Alussein-Within
Since 14-Sep-1998.
The inspiration for this campaign came from diverse
sources, such as: a dream I had last year, another campaign that never got started,
Marvel Comics' New Universe line, especially the Starbrand and DP7
titles, and, to a lesser extent, John Byrne's Next Men comics, Mike Mignola's
Hellboy comics and David Cronenberg's Nightbreed movie, which
was based on a book by Clive Barker.
The idea was to create a different "superhero" campaign,
more like a "paranormal" campaign. I wanted people flying, reading other people's
mind and stuff like that, but I didn't want it to be as common place as the
normal superhero world. I also wanted to leave my players guessing, something
that has always been hard to do. I wanted them not to be sure about their abilities,
to not take them for granted.
I think I managed that. However, I had to travel and
now 4,000 miles separate me from my players. But the ideas kept coming and I
had to do something, so I decided to continue the game through e-mail. Before
I had to leave, we used the GURPS system,
my favorite rpg system. Now that the game has moved to the eletronic medium,
I still keep the system in my mind, but I allow more latitude in the flow of
game.
In this page, you'll find information on the players
characters, the non player characters and the campaign, including background.
Unfortunately, all of my players have web access and their characters doesn't
know a lot of what's going on in the campaign world, so don't expect a lot of
data on the background. I'll release it as they find out about it.
The material presented here is my original creation (© Fred Furtado 1996-2008) , intended for use with the GURPS system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.
GURPS is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and the art here is copyrighted by Steve Jackson Games. All rights are reserved by SJ Games. This material is used here in accordance with the SJ Games online policy.
Index
Character Creation
Background
Timeline
Player Characters
Non Player Characters
Campaign
Places
Links
The players could design their characters with up
to 150 points. There were no restrictions on nationality, job or background.
The only thing is that they had to be humans, after all, this was a "normal"
Earth. However, I told them that this would be a paranormal campaign and
that the more points they used for their characters, the less I would have
to create their powers.
Yes, that's right! I would design the powers. My
players had no creative input on them, except for the fact that I tried
to moke the powers have some connection to the character. At first, I had
a lower limit for the complete character (character + powers), 300 points.
But I soon realized that would be unsatisfactory to me, and so I increased
the level to 500 points.
I didn't release the nature of the powers right
away. It took the players a few sessions to find out what their abilities
were. And, even then, they weren't sure about their level of ability and
if they had any more powers.
For this campaign, I wanted to be able to mimic
the comic books power levels. World-shattering supers would be rarer in
this world than in your average four color universe, but I still wanted
them to exist. And, although I really like the GURPS system, its "reallistically
approach" to super-heroes kind of make Superman-type supers difficult to
handle, if not impossible. However, while surfing the Web, a friend of
mine found a solution: a logarithmic
table, designed by David Pulver, that converts damage, DR and strength
for vehicles, weapons and animals into a logarithmic scale, while leaving
the Supers DR and strength, except for weight, unmodified. With
that table, your supers can punch through tanks and survive nuclear bombs
without having to spend millions of points and having characteristics with
four or more digits.
In June of 1990, a big explosion in the stratosphere
causes commotion throughout the planet. Ufologists say that the explosion
was caused by the destruction of a UFO by the United States Air Force.
Others say it was the test of a new weapon. New rumors soon appear. The
American government denies any involvment in the incident and states that
it is also investigating it.
After a few weeks, the press loses interest in the
case.
Four months after the incident, the first paranormal
being appears in China. In the following months, other paranormals show
up all over the world. The reactions to this vary: fear, distrust, adoration
and indiference. Several governments require the paranormals to register.
But, as they did not possess high-level abilities and showed benevolent
or, at least, neutral tendencies, the enforcement of the order is not very
strong.
The situation changes in January, 1992, when, amid
mysterious circunstances, an Egyptian paranormal explodes and obliterates
everything in a 35-kilometer radius, including the city of Cairo. The public
opinion drastically changes. It is almost impossible to find someone with
a positive attitude towards paranormals, usually they either fear or hate
them. A fearful contempt is the most positive reaction one can find. The
governments also become more strict about regulating the paranormal situation.
Several private institutions, whose goal is to study the paranormal phenomenon,
appear. Among them is the Wentworth Clinic, in Springfield, Kansas.
Four years go by, with more paranormals being "absorbed"
by the different governments. No one is really sure what they do with the
paranormals, because secrecy becomes a keyword in all matters involving
paranormals. But rumors include containment camps, undercover duty, research
and military use. Eventually, some governmental paranormal are revealed
to be in specialized units created to counter any paranormal threat. Despite
this agressive "recruitment", some paranormals manage to evade it. A few
become celebrities, like Sentinel, the first super-hero, others simply
do not reveal their powers and carry on with their lives.
Some do not even suspect they are paranormals.
This is a summary of the main events of the campaign. It will be updated as the players find out new information or some significant event, that the player characters knows, happens.
1990
1992
1995
1996
This is a list of the player characters. It includes the name of the player and a brief description of the character. There is also a link to the character write-up, however, as I mentioned above, the players are still figuring out their abilities. So, some information concerning their powers will be omitted. As the players learn more about them, the information will be updated.
Bob Jah (Carlos Augusto)
- a Rastafari from Maranhão, Brazil.
"Guimbinha" Mallone
(Rodrigo "Magoo" Bisaggio) - a repair truck driver from Brooklyn, New York,
USA.
Marco Samptoro Marelli
(Cláudio "JJ" Bustamante) - an Italian systems analyst with connections
to the Mafia.
Nicholas Epadopoulos
(Ricardo "Barney" Reis) - a Greek taxi driver who works in New York, USA.
Paul Chan (Paulino Soares)
- a martial artist actor from Hong Kong, China.
In this section you can find a list of all the important non player characters of the campaign, even if the players haven't met them yet. For the sake of organization, I have grouped the characters according to affiliation.
Wentworth Clinic
This section contains a detailed account of the campaign. Although the text is continuous, I created links to sections that represent the beginning of a sub-arc inside the greater arc of the campaign.
The Gathering
The player characters (PCs) are invited to the Wentworth
Clinic, where they meet each other and find out the truth about the place.
Alussein
On the run, the PCs find Alussein, a hidden city
of paranormals.
Rescue
Together again, the PCs plan to rescue an Ameridian
prisoner from a secret military base.
First Contact
The PCs must stop an alien ship from exterminating the human
race.
This section contains a brief description of the important geographic locations in the campaign. Like the other sections, it will be updated as the campaign proceeds.
The Wentwoth Clinic
Alussein
Area 51
Some links that you might find useful for your campaign.
Superpowered
Roleplaying - This page, maintained by Ulf Andersson, has some
useful stuff for GURPS Supers games, like the logarithmic table
and the cosmic powers rules.
Jeff's
Web Page - If you didn't like David Pulver's logarithmic table,
you can try Jeff Knight's. You will also find write-ups for some famous
heroes.
New Stuff - New
Super Abilities from the writer of GURPS
IST, Robert M. Schroeck.
Check out my other GURPS Supers campaign:
Last Update: 22-May-01