I need help to get the system cleaned up, but I think the setting information is fairly stable. I will also require some illustrations and layout. Balancing this with MEST 2.x and my personal life has been nothing less than stressful and challenging.
Here's the first dozen or so pages. It comes right after Donald Saxman's original introduction. What you are seeing are his original worlds with additions made by myself to expand and to make the information contemporary. I'll have future posts for presenting more of the setting and the rules system.
THE SETTING
Superhero ‘44 Second
Edition Revised is a fan-build of the original Superhero ’44 first edition
rules. It expands upon the original setting by presenting a post-nuclear war Earth,
with its nascent space colonies, as being on the cusp of a revolution in how
the universe is understood.
THE YEAR 2044
THE SETTING
The setting begins as a hard-core sci-fi near-future which
transitions organically through the efforts of the Referee and the players;
into one where almost anything is possible, including access to what can only be
called “magic”. The GUTOE, or “grand unified theory of everything” is being
discovered, and it will rewrite the laws of the (in-game) universe.
There are super powerful humans which can somehow harness
and manipulate these "unknown-physics” with super-science devices, and in
some cases demonstrate them through their own person.
FORMALHAUTIANS
In 2032 radio signals from Formalhaut II
were detected by orbiting radio astronomers. The Formians of the Formalhaut
star system were victims of a disastrous planetary climate change which was
rapidly destroying their civilization.
Stellar Information
Formalhaut is a class A star on the main
sequence approximately 25 light-years from the Sun. Since 1943, the spectrum of
this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars
are classified. It is also written as “Fomalhaut” in the older “Gliese Catalog
of Nearby Stars” published in 1957, since then superseded by “A Complete
Catalog of Nearby Stars” by the now infamous Dr. Ajit Roy Ruby, Inguria
University Press, Inguria 2022.
System Data
Formi-II, or “Formia”, is the home-planet of
the Formians and is a post-Kardeshev Type I civilization. It orbits the larger
of the two suns in the Formalhaut star-system at the second Titius-Bode
harmonic ring, being preceded by a rocky planet, and followed by an asteroid
belt, two Jovians, and three planetoids.
Interstellar Rescue
Formia is highly unstable and is predicted
to explode within the next few years. Formia had become subject to hyper-storms
which scrubbed its surface of all life and most cities. In 2033, a team of “Uniques”
with the ability to instantly teleport, augmented by Formian Trans-Scan
hyperspace wormhole lenses, began an evacuation program which lasted ten years
and moved over four million Formians to various cities and nations of Earth
into what are known as “Formian Enclaves” which are domed communities. The WPC mandates that Formian Enclave
population “not to exceed a density greater than 1 per 10 non-Formians.”
The several thousand who remained behind are
viewed by their race as mentally unbalanced. Unfortunately, contact with the
remaining Formians, and their super-science cities, was cut off when the teleporting
Uniques were killed by Dr. Ruby. Other alien races are known, but contact with
them is limited by the speed of light. The Formians claim, however, to have met
before with races that possessed hyper-drive faster-than-light (FTL) ships, the
secret of which they kept closely guarded.
Formians
Formians are fox-like mammalian humanoids,
and originate on a 1.4 Earth gravities, 35° C (95° F), high-oxygen planet. They
sport grey body hair which more than anything else resembles penguin feathers. This has resulted in what appears to be a
homogenous peaceful, but unoriginal race of look-alikes. On the other hand, the
long-lived Formians consider Terrans unpredictable, superficial, and very
exotic. Formians are regarded as citizens on the island nation of Inguria,
although most prefer to live in their enclosed Formian Enclaves for convenience
to their biological necessities.
Formians possess near-perfect photographic
memories and a remarkable vocal mimic ability similar to Earth’s lyrebirds. Along
with their high endurance this ensures them employment in a wide range of
fields. Formians can live in most places on Earth but require protective
clothing in all but tropical regions. Above 500 meters they must wear oxygen
masks for strenuous activity.
They do not practice war or murder among
themselves, but they have been known to kill humans. They are carnivorous but cannot
eat Terran foods and generally rely on grown tissue culture. They must periodically
take allergy pills which are costly and illegal for human citizens to possess.
It is predicted they will become acclimatized to Terra as a race in several
generations.
TECHNOLOGY
By 2044 many inventions or engineering ideas which are now
only dreams are perfected and several completely new concepts and materials are
available.
Terrifying Science
When Formian and Terran science intermingle, several things
can happen. Psychologists from both races give up in despair because of
communication problems. Physicists agree to disagree when they discover their
basic postulates are contradictory. Engineers just plug in components and watch
what happens. Occasionally a unique synthesis occurs.
Foundational Technology
- Accumulators —The major technology marvel of 2044 is the “accumulator” which is a superconductor battery. Even a small unit can store immense amounts of power and allow its use at any rate desired. Sociologists agree that this, more than anything else revolutionized post-millennial civilization.
- Warm Superconductors — An amazing side-effect of ultra-pure alloy research has been the discovery of “warm superconductors”; gas-cooled alloy fiber “cold cables” which has allowed accumulators, power-plants, and generators to conduct power at unbelievable rates without significant efficiency loss.
- Supercomputers — Computers using “artificial intelligence” (AI) programming have become nearly sentient by using holographic memory storage, and are much more reliable. Access to computers is universal and cheap to allow portable personal assistant devices.
- Quantum Encryption — Powered by supercomputers this technology is used to secure all communications and all financial transactions.
