I had another thing planned for this installment, but then I was caught completely by surprise by the series finale of Medium. I don't follow TV series news, so I had no idea the show was ending. I think it's a pity, since I thought it was probably one of the best super-hero series out there.

What's that? Medium wasn't a show about super-heroes, you say. It chronicled the adventures of psychic Allison Dubois, who worked for the Phoenix's district attorney and was based on the eponymous real world counterpart, you add.

Well, I beg to differ. Shall we review the evidence? The protagonist has abilities beyond those of mortal men? Check. Protagonist use said abilities to fight crime? Check. The protagonist keeps her powers a secret? Check. Her abilities are only known by a few, effectively giving her a secret identity? Check. Certain foes also have paranormal abilities? Check. Recurring villains? Check. Powers are inheritable and the protagonist's offspring have to deal with their emerging abilities? Check. Plots have involved power malfunctions, time travel and alternate realities? Check, check annnnnd check!

Allison doesn't wear a costume and has no codename, but most other tropes are there. That's why this installment of Superseeds will talk about using the world of Medium as a setting for a supers campaign or, more specifically, a real world supers/psionic type of game. Most of things I'll touch upon here are extrapolated from details I've seen on the show.

Pitch

Play real world supers in the setting of the TV show Medium

Premise

The world is practically the same, except some people have superpowers. Most super-humans are psychically active, manifesting abilities better described as psionic in nature, such as telepathy and precognition. But there are those very few (and I stress the very few) who can perform more amazing feats, like teleportation and telekinesis. And there are rumors of people that can do much more, whose powers defy the definition of mental abilities.

However, these individuals haven't changed the course of history, at least nor overtly. They hide their gifts in order to avoid attracting unwanted attention. They usually employ their superpowers for personal gain or to help others. Those that do come public are more often than not ridiculed as charlatans.

But that is changing. More people are acquiring abilities and some of them are not at all nice. Plus, certain forces within the government, who always believed the super-humans were a threat, is moving again.

Who are the PCs?

They are superpowered people, psions, like Allison. Although I've been saying superpowers, I mean psionic abilities (which, granted, are superpowers as well, but do not usually include heat vision, ice armor etc.). The PCs are not limited to Allison's suite though; they can have other powers, like clairvoyance, telekinesis and teleportation, among others.

The PCs can be together for several reasons: to fight crime and evildoers; to con unsuspecting marks, using their powers to give them an edge; to help others who are not so fortunate, like modern day Robin Hoods; maybe they run together for protection, so they can watch each other's back.

Or maybe they are just regular folk who want to live normal lives despite their abilities. Who knows? Perhaps they have all met in a group therapy promoted by another psion who had to face the same issues. Then, hijinks ensue.

One thing to remember is that despite the campaign presentation being slanted towards heroic characters, the PCs don't necessarily need to be good guys. They don't need to be alive either. As I explain below, a soul is actually a disembodied mind, so a PC could be a 'ghost' and play by possessing NPC psions (normal persons can't be possessed), for example.

Everything has to be mystical, right?

No, it doesn't. Sure, they talk a lot about souls and moving on and Hell, but there's nothing in the show that corroborates this version of the setting. For all we know, Allison has psionic abilities, like telepathy and pre- and postcognition, and souls are nothing more than the psychic matrix of the departed, what GURPS would call a Being of Pure Thought.

Depending on the willpower of the person, her matrix can last for a long time, maybe forever, and that person can come and go as she pleases (like Allison's father-in-law). A more forgiving interpretation can have these matrixes as eternal, but that most of them move to other dimensions after a while, unless they have unfinished business in our plane.

But how do they know about everything when they die? Because they can access the psionically-powered collective unconscious of humankind, an out-of-body repository of all our knowledge. They also have much higher levels of pre- and postcognition than an average psion.

So, talking to souls of the recent dead is not necromancy, it's just a focused application of telepathy. Additionally, since in the show most paranormals were able to see ghosts, I would probably make sensitivity to and communication with ghosts a free trait for all psions.

A word about ghosts

So, you are probably thinking that ghosts are way overpowered to be a PC option. And even as NPCs they might be problematic, what with having access to a limitless well of information and being able to possess people. It is true, but there are limitations.

Ghosts can't access information on loved/hated ones and close associates - the emotional background interferes with the psychic reading of the collective unconscious. Since a case will naturally involve the ghost's comrades, anything connected to it will also be blank. Reading her comrades' loved/hated ones and close associates will also be iffy, because of this interference.

Only very powerful ghosts can possess a psion against his will. Usually, a disembodied mind must strike a bargain with the living so as to be allowed to ride them. If the psion feels the ghost has broken their agreement, he can just refuse the possession.

Experienced psions will be aware of the danger a ghost can present. If they are blackmailed, terrorized (by having nightmares sent to them) or somehow antagonized by a departed soul, they fight back in the material world by collecting information on the ghosts and threatening to strike against their relatives, friends, reputation or interests, like a school the dead person helped fund.

