Super Heroes in Space!
Humanity has evolved.
It was around the early twenty-second century that reports began of unusual abilities that manifested in children around the ages of eleven to eighteen--spontaneous propulsion, excessive heat and energy generation, metamorphic capabilities--the list went on. Mankind went through the requisite growing pains as it got used to the idea that there were those among them that were different. There were wars fought and protests made, peaceful and otherwise. As time went on, however, those with abilities became more widespread, and eventually about a third of Earth's population claimed some kind of ability.
Then came the aliens. It's unsure how we caught their attention. Some say it was through a shared network of energy that some scientists were willing to jump through an astonishing number of logic hoops not to call 'magic'. Others say they were always watching, waiting for us to be some vague notion of 'ready'.
Whatever the reason was for their sudden interest, they saw humanity as fractured, caught up in conflict, and, most importantly, ripe for conquest. The Prak began plans for what was supposed to be a surprise invasion, but in a mission that would go down forever as one of the pivotal battles in Human history, a group of intrepid super heroes intercepted the Prak communications and organized a massive resistance force.
Humanity's resourcefulness caught the Prak by surprise. They underestimated our ability to galvanize under a common threat, and so as their invasion progressed, they were met with the might of a truly united people of Earth.
A scarce ten years after the Prak were successfully repelled, the United Nations were contacted by a people that called themselves the Aedehx. They claimed to be representatives of their government, and were interested in establishing trade and diplomatic relations. The people of Earth had been rendered somewhat xenophobic after the war with the Prak, so the initial talks went poorly.
Barely had the talks begun, however, when the Prak returned, this time with a force twenty times the size of the initial invasion fleet. Their intent was clear: total annihilation of the human race.
It was only through the Aedehx's intervention that humanity survived the second onslaught. They had been at war with the Prak for decades; and even in conflict among the stars, the human adage held true: the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
The Aedehx found in humanity a powerful ally; few species have the resourcefulness, flexibility, and dogged determination of a human. Under Aedehx guidance, we soon learned the secrets of faster-than-light travel and became adept at the space wars the others had been fighting for centuries. We joined our number to the Interstellar Alliance, and with our new allies from countless worlds, we held the enemy at bay.
Decades passed. It is now the year 2468. With the Prak neutralized for the time being, and our survival as a species all but assured, humanity has taken the initiative to what we have always been driven to do.
We've set out to explore.
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This is a fun, maybe even a little bit campy, sci-fi story in the spirit of the classics like Star Trek, Stargate SG-1, etcetera. We may end up exploring some darker themes, but overall it's meant to embrace the same level of optimism as those kinds of stories. Think something along the lines of a low-powered Justice League running a ship like the Enterprise.
We'll be using Mutants & Masterminds Second Edition for the dice rolling, but mostly it's going to be a fun space romp. You'll start at Power Level 8, 120pp. If you want to be human, go nuts with your 'quirks' or super powers you might have; if you want to be alien, get creative with the species! Feel free to give me a detailed history of your people.
You'll board the USS Harbinger on an extended mission into uncharted territory with the intent to find new life and unexplored planets--but be prepared! You may find old enemies along the way. And of course, there is the the ever-present Void--a dimension separate from ours that hold the secret to esoteric magics and FTL travel. And maybe some powerful and enigmatic creatures as well.
This message was last edited by the user at 03:02, Fri 01 Dec 2017.