- Radio-whiskers — Materials science has been revolutionized by the concept of “radio whiskers,” ultrapure alloys which allow the tailoring of metal properties much as plastics are now constructed.
- Trans-Scan — Unperfected. An experimental matter transmitter which, if perfected can introduce non-Uniquea Terrans to teleportation and hyper-space travel.
- Fusion Reactor — Unperfected. Outlawed. Free energy from sea water, with nearly zero radioactive waste. The Solar colonies including the Lunar bases each have access to these amazing power sources, but as with all non-Earth locations; those are out of WPC jurisdiction.
Multiple Advanced Technologies
Other important changes include:
- Augmented Intelligence — AI-based data analytics on nearly every subject in shared electronic codex is digested and fed to the headsets, hearing-aides, and visors of doctors, lawyers, soldiers, and engineers.
- Augmented Reality — 3D holograms remain intangible and translucent, but are available in nearly every computer interface, and projected from most electronic devices. including within goggles. These convey detailed technical overlays and realistic (or cartoonish if desired) avatars replete with beautiful animation and sound in order to help learn, understand, or entertain.
- Thing-Net — Nearly all electronic devices security share information with their owners and manufacturers.
- Lasersmithing — Although lasers failed to replace conventional weapons, a variety of sizes and frequencies of lasers are available for communication, industry, and warfare.
- Organ Transplants — Organ transplants that are commonplace, both from live donors and tissue culture. These allow prompt medical attention to cure once-terminal injuries not involving brain damage.
- Alloplastics — Alloplastic materials for synthetic Body-part replacements are also in extensive use, although too expensive to become commonplace.
- Personalization — Technology for on-demand printing and manufacturing of commercial goods is wide-spread and allows most citizens to customize clothing, weapons, toys, houses, vehicles, and nearly everything else.
- Custom Flyers — Aviation has expanded greatly in both the variety and number of vehicles available.
- Hospitals — Hospitals have become international private enterprises with multiple missions which now include crafting of gene-tailored drugs and medication, para-rescue and CASEVAC (“casualty evacuation”) via medibots and flying ambulances.
- Viralponics — The application of forced growing techniques and the creation of artificial environments makes it possible to feed Earth's reduced population with a considerable surplus.
- Smart Money — Each nation, national alliance, and banking institution now uses quantum-encrypted electronic “smart money”. Highly secure and portable.
Other Technologies
Green Energy
Power generation, when not faced with the problem of
transportation, is vastly simplified. Orbiting solar screens using microwave
beams are one major source of power, as well as wind, geothermal, land-based
solar, hydro-electric, and tidal systems. One source that is not used on Earth is
atomic power, particularly fission reactors. Following the Six Day War its use
was outlawed, and this ban is rigorously enforced by the multinational TechnoPol.
Genetic Engineering[1]
Genetic manipulation is still not perfected for higher
organisms, but prenatal screening of fetal or disabling birth defects is
allowing a slow recovery from the ravages of the Six Day War[2].
The recognition and breeding of Uniquea, individuals who
have been favorably affected by the radiation, is sporadically practiced. It is
predicted by ethno-geneticists that five percent of the population should be
unique to a significant degree and that in ten generations 50 percent will be.
The actual number of Uniques recognized is much lower than this, however.
Robotics
Robots (“bots”), drones, and other forms of self-guiding
machines have become less uncommon in cosmopolitan areas, but remain rare
everywhere else. Function limiters are set within the AI programming of these
electronic machines to prevent them from becoming self-aware.
Free-roaming robots, known as “automatons” are the principal
workers in automatic factory environments. Here they work quickly and
efficiently providing construction of components ranging in size from a button
for clothing, to weapons, to spacecraft.
Aerospace Technology
A key component of modern society is the reusable
dual-thrust rocket which allows travel across the civilized world. This
includes to-and-from orbit to the space-stations, and across vast distances to
include access to the Moon and beyond.
Once the first stage of the rocket expends most of its
highly volatile binary fuel, its fuselage under automatic control flies itself
back to the space launch facility where it can be refueled for the next
outbound flight. Should it fail to have enough fuel for the return trip, it
merely deploys a parafoil and guides itself to the nearest safe ground or sea
location.
The second stage may either be a lander, cargo shipper, or
space shuttle. Common destinations are any of the Lagrange colonies, an orbital
facility, or one of the Lunar bases. However, if the destination is deeper into
space, refueling is done first at an orbital fuel-depot. Often these longer
trips are reserved for dedicated off-world deep-space designs outfitted with
high-velocity plasma-thrusters, but those are in control of the colonies and
not the WPC.
Return trips with the second stages are possible, but some
do remain in orbit to be used as construction material. Transfers back to terra firma are always conducted from
NEO via shuttles designed for re-entry.
Near-Earth Colonies
The presence of multiple orbital space stations around Earth
has permitted the construction of Lagrange space colonies, and the placement of
several Lunar colonies; the first which is Moonbase One.
Outer Worlds
These Spacer colonies have become integral to further space
travel and colonization of Mars and further outward. The asteroid belt houses
self-sufficient Terran societies, notably on Ceres, Vespa, and Eros. These trade with the various alliances on
Earth such as the NWCN, or the Catholic League of Nations.
Deep Space Exploration
Further out, using dedicated deep-space vessel designs,
daring explorers aided with AI and companion robots travel at high velocities
to Jupiter and beyond. Telemetry and communications are always available
providing second-by-second updates delayed by up to an hour.
