Building On History
The Freedom City campaign setting is built on an alternate history filled with comic book elements. While much of the city's extensive history exists primarily in the background, providing color and flavor to the setting, there are plenty of potential adventure hooks to be found there as well.
Chapter 7 of Freedom City talks about ways to use the setting's history in adventures and creating characters. Here we take a look at the important events making Freedom City what it is and leading up to the present day where your heroes begin making history of their own!
Freedom City Timeline
Circa 2 million BC: The Serpent People found the Empire of Lemuria in what will become the Pacific Ocean.
Circa 100,000 BC: The alien Preservers first visit Earth and tamper with humanoid genetics, taking various samples with them, which they use to "seed" other worlds with humanoid life.
Circa 50,000 BC: The Preservers make their last visit to Earth. They build a city on the far side of the Moon and place a human colony there before they depart.
Circa 20,000 BC: Humans advanced by the Preservers found the island nation of Atlantis.
Circa 10,000 BC: War between human-controlled Atlantis and serpent-controlled Lemuria triggers a great cataclysm, sinking both island continents. Atlantean survivors scatter, some founding the Utopian society, others the hidden city of Ultima Thule.
Circa 9500 BC: The Atlanteans rediscover the surface world and fight a war with Athens.
Circa 3000 BC: The Egyptian sorcerer Tan-Aktor betrays and murders Prince Heru-Ra. The Greek gods grant Daedalus immortality after the death of his son Icarus.
Circa 1200 AD: English Lord Richard Beaumont, renowned for his skill in archery, meets his time-displaced descendant, Fletcher Beaumont III (the Bowman). Bowman substitutes for Lord Beaumont at an archery tournament set up to trap him.
1606: Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, founded.
1630: Landing of settlers in Great Bay at the future site of Freedom.
Buccaneers claim Tortuga, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, in the Caribbean. Tales of the legendary Crimson Corsair spread as far as Freedom.
1631: Freedom officially founded with the building of its first common house and town hall.
1669: Founding of Bayview.
1694: Prophet's Crusade—witch-hunts begin in the Freedom area. Prosecutor Lucius Cabot responsible for the conviction of several suspected of witchcraft.
1696: Elijah Prophet leaves Freedom, ending the infamous witch-hunts.
1698: Founding of Port Regal.
1719: Founding of Kingston.
1745: Founding of Hanover.
1770: Initial protests against the excesses of British troops in Freedom, Boston, and New York.
1773: Kingston Tea Party (a show of solidarity with Colonial rebels in Boston)
1775: Battle at Lexington Green and the start of the American War of Independence.
1776: The Declaration of Independence signed. American and British troops report the first sightings of a mysterious masked woman who becomes known as "Lady Liberty." The Minuteman first appears in the Boston area.
1779: American Major Joseph Clark wins decisive victories over the British, driving them from Freedom and the surrounding area.
1781: The British surrender to the American army at Yorktown.
1787: United States constitution framed and ratified.
1789: Incorporation of Freedom City.
1799: Establishment of Freedom College on the outskirts of the city.
1825: Establishment of Freedom City University.
Freedom City's first daily newspaper—the Freedom Ledger—begins publication under the ownership of the Beaumont family.
1861–1865: American Civil War fought.
1889: Freedom City celebrates its centennial.
1890: Jack-a-Knives terrorizes the red light districts of Freedom City.
The vampire lord Dracula terrorizes London.
Sioux shaman (and Master Mage) Broken Crow dies at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
Occult rituals by the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign are thwarted by mages of the Order of Light.
1908: A massive explosion in Tunguska, Siberia flattens everything in a 35-mile radius. The cause remains unknown, with theories ranging from a rogue comet or meteor to an alien vessel or microscopic black hole.
1912: The S.S. Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage. Although the ship struck an iceberg, some later scholars suggest the Atlanteans were responsible, although there has never been any evidence to support this theory.
1914–1918: World War I fought in Europe.
1918: Centurion's life-pod enters Earth's dimension and lands west of Freedom City.
Thule Society founded in Europe based on ancient legends of the "lost land" of Ultima Thule.
1925: Police reports and newspapers attribute disrupted gangland activities to a mysterious crime-fighter called the Ghost.
1927: Johnny Danger delivers "Six Fingers" Scocci to police and breaks up the Tomo mob.
The Bluesman fights mob influence in the West End.
1928: Aurora Press produces pulp adventures of Johnny Danger, the Ghost, Bluesman, and others. Their stories influence the formative years of young Mark Leeds (the future Centurion).
