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[Let's Read] Freedom City: Every Edition!
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8521830" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/PGhi9RD.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Known in 1st Edition as Heroes & Villains and in 2nd Edition as Friends of Freedom, 3rd Edition’s title is the most self-explanatory. This chapter details the notable superheroes of the Earth-Prime setting, and given the metaplot development the entries differ by Edition. The Freedom League’s membership has gained and lost a few members over time, while the Next-Gen got an entirely new membership in <strong>3e</strong> but are relegated to that Edition’s Hero High sourcebook. Eldrich is no longer Master Mage in <strong>3e</strong> after bequeathing that title to Seven (who then ended up a Dark Lord of the Netherworld). One notable thing exclusive to <strong>1e</strong> was listing one-sentence quotes (including for villains) to give a taste of their personality, as well as Rogues Gallery listings to show which supervillains have history with Earth-Prime’s defenders. There were also backstories and stat blocks for non-powered friends and acquaintances for many of the heroes, such as Captain Thunder’s wife and son as well as his old Air Force buddy Dan Cloud who serves as an aeronautic consultant and mechanic for the Freedom League.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/enrwtty.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>The Freedom League</strong> is the longest-lasting and most famous superhero team in the Earth-Prime universe. Their membership changed greatly over the decades, and as of 3rd Edition only Daedalus and Siren have membership stretching back to the Silver Age. Their traditional headquarters used to be Freedom Hall in Freedom City, but as of <strong>2e</strong> they launched an orbital space station known as the Lighthouse to serve as that purpose instead. With teleportals and spaceplanes, they can easily go anywhere on Earth and beyond.</p><p></p><p>In <strong>1e</strong> and <strong>2e</strong> the Freedom League’s leader was Captain Thunder (Ray Gardener), a former Air Force pilot who gained lightning-based superpowers from a rogue experiment by the mad scientist Dr. Stratos. While he initially had a secret identity, Dr. Stratos captured him and revealed it to the world, and Ray had to relocate his family to Freedom City in order to gain a safer life. As of <strong>3e</strong> he retired, with his son Ray Gardener Jr. (formerly Bolt of the Next-Gen) joining the Freedom League as Thunderbolt.</p><p></p><p>Bowman (Fletcher Beaumont III) is the fourth superhero to bear the legacy title of the Golden Age archer. In <strong>1e</strong> he was a member of Claremont Academy’s Next-Gen, but as of later Editions he graduated and joined the Freedom League. Although he is one of the less-powerful members and has no superpowers, he more than makes up for it with his knowledge of tactics and arsenal of gimmick arrows.</p><p></p><p>Centuria (Katherine Leeds) is unique to <strong>3e,</strong> the daughter of an alternate-universe Centurion who also arrived in Earth-Prime via a life pod from space. And like the Centurion that became world-famous on Earth-Prime, her home dimension was destroyed by the Terminus. Her proclaimed backstory and similarities in powers caused a media frenzy, and after some heavy vetting by other superheroes she was happily accepted by her new home. She is the most powerful member at PL 13, with abilities similar to her “father.”</p><p></p><p>Daedalus was a mainstay in all 3 Editions, being one of the world’s most brilliant scientists with origins dating back to Ancient Greece. He is much like the Daedalus of myth, although the minotaur he was responsible for trapping would eventually become Taurus, head of the Labyrinth. He also earned the enmity of Hades once the gods “gifted” him immortality as a means of making up for his son’s loss, and the ruler of the Underworld took his initial refusal as a personal affront. Ever since, Daedalus has wandered the world, learning from lifetimes’ worth of civilizations and covertly passing on his own findings to others such as Isaac Newton and Leonardo DaVinci. Few people know that Daedalus is the man of myth, and instead he pretends that a succession of “sons” are gifted his trademark battlesuit.</p><p></p><p>Dr. Metropolis’ true origins are unknown, although theories abound that he’s the metaphysical manifestation of the concept of cities. He appeared in the aftermath of Omega’s invasion of Freedom City, using his powers to repair the damage. He was called “Dr. Metropolis” by scientists which he accepted as his own, shortly thereafter joining the Freedom League. On the surface he seems emotionless and has trouble understanding human social cues, although he possesses a deep care for his beloved city. As you can imagine, Dr. Metropolis serves as a good narrative explanation for why Freedom City (and other metropolii of Earth-Prime) aren’t ruined wastelands with all the collateral damage from supervillains.</p><p></p><p>Johnny Rocket (John Wade) is a speedster who inherited his powers from his grandfather who was the Johnny Rocket of the Golden Age. His powers activated when one of the last surviving villains of the latter’s rogues gallery tracked him down and tried to kill him. Johnny’s powers activated instinctively, and in a manner that left a lot of witnesses, so he never had a secret identity. This would come back to haunt him when he was publicly outed by an angry ex-boyfriend. As this was the early 2000s America (and when the first book was published), this was a lot less socially acceptable then than it is now, so there were a lot of people calling for the Freedom League to kick him out as a “bad influence.” They refused, in fact going on to support him, and the original Johnny Rocket told the press how he was proud of his grandson as a worthy successor.</p><p></p><p>As of <strong>3e,</strong> Johnny Rocket is still a member of the Freedom League, although he recently became an adoptive father and mentor to Jonni Rocket, a female clone of the superhero created by his archenemy Dr. Simian.