Omega124
Challenging Fate
Oh, how a century can make a difference in the outlook of humanity. On January 30th, 1933, the recently sworn in Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler, marked the climax of the fears and desperation of the Great Depression. The world would soon be plunged into the largest industrial conflict in human history, along with experiencing one of the most horrifying genocides ever. Even once Hitler was deposed, the Earth stood still as the threat of nuclear armageddon punctuated the eternal conflict of the two most powerful empires to ever stand.
Yet, now, exactly 100 years later, humanity is on its brightest moment yet. Despite major conflicts in the late 2010s and early 2020s, science has multiplied exponentially with the discovery of Siberium in 2021. This purple crystal's innate properties, especially its strong magnetic field and the ability to ionize dramatically under extreme heat and pressure, led to a bull market of new innovations. Never before since the Industrial Revolution has humanity developed as quickly as it has now, and the idealistic view of the 1990s have returned to most of the developed world.
Getting there, however, was not easy. The first major development of the modern age was in 2014, when the People's Republic of China, once considered the rising superpower, suffered a sudden and dramatic economic crash far greater than the United State's crash in 2007. The once-massive Chinese economy withered away as the environmental costs and, more importantly, the cost of the Chinese will, became too much for the developing nation. As the CPC fought desperately to keep their totalitarian power in line by brutally suppressing dissent of the masses. Internal division within the party itself, however. led to the formation of the Mao's Legacy Party, a neo-Maoist party that rejected the state capitalism that developed following the death of their namesake idol.
Thusly, in 2015 the Second Chinese Civil War started between the CPC and the MLP. Lasting for three years, the political tensions in Asia, once kept in check by Pax Sinicia, exploded. Japan quickly solidified its control of the Senkaku Islands, and both Tibet and Hong Kong quickly declared independence as soon as fighting started (and still are independent in 2033). However, the most significant event came in 2017, where an allyless North Korea soon found itself invaded by South Korea, supported by the increasingly-focused-on-the-Pacific USA. In a short six months, the North Korean government was deposed, and South Korea became Korea.
In 2018, the MLP reigned supreme, and took control of the now-fractured China. With the nation in ruins, the dream of a Chinese century was destroyed. The new regime became quickly isolationist and focused on rebuilding China. Dubbed "The Sleeping Dragon", the now truly communist China may soon rise in the near future, but for now has yet to do much on the international scale. However, the victory of the MLP was quickly overshadowed by even bigger news; the United Kingdom left the European Union entirely.
The voluntary withdrawal of the United Kingdom surprisingly led to an increase, not a decrease, of the EU's power as the main opponent to centralization left. Denmark soon adopted the Euro forcefully, and Iceland's accession into the EU in 2020 led to aggressive claiming of a joint EU claim into the North Sea's oil, to the protests of the UK and Norway. Finally, the foundations of a unified European Army was set in 2021, only a few months before the discovery of Siberium.
Siberium was discovered by a land surveying team in June of 2021, who noted its odd chemical properties. As stated above, it is extremely magnetic, and while its first ionization energy is normal, its second and higher ionization energy is dramatically lower than it should be. Siberium is also hypothesized to be radioactive, although its half life is currently unknown. These three properties allow it to be an amazing source of fuel of lots of technology, perhaps the second most dramatic being the first practical laser rifle, the AK-27, in 2027.
However, the Siberium Revolution, as it is now known, would be marked by the first most dramatic revelation in 2024. Russia, now rising behind only America in terms of technological development, also became rich selling the element. Siberium to this day has only been found in Russia, making it one of the most important nations. One result of this new found power was Russia trying to reclaim lost land. In late 2022, a crisis happened in Belarus, which by then became an outright presidential dictatorship controlled by Moscow, as protesters flocked the streets to demand democracy and to join a proposed union of Poland. When peaceful protests turned into outright insurrection after demonstrators were massacred in Minsk, the Belarus government invited the Russian Army to intervene, in which they did.
