1. Choose Origin~Trained: The hero is a highly skilled; any "powers" can actually come from superior training or specialized equipment. The character gains three bonus specialties. The character gains three bonus specialties, but two fewer powers (and may have no powers at all). Note, you can earn or create additional powers in-game.
Lore: All Heroes undergo strict regimens of training, but for those not blessed with an abundance of natural powers-or any at all-it's quite a bit more important-a matter of life and death. Highly trained heroes usually serve their teams in technical and tactical roles, offering a diversity of talent and knowledge. Unpowered humans-which make up about 60% of the Earths population-are called, in order of offensiveness-'Un-augs', 'Normans/Normas', and 'Homo-inferior', to name a few.
~Transformed: The hero was a normal human but became superhuman through some outside agency, often an accident or experiment. One of the character's abilities or powers (your choice) is increased by +2. Make sure you indicate which power is to receive this bonus, if so.
Lore: The World is a strange place. Superhuman intellects often create super-sized accidents, and no one is entirely safe. Un-Augs are more vulnerable to these effects than those with super-powered physiques. Many of those considered 'Transformed' retain both weaknesses and strengths from the source of their transformation.
~Birthright: The hero was born with or destined to develop superhuman powers. The character gains your choice of one additional power, which should be innate, and not a device, or +2 to a rolled power level. Make sure you indicate which power is to receive this bonus, if so.
Lore: Most super-beings on Earth are born with it, and most of their powers come from a universal source. The Second Sun. Science has long proved what people always assumed to be true-that the Second Sun (which usually mirrors the moon) emits a type of radiation that causes dramatic mutagenic changes in Human beings and other living things. Most super-beings are stronger during second-sun rise, and replenish themselves more quickly during the day. Of course, that's not the only source...
~Gimmick: The character's powers all come from devices or exotic methods of some kind, such as 'magic' spells or techno gadgets. One of the character's mental abilities (your choice) is increased by +2. You also gain a free specialty point, as it relates to your gimmick.
Lore: Technology and magic-two sides of the coin of order and chaos-have always had a place in your world. Scientists claims 'magic' is merely an outdated way of tapping into otherworldly energies, tapping latent human abilities through ridiculous and convoluted rites-dogmatic ritual designed to ensure power stays limited to only a few elites. Magicians tend to claim that 'technology' is just a brute force way of harnessing the natural and unlimited power of the universe, which should be available to everyone...of sufficient intellect and willpower, anyway. The sides don't tend to mix-powerful magic and high-tech often foil one another. So who knows which is true?
~Artificial: The character is a robot or perhaps some other kind of 'construct' that can't really be considered 'alive'-such as a ghost, zombie, or golem. One of the character's physical abilities (your choice) is increased by +2, and you gain Life Support as a bonus power.
Lore: When the the Silver Speaker came back from the dead to continue his fight against crime, the papers called him the 'Silver Spirit'-he began leading the souls of other departed heroes to either peaceful rest, or a new career in spectral heroics. He lamented the lack of creativity on the name, however. When the first robot achieved sentience in 1899, and subsequently began a reign of terror that filled legions of victims with dread, the newspaper called him the 'Iron Man'-he was hardly the last of them, however, and not all chose that path. He applauded the accuracy of his name, though not in public.
~Unearthly: The character is a being from another world or dimension such as an alien, elemental, angel, devil, or even a deity. Increase two of the character's abilities (your choice) by +2. The character has one fewer power but a minimum of one power.
Lore: The world, and all other worlds are truly blessed with an infinity of potentials....
Some notes on this worlds technology.
-At some point, humans have learned how to manipulate pinpoint wormholes. At the point in the game, the mass produced variety is rudimentary-only one way, and only to transfer energy, not mass. This was actually pretty useful, as they were able to use this invention to revolutionize society...
-They called this device a 'Hotspot'. More or less, infinite heat energy at a fixed point. In true Steampunk style, tho, other technologies have either not advanced (due to time), or there has been no incentive to advance them. Using steam boilers (with hotspots boiling water--->turbines) is the most common way of generating energy.
-Hotspots power pretty much everything these days. Energy isn't really a problem anymore-heat is, generally being, the more power you want the heavier and hotter the device is. So you could create crazy things like forcefield and energy cannons...however, the era is constrained technologically. You can make these things, and power anything you can imagine building, but they might not be safe or reliable because you lack the technological basis to do so.