NEWSFEEDS[3]
The reporting of news in the 21st century has undergone many
changes in format, but still closely parallels modern journalism. To compete
with rapidly growing competition from telecommunications, the newspapers became
computerized, and began to incorporate elements of more visual media. The
modern “newsfeeds” are received via the Computer-Net to receiver units, and is
accompanied by multimedia tracks and data streams.
It is possible to receive newsfeeds “predigested” on any
subject, and thereby receive an update on a specific event or series of events.
There is one thing that has not changed, however the newsfeed is still used as
a pointed political weapon. Each major political party across the globe has its
own paper, which slants the news toward its owner's view.
Old USA’s 1949 Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
doctrine was never relevant for most nations, but the problems it hoped to
curtail is highly relevant in 2044.
Fake News
There are possibly millions of competing “robotic news
agent” computer programs forming several “bot-Nets” subtly and casually
altering what is considered real and factual. To fight this “information
pollution”, every consumer of news information uses a trusted “news validation”
service or a locally-executed software application with customizable
parameters, to parse and compare what is known and what is being reported as
news.
Many laws across the WPC have been enacted to fight or limit
the use of bot-Nets, but there are always loop-holes found by enemy AI-assisted
legal teams. Technologies for social media and live-streaming content exists
but is highly regulated as a way to prevent future Six Day Wars to occur. As a
result, news-bots, chat-bots, fake-news bots, etc. exist but are banned by all
societies, especially Inguria which qualify them as acts of terrorism.
World Bank Encyclopedia
With advances in the field of Information Technology,
portions of the entire world’s archives of books are available in electronic
form in both public domain and paid (usually research documents) versions via
the “Computer-Net” and parts of that can be “downloaded” into personal
holographic-memory storage archives and made portable for easy access at
leisure.
In many cases, NWCN citizens opt to “download” these
archives into their Pseudodollar medallions, which are containers for “smart
money” but can have augmented reality interfaces for news and edutainment media
consumption.
Aliens on Earth
The news media always dedicates a section on space, science,
and technology. Given the nature of Uniques, the existence of the Formians, and
the discovery of the Grand Unified Theory of Everything it is very likely that
one or more other alien species will
be discovered. They might already exist on Earth; disguised as humans. Or they
could be in hiding underground, on the Jupiter, or coming soon to the Solar
System.
One thing is for sure; these are extra-terrestrial aliens.
Alien culture, religion, foods, thought, acceptable behavior, and dangers.
Nearly everything can be different. The human world is excited to meet more
aliens, but also wary that the next exospecies encountered won’t be as benign
as the Formians are.
DAILY LIFE
Life in 2044 varies depending on which nation or alliance of
nations a citizen finds themselves. Life in 2044 is nearly identical to that in
2019 (or 1977) with some few exceptions due to the inclusion of modern
technology, especially through the use robots, computer augmented decision
making, and virtual presence systems.
Basic Income
Most WPC nations, including all member nations of the NWCN
such as Inguria, provide government assisted living termed “Basic Income” for
those who seek work or provide charitable services to others. This is necessary
because automation, robotics, and super-intelligent computers, have made it almost
unnecessary for nearly all unskilled or semi-skilled labor.
The amount given by the government in return is enough for
education, rent, meals, and clothing and is issued kiosks throughout the city
directly into the Pd Medallions (or equivalent). Many families and communal
organizations will pool their earnings and arrange for large purchases as gifts
for the various members, but there are always exploits of self-styled “chieftains”,
“sheiks”, “daimyos”, “lords”, or “dons”.
Universal Personhood Identification Code
Every nation has had away to assign a National
Identification Number (NIN). It is issued at birth and placed into a
“smart-contract” electronic data storage archive which allows a nation,
municipality, or even private enterprise to confirm that a person is who they
claim they are. In the pre-War period for Old USA, the NIN known as a Social
Security Number (SSN). The amount of variation in how each nation defined its
NIN was very high, and many Old World countries would codify such esoteric properties
like a person’s sex, gender, religion, or race of a person.
After the tribulation period extending after the Six Day
War, new technologies were implemented to securely and consistently correlate
individuals to their entitlements, state benefits, military, medical,
education, medical, and criminal records.
This new NIN is the UPI or “Universal Personhood Identifier” and is a
cross-correlated sequence of numbers and letters used by all governments and
societies in 2044. Each nation has the freedom to extend the UPI to include
their own properties, but the first 16 alpha-numeric characters are
standardized. UPIs are never re-issued after death.
THE MAJORITY
Here’s a quick look at
how each sort of citizen enjoys their daily lives. We’ll start with the persons
with access to a standard education or better.
Consumer
Does not really work and enjoys life at the Great Bottom.
Shares food and shelter with others usually within communes. Many have formed
religious kibbutz strong social ties as extended families. Technology allows
them to be educated and stay informed just enough to be vocally active in
policy setting and politics as necessary. Barter allows nascent artists and
craftspersons to trade with retired doctors or newly graduated engineers.
Office Worker
Office work is prestigious and many citizens prefer to not use
virtual presence technologies. They’ll dress up as formal as possible and
appear in their work-places with micro-computers at hand. Cubicles still exist,
but they are almost always at large tables intended to cluster seating in
groups by function.