</p><p></p><p>Lady Liberty (2e Elizabeth Walton-Wright, 3e Sonia Gutierrez) is not a single superhero so much as a title that has been passed down to generations of worthy women by the Spirit of Liberty. The first one to join the current version of the Freedom League was a liberal lawyer married to a police detective, although her superhero life has put a damper on their marriage. Elizabeth eventually stepped down her role, feeling that she could do more good via charity work and service at a legal clinic, causing the Spirit of Liberty to find a new host. It found that host in Sonia Gutierrez, a transgender woman and daughter of Mexican immigrants. Unlike Donna’s liberal and relative apoliticism, Sonia was well aware of America’s many moral shortcomings on its minority citizens, and while not a patriot like former Lady Liberties she was chosen due to her compassionate nature after she saved a random woman from an attempted murder. The newest member of the Freedom League, Sonia feels a bit in over her head at times although the former Lady Liberty established contact as a mentor.</p><p></p><p>Pseudo (R’ik Faax) is exclusive to <strong>2e,</strong> a member of the shapeshifting Grue. Trained from birth to be a scout for the Grue Unity, he was sent to Earth with the purpose of sabotage, although he went rogue after spending time among humans. Seeing the worthy causes championed by superheroes, R’ik eventually joined the League sometime during the Silver Age, establishing a new identity as freelance journalist Rick Fox when not superheroing. He’s not listed as a member in <strong>3e</strong> although that book doesn’t mention his fate. The most I could find is him being mentioned as a reserve member.</p><p></p><p>The Raven (Callie Summers) is exclusive to <strong>1e</strong> and <strong>2e,</strong> the daughter of the original Raven. Duncan Summers sought to keep his identity a secret from his family, although after one of his foes kidnapped Callie the secret was out. She did what she could to learn more about her father’s time as the Raven, covertly training in the hopes of becoming like him. Eventually Duncan realized that in spite of his protests he couldn’t deny Callie’s wishes. She is pretty much “female Batman,” having no superpowers but highly trained in a variety of skills and feats with a small arsenal of equipment and non-lethal grenades. As of <strong>3e</strong> Callie retired and became Mayor of Freedom City, passing on the mantle of Raven to Elite, formerly of the teenage superhero team the AlterniTeens. That Raven currently operates out of New York City.</p><p></p><p>Siren (Cassandra Vale/La Siren) is two people in one: the psychologist Cassandra Vale and the Voodoo Loa La Sirene. Cassandra visited the Voodoo communities in Haiti in the 1960s as part of a research paper. She theorized that the power of belief can reshape reality, which is responsible for creating all manner of supernatural beings. She inadvertently came across a drug smuggling ring, and was saved by La Sirene when the smugglers attempted to turn her into shark food. The Loa explained to Cassandra that she was chosen for a special purpose: humans were ultimately good and worthy of aid of the spirits, although one of their peers Baron Samedi disagreed, arguing that humans were little better than animals and worthy only of being slaves to the Loa. So Cassandra was chosen to help settle this cosmic bet, operating as the superhero Siren to make the world a better place and also operating against Baron Samedi’s many plots.</p><p></p><p>Star Knight (Maria Montoya) is a <strong>2e/3e</strong> addition, a child of immigrants and a cop who uncovered Grue spies in her police department when investigating internal corruption. It wasn’t long before Pseudo came to her aid, given that she was now wrapped up in a plot for the aliens to invade Earth. Mentor of the Star Knights approached Maria, offering to appoint her the new Star Knight of Earth’s sector of space. It was only natural that she’d also join the Freedom League, albeit as a reserve member. As of <strong>3e</strong> she’s been less active on Earth on account of the interstellar turmoil wrought by Star Khan and Collapsar.</p><p></p><p>Thunderbolt (Ray Gardener Jr.) is a <strong>3e</strong> exclusive, an intangible mass of electrical energy contained within a human-shaped bodysuit. Ray used to be a normal boy, having developed electrical powers during puberty inherited from his father, the great Captain Thunder. He enrolled in Claremont Academy to help manage his powers, joining the Next-Gen as Bolt during his time there. His zest for superheroism didn’t die out upon graduation, and sought to join the Freedom League. Ray got his wish, albeit as a result of recklessness in trying to apprehend Dr. Stratos on his own. Captain Thunder saved his son, albeit at the expense of becoming permanently depowered and Ray Jr.’s body atomized into a “living thunderbolt.” Daedalus and Dr. Atom helped construct a containment suit to let him live something close to a normal life, and he did join the Freedom League. Although he still bears guilt for being responsible for the circumstances that led to his father’s retirement.</p><p></p><p><strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The 2nd Edition book Worlds of Freedom had a chapter covering Freedom City in the “near future” of the 2040s. Several characters mentioned in the <strong>3e</strong> sourcebook were part of the team, such as Centuria, Jonni Rocket, and Thunderbolt.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts:</strong> The Freedom League is a pretty decent team. They have an established presence in the world and their various members occupy a diversity of roles that make them feel distinct. Although many are built with far more Power Points than a PC of equivalent Power Level, many of their members are within the bounds of starting PCs for typical PL 10 campaigns. Your average party may not be able to take them all on at once: there’s 8 of them, and over half are above PL 10, but unlike “big names” in other established settings (coughwhitewolfcoughforgottenrealmscough) their capabilities aren’t so far and above beginning PCs to the point that your players will feel useless in comparison.</p><p></p><p>I will note one peculiar thing on my mind: in the case of Siren, La Sirene is a real-world religious figure in Voodoo. I did read that Steve Kenson wanted to make a superhero setting where Vodouism is prominent in the same way that the Nordic faith is in the Marvel universe or the Greco-Roman pantheon in DC. But unlike those faiths, Voodoo has been under a sustained propaganda campaign, being portrayed as a creepy cult of zombies and black magic in most pop culture portrayals to the detriment of other aspects. The placement of Baron Samedi as a zombie-focused supervillain mirrors this, and from what I read of the actual faith the Baron doesn’t really occupy an “evil” role in Voodoo. That being said, I am not a practitioner nor do I know those who are, so I can only speak as an outside observer going off of what others have said.