Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Road to Civil War

This is, again, an idea that's been going through my head recently. With the most current MArvel RPG out, and the new Even book covering the Civil War event just out his past week, I've been reading through that with interest; I found the original comic even to be very uneven, but the idea behind it was an interesting one, and I think it would be a cool thing to play out on the Marvel universe. So, on that topic, here's my pitch.

The world has, for the past several years, been a strange and dangerous place. First there was the freak series of catastrophes that resulted in the Avengers disbanding; then came 9/11, showing us how even unpowered criminals can ruin lives. The world's greatest secret agent, Nick Fury, was forced into retirement when his secret acts resulted in a costly attack on Manhattan, and the world's mutant population - growing into the millions - disappeared almost overnight, leaving only around 200 mutants to try and pick up the pieces.

Things came to a head when a freak lightning and electrical storm - believed by some to be caused by frequent foe of Spiderman, Electro - cut power to the super-powered prison that is the Raft, freeing over 200 imprisoned vigilantes, alien beings, and criminal supervillains. Only a chance assortment of heroes - who have come to be called the New Avengers - managed to keep a terrible event from becoming far, far worse. Even with their help, most of the criminals still managed to escape.

These events, and others like them, have caused the United States Congress to begin looking into an idea that has been put forth a number of times before, but none with serious chance of success - the Super-Human Registration Act, or SHRA. This act will require all super-powered beings living and acting within the borders of the United States to register their real identity with the federal government, secret or not. They will also make themselves available as assistance in matters concerning the hunting and capturing of supervillains and similar criminals. Essentially, all registered super-powered people will work for the government - and all others will be fugitives, hunted down by those who might otherwise have been friends.

Where before such acts have had little chance of passing - even the Mutant Rights Act, put forth to supervise the ability of dangerous mutants to move within society, failed, and mutants have far less popular and public support. But tensions have been building in the nation, and there is a real chance that this act could pass - and being an unregistered person with superpowers, even if they go unused, could become a criminal act.

Whether you choose to portray established Marvel heroes, or create your own, you and your companions, along with many others, have been summoned to testify before Congress on this matter. Just one more major event involving superpowered destruction could make this act a reality, and create a rift in the superhuman community. Friend could fight friend, and teams could be split in two. This is your chance to play a character as a major player in the Civil War event, one that may be greatly different from that of the comics - Captain America may side with the pro-Registration heroes, or Reed Richards might choose to stand with his wife rather than his cold, hard equations. So choose a character, and prepare to walk the road to Civil War.