1935: Archeologist Adrian Eldrich discovers the lost Temple of Sirrion and inadvertently awakens Malador the Mystic. Eldrich becomes Earth's new Master Mage.
Wilhelm Kantor becomes an initiate of the Thule Society and begins studying black magic.
1938: Centurion first appears, preventing a robbery at the First National Bank by lifting the getaway car off the ground with his bare hands, bullets bouncing harmlessly off him.
Midnight prevents a robbery by bogus "Martians" during Orson Wells' broadcast of War of the Worlds.
The Thule Society makes contact with the superhuman inhabitants of Ultima Thule, who erase their memories of the encounter after rejecting the notion of "Aryan superiority." However, one rogue Ultiman named Kal-Zed chooses to initiate contact with the Nazis, posing as a "sport" superhuman.
1939: The Freedom Eagle first appears.
The first non-American "mystery man" debuts when der Übermensch (Kal-Zed) appears in Germany. A number of German supers follow.
1940: The first Bowman makes his public debut, followed by Johnny Rocket.
Lantern Jack makes his first confirmed appearance in the modern era.
1941: A new Lady Liberty makes her first appearance in Washington D.C.
Nazi mastermind Wilhelm Kantor grants Nacht-Krieger his shadow-powers and lures a group of heroes into an ambush in Poland. Three are killed but the survivors go on to form the Allies of Freedom.
A German U-boat torpedoes and sinks a European luxury liner. American singer Lynn Sidon is among those missing and presumed dead, although she is actually rescued by Atlanteans.
The Japanese attack the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Dr. Tomorrow arrives from the future with the prediction that the Axis will win the war if history as he knows it remains unchanged.
President Roosevelt announces the formation of the Liberty League.
1942: Several new heroes and heroines appear across America and Europe.
The Patriot first appears in Boston and joins the Liberty League.
First appearance of the Siren along Freedom City's waterfront.
The Human Tank and Gunner appear in Port Regal and soon fight overseas in Europe, joining the Allies of Freedom.
Formation of the first Crime League in Freedom City, composed of costumed criminals threatened by the activities of the Liberty League.
1945: Nacht-Krieger kills many of the members of the Allies of Freedom. White Rose and White Thorn imprison him at the bottom of the ocean near Freedom City at the cost of their own lives.
Germany surrenders to the Allies.
The United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders, ending the Second World War.
1946: The Crimson Katana murders the Human Tank and Gunner in occupied Japan.
Siren marries Prince Thallor of Atlantis and leaves the surface world for her new home.
1947: Several UFO sightings reported as a result of a Grue/Lor skirmish in Earth's solar system. A Grue scout ship crashes near Roswell, New Mexico. The wreckage and the bodies of the crew are taken into government custody.
1950: A group of Grue scouts begin infiltrating and spying on the United States government.
1954: Hepcat, beat poet and vigilante, begins operating in the Fens area of Freedom City. Heroes thwart a secret Grue invasion of Earth.
1955: The HUAC hearings force the conscientious disbanding of the Liberty League.
The Freedom Eagle and Bowman retire.
After stopping King Cole and his Blackbirds, Midnight goes underground and is never heard from again.
1960: Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld, invades Freedom City with an undead army. A number of heroes band together to fend off the invasion. The heroes remain together to combat similar threats, founding the Freedom League.
1961: Dr. Alexander Atom makes his home in Freedom City, purchasing the newly constructed Goodman Building and moving there with his wife Anne and their daughter Andrea.
1962: The U.S. government establishes AEGIS (the American Elite Government Intervention Service), appointing Jack Simmons (formerly the Patriot) as its first director.
1964: AEGIS opens Blackstone Penitentiary off the coast of Freedom City, a prison specially designed to hold superhuman inmates, moving criminals from existing prisons.
Freedom City faces a British invasion when the Beatles visit the city. The Freedom League stops the musical mastermind Maestro from using the band to mind-control thousands of screaming fans.
1965: Omega and the forces of the Terminus pierce the dimensional barriers and invade Freedom City. Omega and his army are driven back by the League and Dr. Atom.
Sea-King (the son of Siren and Prince Thallor of Atlantis) joins the Freedom League.
1966: The Freedom Friends premieres, a cartoon very loosely based on the Freedom League's real adventures. Although campy and childish, the show is a hit, but only lasts until 1970 when legal issues and "creative differences" with the League lead to its cancellation. It remains a cult classic, popular with new generations of fans and collectors.
1969: Earth takes its "giant leap for mankind" with the first lunar landing, which draws the attention of the inhabitants of Farside City.