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/c2piOwq.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>The Atom Family</strong> is the second major team of Freedom City. Modeled heavily off of the Fantastic Four with a side of Johnny Quest thrown in, the Atoms are a family of adventuring psychic scientists who travel to all manner of places around Earth-Prime and even other dimensions. Their “membership” dates back to the Golden Age, with Dr. Atom being your typical pulp two-fisted scientist who is now a disembodied AI confined to the family home in Freedom City. He is far from useless, being capable of traveling the Internet and appearing as a holographic advisor anywhere. Dr. Atom also invented and patented morphic molecules, an adaptive fabric made of super-strong material that is an in-universe explanation for how superhero uniforms remain virtually undamaged without the need for regular change.</p><p></p><p>The Atom Family’s membership remains unchanged between Editions. Besides the disembodied Dr. Atom, there’s Maximus Atom (eldest and leader when in the field, powers include size-changing), Tesla Atom (stereotypical nerdy scientist, energy manipulator), Victoria Atom (optimistic mediator of the family, stretchy-shapeable form), Chase Atom (psychic telepath/illusionist, is great at superhero stuff but has trouble adapting to “normal life”), Jack Wolf (former soldier of fortune who became guardian of the Atom children upon Dr. Atom’s ‘death’ back in the day, has no powers but pilots their flying “Atomobile” and is good with a blaster), Cosmo the Moon Monkey (Chase’s pet, psychic teleporting monkey from Farside City), and ALEX (Artificial Life-form Experiment, robot butler and lab assistant with British accent).</p><p></p><p>As of <strong>3e,</strong> Max Atom became CEO of the family business Atomic Inc and got married and had children, Victoria manages a travelog blog that created the phenomenon known as “V-Spotting” (fans guessing where the Atom family might be traveling in their area). Chase has been approached by Thunderbolt of the Freedom League with an offer to join (an offer he’ll take up in Future Freedom from Worlds of Freedom). And Dr. Atom helped cure Gamma the Atom-Smasher, nuclear-themed supervillain, of his radioactive powers.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts:</strong> I like the Atom Family. They have a different enough dynamic and place in the world in comparison to the Freedom League, so they don’t feel like a carbon-copy cutout of “Generic Superhero Team B.” About half of their members aren’t that powerful or have complications preventing them from being useful in combat (Dr. Atom, ALEX, and Cosmo the Moon Monkey) but that helps strengthen their theme as a superpowered family who prioritize exploring the mysteries of the world.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/UP5vlgf.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>This is the closest “group shot” I could find of the Next-Gen. Several members are also of the AlterniTeens in case it seems like there are “missing entries.”</p><p></p><p><strong>The Next-Gen</strong> are exclusive to <strong>1e/2e,</strong> and in the current Edition have an entirely different membership that is detailed in Hero High. The Next-Gen are a team of teenage superheroes from Claremont Academy and operate with the covert support of Duncan Summers. They are overall lower-powered than the Freedom League, with member PLs averaging around 8 or 9 with their strongest member Megastar at PL 10; in 1e they had overall higher PLs, averaging 10.</p><p></p><p>Bowman was a member in 1e, with Captain Thunder’s son joining in 2e as Bolt. Bowman’s time at the Academy had him as a star student, wanting to help restore the family name after the last generations’ less than noble departure from the Freedom League (namely alcoholism compromising his superhero career).</p><p></p><p>Bolt (Ray Gardener Jr.) is the newest member of the Next-Gen as of <strong>2e,</strong> being eager to enjoy life and is good friends with Chase Atom. He has electrical-themed superpowers and as well as super-speed.</p><p></p><p>Megastar (Christopher Beck) was a normal high school student who ended up bonding with an alien piece of technology known as MEGAS, or Metamorphic Encephalic Guidance and Attack Suspension. The Grue sought to steal MEGAS from the Lor Republic after its carrier ship crash-landed on Earth. Christopher managed to fend off the Grue after changing into a taller and stronger silver-haired man with super-strength and flight. He was eager to prove himself to the Freedom League, although his age meant that he was sent to the Claremont Academy instead. As of <strong>3e</strong> Chris’ life has been rough; personality problems, not being a “team player,” and relying far too much on MEGAS’ powers to coast him through life made him a washed-up superhero turned supervillain working as a galactic enforcer for Tellax in the Rogues Gallery sourcebook.</p><p></p><p>Nereid (Thetis) is the granddaughter of the original Golden Age Siren, her father being the King of Atlantis. She was sent to the Claremont Academy to gain a greater understanding of the surface world for her eventual role as Queen, being a literal “fish out of water” to this new environment. Although she isn’t overtly arrogant and spoiled, she does have a high opinion of herself in viewing her royal status as making her better than “common folk.” As of <strong>3e</strong> she returned to Atlantis and resumed her royal duties, detailed in the Atlas of Earth-Prime.</p><p></p><p>Seven (Serena Vervain) is quite clearly Raven from Teen Titans, but more extroverted and serves as the Next-Gen’s moral support. She came from a bloodline of witches and has the potential to be the most powerful in her family tree. Her grandmother enrolled her in the Claremont Academy, and she took the name Seven due to that number’s magical powers and being the seventh realized witch in her family (sometimes the magical potential skips generations). Serena also began an apprenticeship under Adrian Eldrich, and her archenemy is the demonic lawyer Lucius Cabot who believes her part of a prophecy that will spell his undoing. As of <strong>3e</strong> she took on Eldrich’s role as Earth-Prime’s Master Mage, only to lose it after defeating Una Queen of the Netherworld and accidentally taking her title of Dark Lord. If she refused the role the realm would cease to exist, effectively killing everyone in that reality.