Start with something easier.

AAAAAAAAAAH MOTHERLAND!.

If the U.S. stayed isolationist, Britain wouldn't have gotten supplied and would have been crushed by Germany. The entire war effort could then go against Russia, easily beating its inferior armies. Europe would be Nazified.

You fail at history.

>>8021338

I mean ideas assuming I can handle running it, specifically about the campaign itself.

>>8021408

I would really rather just run a game set during the Cold War with superheroes, rather than another future Nazi dystopia game.

I am more than eager to here your propositions for a suitable background story during WW2 that would lead to the desired present.

>>8021408
Perhaps the Soviets created the first Superpower and used that to beat the Nazis.

Actually, that would also explain the lack of US heroes- they all got killed by some very powerful Soviet super. (Who would then make a great final boss)

>I'm hoping to have some plausible explanation for why the US has no heroes of their own
Some american heroes might have fought and died in WWII despite the american government staying out of it.

> or at least why the Government has suddenly decided to employ bad guys.
Either because the US government ARE the bad guys, (or are controlled by other supervillains behind the scenes) or in their desperation they are looking for ANY way to win against the ruskies
Besides, the US government could well be employing former superheroes AND villains, not just villains

#3 sounds good to me actually

>>8021451

I had this idea as well, but I'm assuming all of my players have read Red Son and are expecting this. If I go with this idea, I have the option of either making it several heroes the Soviets created, or simply one who may or may not be unlike Superman.

>>8021417
mutants and masterminds was made for this bro.
Also have a man who is capitalism to its logical extreme as a character, it fits

>>8021451

That would work. The only individuals left with superpowers that avoided the draft are those who were in jail, who hid or who were still on the rampage during the war. There may also be a few fleeing supers from Europe - like the Nazi scientists who ended up helping the US, the Red Skull types also ended up in America.

>>8021488
Ron Paul, Disciple of Rand would make a great supervillain.

>>8021472

>the US government ARE the bad guys

Lex Luthor won the election, starting the isolationist policy in the first place and laying the groundwork for a supervillain taskforce?

rolled 58, 79, 13 = 150

Dude. I'd love to play in this game first off.

>>8021451
Feeding off this idea, perhaps the US superheroes were created off a weaker strain of whatever grants the superpowers. Perhaps they started just churning out whatever they could, and fielding half-assed heroes, who would get crushed by a Soviet.

This would lead to interesting mechanics of Soviet Super-science, and why the Soviet Supers would be "boss fights" They are just that good.

>>8021488
Wild Talents and Godlike would probably be a bit better for gritty supers.

>>8021451
>>8021502

Awesome.

>>8021521

Isn't Ron a paleolibertarian, not an Objectivist?

Although he did, IIRC, name his son Rand...

>>8021543

Perhaps it was good ol' Nazi superscience? World War 2 went basically the same way, but instead of the A-bomb it was a superhero thing. The soviets got the experimental data first and improved upon it, but the Americans got more of the mad (evil) scientists.

Also, a thought occurs, you would probably have people like Dr. Doom seeking to reclaim their former countries from the Soviets. Exiled supervillains.

rolled 6, 3, 6 = 15

>>8021543
The 'Sherman' Strain? Kicking out thousands of half-heroes with weaker powers but superior range, and getting almost all of them killed?

>>8021606

So you'd end up with crazy, bitter Vietnam war vet types when the few survivors came home, like in Marshal Law?

Thank you to everyone in this thread so far. You folks are why I love /tg/.

>>8021543

Thank you for saying so.

>>8021488

"Help us Cashman!"

"Sure citizen! My going rate is $1000.00 an hour, and you will need to sign these waivers."

rolled 40, 45, 100 = 185

>>8021600
I was thinking of turning the tables on the good ol' US of A. The Soviets have the sterile super labs. The US has the back alley plastic surgery.

But as to Supers closing WWII? That has promise. Maybe one of the reasons the US doesn't want to play with supers anymore, is Hiroshima. They sent one man in, hoping to scare the japs. He exploded.

