A Powergame adventure by Ori Folger .
Powergame is the creation and property of Mikko Kauppinen and is available from
http://www.uta.fi/~trmika/gameindex.html. The Powergame is Copyright © 1994-1997 by Mikko KauppinenIntroduction
Two years ago, energies released by a strange meteor brought mankind to the next evolutionary step, blessing normal men and women with amazing superhuman powers. In response to the threat of new superpowered criminals bent on world domination, the United Nations has formed the UN Squadron for Special Affairs and Super-Powered Beings, the PowerForce.
But the PowerForce was not the only organization of superpowered humans working towards a common goal. The Omega Society, a secret group of highly powerful individuals, is working towards world domination.
The Omega Society is financed in secret by Weltreich Inc., the world's third larget megacorporation. The Society is infamous for its acts of ruthless destruction and theft, even of mass murder. Each of its six members has in one time or another terrified the public personally. It is without a doubt that the Omega Society is the greatest threat to world peace.
The Omega Society, and Weltreich Inc., have been creating a series of apparently natural disasters around the world. In Southeastern China, the American Midwest, Northern Europe and Central Africa there are floods, draughts and hurricanes. In the Middle East and in several central Asian countries there are armed conflicts erupting, most as a direct result of operations by Weltreich Inc. secret agents. All this has been taking the attention of PowerForce, dealing with conflict after conflict, abandoning their pursuit of the Omega Society.
Tomorrow, the 6
The members of the Omega Society are celebrating the placing in orbit of the G.L.O.B.E. – Global Leadership Orbiting Blaster and Encoder. They are at the Weltreich Building, at the center of Manhattan.
This satellite can send electromagnetic energy to the Earth. The manner of this transmission ranges from delivering electromagnetic energy in a highly concentrated and raw form to specific locations on the face of the Earth, known as Blasting, to the dispersement of specific patterns into existing electromagnetic waves across the planet, known as Encoding.
It is expected that by this device world domination by the Omega Society will be achieved. World domination is at your grasp, will you take it?
Another important point is that unlike superhero teams, supervillain teams are prone to inner fighting. This is common and should be expected by the game master. Only try to discourage it if the infighting takes over the entire session and the players forget to attempt taking over the world.
What do you do if the players' plot succeeds? You can either let the players describe how they ruthlessly subjugate the populace of the world to their will, or end the game at this point. Letting the players go on a power trip can be a good reward to a well designed and executed plot, but it can also be boring and embarrassing.
Valkyrie (Dr. Valerie Hersher), An Omega Society Member
Superpowers: Booster Boots 6, Superior Shield Generator 3, Lightning Spear 4
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Family Name, Wealth, Remarkable Wits,
Skills: Physics, Martial Arts (Ninjitsu). Familiar with New York City area. Speaks English, German, Swedish and Japanese fluently.
Equipment: A winged helmet, the Booster Boots (golden boots), the Superior Shield Generator (a small round disc strapped to the right fore arm) and the Lightning Spear, a 1.5 meter long metal stick held in the left hand.
Appearance: Tall woman in her late twenties, long platinum hair usually worn in a tight bun, ice blue eyes. Wears a business suit or a lab coat, depending on the occasion. Her Valkyrie outfit is a white spandex leotard with gold trimmings and most of her equipment.
Personality: Cold and ruthless, nicknamed the ice maiden in college. Totally dedicated to her work, considering anyone not up to her intellect and power as important as a door knob. She takes great pride in the power and posessions of the Hersher family. She is also left-handed.
Background: Valerie Hersher is the daughter of Victor Hersher, owner of Weltreich Inc., the world's third wealthiest man. Struggling to prove herself to her demanding father, she excelled at her studies since an early age and now, at the age of 28, is recognized as one of the world's leading physicists.
