Vigilantes (Interest)

For all of your Play-By-Post games.
EpicEclipse
Posts: 2473
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:06 pm

Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by EpicEclipse »

Vigilante. Noun. A civilian that takes matters of law enforcement to their own hands.

The world is a dangerous place. For all the law enforcement agencies in the world, the power held by various governments and corporations, it never seems like enough. The law always seems to have holes where criminals slither through because of some corruption or loophole, protecting criminals from the justice they rightly deserve. And despite all that, these agencies and corporations don't always want to accept help from sources that can grant it, not when the agencies and corporations can't fully control that help. Not when that help could just as easily turn their attention to the corruption influencing the corporations and agencies themselves. No...they won't accept help that could get too close and expose them.

You are a Vigilante. A member of a loosely connected network of individuals and groups across the globe, some powered, others not, but all applying their skills to seeing to it that justice is served where the law can't, or won't.

-----------------------

This is an idea that kind of struck me lately as a type of game I haven't seen. Sort of the inverse of Suicide Squad, where rather than villains being conscripted to do good work in the world, you are heroic types trying to do good in a world where the authorities don't want you sticking your nose out.

Some world details;
  • The world has superheroes and supervillains, however, the superheroes the world knows are corporate shills that accept the leash for the money that comes with it. Not that they are all bad people, but when the Suits say jump, they know better than to ask why.
  • The men and women who hold positions of authority within a government agency or a corporation are collectively known as Suits. Those that work for them but don't hold personal authority are called Agents. So it follows that Superheroes are also technically Agents.
  • Those with powers that are neither hero nor villain, while still expected to register their abilities, are allowed to apply for permits to use their abilities in a professional capacity, such as someone with low-grade super strength using their power to work for a construction company. Unlicensed power usage is illegal, though infractions are typically viewed based on the severity of the infraction. However, power use, even in an emergency, can see hefty fines, so as to discourage potential vigilantes.
  • Powers in the world typically come from Biological (Apex), Supernatural (Mage) or Technological (Tech) means, and collectively, those with powers are simply called "Powers".
    • Apexes are people with natural powers that manifest in adolescence. Apexes are required to be registered when their powers manifest and must attend regular seminars and testing that assesses their abilities as they grow. These seminars are often used by Suits for scouting potential talent for endorsed Superhero material. Apexes that do not have a physical mutation based power may be able to hide their powers, but since their powers manifest young, most parents get their powered children registered to avoid fines or jail time.
      • The powers of one apex to another can vary greatly with no particular pattern anyone has been able to recognize as to why someone might manifest a particular power, but the powers do appear to be linked to genes as a child with one or both parents with apex genes has higher odds of manifesting a power, though the gene is known to be recessive. A child with an apex parent, if they manifest a power, will have a power similar to their parent. If both parents are apexes, the child may have one, both or a hybrid of the powers. Very rarely, a child of two apexes will not receive the apex gene from their parents but will manifest their own unique apex gene.
      • Apexes that manifest with a hyper intellect gene are almost uniformly snatched up by Suits when discovered. It is exceedingly rare to find a hyper intellect that isn't a supervillain out of necessity to evade being controlled by the Suits or having previously escaped them. The vast majority of hyper intellect apexes live in high-security communities and are generously provided for, but they are also highly regimented. (So despite the existence of hyper intellects, the world's level of technology is mostly as we know it today, perhaps a little further along in terms of public availability, but what is available to law enforcement agencies and security firms and the like is on an entirely different level seemingly more belonging in a sci-fi novel).
    • Mages have been around the longest as powers and generally operate in traditions that go back for generations in their families, and while uncommon, adoptions do happen from time to time for those who possess exceptional potential, or "Mana". Mages are also expected to register in order to use their magic openly, and Mana Scanners exist that can detect active magic, though despite the name can't measure the mana potential in a mage beyond "high" or "low", which itself is not indicative of one being a mage. Since a mage can only be detected by actively using magic, they have the easier time slipping through society, but those that register can often find work being contracted by Suits.
      • Magic exists within disciplines that have finite parameters that have been explored over the generations. The disciplines are; Matter, Energy, Illusion, and Life.
      • Mages that specialize in Matter are called Makers. They can manipulate all manners of physical matter, but are unable to create something from nothing. The alchemical study of turning lead into gold was a result of a Maker doing exactly that and non-mages attempting to replicate the process.
      • Mages that specialize in Energy are collectively known as Kineticists, but often focus on a single type of energy that they can manifest and control. Energy is known to be the trickiest magic to wield due to the sheer volume of applications possible, especially when combined with other disciplines (the classic example being ice by using Matter magic to manipulate water and thermal energy magic to draw the heat out and freeze the water)