Puts the world on edge, and the US, knowing the atrocity they allowed to happen, puts the Super program on the backburner. Even putting the Bomb into a superjail, deep underground.

rolled 6, 2, 4 = 12

>>8021618
More or less. The Sherman-types were used as glorified cannon fodder, only expected to hold off the Russian supers long enough for the next batch to arrive. Incremental improvements eventually produced a brand of super-soldier able to finally beat the Russians severely enough to ensure a cease-fire, but attrition rates were so high that only a few Shermans from each generation remain.

>>8021643

If the US officially backed off from super science, it ties in nicely with the rise of supervillains as the scorned science teams go underground or engage in risky practices to show how useful they could still be. To say nothing of the ones that had gone rogue already.

"Fools! I'll show them, I'll show all of them!"

>>8021643

Not a bad thought - alternate famous events is something I'm definitely entertaining.

rolled 33, 77, 68 = 178

Tie This >>8021674

With this >>8021687

You've got one fucked up society, ready for the rise of supervillians.

It's pretty obvious what the supervillain motivation is - if the Soviets conquer the world, the supervillains can't. And since the Soviet solution to supervillainy is less "jail time" and more "a bullet to the back of the head," having the Western powers win makes future villainy easier.

As for why the US wants to hire villains, they *don't.* Say they're forced into it by realpolitik - the same reason they granted amnesty to the Nazi R&D wing. They're scared of the potential of the Soviet powers, same as we were in the early Cold War, and are desperately trying to close the "supers gap" after learning that the Red Army super-soldier programs are bearing fruit. So the villains are offered amnesty in return for service.

>>8021473
>one who may or may not be unlike Superman
Do not make him like Superman. Make him have an actual basis, for example General Winter

>>8021566
Extremist libertarianism can be hard as hell to distinguish from objectivism. We're talking about a man that honestly believes that no harm can come from every single service the Government offers up to and including national defense and education being wholly privatized. Can't afford to have your kids go to grade school? Too bad. You want CopCo to protect your home in the event of a break in? Better hope you have the money to afford it.

Either he's a moron by dint of not being aware that human nature would take such a situation and turn basic necessities like safety and education and turn them into extortion rackets like American health care, or he's an evil son of a bitch that wants to profit from such a system. Even if he's not technically a Randian Objectivist, that's great villain material.

>>8021746

Some kind of obscenely powerful cryokinetic?

>>8021758
>Even if he's not technically a Randian Objectivist, that's great villain material.

It's not really good *villain* material, so much as good *antagonist* material. Same as Joe McCarthy types, they'd be good social challenges to throw up against the party - homegrown opponents who want to control things to their desired ends, which the group has to face somehow.

>>8021746


Or Stakhanov for the Captain America thing.

rolled 4, 4, 4 = 12

The United States entered the war late, with deficient science programs not up to the level of Germany and, to some extent, Russia. The rush to develop supers on par with the belligerents led to hundreds of serious accidents, incidents of widespread contamination, and the outright destruction of an entire town. Before the various super-manufacturing processes were perfected, less than 40% of those recruited were even expected to survive their modification.

The ones that came through more-or-less intact and with powers deemed useful to the war effort were invariably scarred, paranoid, and depressed, but through liberal application of stimulants and 'combat drugs' were induced to fight, and fight they did. Like madmen. It was not uncommon to see a First-Gen Sherman tearing at a tank with his bare hands, screaming obscenities and calling over and over for support, despite missing the lower half of his torso and a good portion of his skin.

>with many impoverished and imperiled Americans and other countries starting to see the advantages of Communism

Ask any impoverished, imperiled Soviet citizen how advantageous communism was.

If this campaign doesn't involve an epic battle with Baba Yaga, you're doing it wrong OP.

At the very least, make a soviet superscientist chick with a mech that looks kinda like a scifi interpretation of a cottage with chicken legs laden with an absurd arsenal that calls herself Baba Yaga.

>>8021784
Basically (Elijah Snow + Storm + Soviet propaganda + POWER LEVEL!!!!)