The most common office job is to support specialized virtual
service networks (“Networks”) which involves tracking down resources and
facilities to provide whatever is demanded. Some jobs are highly technical and
require expertise knowledge or master-level skill in art, science, or
engineering. Other jobs are to collate and curate computer-assisted information
gathering for incorporation or sale into the various World Bank Encyclopedias
and its competitors.
Entertainer
A key component of middle-class life is the entertainment
experience; people want to be eyewitnesses to interesting events, art, and
environments. The entertainer of the 2044 utilizes a wide varieties of tools
and techniques including remote-controlled or pre-programmed robots, holograms,
flying platforms for speakers and microphones, as well as older technologies
such as smoke and mirrors. Entertainers will almost always have a “on-line”
community accessible via the Computer-Net where the artists, fans, and
detractors share comments and links to media and other related works. Through
the use of computer-assisted voice translation, real-time performances can be
heard in the original tone and inflection but across dozen (or maybe hundreds)
of languages at the same exact time.
Factory Worker
Automation has replaced most low-skill factory labor, and
this has been inevitable since the late 1960s. Automation became a necessity to
rebuild the world during the Reconstruction Period. Today’s factory worker is a
macro-script programmer skilled in tailoring the behaviors of radio-tethered automatons
within the factories. Like everywhere else in the world, electronically
accessible schemas and routines are downloaded from a part of the Computer-Net
and sent to program the machines. Materials are supplied such as plastics from
petroleum, or metals, or chemicals and everything is combined during high-speed
automatic print-on-demand. Everything is sent through belt-feeds to other parts
of a factory for further assembly and then warehoused until they are shipped off
by truck, airship, or sea vessel.
Smaller factories will usually employ about 10 human workers
with about 100 automaton robots, larger factories may tool around with upwards
of 1000 robots especially when working to improving high-volume scaling for the
of crafting toys, ammunitions, or parts for complex technologies such as
vehicles or spacecraft. Whenever a robot breaks down, it is sent for review by
another robot to repair it. The factory workers supervise all such activities
and improve programming where necessary. Sometimes it may even require that the
worker physically repair or manually adjust the machinery in the factory
themselves.
Business Person
Money-making decisions are normally made by a human
augmented by information gather through the use of service networks dedicated
to business, all of which hinge upon knowledge which is gathered by
supercomputer programs. Companies across the world and into outer-space at the
colonies always strive to maximize profit for every transaction made, and the business
person fulfills a role in this aspect.
It is considered bad manners to conduct business using
robots, human assistant proxies, and virtual presence holograms. As a result
the average business person does a lot of traveling across to many nations in
order to handle official transactions “in real life”. Functionally similar to a diplomat; a
business person will usually be trained in a dozen languages and will also
often train themselves to understand the various cultures to be impacted by
their businesses. Many also become skilled at artistry, speech, and even
performance in order to increase their chances to win a business deal.
Proprietor
For a while during the early Information Age around 2000 AD
many business went virtual and allowed goods and services to be purchased via
the Computer-Net; this is still available within some communities but today it
will require access to a service network or “Network”.
However, with the maturity of print-on-demand technology,
many boutique stores have became established for a specific designer brand
which allows any customer to walk in and walk out within an hour (depending on
wait lines) and have any number of products customized to their own liking;
clothing, weapons, vehicles, medicine, building architecture, snack foods, and
toys. Often the proprietor is also the designer brand artist and the technician
which set up the store.
Much like early twentieth-century stores, the wares of the
store will be on display in the windows, on racks, and upon shelves; all of which
will be augmented with 3D holographic information displays which also broadcast
extra information to a shopper’s personal computer devices should one be
available.
In these proprietor-owned businesses, the amount of wealth
which transfers becomes an enticement for robberies. As a result, many shops
employ armed security guards to help curtail crime. Payment for all goods is
done usually via smart-money such as the NWCN’s Pseudodollar medallions, or is
paid using promissory notes of exchange if performing barter. Regardless, all
transactions are recorded electronically and ledger entries are passed around
to various banking.
The Activist
The majority of citizens of any free society within the WPC
has a tremendous amount of free time. What most people do is create art, enjoy
media consumption, and socialize among themselves. Automation and government
care can be good. Others see inequity and oppression, real or imagined, and
make a voice for themselves when possible. Maybe the source of oppression is
“those people”, or “the Mud Children”, or its the Illuminati, or the “Formian
devils”, or the “police state”, or the “robot overlords”; each has its niche in
the political landscape. The activist citizen is usually given some room to
proceed peacefully down the street and protest, but in many WPC Hostile or WPC
Enemy nations such as Radiant China or the Arabian-West India Axis these events
usually devolve into riots, riot-gas, riot-police presence, and lots of rioter
injuries and fatalities.
Academic
Most WPC nations provide free education in order to
encourage a capable work force. Highly corrupt nations, especially
authoritarian ones, prefer to keep their citizens uninformed or misled in order
to more easily control them. Poorer nations which seek to become part of the
future inevitably will have afford some sort of access to modern education
tools and standards for their citizens.
Students and their professors still attend university
campuses for instruction, but it is very possible that their presence is virtual
and either through a 3D holographic projection or a specifically marked android
which sends back sensory information to a remote participant. All students and
instructors have access to the Computer-Net which allows them to cross-check
and reference the World Bank Encyclopedia
or a comparable version of that such as Milandra’s
Musings on the Modern Millenia (2043), or Fahrzad’s Tome of Scientific Knowledge (2044).
