Best posts made by Runescryer

Okay. Figure I might as well throw in my .02, here...

Being a, relatively, neutral observer to the events of the past couple weeks, I'm saddened, but not disheartened.

I think the core issue at hand has been freedom of expression vs. the responsibility that comes with freedom. There are people who want freedom, but not the responsibility. And as the meme says, that's called adolescence.

It is possible to have debate, even fundamental disagreements, without resorting to personal attacks. But there are some that feel that they have to 'win' at any cost, including burning things to the ground; and when they don't win an argument, the personal attacks come out.

We need to distinguish between criticizing someone's actions and criticizing the person directly. I'm not immune to this; I've walked the line between calling out problematic actions and behavior (VASpider/Elsa, Clairmont, Levitz) and piling in on attacking the person themselves. I haven't always been successful, but I'd like to think that I've been able to do this more times than not.

Going over the new policy changes, I think that the Code of Conduct is a better policy instrument for allowing good faith debate, argument, and disagreement, while holding off more personal attacks. And as we've already seen in this thread, there's going to be people that want to 'push the envelope' and try for work-arounds when asked to behave in a civil manner.

In short, I think the 'I'm not touching you...' crowd departing isn't going to break this place, and will help us forge a stronger community.

Do I think there could be more transparency from Staff in how decisions are made? Absolutely, but I feel that way with almost any administration/moderation involved in a community. I also believe that when Staff requests that a conversation be halted so that they can review to better understand the situation, the conversation needs to be put on hold.

Anyways, for whatever my opinion is worth...

@Chet, dude....

With all respect, stop trying to integrate Real Life situations/politics into fantasy games. Most people are playing games to take a break from Real Life, not have it (poorly, TBH) forced into a foundation of their escapist fantasy.

Oh, look. It's this jerk again...

No, not me; I'm an entirely different jerk. But I digress...

Looks like everyone's favorite creeper might be back among us after a nice absence. No character names, since receipts are still being collected, and not naming the game while they do their own ongoing investigation.

Just a heads up that several people reviewing logs are having deja vu all over again and noticing behaviors and patterns matching DWOPP's MO.

• Love bombing and constant spending of "fake IC money" to be the most perfect dream come true guy ever. Paying for cars, clothing, college tuition
• Super protective of his target females around other males. Willing to fight or create dissent to push other males away
• Gaslights female players who dislike his IC advances as problematic IC and OOC

Again, not sharing character names yet and giving the game staff a chance to work things out internally. Think of this as the smoke detector going off; time to be aware and see if there is a fire.

So, a general heads up to the community and to Staffers to be aware on their own games of a possible DWOPP return.

Anyone who's also on Brand Mu Day, please feel free to send out a warning there, as well.

I keep coming back to Asimov's quote about anti-intellectualism and 'the false notion that Democracy means my ignorance is just as valid as your knowledge'. And Sagan's 'Death of Expertise'.

Information is now so freely available and accessible like never before. And the biggest problem, IMO, with the algorithm nature of searching for that information is that it generally leads towards sources that are biased to a particular point of view, based on your search history. Society has information, but no general training in how to analyze or contextualize it.

Example: Science.

The general public isn't trained in the process of the Scientific Method, much less the actual science. There's no aware ness of the final steps in 'science': publish results in a peer reviewed format and peer replication of the results. If no-one else can reproduce your results following the same procedures you outlined, it's not an actual 'fact' yet; just a result that invites further investigation. Example: all the attempts at cold fusion over the decades that have been non-replicatable. Further, there are 'science journals' that are deliberately biased towards certain conclusions. Like 'medical' journals funded by anti-abortioinists that publish all the BS like 'fetal heartbeat at 6 weeks' propaganda.

We have more information freely available to humanity than ever before. But it's just as important that we know how to understand the information presented to us. How to separate out the facts from the opinions that are presented as 'facts'.

@Wizz I can agree with that. However, you're crossing the line from 'cyberpunk' to 'transhumanism', IMO. And there is a difference.

Cyberpunk focuses on technology as dehumanizing, whether that be cybernetic implants, communications, lifestyle, whatever. Technology is neutral, but humans choose to use it in damaging ways, and there's an undercurrent of personal and societal damage due to technology.