Could someone explain the significance of the sherman thing?

>>8021821

>>Ask any impoverished, imperiled Soviet citizen how advantageous communism was.

>>alternate timeline

>>8021821
>any impoverished, imperiled Soviet citizen
Do you mean Soviet dissident?

rolled 61, 76, 5 = 142

>>8021837
The Sherman tank in WWII. Ran well, did what a tank is suppose to do, but compared to the german tanks, they were simply another soft target, that couldn't do anything but die in front of them.

Spinning off that idea, the Government could have found something so destructive, they weaponized it, and only allows sniper teams to hand them, causing the stalemate with the Soviets.

rolled 5, 1, 1 = 7

>>8021837
Sherman tank. Vastly inferior to the German MBTs in all but a few ways, churned out by the thousands to drown the less-numerous Krauts in a tide of metal. In essence, they were America's Zerg Rush.

>>8021821
>Ask any impoverished, imperiled Soviet citizen how advantageous communism was.

Dude, it's not about the *actual truth* - it's about the propaganda, and the Soviets were very good at convincing the poor and disaffected that theirs was a "worker's paradise." Hence why so many backwater former European colonies turned to or flirted with communism in the Cold War.

It's not about "communism is good" it's about "the grass seems greener on the other side of the fence."

rolled 8, 90, 40 = 138

So, OP. What ideas are you picking up so far? Can we have a recap of what you want, with the stuff you like added in?

This thread is great, and you should feel great, OP.

I'd love to DM or play in this setting.

Too bad I don't have any players ;_;

>>8021860

Perhaps an even bigger reason would be that they'd get a superpower's backing if they went red.

There could be one more reason for US to hire villains: they're an active force, while heroes are mostly reactionary one.

So what I'm seeing here, basically, is that the PCs are an American covert ops supers-team designed to do surgical strikes because their actual "super-human" soldiers are borderline-uncontrollable semi-psychotic berserkers who are regardless less powerful than their smaller-numbered Soviet equivalents and are thus only able to hold them at a slowly-crumbling stand-still.

>>8021897
this is /tg/. Almost all of us are players looking for a DM.

rolled 74 = 74

>>8021961
Almost. OP wants a cold-war. Think a tank rush into Soviet Russia, only instead of tanks, it's supersoldiers. They would destroy cities, and kill everything inbetween, but as to control? None there.

Perhaps that's what's holding the Red back. Fear of civilian casualties.

HAHAHA

>>8021951

What do heros want? To help and defend people.
What do villains want? Anything they can get. The theif types can be promised whatever loot they can take and have any criminal records removed. The science ones get first dibs on soviet doodads and American funding. The psychos get to kill people with impunity. The Doom-esque exiled leader types get the chance to take back their homes. The forgotten veterans get a chance to serve or revenge.

>>8021858
>German MBTs

Light, medium and heavy tanks.

No MBT nor MBT concept until late war.

rolled 3 = 3

>>8021997
You know what he meant. Stop being a stickler.

>>8021992
>Perhaps that's what's holding the Red back. Fear of civilian casualties.
Wha?

>>8021897

Thanks!

>>8021887

I'm really digging the idea thus far of one particular Russian superhero who looms over the players the entire time as an eventual fight they may not survive, in addition to many other superheroes of course.

I also like the idea of American zerg tactics, with many if not most of American heroes during the war dying, thus the reason for the Government to turn to less than reputable people.

I also like the idea of superscientist teams working for the government being shut down because of a particular hiroshima-like event becoming villains.

I'm still taking a lot of this in and will probably be reading this thread over and over again. Thanks guys, keep it coming if you can.

How about some more ideas for Soviet and American superheroes?

>>8021992

A la Soviet rush into the Fulda Gap?

rolled 65 = 65

>>8022045
How about this. American Heroes aren't named. Their numbers.

They have a rank, a number, and a tombstone somewhere of their past life. They are remembered on a wall as a nameless star, while they are still alive. They sacrificed themselves so the American people could live in peace.

