Crossover Earth '98
Earth-1 Background
Superhumans have been around on Earth-1 as long as normal humans. Research in the twentieth century shows a definite statistical distribution of superhumans across any given population of normal humans. As the human population grows faster and faster, so does the number of superhumans. The superhuman talent may manifest itself in many ways, including the mastery of magic, incredible technical ability, heightened physical ability, and even outright superpowers.
The game takes place in the late twentieth century. To make it easy on the GM, the political and social climate of the world will start out as that of the real world. I expect things to diverge over time, but that at least gives us a common starting point. The level of technology in Earth-1 is the same as the real world, with some higher level technology available due to the superhuman influence.
While general history has gone the same route as the real world, specific events have been much changed by the presence of supers. Superhuman soldiers fought in both world wars on both sides. Storming the beaches took on a whole new meaning when the defenders could fire energy blasts and control the weather.
Magic is not extremely common in the world. The general public disbelieves in magic and the supernatural on general principle. Isolated enclaves do exist for the study of magic, but powerful mages have been rare throughout history. Those who study magic have seen a rise in its incidence in recent years.
Mental powers are also not common. If telepaths and the like were more common, the public might feel a sense of paranoia at their potential for misuse. As it is, the odd telepath or telekinetic is hardly noticed. Rumors abound about government research into mental powers such as clairvoyance and telepathy.
Villains will be interested in the fact that inhibitors are available to law enforcement officers. Such devices are bulky and more suited for keeping a specific villain in their cell rather than subduing them on the scene. Each device must be calibrated for a particular set of powers. SWAT teams around the United States and other developed countries are capable of subduing and restraining a weak super in the field.
For those supers planning on cleaning up in sports, all major countries have passed fair competition laws. Such laws state that supers may not compete in sporting events where their powers give them an unfair advantage. The cause of superpowers has not been discovered, but the effects of powers can often be detected by a blood test (increased hormonal levels, strange ratios of neurochemicals, etc.) At one time an attempt was made to provide a sports classification that would allow supers to compete with others of their kind (i.e. ultra-weight boxing). However, the many problem associated with ensuring fair competition even among supers, and the lack of supers participating, killed the project.
The Crossover Earth universe is full of varied and fascinating alien beings. These beings all avoid the Earth, however, by general consensus. Earth has the status of an interdicted planet, although the reasons for this are largely unknown. Rumors abound, with such reasons as a virulent plague, dangerous natives, the planet's use as a private hunting preserve, etc. Alien visitors to Earth are extremely rare, and usually due to crash landings.