Transhumanism focuses on technology as a tool to reach beyond the limits of our physical forms. Technology is abused in bad ways sometimes, but is ultimately a Good Thing. The scale of negative uses and effects of technology are limited and outweighed by the overall benefits of Technology to society.

Ultimately, the difference is how the overall society is presented as interacting with Technology.

With Cyberpunk, tech is a necessary evil, you need it in order to compete or even just survive. Society is ruined because of disparities in economics and access to technology, and the question is: what are you willing to do to others and yourself to survive.

With Transhumanism, tech is a natural part of society. There may be inequality and other darker aspects of society, but the the outlook is far more positive, and society on a whole has more equality than a Cyberpunk setting; even the dystopia of Altered Carbon is far better and more preferable to live in than the dystopia of Gibson's Sprawl. Here, the question is: how can technology help you fulfill your best potential?

And that's reflected in the difference in TableTop games. Cyberpunk games have Essence/Humanity loss in dealing with cybernetics. Transhuman games like Eclipse Phase don't. Because they're approaching the concept from two different viewpoints.

So, for whatever value my 2 copper pieces are...

D&D Spelljammer, Birthright, Dark Sun. As much as I love the Forgotten Realms, something besides the 'standard' fantasy setting. Birthright is also a L&L game with a simple wargame component and intrigue/politics rules.

Deadlands There's really not any Western-themed games out there, and Deadlands has the extra weird horror element to bring in players.

TORG The new edition is still doing well and is a fantastic multi-genre game allowing Players and Storytellers great flexibility in creating and running.

Blue Rose For the L&L/Valdamar fix

Star Wars Set in a single sector so the Players have a greater impact on the game setting

Superhero Preferably an all-original setting to avoid some of the hassles that the all-FC settings have in regards to characters, power levels, etc.

Scion The first 2 books for Second Edition are available now.

Fading Suns

Traveler

Eclipse Phase

Altered Carbon

'Victorian' Era You can add in a genre like Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi, or Superheroes. Or, a straight up Space 1889 or Victorious game.

In no particular order...

Cyberpunk RED
OC-only Superhero game
Scion (either edition)
Deadlands
5E Birthright (D&D L&L setting)

I'm an idea guy; I can't code to save my life

Okay, time to send out some feelers for Staff and general interest in this idea….

I’m looking for a full set of Staff for a new Superhero game that I’ve been planning out. The theme will be all Original Characters and the game will use the Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition as a combat/task resolution system. Now, to answer the two questions that are probably coming to everyone’s minds right now…

Why an Original Character Supers game?
For lots of reasons. First, virtually all the Supers games currently populated are based off of the main Comic Book sources of Marvel & DC already. Second, the ‘Big Name’ characters on Marvel/DC games get a lot of interest and attraction for RP, becoming more of ‘status’ symbols that you’re scening with them rather than another character that you interact with. Third, a previous player may have engaged in plots and RP that lead to consequences that future players don’t want to deal with, leaving major characters unapped for long stretches of time or having to figure out a continuity reset for the character, or sometimes even the whole game.

By making this a completely all Original Character theme, we can reduce the effects of those problems, since all characters start off with an even level in terms of popularity on the game, and a player that drops unexpectedly can return later and be assured that the character they created and invested time and energy into will still be available to them.

Finally, possibly most importantly, having all Original Characters means that there are no expectations as to where RP would or should lead to. No expectations of canon pairings or favorite ships or ‘we should do this Event storyline in our game’.

This doesn’t mean that Feature Characters or Media Creations or Published Characters or whatever the terminology next evolves into, won’t be welcomed so long as there are sufficient modifications. Homage characters are certainly welcome; just use a different name and work a few unique aspects into the character is all we’re asking.

Why Use A Dice System?
Again, I realize it’s not the popular option for Super games. However, using a well established Table Top RPG system does have some advantages. It provides firm statistics and benchmarks of what a character can and cannot do. It prevents, or helps lessen at the very least, characters from being automatically successful in every action from combat to social interactions; even the best superheroes can have off days, which the random dice rolls help reflect. Finally, using an established game system allows us to bring in table top gamers that are used to the game system and it helps lessen the amount of adjustments they have to make in learning how to play via MUD/MUSH/MUX, also having the benefit of expanding the game population beyond the usual MU community. In fact, I’m already generating some player interest with discussion outside of the MU Community.