An interesting aspect of modern science is that it is highly
volatile; it is likely to cause death and destruction if improperly managed.
Within campus laboratories, much like upon commercial and military labs; may
scientists and their students prefer virtual presence access. In case a
calamity occurs, injury and death is minimized.
Adherent
During the chaotic years following the Six Day War, it was
places of worship and people of the clergy which had some of the strongest
support infrastructure to pass information and distribute food and provide
shelter and comfort. Adherents are those self-professed followers, believers,
and leaders of the religious world that strive to ensure that no militaristic
or criminal mindsets gain dominance in the world of politics.
Within the WPC, nearly every top-level organization within
government and many private enterprises has a tie to a religious council which
is conferred with prior to making disruptive ethical decisions which may be
deemed world-breaking or world-shaking.
Adherents pride themselves on their ability to provide deep insights
across multiple disciplines including science, engineering, technology, law,
and medicine. In preparation for future contingencies, many of the surviving
religious structures (temples, synagogues, mosques, churches, etc.) have been
converted into training facilities and disaster shelters. As a result of this
focus upon “worldliness”; some of the strongest adherents also happen to be the
physically and mentally strongest among their own.
Tourist
Although virtual presence technology is available, most
tourists desire to experience the world first-hand and will pay exorbitant
amounts to travel into outer-space, to visit deep-sea destinations, or to relax
on an exotic beach somewhere on the face of the Earth. Tourism for business
often involves dozens or even hundreds of persons sharing a team-building
experience to adventure into the wildernesses of the world together under the
strict guidance of experts.
Tourists in 2044 are no better nor worse than their earlier
equivalents; often distracted, easily amused, and awfully unaware of their
environment. It is still common for tourists to be mugged, and easy for them to
be identified by their culture-insensitive clothing and inappropriate behavior.
However, many tourists will either use real-time language
translation apps on their personal computers, or be accompanied by an assistant
human or android which will parlay for them. Often these assistants will be
able to guide the traveler in local customs as well.
The Affluent
After the Fallout and Purge, most of the status quo of the wealthy
and affluent changed, but there have always been ways to keep monetary
influence and power within the hands of the few. There are indeed dynastic
families which can still trace the origins of their economic control to several
decades, centuries, or even millennia before the Six Day War. Most of these
families don’t want a repeat of the Purge, and so are more inclined to
philanthropy towards the poor and disenfranchised. However, they also recognize
that with the aide of modern super-intelligent computers they will be able to
more efficiently tailor social engineering for their own long-term benefit.
Furthermore, with the advent of automation in most
societies, there are many more idle, though educated and healthy, per se
“poor”. These are more than willing to idolize the Affluent as celebrities.
THE RISK TAKERS
Here’s another lens on
life involving the rare individuals who participate in key activities at the
lower end of society, either to serve selfish goals or to prevent society from
falling apart.
The Soldier
At any one moment in time there is at least an active
conventional war taking place between two or more nations. This is common even
after the Six Day War, and news feeds always broadcast the daily events of
those dangerous activities across the entire Solar system. The World Peace
Council does its best to enable negotiations before aggressive actions are
taken, and usually this is the case.
However, there is always hardship and always greed. Of the 48 recognized major nations, over half
are identified as either WPC Hostile or WPC Enemy nations. The top two
offenders are Radiant China and the West
India-Arabian Axis. Even with the various security measures set up across the
globe, there always seems to be forces moving across borders with tanks,
drones, and robots.
As a result, there is ample opportunity for the
military-minded individual to pursue gainful employment either as a member of
the Security Duty forces under the WPC, or to become employed by any one or
more of the nations at war.
The Spy
Every nation is continually spying on every other nation.
Every nation’s military and government organizations have allocated huge
budgets to build secret bases, training facilities, and to develop advanced
technologies to aide in espionage. There are spy satellites, supercomputer data
analyzers, disguised field agents, back-stabbing double-agents, and embedded
spies acting as romantic interests. Spies are there to gather information, to
bribe officials, to sway politics, to adjust business negotiations through
bribery, and to sow disinformation. There are also corporate spies and private
spies. Nearly any billionaire will have their own attaché of highly trained
agents helping out with coordinating bodyguards staff and gathering information
by carousing with socialite crowds.
Very few spies are any good with combat skills, but the few
which are can be amazingly skilled. Spy agencies do their best to recruit
prized agents of other nations.
Law Enforcement Officer
The role of a law-enforcement officer, a trained specialist
to observe, report, and curtail crime, is even more critical than ever after
the Six Day War. No citizen of any society, toxic or otherwise; wants to have a
repeat that lead up to anarchy prior to the Reconstruction Period. Many societies
within the WPC, especially within the Catholic League of Nations and within the
Grand Caliphate of Earth, have set up “morality police” which keep a close
monitoring of individual behavior, grooming, and social expression. Most other
societies otherwise will have multiple tiers of law enforcement each with
specific jurisdictions and legal capabilities.
As a result, employment as a law enforcement officer
(“police”, “policia”, “officer of the law”, “law officer”, “enforcer”, etc.) is
lucrative and in high demand. This latter is in part a response to the dangers
involved. With the advent of technology and super-powered criminals, many
violent crimes incidents have become uncontrolled and frequently results in the
deaths or in long-term crippling injuries of the all enforcers involved.
All officers train together at “police academy” for about a
year under the tutelage of criminal and legal experts, and weapons masters.
