks guard the borders.

The rest of the western seaboard has been conquered by Doctor Kur who continues seeking to build his perfect society. Although his shining mountaintop cities of superscience are tyrannical and inhuman refugees from all over the Americas flock towards them since at least Doctor Kur’s computers try to make things better for humans.

Heading further east much of Canada has fallen to savage werewolves, and east of the Winnipeg the god Zarkus commands their own murderous theocracy. The American Midwest is dominated by the followers of Brother Balance who preach that the downfall of civilisation was brought about by sin, and only through strict nobility and preparation can they avoid the next apocalypse. Although other cults, including one town under the thumb of Motherload, flourish elsewhere.

The North-Western United States superficially resembles a return to pre-Alliance America : reasonably comfortable with reasonable infrastructure beneath the thumb of corporate overlords. Even the ethnic tensions of pre-Alliance America have an analogy in the tensions between well established inhabitants of these states and the refugees who have fled the annihilation of most of the south east. Notable among these corporate overlords is Paperclips in Philadelphia and Visor Global in Providence. These corporations all work with The Docgineer and Graverobber who work together in Stamford to train a new generation of mad doctors and engineers.

Seeing the same sinister hands that took Dizzy from her behind the corporations and theocracy of the North East Sister Dismal leads a band terrorists, notably including Flare and Angry John against Paperclips, Visor Global and Zarkus.

After seizing control of Atlantis Lord Atlas has sharply restricted travel across oceans, but there is little hope to be found elsewhere. Estle and Sea Boss have managed to reach an understanding with Lord Atlas which grants a near monopoly to their formidable fleet of military and merchant vessels – based in Malta which is now their personal fiefdom.

Most of Europe is controlled by a succession of strongmen secretly backed by MARLOW, and openly backed by Dagmara and her Zmora. In something of a return to the feudal model these strongmen frequently war against each other, providing plenty of work for mercenaries and enforcers of all sorts.

Thanks to the efforts of Revenant the Undead Horror and Dark Lord Aravon the gates of Hell were torn open across the Middle East which is now overrun by demons bent upon the destruction of the numerous holy sites across this region. The eastward expansion of these demons has been checked by The One who has manifested on Earth to conquer India. Those few parts of the Indian subcontinent not destroyed by his struggle with The Ever are now entirely given over to vast shrines to his might, or factories manufacturing weapons for his war with The Ever’s proxies the Himalayas and Eastern Africa.

Across the rest of Asia Amrak has been subtly twisting the authorities into increasingly tyrannical and unreasonable positions – leading to ever greater repression, discontentment and ultimately waves of famine and civil war.

No cosmic entity is shielding North Africa from demons so much of the Sahara is now a warzone between brave, but largely outmatched, soldiers and the hordes of Hell itself. In Sub- Saharan Africa Paragon (after playing dead for a few years) has re-emerged. He claims to be forming an alliance to reclaim the world, but is increasingly not shy about destroying those who cross him and remains utterly unwilling to pick a fight with either the demons (who are of course experts at torture) and The One who may be able to destroy even him.

Finally Australia has been conquered by a host of mercenaries and defectors from the world’s crumbling armed forces led by Doctor Death and the Postmodernist. They now run vicious bloodsports (death races, gladiatorial arenas, simply setting people free and letting dogs run them down, etc) and pay bounty hunters handsomely to find the few remaining heroes to add to the spectacle.

Whether through time travel, dimension leaping, cryogenics or simply being born into this world your protagonists find themselves in this hellish landscape. They might seek to set up their own community guarded against these villains, launch their own guerilla war, hunt for a way out or simply pursue personal errands (what happened to our supporting cast?) but no matter what their goals are our heroes must battle against a world fixed on destroying them.

Twist

1.ArchEnemy faked his own death and went into hiding to let his alliance of villains tear themselves apart. He continues secretly building up his new powerbase, waiting for the most powerful villains to fall before he makes his move and finally consolidates his position as master of the world.

2.ArchEnemy faked his own death as above, but never plans to openly move to conquer the world. Instead he has been discretely eliminating major villains and replacing them with his own minions.

3. Arch Enemy was never the real mastermind. Aravon arranged the alliance, plunging the world into its current spiral leading to literally falling into Hell.