The Soviets have classical Supers. People who lend a hand and are identified by the people readily.

rolled 63 = 63

>>8022080
Bingo. The Soviet supers, though powerful, would still not be enough to stop them all. Cities would burn while others would not.

Heroes are heroic not because they stand in the way of evil and injustice but because they do so while resisting the allure of the easy way, of operating like villains. As >>8021951 said, they're a reactionary force by their very nature, and one that is self-limiting in terms of what lengths they can go to.

Villains have no limits. They determine the rate of escalation. In fact, some villains exist solely to tempt their heroes to take villainous actions. For example, The Joker's stated objective is to drive Batman to murder (see: The Killing Joke)... One he eventually succeeded in in some continuities (Return of the Joker in the Batman: the Animated Series/Batman Beyond continuity).

The US government could easily be interested in hiring villains for the same reason the US government authorizes some of the CIA's actions. They want someone who will do the job, no matter the cost, no matter the moral/ethical ramifications, and sometimes playing "nice" doesn't get the job done. Sometimes it's worth arming someone you can't trust in order to take down today's enemies, and you'll just have to worry about your mercenaries when they become tomorrow's enemies.

>>8022106

OP here. Good thought - I also like the idea of one "ultimate" American hero who emodies Capitalism being utterly crushed by the Soviet BBEG. You know, some kind of huge propaganda and morale loss for the US.

One option you might want to consider is setting the game in a GURPS "Infinite Worlds" style campaign. The players could be supers from a world more like ours, which are pulled to Planet Soviet either by a time travel accident here or American mad scientists from their side.

This would give you the advantage (?) of having the differences of the alternative world be something you "show" rather than an exposition you have to "tell." Write an opening scene taking place at the Detroit Wall, involving being recruited after an encounter with Russian tanks from Soviet controlled Canada...

rolled 63 = 63

>>8022152
American propaganda seems like the job. They find one guy who's less insane than the rest, and set him up as the catch all poster boy. Of course, he's barely an itch to the Soviets, but it's only there to give the public a face.

>>8022160

I already bought the M&M book.

This is a fucking killer backstory.

I'd also like to hear some of your ideas for characters and heroes in the game, before this thread loses steam I mean.

Hey OP, if you are running a PCs are super villians game, you might want to considering checking this book out.

>>8022045
The Working Man or The Proletarian. Basically a brick: super strong, nigh invulnerable and very (but not superhumanly so) fast.
You can go a silly route with him and make him gold his cryptonite.

>>8022231

I am trying to make this as serious a setting as possible, plus as I've mentioned I think since all of my players are comic nerds, most will see a Soviet-paragon style BBEG coming from a mile away.

>>8022231
>Can't spell Kryptonite.

Wow... I mean, interesting idea, but wow...

>>8022259
And this guy could be a good distraction. Make General Winter your real BBEG, and the Proletarian a decoy.

>>8022106
That is fucking bleak my friend and I love it, this is getting taken for my grim dark supes game I'm running later this year.

>>8022045
>How about some more ideas for Soviet and American superheroes?

You cannot possibly ignore Rasputin on the Soviet side of things - he's just too good of a personality to leave alone. Comrade Vasily Zaytsev, the hero of Stalingrad, would make an excellent "Batman"-type... and snipers just make good challenges in general. Koschei the Immortal is technically more of a villain than anything, but the central idea of separating one's vitals from their body to keep them fundamentally unkillable has merit in Soviet super-science and there is potential for an entire legion of such "immortals."

As for the Americans, look to 50s pulp. Especially consider that the U.S. is desperately grasping at straws. "Them"-style giant ants, or the Blob, or zombies, or any number of other unintelligent plagues make for excellent bioweapons. Vampires who're used to a certain standard of living may flock to the Americans after their Slavic homelands are seized and redistributed by Stalin. Franken-creatures are an obvious option as well.

>>8022259

I have an idea for a Soviet villian.
Twin KGB agents who have been injected with some sort of super soldier serum. Hammer and Sickle are their names.
Hammer is the big guy like >>8022231
said, but with out the speed.