They endure extreme physical training and sort themselves into specialized
roles for community patrol, armed patrol, investigations, forensics, violent
crimes, special victims units, and heavy weapons and assault teams.
All officers are coordinated with heads-up display helmets
providing augmented reality data, and multi-lingual translator tools. Behind
the scenes, officers are guided by their coordinators from their bases of
operations (police stations, usually) and are able to quickly share visual and
voice information with each other.
In toxic societies, law enforcement officers are feared.
They can become easily corrupted by the authoritarian structures of their
government. In smaller, polite, societies; community officers are viewed as
members of an extended family and are known by honorifics. Therefore it is not
uncommon to invite “Mr. Tokagawa” or “Ms. Agarwal” to a house party or other
social event.
In all other societies, and for non-community officers;
enforcers are regarded with deference and respect depending on the individual
and the level of effectiveness that police force is able to deter crime and
protect the community.
Gangbanger
Despite relatively easy access to education, employment, and
relatively abundant food and recreation; society still generates gangs. This is
most apparent within urban communities of impoverished nations, and is even
more apparent within toxic societies. Some youth gangs are set up to be for
protection of an apartment complex or city block. Members move around together
in “gangs” of 5-10 people to prevent the violent or aggressive gangs dominance.
These sorts of gangs are hard to identify by any outsider which is not part of
the community policing staff or a member of that specific community.
Violent gangs are much more prevalent and they operate very
similar to gangs through known history. It could be rooted in tribalism,
religion, tradition, poverty, politics, or any combination. Through the use of
violence or the threat of violence, they extort other members of their
community. The common goal is theft; to steal wealth from that community and to
hoard physical wealth in terms of tools, weapons, clothing, or other such items
which could be considered valuables. This is despite the presence of
“print-on-demand” technologies because it is very possible to have customized
goods unavailable elsewhere in the world.
The influence of these gangs can be quite extensive and will
incorporate actions against local proprietors and, through the use of vehicles,
include locally accessible suburban and industrial communities. Many violent
gangs are highly secretive and cultish; they’ll require ornate and violent initiation
rituals and oaths of allegiance which if broken results in torture and death.
Gangs will often specialize in “signature weapons” but have been known to also leverage
poisons, shoulder-weapons, and explosives against one another.
Gangs will either grow or become assimilated into larger
organizations. Nations with corrupt governments, for example, will often interact
with, coerce, or co-opt gangs in order to control the local population. Gangs
also serve as populations from which organized crime will recruit its members.
As gang members mature, they’ll become more daring, and eventually lead their
own gangs. Gang members form the greatest population type within a prison
system, and it is there where they’ll learn trade skills from each other. Gangs
members which exist prisons will have a high rate of return to criminal
behavior (“recidivism”) and eventually become professional criminals,
especially if the money is good.
Professional Criminal
Organized crime is big business. At the very low end,
criminal leaders will run one or more gangs and delegate “dirty-work” tasks
involving extortion or murder within a community. Going up the chain, the
professional criminal may begin one or more criminal enterprises or “rackets”
involving slavery, sex trafficking, or illicit drug manufacture and
distribution. At the top of the ladder, the professional criminal is involved
with money laundering; hacking and trade of millions if not billions of credits
worth of wealth. Other activities could include running death-squads, torture
sites, and illegal weapons and technology research. Some professional criminals
become tactical or political experts and hire out their services to the highest
bidder, usually a corrupt government agency or individual with influence.
Ambitious professional criminals will start their own trade
schools and academies to train the next generation of mob bosses, assassins,
arms dealers, financiers, politicians, and political advisors. Others will
aspire to infiltrate, influence, or topple existing governments for their own
benefit.
All professionals will leverage the available technology to
gather information on their rivals, their target victims, and to find and hire
assistants. It is likely that
The Spacer
The majority of the Spacer colonies want nothing to do with
Earth, the WPC, nor any of the humans from it, if at all possible. There are
nearly a 100,000 humans living in the colonies of Luna, Mars, the LaGrange points,
and each the relay-stations and way-stations between. They have been living
there for nearly 20 years since the first “Spacer Age” launch from Shanter
Island in late 2028, and space outside of the Earth’s atmosphere is what they
know. Unfortunately, living in outer-space is not for the meek or stupid. A
small mistake and you can kill yourself or an entire colony. In response, the
colonies treat negligence very harshly; either “Space up” or “Space out”; i.e.;
be ejected into the vacuum of Space.
Many transport craft fly between Earth and the other
locations to carry tourists, religious neophyte colonists, and ambassadors.
There are also lots of supplies being shipped outbound and rare ores being
shipped inbound. Somebody has pilot those craft in person just in case the
onboard supercomputer gets compromised. Those are the most frequently
encountered Spacers; the ones living between multiple worlds.
OTHER FACTORS
There’s also elements
of society that are growing features of every society, be it wealthy or poor,
first-world or developing nations.
Unemployment
Nearly every modern society after the Reconstruction Period
actively pursues an agenda of 100% employment and encourages strongly every one
of their citizens is plying a trade or skill even if in the most rudimentary of
ways. Simple non-skilled jobs include picking up trash, cleaning bath and
toilet areas, or washing streets. In those such jobs, the unskilled laborer
will often compete with specialized robots.
Within many cultures there are subcultures, such as
aboriginal communities and barter communes which are adamantly against
modernization. Here the unemployment rate is very high but all of the members
trade favors, barter goods such as chickens or hand-crafted clothing or
furniture, or trade a variety of personal or technical services. These citizens
have per-capita incomes at or below the poverty line and require governmental
assistance.