Now, I realize that there are people that are going to disagree with my conclusions here and the concepts, and that’s fine. I’m trying out a different path for the game, one that doesn’t get used all that often for a variety of reasons. In the end, I’m looking for Staff and players that want to try this out and make a universe together with me.

Other Cool (or not so Cool) Ideas
There’s lots of stuff from other games, online & TableTop, that I would like to try and incorporate. Such as:

-Automated Dice rolling & Action Resolution: I want to have the combat and skills use automated as much as possible.

-Open Access to low-level villains. Comic books are filled with lots of low-level villains that are good for a quick bank robbery, heist, or other anchor for an action scene. I want to have these Rogues available as bits for anyone to log into, without having to app first, to facilitate impromptu scenes.

-Will & Testament. Basically, when someone makes up a character, they write a note saying what they want to have done with the character if they drop unexpectedly. Ranging from ‘allow the character to be apped by someone else’ to ‘mysterious disappearance’ to ‘they get heavily involved with X situation and retire from the superhero business’

-Autologging system that posts straight to the wiki

-Karma & Popularity. Adapted from the old Marvel Super Heroes game in the 80’s. Karma is a points system rewarding you for your logged actions, mostly combat but some social, where the points can be spent to modify die rolls or stored up to (slowly) improve your character. Popularity is a measurement of how well known your character is, adapted to lower the difficulty of certain interactions with NPC’s, and can rise and fall according to your actions.

-Testing Room(s). Basically a room or set of rooms on the OOC Grid where players can test out their powers and abilities against automated targets to see how effective the build is before having Staff lock the changes in place. Also, a way for players to get familiar with the various commands to attack or use powers/skills

Needed Staff

I’ll keep this first post updated to keep it easy for people to see what’s been filled and what’s still needed.

Currently needed, in order of priority….

Coders (Main and Assistants): Should be familiar with M&M 3rd Edition or know where to find pre-written code for the game. If you need help with the system, I can help walk you through it.

Wiki Coder: I'd like to have a wiki up and running before a full open

Builders (Main and Assistants)

Administration : Just general helpful folks that can answer questions, run events, and solve disputes when the game fully opens. Knowledge of the Mutants & Masterminds system a plus, but it’s an easy system to learn

In addition to providing the game hosting, I’m also setting up a Discord server to help coordinate Staff and the building of the game. If you’re interested, chime in on the thread or send me a PM here.

Even if you’re not interested, feel free to leave constructive criticism/discussions here.

Thanks

UPDATE 1 We've got a head coder and the start of both a grid and a wiki! Thanks to ZombieGenesis!

@misadventure

So let me start this off by stating that I am aware that this post/point could be, and probably is, coming from a position of Privilege.

With that said...As much as we want to avoid it IRL, Conflict creates Drama, and Drama is what drives the swashbuckling genre. Now, let's set aside the Crescent Empire and Cathay for the moment and solely focus on Thea...

IMO, 7h Sea did a decent job of stripping away the negative conflict between the Nations (i.e. racism/tribalism) and focused purely on the actual political and religious sources of conflict. Castillians don't hate Montaigne just because they're 'French'; they hate Montaigne because they invaded Castille, are lead by a king that openly mocks and oppresses their religion, and other (valid) reasons that have nothing to do with pure tribal rivalry. Similarly, the Vesten loathe their Vendel cousins because the Vendel are committing sacrilege and harming their ancestors with all this renaming of places. Conversely, the Vendel first broke away because the Vesten Jarls were utter d*cks to the farmers that became the middle class, so had minimal investment in a society centered around raiding by a noble class.

The main area of Conflict in 7th Sea that I think is the most problematic is the Vodacce suppression of the Fate Witches. Even then, there is a certain 'maintaining the status quo' logic that makes sense in the setting. I emphasized that because I think this is the key point: separating conduct and 'standards' in the setting from the same in Real Life. The Conflicts in the game are not simply arbitrary.

