How are people personalizing Halcyon City? In the one shot I played, it just felt very generic. The characters were awesome of course and we started building up NPCs but the setting was sparse.
I was thinking that when I run Masks, we might spend a little while establishing a feel for H.C. and then move towards building a team of characters after that.
In the last game I ran, I threw down a map of Freedom City during chargen and we built up neighborhoods that meant something to the PCs.
Yeah, draw a map & leave blanks. Where is it? What places have a lot of traffic? What cities is most like and least like? When’s a bad time to visit?
In the campaign I ran during the Beta, there was a feel of “this is what a city would look like if the history of superheroes had really shaped it. Team operated out of what had been a golden age base located under a part of town that had declined a lot since the 40s. Full of Baxter Buildings and Star Labses. There was even a Fast food restaurant that floated a couple of hundred feet in the air.
Another one of my groups decided that Halcyon City was located where our real-life small town was, which added some character. Very west-coast, with Southern California weather and a beach. No real history of industrial boom and bust or old-fashioned organized crime, so there were no shady waterfronts or abandoned warehouses, which means that the Villains had to get a little creative with their HQs.
We use our own setting in Madrid 🙂
I think one of the key elements (and a strength, IMO) of the game, and the Apocalypse Engine system in general, is the increased player agency. The players are as involved in creating the world as the GM.
I humbly suggest you bring the players in on establishing the feel. Make it part of the character generation. If a player wants to play a sorcerer, then they get to lead the discussion on how magic works. Don’t say, “this is how the authorities treat superheroes”; ask the players, “How do you think the cops react when you arrive at the scene?” Let them fill in those blanks as you progress; having more of the responsibility of creating the world they play in will go a long way in making them be more invested in what happens to it.
Everybody’s answers are great! Customizing your Halcyon City based upon the answers of your players is absolutely the best way to go, from the ground up. Also, if it’s been in a comic, it can be in Halcyon City. So add all kinds of secret history, hidden wrecks and ruins, abandoned bases, and so on.
Focus especially on the issues of your particular PCs. If none of your PCs are aliens (a crazy possibility, but still, possible), then it’s probably less important to spend time developing the aliens in your particular setting. But if one of your PCs is an intelligent robot, suddenly the place of intelligent robots in your Halcyon City becomes hugely important, so ask lots of questions about that, specifically.
Here are a few common elements, some mentioned in the setting chapter of the core book, that can be helpful if you’re looking for something to use:
– A.E.G.I.S., the Advanced Expert Group for Intervention and Security, is the metahuman government agency du jour in Halcyon City. They’ve got prisons, agents, vehicles, and more. They’re a great easy “governmental authority” with superhuman force.
– Rook Industries, led by Rosa Rook. The quintessential super-science evil corporation. If you’ve got the Deck of Villainy PDF, then you already have information on Rosa Rook. Rook Industries is a great giant evil corporation to use.
– The Exemplars, a go-to superteam of major heroes. The individual members here are best left up to the answers of questions, seeing as many of the PCs’ relationships should be with members of the most important superhero team in your setting.
All of these things will have some degree of development in upcoming Masks books, but far more important than that for your particular game is the need to personalize and cater the situation for your game. It’s going to be far easier for your players to invest in a situation they help to invent themselves, so take what they give you and run with it.
I anticipate one of my players being a sorcerer’s apprentice or something. He doesn’t have any background with comic books but is a HUGE Harry Potter person… So, I’m sure my Halcyon City will have it’s own version of a Hogwarts, of a Diagon Alley, and it’s own secret magical history that influences the shape and scope of the city.
Our Halcyon City has:
*A great dam (you need a waterbody nearby to drop big bombs)
*Two Universities (you need competing science teams and maybe some college drama)
*Big theater
*Connecting Interstate highways
*Big park/forest reserve
*and many things you would find on GTA San Andreas map… The players said there’s even an Ammo Nation store.
Dang, it didn’t even occur to me to “borrow” some stuff from the City of Heroes MMO. Perez Park, Atlas Park, street gangs like the Skulls and Hellions. Heh.
Marcelo Paschoalin You might want to think what kinda things your Ammo Nation would sell, that’s unique to your city.
“We got your normal 45 rounds, but can I interest you in our latest model of freeze gun? Or perhaps some exploding boomerangs – for self defense of course. Wink.”
Chirag Asnani, oh that happened! One player (the Beacon, if I’m not mistaken), asked for a modified taser: if you are not the proper user (the gun reads your sweat to determine if you are cleared for use), the taser works “on” the gun, causing shock damage on the user.
“Oh, we have some electrical bullets too, if you are interested.” 🙂