Psions might be able to 'exorcise' the soul as well. It could be just a common application of telepathy, a technique you have to be taught or a different power altogether. I'd favor the latter two, so as not to make a ghost problem too easy to circumvent.

One more thing: when a psion sees a ghost, there's no bell that goes off in his head signaling 'ghost'. Seeing a disembodied mind is a natural thing for a psion and, depending on the circumstances, the ghost may be able to pass as one of the living. A ghost can be touched by a psion, even though he can't affect the physical world like a poltergeist. Once, a more oblivious psychic had a romantic affair with a dead woman without knowing she was a ghost.

The nature of superpowers

Psionic abilities are genetic in nature. They are inheritable, but they can skip generations. This genetic trait translates into modifications to a certain part of the brain, enabling psionic activity. Sometimes these modifications can show up in a CAT scan as a small dot on said part of the brain, but even then most doctors won't think twice about it.

The gene (or genes) responsible for these powers leaks something to the blood. Perhaps it is a small amount of neurotransmitter or a protein fragment, something that wouldn't show up in most tests unless someone was definitely looking for it.

This molecule is innocuous in the blood -- it participates in the generation of psionic powers, but it's not toxic or anything. However, if transferred to another individual, it can trigger latent powers, as long as the person has the appropriate genetic configuration. Sometimes, this triggering can happen even in transfusions between two latent psions.

One thing to remember is that, despite the fact that certain uses of psionic powers, like reading minds and seeing the future, can be used on normals, most of the others are the sole provinces of psions. Someone with no psychic abilities will never see, talk to or receive dreams from a ghost.

Of course, scientists don't know about this. Since psychics and other manifestations of psionic powers are seen as fraudulent, no one in his right mind would ask for a grant to study the scientific basis of paranormal abilities.

Also, think about the rarity of psions. Off the top of my head, I can cite nine paranormals in Medium, including Allison and her daughters, but let's round it up to 10. Using the Phoenix metropolitan area population (around 4.3 million), that gives us a rate of one psion for every 430,000 inhabitants.

To put this into perspective, in the old World of Darkness, the rate of vampires to humans was one to 100,000. And this psions are nowhere near as capable as Allison, who has a wide suite of powers at a decent level. The vast majority probably can only perceive and talk to ghosts.

So it's no wonder psions don't draw as much attention to themselves, either officially or scientifically.

Times are a-changing

All of the above was before. For the past few years, the number of psions has gradually - but steadily - climbed. And that's not all: power levels are on the rise too. Psions today can accomplish feats that were very hard or nearly impossible in the past.

What is causing this? Radiation? Pesticides? Nobody knows. It maybe a generational thing, since younger psions display a wider and deeper range of abilities. If you ask a ghost, they evade the question, going off in a tangent or simply disappearing.

The fact is that if this trend continues, it will become harder and harder for psions to pass unnoticed. The probability of a display of power overcoming the threshold of disbelief will be too high and the world might change significantly - at least for those with powers.

Obviously, you don't have to have this creep in power level. Its main function here is to allow PCs and NPCs of higher power, to create a mystery in the campaign, explain odd things like new powers and justify the renewed interest in psions by government agencies.

It's possible to run the campaign at the same power level as in the show and, in fact, it would be so even if you keep the increase, since the changes are supposed to be long-term and gradual.

Allies and opposition

There's no overarching psion organization, like the Cabal of the Psyche, from the WitchCraft RPG. In fact, there's no organized structure larger than a handful of people; and these cells are not in contact - they are independent groups who probably never heard of each other.

This means the PCs have no one to run to when the going gets tough. They have to depend on their abilities and skills to get out of trouble. On the other hand, it also means that enemies won't have much support of their own and once the PCs finish them, they are finished. For good (unless, of course, you bring them back as ghosts).

As for opposition, the world is your oyster. Enemies range from common thieves and murderers to high-powered psions, passing through sinister ghosts and obsessed government agents. You can also mix and match by having psychic serial killers and dead obsessed government agents.

Talking about government agencies, remember that most people don't believe in the paranormal, so there's no secret uber-agency that monitors, hunts, tags and bags psions (yet). In seven seasons, no Man in Black ever knocked on Allison's door and asked her to come with him for some testing.

It's more X-Files than Torchwood. A Fox Mulder-type, an agent who wants to believe, notices the increase in odd phenomena and starts an investigation. He or she has a partner, an office and access to records at first, but as the campaign progresses, and depending on the PCs' actions, the agent might get more funding and personnel, evolving into an unit dedicated to addressing the 'psychic problem'.

Psions don't get organizations either, as I said before, but like the PCs they band together. The more dangerous ones will have used their abilities to accumulate wealth and influence, in a hellfire club type of arrangement. These groups will probably be the greatest threat for the PCs, more even than single higher-powered psions, because they can use their clout to make the characters' lives miserable and will sport a considerable amount of psionic power as well.

More power

As I described above, one of the main functions of the power creep is explaining odd phenomena, things that don't fit the psionic model, like regular superpowers. The idea is that eventually, your campaign can break out of the 'psychic world' mold and embrace the diversity of a full super-hero campaign.

