I'm definitely intrigued by the initial premise. I've always been a bigger fan of the street level heroes, and moreso on stories that consist of more than thwarting some random bad guy from carrying out whatever nefarious deed. For me, comics are more interesting when they reflect current political and social concerns. How would heroes with a means to do something about it tackle poverty, hate crimes, fanatic religious groups, energy crises, government corruption, hunger, and even genocide? I remember reading a Squadron Supreme miniseries that delved into how certain members were dealing with issues in Darfur, and I loved how the characters interacted with a real world concern in their own ways. While I know our characters in this game would not be able to affect anything on that scale at first, I could see us evolving our skills and powers in such a way that we could confront something on this scale, make the tough decisions, and deal with the fallout.
I have a character idea in mind and discussed it a little with Ross, but I thought I'd put it up to the board to flesh it out. I'm thinking of an anti-hero spellcaster type a la Constantine (Thanks Cody for loaning me those trades). With the death of so many heroes, I figure not only our there headquarters now ripe for the picking, but the parts of the city they once protected are witnessing an upsurge in crime like never before. Local law enforcement is stretched thin and some neighborhoods are purposefully overlooked because of the danger from criminal organizations or ragtag gangs vying for control and utilizing ransacked items stolen from deceased villains and heroes. My character would be from one of these areas. He would be some street kid, who is just trying to survive and provide what he can for his family and closest neighbors. While some teenagers his age have joined up with gangs for protection or to gain some semblance of power in numbers, my character would've rejected this because of the unnecessary violence and brutality inherent within such groups. Instead he and his friends would use cunning and stealth to take what they needed (food, clothing, and other basic goods). At some point, he witnesses some thieves break into an old abandoned building and trigger some nasty magical defenses. Many of the thieves die, some get away with various magical items, and one stumbles away into an alley, frantic, dazed, and dying. Curious as to what he just observed, my character approaches the dying man cautiously and sees that the thief has an artifact or a grimoire (I haven't decided) clutched tightly as he is in his death throws. Thinking he might be able to sell it, my character wrenches it away from the thief and bolts. As days go by, he studies the artifact and researches what he can about it at the local library and the internet to see how much he might get out of selling it. While on his way to sell it, he reflexively uses the artifact in a desperate act to save a kid from being viciously beaten by a group of thugs. It's at that moment that he decides it would be more valuable in his hands, defending his neighborhood.
I imagine as he develops as a hero, he will have to make hard choices, and each time he uses the artifact to make morally compromising decisions, he will lose a little piece of his soul/conscience or what have you. He is conscious of this fact, but he believes losing his soul is a small price to pay if he can ease the suffering of others. Furthermore, I could see him sacrificing an innocent if it meant others might live. Tentatively, I'm going leaning toward the code name Martyr. So what are your thoughts?
-Jason
