Our character creation session ran too long to get some play time in, so tonight will be our first session. Since I’ve got character backstories already, I’ve started considering some potential arcs and thought I might brainstorm a bit on here. If you’re playing in my campaign on Sundays, please don’t read any further…
Red, the Janus: Mutant with energy absorption and impossible mobility. Mother not aware of secret identity, and disapproves of Red’s heroics, feeling that a girl her age should be living a normal kid’s life.
I figure Red got the super genes from somewhere, so what if her mum is actually a former superhero (likely Bronze generation) who retired from the life after a mission that broke her team apart. She disapproves of Red because she reminds her of her own youth. In order to bring this out into the open, I think maybe a former enemy of her mum escapes the Spike and seeks out those that crossed them (and their loved ones) for revenge.
Cassie, the Nova: A powerful young sorceress, abandoned in the woods by her birth parents (who were scared of her powers) when she was a toddler. Found and raised by an evil witch who wanted to use her powers for her own ends. Accidentally killed the witch when she lost control of her powers. Eventually encountered a homeless guy called Boothby, who seemed to understand about magic and offered her moral support and guidance.
I’m thinking Cassie was destined to be the next Magus (sorcerer supreme), but she was lost and adopted by the witch before the Magus could find and train her. He was forced to take on a different apprentice (Everard, from the Deck of Villainy) who took on the mantle too soon after an incident that strips the previous Magus of his power. I’m thinking Boothby is the former Magus, who now recognises Cassie as his rightful successor and hopes to prepare her for that destiny.
Harper, the Delinquent: In and out of supervillain juvie since escaping an orphanage which was a front for Professor Van Brutan’s illegal experiments, resulting in his psychic powers.
Either Van Brutan or other escaped test subjects (or both) could show up to cause problems.
Fomá, the Outsider: Sole survivor of an observational team that crash landed on Earth after a run-in with some Poachers (aliens who raid pre-spaceflight worlds for creatures to sell as exotic pets). He doesn’t want to return home because he resents the overly structured society, and poses as a ‘transformed human’ because pre-spaceflight civilisations are not supposed to know aliens exist.
I’m thinking that Fomá is not the only alien living undercover on Earth. A covert agent/bounty hunter recognises him for what he is and maybe enlists his aid in dealing with some alien undesirables seeking to cause trouble on earth.
Those are all my initial thoughts on arcs tied to the characters. Was hoping folks could help me flesh them out and maybe tie a few of them together?
Red’s mom worked on a team that dealt mostly with stopping and covering up alien incursions. Boothby was also on this team. They believed they were good guys, but had a rather xenophobic attitude toward super-powered monsters from space. Their team is one of the main reasons why alien life on Earth is still largely secret.
Part of that team’s fallout could have been spawned by disagreement on the morality of using alien tech to further humanity’s scientific advancements. The side that was all about using the aliens’ tech against them (and for profit!) formed the megacorporation that Professor Van Brutan now works for.
Cassie’s parents should definitely come back and try to make amends for abandoning her. Maybe they’ve come into powers of their own, or maybe they just are figuring out how important she’s going to be and want to find a way to cash in on that. Maybe they’re divorced now because the shame of what they did ruined their marriage, but now they’re competing for her affection and forgiveness. At least one of them should work for the same megacorporation as Van Brutan.
Harper’s escaped an orphanage and has been incarcerated a lot as a way to get a roof over his head, but what if he wasn’t actually an orphan? Why murder parents to get kids as test subjects, when simply kidnapping the kids is so much easier! What if his real parents are still out there. What if his mom’s the mayor?
Also, Harper’s super-hot best friend and co-conspirator from the orphanage should totally show up, desperate for help with a bad situation, get the team to do something “to make that trouble go away”, and double-cross them at the last minute, leaving them to take the fall as the dupes for a villainous plan.
I am really excited about those Poachers all of a sudden.