Sickle is your speedster villian. moives fast, favors knives, kind of ninja-esque.

The two would work as a team and play of each others strengths and weaknesses.

>>8022269
Man, I'm russian. We don't even share the alphabet.
Actually, the fact that you noticed "cryptonite" and not my overall horribad english puzzles me.

rolled 2, 6, 6 = 14

>>8022225
>>8022045
Pointman. Sixth-Gen Sherman, bright-eyed kid ushered into the vats by less-than-reputable labcoats and sent into the fray with barely any training under his belt. Survived countless battles against all odds, losing both of his arms, one to a tank shell and one to a sadistic Russian super, and overcoming his traumatic shock with the aid of massive quantities of alcohol.

Powers: Immense durability. Can survive injuries that would kill a normal human many times over. Superior sight. Can see partially into the ultraviolet and infrared sections of the spectrum. Limited regeneration. Can heal extraordinary wounds.

His arms were regrown in a matter of months through the use of experimental and dangerous drugs and procedures. They are discolored, scarred, and cool to the touch, able to withstand even more punishment than the rest of his body.

rolled 63 = 63

>>8022326
Give us some Arch-types my Russian friend. Who would save you?

>>8021408
Implying the whole thing isn't bull, as stated here >>8021318 it wouldn't happen anyway, plus there wouldn't be Russian superheros, everyone would be a peon rushing the "villains" which makes no sence, most villians (relisticly) don't think of them as villains, so play them (sorry for the 3.5 alignment refrence) chatic good, bad actions for a percived good motive, and communism doesn't work anyway, much less the U.S.S.R's version, so make the enemy faily weak but a lot of them, with tons of armor and planes and bases that the PC's have to get through. It is flawed and will only bairly work, just play a game of god damn D&D and stop trying to make your friends communist.

>>8022312
For some reason they remind me the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman.

>>8022368
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- mixed my links up.

rolled 72 = 72

>>8022385
Click the box, Hit delete.

>>8022368

Wouldn't it be easier for you not to type anything at all if the setting's plausibility bothers you so? It saves you the effort and no one has to point out what a troll you are.

>>8022293
>Vampires who're used to a certain standard of living may flock to the Americans after their Slavic homelands are seized and redistributed by Stalin.

Ohhhhh shit. You want your "champion of pure capitalism"? He's a fucking vampire, who threw his wealth into Western banks and out-ran the Red Tide. He's now in Washington, a major power-broker between the government and the military-industrial corporations, and still only gives a damn about himself and maintaining a decent flow of blood his direction.

>>8022417
the plausibility doesn't matter in the long run, I will complain because its stupid, but I always hated it whenevber people just insulted my ideas on an idea, so I at least tried to help, stupid logic is stupid I know.

>>8022461

what

>>8021408
>If the U.S. stayed isolationist, Britain wouldn't have gotten supplied and would have been crushed by Germany.

Okay, so England is a smoking crater. That doesn't mean you couldn't just use this plot except with Brad Pitt being a Polack.

I'd recommend staying away from anything remotely close to Superman levels of power. Modeling a character on an IP that has to be constantly reinvented by the writers just to make any conflict work just isn't a good idea. Any character in an RPG should have clear limits - even if they're only clear to you. Maybe the Soviets have a hero that has indestructible skin and bones, is absurdly strong, and is super fast. Such a hero could be a brutal encounter, but shouldn't even be used unless he has some weaknesses. Maybe his vital parts can still be damaged under his skin (so critical hits will still damage him as per normal). Maybe his skin conducts heat to his organs really well, making him vulnerable to fire. Maybe he'd take full damage from falling (so a flying character or a telekinetic could still probably kill 'im no problem).

>>8022492
yeah, as I was typing it I relised how stupid it sounds, basiclly I was calling OP stupid but felt bad because hes a newb GM so I at least tried to give some helpful points. I can't actually imagine I'm helping myself here though

>>8022359
See pic, but is more of a joke.
Series of power-armored heroes would make sense, but they have to be distinct from Crimson Dynamos. You'll get more Soviet feel if those armors are produced by different KBs (Construction Bureaus) having some kind of weapons race.