Again, just my opinion and more than likely coming from a place of Privilege, but I think that something gets lost when only the problematic is focused on. This isn't to say that problematic things shouldn't be identified and called out, or even 'it's only a game...'; the bigger conversation that I don't see often enough is about the potential to change the game world. I'm not talking about a GM altering the canon setting to fit their tableplay and everyone's comfort (which I do endorse). I mean the GM enabling the Players to be agents of positive change in the world.

7th Sea, in particular, is just exploding with the possibility for change. Yeah, the extreme classism of the Montaigne nobility is highly problematic; have the PC's join the Rilasciare and work to overthrow the Nobility and hopefully prevent the Terror that followed the historical events in France. Yes, the Vodacce suppression of women with sorcery is disgusting and wrong; sign up with Sophia's Daughters and start smuggling those women and girls to safety. The setting and the system are set up to let the PC's be the world-changing Big Damn Heroes, if that's what everyone wants. So let them be the BDH's of Thea.

Make the 'ism's work to give the Players things to fight against. Just from my experience, it's far more interesting, satisfying, and cathartic than just steamrolling though another mob of CE Humanoids or stock evil cutouts from central casting.

Alright. Third and final tale of being on the Retail Front Lines...

At one point, I was an assistant manager at a pet food and supply store in the Piedmont District of Oakland.

Now, first off, for folks not from the Bay Area...whatever you might think of Oakland, it's more than likely wrong. Hey, I was guilty of a lot of misconceptions as well when I first moved there. Anyways, The Piedmont is in the Oakland Hills, and is home to lots of local celebrities, as well as TV and Movie actors. Not going to go into the list, but we did serve several clients you probably would have heard of. Bottom line: it's a very rich area.

Anyways, Thanksgiving week rolled around. We did a healthy business. Normally, we did a weekly cash drop on Thursdays, keeping the week's profits in the office safe. But, banks are closed on Thanksgiving, which is Thursday. So, the plan was to drop the cash on Friday instead. I was in charge of the short shift we had on Thanksgiving Day, it was a half-day for us, did the sroe closing, locked the money in the safe, locked the office, set the alarm, locked up the store, and headed home for Turkey Day dinner. As you do.

I wasn't scheduled for Friday, so I was kind of surprised to be getting a phone call from work, before the store was open. It was the store manager, and she was in a panic. "I need you down here, fast. We had break in last night!"

I get myself to the store. Talk with the manager. Assure her that I set the alarm last night. Then, I get walked through the scene while we were waiting for Oakland PD to arrive...

The store was in a strip mall, with mostly display windows for walls. To one side of the main structure were the double doors leading to our storage/recieving area. What the thieves had done was break one of the display windows near the bottom. Then, they had to push out of the way about 400 lbs of dry cat food bags that were on the rack in front of the window. Okay... They're in. They went through the double swing doors leading to the storage area, and have the Office directly on their left. It's locked. But, the door had a security window in it. They look around for a hammer or something to knock out the window. They settle on using a 40 oz can of dog food as an improvised hammer. Access to the office gained. There's the safe in the corner. The several hundred pound, iron safe with the combination they don't know. But! That doesn't deter them. No, they bring one of our freight dollys into the office, load the safe on the dolly, wheel it out through the loading doors, and drive off with the safe. All told, I think there was @$14,000 in cash from the week, plus things like gift certificates (we hadn't switched to swipe cards yet).

Now, here's were things take a turn into WTF-land...

OPD finally shows up. They call in an investigation unit, take statement, all the basics. It's confirmed with the alarm company that I did, in fact, set the alarm last night. Which is strange, because the stirp mall has an on-site security patrol presence at night. Now. OPD also has another break-in at the strip mall to investigate from last night; the upscale bistro there was broken in and the register was taken with about $3000 in cash. The intruders also helped themselves to the Bistro's wine selection drinking and smashing more in damages than the cash loss. The security guards, who were about 50 yards down the hill in their car in a depressed parking area, so they had no direct LOS to the mall, claimed they never got an alert or observed anything happening. AFIAK, they were never charged in connection with the robbery, so they were just sleeping on the job.