Ms. Hersher is now employed by Weltreich Inc. as Chief Scientist. Her recent work is in Project Asgard, applying the latest technology in physics to personal human levels, resulting in the Valkyrie suit, her unique power suit, enabling flight, force field all around protection and the ultra powerful electric charge delivering stick, the Lightning Spear.
Her previous attempts as part of Project Asgard resulted in the power suit Victor Hersher, a cripple, uses. This power suit provides the powers of Victor Hersher's villainous identity, The Ruler.
As Victor Hersher's most trusted accomplice, she has been aiding her father in realizing his plans of world domination and is a founding member of the Omega Society, a group of superpowerful individuals working together towards world domination under the guidance of The Ruler.
Valerie also took care of Claws, a cat-like creature who following Valerie's and Victor's training also joined the Omega Society.
She lives in Manhattan.
Superpowers: Amplified Protection, Amplified Strength
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Extremely Wealthy, Enemy: Quantum, Contacts in Finances and Government, Crippled
Skills: Business, Finance, Firearms. Speaks English, German, Japanese and Spanish.
Equipment: Power Suit, a dark red, elastic suit covering the entire body, with a black simply shaped helmet. The face is covered by a black metallic shroud. The suit is equipped with a communications device. The suit comes equipped with powerful hand lasers (Power Level 4).
Appearance: Without his power suit, Victor Hersher is in a wheelchair. He is muscular, but his face shows his age of 56. He is taller than the average man. He is bald and clean shaved. His eyes are blue and cold.
Personality: Victor Hersher is a self-made man who trusts noone, not even those who are closest to him. He is hateful of weakness, and highly egotistical.
Background: Born during World War 2, in Germany. His parents died when he was a child, his father on the battle field and his mother the victim of an Allied Forces bombarment. He grew up on the streets of Dresden and made a name for himself in the European criminal underworld. Fleeing justice, he came to the United States and established Weltreich Inc. with his ill-gotten fortune. His ruthless character and sense of discipline soon made him rich and powerful, and excursions as The Ruler, wearing the prototype power suit developed by his daughter Valerie, supplied his need for a more personal ruthlessness. This happy course of life was terminated by Quantum, the first UN sanctioned superhero, who crippled The Ruler and left him to die. Victor was taken in by Valerie who improved the power suit. The power suit removes the disability, and so Victor spends a lot more time as The Ruler. This attack by the UN on his person made him a lot more malevolent and hateful at the whole world and led to the forming of the Omega Society, a group of powerful individuals bent on world domination.
Victor Hersher lives in Manhattan with Claws, a cat-like creature who under the guidance and training of Victor and Valerie joined the Omega Society.
Superpowers: Amplified Agility, Amplified Speed, Cat Senses 3, Claws 2
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Looks like a humanoid cat, Wealthy, Cat-like Mind, Enemies: Prism, Synapse
Skills: Martial Arts (Ninjitsu), Sneaking, Climbing, Speaks English (with difficulty).
Equipment: Communications device in collar (can reach The Ruler)
Appearance: 1.6m tall girl, covered in short reddish fur from tip to toe and equipped with a tail. Her eyes are brown, but shine redly in the dark. She moves like a cat.
Personality: Cat-like. She is vicious, cruel and ruthless, but cuddly and in need of warmth. She is infatuated with Valerie and Victor Hersher, her family.
Background: The origins of the cat-like creature known as Claws are shrouded in mystery. It is only known that three years ago the terror began sneaking around New York City, leaving behind the bodies of its victims: men, women and children. She was captured and wounded by Prism and Synapse of Powerforce (a superhero group based in New York City). Weltreich Inc. bought the creature, reportedly for genetic research purposes, and Victor and Valerie Hersher personally treated Claws, trained her and taught her. She now lives with Victor Hersher, The Ruler, and is a member of his supervillain group, the Omega Society.
Superpowers: Telepathy 4, Telekinesis 4, Amplified Psyche.
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Doesn't sleep, agile, witty.