Also, I wonder how could Soviet Spider-Man analogue work.

>>8022514

My guess is this group is going to be fairly large, so it's not entirely a big deal if the BBEG is absurdly powerful. I like the cold powers idea and am open to others. I am really, truly not going to go with the Superman idea.

Ivan. Based on russian fairy tales hero, he's a simple russian guy, a physically fit and very cunning one, but not much more than that. Except he's damn lucky, maybe even posessing some kind of probability manipulating powers.

rolled 3, 5, 6 = 14

Dynamo. Able to transform most types of energy into electricity. Upon striking him, an artillery shell would have its kinetic and heat energy converted to an electrical flow, resulting in a lightning bolt.

Watchtower. His consciousness is tied to that of another superbeing imprisoned in an orbiting satellite. He can view any location that can be seen from orbit.

Mack. Contact Telekinetic. He can strike with unimaginable force, but his skin must be in contact with his target.

Saturn. Has the power of flight, as well as enhanced strength, but tires easily. Has remarkable resistance to radiation and pressure, and can remain conscious for a solid half an hour without taking a breath.

>>8022566
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a really powerful BBEG. The problem is when you have a character like superman that is so powerful that his only weaknesses actively encourage a deus ex machina to create conflict at all. Are the players in the same league because of some sort of unobtanium that supercharges them or depowers the BBEG? Then it's a bad encounter.

>>8022723

So when you say "luck" you are talking Mat Cauthon levels of ridiculous fate manipulation? Like he'll straighten a quarterstaff on his shoulder and break the nose of an assassin behind him. Or, while avoiding a killer, fall off a building on top of another assassin and break his neck...

rolled 94 = 94

>>8022562
Would magnets work? A magnetic man, but not on the level of say, Magneto? Someone who could in sense, do the same thing as spider man, but have that cold feel of a salted construction worker?

>>8022743

>Mack. Contact Telekinetic. He can strike with unimaginable force, but his skin must be in contact with his target.

So he's Connor Kent?

rolled 6, 4, 6 = 16

>>8022771
Dunno. I just thought of him as a truck. Hence the name Mack.

>>8022789
No Mac(k).
This is for Soviet villians.

>>8022754
Fairy tales Ivans are more like this: whatever they do, it somehow helps them to get closer to their goal.
Speaking in superhero-level terms, it's more like the first one. But if your campaign is high-powered enough, the second fits too.

>>8022769
I'm stealing it.

Well, at least one of the American supe needs to be a batshit insane veteran from the first wave of Shermans. He was essentially tortured during his transformation into a superhuman, then unleashed on enemy soil. He slaughtered entire towns, and got a taste for bloodshed. He even killed a number of Russian superheroes. When he miraculously survived the war, the US planed to give him a heroes welcome. As he was practically the only first gen sherman to live, and had an amazing kill record. Unfortunately for the US he slaughtered his victory parade, which was covered up a great expense. The US captured him and managed to control him because he was so powerful, and now plan on releasing him on the Russians again.

Three Bogatyrs. From left to right:
Dobrynya Nikitich - a generic brick.
Ilya Muromets - a powerhouse.
Alyosha Popovich - a speedster.

>>8021408

I'm pretty sure the USSR turned the tide on Hitler well before there was a western front.

DM's running a modern-day supers game.

Opposition to the perennially resubmitted bill, the Paranormal Registration Act, is the ONLY thing that has the ACLU and the NRA tolerating each others' presence for any length of time.

up

Other (ex-)russianfags here?

>>8023835

you would be wrong

>>8028513
But he's not.

Though if japan had invaded siberia instead of fucking with americans the USSR would have been in a difficult situation.

If USA never joined Nazi Germany would have come out the victor, and USA would never have become a super power.

Germany would just roll over USA like they did to everyone else.