A DC Heroes campaign set in the 1980s!

by Adam D.A. Manning

When I was growing up, we played a LOT of different roleplaying games. One of my favourites was DC Heroes, where you could play one of the heroes from the DC comics, or make up your own. It had one of the most ingenious game systems, using an exponential scale that meant characters with widely differing strength (for example) as Jimmy Olsen and Superman could be catered for, without Superman's strength being a number one hundred digits long. Most things that were important in game terms could be measured using the scale; weight, distance, time, speed, information and so on.

The first edition of the game was published in the mid-eighties, right before the most important event in the DC Comics' universe, the Crisis On Infinite Earths. It was therefore set in the DC universe known as Earth-One, which featured in comics from, very roughly, the mid fifties until summer 1986, when the Crisis reset everything. Many of the DC superheroes were at their most powerful in these depictions; this was when Superman could move the Moon around without breaking a sweat.

The game was widely admired for its system, and rightly so. Players could spend Hero Points, which temporarily allowed them to boost their abilities. This enabled the wildly unrealistic world of the comics to come to life, where Batman could dodge bullets for at least a few seconds to allow him to escape. The game was as much fun at Batman's street level or at the cosmic power of Green Lantern or Darkseid.

I bought a copy of it on Ebay so I could see it again and this got me thinking. If you were to run a DC Heroes campaign at the time of the 1st edition, say starting in late 1984, what would the previous history of the setting be like? In the comics, continuity is always slightly vague; there's a rough order to things, but applying actual dates is fraught with danger as the moment it's done, it starts to become dated and then out of step with the forward march of publication. If you declare in one edition that Hal Jordan became Green Lantern in 1981 when he was 25, thirty years later, your superhero is middle-aged, rather than the fresh faced youngster the readers are expecting in their comics.

No such difficulties have to face the roleplayer in creating their campaign. As a bit of escapism, I came up with the following. My working assumption was that the "present" was September 1984 and Dick Grayson had only recently decided to retire from being Robin (and Batman's sidekick) and strike out on his own as Nightwing. These two points provided a reference for everything else, drawn from the rough chronology that the body of work comics provide.

The Timeline:

27th September 1906

George Taylor, future editor of the Daily Planet, is born.

18th June 1923

Alfred Pennyworth, Batman’s future butler, is born.

19th July 1924

Perry White, future editor of the Daily Planet, is born.

29th February 1932

Kal-El is born on the planet Krypton to his astronaut mother Lara and scientist father Jor-El.

13th August 1934

Fifty light years from Earth, the planet Krypton is destroyed.

Moments before planetary destruction, Jor-El and Lara launch their two-year-old son Kal-El in an experimental spacecraft to the primitive planet of Earth, flying faster than the speed of light.

19th June 1936

Slade Wilson, the future Deathstroke, is born.

July 1948

George Taylor becomes editor of the Daily Planet in Metropolis.

October 1950

Perry White lives in Chicago, working as a freelance reporter.

15th November 1951

Lois Lane is born in Pittsdale.

October 1952

Slade Wilson lies about his age to try and enlist in the US army. He ends up fighting in the Korean War.

March 1954

Lois Lane suffers from measles.

14th April 1954

Bruce Wayne is born.

18th January 1956

Kal-El’s rocket lands on Earth and is discovered by Martha and Jonathan Kent. Only a few months have passed for Kal-El in the ship.

25th January 1956

Having left the super-baby at an orphanage, when no one arrives to collect him, the Kents adopt the two-year-old boy and he lives with them on their farm. They call him Clark.

May 1956

The Kents sell their farm and move into the town of Smallville, where they use the money from the sale of the farm to open up a general store.

June 1956

Perry White moves to Gotham City and starts work for the Gotham Gazette as a reporter.

April 1958

Alfred Pennyworth starts work for Martha and Thomas Wayne as their butler.

29th April 1960

Princess Koriand'r (who would later be known as Starfire) is born on the planet Tamaran in the Vega system.

February 1961

Slade Wilson meets Captain Adeline Kane for the first time.

January 1962

Slade Wilson is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

5th March 1962

Superboy makes his debut in Smallville, an extraordinary event that causes worldwide hope and uproar in equal measure.

July 1962

Captain Kane and Slade Wilson are married and she becomes pregnant.

1st March 1963

Dick Grayson, the future Robin, is born.

11th April 1963

Slade and Adeline’s son Joseph Wilson is born.

July 1963

Perry White starts work at the Daily Planet as a reporter.

17th November 1963

Bruce Wayne’s parents are murdered in front of him by Joe Chill outside a movie theatre.

12th August 1964

Donna Troy, the future Wonder Girl, is born.

August 1965

Wilson commences a tour of duty in the war in Vietnam.

9th May 1966

Wally West, the future Kid Flash, is born.

28th February 1967

The Legion of Superheroes travel from the future to meet Superboy, who begins having adventures with them in the 31st Century.

