Thursday, December 28, 2017

In The Shadow Of Giants: The Hidden World

Influences: Jackie Chan Adventures, Xiaolin Showdown, TMNT, Biker Mice From Mars, Ben 10, GI Joe, Hellboy, Battle Toads, Bucky O'Hare, Power Rangers, Godzilla, The Creature From 50,000 Fathoms

The world is not as it appears to be. Beneath the surface lies a world of hidden adventure. A world of Magic and Mad Science, Demons and Aliens, Martial artists and Super spies, Mutants and Strangeness. This is the Shadow World.

It all started in 1953. That is when the world changed. An atomic bomb test above the Arctic Circle awoke a frozen giant, the Rhedosaurus. 33 feet tall and 98 feet long it first came to the attention of the general public when it rampaged through New York City. The Beast was finally brought down with a prototype weapon constructed by a lone scientist. If this had been the end of it, it would have been forgotten as just one of those things that happen. However bigger things were on the horizon. Much bigger.

The following year a creature of immense proportion attacked the recovering island nation of Japan. It appeared to be a lizard or a dinosaur standing 167 feet tall. Tearing through through Japan right after a nuclear reactor accident, thus starting the rumor that it was nuclear powered. It was thought destroyed when an experimental oxygen destroyer weapon was used against it. It has returned numerous times over the years, however. Sometimes it protects the island nation, sometimes it attacks it. No one is sure why.  This creature would continue to grow in size and power as the years wore on, in modern times it stands over 330 feet tall.
As various nations began to scramble to develop weapons and defenses to deal with this new potential threat aliens made contact with earth. One group sought to control the giant monsters of the earth to destroy all life, and one group sought to protect the planet. The first group managed to control a giant flying creature and wreak some havoc before Godzilla stepped in to destroy it and the alien menace. The other group gathered together a small group of humans with great potential and formed the first Enhanced Combat Ranger Squad. Using combing mecha  and martial arts these heroes defended the earth for years, as the monsters increased and the alien threats grew, so too did the training and mecha of the Ranger forces.

The Kaiju seemed to have an impact on the Mana reserves of the planet, sorcery began to return, monsters and talismans awoke from thousand year slumbers. These artifacts began to have odd effects on the surrounding world. Heroes began t rise to deal with these threats, Martial Arts began to be more than simply fighting. Through them a practitioner could awaken their Ki and ancient masters began to be able to do all the feats legend attributed to masters long ago. The secret societies and ancient orders began to once more ply their mystic trade.

Also during this time came the genetic revolution. Using alien and Kaiju DNA scientists were able modify the genome to increase human ability and even awaken psychic abilities. Due to the nature of the spliced DNA, these psychics had some sort of attachment to the Kaiju, some have even formed friendships with giant monsters or some control over the monster. As much of this mess as possible was kept secret. The knowledge of the Kaiju couldn't be contained, but beyond that aliens, super soldiers, aliens, and the rest were kept from the general public.

Aliens
Mutram: Masters of genetics and social engineering they are highly intelligent pacifists. They have been steadily enhancing their species intelligence, longevity, and learning ability. A small scout craft crashed in Japan during the Nara period and the Mutram scouts have been subtly influencing earthling technology growth with the goal of eventually repairing their ship and getting home.
Raton Republic: Long ago they were uplifted to sentience by the Mutrom, the Ratons eventually tried to conquer their Mutrom gods, and the Mutrom retreated across the galaxy. The Raton's have formed a Oligarchy that they refer to as a republic. They have conquered a great deal of the area of galaxy surrounding Earth. They have set their sights on Earth. They are using certain Kaiju to soften up the earth's defenses.
Arl-Gyarl: Conquerors from beyond the stars, they are descended from pack hunters and they seek to conquer earth and strip it of its biodiversity. They are masters of teleportation technology. They build gateways and send their troops directly to invade. They are currently working on building a gateway beneath a major Earth City(Probably Rio de Janeiro)
Aora: Warrior Scientists who followed the god of science until the last days of their race when the cult of the World Ender took root and began to spread throughout the populace. This led to the end of their home planet, and their civilization. Now they are a dying race, their are maybe a couple thousand in the whole galaxy, most work as mercenaries or the like for small civilizations of the galaxy. In a one on one fight, few can stand against their might.
The Makers: A species that controls the energy field that drives the Giant Mecha used by the Rangers. They travel the universe looking for good men and women to become that planets defenders-Rangers.

Rules
A lot of this can be handled by Very Large Monsters. The Big Monster rules won't come up all that often in regular play. You should probably save the Kaiju for a once a season big showpiece. The characters should probably belong to some sort Organization, so those rules should be pretty handy for that. Psychic powers will be handled through the psychic powers add on, I think it would feel about right in play. Brainstorming would also be central to dealing with the mad science, wild sorcery, and various oddities that populate this strange world.  Mega Stunts would be how you would handle any Magic abilities, Ki Powers, Genetic Enhancements, and the like. Within this world, you have mystics, martial artists, super spies, and mutants all fighting monsters, magic, and aliens. You may use mecha rules from Camelot Trigger to deal with Kaiju, just remember only Rangers may use Combiner Mecha. Having a personal Mecha requires spending two refresh. If you are loaned a Mecha you may spend a fate point to use it for a scene.

And that is the basics of my secret world of cool magic, super science, and magic. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think.

Also +Megan Bennett-Burks and I just finished a Kickstarter for A Far Off Land, A Fate RPG in Two Worlds. It is a game about special people chosen by Eldritch beings to travel between the worlds and protect or destroy both. They are shape shifting masters of primordial magics, and they hold the fate of two worlds in their hands. If you missed the kickstarter and would like to check out the game, you can still get it. Check out the Beta Document.






No comments:

Post a Comment