Team Justice
"Team Justice" is a Palladium Heroes Unlimited campaign run in 1998-1999 with the Katy-area RPG group.
The campaign itself was David’s creation and ran for 36 game sessions, until he decided to take a break to allow for others to have a chance at Games Master responsibility. The campaign followed the adventures of Houston’s newest super-team, Team Justice, rising up to protect citizens from the threat of super-villains that frequent the area. This page focuses on Episodes 37-41, as David resumed his Games Master responsibilities, continued the campaign until Episode 53.
The campaign story concepts were plot-based, and did not directly interfere with the campaign already set in motion. The five game sessions played were introduced much like how guest writers install storylines to mainstream comic books, yet relinquish their duties when the primary writer returns to his duties. Episode 37 was played on June 12, 1999, and continued on a weekly basis, with the game sessions happening on Saturday evenings until Episode 41 finished on July 10, 1999.
The campaign met regularly on Saturdays. Game sessions were played at David and Gloria’s home, and J.D.’s home.
Campaign Setting
The future really is not all that complicated as one might think. With the advent of novels by William Gibson and Phillip K. Dick, it is easy to look to the future as a bleak time-period on the chronological horizon.
Some scientists believe that superhuman beings have always walked among mankind. Cloaked in myth and legend, they were viewed as gods or titans. The first modern instance of meta-humans and beings of tremendous power occurred during the 1940s during the Earth’s second World War. As Hitler attempted to place his Master Race at the cutting edge of human genetics, super-soldier programs seemed the key to winning the war. Simultaneously, many humans with paranormal abilities stepped into the spotlight choosing to either to become champions of justice or entities who believed themselves above the law.
The primary chronology of the campaign was Palladium’s Heroes Unlimited universe, along with its heroes, villains, and exotic entities. Super science was abounding, as Houston is the center of the world’s first star port in Katy. Houston’s prosperity has also grown as it is considered an interstellar free-trade zone, prompting Texas to secede from the United States and become an independent republic. In the last three years, man had set foot on Mars, and new medical breakthroughs in cybernetics were normal in everyday life. However, with the man’s advancement came the rise of superhumans, who had both good intentions and evil plans for humanity. The PCs belong to Team Justice, the city’s crime fighting team. Their main purpose is to act as deterrents against super villains or other menaces. The team’s jurisdiction is the greater Houston area.
Player Characters
The campaign went well, thanks to the group of experienced players. Andy played Brimstone (John Black), who could magically change from a normal human into a mystic champion [private investigator]. Carol played the White Witch (Alicia White), a master psionic whose abilities were more subtle than overt [freelance security consultant]. David played the White Knight (Carleton Chandler), a mysterious mutant who could alter his physical features as well as control the vibrations around him [newspaper writer for the Associated Press]. Gloria played Night Cat (Ebony Rogers), the team leader of Team Justice and a lycanthrope with sonic speed [artist for the rich and famous]. J.D. played The Shadow (Dr. John Littletree), a modern-day wizard with a wide variety of defensive spells [teacher at Rice University]. Mark played Shard (Luke Icewalker), a accidental experiment who could change his body into solid ice, bend light around himself, and run at high rates of speed [college student].
Important NPCs
As the campaign was self-contained within the area of the Free State of Quebec, the players had ample opportunity to meet and establish a variety of NPC contacts, allies, and enemies. Each NPC had a different significance to the campaign, as the players developed relationships that had a bearing on the overall campaign. Minor NPCs tended to add enrichment to the main plot points, while major NPCs offered a perspective which either complemented the players or added an adversarial aspect to the campaign. Due to the scope of the campaign, actions of the players sometimes dictated the importance of NPCs to their characters' lives. Some NPCs were not grounded in one place and would appear in totally unrelated locations, while others would always be in the same place for the players to find them. Several NPCs made appearances to progress and expand the storyline. Each NPC had a different significance to the campaign. Both meta-humans and normal humans (along with some supernatural creatures) interacted with the players.
Episode Guide
Each weekend the players have assembled to play has been designated as an episode. The player characters have come together to help deter those criminal elements who choose to act outside the scope of law enforcement. While they have allies, some have rebelled at the concept of organizing an actual group to associate with. The party has been involved in several combats, making both allies and enemies in the process. Both positive and negative conflicts involve known vigilantes, underworld crime bosses, and dimensional beings. The group's diversity in how they each view the law is the major sticking point to the campaign as each player has his or her own agenda. How to deal with their identities as meta-humans living a secret life among normal humans has been a reoccurring theme. Using their extraordinary abilities in front of the general public has been shied away from, and an underlying theme of avoiding exposure has continued since the first episode. The player characters came together to help prevent the evil actions of the villains that plague the city. Houston saw the player characters as the heroes of the city, and gave them a large benefit of the doubt when the actions were called into question.
The player characters came together to help prevent the evil actions of the villains that plague the city. Houston saw the player characters as the heroes of the city, and gave them a large benefit of the doubt when the actions were called into question.
Places of Note
The focus of the campaign lies in the city of Houston. Except for those few who can fly, most of the player characters have driven from place to place. Several locations of note lie in the suburban areas of Houston, with the many of the altercation between PCs and NPCs happening closer to downtown. Specific places are used as hideouts, meeting spots, or workplaces where the PCs interact. Most of these places have not been fleshed out in detail, since most of the role-playing consists of the player characters sitting down to make plans or to gain information on possible leads. Most of the player characters live close to their places of work and are familiar with the surrounding businesses and locales. Campaign NPCs usually stay in the general areas of locations with which they are familiar with. However, certain NPCs have been notably seen at various sites important to the plot of the campaign. The main focus of the campaign was in the city of Houston. With the exception of those few who can fly, most of the player characters drove from place to place. Several locations of note lie in the suburban areas of Houston, with the many of the altercation between PCs and NPCs happening closer to downtown. Specific places are used as hideouts, meeting spots, or work places where the PCs interact. The main focus of the campaign was in the city of Houston. With the exception of those few who can fly, most of the player characters drove from place to place. Several locations of note lie in the suburban areas of Houston, with the many of the altercation between PCs and NPCs happening closer to downtown. Specific places are used as hideouts, meeting spots, or work places where the PCs interact.
Rules and Redundancy
The main goal of the campaign is to have fun. Unfortunately, there are times when rules can come into conflict when players are attempting to achieve their goals. House Rules allowed for situations like these to be mitigated when there was insufficient information to deal with specific encounters.
Weapons Locker
Core rule books contain a plethora of melee and ranged weapons for the players to choose from. However, there are times when the characters encounter weapons and items of power that go beyond the scope of what is readily available for purchase. Herein lies an inventory of non-standard items encountered throughout the campaign, from the mundane to the spectacular.
Team Justice by Hati Royani, Important NPCs by Martin Malchev, Places of Note by Carol M. Highsmith
Artwork for Hati Royani on this page falls under Vecteezy Terms of Use.
Artwork for Martin Malchev on this page falls under Shutterstock Enhanced License.
Artwork for Carol M. Highsmith on this pages falls under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.