General Description	This is a relatively standard superhero game. The players are a new group of low-power heroes starting out in Baltimore, Maryland in January, 1999. The initial adventures will center around the campaign city with plotlines expanding in scale as the characters grow.
Goals	There will be no obvious overriding theme that all the players are tied into. Everyone has their own goals and players help themselves by helping each other. I will not encourage inter-party conflict but I won't put a stop to it, either. Before you bring in a character you need to have a good idea of what your character's goals and desires are, what he plans on doing to get what he wants and how he's going to interact with the rest of the group.
Importance	The characters will start as low-level unknowns who have just receintly entered the hero business. Plotlines will small and local, then grow as the campaign develops. I don't want to have world-shaking heroes for quite a while.
Campaign Tone	Robert Hudson wrote an essay about his campaign, and I'm going to be using much the same tone. Morality (3): Some cross-over between good and bad. Morality is mixed in this campaign. On the one hand, the player characters are expected to be heroes. This does not mean that they have to be the classic four-color law-abiding defenders of truth, justice, and the American way. It does mean that they should be people who are trying to work toward a better world for all, and willing to take risks in the process. Of course your character’s reasons for doing this and his/her idea of what makes a better world might be far different than the next character’s... On the other hand, your adversaries are not always going to be villains as such. Most of your important foes will have realistic motivations for doing what they do. Very few people doing bad things will be doing them just because they are "bad people." They have their reasons. Sometimes those reasons might put them on your side, if only for a while. Likewise, any NPC’s who are normally on your side are there because they have their reasons, and they aren’t always going to be there either. Realism (2): Romantic. Realism is not heavily enforced, and if a PC comes up with something creatively risky I’ll usually allow the attempt. Grandstanding and heroics will not necessarily get you killed, and I will usually support the story as opposed to enforcing the genre's conventions. Outlook (2): Optimistic. The PC’s will have a good chance to solve their immediate difficulties. Long-term problems will be harder to deal with, but an eventual solution will usually be available, if not always easy or enjoyable. Seriousness (3): Balanced. This game is basically serious, but there should be a fair amount of comic relief. Continuity (4): Mostly serial. Campaign continuity will be enforced. An apparent discrepancy probably indicates that there’s something going on that you don’t know about (although it could just mean that I screwed up).
Literature Equivalent	Modern comic books from the mid-80's and early 90's, like the DC or Marvel universes before all the mutant-killing storylines came out.
Setting	I'm using the modern world plus superpowers. Modern technology is only slightly ahead of our own, namely in energy storage and manipulation (blasters & personal force fields exist). There are no aliens. Psionics is a documented phenomenon and magic works but has a bad reputation. See The History of the Universe and The Past 100 Years for an idea of what's been going on.
Character Creation	This is a standard superhero game. You get 100 points base and 25 points of assigned disadvantages, and you can take up to 100 more with 50 from any one catagory. I am requiring that you choose an archtype that limits your active points (usually 50) and defenses (usually 20/20). You must take at least one Vulnerability at the x2 level, and no DNPC, Hunted, Reputation or similar disad should be greater than an 8- roll. Overly "dark and gritty" or "Bozo the Clown" types are not recommended, and I will not allow psychpaths or sociopaths. The characters should be able to get along with each other on a personal level at least well enough that they’d be willing to stay together in the same group.
Campaign Rules	Characters may not have abilities that transcend the comic-book genre (such as raising the dead), or logically eliminate the character from a street-level adventure (such as being a world-class spy). If your character concept absolutely requires an ability that’s listed as forbidden, and you can do it in a way that does not cause whatever problem I was anticipating when I forbade it, then I’ll let you have it. Conversely, powers not forbidden but obviously having the same problems as ones that are, should be avoided (such as Transform: dead person to live person). Hit Locations: Not unless you buy partial coverage armor. Knockdown: No: this is a superheroic campaign and I'll be using the Knockback rules Long Term Endurance: No. Pushing: I'll be using the new pushing rules by Steve Otte.
House Rules	I've gone through the rulebook and made a few changes and advance rulings on how I'm going to run the game. If you've got questions on what I've done or how I'll rule something, please ask before the game starts. The less rules-lawyering we have during the game, the better.
Combat Rules	I've commentary on and changes to several of the standard maneuvers, as well as new rules on pushing and types of opponents.
Feedback	I'd like to know what you think of all this. If you think my rules are arbitrary, restrictive or irritating, say so! I'd much rather hear your ideas and opinions than have the illusion that everything's fine while you seethe.