</p><p></p><p>Finally we have Sonic (Lemar Phillips), a young man who grew up in Lincoln and was strong-armed by a friend who sought to prove himself to a local gang. The gang sought to steal an experimental sonic disruptor, only for unforeseen circumstances to trigger it and bestow sound-based powers on Lemar. Startled by this turn of events, he shared what happened with Wilson Jeffers of the Lincoln Youth Center. Wilson in turn revealed his status as the former superhero the Black Avenger, and helped train him. By the time Sonic became a notable superhero in Lincoln and Southside he was offered a spot at the Claremont Academy, although Lemar sought to keep attending his “regular” classes at his local high school and is at Claremont mostly as a member of the Next-Gen.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts:</strong> The Next-Gen has some clear inspiration from the Teen Titans: Bolt is like Kid Flash and Nereid an Atlantean Starfire. Although I can spot other influences: for example, Megastar bears a strong resemblance to Ben Ten (kid uses an alien artifact to gain superpowers), and Sonic sounds similar to Static and has a similar backstory (African-American teenager pressured by gangs and gaining superpowers from weird science experiment). Like the Freedom League, each member has a unique power set and role, although given their lower Power Levels are a bit less multi-talented. Bolt is like Johnny Rocket in being a fragile speedster but with less powers and tricks, Megastar is like Star Knight as a space-themed bruiser but without that one’s universal translator and ranged attacks, etc. Unlike the Freedom League their Power Point totals are well within the bounds of their respective PLs, meaning that they are more on par with typical PL 8 teen superhero PCs if one’s GM opts for a Claremont Academy campaign.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/f5C4qK2.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Solo Heroes</strong> is our shortest section, and its entries differ depending on Edition. In <strong>2e</strong> Lantern Jack was included among them, although we detailed him already in an earlier post. Dr. Tomorrow wasn’t available in <strong>1e</strong> although he was referenced in the history, while as of <strong>3e</strong> Adrian Eldrich was destroyed in battle with Una before Seven deposed her as Dark Lord.</p><p></p><p>Dr. Tomorrow (Tomas Morgen) hails from the dimension of Erde, where the Axis powers won WWII. Tomas was created as part of a eugenics program in the Nationalist States of America to be the perfect Nazi poster boy, although he eventually learned of the horrors his ideology was built upon and made contact with the American Resistance. They raided a military lab to steal an experimental time-travel device in hopes of traveling back in time to prevent the Axis from winning. He made contact with FDR, helping form the Liberty League. Tomas’ dream of defeating the Axis was successful, although his manipulation of the time-stream either put him back in time into the Earth-Prime of the 1940s…or instead created a parallel universe in the timestream as a result of this. Regardless, his original home was still ruled over by fascists, so Tomas returned in the hopes of giving them the freedom that he helped win in Earth-Prime. He was successful in developing weapons and technology to help the Resistance defeat the Nazi’s brain-jar-controlled tanks and fighter jets, and having done his part he now travels through time warning various figures of import about cosmic catastrophes.</p><p></p><p>Eldrich (Adrian Eldrich) is Freedom City’s Doctor Strange, an all-purpose “superhero wizard” and investigator of the occult. He delved into the world of magic when visiting a lost Temple of Sirrion back in the 1930s, accidentally breaking the protective seals which housed the Atlantean archmage Malador the Mystic. Being a wizard of great evil, Malador imprisoned Eldrich and left him to die, although the temple’s guardians sensed Adrian’s magical potential as the reincarnation of their former master, awakening memories dating back to Atlantis and filling him with magical power.</p><p></p><p>Eldrich did a lot of good in the world, as much as any superhero, although unlike the more overt cape-bearers a lot of his deeds were done behind the scenes and rarely made it into headline news. In 1977 he made residence in Freedom City, eventually tutoring Serena Vervain in spellcraft. His body died in combat with Una, but his soul lives on in the higher planes.</p><p></p><p>Foreshadow (David Sloane) was born with the ability to see into the future, a talent he tried hiding. When a vision showed his parents dying in a car crash he tried to warn them, but they didn’t take him seriously and that terrible event came to pass. David was left with a significant inheritance, although he decided to travel the world and learn more about his powers as well as picking up other talents along the way. When he came back to his old neighborhood of Southside he saw how criminals and evildoers had come to prominence and decided to put his training and powers to use as the precognitive superhero, Foreshadow! He’s a street-level vigilante who tangles with the Freedom City Mob, and as of <strong>3e</strong> developed a rivalry and mutual attraction with Lady Tarot. The Freedom League has encountered Foreshadow and even offered him membership, although he declined, preferring to operate on his own.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts:</strong> The Solo Heroes are a bit of a mixed bag for me. Dr. Tomorrow and Foreshadow are PL 9 and serve as useful allies for their respective fields (time travel, street level) yet not to the point that their abilities overshadow typical PL 10 parties. Eldrich is a very powerful PL 13 character whose magical array makes him quite multi-talented in what he can do, although I can’t help but feel he’s somehow out of place. I’m guessing that this must be why he was removed in 3rd Edition, and also for the possibility of a PC taking the role of the now-vacant Master Mage title.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> I already went over my individual thoughts for the entries above, so this is a more holistic judgment. I will say that Freedom City does a good job of making a setting that is “lived in.” Practically every superhero in this chapter has a solid backstory, personality, relationships, and distinct themes with little in the way of overlapping roles. And such overlap tends to come more from the relative rookie teenage superheroes, like Eldrich to Seven or Bolt to Captain Thunder/Johnny Rocket.