Our company's security chief arrives with what security recordings from the store floor they had of the intruders (company was a local chain with headquarters in the Bay Area; everything was extremely localized). I talk with him and the OPD detectives assigned to the incident. We get a clearer picture of how the thieves gained access. This goes on for a couple hours. At one point, the detectives get a call. California Highway Patrol had found the safe.

On one of the nearby freeways. At the bottom of an overpass. Busted open and emptied.

Camera footage from the overpass was pulled. They got an image of the truck and license plate. The footage also showed the truck stopping on the overpass, and the thieves pushing the safe out to send it crashing to the road below. Truck leaves. Returns a few minutes later to the same spot. Thieves get out, push the safe that they had retrieved because it hadn't broken open with that fall, back over the overpass again. Second time's the charm for them.

I am still in awe of the sheer determination showed by these morons in regards to that robbery. In addition to the absolute metric farkton of luck they had in puling it off and not getting caught in the act.

But we're not done yet, boys and girls...

Remember I had mentioned that there were gift certificates in the safe? Well, the gift certificate were actually write-in voucher receipts, where the manager would write in the name and amount on the top copy, and there would be a yellow carbon copy underneath. These receipts all had 'serial numbers' at the bottom edge. So, we knew that a range of gift certificates had been taken; 10001-10100, for example.

A few months after the robbery, someone came into the store with a gift certificate with a number in the range that was stolen.

Yeah. People be that brazen.

I was on duty, called it into our Security officer. Nothing could be done besides refuse the GC as 'invalid'. There was some protest, but I remained firm and they gae up rather quickly when they realized the jig was up for them.

And, I'm spent with my Retail Hell stories.

@ZombieGenesis said in Why no Star Trek games?:

So Modiphius just released their Klingon Core Rules for their Star Trek RPG and it got me wondering; why are there no active Star Trek games?

For me, the few games that have come about have been stationary or they try to fit everyone onto one space station or starship. I'd like something in the middle, myself. Maybe centered on a space station but people can "crew up" and get their own ship to explore some portion of space? Instead of one starship crewed to the gills have a few that use a central space station as a common port of call?

I dunno. I just know I get the itch to RP Star Trek from time to time and can never find a game!

I don't think that Star Trek lends itself to a large, multiplayer setting as easily as some other properties. Rank and position is very much a core part of Trek, and that means limited 'spotlight' space on a single ship or station. Everyone wants to be Kirk/Riker/Sisko/Spock/personal favorite; no-one wants to be a crewman on Delta Shift. So, the plum roles/positions go very quickly, leaving 'lesser' roles that would be more like walk-on characters. O'Brien is really the only Trek character that went from walk-on/recurring to a main Cast position. Compared to other Rank/Position genres like L&L (where there's plenty of noble titles to go around and let a PC make a name for themselves and advance) or even Superhero Games (where even though there are obvious 'star characters', other characters can still prove themselves and gain status/become more prestigious).

Also, some players, or maybe it's just me, are sort of burned out still on the spate of 'Report Status' Trek games from a decade or so back, where we had to fill out IC reports on everything....

Finally, Trek shows like Discovery and the newer movies haven't been as well recieved by the general fandom; so the enthusiasm isn't where it was in, say, the DS9 & Voyager time when LUGTrek came out. Again, just my opinion, and Picard may have changed the dynamic in regards to fan enthusiasm.

@lithium Another theme idea that works is 'making it local'. All of my TT games from D6 on have mostly focused on a single sector of space with about 20 planets or so. You're not going to do the really big 'blow up the Death Star' canon stuff that the movies do and have Galaxy-wide consequences, but you can do the equivalent that make you Big Damn Heroes to your small patch of the Galaxy. Pretty much the same as what 'Rebels' did; make it important locally.

