Campaign Workshop - Project Argo

[JohnMatrix]

Hey, I'm wanting to kickstart a new M&M 2e campaign and I'd like some help/input/sounding board for ideas.

Basic Premise:
Characters all grow up in the isolated township of Argo, a middle American paradise in the middle of the mountains and surrounded by forests. The economic backbone of the town is centred around the military base and the private boarding school.

Characters have grown up with stable family life and a strong belief in truth, justice and the American way.

Sometime around the age of 16-18 they discover that they have strange, superhuman powers and they turn to the authority figures in their life for guidance. Their life changes little, they're invited to attend the private boarding school under scholarship and encouraged to train and use their powers with responsibility and civic mindedness.

PL8, 120pp, Attributes start at 8. Origins should emphasise inherent or inherited abilties. Certain origins don't/won't make sense.

What's Really Going On:
Argo is a hothouse experiment for developing civic-minded and controllable superhumans. The characters are the first successful generation of powered humans. Isolated geographically, populated by well trained operatives and allowed media access only through heavily censored or controlled channels. A childhood in Argo has been carefully controlled to produce good responsible citizens, that, with the addition of super-powers, pecome good, responsible superhumans.

The children of Argo are part of a program to generate superhumans, most through genetic engineering or cloning previous generations of superhumanity. They've been carefully cultivated and watched since childhood to determine whether they'll express any superhuman abilities, and some have even been forced into situations that will encourage these abilities. When it does happen, they are first invited into the Academy to test and train their abilities and evaluate them for future use as agents.

Outside Argo, the world is not quite the same as they have come to expect. While they are aware of people with special abilities, sixty years of super human history has altered the world in ways they aren't used to. While it's not Mad Max level apocalyptic, a certain dystopian quality makes the Project Argo at least a justifiable exercise if not a necessity.

Campaign Structure
The first adventure arc I want to set just in Argo. All I know is the PCs have powers. I'm not sure whether I should simply have them come out to their parents or other authority figure (as they've been conditioned since birth to trust these people) or let them operate for awhile in a clandestine manner (while being secretly observed) before being approached by representatives and asked to enrol in the Academy.

The second adventure arc is set within the Academy. As the PCs are encouraged to test and train their abilities. They are also encouraged to keep their abilities secret from people outside their own circle (to better limit contamination of other developing supers). While the characters attend the Academy, they aren't isolated from their old lives, they still have the same family and friends. The city limits of Argo are still the extent of their reach.

The third adventure arc is where the characters step outside their sheltered lives within Argo and get to see the larger world. It's not quite what they expected of it. The first mission or three they are given to perform as heroes are obviously benevolent, but maybe they start questioning themselves and their handlers' motives by the end of the third mission and are given something somewhat unsavoury to do for the fourth mission.

Eventually, the fourth arc is where the characters have a choice. They can continue to operate as agents or they can choose to fight the system.

Inspirations
Aberrant, The Village of the Damned, Ultimate Marvel, Sparta USA, Rising Stars, Supreme Power, the Intimates, X-men, Avengers: the Initiative, Neongenesis Evangelion, the Authority, Planetary, Anything Warren Ellis etc.

What I'm looking For:
I'm really looking for some kind of input on anything or everything. I've got some ideas for things:

I'm sure some of the PCs parents aren't their biological parents but government operatives trained to mould their young minds toward the project's end goal. Some parents might end up being bastards behind the façade, while others might have genuine care for the children their raising.

I'm also toying with the idea that while the current generation of kids are the first successful generation, maybe some older siblings scrubbed out or never 'made the grade'. During the first arc, there could be some kind of rumour that one of the older kids went crazy, or something. During the third phase one questionable mission could involve capturing an ex-Argo citizen who went ran away and has now gone rogue. There is also the sinister implication that should the PCs prove to obstinate to work within the program, their younger siblings might be accelerated through the program to fill the holes in the team.

I want the representatives of the authority to be morally ambiguous at worst. I don't want the PCs to throw the program in their face and walk out on them without realising that it's going to make a bad situation worse. Going against the system should be a viable story, but it shouldn't be something they can just decide immediately and be satisfied with the fallout.

So anything you guys could help me with? Little hints to drop in about the artificial nature of Argo during phase one, story ideas, characters, the state of the outside world, anything?

[Shoe2]

so a few random possibly relevant thoughts

- these kids have been lied to thier entire lives, any hint of that may cause them to not trust ANYONE

- likely NONE of them will be living with birth parents. any outside people that are not trained agents could fowl up the experiment and agents are not likely to want to get pregnant for a living.