</p><p></p><p>One downside is that the large number of superheroes in a relatively small area means that it’s harder for original PCs to establish themselves in the setting, and inevitably begs the question of what the other superheroes are doing when some city-wide threat comes to Freedom. The books attempt to alleviate this with various explanations and suggestions, such as the Freedom League having a more worldwide sphere of influence, the Atom Family usually traveling abroad, or the PCs joining the teams. Although given the way the characters are written it sounds like they’re a frequent enough presence in Freedom City to the point that they rarely leave the metropolis alone for long periods.</p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we cover the first part of Foes of Freedom! Yes, there’s a lot.</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8521830, member: 6750502"] [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/PGhi9RD.png[/IMG][/CENTER] Known in 1st Edition as Heroes & Villains and in 2nd Edition as Friends of Freedom, 3rd Edition’s title is the most self-explanatory. This chapter details the notable superheroes of the Earth-Prime setting, and given the metaplot development the entries differ by Edition. The Freedom League’s membership has gained and lost a few members over time, while the Next-Gen got an entirely new membership in [B]3e[/B] but are relegated to that Edition’s Hero High sourcebook. Eldrich is no longer Master Mage in [B]3e[/B] after bequeathing that title to Seven (who then ended up a Dark Lord of the Netherworld). One notable thing exclusive to [B]1e[/B] was listing one-sentence quotes (including for villains) to give a taste of their personality, as well as Rogues Gallery listings to show which supervillains have history with Earth-Prime’s defenders. There were also backstories and stat blocks for non-powered friends and acquaintances for many of the heroes, such as Captain Thunder’s wife and son as well as his old Air Force buddy Dan Cloud who serves as an aeronautic consultant and mechanic for the Freedom League. [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/enrwtty.png[/IMG][/CENTER] [B]The Freedom League[/B] is the longest-lasting and most famous superhero team in the Earth-Prime universe. Their membership changed greatly over the decades, and as of 3rd Edition only Daedalus and Siren have membership stretching back to the Silver Age. Their traditional headquarters used to be Freedom Hall in Freedom City, but as of [B]2e[/B] they launched an orbital space station known as the Lighthouse to serve as that purpose instead. With teleportals and spaceplanes, they can easily go anywhere on Earth and beyond. In [B]1e[/B] and [B]2e[/B] the Freedom League’s leader was Captain Thunder (Ray Gardener), a former Air Force pilot who gained lightning-based superpowers from a rogue experiment by the mad scientist Dr. Stratos. While he initially had a secret identity, Dr. Stratos captured him and revealed it to the world, and Ray had to relocate his family to Freedom City in order to gain a safer life. As of [B]3e[/B] he retired, with his son Ray Gardener Jr. (formerly Bolt of the Next-Gen) joining the Freedom League as Thunderbolt. Bowman (Fletcher Beaumont III) is the fourth superhero to bear the legacy title of the Golden Age archer. In [B]1e[/B] he was a member of Claremont Academy’s Next-Gen, but as of later Editions he graduated and joined the Freedom League. Although he is one of the less-powerful members and has no superpowers, he more than makes up for it with his knowledge of tactics and arsenal of gimmick arrows. Centuria (Katherine Leeds) is unique to [B]3e,[/B] the daughter of an alternate-universe Centurion who also arrived in Earth-Prime via a life pod from space. And like the Centurion that became world-famous on Earth-Prime, her home dimension was destroyed by the Terminus. Her proclaimed backstory and similarities in powers caused a media frenzy, and after some heavy vetting by other superheroes she was happily accepted by her new home. She is the most powerful member at PL 13, with abilities similar to her “father.” Daedalus was a mainstay in all 3 Editions, being one of the world’s most brilliant scientists with origins dating back to Ancient Greece. He is much like the Daedalus of myth, although the minotaur he was responsible for trapping would eventually become Taurus, head of the Labyrinth. He also earned the enmity of Hades once the gods “gifted” him immortality as a means of making up for his son’s loss, and the ruler of the Underworld took his initial refusal as a personal affront. Ever since, Daedalus has wandered the world, learning from lifetimes’ worth of civilizations and covertly passing on his own findings to others such as Isaac Newton and Leonardo DaVinci. Few people know that Daedalus is the man of myth, and instead he pretends that a succession of “sons” are gifted his trademark battlesuit. Dr. Metropolis’ true origins are unknown, although theories abound that he’s the metaphysical manifestation of the concept of cities. He appeared in the aftermath of Omega’s invasion of Freedom City, using his powers to repair the damage. He was called “Dr. Metropolis” by scientists which he accepted as his own, shortly thereafter joining the Freedom League. On the surface he seems emotionless and has trouble understanding human social cues, although he possesses a deep care for his beloved city. As you can imagine, Dr. Metropolis serves as a good narrative explanation for why Freedom City (and other metropolii of Earth-Prime) aren’t ruined wastelands with all the collateral damage from supervillains. Johnny Rocket (John Wade) is a speedster who inherited his powers from his grandfather who was the Johnny Rocket of the Golden Age. His powers activated when one of the last surviving villains of the latter’s rogues gallery tracked him down and tried to kill him. Johnny’s powers activated instinctively, and in a manner that left a lot of witnesses, so he never had a secret identity. This would come back to haunt him when he was publicly outed by an angry ex-boyfriend. As this was the early 2000s America (and when the first book was published), this was a lot less socially acceptable then than it is now, so there were a lot of people calling for the Freedom League to kick him out as a “bad influence.” They refused, in fact going on to support him, and the original Johnny Rocket told the press how he was proud of his grandson as a worthy successor. As of [B]3e,[/B] Johnny Rocket is still a member of the Freedom League, although he recently became an adoptive father and mentor to Jonni Rocket, a female clone of the superhero created by his archenemy Dr. Simian. Lady Liberty (2e Elizabeth Walton-Wright, 3e Sonia Gutierrez) is not a single superhero so much as a title that has been passed down to generations of worthy women by the Spirit of Liberty. The first one to join