Freedom City mourns the death of Chester Brown, blues music great and former hero as the gang-busting Bluesman. Mayor Herbert Huntington honors him with a statue in Liberty Park.
Blackstar and Star Knight arrive on Earth. Star Knight later joins the Freedom League.
A scouting party from the Grue Unity arrives on Earth. They attempt to weaken Earth's defenses by impersonating the Freedom League. Although the Grue are soon exposed and repelled, the deception shakes public confidence in the League.
1971: Fletcher Beaumont, Jr., partner of the second Bowman, retires as Arrow due to his struggle with alcoholism. Although the story never goes public, Bowman retires not long thereafter.
The first annual Chester Brown or "C.B." Blues Festival takes place in Freedom City's Liberty Park.
1972: The Raven confronts his archenemy Dr. Sin and suffers crippling injuries while destroying Sin's airship fleet. He marries Dr. Sin's daughter Jasmine by the end of the year and hangs up his cape and cowl. Their daughter, Callie Summers, is born the following year.
Lady Liberty's powers fade and eventually disappear altogether. She continues to operate for a time without them, but eventually chooses to retire.
1973: Dracula, lord of vampires, stalks the streets of Freedom City.
1974: Fletcher Beaumont, Jr., now in recovery, adopts the identity of Bowman with Ethan Keller as the new Arrow, each the third person to continue the legacy of the Daring Duo.
1975: Daedalus leaves Earth on board his starship Icarus to explore the galaxy.
Black Avenger quits the Freedom League, deciding he can do more good as a solo hero.
1977: Four prostitutes in Freedom City's Fens neighborhood are murdered. The killer turns out to be Jack-a-Knives, although the public believes it is a copycat imitating the crimes of the 19th century serial killer.
The Atom Family, including daredevil Jack Wolf and a young debunker of the paranormal called Mentac the Magnificent, explore other dimensions, outer space, and the deepest recesses of the Earth. Although they fend off alien invasions, rampaging dinosaurs, and would-be conquerors while exploring lost worlds, fantastic ruins, and the inner Earth, many of the Atom Family's adventures do not become widely known to the public.
Due to pressures in his work and personal life, Bowman secretly begins drinking again.
Star Knight leaves Earth to return to Citadel, taking Blackstar there for trial and imprisonment.
1978: The Daring Duo suffers a humiliating public defeat due to a drunken Bowman, who retires in disgrace. Arrow defeats the Shark Syndicate alone, and continues to operate on his own, refusing to adopt the name Bowman.
1979: Lucius Cabot returns to Freedom City for the first time in a century and moves the law firm of Cabot, Cunningham & Crowley from New York to Freedom City.
Brainstorm and Scarab sacrifice themselves to save the Freedom League from the mental domination of the Scions of Sobek, long-dead Egyptian sorcerer-priests, awakened by the machinations of SHADOW. The Freedom League begins a series of reorganizations and changes.
1980: Ethan Keller adopts the code-name Archer and begins a ruthless war on drug-lords and organized crime. Unlike his predecessors, Archer sometimes uses lethal force to strike fear among the criminals of the city.
1981: Two members of the Freedom League—Tectonic and Halogen—die stopping the rampage of the Katanarchists, led by the Crimson Katana. Centurion disbands the League before more lives are lost.
1984: The wedding of Andrea Atom and Prince Mentac marks the end of the original Atom Family's adventuring careers. Jack Wolf leaves Freedom City to become a mercenary.
Franklin Moore elected Mayor of Freedom City on a platform of "zero-tolerance" for crime and vigilantism. Costumed heroes are outlawed, and even some stalwarts like Centurion are forced to stop operating in Freedom City.
1985: Castle Comics starts up in New York City and buys up the rights to the pulps and comics properties of the long-defunct Aurora Press and Aurora Publishing Group.
Maximus Atom is born. Anne Atom dies from complications due to cancer.
In defiance of the Moore Act, Archer forms FORCE Ops, uniting a young (sometimes brutal) cadre of heroes to fight Mayor Moore's corrupt political machine as well as more standard menaces and enemies. They new heroes are branded as outlaws.
1986: Tess Atom is born.
1988: Victoria Atom is born.
1989: Harry Wiseman takes the helm of Castle Comics and immediately plans the move of its central publishing house and offices to Freedom City.
Chase Atom is born.
Freedom City celebrates its bicentennial.
1992: Michael O'Connor Jr.'s "No Moore" campaign wins him the mayoral election by a landslide—particularly after FORCE Ops exposes some of Franklin Moore's criminal ties. Mayor O'Connor devotes his efforts (and considerable personal fortune) toward rebuilding people's trust in their leaders and in Freedom City.
