Revolutionary Supers

[Michael Cule]

If I were setting this up I wouldn't use a historical example, just imply the parallels in the game setting.

I'd have the aftermath of one of those 'If I were a superhero' fantasies mentioned upstream, with a group of empowered people who have set themselves up as the rulers of the world and the players as people who find themselves as outlaw metahumans.

This is THE AUTHORITY from the point of view of those who hate them.

[Maz]

I think I can name a few "supers" who fall into this category.


Zorro.
He is most often fighting against the oppression of the tyrannical officials. And less often against random bandits.


V (from V for Vendetta)
V is set in a dystopia. But V is also much more directly a revolutionary.


Watchmen
Could be seen as an example of the Villains keeping status quo... depending on who of them you focus on.



As a personal example...
I once played a super hero game at a con that took place in the 80's in London (Inspired by Watchmen).
Our group played 'the revolutionaries' (we had another team name I do not remember) who was a group of supers who tried to fight against the oppression of the government - but more specifically the team of "evil" supers who were doing the governments dirty work. For instance they had intervened in the coal miners strikes and we knew several miners had been injured and a few dead.
This was mostly background though at the real game was about us uncovering a plot to kill the Queen! We couldn't have that!


What we - the players - did not know however, was that at the same time another group of players were playing as those "evil" government supers. They hardly knew our 'rebel' group existed and were trying to keep law and order. The incident at the miners strike was an honest accident. They too had uncovered a plot to kill the queen.

The game culminated - of course - with our two groups meeting each other and immediately thinking "the others" were the villains and slugging it out, only to find out there was another, actual, villain and having to team up to take them out.

...it is one of the most epic and fun roleplaying experiences I have ever had!



(Sidenote. Our group had been playing it really straight and serious. While the other group had been playing it more like bumbling accidental heroes of the day. This wasn't planned by the GM's but makes sense and is worth considering. A game about revolutionaries are most often going to be more serious and dark. Than a random super-hero game that can have an easier time being less serious and more fourcoloured).

[Kymage]

I think the Amazon Prime Series "The Tick" might be going this way based on some comments/a conversation during the season 1 finale. Also, I think there was comic miniseries on this point (I think it was called Wanted)

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

I don't concur with your general take on Atticus Finch. In TKAM, he is written as a paragon of ethics (of the classical liberal and republican citizen type). He is not ambiguous, and even verges on wish-fulfillment.

As the text of Go Set a Watchman makes clear. Atticus Finch is a good man, not a saint. In To Kill a Mockingbird Finch is seen through the eyes of his six to eight year old daughter Scout. Of course, he's idealized. In the latter book, he's seen by his college age daughter Jean Louise (Scout). It is proper that the college age woman should see her beloved father's faults as well as his virtues.

Atticus Finch would have been born sometime between 1885 and 1895, and he would have lived through the 1890 to 1920 period. That period of US history is widely acknowledged to be the worst period of racism in US history. Atticus would have been stained by that. The second novel makes it clear that he was.

None of this detracts from the fact that he made a risky and profoundly principled stand for justice. In fact, the simple reality that he fought his own racism, as well as the town's in his stand for justice, makes him all the more heroic. It also makes his heroism less of a wish fulfillment.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

As the text of Go Set a Watchman makes clear.

Go Set a Watchman is an early draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. Its contents can be safely ignored.

[JazzJedi]

Star Wars sort of fits this model too. The Empire is 20 years old, and the Sith are trying to maintain it, while the Jedi are trying to tear it down. Force-users are basically supers anyway.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Alternatively of course you set the action in a real world oppressive regime. North Korea. Uzbekistan. Egypt. But that would make it really hard to make a complete set of heroes and villains who fit into the setting when you aren't from there.

No, but centering the action on foreign actors who are trying to change or maintain the status quo in one way or another has some dramatic potential. Then you add in a handful of locals, to make the situation more poignant, emphasizing that these people in many ways aren't fully in control of their own country, and the choices they have to make in geopolitics.



If a super hero from the US showed up in "real world oppressive regime" and started trying to "clean things up", there would be a national (and international) wave of outrage. The US government may get involved with stopping the super just to counter claims that its acting as a empire. This area has a lot of drama that can be used for a game.



Just be sure to play it with nuance and know your players before starting it.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Try this idea. Picture a super, we'll call her Utopia, her power is a blend of Affliction and Empathy. She can cause masses of people to see the other person's point of view. She can also make people analyze whether or not they are being fair.

She doesn't always change people's minds. However, younger people and children exposed to her develop both Empathy and the habit of trying to respectfully figure out the other person's viewpoint.

I like this idea a lot more than most superhero concepts, but let's be clear -- her life expectancy will be measured in weeks. At best.

That makes her a great plot device, but as a character her vast multitude of enemies would drive the campaign.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

I like this idea a lot more than most superhero concepts, but let's be clear -- her life expectancy will be measured in weeks. At best.

That makes her a great plot device, but as a character, her vast multitude of enemies would drive the campaign.

I think you might be right about her lifespan. Certainly, even if she had Destiny, Ridiculous Luck, plus being tougher than Superman times Wolverine, attempts on her life would still be a daily thing.

[AlexanderHowl]

Well, if she was undetectable, she could survive longer.