This is the page dedicated to my current "Superhero/Noir" campaign, played in the HERO 5th Edition system, centered around a paranormal investigators organization known as "Third Eye Investigations". The campaign takes place in a world where superhumans (or parahumans, to coin a rarely-used variant) are known and generally feared by the public; the Third Eye organization deals with the parahuman as well as the paranormal. Inspirations include the Witch Hunter Robin anime series, the Angel television series, and Superhero Noir comics like Planetary.
Hopefully, this page will come to house information like my Mageworld and Pulp campaign's pages - adventure summaries, character descriptions, background information.
General Paranormal Oddities in the Campaign - Here, I'll list some of the common elements of such campaigns, and detail what the general populace thinks, what the conspiracy theorists believe, and what the Third Eye organization knows.
Parahumans - There're plenty of them in the world, and more every day. The general populace knows there are people out there with abilities that the rest of us just don't have, and they're none too happy with the idea. Parahumans who comply with the Parahuman Registration Act, and don't use their powers, tend to garner a little extra suspicion from those who know their parahuman nature. And the ones who ignore the Act, or flaunt their abilities - they're generally regarded as dangerous mavericks. Many conspiracy theorists believe the explosion of the number of parahumans that occurred in the 20th century may have been government engineered, a notion reinforced by government sponsored teams of parahumans like the original Justice, Anonymous from the 30's and 40's, and the current Paradox elite parahuman unit employed in affiliation with the FBI. The Third Eye members tend to regard parahumans as individuals - some dangerous, some worthy allies. Many members of Third Eye possess parahuman abilities. Third Eye also unofficially works with the illegal parahuman vigilante groups like AEGIS from time to time, if necessary.
Magic - The general populace just doesn't believe in magic. Some of them have never seen it, a few that have seen it have written it off as simply another example of a parahuman ability. Most major world governments are in the know, however - many have paranormal resources they can call on. The Parahuman Registration Act has an explicit loophole for practicing sorcerors, couched in legalese. Some savvy senator managed to insert the language by arguing on the grounds of Freedom of Religion. Conspiracy Theorists have wildly varying tales about magic - and generally, they're all exaggerated. The supernatural community knows all too well - the world has become magic-poor in recent centuries, and it's difficult to do large-scale sorcery. To achieve any major result, long and complex rituals are required, or the assistance of an object of power manufactured in the richer days.
Aliens - As far as the public is aware, we are alone in the universe. Some hope that we'll find intelligent life on another planet; some real optimists still hope we'll find some here. Conspiracy theorists in the Third Eye world have similar tales to those in our real world - Area 51, Abductions, Crop Circles, Cattle Mutilations. Third Eye, and certain major world governments, are more certain of the alien presence on our world. According to Third Eye's resident alien, he can telepathically detect four other alien beings on the planet.
Robots/AIs - Conspiracy theorists have wild tales about government android research from time to time; the general populace thinks such things are entirely fanciful. As far as Third Eye is aware, the populace is correct - robotics and artificial intelligence research today won't be fruitful for decades, if then. Primitive bionics systems might be possible, theoretically - but there's currently no evidence of evil cyborgs trying to destroy the world. (One exception should be noted - the Nefarion known as 'Berserker' is, to all appearances, a relatively advanced cyborg. He is known to Third Eye and the U.S. Government, and is regarded as unique.)
Dimensional Travel - The general public and the Conspiracy Theorists alike don't give much lip service to the notion there might be other worlds, some like our own, waiting on the other side of a "dimensional barrier." The governments of the world, like Third Eye, are aware that these other worlds are all too real. Documented alternate realms include : a dimension identified by mystics as 'Hell' - a mostly empty grey plane where the souls of the dead are tormented by implike creatures that feed on human suffering; the Astral Plane - a realm adjunct to our own, formed by the congealing of sentient thought-essence; and apparently at least one parallel Earth, where a counterpart of Professor Raven is a dark necromancer known as Doctor Ravinski. Another possible parallel was visited by Third Eye, using a team telepath's abilities to project their minds into temporary bodies; it is as of yet unverified that this realm exists as more than a figment of that telepath's imagination.
Time Travel - Like dimensional travel, the general public and the conspiracy theorists stay away from this subject - it's just entirely too fanciful to most folks that time travel might be possible. Certain world governments would disagree, and regard the technology to time travel as ultimately workable - but nowhere near even the earliest stages. Third Eye counts among its membership The Watchman, who demonstrates accurate knowledge of future events and claims to come from a dark future where the world lies in ruins; it is still possible that he may be a poor precognitive who suffered a psychological break.