      • Mages that specialize in Illusions are ironically called Illusionists. Ironic in that despite the unimaginative name, they use the most creative magic, able to create realistic stimuli for all senses based on their imaginations. Some mages like to learn just enough illusion magic to give their other spells a personal touch, like black flames.
      • Mages that specialize in Life are called Shamen. Life magic is connected to life force itself, and through it, they can do various things such as read or manipulate minds, speak with lingering spirits or even animals and living plants, or link their senses with other living things. Necromancy is a dark aspect of life magic that places life within the dead and is severely looked upon with disgust by any good shaman.
    • Techs are the relatively newest type of power in this age of rapidly advancing technology and does not refer to people without powers that use technology, but are classified alternatively as "weaponized humans". People who have technology incorporated one way or another with their core being, whether on purpose or by accident. Like Apexes and Mages, they are required to register their condition and like the others may be scouted for employment by Suits, and due to the nature of many tech's enhancements having a visually physical nature, they tend to have the hardest time blending in casually with regular people.
      • Techs come in two varieties, Made or Accidental. Made Techs are intentionally created by integrating technology into volunteer provided by Suits. These techs can be hard to distinguish without a scanner, or they can be quite obvious, depending on the purpose and intent of their creation. Accidental Techs can result from unintentional interaction with super tech, a botched experiment or an unsanctioned integration. while Accidental Tech tends to be more obvious with a more aberrant appearance, this is not always the case. Accidental is more to refer to the fact that the person was not meant to be a Power in the eyes of the Suits. Unless one became a Tech through intentional means, which is illegal, the accidental acquiring of technological powers, after strict and thorough review and investigation, an accidental tech must still register and may apply for a license and even obtain contract work.
      • Even for techs with less obvious technological enhancements, scanners do exist to detect techs just as they are for mages, though unlike mages, a tech doesn't need to be actively using their enhancements for a scanner to pick them up. These scanners are also typically connected to a database of registered techs, so unregistered techs that get scanned often find themselves quickly apprehended.
  • A Vigilante that has no powers and uses equipment is typically called a Norm. And since apexes with hyper intellect are uncommon but high in demand, unless a Norm acquires super tech from somewhere, they are relatively limited in the equipment available to them.
  • The world has not experienced extraterrestrial or interdimensional contact nor are there any present means, power-related or otherwise to establish either. Various governments have expanded space programs through the use of hyper intellect apexes to the point of small, self-sustaining space stations that can house a few dozen families, but progress in the space sector is still a work in progress. (This is mainly due to the distance from the planet, these space colonies are more difficult to regulate and control, so colonist numbers are kept small. Larger colonies are at this time in fact technically possible, likewise with Lunar or Martian colonies, but are presently being intentionally withheld from production.)
  • Vigilantes by necessity tend to operate much like Batman with secret headquarters and secret identities. Their activities are judged as harshly as those of supervillains and a similar fate awaits them should the authorities capture a vigilante.
  • It comes as no surprise that Vigilantes are almost as popular as Superheroes, just with a more low-key fan base. Many people do recognize that Vigilantes are trying to help, and often succeed and so feel the treatment of them is unfair, that the authorities should work with Vigilantes, but they also have a tendency to be resistant to accept that the people in charge may have more corruption than is healthy for a country. Still, it is not uncommon to see some unlicensed merch of local and even non-local Vigilantes; posters, tee-shirts, backpacks and the like. Such items are not strictly illegal but are seen by authorities to be in bad taste. Such merch is not uncommonly produced and distributed on the sly BY a Vigilante themselves.
  • All of the above is mostly specific to North America. While most countries have slight variances, the above model is largely used around the world in most first and second world countries with strongly established governments as the Power Laws were established as a collective effort to address Powers when they were beginning to emerge. Countries that did not participate and thus established their own sets of Power Laws unique to their own countries are considered "aberrant". Powers leaving an aberrant country are expected to fall in line with the "Collective" Power Laws while aberrant countries tend to simply kick out non-national Powers that are discovered there at best, or execute them summarily at worse. Asylum is heard of in rumor only.
  • Despite apparent and rumored poor treatment of Powers, the world is no more dangerous to them as it is any ethnic group. There are of course those who are racist towards Powers, usually out of fear or jealousy, or even misguided hatred due to supervillains or other criminals that use their powers, but such racist groups are the minority and hate crimes against Powers are dealt with as hate crimes against any other group.
  • Perhaps ironically, humanity as a whole in most places are less hung up on physical appearances and don't treat apexes with physically altered bodies or techs like freaks due to their appearance. This carries over to non-powered humans where body-shaming in any form is at an all-time global low. Of course, humanity hasn't adopted an "everyone is beautiful" view on things, they have at least become more passive about how someone appears.
-----------------------

That's all I can think of for now. I might add more to it later if I think of something, but this should be sufficient to get a good idea of the tone of the setting I am thinking about here.