the current version of the Freedom League was a liberal lawyer married to a police detective, although her superhero life has put a damper on their marriage. Elizabeth eventually stepped down her role, feeling that she could do more good via charity work and service at a legal clinic, causing the Spirit of Liberty to find a new host. It found that host in Sonia Gutierrez, a transgender woman and daughter of Mexican immigrants. Unlike Donna’s liberal and relative apoliticism, Sonia was well aware of America’s many moral shortcomings on its minority citizens, and while not a patriot like former Lady Liberties she was chosen due to her compassionate nature after she saved a random woman from an attempted murder. The newest member of the Freedom League, Sonia feels a bit in over her head at times although the former Lady Liberty established contact as a mentor. Pseudo (R’ik Faax) is exclusive to [B]2e,[/B] a member of the shapeshifting Grue. Trained from birth to be a scout for the Grue Unity, he was sent to Earth with the purpose of sabotage, although he went rogue after spending time among humans. Seeing the worthy causes championed by superheroes, R’ik eventually joined the League sometime during the Silver Age, establishing a new identity as freelance journalist Rick Fox when not superheroing. He’s not listed as a member in [B]3e[/B] although that book doesn’t mention his fate. The most I could find is him being mentioned as a reserve member. The Raven (Callie Summers) is exclusive to [B]1e[/B] and [B]2e,[/B] the daughter of the original Raven. Duncan Summers sought to keep his identity a secret from his family, although after one of his foes kidnapped Callie the secret was out. She did what she could to learn more about her father’s time as the Raven, covertly training in the hopes of becoming like him. Eventually Duncan realized that in spite of his protests he couldn’t deny Callie’s wishes. She is pretty much “female Batman,” having no superpowers but highly trained in a variety of skills and feats with a small arsenal of equipment and non-lethal grenades. As of [B]3e[/B] Callie retired and became Mayor of Freedom City, passing on the mantle of Raven to Elite, formerly of the teenage superhero team the AlterniTeens. That Raven currently operates out of New York City. Siren (Cassandra Vale/La Siren) is two people in one: the psychologist Cassandra Vale and the Voodoo Loa La Sirene. Cassandra visited the Voodoo communities in Haiti in the 1960s as part of a research paper. She theorized that the power of belief can reshape reality, which is responsible for creating all manner of supernatural beings. She inadvertently came across a drug smuggling ring, and was saved by La Sirene when the smugglers attempted to turn her into shark food. The Loa explained to Cassandra that she was chosen for a special purpose: humans were ultimately good and worthy of aid of the spirits, although one of their peers Baron Samedi disagreed, arguing that humans were little better than animals and worthy only of being slaves to the Loa. So Cassandra was chosen to help settle this cosmic bet, operating as the superhero Siren to make the world a better place and also operating against Baron Samedi’s many plots. Star Knight (Maria Montoya) is a [B]2e/3e[/B] addition, a child of immigrants and a cop who uncovered Grue spies in her police department when investigating internal corruption. It wasn’t long before Pseudo came to her aid, given that she was now wrapped up in a plot for the aliens to invade Earth. Mentor of the Star Knights approached Maria, offering to appoint her the new Star Knight of Earth’s sector of space. It was only natural that she’d also join the Freedom League, albeit as a reserve member. As of [B]3e[/B] she’s been less active on Earth on account of the interstellar turmoil wrought by Star Khan and Collapsar. Thunderbolt (Ray Gardener Jr.) is a [B]3e[/B] exclusive, an intangible mass of electrical energy contained within a human-shaped bodysuit. Ray used to be a normal boy, having developed electrical powers during puberty inherited from his father, the great Captain Thunder. He enrolled in Claremont Academy to help manage his powers, joining the Next-Gen as Bolt during his time there. His zest for superheroism didn’t die out upon graduation, and sought to join the Freedom League. Ray got his wish, albeit as a result of recklessness in trying to apprehend Dr. Stratos on his own. Captain Thunder saved his son, albeit at the expense of becoming permanently depowered and Ray Jr.’s body atomized into a “living thunderbolt.” Daedalus and Dr. Atom helped construct a containment suit to let him live something close to a normal life, and he did join the Freedom League. Although he still bears guilt for being responsible for the circumstances that led to his father’s retirement. [B]Fun Fact:[/B] The 2nd Edition book Worlds of Freedom had a chapter covering Freedom City in the “near future” of the 2040s. Several characters mentioned in the [B]3e[/B] sourcebook were part of the team, such as Centuria, Jonni Rocket, and Thunderbolt. [B]Thoughts:[/B] The Freedom League is a pretty decent team. They have an established presence in the world and their various members occupy a diversity of roles that make them feel distinct. Although many are built with far more Power Points than a PC of equivalent Power Level, many of their members are within the bounds of starting PCs for typical PL 10 campaigns. Your average party may not be able to take them all on at once: there’s 8 of them, and over half are above PL 10, but unlike “big names” in other established settings (coughwhitewolfcoughforgottenrealmscough) their capabilities aren’t so far and above beginning PCs to the point that your players will feel useless in comparison. I will note one peculiar thing on my mind: in the case of Siren, La Sirene is a real-world religious figure in Voodoo. I did read that Steve Kenson wanted to make a superhero setting where Vodouism is prominent in the same way that the Nordic faith is in the Marvel universe or the Greco-Roman pantheon in DC. But unlike those faiths, Voodoo has been under a sustained propaganda campaign, being portrayed as a creepy cult of zombies and black magic in most pop culture portrayals to the detriment of other aspects. The placement of Baron Samedi as a zombie-focused supervillain mirrors this, and from what I read of the actual faith the Baron doesn’t really occupy an “evil” role in Voodoo. That being said, I am not a practitioner nor do I know those who are, so I can only speak as an outside observer going off of what others have said. [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/c2piOwq.png[/IMG][/CENTER] [B]The