Heroing Today

Being a superhero means many different things in many different ways throughout Halcyon City. Some heroes put on the mask, the costume, and soar through the skies in the middle of the day. Some heroes go out at night, wearing dark, practical clothes to beat criminals with their fists. Some heroes work directly for the city or for law enforcement or for corporations. That said, Halcyon City has a few important traditions that any new superhero must learn before heading out to face villains for the first time.

THE TEAMS

Superhero teams have been an important part of the city’s metahuman social scene since the Silver Generation, and even before. They’re viewed with the same combination of celebrity awe and interest as a combination of Hollywood celebrities and up-and-coming tech companies. Some long-standing teams like the Freedom Team (currently the Freedom Five) have become part of the fabric of the city, while new ones are viewed as spunky newcomers trying to find their own niche. Other famous hero teams are the mystical Dark Watch, the young Halcyon Heroes, the second tier Southwest Sentinels, and the Universals who recently saved the world.
A team is far better equipped to actually deal with threats than individuals are, and forming a team is a great way for up and coming superheroes to get attention and a level of authority that individual members might not have on their own. But there’s no tried and true method here. Some teams are corporate sponsored, some are brought together by random happenstance, some are successors to existing teams. Halcyon City now has a large enough superhuman population that the turnover of teams is pretty high, and for every team you’ve heard of, there are probably five or more that you haven’t.

A.E.G.I.S.

The Advanced Expert Group for Intervention and Security is the primary governmental agency for the metahuman world. Its roots go way back to the Gold Generation, but it’s changed a great deal over the years. At this point, it has agents and strike teams, metahuman holding facilities, a tremendous intelligence network, and more. When metahuman law enforcement is necessary, it comes from A.E.G.I.S. That makes A.E.G.I.S. somewhere between a constant thorn in the side of the superheroes of Halcyon City, and one of their strongest allies.
Only the highest level agents of A.E.G.I.S. know who’s on the current Board of Directors. They’re all either agents or important people in the superhuman community or the world at large. And the decisions they make are ostensibly for the good of the whole world...but superheroes have come into conflict with A.E.G.I.S. and its Board plenty of times, either publicly or secretly. A.E.G.I.S. is always on the lookout for new talent, for those who can do what needs doing to keep the world safe from genuine superhuman threats.
It’s found agents even among the young. A.E.G.I.S. keeps files on everyone, and fosters and recruits new talent wherever possible. But A.E.G.I.S. isn’t a place to be a superhero—it’s a place to be an agent, a servant of a greater purpose that pushes you to make hard decisions. Joining A.E.G.I.S. can change you, and not always for the better.

VILLAINS AND CRIME

The metahuman population is still ultimately a fraction of the regular population of Halcyon City. But just as there are more heroes than ever before, there have never been more villains and super criminals than there are today. They go hand in hand with the heroes, falling into the same generations and styles as their counterparts. Gold Generation villains were a bit cheesy and generally kinda tame; Silver Generation villains were over the top and cosmically powered; Bronze Generation villains were intense and frightening; Modern Generation villains are still finding their own places in the world.
Although many metahumans can make more money legitimately than they can through crime, that’s not true for all of them. And many aren’t just interested in the money in and of itself—they want the thrill of crime, or they can’t stand the mundanity of regular work. A young super-powered woman from a poor neighborhood might be able to make herself a celebrity...but it’s just as likely that monolithic and dangerous corporations will kidnap her for further study, or lock her into controlling contracts. She might be better able to earn money if she simply steals it.
Many supercriminals are mercenaries, taking up dangerous work in exchange for tremendous pay, with no concern for the morality of their jobs. These criminals abound throughout the city, although they’re not considered the greatest threats from the metahuman side of life.
“Supervillain” or “villain” are terms used with a bit of chagrin—as they feel outdated and useless—and used all the time, as no one’s come up with a more catchy term for the superpowered entities that threaten Halcyon City. These aren’t the people out to make money or rob banks; these are the people out to end the city or take control over time itself. The term is applied unilaterally to extend from dangerous super scientists to time-traveling demigods, all of which Halcyon City has seen over the course the past century.
The heroes of Halcyon City have defended it well, and it has weathered many a crisis from these threats. So the city begrudgingly accepts the endless cycle of new heroes arising to combat new villains, and new villains arising as a result of the actions of the heroes. Though the city’s media or politicians may criticize any individual hero, the populace largely accepts this cycle as “just the way things are,” for better or worse. It’s the new normal.

RECENT CALAMITIES

In the last several years, the entire world has been threatened and saved by its super heroes on four separate occasions. The first was Baron Blade. The mad scientist, when he failed to kill the superhero Legacy, attempted to destroy the world by pulling the moon into with with a massive gravity weapon. The next was the sentient robotics and armament factory, Omnitron. It attempted to destroy all organic life on earth with a nanotech "grey goo" plague. Both of these plots were thwarted by the world's preeminent super hero team, the Freedom Five. 
But the world was not safe! Grand Warlord Voss invaded with an alien fleet, and heroes and villains from around the earth banded together to defeat his attempted conquest. The last of these recent threats Gaia and other Primordial beings were awakened by a dimensional war. With natural disasters and kaiju like monsters, population centers were threatened. The heroes of the world fought the great beasts, and The Universals restored peace to the Primordials and saved the world. And, finally, though she has not threatened to destroy the world, Citizen Dawn has claimed an island risen during this time as her own, a land for superhumans to call their own. A number of wanted criminals and outcast supers have fled to her banner, to live in her nascent empire. She may be more powerful than Legacy of the Freedom Five, Sun of the Universals, or even the legendary Haka!

AEGIS also handles prisoner transport to America's SuperMax for Supervillains: The Block.