Saturday, August 10, 2019

New Hyperia (Mutants and Masterminds Setting Idea)

The New Hyperia burrough of Port Fontaine is home to one of the largest mutant populations in the world. Wedged between the waterfront heavy burrough of Greenlight and the city center of Fontaine, New Hyperia was a slum following the economic downturn of the 1st World War. Returning soldiers from World War II moved their families out of New Hyperia to the suburban burrough of Franklin, leaving even more empty space and deteriorating infrastructure.



After the first appearance of Mutants after the release of nuclear material during the build up to World War II and it's aftermath, human society across the world ostracized Mutants at best (hate crimes were very common in this era, but would be eclipsed by the horrors of WWII).   They were able to find homes amid the rough edges of New Hyperia. Times were tough for the first generation of mutants, but a few forward thinking members of the mutant community without visible mutations were able to make heavy investments in the community and plant the seeds that would thrive in the early eighties, leading to a bloom of culture, wealth, and affluence in the 2000s.

Pre-World War I


Prior to the 1st World War, New Hyperia’s population provided the labor pool for the dockyards and shipping industries of Greenlight. American warships, commercial shipping vessels, and a host of other aquatic craft slipped their moorings at Greenlight’s docks because of the hard labor and expertise of New Hyperia’s people.

Early 20th Century



The First World War stole a large portion of the population of New Hyperia and after a few disastrous battles in that conflict, left a generation of broken families. Orphaned children filled the streets of New Hyperia, and single mothers were often forced to work multiple jobs to keep a roof over the heads of their families. Tiny trickles of wealth kept the neighborhood from collapsing completely, but the Depression would end that.


When the Great Depression hit, most of the industry of Greenlight suffered. Too few jobs and too many workers led to a near economic collapse in the burrough, and a lot of people suffered. The people with enough money to move out did, and the ones that didn’t spiraled towards crime and other ways to try and make ends meet. Riots, fires, and violent crime were at an all time high until the outbreak of the Second World War.


Young men volunteered in great numbers to get out of the slums and women of all ages took to the factories of Greenlight to fuel the war effort. Their efforts were successful in turning the war effort for the allies and after the war, most of the returning GIs took their families and moved north to Franklin after the war. This left a virtual graveyard of empty buildings and tenements in their wake.


The first mutations appeared in the American population shortly after the end of WWII. Mutation was a traumatic experience for that first generation of mutants, and most changed in terrifying physical ways. No one knows who exactly called the first group of mutants to New Hyperia, but they took to the community and slowly made it their own. By the end of the 1950s, approximately five hundred mutants had moved into the burrough and were making their homes there. A wealthy banker moved into the burrough as well and offered a wealth of financial opportunities to the mutant community, giving them financial stability and the means to grow wealth like the rest of the country.


Mutants during this period were extremely insular and closed ranks to outsiders. The first few years had seen hate crimes, discrimination, and a host of other cruelties put upon the mutants. They were very slow to trust outsiders as a result. The mutants of New Hyperia adopted a “Take care of ourselves first,” attitude.

Late 20th Century



Inroads made by the wealth provided to the mutant community in the 50s started to pay dividends. They elected one of their own to represent the entire community on the Port Fontaine city council, and this led to serious reforms and overhauls with how New Hyperia interacted with the rest of the city. New Hyperia began establishing its own Firehouses and police precincts as well as three hospitals in the early seventies.


New Hyperia has always had a “Mutants first” attitude, but allies and supporters soon found their way into the neighborhood during this time. Support systems started to flourish and the neighborhood underwent a rebirth and revitalization during the eighties. Universal healthcare, basic income,education, and other social policies made citizenship in the neighborhood a desirable thing for everyone, but New Hyperia has very strict laws and policies about its citizenship.

21st Century



New Hyperia’s rebirth during the 20th century has made it a fully formed city in its own right. Boasting an advanced light rail system, a metro bus system, and a dozen other mass transit options, it has the lowest number of cars in any major metropolitan city in the world. It also has some very specific flight and no flight zones (given the number of mutants who have the ability to fly, this comes up a lot).


The Port Fontaine University (centered in New Hyperia), boasts one of the most well respected science departments in the country, with applied genetics and mutant biology being bleeding edge fields of study. The university boasts one of the highest graduation rates in the country and is a cultural center of its own.

New Hyperia in the 21st Century is a center of culture for the Mutant population of the world. More and more Mutants make their way there every year, either as visitors or new citizens. Mutant political leaders are slowly making inroads towards fully integrating the non-mutant population into the neighborhood, but it’s a struggle between three different generations of Mutantkind.

