Information on the Setting

Introduction:

Two men sit across from one another at a small table in the middle of the burnt out ruins of a large metropolitan city. For decades they have fought each other as enemies... but not today.

Mortimer the Magnificent, a stage magician turned self-professed trickster god, sits impatiently in his finely tailored three piece pinstripe suit and bowler hat.

Across from him, in the tattered remains of the caped costume that once inspired billions, is his arch rival The Warden.

"Honestly, if you have to think about it, are you really fit to call yourself a hero?"

The Warden breaks out in laughter. Deep, whole hearted laughter that genuinely catches Mortimer off guard.

"Look around you," the Warden says. Both men gaze around at the widespread destruction and death. "The word hero has lost all meaning in this world."

"My thoughts exactly, old pal. This mess wasn’t caused by me and my ilk. It was your comrades that really took things a little too far if you ask me. What I did was all innocent fun--"

"How many have you killed?"

"Oh, countless, no doubt. I never said my hands were clean. That doesn’t change the facts. I’m not responsible for ending the world. You inspired the crazies that did this. They put on masks and capes trying to impress you. And ultimately they fought each other without any care for who got hurt in the process. If we do this, I really hope you’ve learned your lesson and become a better teacher."

"What about the dead?"

"You mean everyone? You guys really did a number on this poor little planet. But they’ll still be dead. Despite what I say, I’m a trickster, not an actual god. I can’t bring anyone back from the dead."

"Then what is the point?"

"A second chance. I thought you were all about that silly ideal of redemption. That’s why you kept letting me get free, isn’t it? You thought that I might put on the tights and join your side. Well, buddy, this is the closest we’re going to get."

"But it won’t be real."

"Real enough. Besides, when this mess is your reality, who wouldn’t want to live in a dream?"

The Warden takes a deep sigh. His chin falls to his chest and Mortimer smiles. He knows he has him now. The smile fades as Mortimer takes another look around him. He wished it didn’t take the end of the world for his old rival to see things his way.

Mortimer reaches his hand across the table. The Warden looks up at the magician and can see the sincere regret upon his face.

"I meant what I said earlier. I really do consider you a friend, Warden."

"I know." The Warden reaches forward and takes Mortimer’s hand. "I’ll try to go a little easier on you this time. I owe you that much."

"Oh, now where’s the fun in that? Or is it not for my sake? Do you think solving all the world’s problems with POW - ZONK - BIFF is what caused the younger generation to go all extreme?"

"Are we doing this or what?"

"Fine, fine fine. I hope you have a little more fun with the whole thing this go around though."

Mortimer raises his free hand toward the sky. A beam of light cuts through the clouds and begins to spread outward. It first envelops the table the men sit at, then the destroyed city block, and keeps going past the endless wastelands. The light travels faster than the laws of physics allow and eventually comes to the very edge of the universe.

Both men can feel reality warping around them. They look at each other and smile as their world fades away and is reborn.

You will be entering a world that is permanently kept in the state of a silver/bronze age comic book universe. The Earth is regularly visited by advanced alien species and is home to super geniuses who invent tech far beyond what should be scientifically possible; but none of this technology ever seems to reach the hands of the common man.

The world has basically remained the same for decades now. The internet has not been invented, there are no cell phones, people read newspapers on the subway during their morning commute, and the world is a generally more idealistic place.

This is because this world is an illusion. Only two living beings are aware of this. The Warden, the world’s greatest superhero, and his arch nemesis Mortimer the Magnificent. In the real version of history, the world advanced similar to the DC and Marvel comics universes. Things progressively got darker. More cynical. Deadlier. This world didn’t make it beyond the Dark Ages of the 1990’s anti-heroes.

Heroes of the new generation forgot what it meant to be heroes and openly fought each other in the streets solely for the sake of fighting one another. They had little care about protecting the innocent and bettering the world. This attitude, combined with their increasing numbers and power levels, eventually led to a full scale war that all but ended the human race.

Mortimer proposed to the Warden that they combine their powers to alter reality. He explained that while turning back time and bringing everyone back from the dead is absolutely impossible, they could combine their powers to recreate a world they both know and love. This is the world that the game takes place in.

It is a magical world of adventure that never really changes, because the laws that brought it into existence do not allow it to. There must always be heroes and there must always be villains. The heroes will protect the weak and the villains will inevitably escape to scheme once more. But the darkness that took over the previous iteration of the world will never come to pass. At least as long as no one discovers the truth behind the facade...