I’ll be honest, between the Champions’ versatility and Aberrant’s simple rules, I really hate Heroes Unlimited’s limited hero classes and archaic game mechanics. Even so, I like Century Station.

Basically, Century Station is a city/region book describing an “autonomous district of the United States” named (guess what) Century Station. What this means is that the city is basically a little island in terms of politics, laws, economics, and so on. People and businesses from around the world flocked there to get rich. While it was rapidly becoming a haven for inventors and high technology, Century Station (hereafter called CS) was also the site for a unique fusion reactor. Although the cheap energy provided by the reactor further stimulated technical advances and corporate investments, the boom

wouldn’t last. It turned out that the inventor of the reactor was

actually an alien of average intellect who was using his access to advanced

technology to help earth (and make himself feel like a hero too). A collection of alien “tech cops” came and seized the reactor and all other

‘alien inspired’ devices that humanity didn’t build on its own (think Star

Trek’s Prime Directive). The sudden removal of the reactor, combined with

political and business scheming, caused a large chunk of the companies to

leave, driving the boom city into an economic catastrophe.

Of course, during the boom period you had numerous criminals and heroes

flocking to the city for various reasons (super technology, fame, and wealth

being three big ones.) After the boom period public sentiment started

turning against aliens, and then supers, blaming them for the city’s

woes. This attitude drove many heroes away (especially aliens), which led

to increased crime, which attracted more criminals, which darkened the

people’s attitude even more. This cycle continued until the Bloody Monday

riot which left thousands of people dead, thousands more wounded, a crater

that covered 10 blocks, and a complete overhaul of the city’s government.

So we get to the present of CS. Crime is everywhere, superbeings are still

distrusted (and aliens are still unpopular), and the mayor’s new experiment in

law enforcement, CHIMERA, is about to wage a literal war on crime.

So that’s the basic idea. How well does it deliver? Quite well actually.

Through the art and character, CS is presented as a futuristic metropolis.

Common (rich) people have aircars and skybikes, almost everyone has a laptop

computer with access to the Citynet, and of course some of those advanced

technology business never left and still make mutants and robots and cyborgs

(oh my!). The setting feels like one where super geniuses and inventors

actually have an impact on the common man’s lifestyle. But, it’s also quite

versatile. You have your rich sections of town (with museums, skyscrapers,

and arcology), your middle class sections (with universities, research

firms, and housing), and your poverty stricken sections (with drug

factories, illegal cyberclinics, and poverty,) all described in detailed

maps with important areas noted. And since CS is so big, it’s quite easy to

add any buildings or places you might want.

Guidelines are given on character creation and while magic and psychic

characters aren’t disallowed (some do exist in the city), the focus is on

mutants and techheads. Smart aliens stay the heck away, as the city is a

haven for every anti-alien group in the Heroes Unlimited game (several

reprinted and tweaked from their entries in the Aliens Unlimited book).

Those who look weird or aren’t even human (mutants, robots, etc.) are

typically looked down upon. Even magic characters are seen as “wrong” in

their bending of natural laws. Good psychics are discomforted by a rare

“feedback” of negativity in the city, while bad psychics enjoy the

community’s despair and anger.

As I said earlier, several groups from Aliens Unlimited are revised in this

book, including S.H.O.C.K. and Project Secure. Nothing too horrific, as

each group is tweaked to explain it’s actions and interests in the city.

That said, I don’t see much point in their presence here. There’s already

one superbeing going after illegal alien technology in CS, do we really need

any more groups doing the same thing in the same area (which was supposedly

cleared out of alien tech anyway)? That said a few new groups are added to

the Heroes Unlimited universe. CHIMERA is CS’s combined police and

sanctioned superbeings, each assigned as seen fit, and coordinated more like

a massive military force than anything else. Also present is the Sector,

the United States ultra-top-secret intelligence branch that is more crooked

than the CIA was, more powerful than the NSA was, and considered a shadow

government in it’s own right.

Next up are a collection of average to good NPCs. While the book feels

very four-color in places, there is a tone of dread and hope mixed

throughout; in the NPCs this tone really comes through. For example there is the mutant named

Leviathan, who protects a city that made him feel unwanted due to his

appearance. Or, how about the Gridrunners, three superhero fugitives blamed for cop

killings they didn’t commit. I enjoyed most of the heroes, and found many

to be interesting and new (or as new as a character in comics can feel

anymore). The villains seem less inspired though, either built around a

gimmick power (like Overpower’s duplication) or else lacking in any

personality beyond being Evil. The heroes have quirks and attitudes,

even Hooligan (a rip-off of Rorschach from the Watchmen) had a personality

and background. The villains are all either mega-genius schemers or

dumb-as-dirt bricks. There are a few exceptions, but not enough.

Rounding out the book are a collection of 101 story ideas ranging from the

cliche “aliens attack” to the mysterious “a dead architect is seen wandering

a building she designed but never had built”. As a collection of short,

simple ideas it’s pretty nice, but GMs will still need to do a lot of work

to use them.

So, how does it compare to other game settings out there? I really find

the integration of supertech and common life to be nice, and fairly unique.

Not many super games give cops power armor and laser weapons, or civilians

anti-gravity vehicles. Still, more could have been done. CS used to do

business with foreign countries, how do they see it now? What’s life like

for the non-heroic and non-villainous superbeings, what’s their role in the

city? Compared to the Hudson City setting for Champions, CS could be a

“glitzy” counterpart in the same world, although CS is much more

high-powered than the default Hudson City campaign. If you make it a UN

province, CS would make a great addition to a Brave New World game, just

tweak some of the CS NPCs power levels down and remove the magic, aliens,

and psionics. CS’s use in Aberrant is somewhat limited, due to Aberrant’s

technophobic setting (not to mention every super being a mutant/Nova); you’d

have to redo a lot of the technology in CS, and explain why power armor and

robots aren’t used by every city and company. That said, the heavy hitters

of CS would fit right in with Aberrant’s Novas.

The Verdict

If you’re looking for a good Heroes Unlimited book, this one is great. Go

buy it now. If you want a city book for another four-color super heroes

game, there’s a lot of good ideas and setting information in this one, but

look it over first. You’ll have to revise the CS setting to mesh with your

other game probably, as well as come up with a gauge for converting NPCs,

neither of which are Century Station’s fault.