And on the world as a whole.
-Major world changes that pertain to this setting include the separation of the United States at the end of the 3rd civil war, into the Lone Star Republic (centered around Texas), the New Confederacy (Southern US), Federal Territories (Northern US) and Cascadia (US West coast). Much of the middle US is Balkanized into dozens of small states and territories.
-Africa is split between several large, modern countries-the largest of which, Kanema, rivals European nations.
-As of yet, there has not been a first world war. Superheroes in many countries have defused many conflicts by their mere existence, rivaling the atomic weapon our own world would create.
-Civilization itself has yet to explore the world entirely-many parts of South America and Asia remain relatively unknown, or purposefully hidden away...
Some famous heroes in this age include...
Silver Spirit, Ghostly Ambassador
Polar Explorer, The Famous Adventuress
Quartz Commando, Worlds Greatest Soldier
War Eagle, the Superman
Vishanti, Worlds Greatest Mystic
The Clock Queen, The Immortal Time Traveler
Sunfury, Worlds Hottest Pyrokinetic
All of whom belong to the 'World's Finest'-an elite 'club', that have pledged to join together and put aside all other considerations-except the survival of the Human race, when the situation arises.
Some famous villains of this age include...
Akanda, Queen of the Dead
Iagal, Spirit of Vengeance
Iron-Man, Murderous Automaton
Thane, The God Among Men
The Abstract, Otherworldly Dire Threat
Time-reaper, Corrector of Mistakes
Bleak and Blight, The Twins
2. Abilities
Roll a 1d8 for each ability and record the resulting level for it. If your hero's total ability levels (after adjustments for origin) are less than 20, you can choose to discard the hero and start over.
You can also choose to swap any two ability levels after you have determined them. For example, if you roll a Strength of 3 and an Awareness of 7 and you really want your hero to be strong rather than quick on the uptake, you can choose to swap those two abilities, making Strength 7 and Awareness 3.
You can use this site
http://orokos.com/roll/To record your rolls for me to see, though it's not technically a demand...you may wish to roll here, and then share the roll if the number seems somewhat unbelievable due to mere luck.
Alternately..
~You can choose to create an entirely 'normal', utterly human hero with a superhuman mind-with each of your physical stats set at 4 and no higher (4 being the strongest and fastest an unaugmented human could be), you can assign 20 points to your remaining mental stats in any order you wish, to a max of 8. You can further reduce your physical stats below 4, to assign +1 point to your mental stats in exchange.
~You can choose to create an outstanding physical bruiser, of pretty much ordinary human intelligence-with each of your mental stats set at 4 and no higher (4 being the smartest and most charming an unaugmented human could be), you can assign 20 points to your remaining physical stats in any order you wish, to a max of 8. You can further reduce your mental stats below 4, to assign +1 point to your physical stats in exchange.
Final note-any stats at 1 or 2 will be expected to create some 'interesting effects' on your hero, and will be expected to be roleplayed and described fully. Like, stats of 7-8+ will be treated the same!
3. PowersYou begin play with three powers, minus or plus your origin modifiers. You can choose less starting powers, or none, to receive bonus starting determination.
https://ogc.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=Icons:Powers <--
Remember, this can be more than just innate powers, it covers gadgets, spells and other things as well. Be creative!
All powers begin at level 1-while your hero may have been capable of greater displays than this in the past, currently you are quite out of practice...also, the properties of Farfield also seem to make you weaker...
4. SpecialtiesYou begin play with three specialties-due to the circumstances at the start of the game, you cannot put points toward expert or master specialties, though a hero with the 'Trained' or "Gimmick" origin may have expert level skills innately due to their bonus.
https://ogc.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=Icons:Specialities <--
5. Finishing upBackground
Farfield has a done a number on your memory and perception-you can't remember much about life before you came here, though you are certain about some things-like the world outside. You should describe your heroes life in Farfield with as much detail as you want-it'll determine alot of content in the first issue and beyond. What was your life like here? What did you do for a living, and whom (if anyone) did you share that life with? ...and, why wasn't it enough? Why are you looking for a way out of a beautiful dream?
Description
What does your hero look like? Consider the hero's physique, build, hair color and style, mannerisms, and other distinguishing physical features.
Determination
Choose at least one and up to five qualities, and up to five challenges for your hero. You are not required to choose any challenges, but they are a key means of earning more Determination, so you should consider some. This can be saved for later, if you can't think of anything.