Superseeds
The concept has a lot of appeal, as seen in the comics and RPG mediums in the following years, where more and more international teams appeared. Like many others gamemasters, I also created an UN-backed group for my campaigns -- the United Nations International Operations Network (UNION).
The UNION served the same function in my games as the JLI or IST, but then I thought: what if the UNION controlled most of the super-humans in a more realistic world? One where the number of metahumans was very limited, they all had the same origin and the gonzoness level was way lower than in a regular supers setting.
And so was born the world of UNION, where the UN is powerful, but is nowhere near the level of IST's, and posthumans are an important asset in international politics, used to intervene in military conflicts, humanitarian aid and enforcement of international laws.
One more thing: keep in mind the world of UNION is just like our own -- exactly like our own, to be precise. It's not one of those supposedly 'real world' settings where you find out later they already knew about supers, or had secret super-soldier programs etc.
Technology, pop culture, international politics? All the same as here. Alien species, secret metahuman history, psychic abilities? Nope. It is our Earth, except for the new metahumans that appear as a consequence of this seed.
OK, enough introduction. Let's get right into the UNION world!
Pitch
There are 42 superbeings in the world and half of them work for UNION, the metahuman arm of the United Nations, changing the way international politics function.
Premise
On July, 26th, 2008, Eshkhan Gourgoian, a low-level scientific advisor of the Armenian delegation in the UN woke up from a very strange dream. He couldn't quite remember what it was about, but he knew it involved something bad and 41 other people, each one from a different country -- people whose name he knew, even though he had never heard of them before.He reached for his laptop to try and locate them, but it crumpled as his hand closed on it, like its titanium casing was made of paper. Before Gourgoian could process what had happened, something even more extraordinary happened: each of those other 41 answered his unconscious call. Telepathically.
The following morning, the UN Security Council members were called in for an unexpected - and restricted - meeting. Gourgoian presented his plan to establish an UN arm formed by half of what soon would become a very public superhuman community.
This new organization would work under the Security Council's control as a Peacekeeper-style force. The veto power of the Permanent Members would be enough to prevent its supers from acting.
Gourgoian was aware of the limitations of the UN in regards to jurisdiction and the ability of its Peacekeepers to act, as well as its track record in dealing with military crisis (check out this postfrom the Law and the Multiverse blog). But he was sure that under his guidance, the UN could become a true world power, no longer dependant on the member states' military to enforce its rulings.
The Security Council members' reactions varied from outright refusal to demanding more time to evaluate the proposal. They knew there was no guarantee they could do anything to stop the metahumans from doing what they want.
Gourgoian assuaged these doubts by reminding them that the supers were voluntarily putting themselves under the control of the UN. They didn't have to do that. Plus: there were 21 posthumans who had refused to join the UN. Could the nations of the world really afford not to have their own metahuman force?
He also made it clear that there would be a new organization, with or without their assent. He was just giving them a chance to have a say in how it developed. He wanted it be official and cooperative, because he believed that was the best way to carry this forward.
But it wasn't the only way, he reminded them.
And so, that night, only minutes after the first publicly appearance of a superhuman, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, made a startling announcement to the world: the birth of the United Nations International Operations Network - UNION.
Who are the PCs?
The default assumption is that they are UNION members, one of the 21 new metahumans who agreed to join the organization. Of course, you can also run the campaign from the side of the supers who didn't join.Note, however, that there isn't an opposite bloc to UNION. The other 21 supers (called rogues) didn't band together in an organization called DISCORD. Some are working for the more powerful nations, others are celebrities and mercenaries, a few dabble in the underworld, two are despots and one just wants to live a normal life.
So, at least initially, the PCs should share Gourgoian's vision of making the organization a source of positive social change. In fact, they might share more than that. If one were to sample the 42 supers, he would find lot of things in common among them.
The above-mentioned outlook on how UNION should function is almost universal among the group, but it varies in degree. Obviously, Gourgoian is the one who believes in it the most, followed by the UNION members.
Among the supers not affiliated with the UN, most are rooting for Gourgoian and company, but they don't think the UNION plan will work in the long term (something even some metahumans in the organization tend to agree with).
Another common factor in the group is that the majority has a background in sciences, more specifically physics and related fields (astrophysics, nuclear physics etc.). Again, this is not universal, so the PCs can have their own opinion on the success of the organization and a background of the player's choosing.
Finally, all of the 42 (as they are called) share a vague recollection of a common cause, like a half-remembered dream. They have this sense they had worked together. They certainly know each other by name, although they had never met before acquiring their powers. But even Gourgoian, who seems to have a clearer picture, can't remember the details.
Tell me about the powers
The 42 have a basic 'package' of superpowers plus one ability specific to each individual. So far, the source of these gifts has baffled the scientific community who could neither find a biological origin nor duplicate their effects. It just seems that the laws of physics work differently for these people.Each power in the basic package has an average level shared by 80% of the supers. The other 20% display the same abilities with a variation of up to 20% above or below the average. When one of the 42 is in the lower tier, it applies to all of his basic powers.