- Do you want them to rebel from Agros or be a part of the orginasation? Unless Agros comes out to the super powered kids they will most likely rebel, exspecially if they are teens...teens Rebel...it's a Thing

- Watch "The Truman Show" if you havent seen it for what happens to a REAL person in this kind of environment. Even the most trained law-abiding citizens will sniff out a false world and be appauled

...thats all for now. Cool story Idea...seems like there is a decent shot that some of the super-kids will rebel and even become villains for the campaign. Hopefully your players arent the type to hold a gurdge...on the bright side its an easy way to introduce a cool villan....childhood friend turned angry angsty villain

[JohnMatrix]

Thanks Shoe2 for posting some input.

- these kids have been lied to thier entire lives, any hint of that may cause them to not trust ANYONE

While they have been lied to and manipulated, the Project is also attempting to raise a generation of 'heroes'. Sixteen years of indoctrination has been leading up to the reveal. The Project wants to make this revelation as gentle as possible, and are willing to make it clear that it's what they had to do. The Project needed true heroes, what they had were people willing to do what needed to be done. If it comes to it the project is willing to accept the accusation of villainy, but they are willing to point to the world outside as worse, and the heroes as their only hope redemption.

- likely NONE of them will be living with birth parents. any outside people that are not trained agents could fowl up the experiment and agents are not likely to want to get pregnant for a living.

That's certainly a valid point, and one that I'd hope to address in the game when the moment comes. The PCs have spent all their lives growing up with there "parents", they are the only parents they know. While I'm sure there is a feeling of betrayal, even an explosive confrontation I don't think it has to be so clear cut. The foster parents have also bonded with these children. Some of the foster parents might be dutiful agents, who play at parenthood, but others might be loving couples who wanted children and were vetted by the program. While I mentioned "bastards behind the facade" those foster parents who can't fool the careful observers behind the Project have been weeded out over the years before they can do any damage, or they've been allowed to continue as part of a variation in the experiment (which is to say, a particular Player wants to have a less than ideal homelife).

There is also the matter of the siblings and other children. While the PCs might outright reject the program and the people they believed were their parents, their fellow siblings are in the same boat. Hopefully keeping in touch with them, attempting to shield them from what has happened to them, allow them to escape etc will encourage the PCs not go on a killing spree. And end the game at the midway point.

As for other people, I'm planning that Argo wasn't a virtual ghost town, it was a ghost town. The private boarding school is just a cover story to explain the absence of super-kids while they are undergoing their advanced education. Argo's population are part of the Project and compared to the rampant craziness of living in the world outside, a quiet life in Argo, even with the secrecy and tension might still be appealing. Even if it goes Lord of the Flies, 15 years of stability and security behind the Project's borders still might be better than the alternative.

- Do you want them to rebel from Agros or be a part of the orginasation? Unless Agros comes out to the super powered kids they will most likely rebel, exspecially if they are teens...teens Rebel...it's a Thing

I expect the PCs will question the Project, and I'm leaving the Players to determine whether or not they want to join up, rebel or protest from the middle ground. The Project doesn't wish to be the villains, but they're willing to do what must be done.

If the PCs wish to jump ship or become too vocal, the Project has other options, not good options, but options. If Jonny Megastrong doesn't want to shoulder his responsibilities, maybe little Joanie Megastrong will be more willing to step up, of course she'll be a year or two younger, probably not fully prepared to do what must be done, but the Project might be desperate enough to field her. The Project won't want to, they'll describe it as distasteful, but they'll also term it necessary.

Like I said, the Project is willing to be cast in the role of (anti-hero or) villain, they'll justify what they did as necessary, but the actions of the PCs will determine whether the ends justified the means. If the PCs are not the heroes they hoped for, if they become villains themselves, then the Project was a failure and their last hope has failed them. But in that case it won't matter, to the people behind the Project this was their only hope. If the PCs fulfil their roles fashioned for them by the Project then the ends did justify the means.

In the end, it is the children that will redeem them or damn them. The people behind the Project knew that was how it would play out.

- Watch "The Truman Show" if you havent seen it for what happens to a REAL person in this kind of environment. Even the most trained law-abiding citizens will sniff out a false world and be appauled

That's a good recommendation. I hadn't thought of the Truman Show and it's honestly been a couple of years since I've seen it. I'll have to squeeze in a viewing before next game day. As you said a REAL person would do as Truman did but the Project are forging heroes and Citizens, and they are doing if for a noble purpose. They might not be good people themselves, but they hope that the people they have lied to and manipulated can rise above their grievances and save the world.

Or they can tear it all down around them.