The EU activated the newly formed European Army for the first time and also sent a peacekeeping force into Belarus in early 2023. However, they were there not to support the government, but in fact came to support the rebels. As the Europeans moved it, one overzealous Italian commander, mistakenly took a Russian outpost as Belorussian, and attacked it. Russia, seeing as the intervention force attacked them directly, declared war on the European Union and its member states.
NATO, of course, would obligate that all its members would join in to protect its members. Namely, Canada and America were supposed to be obligated to join the war. However, still remembering the harsh realities of the recently ended Afghanistan conflict, along with Iraq and Vietnam, there was no willingness from the American public to go to war. Despite the best efforts by politicians to get their constituents on the war path, the public would not budge. Fearing riots if the war was to happen, America backed out of their treaty obligations; Canada followed suit.
This betrayal permanently hurt America's relations in Europe, but at first seemed to not seriously effect the war effort. The European Army managed to push forward in the first few months of the conflict, managing to get in Russia itself. In late spring of 2024, however, Russia pulled out its secret weapon. Despite being a warm, clear day, as the Europeans approached the city of Yaroslavl, within Russian territory. As they came dangerously close to the city, a massive blizzard randomly blew in, catching the European army off guard. Then, the Russians, in winter clothes, descended on the shivering Europeans, slaughtering them. Leading the Russian assault was a masked woman in a white and light blue costume, who, by a testimony of a European soldier, "attacked us by creating icicles and using the cold and ice against us".
The war quickly shifted to the Russian's favor after that. There were reports of this woman, dubbed "the Snow Queen", leading Russian troops in battle in Latvia, Belarus, and invaded Ukraine, although no battle had the dramatic blizzard as in Yaroslavl. When Russia threatened to reach Poland and Estonia, the EU and Russia reached a peace agreement. With the exception of Estonia, which managed to remain Russian-free the entire way, the European Union would accept Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe. Ukraine and Belarus were outright annexed by the victorious Russian Federation, which demonstrated strength that even America did not have. With some way found to weaponize Siberium, Russia had once again become a superpower.
Three years later, with the threat of an angry Russia and the failures of the "Siberium War" blamed on the division of Europe against the unified front of Russia, in 2027 the European Parliament passed the founding of the European United Republic, commonly known as EUR. With the exception of the UK, Switzerland, Norway, the Vatican, and the Balkans except for Greece (Bulgaria and Romania are still independent, and the rest of the Balkans sans Greece have been annexed by Serbia, reforming Yugoslavia), and the land that Russia annexed (Belarus, Ukraine, and the Baltics except for Estonia), the EUR controlled all of Europe.
The year is now 2033, peace has returned to the Earth. Russia is cemented as the main superpower of this century. However, Russia is currently embroiled in a war in Kazakhstan, hoping to reannex them like they did to its European territories. Following them is the EUR, which has grown more powerful since true unification, and serves as the new main foe of Russia. Across the Atlantic, the United States is decaying; the decadence the nation accumulated since the end of the Cold War has hit them hard in the last two decades. Whether or not America remains relevant in terms of a superpower remains to be seen. In fourth places lies lonely China, humbled since its position as second in the 2000s. Remaining as isolationist and communist as it was after the Second Civil War, it remains unseen what they will do on the international stage at this point.
Great Britain, however, is not in a great position. The European Republic even today desires British shares of the North Sea oil. Meanwhile, America, with most of its influence in Europe gone, looks at its special relationship with Britain as its last hope in maintaining any power there. To make matters only worse for John Bull, neither superpower wants to see the other succed to become friendly with London, and are willing to fight an almost proxy war in the shadows to remain on top.
However, not all is lost. Ever since the Siberium War, individuals similar to the Snow Queen have popped up within cities across America, Europe, and Russia. Using the new Siberium technology to empower themselves with abilities far beyond any human, they serve to protect the communities they are in from powerful, rouge criminals who also empowered themselves with the purple crystal. In the small city of Danelaw, situated only a few miles away north of London itself, there has been reports of sightings of the first super powered individuals in Britain. They, however, remain unconfirmed.
