H.O.M.E.

H.O.M.E.



Homeland Office of Metahuman Enforcement

Color: Blue and Gold

History: In the early 21st Century, several United States cities and states began forming 'Special Investigations' units to handle the ever-increasing tide of metahuman and superhuman crime.  However, the resources of individual municipalities often proved insufficient to the task of policing superhuman criminals.  Further, many municipalities were loathe to recruit metahumans and superhumans into their police forces, both due to liability issues and a general distrust of the metahuman community.  Without metahumans of their own, municipal law enforcement divisions dealing with superhuman crime experienced an alarming rate of attrition.

This changed in 2020 when the United States made the offer to Federalize the municipal 'Special Investigations' units and place them under the umbrella of Homeland Security.  Specially vetted and registered metahumans were also recruited, with preferential hiring given to those with a law enforcement or military backround.  Under this plan, municipalities throughout the United States were given Federal grants to maintain their former 'Special Investigations' divisions, but these divisions were now to become liaison divisions with the Federal Department of Homeland Security, and the Detectives and officers assigned to such divisions were granted Federal authority to supplant any local investigation.  Every major municipality soon had a H.O.M.E. office nestled within existing municipal police stations.

Further, through N.A.T.O and U.N. programs, these Federal agents were sometimes assigned to cooperative international investigations.  In order to avoid the appearance that the U.S. was involved in a pogrom against metahumans within its own population, the new Federal agency was made independent of the FBI and NSA, and given a 'softer' law enforcement facing.  Along with the comforting acronym 'H.O.M.E.' it also named its investigators 'Detectives', preserving a hometown law enforcement feel that 'Investigator' and 'Special Agent' had come to lack in the wake of the Patriot Act and some of its unpopular oversteps.

Detectives and officers of H.O.M.E. have access to a broader range of equipment than municipal governments could possibly afford, including some cutting-edge military and prototype gear that may be needed to 'even the odds' against metahuman or otherwise superhuman threats.  Officers and Detectives of H.O.M.E. can get special permission (by paying XP for special equipment) to carry some of this gear in the regular course of their duties.  Alternatively, some 'superhuman' recruits may actually be technologically savvy individuals who have developed their own tech that they are then licensed to use for law-enforcement purposes by H.O.M.E.  In addition to ordinary human personnel, H.O.M.E. makes an effort to recruit lower-power (and thus manageable) metahumans.  This helps to minimize the impression of government oppression felt by many metahuman communities.

Description/Goal: H.O.M.E. is meant to facilitate low-power, street-level superhero tales, primarily in the United States but occasionally on the international scene.  If your hero can not move faster than a helicopter, can not lift more weight than a car over their head, can not do more damage than a heavy machine gun, and can not completely shrug off the effects of an exploding hand grenade, then H.O.M.E. may be the group for you.  

Recommended Maximum Power Levels for Recruitment into H.O.M.E.


Maximum Speed:


Maximum Strength:


Maximum Damage:


Maximum Defense:


The stories are intended to weave between a gritty 'real crime' and romanticized 'noir' feel, similar to the best of the 'Batman' comics or 'The Shadow' radio shows.  Influences include classic detective films like 'The Maltese Falcon' and even some 'James Bond' films featuring eccentric villains.  The heroes are meant to be challenged by the foes they face, and should experience doubt and pain alongside their triumphs.

Adventures will include fights against organized crime forces that employ superhumans, terrorists, and low-level supervillains similar to The Vulture, The Green Goblin, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, or Bane.  Some villains will be misguided figures twisted by tragic events, somewhat sympathetic in their motivations.  They will tend to be too weak for groups like the Justice League or Avengers to bother with.  Battles will sometimes involve large numbers of 'canon fodder' human mooks and minions supplemented by a few low to mid-tier superhuman threats.  

Part of H.O.M.E.'s mandate is to put a good public face on metahuman law enforcement, so casual killing and disregard for the law is not encouraged.  Officers of H.O.M.E. should generally conduct themselves according to the same standards of policework that municipal officers are meant to uphold.  This means killing only when necessary, while respecting the rights of the citizenry.  'Punishers' need not apply.

If a superhuman criminal is too powerful for H.O.M.E. to handle, those cases may be referred to higher-tier agents in groups like E.C.L.I.P.S.E., who may elect to take over the investigation, sometimes working alongside the H.O.M.E. officers and detectives, and other times dismissing them from the case entirely so that they can complete the investigation with their own superior-powered personnel.  E.C.L.I.P.S.E. is not the only agency that handles powerful supers, of course.  The FBI and CIA do have their own in-house superhuman investigative branches, and there is constant experimentation by the government in the area of metahuman law enforcement.  

Current thread: Those wishing to join H.O.M.E. have an excellent opportunity with the new thread 'Home is Where the Heart is' (Home is Where the Heart Is)  which highlights the federalization of a Special Investigation unit during an unusual murder investigation.

Members: Detective Stone

Other info: H.O.M.E. has an office in most large municipal police stations

Wealth: Wealth is provided by the Federal Government.  


WHO SHOULD APPLY?

Do you fall within the power limits of the organization?

Do you like gritty crime dramas and/or romanticized Noir fiction?

Do you like the old-fashioned Bond villains with their eccentric henchmen?

If you answered yes to at least two of these questions, H.O.M.E. may be right for you.

I like this idea. Well done, Detective Stone.

Thanks, Mate. :-)