This page contains the backround and setting for the New York Knights game world and campaign. It includes a little about the general setting and history of the world in general, and the recent history of the city and its metahuman inhabitants. I'll start with the general world information, then the city, then recent events that lead up to the current campaign.

The world is much the same as our own as far as major historical events and such go, no real difference besides the presence of metahumans in the world and their participation in the major and minor events of the world.

There have always been legends of gods and heroes, those with unusual abilites throughout history. Many of these can be linked to early metahumans.

But the modern 'boom' of metas did not start until the 1920's. It was then that the first 'Mystery Men' as they were known, first appeared. These early metahumans were close to normal humans, only having slightly enhanced abilities and a few minor powers. Many of them were either mystical or trained in nature, though a few early 'mutants' and scientific-based abilites also emerged. They were still few in number, but they were much more public than in previous ages.

The real increse in the metahuman population occured during World War II. The increase in scientific knowledge, as well as the drive to develop 'super soldiers' for the war lead to a variety of experiments and inventions that created a new generation of superheroes and villains. Most of the metahuman activity took place in the US and Pacific theaters. Hitler's mystic advisors used powerful artifacts and spells to erect a dome over Europe to prevent the use of Metahuman abilites (England was just oustide this influence). Because of this, until near the end of the war, there was no metahuman activity in the European theater. But this era left a legacy of supersoldiers, super patriots, and super science theat would affect the metahuman scene even to the modern day.

Another legacy of that era was the atom and later nuclear bombs. The period of the sixties and seventies was dominated by mutations and strange experiments that produced sometimes monsterous metahumans. These were those who were born withor granted strange powers, not having to rely on equipment or weapons as before, or strange drugs and magic. They were as frigtheningly powerful as the radiations that created them, a step above those that came before in terms of sheer power and danger. This was the time of greatest tensions, as the struggles for civil rights and the general conflicts of society, as well as the Cold War led to heigthened tensions and a decidely more violent aspect to the whole metahuman situation.

The eighties and nineties were dominated by the developments in science, particularly in computers and genetics. Once again there was a drive to high-tech sources of power as technology progressed at a rapid pace. And the advent of genetics and genetic engineering led to the creation of many other new metahumans.

The metahuman population has been increasing steadily since the 1940's, and now compromises about .01% of the world population. Most of this is concentrated in the more industrialized nations, and more so in cities, particularly major ones. For the most part, each city in the US has one or two at least. The really large cities (like New York, Chicago, DC, etc) typically have a team, and a handful of independents. There are no truly nationwide or worldwide teams, except for (secret or public) government sponsored ones, usually having more of a military or law enforcement membership.

Despite it's size, and the unusually high number of metahumans in the city, New York never really had an official team for most of its history. Those that did form usually fell to internal dissent or tragedy in their battles against evil. It's generally thought that there's some curse or bad luck associated with any team that tries to make its home in New York. This has only been bourne out by time and history. For the most part, the metahuman heroes of New York have operated as individuals or small partnerships.

In 1996, plans were begun to form a joint city-US govt sponsored and sanctioned superteam to serve as official protectors for one of the US's, and indeed the world's, most important cities. Dubbed the Knights, in 1997 the initial core of the team was comprised of former government agent and telepath John Lynch, the mysterious alien being Photon, and the local, and very popular, young heroine known as Widow. Their earliest mission brought them into contact with the superstrong hero known as the Juggernaut, and with the departure of Photon, these three formed the core of the new team. They got along very well, almost like a family, as the experienced Lynch became a father figure to the young Widow, and Tiny (the Juggernaut) becoming a big brother to her. However, it seemed that aside from these three, the team was plagued by the same curse of dissension that had destroyed most of the other teams. The Knights cycled through literally dozens of other team members, few staying more than a few months because of personal issues or other major problems. But the core trio gave the team some stability and a steady enough presence to get their job done.

The team's early history was checkered with a few mishaps. Their first press conference turned into a pitched battle, as their government liason had been replaced, and the entire press contigent at the event were agents of the anit-metahuman group Genocide. They were defeated, and the real agent Danvers was rescued. Later, their floating base was sunk in a battle with a group of their foes, and their funding was cut. The Knights continued as an independent group, Agent Danvers remaining to oversee their contacts with local authorities, and the group retaining it's official capacity at least within the city. They survived,and even prospered by going commercial, using merchandising funds and an agreement with the city to cover utility and other bills to continue to fund the group. They moved their base of operations to an old 1920's era hotel on the edge of Chinatown, only to find it was haunted. After a seance with the ghost, a 1920's supervillain named Shocker, they found he was trapped, and wanted to make amends for his past so he could finally pass on. At this time, the team also rescued and rehabilitated the hyperactive speedster villain the White Rabbit, who serves as the team secretary and gofer. For the most part however, the team was a suprising success...

Finally, the 'curse' seemed to catch up with the Knights. A powerful telepathic villain named Mastermind concocted a plan to destroy the city's defenders, thus leaving it open for him to take control. In his first move, he had his minions lure Widow into a trap, capturing her and using his powers to take over her mind, trapping the consciousness of Widow in her own mind, and creating a false personality to do his bidding. As Widow could only watch helplessly from her own mind, she saw herself lead the rest of the city's heroes on dead ends and wild goose chases, slowly wearing them down through fights and constant activity. When the heroes were at their lowest point, Mastermind and his minions attacked in force. The battle was fierce and deadly, several heros were badly injured, and a few even killed. Widow watched as her boyfriend, hesitating to strike her, was cut down. That finaly let her break free of Mastermind's control, and helped turn the tide of the battle. But the damage had been done, the team disbanded, Widow fleeing in guilt to Bay City, Lynch leaving for parts unknown, and Tiny taking to the road. With the core and the heart of the team gone, the rest soon disbanded, leaving the base empty and New York seriously underdefended....

That was in June of 1999.

January 2000. It has been six months since the Knights disbanded...

Crime, especially metahuman crime, has been on the rise. The few heroes who remained or were uninjured were not enough to stop the crime wave that swept through the city after the battle with Mastermind. Criminals saw the weakness, and exploited it. Even with more heroes returning to the city, or recovering from their injuries, and even with new heroes emerging, there is little that can be done to stem the tide of criminal activity. Without the Knights to serve as a rallying point and a large organized force, the city's heroes are disorganized and have low morale. They cannot band together enough to combat the crime wave, and are rapidly losing hope.

With rumblings from City Hall of founding a new Knights team, and with Agent Danvers and White Rabbit trying to keep the Knights support structure intact, it seems like only a matter of time before the call goes out once again to bring together a select group of heroes to become the Knights of the new Millenium.....