Distortions
Transient bubbles of altered space, these short lived fields of warped physical laws first began showing up in 1908. Originally considered some form of mass hallucination akin to UFOs, sightings gradually increased until they gained public acceptance over the decade. Anything caught within a bubble simply seems vanish until the bubble moves on or disintegrates, with no apparent time having passed. Anything that makes contact with one similarly vanish and reappear with no time passed. They are considered disconcerting but ultimately a harmless scientific curiosity.
The present day is the beginning of the year 2000. Distortions have increased in frequency in recent years. A troubling sign to many.
The Distorted/The Special
The first reliable reports of superhuman feats came in the 1980s, when a seemingly invulnerable criminal named Piotr ripped his way into a bank vault with his bare hands. Trusting to his inhuman durability, Piotr continued with a streak of increasingly brazen crimes until he learned the hard way that a T-72 was perfectly capable of penetrating his mysterious protection. All that could be proved upon dissection was that his abilities did not derive from any technological or biological origin. Since then, more and more of these unusual people have appeared in society, taking on masks to conceal their identities. Wildly variable in temperament and capabilities, legal systems had yet to catch up to their existence, resulting in a largely self policing problem worldwide. While the official term for them is the 'Distorted', more common terminology refers to them as 'Specials'.
Certain common traits have emerged with them:
-The Distorted are so named because they can enter Distortions without being shunted off to whatever holding dimension may be there, indicating a link between the two anomalies. They do not, however, possess any special protection against the environments inside a Distortion, much to the dismay of some who attempt to exploit a Distortion to their advantage.
-Distorted invariably awaken due to some great stress, real or imagined. Their abilities center around this trauma, granting them the ability to cope or survive it. Destructive testing indicates that an awakening takes several seconds to complete, thus being unable to respond to any instantly fatal stress, and that any potential appears to be intrinsic, either you can awaken, or no amount of torment inflicted would do it. These findings are far from conclusive, as the offending Thinker was quite thoroughly killed by his subjects in the course of an awakened escape.
-The younger the Distorted on awakening, the greater the power, and the lower the stress threshold. This is especially concerning when elementary schoolers are awakening to powers that are well beyond their maturity levels. And the bottom age keeps getting younger.
-The awakening takes some of the Distorted badly. Large scale deformities or erosion of their mental state may occur, with the risk rising the more powerful they are.
Distorted fall into the following classifications, which grant PL increases for powers(Rank is normally limited by PL). Any given Special has a dominant class, which is the only class which has a mechanical effect. In the case of Minions, Summons and other such subordinates, they are capped to their controller's PL and restricted to their controller's class.
Mover - Movement powers, whether flight, speed, or teleportation. Movement-type effects, as well as Quickness, Enhanced dexterity and Enhanced agility gain +4 PL.
Shaker - Reality alteration powers. Powers which affect an area, as well as the Create effect gain +4 PL.
Brute - The brick suite of strength, durability, recovery. Powers which grant enhanced strength, stamina as well as Defense powers gain +4 PL.
Breaker - Personal reality alteration. Personal range powers except Enhanced Traits, Sensory-type, and Morph powers gain +4 PL.
Master - The ability to control, enhance or create minions. Afflictions which inflict the Controlled status, Communication, Enhanced Presence, Will/Fortitude Resistable Illusions and Summon, as well as the Minion advantage gain +4 PL.
Tinker - The ability to devise technology beyond the grasp of the modern tech level. Tinkers gain a +2 PL to Device powers, Enhanced Technology, Enhanced Treatment and the Equipment advantage.
Blaster - Ranged abilities, generally comprising projected energy attacks of some form. Blasters gain a +4 PL to ranged and perception range powers.
Thinker - Mental augmentation and sensory powers, Thinkers are a diverse group. Enhanced Intellect, Awareness, Sensory-type powers any Enhanced skill, any ranked Advantages except Equipment and Minion again +4 PL.
Striker - Contact powers. Strikers gain +4 PL on powers with Close range, as well as Enhanced Fighting.
Changer - Shapeshifters, whether animal or inanimate based. Elongation, Enhanced Abilities, Extra Limbs, Feature, Growth, Morph and Shrinking gain +4 PL. Only Changers can have the Metamorph modifier, but it can only grant physical qualities of the new form.
Trump - Powers that affect other powers. Any power Limited to only work on powers or the effects of powers, as well as the Nullify power gain +4 PL. Only Trumps can have the Variable power at all, though it gains no PL increase.
