My current group of four and I are putting together a little game inside our game for some "suicide squad/thunderbolts" action in our very own MSH timeline!

 The idea is simple, it's a chance for villains to get redeemed or at least serve a higher cause. A powerful organization is putting together a team of outlaws to do the dirty work of protecting the planet, or perhaps some other nefarious plan. Since the other big teams are gone seemingly disappeared (The Secret Wars are happening at the moment). Sure there are some forces still in play, but most are out of town, so to speak.

 That leaves you and a rag-tag team of other misfits and dangerous folks to pick up the slack!

 THE WORLD of 1985 is very different from our own in many ways. Yes, neon is still a thing, as are headbands, thigh-high leg-warmers and Madonna just went double platinum with "Like a Virgin" while Tears for Fears reveal what everyone already knows, "Everyone Wants to Rule the World". Beneath all that, the world is only just recovering from the loss of the most powerful superheroes (and villains) that suddenly vanished from the face of the Earth. The nations of Earth have turned to several mercenary organizations to help fill in for the missing heroes. Groups like the private enterprise H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Commission on Superhuman Affairs(CSA).


This message was last updated by the GM at 08:23, Tue 20 July 2021.

A few notes about our 1985...

General State of tech in the world:
  Culturally, this is nearly the same 1985. The tech may be a bit better but the world is still just getting a souped-up Apple IIe computer, it might have a floppy disk drive or a tape deck memory bank. It also may have battery-powered ram sticks. In 1985, cybernetics is not only real, it's been around for twenty years. Genetics are also similarly upgraded, as humanity has discovered the gene-editing protein Isotop-8 Complex in 1930, then Vita-Rays in 1940 and "CRISPR" in 1971.

The Vaults:
 Vault 4 is the newest Vault but funding issues nearly brought the construction to an end when CSA money for the project had to be diverted to several large-scale cleanup efforts. The CSA had to open up the facility to investors to get it to completion. As a result, the entire facility was bought out by the defense contract firm Astra Industries. They will be the first private prison to house supervillains and to develop a corporate mercenary supergroup.

ROBOTICS:
- Rudimentary robotic security is being manufactured, but more like a less lethal ED209 from robocop to support paramilitary operations against supers and remote scouts as perimeter security. They are dumb but efficient. No bloodbaths yet have been publicized. There are several higher-end robotics being prototyped. These sorts of things are often shown off on the nightly news. So far no one in mainstream society knows about the mutant-hunting type of sentinel, though some are thought to exist, for now, they are merely advanced weapons to mobilize against any major threat.

HOW SUPER-CRIMINALS ARE REGARDED:
- The Wideawake Commission is alive and well, and efforts are being made to sway the general public, there are several Sentinel prototypes that've made headlines and usually their spectacular destruction as well. The CSA is mulling over a mutant registration act, but currently, the recent Supercriminal framework legislation is how you all would've had your prisoner rights modified.

- Inhibitors and Dampeners exist that can take away your powers or temporarily limit their effectiveness and are in use, but are large and bulky cuffs and collars. Every SWAT team would have a few pairs of them as standard equipment, but they are expensive and tough to get.

THE LAW:
- The Supercriminal Framework Legislation of 1980, which also has some legal provisions for protecting masked identities, lawyers are required to know their client's identities however to determine a defense strategy. It also signed off on the creation of five Vault prison facilities for housing supercriminals. Basically, though, there have been five to ten years of superhero-friendly laws. However, these laws are also being used as a way of incarcerating more mutants and filling those prisons, and tensions against supers are being strained because of how careless and dangerous supers seem. They've also been let down in a huge way after almost all of the most powerful heroes seemed to have simply abandoned Earth six months ago.

- The law as it stands in 1985 doesn't care much for villain identities, they actually want them to be humiliated for their identities if possible. Non-criminal trials and court dates are flexible on that though, they respect hero identities for the most part. At the Vault you are at, you say you want your name out of the media, they will keep it out. That's what the codenames will be for.

Boiling it down, it's a bad time to be a supervillain and an alright time to be a superhero. Since it's the 80s though, every superhero has their fans and groupies.

1985 POLITICS:
- Earth is governed by the UN, which has been granted much power over interterritorial disputes and legally binding ability to police what is termed as "Super-Events". These are catastrophic events involving extra-natural beings or occurrences. As such, some threats are deemed too dangerous to be allowed to roam freely and have begun a global effort to contain such beings, in close cooperation with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the United States government, so far one of the only governments able to put forth the effort to make such facilities, such as the Vaults. However, some organizations such as the Spetznaz, have also begun to house superhumans and criminals from around the eastern hemisphere in Gulags and within the Siberian Cold Zone(SCZ) where criminals are sent to work the mines.

- Russia is easily the largest and most dangerous of Super-powers right now. They have large numbers of people and economic might, even compared to the great American west. Their abilities greatly boosted by fascism and are the primary sources of the rare metals of tunguskium, adamantium and Isotope-8. As a result of their advances in the sciences, they have placed themselves well beyond most other societies on earth. They have a petulant rivalry with America, but when things get serious, the US usually backs down because of the Russian's strategic advantages.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:16, Fri 20 Aug 2021.

This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 09:14, Sun 05 Sept 2021.

* A completely fictional place!
Red markings are Radiation hotspots and the marked Infiltration point.
Hot Pink are sites of creature activity as of these photos.

• Northward: Business District and multi-story apartment dwellings.
  
• Windgrove: Middle-income dwellings and trailer parks. Heavy Industrial machine shops, trucking, and car dealerships.
  
• Historic Downtown: Old buildings, Apartment Complexes, Middle-income on the eastern side, low rent apartments, and homes. Dive bars, lounge-style diners, nursing homes.
  
• Ashmore: Upper-middle income entrepreneurs and managers. Professional buildings and government services.
  
• Three-Feathers: The Upper-crust neighborhood. About thirty estates and the homes of their middle-income staff.
  
• The Chief Kaneewa Bridge: Large and built tough and permanent with steel girders in the projects of the forties and fifties, this arching bridge could still withstand a bomb.
  
• The Green: A huge flat park in the center of town that has perfectly manicured green grass across its whole area. Popular for picnics and parties.
  
• Farmer's Market Square: Every day there is a market here during the Spring to the Fall season. Now it seems empty from the satellite imagery.
  
• Mercy Hospital: Situated next to the water tower at the southern end of town on the hill, it watches over town like an ominous caretaker. More importantly, it's only a ten-minute Ambulance ride to everywhere in town.

This message was last edited by the GM at 10:27, Sun 05 Sept 2021.