As the power level rises, the PCs will encounter super-humans that defy the conventions, displaying abilities that cannot be readily explained as psionic in nature; things like regeneration, superspeed, turning into water etc.

If the characters investigate, they will find out that these powers, despite their odd manifestations, are really psionic in origin (like in the Wild Cards universe). This psion, much like a telepath or clairvoyant, uses his ability to affect the universe in truly wondrous way.

This in itself is a great revelation that will allow your Medium setting to evolve into a Heroes one if you so choose. However, you can go even further, if you would like a transhumanist/singularity campaign.

Further study will reveal that all powers are just facets of a single ability: mind over matter and energy. With training a psion could expand his understanding of his potential and manifest any ability he wanted. In effect, each psion, including the PCs, is a potential god (you can see I like this concept a lot).

Some Allison Dubois, Psion seeds

Here are some seeds for your campaign. I favored the regular 'psychic world' approach.

Stepmommy Dearest: The PCs are hired by a ghost, Helen, who died in a car crash. She wants the characters to find her teenage stepdaughter, Kathy, who ran away after her death. Helen explains that her husband, Alan, who is not Kathy's natural father, is desperately trying to find her. Helen is afraid Kathy has shacked up with her criminal boyfriend, Tommy. If the PCs investigate, they will eventually find Kathy with Tommy, who really is involved with a gang - a violent one. But the story is more complex. Helen married Kathy's father for his money. She spent the following five years poisoning him until he died of 'natural causes', making Kathy the sole heir. Helen then started abusing Kathy and making her life miserable, while playing as the perfect stepmother in public. The plan was to create the impression that Kathy was an out of control teenager. After a couple of years, Helen married Alan, her lover the whole time, who was in on the plan. Kathy spent more and more time away from home and met Tommy, confiding in him about her hellish stepmother. As the abuse progressed, Tommy decided to take matters into his own hand and fixed the brakes in Helen's car, leading to her death. Now, Helen wants vengeance and for Alan to inherit the wealth, but that can only happen if Kathy dies. She's counting on the PCs finding Kathy so Alan can arrange for her death.

Meet Allison: The PCs are in Phoenix for a case, but whatever they do, be it performing a crime or just trying to find someone, they police arrives first. Investigating this sudden efficiency of the Phoenix PD, they hear the rumor that the local DA employs a psychic, Allison Dubois. If they confront her, she will accuse them of being vile criminals. Even if they are bad guys, she describes them as something like genocidal maniacs, which, hopefully, the characters in your campaign aren't. If the PCs threaten her or her family, Allison will call on the DA, Manuel Devalos, who will unleash a manhunt for the characters that will send them running from Phoenix. Psionic inquiries will be difficult because of an odd interference, but eventually postcogs in the group will find that Allison is receiving dreams from a ghost that reveals the bad stuff they have done (if they are lily-white, the ghost manipulates the dreams). Depending on how they approach Allison with this information, they may change her mind about them and she will help the group catch the ghost, who will reveal he has been hired by a still living enemy of the PCs. Who that enemy is might be difficult to extract from the ghost and may even be a recurring mystery for other adventures.

Welcome to the Hellfire Club: The PCs' adventures catch the attention of the Hellfire Club, an association of psions (a small one, probably six or seven) that have power and influence. Depending on what the PCs have been doing, the Club wants to recruit them or stop them. A representative of the group will approach the characters with the proposal or threat. If they accept the invitation, they will meet with one of the inner circle members. It will soon be clear that the inner circle believes humans are inferior and the PCs are a step above, because they are psions, but not up to the level of the Club. And they treat the characters accordingly. Also, the sort of services the inner circle will ask of them should make even bad guy PCs think twice. If the characters refuse the offer or challenge the threat, the Hellfire Club will use its extensive contacts in law enforcement and other government agencies, like the IRS, to make the PCs' lives a living hell, which may include framing them for murder and such. If that doesn't work, the PCs might have to face the combined psionic power of the inner circle!

Inspiration

Here are some sources of inspiration for this campaign.

Movies: there are a lot of movies that cover 'psychic world' settings, like Scanners, Firestarter, Jumper and Push. Most of them have organizations that hunt psions, so you might have to tone down the elements in them a bit.

Heroes: if you decide to expand the power range of the campaign, this TV series might work as a good template. There's nothing preventing the world of Heroes from being the same one as Medium's. Eventually, the PCs can meet Allison, Peter Petrelli, Dr. Suresh etc.

Psiworld: this is a 1984 RPG by Fantasy Games Unlimited about psions. You can play as either a persecuted psi or as a member of the Psi Police that hunts psi revolutionaries.

WitchCraft: powered by the classic version of Unisystem, this is an RPG by Eden Studios with a theme of occult urban fantasy. If you strip out the other elements, keeping only the Seer powers, you'll have a satisfactory system to run your campaigns, especially if you are not planning on going full superpowers. For example, Allison would have the following powers: Mindsight (Strength 2, Art 4), Mindtime (Strength 9, Art 4), Mindview (Strength 10, Art 4) and Death Speech 2.

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.