Players would take the role of Vigilantes, Powers and Norms who have taken it upon themselves to mete out justice where it would otherwise not reach for whatever reason. The authorities are not your friends and would just as soon take you in as well as a threat to civilized, rule-following society. Supervillains are still supervillains, and while some may be sympathetic to why they were pushed to that point, they are still actively working against society to bring everything crashing down or simply acting anarchistically in their own self-interest and hurting others in the process with or without a care. Suits are not always, but often have at least a little corruption, but often have a lot and as a result, can't trust the Vigilantes lest they learn the specific nature of corruptions and root them out, potentially unraveling the society that has been built to trust and rely on the Suits (Which is largely why Vigilantes don't strongly target Suits. the fallout is thought to be potentially catastrophic on a near-global scale.

This setting could be played out as a lower, street-level game, largely focusing on operating either in a single city, or constantly being on the run through the country, righting wrongs along the way, or possibly a group of Vigilantes whose cover was blown and is actively on the run. Or it could be a higher level game, with global mobility and possibly even visiting the space colonies. Such Vigilantes would still have to operate in secret because as mentioned, countries possess Powers akin to nukes, so as strong as the PC Vigilantes might be, they still need to step carefully, as there is certain to be a Power stronger than them.

Some powers would be banned or restricted, but most things can fit into one of the Power categories. Apexes and Techs can justify most powers, even Norms can procure some advanced super tech with the added complication of how to get it repaired if damaged. Mages are the most restricted in the end, though they can use multi-discipline magic to pull off most things one could want to with the right descriptors.

Thoughts? Just a note, I would be just as happy playing in such a setting as GMing it...just sayin'. :mrgreen:
User avatar
Hero4hire
Posts: 422
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:13 pm

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by Hero4hire »

Sounds like a cool setting.

Would this be for M&M3e or something different?
EpicEclipse
Posts: 2473
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:06 pm

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by EpicEclipse »

I keep forgetting Echoes isn't a strictly M&M forum.

Honestly, I have like 9 different games I could run superheroes in, though not all would be well suited to forum play I think.. And some are a bit more restrictive than others when it comes down to building characters.

I think at the end of the day, M&M and Fate are the best choices. Simple dice roll mechanics and pretty open ended options for character creation. M&M is more mechanical, Fate is more narrative but has the whole Aspect and Fate point economy that can be confusing to new players.

I'd be down for either of those I think.
Hoid
Posts: 3556
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Location: The Forever Tree

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by Hoid »

If M&M...2e or 3e?
User avatar
Hero4hire
Posts: 422
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:13 pm

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by Hero4hire »

I'd be down for M&M. I'd try Fate, but do not own it, so there would be a learning curve there for me.
EpicEclipse
Posts: 2473
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:06 pm

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by EpicEclipse »

Hoid wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 3:01 pm If M&M...2e or 3e?
I'm more familiar with 3e and have all the books. I could brush up on 2e but I don't have much in the way of additional material that people pull from and I prefer to have the materials for things people use.
Hero4hire wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 3:48 pm I'd be down for M&M. I'd try Fate, but do not own it, so there would be a learning curve there for me.
Mechanically, Fate is easy. The only complex mechanic is using aspects effectively, since they are meant to be used both positively and negatively. It can feel restrictive, yet oddly is less restrictive than a game that places ranks and such on each of.your abilities. It's more narritively driven.

There is a free edition (Correction: Pay-what-you-want) called Fate Accelerated. It uses the same rules, but simplifies some of the mechanics, so you are playing the same game with a slightly simpler dynamic in the mechanics.

For example, instead of skills, you have approaches, which more describe HOW you attempted to do what you are doing.

Interestingly, I also have a game called Icons, which seems to be a hybrid of M&M and Fate, which was also worked on by Steve Kenson. I'd be down to run that one too.
Last edited by EpicEclipse on Tue Oct 23, 2018 12:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hoid
Posts: 3556
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Location: The Forever Tree

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by Hoid »

If it’s 2e M&M, I’ll toss my hat into the ring. I know nothing about Fate and my 3e M&M Fu is weak.
EpicEclipse
Posts: 2473
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:06 pm

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by EpicEclipse »

Huh, turns out they shifted Fate Core pdf(as well as kindle and epub) to Pay-What-You-Want. Sounds like a great time for people to pick it up and check it out. I have physical copies of Core and Accelerated because I like the system after trying it out.

Even if this Vigilante game doesn't end up using Fate, I still recommend people try it out since the electronic core rulebook are essentially free (or you could toss them a few bucks)
RainOnTheSun
Posts: 1153
Joined: Wed May 03, 2017 7:20 am

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by RainOnTheSun »

EpicEclipse wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:54 am
Players would take the role of Vigilantes, Powers and Norms who have taken it upon themselves to mete out justice where it would otherwise not reach for whatever reason. The authorities are not your friends and would just as soon take you in as well as a threat to civilized, rule-following society. Supervillains are still supervillains, and while some may be sympathetic to why they were pushed to that point, they are still actively working against society to bring everything crashing down or simply acting anarchistically in their own self-interest and hurting others in the process with or without a care. Suits are not always, but often have at least a little corruption, but often have a lot and as a result, can't trust the Vigilantes lest they learn the specific nature of corruptions and root them out, potentially unraveling the society that has been built to trust and rely on the Suits (Which is largely why Vigilantes don't strongly target Suits. the fallout is thought to be potentially catastrophic on a near-global scale.

The bottom part worries me a little. A society that is simultaneously deeply corrupt and Too Big to Fail seems like an odd status quo to be working to defend.
EpicEclipse
Posts: 2473
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:06 pm

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by EpicEclipse »

In effect it shouldn't be too different to being heroes in a dystopian society. Think Mirrors Edge. :)
RainOnTheSun
Posts: 1153
Joined: Wed May 03, 2017 7:20 am

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by RainOnTheSun »

The difference is that in Mirror's Edge the dystopia is the enemy. It's not the only enemy, but it isn't something the heroes look the other way for.
EpicEclipse
Posts: 2473
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:06 pm

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by EpicEclipse »

Oh, maybe I didn't phrase it well... it's not a matter that vigilantes look the other way, they just can't act in an obvious frontal way. They need to maintain their secrecy lest the suits send in retaliation to "arrest the insergents".

I mainly meant to impress upon potential players that vigilantes aren't strong enough to openly confront the suits to root out the exact points of corruption, or more accurately the suits are too strong to be a simple matter to deal with. Additionally, not ALL law enforcement is corrupt many are just following orders amd the lawz as they are, but as is the case in Mirrors Edge, the general populace is more or less handled well, just on a relatively short leash.
User avatar
Doctor Malsyn
Posts: 8178
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:42 pm
Location: Thunderdome, Texas

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Seen you try to get a game off a few times, always have an interesting idea to work with. As always, I can't help but express a bit of interest. It sounds almost like a much less dystopian world similar yo Shadowrun what with the way Suits seem to run the world.

Regarding game system, I'm always open to trying something new, but you can't ever go wrong with the classic M&M system. Either 3 or 2 in fact, though conversely to Hoid I'm less expereincenced in the previous edition.

Hmm... Have there been instances in-universe of different Power aspects being "married up"? Like a Tech who uses some energy magic to keep his devices charged, or an Apex who had a bit of Tech implanted in them to enhance their inborn abilities?
Am I dead? Am I alive? The answer may surprise you!
------------
"What a week, huh?" "Doc, it's only Wednesday."
EpicEclipse
Posts: 2473
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:06 pm

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by EpicEclipse »

Sure. An apex that got a tech "upgrade" who also learned magic. You can even get an apex gene implant, but those are highly illegal.
User avatar
Doctor Malsyn
Posts: 8178
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:42 pm
Location: Thunderdome, Texas

Re: Vigilantes (Interest)

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Cool to hear then. What would you say to a mage from an established family of kintesists, who discovered/created a subset of electrokinesis? This subset in fact, being data manipulation. Possibly even through the use of a cranial implant sinilar to a Decker. I'm thinking... Like a hacker on steroids.
Am I dead? Am I alive? The answer may surprise you!
------------
"What a week, huh?" "Doc, it's only Wednesday."
Post Reply