19th April 1967

Superboy encounters Lex Luthor for the first time.

27th October 1967

Donna Troy is rescued from a burning building by Wonder Woman and taken to Paradise Island to be raised there.

March 1968

Perry White is awarded a Pulitzer prize for his article on the extra-terrestrial origin of Superboy after an interview with the Boy of Steel.

August 1969

Slade Wilson undergoes treatment to become a metahuman. He becomes Deathstroke, the Terminator.

October 1969

At Raleigh College, Lois Lane becomes co-editor of the College’s student newspaper, the Raleigh Review.

November 1970

Clark Kent takes Ma and Pa Kent on a holiday to the Caribbean. Sadly, both his Earthly parents catch a tropical disease while they are away.

2nd January 1971

The disease affecting Martha and Jonathan Kent worsens, despite all of Superboy’s efforts. Ma Kent passes away.

7th February 1971

Pa Kent dies as well, leaving Clark devastated. Pa Kent's dying words are a request that his son only uses his powers for good.

27th May 1971

Dick Grayson makes his first appearance as one of The Flying Graysons, a trapeze act at a circus.

June 1971

The people of Smallville throw a big party for Superboy, who has told them he is leaving their town, although he won’t say where he is going. The death of Jonathan and Martha has affected him profoundly, showing that even with all his powers, there are some things even he cannot change.

August 1971

Clark Kent moves to Metropolis and enrols in the University there.

December 1972

Lois Lane starts a job as a trainee reporter at the Daily Planet.

December 1973

Further praise for Perry White, who has discovered that Superboy has moved to Metropolis.

February 1974

Perry White becomes editor of the Daily Planet, taking over from the previous editor, George Taylor, who is retiring.

April 1974

Lois Lane has established herself as the Daily Planet’s star reporter.

9th October 1975

Superman makes his debut in Metropolis.

The modern age of superheroes begins!

10th November 1975

Clark Kent gets a job at the Daily Planet, with an exclusive story about Superman. He meets Lois Lane for the first time.

December 1975

Brainiac attacks Earth, shrinking several cities and storing them in bottles, including Metropolis. Superman stops his plan.

29th June 1976

The Batman makes his debut as a crime fighter in Gotham City.

October 1976

Superman and Batman team up for the first time.

November 1976

Dick Grayson’s parents are killed by a gangster whilst performing their circus show. Their murder is witnessed by Bruce Wayne, who was in the audience at the circus. Batman investigates the crime and Bruce Wayne has Dick Grayson appointed as his ward.

December 1976

The first appearance of the Martian Manhunter as a superhero.

January 1977

Barry Allen makes his debut as the Flash.

Bruce Wayne reveals to Dick that he is Batman and Dick starts training to become a crimefighter himself.

February 1977

Green Arrow makes his debut as a crimefighter.

March 1977

Wonder Woman makes her debut as a superhero.

July 1977

The Batman first encounters one of his greatest foes, the Joker.

December 1977

The first appearances of Aquaman and Hal Jordan (Green Lantern).

June 1978

Batman has a new crimefighter who works with him - Robin (really Dick Grayson).

September 1978

Darkseid attacks Themyscira on Earth, killing half of the Amazons.

April 1979

The formation of the Justice League of America, who have to fight Starro the Conqueror, an alien threat.

July 1979

Princess Korinad'r escapes to Earth after undergoing a series of ordeals involving her sister and disputes over the rule of the planet Tamaran. On Earth, she soon meets Dick Grayson and in time a romance develops between the two.

March 1980

Barry Allen as the Flash meets Jay Garrick, the Flash of Earth-Two, for the first time.

September 1980

Dick Grayson (Robin) starts college in New York.

October 1980

The first iteration of the Teen Titans, which lasts until August 1981.

November 1980

Ray Palmer becomes active as the superhero Atom.

March 1981

Bruce Wayne moves from Wayne Manor to a penthouse apartment on top of the Wayne Foundation building in downtown Gotham City.

August 1981

The Crisis on Earth-One occurs, in which the Justice League from Earth-One team up with the Justice Society of America from Earth-Two.

The Teen Titans disband.

October 1982

The Teen Titans team up for the second time.

November 1982

Media conglomerate Galaxy Communications buys the Daily Planet in Metropolis. Much of Perry White’s position and power is taken over by Morgan Edge, owner of Galaxy Communications.

March 1983

Batman leaves the Justice League and forms a new superhero group, the Outsiders.

May 1983

The Teen Titans encounter Deathstroke for the first time.

September 1983

Jason Todd takes on the role of Robin.

May 1984

George Taylor, former editor of the Daily Planet, dies.

June 1984

Dick Grayson decides to take up the role of Nightwing.

July 1984

Perry White’s doctors grow concerned that he is showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

September 1984

The present.

What do you think? Let me know!