Stalwart takes place in Unknown, a modern west coast American metropolis. Superheroes and -villains are relatively common. Science produces marvelous wonders such as robots, shrink- and grow rays, and hover boards.
Superheroes are regulated by Unknown, who make sure that the right hero is assigned to the right threat: you don't want Paragon wasting his time on saving kittens when the city is being threatened by an alien invasion, or send a bunch of rookies against an extradimensional breach.
Every other day, you hear about a powered menace engaging in criminal activity, and the average person may have even been a bystander in such an event.
Public opinion
The general public respects powered heroes, but might also consider them as dangerous. Collateral damage is common, which is why the role of AEGIS is considered important. When working with AEGIS, superheroes operate within the law and are seen as valuable help by law enforcement. Newspapers and the nightly news are filled with coverage of the heroes’ exploits. Tabloids run stories filled with gossip about costumed hero relationships.
Danger
Stalwart is based upon an OSR ruleset. This means that combat can and will be dangerous. Some supervillains show no mercy.
Lines & Veils
Using the lines & veils system to describe Stalwart comes down to this:
- Lines: Torture, sexual content/violence, explicit gore. This does not occur in Stalwart.
- Veils: Violence & blood. (Super)villains use guns, but we will not feature explicit descriptions of gross gun wounds. There might be descriptions of dead bodies, but never for gratuitous purposes.
Theme & Tone
There will be themes of power and responsibility, action and consequence. Making choices can lead to bad outcomes, and there will be villains out to test your moral philosophy. The tone aims to be more Batman: The Animated Series Joker than Suicide Squad or The Dark Knight Joker, however. Saturday-morning-cartoon, with a bit of The Venture Bros. mixed in. The main dynamic through which I want to explore the setting is interpersonal relationships: villains who turn good, heroes who turn bad, nemesis, rivals, friend and allies.