Stranger - Stealth and subterfuge abilities. Any Affliction which only hinders the ability of the victim to remember or notice something, Concealment, Enhanced Stealth, Environment which imposes darkness or visibility, Illusion, Insubstantial, Nullify for sensory effects and Weaken Awareness gain +4 PL.
Shifter - Transmogrifiers which alter the nature of other things, often also Strikers or Breakers. Affliction, Damage, Transform and Weaken effects gain +4 PL.
Power levels and power points:
Specials of this generation tend to be more powerful the younger they are, but lack experience. This does not reflect the starting PL or PP of non-powered characters, who are typically PL 6 without special development and have wildly variable PP. NPCs with PL higher than normal for their age are either veterans of conflict or possess some mental and physical disability as a consequence of their powers.
8-12 years old - PP 120 PL 10
13-18 years old- PP 150 PL 8
19+ years old - PP 180 PL 6
Reputation:
The superhero and supervillain scene is all about being noticable. Attention seekers all, justice and lucre are both secondary to being noticed in the end.
Fame: The Fame score is simply a metric of general notability. Decaying over time as people slip out of public attention, Fame decreases at a rate of 5 points per month. Simply being out and about nets a Special a point of Fame per month, and having activity noted in the news is worth a point. Headline news is worth 5 points. Being in the news for multiple days running adds 1 point for each day after the first.
It takes at least 20 points to be recognized by reputation in a district, with every 10 points after adding an additional district. Fame makes it easier to accrue more fame, with both challenges and opportunities rising as it increases. Most Specials who make it to 50 points recieve at least one invitation to a supergroup.
Righteousness/Infamy: Two independent metrics with similar functions, the scores here influence how you are received in different circumstances. Both scores are threshold based, they don't generally decay.
Righteousness accrues from helping people and is primarily influenced by the personal risk involved. High Righteousness makes people consider you more honorable, and trustworthy, even if they are on different sides of the law. The legal system is more likely to give a slap on the wrist than lock you away. More resources open up as well, as various backers find you to be suitable beneficiaries, allowing for unofficial access to records and facilities.
Infamy in turn accrues from criminal acts, and is influenced by severity and magnitude of the act. Each offense compounds with others of the same type, petty theft is 0 Infamy, but repeated theft goes up to 1 Infamy and serial theft can hit 2. Property crimes rarely exceed 10 Infamy, even for serial offenders, but violent crimes(discounting the usual brawling between Specials) start at 7 for assault and goes up to 20 for mass murder. Infamy provokes fear, and increases the intensity of hero responses, someone at 20+ Infamy is quite likely to provoke a cross factional response, if only out of self preservation. On the other hand, a wider range of criminal activity opens up for the infamous, assassinations, terrorism, etc.
Vigilantes and antiheroes balance Righteousness and Infamy, allowing them to get away with much more than they might otherwise. High Fame amplifies the benefits and diminishes the drawbacks of both secondary reputations. More resources open up as people become aware of the Righteous, while on the other side, sheer reputation dissuades direct action against the Infamous.
Allegiance: Where a given Special falls, legally speaking.
Law Enforcement - Employed by the government or security as auxillary personnel. Fully legal and on payroll, while their employer takes responsibility for any resulting damage. Civilian identities are known to the government and not that hard to breach with some persistence. Justice Bringer falls under this category, though the underaged members of the Trident are militia.
Militia - Registered heroes. Powers and Special identity are recorded, and they are personally responsible for damages unless acting under law enforcement authority. Minors are not required to reveal civilian identity. Commercially employed Specials are required to register as well.
Vigilante/Reactionary - Unregistered specials. Their usage of special powers is technically illegal outside of home or self defense, but registered heroes tend to look the other way unless they cross the line too often. Regular law enforcement don't show similar respect.
Criminal - Powered criminals. Given the sheer number of minors involved, common policy is to attempt capture, and charge them under their masked identity. Low impact criminals are often given street justice by heroes and allowed to flee after a good thrashing.
Fiend - Powered psychotics. Often psychotic to begin with, or driven mad by their triggers, Fiends are too much a danger to public safety and difficult to contain, with dead or alive bounties issued. Anyone can kill a Fiend legally, though it'd be pretty stupid to try and claim the bounty unless the killer is a registered hero. As registered heroes aren't in the habit of killing, they usually wind up capturing Fiends, who then escape in short order until they cross the wrong villain.