...thats all for now. Cool story Idea...seems like there is a decent shot that some of the super-kids will rebel and even become villains for the campaign. Hopefully your players arent the type to hold a gurdge...on the bright side its an easy way to introduce a cool villan....childhood friend turned angry angsty villain

I'm currently at a loss as to what to run, and I've decided I wanted to run something big and grand and with a clear beginning, middle and end. My last couple of M&M games haven't really had that sense of progression. With this I can see everything laid out before me and the paths the players may take.

I'm thinking that the first year of kids in the program have 'flunked' out in one way or another. Some didn't come out of their origin story quite right, or went a little unbalanced. The powers they developed were unexpected, unforeseen or unsuitable to the project. Those who made it through the training and got out into the world might have seen the scope of the trials before them, or realised they weren't as heroic or self-sacrificing enough to do what needed to be done. The Project has learnt from their mistakes but they've also had to put contingencies in place. Some of their failures may still be found inside the town, carefully hidden secrets that people still whisper about. Others might be villains in the outside world, and one of the missions will be to return one of these failures back into the fold.

[Shoe2]

i guess the major point I wanted to get across, with the teen angst and the Truman Show reference is that no matter how much a person gets used to a "mold" there will be a reaction, and in teenagers the reaction will be extremely emotional. Expect good roleplayers to have a problem with the Project and for there to be some reprocussions. Hell, they may even try to overthrow the Project and take over the program and become a rebellion in thier own more ethical way


I dont know how predictable your players are/ how well they know the psyche of a teenager, but having raised my teenage brother in law for 2 years of his life (14-16) and DM'ed with alot of difficult players I am just making sure you have covered your bases. There are A LOT of different reactions that could happen in any game. Be sure that ANY of them would not destroy the whole campaign. I guess the nice thing about M&M versus most other RPG's is the heavy emphasys on "Get GM approval" when building characters.

[JohnMatrix]

A reaction, any reaction, is what I'm looking for. If the PCs decide to tear it all down, soldier on or choose a third option... that's where I'm willing to go. What ever their reaction I hope it'll lead us somewhere fun and interesting.

And if the Players meh, well, I'm lucky that mine isn't the only campaign being played at our game table.

[Shoe2]

A reaction, any reaction, is what I'm looking for. If the PCs decide to tear it all down, soldier on or choose a third option... that's where I'm willing to go. What ever their reaction I hope it'll lead us somewhere fun and interesting.

And if the Players meh, well, I'm lucky that mine isn't the only campaign being played at our game table.

sounds good..I do like the plot idea and you will DEFINATELY get some reaction. sounds like a cool campaign.

[JohnMatrix]

Okay, I've come back. Just going to post some more stuff as I get things clearer in my head.

I now have the PCs (subject to the usual last minute change): An archer, a magnetic controller, a weather controller and a speedster.

I've also been refining the ideas for the setting, larger campaign world. I recently picked up the Paragons campaign setting for a steal, and I'm leaning toward using it for the basis of the campaign. Secondly, I also picked up Old Man Logan.

Paragons have been around for sixty or so years. Enough time that their influence has been felt in all facets of society. Super-technologies have filtered down to the common man etc.

About twenty years ago, the people behind Project Argo decided the current political climate between society and Paragons would soon destabilise, even collapse. They began to implement a plan to generate properly indoctrinated Paragons. With any luck, they would have the first generation of loyal paragons ready to defend Truth, Justice and the American Way long before things would deteriorate. Unfortunately, just as the program was in its initial stages, the worst case scenario occurred: the villainous paragons managed to gain the upper hand and deliver a blow sufficient enough to cause a long, slow collapse of western society.

Project Argo was always designed to operate from a self-contained, isolated location. With certain precautions, the worst symptoms of society's collapse, wouldn't effect Argo for years to come. While initially designated defenders of the American Dream, the Argonauts would become saviours, descending from the mountains like Prometheus with the fire of the Gods.

Outside Argo, America (and the world) has collapsed. People still attempt to live ordinary lives, but the government and infrastructure have failed. In many places, people have returned to a sort of feudal level, attempting to eke out a living with subsistence farming. Cash is devalued and barter has become the preferred method of trade. Scavenging has become the past-time of those unable to till the fields or sell their services to feed their families. In other places it's almost business as usual, people try to live their lives to the best of their abilities, (Think Dark Angel's Post-Pulse Seattle).

Paragons have managed to thrive in this world, able to take whatever they want from those too weak around them to resist, their abilities giving them an edge in the fallen world. Some set themselves up as warlords and dictators, lording over gangs or towns. The more ambitious seize entire cities or states, organising minions, recreating infrastructure and attempting to return the world to some semblance of civilization. While some are best described as Villains, there are a just as many paragons who work for the benefit of the ordinary men and woman around them.