Assistance is provided for shelter, education, clothing,
medical benefits, and daily meals prepared and delivered by drone or courier to
a community center. Most governments have “boot-out” laws which force
able-bodied individuals to participate in the general economy at some level
within 5 years of enrollment. However, there are many individuals which refuse
and escape the system, effectively becoming “homeless” or “vagrant”.
Post Calamity
As a result of the Six Day War, many political power
structures became inverted or destroyed. Governments fell into disarray, and
societies tumbled briefly into barbarism. Amidst all of this, new structures
were formed, usually for the best of the people around them. Not all nations
were afforded this renewal to contribute to civilization in a positive manner.
Many nations, even with the guidance of science, religion, and the
intelligentsia, become highly authoritarian.
With the advent of the automation, artificial intelligence,
robots, Formians, Uniquea, and other “future shock” elements; people started to
turn inwards and focus on media consumption and themselves. This lay open
multiple paths for populist agendas to “right the wrongs”, to “bring back civilization”,
and “fix what is broken”.
Oppression
Though technology is very advanced by 2044, it is not always
used for the benefit of others. Religious and ideological societies do exist
which are dictatorships and kleptocracies; all regulate the use of information
and the technology to access that information in order to keep strict order on
their populations. For every service network which could be available, these
governments may have three which provide counter services.
The ideal arrangement is to not directly oppress a
population through visible punctuated violence; it is to encourage the
population to accept “double-think” and authoritarian explanations as truth.
The resultant behavior of the population, across generations, will be for them
enforce the governments oppressive laws among themselves. Many such societies
exist like this within the WPC; every one use technologies to filter or adjust
the information its population accesses to sway their thinking into “alternate
facts” and “righteous thoughts”. Exceptional Adherents which demonstrate this
sort of thinking easily become promoted to leadership positions.
Fascism
Every person comes to a turning point in their lives and
when opportunity arises to make the world better for themselves, or better for
others; the fascist selects for themselves. The word “fascist” comes from the
Italian word for “bundle-of-sticks” where a single stick is easy to break with
one’s hands, but a bundle-of-sticks is much harder to break. Unity in numbers
is strength. However, the fascist seeks to enforce unity under
authoritarian rule; the others must
pursue the fascist’s ideals or they are punished (i.e.; tortured) or made to
perish (i.e.; murdered). No creed is
able to escape the appeal of the fascist; it is a very popular thought to have
people be united under one ideal ... whomever’s ideal that may be as long as it
affords them shelter. Eventually the fascist comes for all supporters, to take
them away, forever.
In SH44SER, with great power comes great responsibility denied; the authoritarians are friends
with the amazingly wealthy, the ornately beautiful, and the incredibly
powerful. Entire societies have been poisoned by the siren call of fascism, and
all members with chagrin, follow their appointed leaders into war and into
slavery.
Villains and Vigilantism
The effect of everything up to this point has encouraged
many nations to either foster, support, regulate, or turn a blind eye to the
rise of self-proclaimed movers and shakers. The majority are combat veterans or
per se “business entrepreneurs” willing to make the most of the brave new world
where science is being turned on its head and unpredictable energies and forces
unimaginable are becoming the way of the future.
With every criminally-minded “villain” employing new and
strange tools, weapons, and technology for their own selfish and often
nefarious goals; there seems to be at least one vigilante “hero” who aims to
foil and break apart any attempts to make society become worse.
Within each of those classifications, there are those
individuals which have either trained their entire lives to become deadly
warriors, or with fantastic resources and equipment at their disposal, and
those affected by supernatural powers from who knows where. Unlike the rest of
civilization with its “normal” humans, these “meta-humans” seem to excel at
nearly everything they do and in death-defying ways.
Formian Adventurers
Most Formians desire to be among themselves within their
domed enclaves, only leaving to visit other enclaves across the world. Many
Formians work as researchers and will travel about with bodyguards and a
medical staff, but always try to limit visits to within a day or two. Formian
Aberrants, deformed and hunted, actually hide among the human population often
underground.
Exploitation & Slavery
A side-effect of world-wide automation combined with the
rapid re-industrialization of the world economy after the Six Day War is that
human-labor is highly valued. Upon demand and with enough money, nearly
anything consumer good can be crafted or prepared on-demand. With the right
recipes, schematics, or code-bases available for download and access; any
number of unique combinations can be generated. This includes weapons,
clothing, vehicles, houses, and foods. It also includes the fabrication of
automatons which can serve as abiding gardeners, teachers, mentors, friends,
children, and seedier stuff like “pleasure bots”.
However, this does not satisfy those with wealth or power.
Hand-crafted products are highly valued after the Six Day War. Antiques from
prior to the War are even more valued. The greatest value though comes from
“Kept Labor”; humans which have either volunteered to be slaves of a
“house, or humans which have been captured
in war, stolen from their homes, or bred as chattle and then trained. Be it
trained as artisans, as wait-staff in a manor, or as bodyguards; it is slavery
regardless of how the accounting is performed.
In WPC Hostile nations, the majority are free, but a large
number are enslaved. In WPC Enemy nations, the majority of the citizens are
enslaved with very few free. This is nearly reminiscent of ancient Sparta where
out of 10 persons, 9 were slaves or second-class citizens.
