Not everyone used to believe superhumans walked among us. That changed when the fair city of Centropolis was rendered into a toxic crater. Radioactive Girl did it, sacrificing herself to save us from the alien Kasrang. Hovering over the city like an oversized zeppelin, the Kasrang “Mother Virus” had already converted everyone who hadn’t fled the city into fresh contamination vectors. Radioactive Girl went supercritical not only to destroy Kasrang, but also to save the entire world.
New Centropolis was founded afterward. Over the next thirty years, it grew into the thriving metropolis we know today. New Centropolis openly affirms and accepts the existence of superhumans. In fact, the city hosts several, including the Blaze, Emerald Witch, Corvid, Galaxia, and Robot Lad. Thanks to the efforts of the Department of Superhuman Affairs (DSA), activities that would normally be classified as vigilante acts are often given legal status. Otherwise, there would be only supervillains.
Not all superhumans are civically minded, DSA or not. Many superhumans are motivated by greed, lust for power, or vengeance. This means that despite the wonders that live and fly in New Centropolis, calamity and tragedy at the hands of supervillains are far more common than they should be (literally true, in the case of Calamity, the supervillain able to negatively affect probability).
New Centropolis is one of several Supers recursions, which are recursions seeded by comics, anime, and movies about superhuman heroes. When a character takes a focus offered in a Supers recursion, it could be in the role of a hero or a villain in that recursion. The GM could make available the foci from In Translation (if available), such as Wears an Iron Suit, Grows to Towering Heights, Throws Boulders, Projects Energy, and so on. However, if you don’t have access to those or you want to stray further afield, almost any focus could be adapted to become a Supers focus with only a tiny bit of work reimagining the story behind it.
For instance, take the focus Solves Mysteries. A character with this focus in New Centropolis might decide to take it in the guise of a superhero. Instead of wearing sensible clothing and comfortable shoes, the character might decide that while fighting crime, he wears a superhero costume that includes a cape, a utility belt, and a mask. This essentially comes down to giving the character a superhero suit.
The tier 1 Suit feature is added to a focus only when the GM wishes to make that focus available in New Centropolis. The Suit feature grants the character a specially made outfit that serves as light armor. The PC is practiced in wearing the suit, so she can wear it for long periods without the usual Might cost per hour or Speed Pool reduction. The suit also usually comes with a utility belt, a mask or helmet, integrated smartphone functionality, and so on. (A basic utility belt includes a custom communication device, 50 feet [15 m] of coiled level 6 fiber, a custom flashlight, and space for other small devices.) Finally, the suit makes the character look suitably superheroic.
In fact, when adapting a focus to be a Supers focus, the GM is encouraged to add a Suit feature if the focus doesn’t already have it.
Wielding superpowers in a Supers recursion is usually just as fraught with potential issues as it would be on Earth, if such powers existed there. Problems such as the sanctity of secret identities, unexpected side effects of superpowers, and being charged as a vigilante are just the beginning. At least in the case of being charged as a vigilante, New Centropolis has developed a legal framework to deal with the issue.
The idea of people wearing suits to fight crime might be romantic, but separating such activity from simple vigilantism is still work. If a superhuman is involved in some sort of incident, the Department of Superhuman Affairs (DSA) looks into it after the fact. If the efforts of the superhuman in that event are found to be in the interest of the public good, all is well. However, if the acts of the superhuman are found to be questionable or outright illegal, the DSA may issue a warrant for her arrest. This warrant also acts as a bounty. Anyone (but usually another superhuman) could try to collect on a DSA bounty, even those who are not already licensed bounty hunters.
Many locations and persons of interest can be found in the city where superheroes soar across the sky.
DSA headquarters are in a secure office building on Broadway, only a few blocks from Centropolis Square. Within it, determinations are made as to which superhumans are heroes and which are villains. The DSA mostly gets it right. The streets outside the building often host demonstrations. Some protesters demand that the DSA lock down the vigilantes and put an end to federal cooperation with superhumans. Others scream that the DSA is too hard on heroes and should “let them do their jobs.”