Atom Family[/B] is the second major team of Freedom City. Modeled heavily off of the Fantastic Four with a side of Johnny Quest thrown in, the Atoms are a family of adventuring psychic scientists who travel to all manner of places around Earth-Prime and even other dimensions. Their “membership” dates back to the Golden Age, with Dr. Atom being your typical pulp two-fisted scientist who is now a disembodied AI confined to the family home in Freedom City. He is far from useless, being capable of traveling the Internet and appearing as a holographic advisor anywhere. Dr. Atom also invented and patented morphic molecules, an adaptive fabric made of super-strong material that is an in-universe explanation for how superhero uniforms remain virtually undamaged without the need for regular change. The Atom Family’s membership remains unchanged between Editions. Besides the disembodied Dr. Atom, there’s Maximus Atom (eldest and leader when in the field, powers include size-changing), Tesla Atom (stereotypical nerdy scientist, energy manipulator), Victoria Atom (optimistic mediator of the family, stretchy-shapeable form), Chase Atom (psychic telepath/illusionist, is great at superhero stuff but has trouble adapting to “normal life”), Jack Wolf (former soldier of fortune who became guardian of the Atom children upon Dr. Atom’s ‘death’ back in the day, has no powers but pilots their flying “Atomobile” and is good with a blaster), Cosmo the Moon Monkey (Chase’s pet, psychic teleporting monkey from Farside City), and ALEX (Artificial Life-form Experiment, robot butler and lab assistant with British accent). As of [B]3e,[/B] Max Atom became CEO of the family business Atomic Inc and got married and had children, Victoria manages a travelog blog that created the phenomenon known as “V-Spotting” (fans guessing where the Atom family might be traveling in their area). Chase has been approached by Thunderbolt of the Freedom League with an offer to join (an offer he’ll take up in Future Freedom from Worlds of Freedom). And Dr. Atom helped cure Gamma the Atom-Smasher, nuclear-themed supervillain, of his radioactive powers. [B]Thoughts:[/B] I like the Atom Family. They have a different enough dynamic and place in the world in comparison to the Freedom League, so they don’t feel like a carbon-copy cutout of “Generic Superhero Team B.” About half of their members aren’t that powerful or have complications preventing them from being useful in combat (Dr. Atom, ALEX, and Cosmo the Moon Monkey) but that helps strengthen their theme as a superpowered family who prioritize exploring the mysteries of the world. [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/UP5vlgf.png[/IMG][/CENTER] This is the closest “group shot” I could find of the Next-Gen. Several members are also of the AlterniTeens in case it seems like there are “missing entries.” [B]The Next-Gen[/B] are exclusive to [B]1e/2e,[/B] and in the current Edition have an entirely different membership that is detailed in Hero High. The Next-Gen are a team of teenage superheroes from Claremont Academy and operate with the covert support of Duncan Summers. They are overall lower-powered than the Freedom League, with member PLs averaging around 8 or 9 with their strongest member Megastar at PL 10; in 1e they had overall higher PLs, averaging 10. Bowman was a member in 1e, with Captain Thunder’s son joining in 2e as Bolt. Bowman’s time at the Academy had him as a star student, wanting to help restore the family name after the last generations’ less than noble departure from the Freedom League (namely alcoholism compromising his superhero career). Bolt (Ray Gardener Jr.) is the newest member of the Next-Gen as of [B]2e,[/B] being eager to enjoy life and is good friends with Chase Atom. He has electrical-themed superpowers and as well as super-speed. Megastar (Christopher Beck) was a normal high school student who ended up bonding with an alien piece of technology known as MEGAS, or Metamorphic Encephalic Guidance and Attack Suspension. The Grue sought to steal MEGAS from the Lor Republic after its carrier ship crash-landed on Earth. Christopher managed to fend off the Grue after changing into a taller and stronger silver-haired man with super-strength and flight. He was eager to prove himself to the Freedom League, although his age meant that he was sent to the Claremont Academy instead. As of [B]3e[/B] Chris’ life has been rough; personality problems, not being a “team player,” and relying far too much on MEGAS’ powers to coast him through life made him a washed-up superhero turned supervillain working as a galactic enforcer for Tellax in the Rogues Gallery sourcebook. Nereid (Thetis) is the granddaughter of the original Golden Age Siren, her father being the King of Atlantis. She was sent to the Claremont Academy to gain a greater understanding of the surface world for her eventual role as Queen, being a literal “fish out of water” to this new environment. Although she isn’t overtly arrogant and spoiled, she does have a high opinion of herself in viewing her royal status as making her better than “common folk.” As of [B]3e[/B] she returned to Atlantis and resumed her royal duties, detailed in the Atlas of Earth-Prime. Seven (Serena Vervain) is quite clearly Raven from Teen Titans, but more extroverted and serves as the Next-Gen’s moral support. She came from a bloodline of witches and has the potential to be the most powerful in her family tree. Her grandmother enrolled her in the Claremont Academy, and she took the name Seven due to that number’s magical powers and being the seventh realized witch in her family (sometimes the magical potential skips generations). Serena also began an apprenticeship under Adrian Eldrich, and her archenemy is the demonic lawyer Lucius Cabot who believes her part of a prophecy that will spell his undoing. As of [B]3e[/B] she took on Eldrich’s role as Earth-Prime’s Master Mage, only to lose it after defeating Una Queen of the Netherworld and accidentally taking her title of Dark Lord. If she refused the role the realm would cease to exist, effectively killing everyone in that reality. Finally we have Sonic (Lemar Phillips), a young man who grew up in Lincoln and was strong-armed by a friend who sought to prove himself to a local gang. The gang sought to steal an experimental sonic disruptor, only for unforeseen circumstances to trigger it and bestow sound-based powers on Lemar. Startled by this turn of events, he shared what happened with Wilson Jeffers of the Lincoln Youth Center. Wilson in turn revealed his status as the former superhero the Black Avenger, and helped train him. By the time Sonic became a notable