[Space] Atomic Horror Tales of the Interplanetary Super-Solar Patrol!

[LoneWolf23k]

Okay, I like mashing up GURPS sourcebooks, so I got to thinking about mashing up Atomic Horror, International Super-Teams, Tales of the Solar Patrol, Infinite Worlds's Gersnback, and Mars Attacks, to create a retro sci-fi Superhero setting, inspired by the Silver Age Legion of Super-Heroes.

First point of Historical Divergence: Loi Mutants arrive on Earth, and after hiding from Alphan attackers, begin intermingling with primitive humans they have already begun uplifting. As Proto-Humans had already been altered by the Seeders with the meta-gene, this tampering leads to the genes for paranormal power to become dormant, leading to general enhanced intelligence and adaptation instead, with actual powers becoming rarer, but more potent.

Second point of Historical Divergence: Nicolai Tesla marries Anne Morgan, which stabilizes his temper and provides him with funding. In 1924, the first Energy Broadcast System Towers are erected, revolutionizing the energy industry. And bathing North America in powerful electro-magnetic fields that re-awaken the dormant meta-genes, causing a new generation of supers to be born.

Third and Fourth, less points of Divergence, and more of Convergence: Unlike in Gernsback, WW2 isn't averted. Stresses of military training causes the first recorded metahumans to emerge on both sides. Related to this, the stress of massive Research and Development programs on both sides of the war lead to the emergence of "Super-Cognizents", hyper-intelligent geniuses capable of revolutionary scientific leap forwards. Research into super-weapons and experimental computers. ENIAC still gets invented in this timeline.

The Space Race progresses rapidly in this timeline, as does advancements in electronics, thanks to the newly established TeslaDyne Industries (formerly Morgan-Tesla Radio), which patents both new designs in super-computers and robotics, as well as the Tesla Electron Drive, a superior version of the Tesla Coil, capable of harnessing ambient energy from the ether of space to propel a craft into orbit and beyond. Peacetime (or at least the Cold War) also leads to Metahumans leaving the military and turning to superheroic vigilantism, while Earth's remaining Super-Cogs form the Theoretical Science Foundation, both to push the boundaries of scientific knowledge, as well as to deal with the threats created by technological accidents (and alien menaces).

The 1950s brings the next big Divergence: Mars Attacks. The MA Martians become the main servitor race of the Mind Masters, and their need for Carbon Dioxide could instead be replaced with an allergy to gases found in Earth's atmosphere (or maybe a weak immune system, in a nod to H.G. Wells). The Earth-Mars War is brutal, but eventually ends with a victory for Earth, spear-headed by Earth's Metahumans, and Super-Scientists. The United Nations decide to turn this temporary Alliance into a Formal, Permanent one, thus forming the International Super-Teams, dedicating itself to enforcing Peace on Earth and protecting it from Alien menace.

By this point, the Loi Mutants remaining on Earth had begun re-emerging from hiding, usually passing themselves off as new Metahumans. When first contact was made with scouts from the Loi Alliance, however, the Mutants, led by Lauranis, felt obligated to reveal themselves and help establish peaceful relations between their original homeworld and their adopted one. Lauranis is eventually granted the position of Ambassador of Two Worlds, representing the Loi in the United Nations, and Earth to the Loi Alliance.

This proved fortuitous, as by the late 1960s, a new menace emerged from Antarctica; the hidden Nazi base of Neuschwabenland, which had spent the last few decades reverse-engineering Martian weaponry, the Tesla Electron Drive, and technological gifts from rogue factions of Loi, as well as pushing research into genetic engineering and cloning to create armies of Ubersoldaten. A Third World War was averted by the IST, forcing the Nazis to flee off-world, revealing their hidden city to be a massive Mothership Saucer with surprising speed and cloaking ability.

The 1970s see the Machine Uprising, as the rogue AI calling itself Overmind reveals itself, having built an army of killer robots and other war machines to exterminate Humanity. It is defeated by the IST, and while there is talk of forbidding all AIs and other Thinking Robots, the fact that many other Robots fought alongside Humanity against Overmind (including some of its own creations), this is limited to the banning of massive computer networks to limit future Robot Uprisings. As a result, in this timeline, the Internet is never created.

Afterwards, a new UN Task Force is sent to Mars to scout the planet and look into making diplomatic contact with the Martians. Some contact is made with Native Martians unlike the skull-faced invaders (whom the Natives refer to as the Skarrians), but eventually the enigmatic Mind Masters reveal themselves, dominating the Earth scouts to lead a new attack on Earth, which is repelled by the combined efforts of the ISP and Martian Resistance movements freeing the enslaved Fleets.

A new Earth-Mars war is declared, this time with Earth on the offensive, though Earth's inability to successfully launch a definitive planetary assault, and Mars' inability to fight off the invading fleet, leads to the negociation of an uneasy cease-fire by the 1980s.

The 1990s see proper exploration of Venus and Mercury begin, with first contact being made with Venus' local populations of Lizardfolk, Insectoids, and the Venusian Amazons (who here, haven't completely degenerated into barbarism).

In the 2000s, exploration past the Asteroid Belt and into the Outer Solar system begins, and first contact is made with the Jovian Empire. The Overlord is revealed to be one of the long lost Loi Mutants, and Lauranis' Brother, who has spent the past 10,000 years reverse-engineering Alphan bio-technology to further modify his body, granting him even greater powers, as well as creating armies of mutated super-soldiers, robot war-machines, and his own genetically altered clone children, who serve as his generals and governors.