DSA Agent: level 4; Armor 1; long-range pistol attack inflicts 5 points of damage; may carry foam restraint artifact
Those designated as supervillains and sentenced to prison time are also remanded to the DSA, which maintains a special facility able to hold even the most powerful superhuman. Using a little-understood technology called quantum collapse (invented by the superhuman Doctor Amazing), prisoners are collapsed to nonexistence, which makes it hard for them to escape confinement. But as sure as Blaze loves Emerald Witch, some supervillain somewhere is looking for a way to do it. Since someone imprisoned through the use of the quantum collapser no longer exists, the DSA headquarters has no prison—just temporary holding cells. Instead, there’s a processing facility at either end of a short hallway where the quantum collapse arch is installed. To a prisoner just released, no time seems to have passed, although severe nausea is usually a symptom of returning to existence.
In addition to its agents, the DSA employs a herd of lawyers and data analysts, as well as support staff. The head of the agency side of the department is Alicia Reardon, and Warden Hughes manages the quantum collapse facility.
Reardon was just another DSA agent running down cases in the streets of New Centropolis. Then she made the collar of a lifetime. She and her team managed to capture the terrorist Mister Nefarious. She was injured in the process and now walks with a limp that’ll likely never go away, rendering her unfit for field work. But instead of letting her go, the agency promoted her to head of the DSA office in New Centropolis. Alicia takes her job seriously and does it well. She also wears a set of power bracers of invulnerability. Technically, being a superhuman or using superhuman-created hardware is a conflict of interest for DSA agents, so Reardon uses the bracers only in desperate straits, and she doesn’t advertise the fact that she has them.
Alicia Reardon, DSA: level 5, all movement-related tasks as level 2; wears power bracers of invulnerability artifact
Hughes has a first name (George), but no one uses it. Nor does anyone socialize with Hughes, who is given to brooding and never says two words when one (or none) will do. He is the only DSA agent currently authorized to use the quantum collapse arch, which makes him the warden. Because he never has to worry about riots, abusive guards, feeding and recreation for prisoners, or related matters, Hughes has excess time on his hands. He usually spends that time training in martial arts down in the DSA dojo. When he goes home, it is to a small apartment he shares with his aging mother.
Warden Hughes, DSA: level 5, tasks related to hand-to-hand combat as level 6; melee unarmed attack inflicts 5 points of damage
Centropolis Square is a major commercial intersection and a neighborhood at the junction of Broadway and Spectacular Avenue. Lavishly decorated with electronic billboards, it is the busiest pedestrian intersection in the city. In addition to all the stores and theatres it hosts, the square also contains a massive memorial to Radioactive Girl: a 300-foot (91 m) statue of the superhero who died to save everyone.
| RADIOACTIVE GIRL IS NOT DEAD
Radioactive Girl exploded with the force of a hydrogen bomb. That’s not the end of the story, though, because she is slowly reforming somewhere down in the Crater. No one yet realizes it because at this point, she’s still mostly without substance. But eventually, she’ll return. And when she does, disaster may well unfold, because the Kasrang Mother Virus managed to infect her right before she exploded. |
A plaque at the base of the statue summarizes the story: “Radioactive Girl died gloriously defending us from the Mother Virus. In the aftermath, our grief overwhelms us. Though she cannot hear it, the millions still alive because of her give thanks. To assuage the anguish of our bereavement, this memorial will serve as a physical reminder of what we all loved and lost.”
Visitors to the memorial also usually see Corvid, a superhuman who looks something like a human crow. Corvid has apparently selected himself for the job of keeping Centropolis Square safe from muggers and keeping the statue of Radioactive Girl in good shape, free of graffiti and trash. He’s developed something like religious awe of the memorial and is not shy about telling people that “Radioactive Girl will return in our darkest hour!”
Corvid is actually a kro recursor from Crow Hollow who keeps an eye out for interesting technology in New Centropolis that might be saleable back home. He uses the connection to the Strange in the depths of the Crater where old Centropolis once stood to transport goods out of the recursion every few months.
Corvid: level 4, tasks related to perception and commerce as level 6; fly a long distance each round; carries two random cyphers
Street musicians rotate through Centropolis Square each day, but none play with as much amazing ability as the Busker. Many people suspect that she is a superhuman, but one whose abilities are not given to conflict and crime-fighting. If money is first dropped in her instrument case, the Busker will answer any one question by a given person truthfully, whether or not there is any way she could possibly know the answer. Once someone receives a true answer, further questions are met with a shrug and a smile.