Even within the NWCN, a member nation such as Inguria will
have more than a handful of slaves unknown to the remainder of the public,
hidden in a millionaire’s or billionaire’s estate. And some small portion of
these are willing volunteers; indebted by honor or some sense of duty, not
fully aware of the harsh mistake they’ve made.
PERSPECTIVES
CRIME & POLITICS
The focus of SH44SER is not supposed to be about police
procedurals, or political drama, but it does attempt to provide a model for the
dynamic between heroes and villains. In most sessions, the key villain will be an
NPC controlled by the Referee. In some games, the Referee could allow that a
villain or villain organization generates most of the crime encountered. Evidence gathering, Forensics; these are
meant to determine the scale of the crime. Notes should be kept as reference,
but actual forensic procedure is not necessary to play this game.
Crimes are meant to be interconnected and are supposed to
eventually lead to an Epic Nemesis. The Referee should think of crimes as
having motivations tied to an overarching goal, with many incidental crimes
along the way. The overarching goal could be related to acquiring technology,
kidnapping scientists, money; etc with the purpose to build or fund an even
bigger weapon, more powerful technology, etc.
DEADLY COMBAT
As fantastic as the idea of super-powered crimefighters and
criminals may be, the key idea regarding combat in SH44SER is that it is
exacting and deadly. Some effort has been placed to mimic the 1977 version of
the rules in which a well-placed bullet or laser-beam shot can cripple a
character and put them “out of the action”. It is unlikely that a bare-fisted
street-level hero known for fighting gangsters with “ninja-like” skills will be
able to punch and knock-out a “cosmic level” villain or receive one attack in
return and survive.
In the world on 2044, the good-guys and the bad-guys
recognize this and plan accordingly. Some will hide and send “minions” into
battle for them. Others will “tank up” and wear heavy armor and carry
explosives to neutralize dozens of opponents at a time. Many will just talk
aggressively but act disinterested in hand-to-hand fighting. For the most part,
combatants will take time and analyze the opponent’s weaknesses and attempt to
exploit that. Often, for the villains,
winning a confrontation requires cheating and dirty fighting tricks.
There are a few crazy, selfless, courageous souls that will stride into combat
anyhow and do things for honor, for ideals, and for the safety of others, damn
themselves.
Those are the superheroes.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY[4]
“We stand upon the
shoulders of giants.”
Within SH44SER, technology is something which is
accomplished through research, trial, and error. Much like the airplane or
motorcar, there will likely be more than one inventor which comes up with the
new idea. Usually the first implementation of any new technology is
inefficient, substandard, or even risky to use. Brazen scientists and
engineers, or those of brazen research facilities, will risk the lives of
others (“volunteers”) and collect data for improvement. Eventually there will
be espionage; competitors that want the new technology will steal it, or that
already have an equivalent but want to remove any challengers. There might even
be betrayal, a lead scientist or engineer will take the credit and glory from
another or an entire group of inventors, for themselves. Ultimately, should the
technology be beneficial to large number of willful and able people, it will
become widespread in its use.
All of these concepts are the basis for how the world of
2044 is shaped by the crazy reality-breaking science; things are invented,
ideas are stolen, technology is spread, people die, society changes, rinse and
repeat. As a result, last year’s amazing science-breaking discovery may become
next year’s old thing. Science moves on, and future accomplishments are derived
from the successes and failures of old accomplishments.
HOPE
The Referee should try to weave into the stories of SH44SER
the concepts of heroism against the odds, courage conquering fear, sacrifice
for the well-being of others, faith erasing doubt, and aspirations for hope.
The psyche of mankind is being shattered on a daily basis.
The old, the children, and the powerless are all looking for signs, to hope
that things will get better and to erase their fears. Religion is a comfort,
but so are “icons”; people willing to stand out and make a change for the
safety of others and preservation of life, especially sentient life.
[1]
Presume that CRISPR and
other technologies for gene-editing are available but limited in effectiveness
as a result of the rampant mutations of all life-forms upon the earth.
[2]
Information regarding
the Six Day War is scarce, but I got more information from Donald Saxman’s
interview here; http://thoulsparadise.blogspot.com/2013/05/interview-with-donald-saxman.html
[3]
This section was written before the Information
Age, and had “newspaper” in place of “newsfeed”. Originally the rules suggested
that a “newspaper” is created for each of the major platforms. The 2019
equivalent, if time and skills are available, would be to build a Web site with
information. Maybe using something like https://www.blogger.com/. Really savvy
Referees and players could instead make something like a social media feed such
as a twitter, Atom, or RSS feeds. See https://twitter.com/
By
making a list of headlines and perhaps short excerpts from the various papers
and distributing them at game-sessions it is possible to maintain a unified
game. Newsworthy items may include any suits against superheroes, any duels,
deaths, or injuries of heroes. Awards may be given and contests held. In
effect, it could become an archive like
GDW’s Traveller RICE paper entries as shown here; https://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/rice/index.html
The
newspapers are also a good place to introduce villains and other non-players
characters. The papers allow the Referee to keep all the players up
to date on crime and crime fighters in Inguria. Taking one event and slanting
it for the various papers can be amusing and instructive. The papers also
contain want ads and personals which allow a superhero to communicate with, or
arrange meetings with, other heroes, assistants, etc.: technical services or
information may be offered for sale.
Remember that since the papers
are public, criminals, reporters, and superhero groupies may answer the ads.
[4]
See “Future Shock” by
Alvin and Heidi Toffler at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock
