rigney@uokvax.UUCP (11/03/83)
#N:uokvax:2400013:000:4549
uokvax!rigney Nov 1 13:10:00 1983
A little background before getting into the campaign news.
I'm a Marvel fan, so my Champions campaign is slanted that way.
One of the central themes is the persecution and distrust of
mutants. The anti-mutant organization GENOCIDE is in full
operation, and about half the known mutants in the campaign have
been "neutralized" (lovely euphemism, that). The remaining
mutants have mostly banded into groups for self-protection; some
of these take more active measures than others to change
humanity's perception of the mutant menace. As a quick rundown,
both PSI and GENOCIDE use mutants to hunt mutants, their main
opponents are TRIAD and the NU MEN.
Another powerful group is the Brotherhood of Mutants (why
advertise the 'evil?' Let 'em guess!), led by Dark Mistress,
with Pattern and Shifter as members. Panda and Raccoon were
members but were captured by Genocide. Darkflash was a member
but defected to the Nu Men after blowing an assignment.
A NEW DAY FOR NEW YORK
Campaign time is late August, 1982, and the New York
Governor's Race is hot underway. A very big issue is Superhero
Registration. Proponents claim that it will allow Supervillians
to be controlled, and if the authorities are faced with some
crime beyond their ability to cope with, they'll know how to
contact some Heroes to help, instead of the current hap-hazard
method with a few groups willing to help but not always
available, and solo heroes hearing something over the radio or
just happening to swing by at the right time.
Opponents claim that superhero registration will be at best
useless and at worst dangerous to the superheroes, since villians
could gain access to the records. As Shadowcat, a member of
Quadros, put it, "If you don't register the Heroes then the
current state of chaos continues and villians won't have to worry
as much about Heroes interfering. If you do register, we'll
obtain the records and again not have to worry about those
Heroes. Either way, Quadros comes out ahead."
The Republican candidate (some fascist whose name escapes me
- NOT the real-world one) is all for registration and regulation
of heroes. The Democratic candidate is against it. Linda Day
believes that people still have rights regardless of their
abilities, and that the government has no right to register
heroes involuntarily. There are a number of other issues typical
of a governor's race, but registration is the major concern of
the players. Some, such as the Crusaders, have already
registered unofficially. Others, such as Triad, would never
allow themselves to be tied down that way.
Day has the kind of charisma that comes once in a
generation, able to sway vast audiences with a few words. Her
detractors say it's the kind of crowd control Hitler had . . .
Two weeks before the primaries an unknown assailant tried to
kill Day, and came very close. She's spending the rest of the
campaign in a wheelchair, if not the rest of her life. However
long that may be, since several other assassination attempts have
been made since. All have been foiled by her trusty aides. The
Polls are very close, it's a match between massive spending by
her opponents and her own ability to incite the masses (well,
plus massive spending by her side, too). Some observers are
already saying Day is a natural for the presidency in '88.
- Spoiler Warning -
Ok, how many readers have guessed that Day is really Dark
Mistress? And that the governorship is indeed the first step on
the path to the Presidency, and control of America?
The players know this, but their characters don't. Shifter
doesn't really know what kind of organization she's a member of.
The players are sure that Day's using Mind Control or something
on the crowds, and that the assassination attempts were fakes to
gain popular support. Both accusations are false, but their
characters have no idea of Day's dual identity, and can't take
action anyway. The players are also sure I'm going to rig the
elections to let Dark Mistress win, but they're wrong there too.
I will admit that Dark Mistress has briefly thought of
having her opponent killed, but she won't do it.
Or will she? Stay tuned for same bat.time, same bat.station.
Carl
..!ctvax!uokvax!rigney
..!duke!uok!uokvax!rigney