4. This world is regularly shaken by colossal earthquakes and monstrous storms as the epic final battle between heroes and villains unleashed forces great enough to tear the whole planet apart and the world’s rulers have been too distracted by their petty wars to stop it.

Complications (Generic)

1. Arch-Enemy’s spies (or people who think they are Arch-Enemy’s spies if you aren’t using twists 1&2) spy on the heroes. They have orders not to interfere but are liable to induce paranoia.

2. Bounty hunters pursue the heroes seeking to drag them to the arenas of Australia. Initially these bounty hunters will merely be men with shotguns, nets and tasers but once it becomes clear the pcs are real superheroes serious bounty hunters such as Black Dog and Major Devastation shall join the hunt.

3. The characters encounter folk who recognise them. They are either accosted and condemned for failing to stop the villains or praised as Arthurian returning heroes here to save the world.

4.The characters are waylaid by bandits.

5. Something ( a vehicle or gadget preferably) breaks down and needs fixed.

6. A passing shot in the last superbattle destroyed the characters’ supplies (of food, fuel, ammunition, medicine or whatever else they need) and they must stock up.

Complications (South America)

1. The characters come across the ruins of a town, still filled with the scent of unburied corpses as birds and small lizards feast on the devastation Doctor Caldas left behind.

2. As the characters wind through a narrow mountain road, alongside a dizzying cliff, they are assailed by flocks of vicious Pterodactyl.

3. A colossal tyrannosaurus hunts the characters through the jungle.

4. The characters pass a convoy of heavily armed soldiers, all now dead. Soon they realise they have been infected with the same lethal bioweapon Doctor Caldas used on the convoy which only affects humans.

Complications (California)

1. The characters stay in a farm house with a family that seems unsettlingly familiar, until they eventually realise the eldest members of the family were once famous Silicon Valley entrepreneurs before being brought low.

2. Uniformed Pawns conscript labourers from all over California to labour in the gold and salt mines created from The Anachronism’s passage through Silicon Valley.

3. The characters are approached by a merchant who wants help smuggling a laptop across the country. This merchant is secretly a Bishop (one of Chessmaster’s secret police) running a sting operation, hoping that the heroes can help lead them to cells of dissidents.

4. As the characters attempt to cross the border a colossal steam belching engine comes storming towards them. This is a Rook, a clockwork, tracked battleship responsible for confronting Chessmaster’s enemies.

5. As the characters camp for the night their rest is interrupted by the arrival of two ticking monstrosities of scything blades- Chessmaster’s Knights sent on a mission of assassination.

6. The characters reach Hollywood – which under the influence of The Anachronism has reverted to the traditional days of big studios, black and white filming and the Hay’s Code.

Complications (Western Seaboard)

7. Drones soar overhead, spying upon the heroes. If the heroes destroy them armies of robots shall be teleported in to capture them but if they leave the drones be their movements shall be known to Doctor Kur.

8. The characters’ passage is blocked by robots who demand an explanation of their movements and identities. If they are able to give convincing accounts they can move on. If they are exposed as liars, or attempt to fight through, more robots teleport in to destroy or detain them. If they are discovered as pre-Alliance heroes more robots will teleport in to escort them to Doctor Kur who seeks to convince them of the virtue of his civilisation.

9. The characters encounter a convoy of refugees who are struggling to prove themselves worthy of being accepted into the guarded cities.

10. The characters’ passage is blocked by construction work as men and robots alike slave over a massive construction project (usually new defences).

Complications (Canada)

1. A pack of werewolves hunts the characters.

2. The characters approach a small village, filled with well armed woodsmen who have survived so long solely by virtue of paranoia.

3. A hungry bear hunts the characters.

4. The characters are confronted by a priest of Zarkus and a band of fanatic cultists who seeks to capture the characters and take them to a temple where they shall be judged, found to be “irredeemably corrupt” and sacrificed.

Complications (Midwest)

1. The people of the Midwest are helpful and hospitable, as long as you are a follower of Brother Balance. Anyone who does not continue to express support for his cult faces ostracism and refusal of service at a bare minimum.

2. The characters pass rows of dissenters and petty criminals tied to crucifix and exposed to the elements as punishment. Interfering is unlikely to help either the characters of the condemned but few heroes can comfortably pass this sight.