I'm slowly getting back into MUSHing myself. I found two good Ares-hosted games

Shadows & Shields: The theme is 'Marvel Comics Espionage' with the initial focus being SHIELD vs. HYDRA. I'm playing Tony Stark there. There's room for creative takes on characters (both Cap and Red Skull are females, with the Super-Soldier Formula only working on women), and you can pitch an OC.
http://shadowsandshields.com/

X-Men Divergence: Marvel game centered on the new mutant nation of Krakoa, a few months after the Genoshan Genocide. So, based around the recent events in the comics, but that's only a starting point where the game diverges. So far, only OC, but the staff does a good job of rostering characters and sometimes altering event & character histories from the comics so that the whole X-cannon fits together a bit smoother, not to mention condensed. Big playerbase and several active plots. I play Beast there.
http://xmendivergence.com/

I think having a big city broken down into major neighborhoods is a good start. You shouldn't need more than 10 to begin with, and it allows you to have different flavors or themes for each neighborhood. Later on, you can always build sub-neighborhoods or individual buildings/establishments to expand the grid. The 'neighborhood' approach also gives you enough diversity for characters to relate to without being overwhelming. Just my .02

@Arkandel And, as I mentioned before, the ramifications for those could be...

-Any print shop used to make the propaganda burns down. No print shop wants to work with the PC, now
-As word gets around that the girlfriend is a vocal 'critch lover', the financial connections start drying up or no longer responding to her requests
-Vandalism of the character's house (rocks & bricks thrown through windows; nasty, flaming bags of manure flung) while the speech/fundraiser is going on. Or it's only PC's that attend the event; no NPC's attend, so the PC is only 'preaching to the choir' and won't change any minds.

Now, the point isn't to discourage PC's from trying to change the status quo, but to show that the status quo won't be changed so easily. Societal advancements can occur, but they'll be small victories; sometimes Pyrrhic ones, and always requiring sacrifices. You won't get voting rights for fae, but maybe you can overturn a curfew proclamation that only applies to the fae.

I'm of...mixed opinions after I saw the first episode. Haven't watched the others yet.

I don't mind the age up. No problems there.

My big issue was Perrin's wife. I mean...just a quick summation...'Woman In The Fridge' cranked up to 11 and with the knob ripped off.

He doesn't just kill her on accident; the axe strike was to her lower abdomen, meaning Perrin hit the baby on the way to killing his wife.

Just...way unnecessary. Especially for creating a character with the express purpose of dying just to give Perrin a kick in the ass out the door to answer the Call To Adventure.

Seriously, they could have used Master Luhhan for the same purpose with the same effect; Perrin accidently killing hismentor and father figure would have been devastating enough and served the same purpose, without creating a character from whole cloth.

That's my big issue and rant. I'll see how the other episodes go...

@Entropy

I think that the issue you're having is in trying to discover the logic and reason behind things that are the antithesis: bigotry and prejudice. one of the reasons that the old Star Trek episode 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield' is so powerful is that is shows just how stupid, blind, and unreasoning bigotry is.

Before I start getting into things, let me say that while I talk here about serious and tragic real-world examples, I'm not comparing them to the fictional Marvel Universe and the mutant situation to cheapen or lessen the severity of what has happened and what is going on. I'm simply showing how mass media hysteria fuels similar behavior in the real world.

Now, with that said, there are some things to consider as to why such anti-mutant bias exists in the Marvel Universe.

1. It's not always the mutants that are the 'enemy'. You mentioned Hulk as an example of a metahuman that causes destruction, but Hulk doesn't get a free pass because he's not a mutant. On the contrary, for most of his existence, Hulk is feared as much or more than the 'mutant threat' by the general populace. Even Spider-Man has to deal with mistrust and a bit of hatred from the general public sometimes thanks to JJJ. So there's not a 'mutants always bad, other heroes always good' mentality. The perception of the general public towards an individual or group is the main factor.Which leads to...