Skills: Interplanetary Navigation, Martian Society, Familiar with advanced Earth technology, Speaks twelve different native Martian languages and English.
Equipment: Life Support Belt 2
Appearance: Tall, muscular man with a black mohawk hair cut, red eyes and light green skin. He wears a belt with his life support equipment and has tubes going from his nose to this belt. He dresses in tight fitting black suits issued by Weltreich Inc. .
Personality: The Martian hates humanity, feeling humiliated by being forced to live among such lower life forms. He also has a tendency for favoring team work and an orderly manner.
Background: Imvf'Vxwkd'Dwu-mo grew up on Mars, a poor native. He always found the rigid feudal society of the Martians not to his liking. He happened to be the first Martian to encounter the Weltreich Inc. sponsored manned mission to Mars. Using his telepathic abilities, he convinced the crew of the ship that the Martians are hostile and that the crew should take him with them back to Earth, which seemed to be an entire planet full of weak minded individuals. This impression was created due to the presence of Smash on the ship, a synthetic android with a weak mind. The Earth atmosphere is poisonous to Martian life, and the Martian was forced to strike a deal with Victor Hersher, The Ruler. In return for equipment enabling the Martian to survive, the Martian will join the Omega Society and aid The Ruler in his plans for world domination.
Recently, the Martian discovered that Smash does have free will and is not under the absolute control of The Ruler, and so far has kept this a secret.
Superpowers: Sorcery 5, Telepathy 2
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Sorcery Power Requires Chanting Spells (see below), Outlaw, Ill Famed Family Name, Witty, Heightened Psyche, Enemies : The PowerForce group
Skills: Far reaching knowledge of the occult, Familiar with New York City's criminal underworld, Speaks fluent Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew & English.
Equipment: Fillet of a fenny snake, Eye of newt, Toe of frog, Wool of bat, Tongue of dog, Adder's fork, Blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, Owlet's wing and other such materials usually carried by witchs and sorcerors. Mr. Cunningham goes around on a bike, a Yamaha.
Appearance: A man of an average build in his early thirties, brown haired and brown eyed, with a well-kept beard. His Dominus dress is black flowing robes, covered with arcane silver symbols.
Personality: Arthur Cunningham is good at holding grudges. He feels constantly underestimated by others, and lacking respect. He is smart and powerful, and makes sure everybody knows it. He not only wishes to overcome his enemies, but also to have them acknlowedge his superiority.
Background: Arthur Cunningham was born in Britain, the son of Lord Dudgen. During his teen years, his father was involved in several scandals related to satanic cults, and young Arthur was sent to study at Yale in America. There he found a wide variety of sources on the occult, and on his 18
Note on Spellcasting: To cast a spell, Dominus has to come up with an appropiate chant. This would be a very short poem that has to be spoken aloud to bring about the effects of the spell. The player has to speak this chant. The GM should reward the player for especially well worded chants, including rhyming or using an obscure language (given the GM knows that language too).
Superpowers: Amplified Speed, Amplified Agility, Amplified Strength
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Vulnerable To Electric Attacks, No Charisma, No Psyche
Skills: Modern Weaponry, Computer Programming, Martial Arts
Equipment: Smash dresses in Weltreich issued tight fitting black uniforms. He also carries a basic electronics repair kit.
Appearance: Muscular, dark skinned young man, with a metallic shine to his eyes.
Personality: Lacking empathy, Smash is not capable of pity or remorse. He also has difficulties predicting the actions of other people. He is loyal and proud of his capabilities.
Background: Smash was developed by the Weltreich Inc. as part of the corportation's space exploration program and was part of the first manned mission to Mars, where The Martian was discovered. Since its return to Earth it has proven its value to Victor Hersher (aka The Ruler), owner of Weltreich Inc. . A synthetic being, he is legally the property of Weltreich Inc. . However, it has been found to be useful to consider Smash a regular member of the crew, and he is generally accepted as a member of the Omega Society, the Weltreich Inc. sponsored group of supervillains looking to take over the world.