3. Brother Balance knows he is unlikely to best the characters in an open confrontation and sends his minions to steal their equipment and supplies, hoping to weaken and distract the characters before he can strike.

4. Zarkus sends missionaries into the Midwest, leading to violence as the supporters of the two faiths clash.

Complications (North-West US)

1. The characters are seen as refugees and receive a warm welcome in the refugee shanty towns but are confronted with prejudice whenever they encounter longer established families.

2. Characters witness corporate police harassing a crowd of refugees.

3. Agents from Stamford occasionally simply snatch people from the streets to feed the insatiable demand of the mad biologists for bodies to experiment upon.

4. To get anywhere in North-Western society characters must show brand loyalty – by purchasing products and festooning themselves in branding.

5. The characters cross paths with Sister Dismal, Flare and Angry John on the way back from a raid. If the characters’ can’t convince them of their hatred of the megacorps the trio will attack. However little short of joining these supervillains with their campaign of terror will convince them of their sincerity.

6. Explosions shake a town the characters pass through as Sister Dismal strikes again. Regardless of the characters’ reaction the local security forces will seek them out as suspected collaborators.

Complications (Oceans)

1. The characters are stopped by Atlantean soldiers seeking confirmation that their vessel has permission to sail – and a bribe.

2. The characters encounter a cargo ship carrying slaves to Australia.

3. A frigate from Sea Boss’s fleet moves to intercept the pcs’ vessel.

4. The characters pass an island, its inhabitants all wiped out by some catastrophe or another.

Complications (Europe)

1. A fleet of agents in cars seeks to run down and box in the characters.

2. The road ahead is blocked by a rally one of the continent’s many strong men is holding.

3. The characters’ dreams are invaded by Zmora.

4. Two strongmen prepare for war, leading to borders being closed and spot checks on travellers as security is ramped up.

Middle East/North Africa

1. The characters hear howls in the distance as hellhounds close in.

2. A herald stands waiting at the cross roads to tempt travellers.

3. A bus lies on its side, inside are a band of bedraggled men and women tormented by unclean spirits.

4. The characters are attacked by fanatical soldiers convinced they are possessed by demons.

Complications (India)

1. The Ever haunts the characters’ dreams enjoining them to attack a temple to the One.

2. The One teleports the characters to an arena where they are forced to fight a succession of hideously mutated tigers and elephants.

3. The characters witness a temple to the One collapse, trapping hundreds of slaves beneath rock. However if they use their powers to help they shall almost certainly face unwelcome attention.

4. Several of the One’s slaves seek to escape, and beg the characters to guide them away from the factories they are trapped within.

Complications (Central and Eastern Asia)

1. The land the characters is now passing through does not allow foreigners to travel so they must either blend in or pass through entirely unseen.

2. The characters pass a mass grave filled with hundreds of starved corpses.

3. The characters witness brutal police officers metting out collective punishment to the inhabitants of a village suspected of hosting “counter revolutionary discussions.”

4. Two villages fight each other for increasingly scarce food.

Complications (South Africa)

1. The Ever’s proxies shall seek out the characters, imploring them to aid them in their wars against The One and the demons.

2. When he learns that the characters are in Africa Paragon shall seek them out, ostensibly to recruit them as allies but in truth seeking the destruction of potential rivals.

3. The characters settle down in a town for the night, but hear howling as demons fall upon them.

4. An injured hero seeks out the pcs, condemning Paragon and seeking their aid in overthrowing him.

. Complications (Australia)

1. On the horizon the characters can see a massive edifice, which is drawing closer. Soon they realise this bizarre ramshackle structure is a mechanical walking mansion. What they may not realise until too late is that the walking mansion is in fact Love-Lace and within it dwells Miss Fortune as the two villains combine their powers and love of collecting – including collecting hero memorabilia like the characters’ costumes.

2. The characters witness a hunt as several prisoners flee across the outback, pursued by hounds and men on motorcycles.

3. When Doctor Death learns the characters are in Australasia he decides to draw them out by staging increasingly outrageous atrocities and inviting the heroes to come and stop them.

4. The characters encounter a biker gang who demand the characters prove themselves in a race.

Adaption

Once you have figured out how this mini-campaign fits into your broader campaign (is it a possible future, an alternate universe, simply the premises of the entire campaign) the most obvious adaption needed is to fit in the key characters of your own campaign.

You should work with the players to figure out if their rogues are barons of their own territories (and if so where), free roaming hunters like Black Dog and Love-Lace above, or if they are fighting their erstwhile allies like Sister Dismal’s gang.

Selling Hooks

These hooks were meant to revolve around trade – which is clearly intended to mean trade in goods. These sorts of scenes are not unusual in other genres: wagon trains for westerns, merchants needing escorted through the wilderness in sword and sorcery, blockade runners in sci-fi and arms shipments in espionage. However, besides occasionally marketing fruit pies, superheroes almost never work as salesmen and merchants. (Not even in civilian identities for some reason).

Instead superheroes tend to offer the service of heroics. While most comic book heroes see it as improper to use their abilities for personal (or at least monetary) gain there are enough New Warriors and Heroes for Hire out there to inspire a series of hooks.

Each hook presents the commercialised heroes as rivals, or at least thorns in the side, of your protagonists but if your players are interested it should only take a little effort to rewrite the hooks with the heroes in the driving seat.

NB: After writing this introduction I decided to scrap my original third hook (about mass produced commercialised heroes) and replaced it with a hook about selling goods after all.

SUPER SHOW!

The latest docu-drama craze, inevitably enough, is the SUPER SHOW! This program takes a group of people with powers and invites them to stay in “The Citadel” while participating in various challenges (a cross continental race, an escape room, fighting through an obstacle course, stopping simulated crimes …). As is traditional in such things an audience vote removes the least popular contestants from each round.

Less experienced heroes may be invited to join the show while more experienced (and more dignified) characters may be invited to act as expert advisers, coaches or commentators.

Twist

• 1. Doctor Kur has secretly prepared robotic copies of each participant and plans to replace them with their android doppelgänger. He plans to use the classic stage magician’s trick of misdirection to use the publicity around the show to cover up his infiltration.
  2. The show (and creative editing thereof) is being used by a group sceptical of superhumans to provoke popular distrust of superhumans by highlighting a combination of their flaws and potential.
  3. The show is an excuse to test the limits of power cancelling machines.
  4. The show is (openly or secretly) an elaborate audition for:
     1. An eccentric billionaire’s personal assistant.
     2. The position of “Champion of the city.”
     3. A command in an alien war to which the victor shall be spirited away to.
     4. Becoming the template for a powerful supervillain to clone an army from.

Complications

• 1. 1. Participants, now being prominent celebrities, attract fans, sponsorship offers and stalkers.
     2. The Citadel’s systems begin to malfunction, although half the contestants think this is an unannounced test.
     3. The producers seek to invoke more drama by spreading rumours among the contestants.
     4. Several contestants start secretly dating, but battle to keep this secret from tabloids, film crews and jealous exs.

Adaption

The main element in need of adaption here is how this works with your world’s views of heroes. Clearly this adventure is intended for a world where superpowers are moderately common, but remain strange and exotic in the view of the general public. If powers are held in suspicion or are tightly regulated government agents will be swarming all over the show. Conversely if powers are ubiquitous the show will need a further gimmick.

If No One Else Can Help …

Though word of mouth the characters pick up hints of a team of super powered mercenaries who, for a reasonable consideration, address people’s problems. However the characters soon encounter evidence that these mercenaries may not be as benign as they appear.

They begin a campaign of harassment against a town mayor which the local sheriff and his deputies are powerless to stop. A businessman who hired them to protect his factory complains that he has been defrauded after his factory is destroyed in an unrelated accident. Federal investigators arrive as they notice the mercenaries resemble a group of former soldiers who defected – stealing advanced technology and research into superpowers.

Now the characters must step in to discover the truth behind these mercenaries.

Twist

1. The mercenaries are actually perfectly heroic¹. Their defection from the army is part of a plan to expose a conspiracy they were being unwittingly drawn into, the town mayor is a corrupt tyrant and the businessman and the toxic output of his factory is little better.

2. The mercenaries are cowardly and greedy defectors who realised they could make more money using their powers and training outwith the army.

3. The mercenaries are perfectly heroic but an enemy of theirs has sent imposters to seek to frame them.

4. The mercenaries are actually clones – each time one dies a replacement is prepared. Unfortunately new clones are occasionally erratic – hence the flashes of intermittent villainy.

Complications

1. The lead federal investigator has a personal grudge against heroes and is happy to take it out on the pcs – making cooperation nearly impossible.

2. The origins of the mercenaries powers are a highly sensitive military secret – so the government is reluctant to share information with even trusted heroes and agents of “foreign powers” constantly monitor the investigation – following pcs, breaking into known bases, bugging phones …

3. A potential patron stages a supervillain attack as a test for the mercenaries – with the pcs unsuspectingly caught in the middle.

4. The mercenaries – perhaps through distorted rumours of the pcs’ true misadventures, perhaps through lies spread by enemies – come to believe that the pcs’ are equally mercenary at heart and are merely snooping around in the hope of eliminating competition.

Adaption

This adventure presumes that powers are fairly common so that a band of superpowered mercenaries aren’t instantly global news. However in a world where powers are rare this adventure needs little adaption other than accelerating the timescale so that federal agents and pcs begin investigating the moment the mercenaries emerge.

Additionally the tolerance of a band of unregulated mercenaries implies a rather laissez-faire attitude towards heroes. If your campaign has tighter regulation of supers and/or the security industry this particular adventure might need relocated to an ungoverned space such as Mycella.

Fair Competition

The sinister Helios Corporation is marketing a dangerous new product. Unfortunately campaigners are finding it difficult to prove it is dangerous and are unable to compete with Helios’ army of lawyers and PR men. Instead they choose to market their own product to seek to outcompete Helios.

To overcome the vast financial muscle of Helios they need the help of heroes – to use their reputations for endorsements, to distribute fliers at superspeed, to help mass produce products and defend them against Helios’s vicious scheming.

Twist

1. The difficulties with proving the product is dangerous is not simply due to Helios covering their tracks. In fact this product is perfectly safe and the original evidence of taint comes from mere unfortunate coincidences which happened to feed into (understandable) suspicion of Helios.

2. The new product that the campaigners made is just as dangerous. Although the campaign’s leadership and sponsors genuinely oppose Helios they share Helios’s agenda. (Precisely what this agenda is will obviously vary depending on what product and flaw is appropriate for your campaign).

3. The new product that the campaigners made is just as dangerous. Infact the entire campaign is a Helios front seeking to corner the market and reach demographics Helios could not normally reach.

4. Although the product is dangerous, this is due to sabotage by a spy within Helios seeking to undermine and destroy the corporation.

Complications

1. A Helios agent breaks into the production line to sabotage the rival product.

2. Helios puts pressure on the regulators to inspect the campaign’s facilities and product, throwing up every legal barrier they can find.

3. Incendiary ² is hired to burn down the campaign’s factory.

4. The characters and campaign attend a trade show – where inevitably some other exhibition’s giant robot stand goes on an irrelevant rampage.

Adaption

Helios is used here as a generic evil megacorp – obviously it can easily be replaced with another villainous company like Crey, Pentex, Lexcorp or Alchemax.

The biggest decision here is what the product is, and how dangerous the Helios version is. The player characters should have some relevant expertise with the mundane version of the product (if you party has a chef it should be a foodstuff, if everyone is a superspy hacker even in their civilian identity it might be a video game). Exactly how dangerous the product is should be based on how cartoonish your campaign is. In a fairly serious campaign it may be spyware, mildly toxic or simply liable to fail. In a full blown silver age campaign it should brainwash users or turn them into monsters.

1Save for their somewhat genre inappropriate willingness to take payment for their deeds.

2Who is described in The City.

Investigating Hooks

Investigation and superheroes are joined at the hip in my mind. Many icons of the genre are either detectives (The Question, Jessica Jones), scientists (Ant Man, The Atom) or both (Batman). Likewise superheroes are often described as “crimefighters” and a great deal of both real and fictional crime fighting is figuring out who did what and proving it in court.

Although when I started writing this I equated “investigation” with “detective work” I soon found ideas for other forms of investigation – historical, scientific and archaeological.

Murder Mystery

The wealthy socialite Ernest Cummings wanders out of a dinner party and does not return for hours. When people eventually get up to look for him they find Ernest’s corpse in the basement.

Six people left the room in the time Ernest was missing and one of them almost certainly murdered him. The classic question now before the characters is – whodunit?

Twist [suspects and d4 motives]

1. Ernest’s wife Emily Cummings.
   1. Emily confronted Ernest about his infidelity.
   2. Ernest confronted Emily about her infidelity.
   3. Ernest and Emily argued about finances.
   4. Ernest coerced Emily into marriage.
2. Ernest’s brother Harry Cummings.
   1. Harry has been sleeping with Emily.
   2. Harry and Ernest are quarrelling about their inheritance.
   3. Ernest recently tore down a wing of the family estate for “renovations” Harry disapproves off.
   4. Ernest had been borrowing heavily from Harry.
3. Ernest’s PA Jacob Hester.
   1. Ernest had been sleeping with Jacob.
   2. Jacob had been sleeping with Emily.
   3. While looking into Ernest’s affairs Jacob discovered that Ernest is connected with commies/nazis/organised crime/whichever villainous group makes sense in your game. Horrified that he has been unintentionally complicit in their work Jacob killed Ernest.
   4. Ernest has not always been the best employer for Jacob, bullying, harassing and humiliating him.
4. The caterer Mary Lin
   1. Ernest is secretly a costumed crimefighter. One of his enemies in the city’s underworld figured this out and dispatched an assassin, disguised as a humble caterer, to murder him.
   2. Mary has been stealing from her clients. Ernest caught her in the act.
   3. Mary was hired to kill Ernest by somebody else.
   4. Mary tripped and fatally struck Ernest by accident. Rather than admit to this and face a minor charge she has been desperately scrambling to cover it up- digging herself deeper and deeper.
5. The journalist Sarah Smeaton
   1. Sarah has dug up some dirt on Ernest and has been blackmailing him – which he increasingly resents. She killed him during a fight over this.
   2. Ernest resents and fears Sarah’s investigations into his dealings and has been trying to pressure her into abandoning her investigations.
   3. Sarah has been using Ernest as a source in her investigation into some sinister group who have killed him to keep their secrets.
   4. Sarah discovered that Ernest was connected to some sinister faction and realised that he knew she knew. As such she felt the only way she could be safe was if he was dead.
6. Ernest’s business partner Mark Lee
   1. Mark resents Ernest’s flamboyant lifestyle – complaining that Ernest never did half the work involved yet got a full share of the profits.
   2. The pair have been involved in some dubious trading and Ernest was having pangs of conscience – leading Mark to fear that Ernest may approach the IRS.
   3. Ernest and Mark were quarrelling about the direction of the business, with Ernest being determined to take some gambles Mark was convinced would ruin both their fortunes.
   4. Ernest has been hiring lawyers in preparation for a push to remove Mark from control of the company.

Complications

1. Ernest’s ghost, who is intensely confused, and unhelpful as a witness, irregularly manifests, lashing out at almost everyone for real and perceived slights.
2. Around the time of Ernest’s death an unrelated supervillain attack occurred. It may take a while to figure out that it wasn’t this that led to Ernest’s demise and even once a serious investigation begins the chaos of the attack makes verifying alibis almost impossible and has contaminated evidence.
3. The killer (whoever they are) have latent super powers and comic book multiple personality disorder. When they experience intense emotions they transform into a superhuman being set on pursuing those ends they cannot pursue while awake. As such their dominant personality is unaware of the murder.
4. In the interests of privacy Ernest had his house built in a region of psionic static which limits the utility of mind reading and similar psychic powers in the area.

Adaption

A house filled with rich people with simmering secrets that lead to murder is easy to imagine in virtually any setting so the main work of adaption here is figuring out how to handle investigative powers which could swiftly solve the mystery.

The most significant element to modify is the sinister group mentioned in several versions of Ernest’s backstory. As mentioned above, in a Golden Age game this could be the mafia or fifth columnists, in a Silver Age game it could be commies or a cultlike costumed organisation along the lines of THRONE, HYDRA or AIM, while more modern games are less likely to have identifiable real world political groups but could still feature organised crime or costumed conspiracies.

Whatever Happened to the Phalanx?

