Mutants & Masterminds 3e - Superstring Multiverse - Worldbook 1.pdf

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Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction!
If you are too incompetent to figure that out, you
should seek professional help immediately.
Our apologies to the vast majority of people to
whom this message does not apply.
WRITTEN BY:
Daniel “Dino Brown” McDorman & Travis Legge
EDITED BY:
Travis Legge
ART DIRECTION BY:
Travis Legge
LAYOUT & TYPESETTING BY:
Travis Legge and Darius McCaskey
COVER ART:
Copyright © 2009, Joe Calkins/Cerebus
Illustration. Used with permission.
INTERIOR ART:
Some artwork taken from Occult Diagrams Stock
Art #1, copyright © 2009, James Thomson. Used
with permission.
Some artwork copyright Team Frog Studios/Paul
Arden Lindberg, used with permission.
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Neil Gaiman for the magic of storytelling.
Super-Powered by M&M and its associated logo are
Trademarks of Green Ronin Publishing and are used
under the provisions of the Super-Powered by M&M
Trademark License
(see www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/licensing
for details).
CREDITS
SUPERSTRING MULTIVERSE: WORLDBOOK 1
contains Open Game Content in accordance with the Open Game
License v1.0a. (Hereafter referred to as OGL) The text of the OGL can be found in Appendix A of this book.
All artwork and design elements, speci c layout and trade dress and speci c character and group descriptions are hereby
de ned as Product Identity in accordance with the OGL and are Copyright ©2015 Aegis Studios.
All charts, systems, and rules modi cations are hereby designated as Open Game Content in accordance with the OGL.
SUPERSTRING MULTIVERSE: WORLDBOOK 1
Copyright© 2015 Aegis Studios. All Rights Reserved.
2
Welcome to Superstring Multiverse
World Book 1
This supplement expands upon the
core concepts introduced in the Superstring
Multiverse Core Supplement by introducing
two new worlds on the Superstring. First
is World 10 - The Pantheon, a world in which
the superheroes have been elevated to divine
regard, acting as a super-powered world
authority and keeping watch over humanity
from their ying city of New Olympus. Also
covered is World 11 - Astro-Shifters, a
world in which all superpowers are drawn
from bizarre mystical energies that shift and
change, altering a portion of the populace in
unpredictable and chaotic ways.
These worlds are presented in the
format introduced in the Superstring
Multiverse Core Supplement and occupy spaces
10 and 11 in the Multiverse, for purposes
of Hyperspace Travel. Each of these worlds
can be used as destinations to be visited in
a Multiverse-spanning campaign, or as the
se ing for an entire storyline.
political capital that the public of the world
blessed o on their actions. They didn’t even
disband the U.N. They kept them around
like loyal cult followers, each government’s
representative trying to give their tithing. They
began to walk the Earth like a modern Pantheon.
They acted like the gods that they’re treated
like.
It’s hard to not like a Super Hero. The
brightly colored out ts are reminders of an era
where people slept with unlocked doors, poodle
skirts were at the edge of sexual risk and there
was no need to advertise apple pie as organic
because there was no other kind. The heroes
made us feel safe & con dent. However, I am no
longer 7 and star struck by red capes. I know
all things come at a price. In this case, the price
was self-reliance and personal rule. The heroes
couldn’t rightly be e ective if they had to ask
permission to do good in the world. So they just
went and did it. This garnered results, but it
also created a state of dependency. Heroes are
a lot of things, but naïve to this fact is not one
of them. They knew what they were doing, and
they only ampli ed their involvement in our lives.
Wrapped in a cloak of greater good. I wasn’t the
only one to take notice.
World governments have begun to tremble, as
people that could read minds, lift tanks and y
through the sky threatened their power base.
People that once had all the power are now being
shown that they have none…and they don’t
like it. This cognitive understanding of power
loss has rippled from halls of the Senate to the
average Joe like myself. Don’t misunderstand.
People like me, who are often seen as the
li le guy or the voiceless don’t want the old
regime back. But we’ll also be damned if we
trade in corrupted democracy for optimistic
totalitarianism.
If you’re reading this, it means you’re
either new to this underworld of free thought,
or you’re the ‘hero hacker’ Abacus. Either one
is ne. If you’re the citizen, you’ll nd many
more messages like this amidst the deep web,
gra ti, pop art and music. We are in more
places than you may initially think. We are your
waiter, your police o cer, your doctor, your
World 10 – The Pantheon
Introductory Fiction
It started out like such a good idea. I’m
not alone in this, right? Asking the heroes to
use their powers to decide political ma ers
seemed like the best idea. No more nukes,
minimized con icts…It felt like the world had
hope again. Who be er than The Captain to
solve some of the issues in the Middle East?