The 2010s see the outbreak of the Solar War, an all-out war between the Earth League and the Jovian Overlord, with the Martians emerging to fight both sides for territorial gains, and the Loi Alliance eventually joining in to help Earth. The Overlord agrees to a cease of hostilities, signing a treaty to dismantle his Electron-Drive Warfleets, and offering Loi-class FTL drives to allow Earth to begin exploring beyond Jupiter. Most suspect him of building a new fleet under the clouds of Jupiter, using advanced Alphan anti-gravity technology, but maintaining the treaty is important.

In 2020, a new menace arises; the Red Hive, formed from the vestiges of the Nazis and Soviets, unified under a new anti-democratic philosophy of totalitarianism. They lead a massive attack on the Earth League, destroying a number of colonies across the system, before being eventually fought off and chased past the Jupiter boundary, where some believe them to have perished when their supplies ran out, but others believe to have survived on a base around Saturn or Uranus.

And this is where I end my timeline, with the Earth League and the Interplanetary Solar Patrol rebuilding after so many wars, with it's Elite Agents, Meta-Beings and Super-Scientists all united to preserve the fragile Peace, fighting space pirates, supervillains, mad scientists, Rogue AIs and atomic monsters, and being on guard from renewed offensives from Mars and Jupiter.

Well, that's a lot for a first post, so I'll stop here. But in future posts, I'd like to explore character and campaign concepts for this merged setting.

[Kale]

Wow. I applaud your ability to take so many worldbooks, bash them together, and still make a semi-coherent timeline with it.
Question: Why don't the Loi give/trade humanity FTL and other technology after establishing open relations? Humanity still seems mostly confined to the inner solar system until after the Solar War with the Jovian Overlord.

[LoneWolf23k]

Because I didn't think of it! No, wait, uh, I mean, because the Loi Alliance has rules against sharing their technology with less advanced civilizations. Yeah, that's the ticket...

[warellis]

Are computers here, even before the limiting of massive networks, rather primitive from the POV of Homeline or other standard tech settings?

Like TL6+3 or whatever in computer tech?

[LoneWolf23k]

Originally Posted by warellis

Are computers here, even before the limiting of massive networks, rather primitive from the POV of Homeline or other standard tech settings?

Like TL6+3 or whatever in computer tech?

More like TL7+2/3, as the divergence point is the Nuclear Age. Really want to go for a 1950s/60s Sci-Fi feel for the electronics. Most computers are large, room-sized affairs, with the exception of the dedicated micro-computers used as robot brains. Most Robots would either have simple minds capable of simple instructions, but requiring human supervision, or be radio-operated (and broadcast-powered) by larger Computers. The rare few self-aware AI robots would tend to be unique creations of Super-Scientists, with designs that most normal scientists couldn't replicate.

Maybe something like the Micro-Tube technology from GURPS Lensman, thus ruling that all electronic devices must weigh twice as much as their regular TL counterpart, although for simplicity I wouldn't adjust the price or energy usage. Especially with Beamed power being taken into consideration.

[LoneWolf23k]

For character creation, I'd recommend starting the campaign at Moderate-Power (400-1,600), with Player Characters operating at D-scale (divide by 10) levels of power. And all characters should be built with the Solar Patrolmen template, although a fun "Cadet Heroes in Space" game could be done using the Patrol Cadet template and sticking to the low end of Moderate Power levels.
In terms of power templates, I would recommend against the Archetype template, or at least powering it down to 1,000 or at most 1,500 points.

For character origins, you've got Super-powered Mutants, either born with their ability or acquired from a super-science accident; you've got Aliens or Half-Aliens; you've got Creations of Super-Science (either robotic or biological mutations) that decided to fight for Good and Peace; you've got Super-Geniuses; and of course you've got Badass Normal Patrolmen who make up for the lack of super-abilties with courage, grit, and the best weapons and armor the Patrol has to offer.

[ericthered]

Where does Russia and decolonization fit into the timeline?

[dataweaver]

Consider the possibility that the Vithaani of Mars are another Loi settlement.

[LoneWolf23k]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Where does Russia and decolonization fit into the timeline?

Honestly, wasn't sure. My first draft idea involved dumping the Nazis entirely, as with Gernsback, and just have WW2 be "USSR vs Allies", as in the C&C: Red Alert continuity, with the Soviet Union eventually losing and it's remnants fleeing to the last place that hasn't been corrupted by Capitalism: SPACE!

Then I realized I still wanted to play with the Antarctic Space Nazis, and the Soviets kinda fell by the wayside. Perhaps I can go with the idea of a WW3 that doesn't end in Nuclear Devestation, but ends with the Soviet Union's last leaders fleeing the planet in a massive space ark, vowing to return one day.

As for decolonization, it definitely happened at some point, in part due to the increased numbers of Metahumans and Super-Geniuses arising in third world countries to challenge the Great Powers. Let's say that the Earth-Mars war led to a lot of Colonial powers abandoning their Colonies to strengthen their own defenses, which allowed the locals to rise up to their own defense. After the War, they leveraged this to attain their independence from the Western powers, at the condition of adhering to United Nations Law.

Originally Posted by dataweaver

Consider the possibility that the Vithaani of Mars are another Loi settlement.

That, and/or abduction of Humans from Earth has been happening for a long time. I was actually planning on adapting the Dying Mars martian races [from GURPS Mars] into various Martian tribes, with the Vithaani being either Lowlander or Uplander Martians (or both).

[warellis]

How do these "Loi-class FTL drives" work? Got ideas there? What style of FTL drive would fit most thematically with the 1950's-style retrotech feel of the setting?