The Phalanx were a mighty team of golden age heroes who came together to fight in the bloody battlefields of North Africa, Europe and the Pacific before disbanding for reasons now largely lost to history. Today the city council has authorised the creation of a memorial and a museum dedicated to the Phalanx. However Wilma Winter, the daughter of the late lamented hero Fighting Frost, comes forward – complaining that the Phalanx’s reputation has been severely whitewashed. She alleges that many of the Phalanx’s achievements were actually achieved by minority heroes like her father and that the private lives of these heroes were far from beyond reproach – instead being filled with drinking, gambling and adultery.

This has provoked outrage, especially among the many superheroes who were inspired by the Phalanx, and Wilma is now receiving death threats.

Twist

1. The accusations are entirely true (or at least almost entirely accurate) with much of the pushback coming from ignorance, bad faith culture wars and instinctive contrariness.
2. The accusations are being exaggerated and added to by a villainous organisation or rogue state eager to discredit heroes and spread discord.
3. The insinuations are initiated by a group of villains who have learnt that several descendants of the original Phalanx are planning to stage a revival.
4. The accusations are being brought up by the museum’s directors who sees them as an opportunity to sell tickets.

Complications

1. The illegitimate son of one of the Phalanx’s members learns of his heritage and tries to claim the alleged fortune.
2. A prominent historian and expert on the Phalanx is kidnapped by a group of super villains hoping he can lead them to a lost superweapon wielded by the Phalanx’s enemies.
3. The old Phalanx headquarters probably has some evidence of what is going on but is filled with traps, the details of how to disarm are now long forgotten.
4. The various clones, robot duplicates and parallel universe versions of the Phalanx have run around through the years makes it far harder to figure out the truth.

Adaption

The obvious detail which needs adjusted to fit this into a campaign is to pick out or design the super group which will attract this controversy. In the DCU you could use the JSA (Batman’s use of guns, Wonder Woman buying out the original Diana Prince’s identity and similar Golden Age weirdness should give plenty of inspiration), and in Marvel the Defenders often have more skeletons in their closets than the better known Avengers, in CoH the Regulator’s war on drugs is occasionally implied to have been somewhat disproportionate and so on.

One trick you can use with long running groups is to have the Phalanx’s place taken by a previous group of player characters, who have indubitably gotten up to all sorts of trouble rationalised away at the time. However, even otherwise mature players often find this sort of criticism galling and this should be used with caution. Similarly if you use heroes from a well established franchise you should be prepared for players being defensive over their favourite heroes. If you run this adventure with characters looking into the allegations that the national guard once had to step in to stop Superman from destroying a city block – you should be able to point your players to Action Comics #8.

The Monolith

One morning the heroes wake up to see a great monolith towering over the city. Nobody knows where it came from, with everyone who was awake claiming to have been looking somewhere else when it appeared.

Now gawkers, academics, street vendors, apocalypse predictors and more sinister individuals have gathered at the foot of the monolith.

Twist

1. The monolith was created by the godlike beings Ever and One¹ who have filled its interior with traps and puzzles as part of their ongoing contest. Each has placed a bet of sorts on whether the heroes will be able to unlock the monolith’s mysteries and will subtly aid and hinder each other.
2. The monolith is alien scanning station, collecting and transmitting information about those seeking to analyse the monolith.
3. The monolith is an elaborate hoax designed to spread paranoia and distract the academic, intelligence and superheroic communities.
4. The monolith is actually an ancient structure erected in the distant past and hidden by magic/superscience. Recent super battles have dispelled the protections around this building.

Complications

1. Paranoid elements of the military hire the Destroyers² to destroy the monolith.
2. Doctor Kur and Arch-Enemy both decide that regardless of the monolith’s origins they want the means to move their robots with this stealth and dispatch agents to secure it.
3. Rumours spread that the monolith has activated some deadly attack and panic spreads through the crowds.
4. An apocalyptic cult declares this monolith a harbinger of their long standing predictions and send trucks of armed men to secure the site. Although the cultists are unlikely to threaten the heroes, or provide helpful information, the journalists and tourists at the foot of the monolith are in mortal peril.

Adaption

Other than picking an origin story that makes sense in your universe this needs little adaption. After all the whole point of this plot is the glaring incongruity of the colossal monolith that wasn’t there a moment ago.

1 Both described in the main rulebook.

2 Described in The City