Busker: level 5, answering singular questions as level 10
The superteam called the Spectaculars owns a magnificent skyscraper along Broadway. In addition to businesses and apartments near the street level, the structure also houses several superhumans, including the Spectaculars themselves, as well as apartments set aside for friends of the team. The Sanctuary also contains facilities for superhuman training, learning, research, and construction, and a garage for the special equipment and vehicles available to the team’s current roster.
The Sanctuary is something of a magnet to supervillains who want to make a name for themselves by destroying it. As a result, the skyscraper enjoys many defenses, including a fleet of drones and automatons built by Robot Lad.
In addition to Robot Lad, the Spectaculars’ roster includes Blaze, Divine Bullet, Emerald Witch, Galaxia, and Synesthesia. Most of the support staff are human—which is not to say that normal humans aren’t also a threat. With the right equipment or training (or both), a normal person could take down a superhuman. It’s happened before.
Real name Jermaine Lewis, Blaze is a quadruple threat. He can fly, he’s hard to hurt, he’s strong, and he can emit blasts of inferno-hot fire. In his secret identity, Jermaine is an animal control officer for the New Centropolis animal shelter, which is why the Sanctuary has so many cats and dogs.
Blaze: level 7; Armor 8; fly a long distance each round; long-distance heat attack can target all creatures in immediate range of each other
Real name Atsuko Lane, Divine Bullet has the superhuman ability of perfect aim and balance. She carries a variety of light ranged weapons on her person but has been known to check out powerful weapons from the team equipment cache for important missions. In her secret identity, Atsuko is a top-ranked online gamer, but one who doesn’t have to put in the hours practicing that other competitors do.
Divine Bullet: level 4, tasks related to aiming or requiring balance as level 8
Real name Candace Russell, Emerald Witch can create temporary solid matter from green light in whatever form she can imagine. In her secret identity, Candace is a nurse at New Centropolis hospital, where she’s overworked and on report for being late too often (because she’s fighting crime).
Emerald Witch: level 7; fly a long distance each round; create any level 7 object or attack that she can imagine out of solid green light
Real name forgotten even by herself, Galaxia is often referred to as “the smartest person on the planet.” Doctor Amazing would quibble with that if he hadn’t been sent through the quantum collapse arch after trying to take over the world, but he was an egotistical bastard. Galaxia possesses superhuman levels of intelligence but doesn’t seem inclined to use it to rule over everyone. She spends most of her time in the labs in Spectaculars Sanctuary, working on projects more obscure than the mechanisms that Robot Lad produces (which she considers fairly straightforward). For instance, her latest project has to do with scanning alternate dimensions for anomalous signals. In fact, she is on the cusp of discovering the truth about her world and recursions in general.
Galaxia: level 5, Speed defense as level 7 due to deflection power bracers, all science- related tasks as level 9
Real name Dale Henderson, Robot Lad has the superhuman ability to fashion independent, autonomous machines in mere minutes. The robots seem completely loyal to Robot Lad, even in the face of attempts to contravene their programing. In his secret identity, Dale is a straight-A student in high school, though he has trouble with social integration. He is on the autism spectrum and doesn’t read social cues particularly well.
Robot Lad: level 3, tasks related to robotics as level 7; two or more defense drones always on hand
Defensive drone: level 3, perception as level 6; Armor 2; fly a long distance per round; long-distance laser attack inflicts 5 points of damage
Real name Max Garfield, Synesthesia can induce sensory confusion in others, which can cause blindness, nausea, or seeing and hearing things that aren’t there. In his secret identity, Max is the bass drummer for a band called No Map, and he sometimes fails to make an appearance in his role as Synesthesia due to excessive partying.
Synesthesia: level 6; create minor or major level 6 sensory illusions or attacks up to long range (up to five targets at once)
Criminals of all sorts live in New Centropolis. Some are white-collar embezzlers. Others are muggers, drug dealers, or illegal purveyors of services. And a few are superhumans. Supervillains engage in the same kinds of crime but do so using abilities that regular crooks can only dream about, often while wearing a colorful suit designed to strike fear in victims.
Superhuman villains sometimes make alliances, the longest lasting of which was assembled by Doctor Amazing. Calling themselves the Conquerors, the group managed to commit all manner of larcenies and even killed Silver Torch, the previous leader of the Spectaculars. But like most such alliances, the team eventually fell apart when the villains turned on each other. Doctor Amazing planned to use the group as patsies all along, and before they dissolved, they stole the technology he required to finish his sunspot cannon. He promised to use it unless New Centropolis (and “the world”) gave him complete control. It never came to that; Doctor Amazing was ultimately stopped, mostly because of the betrayal by the rest of the Conquerors.