Culture


Mutants (and to a lesser extent, their allies) have created their own culture centered on the mutant experience. They have their own language (created in the early 1960s), a regional cuisine of their own, and a shared experience of coming into their own in a world that wasn’t ready for them.


Mutant culture tends to focus on mutants first, and the rest of the world is secondary, and there are a few who take this to an extremist viewpoint of eliminating non-mutants. The other end of the spectrum are the integretists, who want to incorporate everyone into their world view. Most Mutants, like most people, fall somewhere between the two viewpoints.

Points of Interest


Tomorrow Square



The intersection between Hendersen and Castle is the center of a commercial shopping district that is an international tourist destination. With a combination of flagship stores sitting next to bespoke artisans, it’s an eclectic mix of art, commerce, and entertainment. The northern crossing, made famous by the band The Twisted Skein, features the old Hensley Recording Studio, and a half dozen other music landmarks.

New Hyperia Hall



At 68th and Gorsuch the Hyperia civic building rests. Featuring the administrative offices of the 1st Precinct, the Hyperia central fire station and the Gethsemane rehabilitation facility, New Hyperia Hall (or the Hall as the locals call it) is the center of local government for the neighborhood. This is also the home office of Consensus, a first generation mutant with telepathic abilities. He has represented the neighborhood since the early ‘60s, and is well respected as a neutral party in Mutant disputes.

The White Tower



New Hyperia hosts one of the finest education systems in the country, and it’s one of the few places that offers a Mutant focused curriculum. The public school system has classes and learning opportunities for Mutants integrating into the rest of society. There are three dozen smaller private academies for Mutants seeking Mutant specific education away from the rest of society. These academies form the White Tower.


Centered around Fallkirk and 12th and radiating in 4 blocks out from there, The White Tower district has museums, art galleries and classrooms for Mutants. Founded by First Generation Mutants and ostensibly staffed by Second and Third Generation Mutants, the White Tower schools form the core of the educational opportunities for Fourth Generation Mutants.


The two leading (and diametrically opposed) academies are the Center for Mutant Freedoms, operated by the Mutant rights activist Shockwave, and The Center for Mutant Integration, operated by Dr. Mnemonic. These two First Generation Mutants can’t agree on anything, and have had heated arguments (and a couple of all out brawls over the last sixty years). Their students often continue these disagreements, but they try to keep the peace.



New Hyperia is insular, but has a population of nearly a million citizens, though the unofficial mutant census has upwards of fifteen thousand living in the fifty five square miles that encompass the burrough. The rest of the nearly 1 million residents are supporters and allies of the Mutant cause.


First Generation Mutant



The First Generation of Mutants discovered their powers after the nuclear and atomic testing in the thirties and forties. The first genetic expressions of Mutantkind were often brutal physical and mental anomalies. These people were forced into the periphery of human society, and many found their way to New Hyperia. Some of them are astonishingly powerful individuals, but most do not have that level of power. Exemplars of this generation include Consensus, Dr. Mnemonic, and Shockwave.

Second Generation Mutant



The Second Generation of Mutants are not necessarily the children of First Generation Mutants (but many are). The world had about thirty years of time to grow used to the idea of Mutants, and the Second Generation fared a little better than their predecessors. They have the same range of power levels as their first generation elders, but most have had a very different life experience. Exemplars of this generation include Fusion, Yggdrasil, and Graveborn.

Third Generation Mutant


The Third Generation of Mutants are the children of the eighties and nineties. Most have come of age in a world that if not accepting, tolerates their existence. They are just beginning to take steps along the path towards leadership and discovering their place in the world. In some cases they are the children of Second Generation of Mutants, (and some are third generation), but the growth of atomic and nuclear power in the sixties and seventies fueled their arrival. They are the most numerous of the Mutant population, with about fifty percent of all extant Mutants belonging to the Third Generation. Exemplars include Radar, Luna, and Hellstormme.


Fourth Generation Mutants


The youngest generation of Mutants, the Fourth Generation have all been born in the 21st century. These children have come of age in a world that has time to adjust to their existence. There are still struggles that they face, but the greatest challenge that most of these children face is discovering their powers and what to do with them. The future ahead of them is theirs to determine.


New/variant Complication:



Mutant: You are a member of the subspecies of near humans who have gained extraordinary abilities due to the proliferation of nuclear and atomic power. There are a number of benefits and drawbacks to this source of power. The government has in the past designed weapons, countermeasures, and deterrents to Mutant abilities, ranging from lethal force to power nullification. Further, there are members of society that have negative reaction to Mutants, even after 70 years of being in the population.

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