Unknown to The Ruler, Smash does have free will of his own and is not under the total control of The Ruler. What is Smash's attitude after all those years of risking his own life with no rewards in order to further the goals of various humans claiming to own him, none but Smash himself can tell.
Quantum (Major William Michael Power)
Superpowers: Atomic blast 6, Amplified Agility 3, Atomic manipulation 4, Flight 3
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Military position (UN forces major), Good Reputation, Comfortable Wealth level, Enemy: The Ruler, Sense of Duty to the PowerForce and to mankind.
Skills: Military strategy, Fighter piloting, Use of diverse firearms, Diplomacy, Lecturing, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, some notions of Russian and Japanese
Attributes: Agility 2, Strength 1+1, Health 1, Charisma 1+1, Wits 1, Psyche 1+1, Protection 1(3 - PowerForce uniform), Speed 1
Superpowers: Probability control 5
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Bad sight (wears contact lenses), Quick reflexes, Psyche addiction 3 (read below)
Skills: Singing, Guitar playing, Chemistry (Drugs), Music composing, Riding Motorcycles, Firearms (Handguns), Melee weapons (Swords, daggers), Chaos Theory Lore, Gambling, Spanish
Attributes: Agility 2, Strength 4, Health 4, Charisma 1, Wits 2, Psyche 1, Protection 4, Speed 1-1
Superpowers: Amplified Strength, Amplified Health, Amplified Protection, Lasers 4, Flight 2, Electronic Aim 2, Magnetic fields 4, Computer interface 4
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Energy dependence 4, Circuit overload 3
Skills: Databases Access
Attributes: Agility 1, Strength 1, Health 1, Charisma 1, Wits 3, Psyche 1+1, Protection 1(3 - PowerForce uniform), Speed 1
Superpowers: Amplified Wits, Invention crafting 4
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Math skills, Photographic memory, Myopia, Allergic to pollen
Skills: Mechanics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Biomechanics, Computing, Finnish, English, French, Spanish
Attributes: Agility 2, Strength 3, Health 2, Charisma 1, Wits 1, Psyche 1, Protection 3 (Tidal Warrior garments), Speed 1
Superpowers: Amplified Strength, Amplified Health, Amplified Protection, Breathe underwater 3
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Saryan training, Enemy: Gaumird, Dependence: Salt 2
Skills: Military strategy, Melee weapons (Tridents, swords), Marine Biology, Business administration, Leadership, Diplomacy, Saryan language
Attributes: Agility 3, Strength 1, Health 2, Charisma 1+1, Wits 1, Psyche 1, Protection 1(3 - PowerForce uniform), Speed 1
Superpowers: Amplified Agility, Telekinetic chains 4, Invisibility 4
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: False Identity, Underworld contacts, Cold-blooded, Enemy: Helmut Rauch
Skills: Lockpicking, Stealth, Subterfuge, Streetlore, Escapes, Rope use, Street fighting, Firearms
Attributes: Agility 1, Strength 1, Health 1, Charisma 2, Wits 1+1, Psyche 4, Protection 1(3 - PowerForce uniform), Speed 1
Superpowers: Amplified Psyche, Mind control 4, Mental Blow 4, Mind reading 4
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Talent for Arts, Traumatic event 2
Skills: Law, Driving, Portuguese, English, Psychology, Criminology
Attributes: Agility 4, Strength 1-1, Health 1, Charisma 1+1, Wits 1+1, Psyche 1, Protection 1(3 - PowerForce uniform), Speed 3
Superpowers: Amplified Speed, Laser bolts 3, Invisibility 2, Create illusions 2
Good Things, Bad Things and Vulnerabilities: Talent for dancing, Fear of darkness 2
Skills: Dancing, Singing, English, Motorcycle driving, Acrobatics