2. Presence in the media. For most of their existence, the X-Men had no media presence. There was never any mentions of them existing, much less there being a group of heroic mutants. Professor Xavier, for good or bad, decided to keep the existence of the X-Men a complete secret in order to keep the school safe. So, the first time the general public ever heard the term 'mutant' was when Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants first took over a US military base and began making public demands, back in X-Men #1. Even though the X-Men saved the day, Xavier kept all mention of the team out of the press. All anyone knew was that there were these people called mutants who almost started a nuclear war; there was no knowledge that it was mutants who stopped the threat also, just some costumed folks, could have been the Avengers or Fantastic Four. That's something very powerful when the only mention of an ethnic group comes in conjunction with terrorism and near-global annihilation. And it wasn't just in the US. Magneto publicly captures a Russian nuclear sub and steals its missiles, placing them in orbit. No word in the press as to who stopped him. A mutant goes on a rampage in Edinburgh, killing a prominent politician (the first Proteus storyline). Again, no mention as to who stopped the killer mutant. And on, and on. The first time that mutants got any good press or publicity in the minds of the average citizens of the Marvel Universe was in the mid-80's when the X-Men publicly sacrificed their lives to save the city of Dallas from annihilation (leading to their rebirth and hidden years in Australia in the late 80's/90's). Up until then, it was nothing but politicians and talking heads holding up Magneto as the sterotypical mutant with no public counter from the good guys other than Xavier, who everyone thought was human, talking about morality and how genetics don't define someone as good or bad. A very hard sell when you have Magneto, Mystique, and the Brotherhood acting in public as terrorists for the 'mutant cause'. Think about the first time you heard the term 'Muslim' or 'Palestinian'. If you're a child of the 70's and 80's like me, chances are good it was in connection with some form of terrorist act. And that's how you start thinking of them because that's how the media only ever shows them. Later on, of course, you learn that things are not exactly that clear cut or simple; that much of the news we get is condensed for easy 'understanding'. One only needs to look at the wave of Islamophobia washing over us to see the mirror of how the media portrays mutants in the Marvel Universe. There are horrific, barbaric acts being carried out in the name of Islam, and the general public wonders why the moderate Muslims don't speak out. The reality is that they do speak out, as loudly as they can each time, but such things aren't shown by the news media because there's no ratings in it. So, in a great twit of irony, Xavier enforcing a silence surrounding the existence of the X-Men actually fuels the anti-mutant hysteria.

3. It's about the children. Mutant powers emerge in adolescence, when parents are still protective, sometimes overprotective, of their children. When Trayvon Martin was killed, millions of African-American parents saw their own children facing that fate. Parents in the Marvel Universe face something similar in having fear and paranoia of their children suddenly gaining powers or turning into something 'other'. There's a certain 'there but for the grace of God go I' sort of mentality when the news talks about some kid suddenly manifesting powers and nuking a school. Or a mob throwing stones at a child who now has lizard-like features. It's another way the media fuels the paranoia and fear, when every instance you see of mutant powers manifesting on the nightly news is either a monster being unleashed or a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. Even if the truth is that the majority of mutant activations happen quietly with no visible side effects, all the media reports about, much less knows about, is 'Lizard Boy terrorizes classmates, film at 11'. With the constant barrage, Marvel Universe parents start worrying about their children becoming 'freaks'. Parents already freak out about normal teenage surliness and rebellion, wondering if drugs are the cause of the change in their sweet child's attitude. Now it's "Johnny just told me to shut up and that i don't understand him....Is he becoming a mutant?" Parents do stupid things and jump to stupid conclusions when they can't understand what's going on with their kids, or forget what they were like when they were that age. Wild, outlandish theories become plausible. I lived through the 'Satanic Panic' of the 80's, when heavy metal music was a path straight to the Devil, never minding the fact that my grandparents' generation had already labeled Elvis and the Beatles as Devil's music during my parent's generation. And let's not even go into Role Playing Games. While it seems counter-intuitive, the sad fact is that desperate and confused parents often do things that harm their children when faced with situations and behaviors beyond their understanding. Children sent to rehabilitation centers that employ torture and brainwashing techniques to cure all sorts of 'behaviors' are all too frighteningly common in the real world, and I have no doubt that the parents that send their child to one of those facilities truly loves them and is trying to do what's best for them in their own minds.

