This campaign takes place in a darker, gritter, lower-rent world than our Return of the Heroes campaign. It is, in fact, an alternate world. Many of the surface aspects are the same but there are even fewer with the power to level entire city blocks and the general populous. There are no super-teams or world-conquering villains and the general populous is unaware of the real weirdness out there. The average person does not really believe in aliens, magic, vampires or the like, but you can find plenty of folks who give credence to various legends like the Loc Ness Monster, Bigfoot and so on.
Many know that a handful of people throughout history have held power beyond that of ordinary men. There is actual historic and archeological evidence of such legendary figures as Arthur, Merlin, Odysseus & Paul Bunyon. More recently, there's plenty of evidence that Bruce Lee was capable of feats of supernatural speed & strength, Uri Geller could really read minds and David Blain performed real magic. There are those who will try to tell you otherwise, but you've seen the proof for yourself. Also, it's well known that the government has always had an interest in those displaying paranormal abilities and they are the ones who killed or shut down the previously mentioned paranormals.
The central location of the campaign will be the city of Vibora Bay. Vibora Bay is located on the Gulf Coast of Florida between Panama City and Fort Walton Beach. The city itself is surrounded by swamps and has a very New Orleans feel. Several belief systems co-exist within the city. Followers of Catholicism, Voodoo, Native American beliefs and other religions live side-by-side and even influence each others' beliefs.
While the average citizen of Vibora Bay does not actually believe in magic or the supernatural, odd things do occasionally happen; especially out in the swamps. So, it never hurts to carry a charm to ward off bad luck.
Temperatures drop to the mid-50s in the winter and rise up into the 90s at the height of summer. All year around it's fairly humid but annual rainfall is less than might be expected with clear skies nearly 300 days out of the year. However, the remaining 60 generally fall during hurricane season (August & September), and can easily make up for the rest of the year.
The population of the city proper is just over 800,000 and it and the its suburbs total at around 1.8 million. This swells significantly during spring break and during the summer vacation season. Tourism makes up a large part of the city's economy, though not as much as more popular vacation spots in Florida. It's other main industries are shipping and farming.
Founded around the time of the French Revolution, this organization has dedicated itself to countering the works of dark magicians, evil sorcerers, demons, monsters and other mystic threats to the world. The group is made up of sorcerers and scholars who have amassed a large array of mystical knowledge. It is also believed that they maintain a vault of powerful artifiacts kept safe from those who would use them for evil purposes. The council is ruled by a group of 5 senior members who vote on council policy and who must unanimously approve all full members. They have agents throughout all of the Americas and Europe and several smaller groups in other countries. They also work with magicians and other supernatural beings who are not full members but are with them in the fight against evil.
Basically, we're looking for something a little lighter than our last Dark Champions game but still more grim and gritty than the Return of the Heroes campaign. The heroes here are dealing with demons, dark cults, Lovecraftian horrors and the like. The expectation is a morality closer to that of Batman or Daredevil than the Punisher. The heroes bust heads and bend/break the law in the cause of justice and smiting evil, but killing is reserved for truly evil entities (like demons, monsters and the rare cultist too far gone for redemption). This means that any gun-toting vigilantes (and others that make heavy use of killing attacks) should be very careful about firing full automatic bursts while norms are around.
The PCs are low- and un-powered heroes who have had exposure to the supernatural in one of its many forms (mystical horrors, alien creatures or super-science gone mad) and are all too aware of the dangers it poses to the populace at large. While they may not know everything, they know enough to be able to fight back against the things that go <THUMP><STAB><SHRED> in the night. They also know that the methods required to fight this enemy often fall outside the bounds of the law, and so it's best to maintain a low profile while fighting evil.
They have all been contacted by the Trismegistus Council and work as a team of trouble shooters. None of the PCs are full members of the council (though a few may be candidates). The group's main contact with the Trismegistus Council is Alejandro Hornedo, the owner of the Coco Palm restaraunt. Mr. Hornedo is secretly a retired magician who was the council member in charge of watching over Vibora Bay for many years (which is now the PCs' job). The group meets at his restaraunt once a week to catch up with each other and to let Mr. Hornedo know what is going on around town.
More details can be found in the Character Creation Guidelines.
Hero System 5th Edition, Dark Champions and Vibora Bay are copyright Hero Games