superhero in Lincoln and Southside he was offered a spot at the Claremont Academy, although Lemar sought to keep attending his “regular” classes at his local high school and is at Claremont mostly as a member of the Next-Gen. [B]Thoughts:[/B] The Next-Gen has some clear inspiration from the Teen Titans: Bolt is like Kid Flash and Nereid an Atlantean Starfire. Although I can spot other influences: for example, Megastar bears a strong resemblance to Ben Ten (kid uses an alien artifact to gain superpowers), and Sonic sounds similar to Static and has a similar backstory (African-American teenager pressured by gangs and gaining superpowers from weird science experiment). Like the Freedom League, each member has a unique power set and role, although given their lower Power Levels are a bit less multi-talented. Bolt is like Johnny Rocket in being a fragile speedster but with less powers and tricks, Megastar is like Star Knight as a space-themed bruiser but without that one’s universal translator and ranged attacks, etc. Unlike the Freedom League their Power Point totals are well within the bounds of their respective PLs, meaning that they are more on par with typical PL 8 teen superhero PCs if one’s GM opts for a Claremont Academy campaign. [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/f5C4qK2.png[/IMG][/CENTER] [B]Solo Heroes[/B] is our shortest section, and its entries differ depending on Edition. In [B]2e[/B] Lantern Jack was included among them, although we detailed him already in an earlier post. Dr. Tomorrow wasn’t available in [B]1e[/B] although he was referenced in the history, while as of [B]3e[/B] Adrian Eldrich was destroyed in battle with Una before Seven deposed her as Dark Lord. Dr. Tomorrow (Tomas Morgen) hails from the dimension of Erde, where the Axis powers won WWII. Tomas was created as part of a eugenics program in the Nationalist States of America to be the perfect Nazi poster boy, although he eventually learned of the horrors his ideology was built upon and made contact with the American Resistance. They raided a military lab to steal an experimental time-travel device in hopes of traveling back in time to prevent the Axis from winning. He made contact with FDR, helping form the Liberty League. Tomas’ dream of defeating the Axis was successful, although his manipulation of the time-stream either put him back in time into the Earth-Prime of the 1940s…or instead created a parallel universe in the timestream as a result of this. Regardless, his original home was still ruled over by fascists, so Tomas returned in the hopes of giving them the freedom that he helped win in Earth-Prime. He was successful in developing weapons and technology to help the Resistance defeat the Nazi’s brain-jar-controlled tanks and fighter jets, and having done his part he now travels through time warning various figures of import about cosmic catastrophes. Eldrich (Adrian Eldrich) is Freedom City’s Doctor Strange, an all-purpose “superhero wizard” and investigator of the occult. He delved into the world of magic when visiting a lost Temple of Sirrion back in the 1930s, accidentally breaking the protective seals which housed the Atlantean archmage Malador the Mystic. Being a wizard of great evil, Malador imprisoned Eldrich and left him to die, although the temple’s guardians sensed Adrian’s magical potential as the reincarnation of their former master, awakening memories dating back to Atlantis and filling him with magical power. Eldrich did a lot of good in the world, as much as any superhero, although unlike the more overt cape-bearers a lot of his deeds were done behind the scenes and rarely made it into headline news. In 1977 he made residence in Freedom City, eventually tutoring Serena Vervain in spellcraft. His body died in combat with Una, but his soul lives on in the higher planes. Foreshadow (David Sloane) was born with the ability to see into the future, a talent he tried hiding. When a vision showed his parents dying in a car crash he tried to warn them, but they didn’t take him seriously and that terrible event came to pass. David was left with a significant inheritance, although he decided to travel the world and learn more about his powers as well as picking up other talents along the way. When he came back to his old neighborhood of Southside he saw how criminals and evildoers had come to prominence and decided to put his training and powers to use as the precognitive superhero, Foreshadow! He’s a street-level vigilante who tangles with the Freedom City Mob, and as of [B]3e[/B] developed a rivalry and mutual attraction with Lady Tarot. The Freedom League has encountered Foreshadow and even offered him membership, although he declined, preferring to operate on his own. [B]Thoughts:[/B] The Solo Heroes are a bit of a mixed bag for me. Dr. Tomorrow and Foreshadow are PL 9 and serve as useful allies for their respective fields (time travel, street level) yet not to the point that their abilities overshadow typical PL 10 parties. Eldrich is a very powerful PL 13 character whose magical array makes him quite multi-talented in what he can do, although I can’t help but feel he’s somehow out of place. I’m guessing that this must be why he was removed in 3rd Edition, and also for the possibility of a PC taking the role of the now-vacant Master Mage title. [B]Thoughts So Far:[/B] I already went over my individual thoughts for the entries above, so this is a more holistic judgment. I will say that Freedom City does a good job of making a setting that is “lived in.” Practically every superhero in this chapter has a solid backstory, personality, relationships, and distinct themes with little in the way of overlapping roles. And such overlap tends to come more from the relative rookie teenage superheroes, like Eldrich to Seven or Bolt to Captain Thunder/Johnny Rocket. One downside is that the large number of superheroes in a relatively small area means that it’s harder for original PCs to establish themselves in the setting, and inevitably begs the question of what the other superheroes are doing when some city-wide threat comes to Freedom. The books attempt to alleviate this with various explanations and suggestions, such as the Freedom League having a more worldwide sphere of influence, the Atom Family usually traveling abroad, or the PCs joining the teams. Although given the way the characters are written it sounds like they’re a frequent enough presence in Freedom City to the point that they rarely leave the metropolis alone for long periods. [B]Join us next time as we cover the first part of Foes of Freedom! Yes, there’s a lot.[/B] [/QUOTE]
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