It is the Dawn of the Age of Heroes and Villains. And you are one of them.

**Breakthrough:** the sudden appearance of one's superpower. Often at a time of life or death stress. And in other cases creating such stress as the new power flares up before one has a chance to learn control.

Your breakthrough was not pleasant. You are still trying to cope with this change.

**Generation P:** Those having breakthrough between the onset of puberty and age 25. The interactions between their budding powers and their naturally changing body and brain chemistry almost ensure traumatic or at least very angstful young powered people.

You heard there was a place for those trying to cope with their breakthrough. Its known but has not been shutdown or destroyed. You made your way there. It turned out to be a Cafe.

**P-Testing:** A genetic test to identify those who might develop powers and what sort. Federal Legislation is now proposed to enlist all who test 'Power-Positive' in the military and to make testing mandatory. The media has published repeated exposes to demonstrate that the test is a scam. This has not altered government policy but has provided enough evidence for the courts to prevent executive action.

The alley outside smelled of fear, and you saw a girl with wings of blood approaching the door... and her wings vanished. She looked startled and steps back and they reappeared. You waited and watched her experiment. Apparently powers don't work in the immediate vicinity of the Breakthrough Cafe. As you approach you notice a small note in the window. "All are welcome. Play nice. Chill."

**Support The Right to Be Arms!:** Bumper stickers being mailed to NRA members last month. Current court rulings suggest that powers must be treated either as trained skills and thus not inherently controllable by government, or as natural weapons and thus protected by the Second Amendment.

# What this game is and is not This is a superhero game about the people inside the powers. About coming to terms with what you can do and the trauma that revealed all of that. About talking to your peers and figuring out yourself and your place in the world.

All active uses of powers will be handled through short blackbox scenes outside of gamespace. To keep play focused on interactions no complex crimes,lengthy patrols, or Battle Royales will be involved. # Areas to Consider Any conflicts will be resolved by roleplaying unless 'taken outside' to a black box with a staff expediter if there are disagreements or questions. Characters are co-created by the players. For the richest connectivity use of facebook and google drive and docs are required. They are not mandatory but lack of connections can hurt your play. Some character backgrounds may contain triggering traumas chosen by that player. We will poll the players on trigger topics as part of base casting to warn folks early. # The world The world is ours with the addition of powered individuals, before society has fully adjusted.

A few years ago the world changed with the sudden theft and equally sudden return of the Mona Lisa. The thief was revealed as quick talking fellow referred to as **The Wolf**, apparently inspired by an anime character. The vigilante who left him in the Bastille, was dubbed **La Republique** by the right wing press but despite an active hunt by the Surete her real identity remains unknown.

Fires in California appear to have transformed one firefighter into **Pyros, the Man of Flames**, who continues to do his job with extraordinary powers.

Sections of the Middle East are no long safe to fly over as winged beings interdict civilian or military travel and are engaged in an active battle in the skies. Madagascar suffered a sudden coup and is now known as Freeland. Despite a major blockade by ANZUS forces and a failed attempt by African union troops to invade a high tech civilization appears to be growing there and refugees from other parts of the world are being welcomed, and indeed transported there by unknown means.

More liberal states have recruited several powered individuals into their state law enforcement arms but not their National Guard units for obvious reasons. NY, MA, CA are three such states and boast a dozen powered LEOs or support personnel.

Psychology Today published an article on **Asocial Hypercognitive Syndrome** profiling **Dr. Horrific**. Modern Psychology published an article on Comics and Media in Modern Delusional Criminals, also profiled **Dr. Horrific**. Variety discussed the challenges of Parody and Intellecutal Property, with the example of **Dr. Horrific**.

Two powered jocks adopted the name **The Hammer** and were arrested having a fist fight in a park by powered police officer, The Patriot.

It is the Dawn of the Age of Heroes and Villains. And you are one of them.

Your breakthrough was not pleasant. You are still trying to cope with this change.

You heard there was a place for those trying to cope with their breakthrough. It is known but has not been shutdown or destroyed. You made your way there. It turned out to be a Cafe.

The alley outside smelled of fear, and you saw a girl with wings of blood approaching the door... and her wings vanished. She looked startled and steped back and they reappeared. You waited and watched her experiment. Apparently powers don't work in the immediate vicinity of the Breakthrough Cafe. As you approach you notice a small note in the window:

All are welcome. Play nice. Chill.

**This is a game of player created characters and trauma and dealing with them and helping others deal with theirs. Players will take the roles of heroes, vigiliantees, villians, henchmen, and bartenders talking on neutral ground. There is a real world out there and you can "step out" if you need to use powers but those interactions will be brief and adjudicated based on the plans you work out inside the Cafe. The game focus is on character interactions inside, not powers outside**

The first few waitlist characters will be contacted about any possible short characters and support roles.

It is the Dawn of the Age of Heroes and Villains. And you are one of them.

Your breakthrough was not pleasant. You are still trying to cope with this change.

You heard there was a place for those trying to cope with their breakthrough. It is known, but has not been shut down or destroyed. You made your way there. It turned out to be a Cafe.

Someone organized a secret underground fighting tournament for powered people -- and this month there is a special prize offered for the winner, the Sapphire of the Seas. You and the other competitors are getting together beforehand at Chill's Cafe The capes are getting together prior to an underground fighting match which is happening THIS VERY NIGHT to meet up with fellow competitors and get to know the faces behind the fists. And maybe deal with a few side issues.

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All characters are prewritten as gender neutral and can be customized to player's prefered genders at runtime. If you want a player-written or returning character please speak with the GMs early and we will try and fold them in.

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*****. NOTE with the spread of Omicron the team ask all players in incorpoate a protective mask into your costume and charaxter motivation. Easier for us than for many games. While situations may change we remain concerned about everyone's safety and may set higher standard than the Convention feels it can. If this is a problem please switch to another game we will be glda to see you next time or in the on line version. .*****