Secret Origins: Sources of Super-Powers

Super-powers in the comic books can come from any of a number of different sources. Mutants & Masterminds covers all these sources in detail, looking at ways you can include them in your own games. Let's take a look at one power source write-up: Super-Science!

Super-Science

The line between science fiction and comic books has been blurry since the very beginning. Many early science fiction writers also wrote comic books, and superhero comics have always included science fiction elements, although they became especially prevalent in the Silver Age of comics. Many comic book heroes (and especially villains) feature science and technology far beyond the understanding of ordinary people.

They Called Me Mad!

A common element of super-science in the comics is the "mad scientist" or "lone inventor." Essentially, some genius discovers or invents something so far beyond conventional science the scientific community is either unable or unwilling to acknowledge it. The inventor's theories are dismissed, applications for grants denied, and even experimental results are rejected as falsified or otherwise "impossible." This usually results in one of two outcomes: either the scientist swears vengeance and turns to a life of crime, or else he is forced to continue his work in isolation, without the usual safeguards and oversight, resulting in some sort of accident. In the first case, the inventor becomes a super-villain, in the second, the experiment ends in the origin of a new super-being of some kind.

But why does the scientific community reject the fruits of super-science? The reason in the comic books is simple: to keep the world portrayed in the stories as close to our own world as possible. If the inventions of super-scientists were commonly available, the comic book world wouldn't resemble ours for very long. So writers either come up with reasons why such advanced technology doesn't proliferate, or they simply gloss it over and assume it doesn't. You can do the same in your own campaign setting, although you may want to decide the reason super-science remains limited. The most common explanations include the following:

• Super-technology is too far beyond the understanding of most people. It takes years to figure out how to replicate it. It may also require rare components or processes, so in the end it's just not economically viable. Extremely wealthy governments, corporations, and individuals might have super-technology, but it isn't mass-produced.
• Governments and corporations deliberately suppress some technology, either because it's potentially hazardous or it could be economically ruinous. Oil companies, for example, might pay a great deal to keep a cheap, clean alternative energy source off the market. The same is true of computer manufacturers and cutting edge new chips, and so forth.
• Super-technology depends on some innate or subconscious power of its inventor. It's not like normal technology, it's more an extension of the inventor's own powers. So it cannot be replicated and may not even work at all outside of its creator's possession. This explains both the uniqueness of super-technology "inventions" and why the scientific community rejects them: they really are impossible ideas that shouldn't work, except somehow they do!
• Some outside force is retarding technological progress, save for a few especially brilliant minds able to overcome its resistance. It might be the work of aliens, interdimensional beings, gods, time travelers, or any number of other things. The scientific community truly is blind to the genius of its most exceptional members, but through no fault of their own.

Intentional Mutation

Experimental procedures can grant super-powers to ordinary test subjects. Usually, there's some reason why the procedure or treatment cannot be easily replicated. It may be a one-time success, or the secret may die with the scientist (killed following the initial success). The process may be dangerous, resulting in death or hideous mutations most of the time. It might be extremely expensive, requiring staggering amounts of time, money, or both. There may be side effects, such as experimental subjects going mad, continuing to mutate, or simply "burning out" and dying after a while.

The less powerful the outcome of the process, the more likely it can be replicated. Villains in the comics often have the capability to create low-powered "super-soldiers" or minions, and the government might have a similar process. Such characters are usually below the setting's normal power level, suffer from serious side effects, or both.

Many intentional mutations are inventors who used themselves as experimental subjects, having no others available. This is particularly common for villains, either seeking great power or the victims of such experiments gone horribly awry.

Other intentional mutations are experimental subjects. Some may be volunteers, others victims experimented on against their will or without their knowledge or consent. Such characters are often bitter and vengeful toward the people responsible for their mutation.

Gadgets and Gear

Otherwise "ordinary" characters may derive their powers from technological gadgets and equipment. A character with a ray gun, an anti-gravity belt, and a force field projector can have the same capabilities as another with innate powers of flight, invulnerability, and energy projection, for example. The prime difference is characters can be separated from their gadgets, which may also malfunction or otherwise not work properly.

Serums and Super-Pills

Exotic chemicals and pharmaceuticals sometimes grant super-powers, usually temporary, although they may be permanent (which becomes more of a case of induced mutation, above). Characters dependent on a drug or serum for their powers may have a power loss complication (when they are deprived on the power's catalyst) and may have other modifiers applied to their powers.

Battlesuits and Iron Men

One of the more common super-science devices is the battlesuit, also known as power-armor. It's a suit of high-tech armor equipped with technology providing a range of super-powers, including (but not limited to) super-strength, flight, offensive weaponry, enhanced senses, and a range of Protection and Immunity effects (particularly life support). The wearer of a battlesuit may be its inventor or simply chosen to pilot it (particularly if the suit originates with the military, a government agency, or a corporation). A battlesuit might even have multiple wearers. If the suit is sufficiently bulky and concealing, most people wouldn't know. Some battlesuit wearers have teams of supporting NPCs providing assistance via remote communication.

A variation on the battlesuit is the mecha, essentially a humanoid tank, inspired by the giant robots of Japanese anime. Mecha have abilities similar to battlesuits, although the GM may permit a mecha to be treated as a vehicle, so long as it's subject to the same rules as vehicles. A mecha functioning as smoothly as a giant-sized character should be acquired as a device or even powers with a Power Loss drawback (when the hero is denied access to the mecha).

Man and Machine

Technology may actually be integrated or implanted into living creatures, creating cyborgs, part flesh and part machine. Cyborg powers are like those of any other character, they simply have a technological descriptor rather than mutation, alien, or the like. A cyborg may have complications or drawbacks based on the need for regular maintenance or even the Power Loss drawback, if there are ways to damage or disable the cyborg's machine parts.

Character Concepts

• A brilliant inventor develops a high-tech suit for peaceful exploration (of space or the ocean, for example). When the military attempts to turn it into a weapon, the inventor steals the plans and the prototype and uses it to fight crime.
• An injured soldier receives bionic implants and replacement organs, creating a "super-soldier" either working for the military or serving as a government agent.
• A young genius has a talent for building useful gadgets out of any collection of spare parts, using them to become a superhero.
• A scientist invents a life-like, intelligent android, gifted with abilities beyond those of humans. When criminals kill its creator, the android embarks on a quest for justice and understanding the nature of humanity.
• A secret government agency trains superheroes and equips them each with devices giving them superhuman powers.

Fini! We hope you've enjoyed this series of articles about the second edition of Mutants & Masterminds. By the time you read this the book should be available in game and book stores everywhere, as well as online in shops such our Green Ronin Online Store. Steve Kenson will assuredly have more to write about his favorite game, so look for more Super-Vision articles in the future.