Amidst this, Argo and the surroundings are fairly isolated, both geographically and via super-technology countermeasures that act as psychic screens dissuading people from approaching the Project's boundaries. The town of Argo is the main focus of the Project. It houses the families and the test subjects: children raised to one day save the world. A military base on the outskirts of Argo is actually mostly dedicated to the Project's security needs and policing. The town of Ithaca is still within the Projects boundary, but outside the experiment. It houses the off-site personnel involved in the project but not required to have a hands on contact with any of the subjects. The people of Ithaca are still required to adhere to the strict protocols that maintain the masquerade.

The first phase of the game is the players exploring their abilities within the confines of the project and beginning to play in the sandbox of Argo. While the town has a 1950s Middle America sensibility, there are little clues to indicate to the players that something is wrong. The town has biofuel producing capabilities, computers, everything that can possible be produced inside the boundaries of project is there, otherwise it's fairly rare, a small fusion power plant operates to power the towns etc.

That's all for now.

[Thakowsaizmu]

PL8, 120pp, Attributes start at 8.

Why this?

[tylrlsaa]

- Watch "The Truman Show" if you havent seen it for what happens to a REAL person in this kind of environment. Even the most trained law-abiding citizens will sniff out a false world and be appauled

Or either version of the Gen 13 comic.

[JohnMatrix]

PL8, 120pp, Attributes start at 8.

Why this?

It's one of the options from Hero High to model younger characters. I think it's a good little reminder that the characters aren't adults, and for the the first two game years I'll give them a free +1 to their attributes to represent them maturing.

In addition, I'm planning to give the characters 15pp and a PL (over the course of a couple of stories) to represent their training during phase two of the campaign while they are enrolled in the Academy, and another 15pp and a PL increase in the third/fourth phase when they have become more familiar with their abilities.

[Thakowsaizmu]

I suppose. But it eats 12 points pretty much off the bat. Starting them at PL8 in a world of PL10 characters should be enough of a reminder. To me, that looks like unnecessary gimping, even with the +1s and the PP awards. It will give you underpowered characters even for PL8.

[JohnMatrix]

I suppose. But it eats 12 points pretty much off the bat. Starting them at PL8 in a world of PL10 characters should be enough of a reminder. To me, that looks like unnecessary gimping, even with the +1s and the PP awards. It will give you underpowered characters even for PL8.

Okay, noted. 12 points is almost an entire PL's worth of points but I still like the variant rule, and none of the players have voiced any complaints.

I've asked my players to make normal teenagers with superpowers. That 12pp gimping might discourage them to blow out there points on the unnecessary things, or the things that won't make sense until they have some actual training under their belts. On the one hand, Attributes only really effect skill checks. Should a PC have failed a skill check by 1, there is the narrative excuse that it was their immaturity or youthful mistakes that caused them to fub the check. On the other hand, if you're concerned about the 12pp, that's a extra and a couple of powerfeats, which sounds like the equivalent of refining a power (or overcoming a disadvantage by paying it off, like uncontrollable)

In the initial stage of the game, any villians they encounter will be created under the same PL constraints, as they'll be facing fellow Argonauts gone wrong. They'll be earning their extra pp around the same time they start facing their first outside threats. And then, I'll actually want them starting to feel somewhat under-equipped to be dealing with the threats being presented to them as they begin to realise that they may have cool super-powers but they're still just child-soldiers.

[peregrine]

On the one hand, Attributes only really effect skill checks.

And damage, and lifting capacity, and initiative, and reflex, and fort and toughness saves, and sprinting duration, and will saves, and quite a bit more.

If the bad guys they're going to be facing are built with the same rules, that makes things fairly even, but you can't really argue that putting everyone at a -2 attributes is no big thing.

[JohnMatrix]

On the one hand, Attributes only really effect skill checks.

And damage, and lifting capacity, and initiative, and reflex, and fort and toughness saves, and sprinting duration, and will saves, and quite a bit more.

If the bad guys they're going to be facing are built with the same rules, that makes things fairly even, but you can't really argue that putting everyone at a -2 attributes is no big thing.

Oh man, I can't believe I forgot saves and initiative let alone those other things, I've been making a lot of characters in Hero Lab so my brain has been out of the loop on CharGen.

I don't think it's no big thing, but by the time they are facing the big threats they'll have received their absent attribute points, earned 30pp and +2PL and some more PP in change.

Normally when I run M&M I run street level adventures with 10PL 150pp heroes, and I tend to go a little easy on the them in the opposition department. I'm trying to remedy this with the Jakelope's thread on encounter design.