He’s bullet proof and he can y. His involvement
saved lives. All their involvement did. From
Jungle Woman’s understanding of how to
prevent and cure disease to Dr. Diode, creating
a microbe that fed on CO2 emissions. The world
didn’t feel like it was spinning out of control.
The problem is, they didn’t stop. They began
adjudicating on issues that they were asked
to be a part of. The U.N. was powerless to
stop them physically, and all the good they
had previously done had bought them enough
SUPERSTRING
MULTIVERSE
3
preacher, your chemist and your EMT. We are
everywhere and we will not be seduced into
complacency via the warmth of dictatorial
security. We are free men and women and will
remain so.
If you’re Abacus, you can track this
message but you’ll come to the same thing you
did last time. An unmanned terminal in a remote
location with enough Semtex to take down
the building. You have been warned. We don’t
wish you harm, but we will use force to defend
ourselves. You and your lot have become an
aberration of the things you once stood for. We
don’t need you to ensure safety. We don’t need
you to ensure health. In short, we don’t want
your good intentioned su ocation.
To the rest of you…I’ll see you amidst
the debris of democracy.
Setting Description
“If you have the ability, you have the
responsibility.”
These are the words echoed by Seraph
almost a decade ago. What started out as
heroes intervening in a war has turned into
them acting as totalitarian rulers. This isn’t to
say that the people are unhappy. In fact, quite
the opposite. The general population at large is
SUPERSTRING
MULTIVERSE
4
happy to be free of government rule. However,
most fail to realize that they’ve traded the
tyranny of government for the tyranny of
masks and capes. Heroes rule and intercede
in public and private a airs wantonly. The well-
intentioned quote from Seraph has turned into
an excuse for excessive violations of liberty.
Only a few see it that way though. Most
citizens are quite happy to know that “the
heroes” are running the show. It’s not that the
people are necessarily sheep as much as the
public at large was very tired of government
corruption, and minimal progress due to
monolithic size. Heroes take care of business
without asking questions or taking votes.
This expedited way of dealing with
things HAS had some bene ts. Large con icts
are very rare as the heroes have gone and
stopped military and guerilla movements.
Abacus and a group of scientists created a
nanite that eats excess air pollution given o
by coal re electric plants. Madam Gaia has
lent her abilities to the world and turned 25%
of the Sahara Desert into lush farmland helping
feed the continent of Africa and replenished
15% of the South American rain forest.
The crux of it all is that governments
still exist, but they’ve become almost impotent
in the face of heroes. Aside from not being able
to compete with the results of these masked
men and women, even if they had a legitimate
issue it’s not as if they have the means or
abilities to capture or contain someone with
super abilities. The governments have turned
into elected sycophants a empting to o er up
pieces of their efdom in return for the favor
of a hero or two. In certain places, temples
and shrines have even been built to honor the
heroes. In a few rare, yet frightening cases,
cults have even developed in worship to certain
heroes. These cults often, but not always,
operate without the knowledge of the heroes
they worship. It’s as if Olympus has come to
earth once again.
Not ALL people with powers are heroes
or even allowed amidst the New Olympians.
One has to have a high power level in order to be
inducted in to this private group.
System Considerations
From a system perspective, World 10
is roughly the same as World 6, though the
common superhero is slightly more powerful.
Most characters range from PL 6 – PL 16,
though PL 11 is the recommended starting
point for player characters originating from
this world. The average tech level in World 10 is
not much di erent than in the real world. Super-
science does exist for heroes and villains, but
the average citizen is limited to current, real-
world 21st century technology. The heroes
of World 10 actively police technological
advancements, doing everything in their power
to keep super-science out of the hands of the
common man.
Characters visiting from any other world
on the Superstring never see a reduction to
their Power Level, Descriptors or the functions
of their technology or magic. Like World 6,
this world imposes no limits or restraints on
potential to outsiders. However, if a character
visiting this world possesses powers with
certain Origin Descriptors, they see those
powers receive a +2 bonus to rank. This bonus
applies even if it would push the character
beyond their normal Power Level limitations.
E ectively, this can be considered a temporary
increase to Power Level for the duration of the
character’s stay on World 10.
Origin Descriptors that receive this +2
rank bene t are: Alien, Biological, Divine, Magic,
Mystic, Mutant, Preternatural, Primal, Psionic
and Psychic
Notable Characters
Seraph
She is the strongest and most powerful of
all the Heroes. She rules as a kind-hearted
dictator…but a dictator nonetheless. To
the public she is sweet apple pie. To her fellow
heroes, she is demanding and shrewd. She
expects the rest of the heroes to act in a
certain way. This goes for dress, mannerism and
even how they save the day. She feels supers
are be er than regular people and should act
accordingly.
SUPERSTRING
MULTIVERSE

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