1993: The Terminus Invasion. The armies of Omega invade Freedom City. The largest alliance of heroes ever seen unites to repel the invaders. Many heroes die or are seriously injured in the battle. Centurion sacrifices himself to shatter Omega's support armor, forcing the overlord to retreat back into the Terminus. Freedom City and the world mourn the loss of their greatest hero.
Dr. Metropolis makes his presence known in Freedom City. FORCE Ops is no more in the aftermath of the invasion, leaving Freedom City without a team of heroes.
Jack Wolf returns to Freedom City, with Andrea Atom and Mentac missing and presumed dead following Omega's defeat. Dr. Atom, himself dying of cancer, transfers his intellect into a holographic computer system. Jack becomes the legal guardian of the Atom children.
Mayor O'Connor repeals the Moore Act, making superheroes legal in Freedom City once again. A grateful city welcomes their return with open arms.
1994: A group of heroes re-establishes the Freedom League, and it quickly becomes the world's premier superhero team.
Mayor O'Connor establishes Honor Day, the annual citywide holiday to commemorate the defeat of Omega and the sacrifice of the Centurion and other fallen heroes, with the dedication of the Sentry Statue in Riverside Park
1995: Malador the Mystic takes control of Dr. Metropolis and has him seal up five occupied buildings for a ritual sacrifice on a massive scale. Eldrich, Lantern Jack, and Siren defeat the enthralled hero and the evil sorcerer. Malador appears slain when Dr. Metropolis drops a building on him, but reappears to battle Eldrich the following year.
1996: Mayor O'Connor wins re-election.
1998: The next generation of the Atom Family becomes well known when Dr. Atom's four grandchildren develop super-powers.
1999: Despite worldwide fears of computer chaos, the Freedom League handily defeats the Millennium Bug and his Y2K Drones.
2000: Michael O'Connor Jr. wins re-election to a third term in office.
The Millennium Bug, with some extradimensional help from the Terminus, wreaks havoc by freeing the inmates of Blackstone. While the Bug and most others meet defeat that night, it takes the world's heroes more than six months to recapture all the escapees, the last being the Green Man after his defeat by the Next-Gen.
Jack Simmons, the Patriot, passes away in a government hospital. His memories and personality are downloaded into an advanced android, allowing Simmons to continue working as a government agent behind the scenes.
2001: An alliance of super-villains destroys Freedom Hall and seriously wounds or disables most of the Freedom League. Daedalus defeats the villains apparently by himself, though unconfirmed rumors suggest he had aid from the mysterious Foreshadow. The League rebuilds Freedom Hall to its current splendor within the year.
Duncan Summers, the original Raven, opens the Claremont Academy in Bayview. He begins teaching the next generation of super-powered youngsters about the deeds and the sacrifices of all those who came before them.
2002: The Centurion reappears, claiming to have been trapped in the Terminus for years. He turns out to be an imposter created by Omega to infiltrate Earth's heroes. Chase Atom exposes the deception and the false "Alpha Centurion" is defeated and trapped in the Zero Zone.
The Freedom League and the Atom Family stand off against Atlanteans preparing to invade the surface world. The Next-Gen travels to Atlantis with their teammate Nereid to help free her father and the rest of the Atlantean royal family from the clutches of the Deep Ones, who have seized control of Atlantis using the Serpent Scepter. The Atlanteans are freed and the invasion averted.
Omega attempts to destroy the multiverse with a series of cosmic bombs. Only last-minute intervention by a small band of heroes and the cosmic entity known as the Norn saves all creation from annihilation.
2003: The Green Man co-opts and uses Dr. Metropolis' power to turn Freedom City into a primeval rainforest. Freed by fellow heroes, Metropolis reclaims his power and imprisons the Green Man deep within the Earth.
2004: With the escape of the rogue Blackstar, Mentor appoints police officer Maria Montoya the new Star Knight of Earth's sector of space.
Fletcher Beaumont III, the fourth Bowman, graduates from the Claremont Academy and joins the Freedom League.
The Grue Unity launches an invasion of Earth. The Freedom League and its allies—including numerous reserve and inactive members—manage to hold off the alien fleet. Chase Atom defeats the Grue Meta-Mind in psychic combat with the aid of the Moonstone and Earth's gathered psychics and mystics. Star Knight officially joins the Freedom League following the invasion.
2005: The Freedom League builds a satellite headquarters dubbed "the Lighthouse" and greatly expands its ranks to act as guardians of the entire world. Freedom Hall becomes the team's local outpost in Freedom City.