Doctor Amazing’s team included Calamity, Fission, Gearbox, Mister Genocide, and Nightmare Chill. Supervillains come and go; if they’re caught, they go because they literally do not exist anymore, at least until their sentence is up. Now that the Conquerors are no more, the various supervillains act alone, or with a small group of cronies that are usually human.
Real name Arn Weldon, Calamity has the ability to affect probability in his own favor, usually at a cost to other people. He doesn’t control probability directly; he can’t usually decide what’s going to happen. Instead, he concentrates on the task at hand, and that’s when his luck kicks in, which is probably bad luck for anyone attempting to stop him. For instance, if Calamity tries to evade a pursuer, the pursuer faces random impediments of increasing severity, such as open manholes underfoot, collapsing walls closing off a path of pursuit, runaway vehicles plowing directly into her, and so on. If Calamity stands his ground and fights, a foe is jostled by an ally’s misstep, a foe’s weapon misfires, a foe accidentally attacks an interposing ally, and so on.
Calamity: level 5, Speed defense as level 7 due to attacker’s bad luck, tasks attempted as level 7 due to Calamity’s good luck
Real name Todd Lacey, Doctor Amazing is currently off the grid, but his incarceration through the quantum collapse arch is due to end in a few years. Everyone knows that Doctor Amazing created the technology behind quantum collapse, and they recognize the irony of it being used on him. What everyone should have realized is that this is Doctor Amazing they were talking about. Of course he put a back door in the programming. Instead of being collapsed out of existence, he was teleported to a previously prepared secret lair. And rather than crow about his deception (yet), Doctor Amazing adopted a secondary codename: Ghostmancer. Using a pair of bracers of intangibility, plus other technology he adapted to his new “ghostly” facade, he’s begun an all-new bid to take over the world.
Doctor Amazing/ Ghostmancer: level 5, science-related tasks as level 9; long-range “ghost gun” attack inflicts 10 points of dissolution damage; wears power bracers of intangibility
Real name Shayla Lukeson, Fission has the ability to split into several nearly identical versions of herself, including basic clothes and weapons. When she does, her fragments have most of the original’s memories and motivations, and they usually act in concert with their prime, though Fission doesn’t mentally control them directly. Her fragments lack the ability to fission any further. Producing fragments is tiring, and Fission can’t keep it up indefinitely. But she can split off large squads of commandos with little care for their safety to accomplish defined goals, create one or two fragments to confuse a trail or act as body shields, or send a fragment on a suicide mission. Fragments not reabsorbed eventually explode (though they can trigger the explosion much sooner, if desired).
Unlike many villains, Fission has an active secret identity—Shayla Lukeson is a well-known musician in New Centropolis. She sometimes creates less-perfect fragments to fill out her band or sing backup.
Fission: level 4; Armor 1; long-range pistol attack inflicts 4 points of damage; “fragment rush” attack inflicts 5 points of damage on all creatures within immediate range of Fission after she moves up to a short distance; creates multiple versions of herself (1d6 per round) to help with tasks
Real name Jan Kinsley, Gearbox has the ability to interface directly with machines. Like Robot Lad, Gearbox is adept at creating mechanical automatons. But she usually creates singular, immense war machines with herself installed as the driver. Rumor has it that she’s building her largest war machine yet, one taller than skyscrapers. Gearbox is one of those superhumans whose motivations are muddled—she seems in it more for the thrill of destruction. She also nurses a lingering hate for the loss of her young son, a civilian casualty from twenty years earlier when the Spectaculars of that era took down Doctor Nefarious (with DSA help). As it happens, her son survived and is now part of that same superhero group. His name is Robot Lad, but Gearbox doesn’t know it.
Gearbox, driving typical war machine: level 6; Armor 4; long-range attack inflicts 8 points of damage
Real name Alfred Webster, Mister Genocide has the unfortunate ability to synthesize deadly poison from his skin. His touch can kill, but if he wishes it, so can his spittle or even his breath. Anyone who spends too much time in Mister Genocide’s presence becomes ill, even if he isn’t actively using his power. All his cronies usually wear gas masks and protective clothing. Mister Genocide cares more about robbing banks (or holding high-value targets for obscene ransoms) than killing for killing’s sake. But he doesn’t hesitate to kill anyone who stands in his way.
