Xavier's Kingdom for Gifted Children

It's no secret I love Microscope. I've used it many times to craft histories and cities for campaigns, one-shots, and virtual conventions. But I also love Ben Robbins' other game, Kingdom. If pressed, I'd put that in my top five rpgs. I love what Kingdom does and, though you could say this about every game, it clicks with players who know the game's approach. This is the last of my hacks for January (alongside my X-Com/Pandemic/MotW and 13th Age/Base Raiders concepts). This is a new Kingdom seed and a love letter to the X-Men. 

See also Kingdom: Fae & Samurai, Kingdoms of Ars Magica, Heroes of the City, Heroes of the City AP, The Daily Sentinel AP, and Battleship Orion AP.  

CUSTOMIZE

The (name) School for Gifted Children is a (completely secret/ quietly concealed/ out in the open) school for young persons with amazing powers, commonly called Mutants. The school aims to (bring mutants and humanity together peacefully/ teach mutants to survive/ create a bond of mutant “brotherhood” for the future).

Humanity fears Mutants. They have existed (for a long time/ only a generation/ for a few short years). The strongest reactions have involved (paranoia/ hostility /violent assaults/ fearmongering). While the debate has raged on (many/ several/ only one/ no) (politician(s)/ organizations) has(ve) risen to take the lead on the issue.

The school itself is a (small facility/ lies on a modest estate/ sprawls across a large campus). Parents are (fully aware of/ have an inkling about /have been brainwashed concerning) the school’s purpose. Instruction focuses on (students’ talents/ making them well-rounded persons/ balancing powers and real world knowledge).

The staff itself (has a few Mutants/ strikes a balance between Mutants and Humans/ is almost entirely Mutant). Instructors on staff with powers (avoid any kind of/ get caught up in/ secretly engage in/ openly carry out) superheroics.

THREATS

• Government Registration: Many have called for a central database of all mutants. Others have gone further and suggested mutants be marked and labelled.
• Kidnaping for Experimentation: Several organizations want mutant bodies, some for nefarious weapon programs and others to serve a Transhumanist agenda.
• Mutant Militant Organization Rivalry: Another organization exists either in direct conflict or carrying out a more extreme version of the school’s agenda.
• Student Dissatisfaction: Just because you're a mutant you don't have to attend the school. The staff have to balance drills and student body buy-in.
• Instructors with Agendas: Some instructors live to teach, while others have political agendas and perspectives they work quietly to spread.
• Alien Intervention: For some reason alien empires keep getting caught up in mutant affairs. That can seriously impact syllabi.
• Parental Annoyance: Students have parents and parents have desires and ambitions for their children. While some have disowned their offspring, others argue about grades, teacher recommendations, and future placement opportunities.
• Vigilante Activities: Some mutants fight for justice, and they may be sneaking out to do it. That can bring unwanted attention.
• Mutants Social Unrest: In some areas mutants have been shut into closed communities. Tensions there can spill over.
• Budgeting for Repairs: Repairing the Danger Room after a particularly nasty fracas isn’t cheap.
• Hormones and Energy Blasts: These are teenagers with powers like telekinesis, fire control, and invisibility. What happens when you jam them together in a single place?
• Mutant Plague: A virus, perhaps artificial, perhaps not, has begun to spread in the general mutant community.
• Mutant Conversion Therapy: Rumors have come of a “cure” for mutantkind. It may be a trap or it may be a means to eliminate the mutant threat permanently.
• Temporal Changes: Mutants have a habit of getting into temporal mishaps. This can create changes to reality only some people recall.
• Educational Certification: It’s still a school. If anyone wants their degree recognized or credits transferred, it needs accreditation.
• Secret Agency Infiltrators and Recruiters: Those in the know eagerly place moles, double-agents, and the brainwashed on site for future plans.
• Staff & Students with Evil Relatives: An unusual number of mutants have siblings, parents, or cousins who turn out to be super-villains.

LOCATIONS

• Counselors Office
• Instructors Wing
• Danger Room
• Headmistress’ Chambers
• Subterranean Aircraft Hanger
• Front Hallway Crossroads
• Baseball Diamond
• Off-Limits Woods
• Down by the Lake
• Teachers’ Garage
• Research Laboratories
• Medical Room Closet
• Secret Mutant Detector Facilities
• Student Rec Room
• Dining Hall
• Isolation & Containment Chambers
• Garden Maze

CHARACTER SEEDS

• Former Villainess Turned Teacher
• Student with Monstrous Appearance
• Warrior with a Haunted Secret Weapon Past
• Uptight First Graduate of the School
• Shared Mind Collective
• Alien Transfer
• Devoutly Religious Instructor
• Disgruntled Star Pupil Returning to Teach
• Resurrected Clone Fiancé of the Vice Principal
• Imaginary Concept Turned Human
• Reprogrammed Anti-Mutant Killer Robot
• Alternate Timeline Survivor
• Excitable Superheroic Groupie
• Reluctant Student with Deadly Powers
• Pupil with Anti-Mutant Family Ties
• Non-Mutant Butler
• Depowered Superhero

CROSSROADS

• Expel students caught using their powers to cheat?
• A new student has powers that shut down his classmates abilities. Leave them in normal classes or isolate them from the others?
• Let the students participate in a shared prom with local schools?
• A new mutant-only drug is making the rounds. Conduct an undercover investigation locate the culprits?
• A student has started a movement praising the ideals of a radical mutant supervillain. Ban such talk from the school?
• A popular Southern instructor has been fraternizing with students. Expel him from the grounds?
• Put a stop to students secretly training with the more lethal aspects of their powers?
• Some object to the presence of non-Mutants. Only allow mutants on campus?
• Have students battle one another to increase their skills?
• Encourage more parental participation at the school?
• Openly endorse mutant superheroics?
• Move the school to a recently seized mutant-only region?
• Lock away a student discovered to be a younger (clone/dimensional alternate/de-aged/amnesiac) version of an arch-villain?
• Openly campaign against new Mutant Registration legislation?

Suggestions? Other ideas?