The higher tier 10% are all part of UNION, with Gourgoian being the peak parahuman. The lower tier 10% are among the non-affiliated supers. No one can explain why this is so, but it seems that the more one is aligned with Gourgoian's goals, the more powerful he is. The other three high tier supers are all gung-ho about UNION.
Average power levels include: super-strength able to bench press 100 tons; high degree of resistance to injury, able to withstand a shot from a 120 mm cannon; ability to survive in adverse environments for up to one hour; reflexes 10 times faster than a normal human; recovery from damage 50 times faster; and flight speeds of 1,500 mph (Mach 2).
Another basic ability of the 42 is establishing instantaneous telepathic communication with each other. They call it telepathy, but nobody is quite sure what it is, since it cannot be detected in any broadcast medium. It doesn't allow mind reading either.
Signature abilities can be more powerful versions of the basic powers, but are not limited to them. In fact, no 42er has the exact same individual gift as another. These include healing, heat vision, intangibility, invisibility, telepathy and teleportation, among others.
Unique abilities are usually of high power level, but even if they are of moderate or low intensity, the utter lack of countermeasures makes them devastatingly efficient. For example, there is no known way - either through a force field, vibrational device or superdense material -- to prevent an intangible super from entering a specific place.
So, even though the 42 are physically formidable, it's their signature powers that inspire caution - or terror - in their opposition.
A question about identity
There are no secret identities in the UNION. The names of the 42 are known, if not publicly paraded. Since there are no supervillains per se and the UNION supers usually deal with international crisis, the chance their family members will become targets is slim.What about secret agencies like the CIA, Mossad, and the FSB? Wouldn't they want leverage against metahumans? Yes, that would be a possibility, but the nation behind such a plot would be gambling hard. Besides the implications for international politics, threatening the loved ones of powerful metahumans is a sure way to invite catastrophe to your country.
UNION supers might refrain, at first, from retaliating due to the rules of the organization, but if their hand is forced, they might break rank - and bring a few friends along. Rogue 42ers will surely act quicker and with less restraint.
Another thing to remember is that although the basic abilities of the 42 are well known, the same cannot be said of their signature powers. This is an information UNION goes to great lengths not to disclose. About half of the unique abilities in the organization are unknown to the general public.
So, you're going after the family of a physically formidable adversary who possesses an equally powerful secret ability? Not very wise.
Despite all that, in order to preserve the names of UNION members, Gourgoian institutionalized the nicknames they gave each other in the early days as call signs. Except for him, who is the most public UNION super, every other metahuman in the organization has a codename that is used for press releases, in-mission communications, public documents etc.
The organization
Although announced on July 26th, 2008, UNION only started operations six months later, when it had offices peopled by 1,200 employees and its metahumans had been properly trained for combat, UN protocol etc.The UNION headquarters is in New York and Gourgoian is both the executive director, with several branch directors (logistics, tactical, international liaison etc.) reporting directly to him, and field commander of the organization. He has two deputies chosen from the other metahumans that function as platoon leaders, each responsible for nine other members.
Although one metahuman can usually handle a mission, UNION standard operating procedure is to always send at least two operatives. When more than that is required, a squad of five agents is put together according to skill and signature power useful for the mission.
So far, no mission has needed more than a squad and even this was only required two times, more as a display of force than anything else.
UNION metahumans wear white-and-blue uniforms with UN and UNION patches. They also wear the flag of their home country. Customization is allowed and all of the 21 members have individualized their uniform in some way.
3 of 42
These are some of the 42ers. I've included Gourgoian, but I haven't specified his signature power. I know there is a great temptation of making him superpersuasive to explain how the Security Council would approve something like UNION, but I prefer to think there was no metahuman influence at play. So feel free to empower him as you deem appropriate.Eshkhan Gourgoian: Gourgoian never had a strong purpose in life. He kind of drifted though most of it, doing what was expected of him. With a degree in nuclear physics, Gourgoian landed a job as scientific advisor to the government and eventually was assigned to the UN delegation. He would probably stay in that job until retirement, but then he became a metahuman and with the powers came a sense of purpose he had never felt in his life. For the first time, Gourgoian changed the course of his life and, indirectly, those of many others. UNION is Gourgoian's life and he has dedicated himself completely to it. It was his idea to disguise the organization as something that could be easily controlled by the Security Council. As time goes on, his plan is to exert more influence and widen the scope of UNION. The problem is that some of his fellow UN metahumans are starting to think that they are as ineffectual as the Peacekeepers. Gourgoian is aware of that, but he thinks it is too soon to change the game.
Chen Chen "Healer" Lee: Lee was a molecular biologist postdoc at MIT when she became one of the 42. She was among the first to jump aboard the UNION wagon, a fact that made the Chinese government very unhappy. They wanted their superpowered citizen all for themselves and tried to get Lee to see things their way by threatening to arrest her brother, Zhao, a human rights activist in China. The situation was serious enough that Gourgoian had to intervene to smooth things over. Still, Lee lives in constant worry that Zhao will suffer an "accident". Lee is a healer. She can heal wounds and diseases, from small things, like scratches and flu, to major ones, like multiple organ failure and AIDS. Because of this, she usually performs good will missions and public relations. Ensuring her brother didn't get arrest was one such job: she had to cure one of the top officers in the Chinese communist party of his terminal cancer.