Mister Genocide: level 5; Armor 1; level 7 poison can target up to ten victims within short range as a single action; immune to poison
Real name Nelle Rives, Nightmare Chill can suck heat out of the environment so quickly that she can create and manipulate ice. She usually armors herself in ice before engaging in illicit activity. She also calls on her powers offensively to trap victims, defensively to create barriers, and imaginatively as the need arises to create various solids and objects. Like Mister Genocide, Nightmare Chill seems most concerned with living the good life. She always says that if she scores big enough, she might retire her name and take up yachting.
Nightmare Chill: level 5; Armor 4 (ice); creates any level 7 object or attack from ice that she can imagine
On the outskirts of New Centropolis lies the vast cavity where the heart of the original city was located before Radioactive Girl detonated there. A massive concrete bunker walls off the Crater from easy access, and the area is patrolled by police and several automated surveillance systems. Still, teenagers sometimes manage to get through on a dare so they can look out across the mist-filled void. Everyone says the Crater is radioactive because of its origin. In fact, there is a curious absence of radiation, almost as if something is absorbing it instead of giving it off.
The deeper a climber descends into the Crater, the steeper and smoother the sides become, and the thicker the odd mist. After several explorers and one scientific team went missing, the enthusiasm for mounting further explorations evaporated. Though no one knows for sure what happened to the missing, it’s assumed that the oversized cockroaches that inhabit the Crater got them.
Crater cockroach: level 4; Armor 4; climb a short distance each round
Sometimes, the mist swirls and thickens, taking on an almost humanoid shape. People who have witnessed the phenomenon think it’s the spirit of Radioactive Girl, haunting the Crater.
A connection to the Strange lies at the nadir of the crater, though locating it in the swirling mists can be difficult.
The CEO of a large manufacturing corporation called Energy Systems Consolidated has gone missing. So far, no ransom notes have been delivered, but police assume that it’s just a matter of time. A few of the CEO’s family members think he hasn’t been abducted by a supervillain, but instead finally went through with his attempt to create a superpowered suit in his hidden lab.
Several of the Spectaculars are in the hospital after battling Gearbox to a standstill. However, in their absence, petty crime is on the rise, and the DSA thinks it’s only a matter of time before bigger-name criminals take advantage of the lull in superhuman security.
A new designer drug has hit the streets of New Centropolis. Users call it “drop” because after taking it, they can fall from apparently any height and walk away unharmed. The effect of each hit of the drug lasts about a minute. Heavy users begin to develop a tolerance, which means the effect wears off sooner and sooner, and that tends to end their career when they finally splatter on the pavement. Someone named Dusk Hawk is behind the distribution of the drug.
The supervillain known as Ghostmancer has been especially active of late. He’s been caught on surveillance cameras ghosting into high-tech research labs and making off with expensive prototypes. The Spectaculars have been called away on a mission to deflect a meteor, so Ghostmancer’s crime spree is going unchallenged.
Robot Lad’s many drones and automatons turned on him. In the confusion, they made off with Robot Lad and Galaxia, who are still missing. The remaining Spectaculars assume that one of their old foes is behind the attack, but they’ve had little success in determining who. They’ve put out a call for aid.
Level: 1d6+2
Origin: New Centropolis (emergent)
Law: Weird Science
Form: Single-handed pistol-like gun made of translucent crystal and steel
Effect: Allows the user to attack a target within short range with a grey beam of energy. The target becomes confused and acts in a random manner determined by the GM for one minute. A confused target might attack an ally, do nothing, run away, attack normally (though without understanding why), or take some other action appropriate to the circumstances.