4. It's about the fear of extinction. Most people understand the concept of evolution. And they understand the idea that at one point, Neanderthals were out evolved by Cro-Magnons and became extinct. Now, here come mutants which are the next step in evolution and humanity sees the fate of the Neanderthal as it's own fate. It also down't help that in terms of origin, mutants outnumber other metahumans by a significant margin; at a high point, I think there were an estimated 15,000 mutants worldwide compared to a few thousand of all other metahumans. And then there's predictions on the news like 'the last human will be born in 2025, all children born from then on will be mutants', or whatever the storyline in Marvel was. Marvel citizens aren't afraid of being replaced by metahumans because most everyone knows that it's kind of a pain in the ass to become a metahuman in general. Exposure to radiation, take part in a secret government program, build yourself a suit of high-tech armor, be born an extra-dimensional god...these are no everyday occurrences. But there are millions of babies being born every day. And any one of them can be a mutant, just by chance. It can't be controlled, it can't be predicted, it can't be stopped. It's a different set of defying the odds: 99,999 times out of 100,000, being exposed to massive doses of cosmic radiation is going to be lethal. It's that one freak occurrence that grants powers. But any of those million babies born today could have won the genetic lottery, and there's no way of knowing which until it's too late. To make matters worse, they are told by scientific experts and mutant terrorists that mutants will replace humanity; it's only a matter of time.

Well, this has probably gone on too long already, so we'll leave it at: Marvel mutants are the subject off irrational hatred and fear because humans as a whole are susceptible to hating and fearing things that are different, and the hatred and bigotry are fueled by the mass media.

Of course, it's your game idea @Entropy, and if you want to skip it, go right ahead.

There's advantages of having 'This Work' over 'Based On'

1. Basic familiarity. If you say, for example, you're building a Middle Earth game set 50 years before 'The Hobbit', fans both hardcore and casual have a general idea of what to expect: The One Ring hasn't been found, Gondor and Arnor are separate nations, the Dwarves have fled Lonley Mountain, etc. Also, they can use tons of online resources to familiarize themselves with more specifics. You can slide into the game easier.

If, on the other hand, you say your game is 'inspired by Middle Earth, about 50 years before The Hobbit', things get murky and assimilation isn't as quick. A prospective player needs to find out what's the same, what's different. Is there one Elven culture or has it been split into multiples? Are magic users possible or are the wizards demi-gods? Are the Harradrim, if they exist, good, evil, or neutral? Is there a single, all powerful artifact to quest for? It can make for a longer period of acclimatization.

2. Being 'This Work' rather than 'Inspired By' means that, for better or worse, FC's that players can relate their characters to. I don't mean directly have ties to, but more 'Okay, this is a Buffy TVS game, and there's a Buffy, so there's this girl running around staking vampires; how does my character, who's an independent monster hunter, feel about/relate to that?' FC's also tie into the concept of 'points of reference' that make acclimatization easier.

3. The pastiche/fan-fic effect. Many creative writers first express their creativity by writing in established universes. This isn't something to look down on or belittle, it just is. It's also not a comment on quality of writing, either. I find it's the same with 'This Work' MU's; people trying to express their creativity by working in an established universe. It helps in that you don't have to do any world-building; just create a character to plug in and go. Some people move beyond that, some people don't; either way, again, it goes to having direct points of references to work with.

4. The 'What If?' Somewhat related to point 3, especially common in comic book games. It's a structured way of examining new aspects to a familiar character. What if Superman and Captain America actually co-existed in the same universe? Would Superman have grown up hearing about the heroics of Captain America and idolized him? How would Captain America react to meeting this living god that can shatter the world, but instead fights for the same values because he was an inspiration to Superman? How would you handle epic stories like 'The Dark Phoenix Saga' or 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' if you had been one of the major characters? Just having universes mix or playing in a single universe can cause players to examine other options, seek out 'better ways' than how things were resolved 'in canon'.

Anyways, just my .02

@arkandel I do indeed alter systems with problematic mechanics. Example: AD&D 1 & 2e with female characters having a cap on Exceptional Strength (the old 18/100 scale). This actually leaves the strongest possible female character with a To Hit in melee mod 2 points lower than the strongest possible male character; a 10% lesser chance to hit.

I also disallow negative penalties to Mental stats like Intelligence and Wisdom due to race, although I still keep racial bonuses to such.

With older, published modules, I try to balance out bandits and raiders so they're not all of a single 'bad' race like Orcs or Goblins or Gnolls. I try to present antagonist as not inherently bad due to race, but because of active choices the antagonist has made.

So yeah, I do try to GM according to my professed beliefs. And my players respect and appreciate those efforts