---
Hello and welcome to The New Age (TNA), the first ever AC to combine the popular Superhero AC with the world of Science Fiction. I'm your host, Omega, and hopefully we won't do as badly as my previous failures. Before I continue, I want to get some disclaimers out of the way. Because of the fact that there are superheroes running around, and also because I want my players to have fun making their characters, I will fully admit this is more on the fiction side of science fiction. My history even before Siberium introduced is a tad extreme to hammer this point home. So, please, if there is an issue of how the science works, relax and say the MST3K mantra.
Also, as always, I want to keep this AC serious. This is a superhero AC, so I do understand that some silliness is part of the genre. I am ok with this, and in fact welcome this. However, while theoretically if I could do something like the Nolanverse in terms of its seriousness, I would like to do that. However, I will keep my expectations in check and just demand Marvel Film Universe seriousness. So, if you're making a character and you're wondering if it may be too campy, just ask yourself if it would make sense in The Avengers. If so, you're most likely fine even without asking. If it would be too silly for that movie, ask anyways. The only thing I can do is say no.
As for future technology, just ask if what you want exists or not. I'm always looking for new ideas to develop the world, and by you asking questions such as that, I as a mod can better refine this universe, which is good for all parties. As of now, I can confirm laser weapon technology exists, and also levitation devices that use Siberium to levitate off the ground and move in the air. On the other hand, I can also confirm that, while our electronic media have much better graphics, full on VR like the holodecks in Star Trek do not exist at this point. Other than that, do ask.
Now, the character sheet!
Spoiler :
Now, for explanations!
Name: What is your character's name?
Alias: What is the name of your character's alter-ego as a superhero?
Sex: Are you a boy or girl?
Nationality: What country are you from? If you're from the European Republic, please specify sub-nationality
Appearance: What does your character look like, in terms of physical features and also what their costume looks like
Stats: As you can see, I deviated from the traditional stats used in ACs, and instead used the stats from Project Nexus. I liked those statbock the most because each stat was more clearly defined than they are in the standard AC statblock.
You start with 5 points in each stat, and 14 additional stat points to invest at your leisure. You can remove one of your starting 5 points in any one of your stats to raise another stat, but do not you can not go above 10 without feats.
STR: Strength. Is like STR from other games in that is measures how physically strong your character is. Increases damage of physical attacks
DEX: Dexterity. Measures how fast and agile your character is, plus melee dodge and to hit. Does NOT affect ranged combat in any way
TAC: Tactics. This is like Intelligence and Wisdom in that it measures how smart your character is. However, this stat is divorced from how smart your character is outside of the battlefield; a genius who doesn't know what he's doing in a fight would have low TAC, and an idiot who is a master of war would have high TAC. Also increases ranged damage rate
END: Endurance. Think of this really as a renamed Constitution. Reflects how well you can take damage and how much you can work your body without damaging it
LEA: Leadership. Much like TAC, Leadership is a reworked Charisma that is unrelated to how physically attractive your character is. LEA is only affected by your ability to bluff, charm, and intimidate other characters. An attractive character who fails at being convincing would have low LEA, and vice versa
AWR: Awareness. Represents how quick thinking your character is. Having Awareness effects ranged hit chance and both attack and defense of mental attacks
Level: Start at level 1. To get to Level 2, get 1000 XP. 3 requires 2000, 4 requires 3000, 5 requires 5000, etc, etc. Each level gives you +5 HP. Odd levels (excepting level 1) give you a new feat. Even give you one new stat point.
HP: Base HP is 10. Get 1 HP for ever 2 END points. Other sources of HP are listed where appropriate
XP: Your XP totals
Feat: You start with four feets, and gain one every other level starting at 3. A list of feats are below. Note a feat can only be taken once unless noted otherwise
Spoiler :
Bio: Your character's history. Do note that your own histories make my own world better. I only have a few set characters as of now, and your backstories will help me develop the characters I have and introduce new ones. As an added incentive, I promise 3 prequel solos for three players with completed bios. One will be selected by what I think is the best bio, one for what I think would lead to the most interesting solo, and then one the players vote for by whatever standards you guys have. If 1 and 2 end up being the same, I'll RNG one rather than just have 2 solos.
---
With that, I feel like I said all I can say about this. Have fun, and feel free to ask questions