Cynthia "Laser Girl" Howler: A PhD student at Caltech, Howler was on her way to become an astrophysicist until she gained superpowers. Howler comes from a family with strong anti-war sentiment. One of her sisters, Robin, died in Iraq and that only reinforced those feelings. Howler jumped at the chance of being part of something that aims to bring peace to the world, but she's wary of having to be a warrior. She always questions herself - and UNION's role -- whenever they have to fight, no matter the cause. Howler is also annoyed by what she perceives as a lack of progress in the organization. Gourgoian had promised they would change the world, but it has been two years now and she can't see what exactly has changed. The US government is aware of Howler's doubts and is always trying to win her over to their side, either as an informant or an agent. So far, she has resisted these attempts. Despite her more peaceful orientation, Howler's signature ability is an offensive one. She can project high-powered laser beams from her eyes. At first, she didn't have much control over them, but now she can adjust their intensity from no stronger than a laser pointer all the way to cuts-through-several-inches-of-steel-like-hot-knife-through-butter.
Some UNION seeds
Here are a couple seeds for this campaign. They are more ethical dilemma than super-heroic action, but depending on how the PCs deal with the situation, the nature of the adventure can change.Brother's Keeper: Chen Chen Lee approaches the PCs discreetly. She tells them the Chinese government has arrested her brother and sent him to a prison camp on the countryside. Lee fears her brother's activism plus her position in UNION will be used as excuses to torture him and even kill him. She has already talked to Gourgoian, but so far the diplomatic channels have yielded nothing - the Chinese don't even acknowledge arresting Zhao. Lee has had it with the situation and wants to take matters into her own hands. He knows where her brother is being kept and intends to perform a clandestine extraction. The idea is to leave no sign UNION members were involved. She knows she'll be the prime suspect, but if there's no evidence, at least Gourgoian can have plausible deniability. Infiltrating China should be no problem - Lee suggests freefalling from the stratosphere. Getting into the prison, depending on the approach and signature powers of the PCs, should also be easy. The problem starts when they locate Zhao, because his arrest was a trap. The Chinese has hired up to three (depends on the number of PCs) rogue 42ers to bring Lee down. If the characters battle the other metahumans, they obliterate the word 'clandestine' from their mission and give the Chinese more than enough ammunition to use against UNION. Negotiation is possible, since there's a representative from the Chinese government, but knowing he has all the cards in his hand, he will asks for the sky. And more, possibly.
Errand of Mercy: It's the Kursk incident all over again. While doing exercises, the Russian submarine K-150 Tomsk suffers an accident and sinks with all hands to a depth of 150 meters about 120 km from Tuvalu. Most nations offer help for the rescue and Gourgoian immediately puts UNION at the disposal of the Russians. But once again, they refuse any help. As the clock ticks for the trapped sailors, Australian 42er Bryan Cornell, who has vowed to save the island nations of the Pacific against the rising sea levels, publicly accuses the Russians of having ulterior motives for sending the Tomsk to Tuvalu. According to Cornell, they wanted to spy on him and - maybe - test some kind of anti-42 weapon. The Russians go ballistic at the accusation and spend more effort denying it, as well as arguing with Cornell, than trying to rescue their sailors. The press starts complaining that UNION should have saved the sailors by now, after all, what's the good of having 'super-heroes' if they will sit on their hands and do nothing when a crisis appears. Acting without the say-so of Gourgoian will certainly land the PCs in a heap of trouble, both within UNION and with the Russians. On the other hand, public opinion will be on their side. And how will they accomplish the rescue? The Tomsk weights over 20,000 tons. Will they try to rescue the sailors individually, leaving the submarine on the bottom of the ocean? What will they do if they find something that confirms Cornell's accusations?
Inspiration
Here are some sources of inspiration for this campaign. I have already mentioned GURPS IST and JLI.StormWatch: Wildstorm's UN supergroup had its ups and down. I only really read Warren Ellis' run, which I recommend. The follow-up title, The Authority (again Ellis' run) can be a good inspiration if the 42 decided to be a bit more proactive.
UNTIL - Defenders of Freedom: UNTIL is the UNION equivalent in the Champions RPG universe. This sourcebook can help model the organization that gives support to the PCs and other UNION members. Just remember that the more outrageous technology is not available on this setting and that, unlike in Champions Earth, superbeings haven't been around for a long time.
Wait, you haven't explained where the powers come from!
Yes, well, I'm over 3,000 words already and explaining that would take a while. So I thought I'd give you the framework for a UN-based supergroup campaign and leave this pesky detail of the origin for the next installment. I'll throw in a few more NPCs and seeds to round it up to a full column, ok?See you next month!
I hope you liked it. Feel free to share any comments, suggestion and criticisms on the forum. If you ever run this, let me know too.