A creature targeted by a confusion ray might adopt one of the following behaviors while the condition persists:
1 Fainting
2 Screaming fit
3 Panicked flight
4 Laughing or crying inappropriately
5 Attacking allies
6 Hallucinating
Depletion: 1 in 1d20
Level: 1d6+2
Origin: New Centropolis (fictional)
Law: Weird Science
Form: Two-handed silver gunstock with sight and single menacing barrel
Effect: Allows the user to make a long-range attack with a red ray of neural energy that instantly shorts out all brain and nerve functions of a level 1 creature, killing it. The user can adjust the settings to increase the death ray's effectiveness by making one additional depletion roll per increase in the maximum level of the target. Thus, to kill a level 5 target (4 levels above the normal limit), the user must make five depletion rolls.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20
Level: 1d6+2
Origin: New Centropolis (emergent)
Law: Weird Science
Form: Two-handed rifle with a wide mouth
Effect: Emits a short-range stream of orange liquid that foams over a target and hardens into a body restraint that lasts for ten minutes. A restrained victim can’t move or take actions that require movement. A target whose level is higher than the artifact level can usually break free within one or two rounds. This device is a rapid-fire weapon, and thus can be used with the Spray or Arc Spray abilities that some characters have, but each additional target selected requires an additional depletion roll.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20
Level: 1d6+2
Origin: New Centropolis (fictional)
Law: Weird Science
Form: Two-handed black gunstock with several menacing protruding barrels
Effect: The artifact emits a time-nullifying ray at a single target within long range. The victim remains frozen in time for as long as the user maintains the effect by holding down the weapon trigger plus one round. A victim of the freeze ray is immune to damage and effects.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (check for each use, or each day of continuous use)
Level: 1d6+2
Origin: New Centropolis (emergent)
Law: Weird Science
Form: Two-handed rifle tricked out with gadgets
Effect: The gravity gun has a range of 5 miles (8 km). An object struck by the gun doubles in weight for one minute. Creatures affected find the difficulty of all tasks involving movement and finesse increased by two steps. For many objects, doubling in weight has little effect. However, flying objects are often grounded if their weight is doubled, usually by crashing.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20
Level: 1d6+2
Origin: New Centropolis (emergent)
Law: Weird Science
Form: Silver lens that can be worn as a monocle or mounted as part of a helmet or suit
Effect: A user who gazes through the monocle and activates it as an action determines the weaknesses, vulnerabilities, qualities, and mannerisms of a single creature within long range. The GM should reveal the creature's level, basic abilities, and obvious weaknesses (if any). For the user, the difficulty of all actions that affect that creature—attack, defense, interaction, and so on—is reduced by one step for one minute afterward.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20
Effect: The bracers bond to the wearer and are extremely difficult to remove until depleted. Different bracers confer different abilities. Known power bracers include the following types.
Depletion: 1 in 1d100 (a pair of depleted bracers may regain its power spontaneously a few months or years later)
Level: 1d6+1
Origin: New Centropolis (fictional)
Law: Weird Science
Form: Metal gauntlet with integrated circuits
Effect: Unarmed attacks made while wearing the glove inflict 1 additional point of damage. However, if the user activates the glove as part of an attack, gravity is modified in her vicinity for one round, allowing her to make a gravity punch attack. If the attack is successful, the glove inflicts additional damage equal to the artifact level and throws the target back a short distance.
Depletion: 1 in 1d10 (check per use of gravity punch)
Level: 1d6+3
Form: Wide rectangular frame that is 7 feet (2 m) tall and 3 feet (1 m) wide
Effect: Controls on the frame allow a user to set a time limit ranging from minutes to millennia. A creature that walks (or is pushed) through a prepared frame apparently ceases to exist for the period of time set. Once the designated period elapses, the quantum-collapsed target reappears on the opposite side of the arch; for the target, no time has passed, and it went through the arch normally.
Depletion: 1 in 1d100 (if depleted, only a superhuman genius can fix the artifact)
Level: 1d6+2
Origin: New Centropolis (emergent)
Law: Weird Science
Form: Pistol studded with gadgets
Effect: This one-handed weapon fires a violet beam of energy at a target within short range. The target becomes highly suggestible for one minute. A suggestible target finds the difficulty of tasks related to detecting lies and resisting persuasion increased by four steps.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20
Level: 1d6+4
Form: Huge technological cannon requiring a gimbaled mount to use
Effect:Firing the sunspot cannon at the sun produces a purplish ray. Seventeen minutes later, a massive solar storm envelops the sky, creating a terrifying aurora that potentially knocks out satellites and burns out power grids and other electrical equipment. Repeated use of the artifact on the sun would have even more deleterious ffects.
Depletion: —
GM Intrusion: The sunspot cannon overheats and either shuts down, requiring days of repair before it can be used again, or explodes.