Theme

This is the work in progress theme, the following is subject to change during the march towards full release. We're storing most the important information on the theme that doesn't really fit anywhere else here.

## **Technology**

For an idea of the current technological level of the world of 4tmu imagine a middle-ground between late steampunk (Miriam-webster defines steampunk as: science fiction dealing with 19th-century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology), and early Dieselpunk (Which is usually used similarly to Steampunk except to refer to science fiction in the interwar period of World War Two, through to the 1950's).

Most people still travel by horse and buggy with the automobile still far out of reach for many Americans. Many 'roads' are little more then dirt paths for horses to travel down, and would never support a modern car in any case. The most common car on the market one could find is the Model T by ford, a car for the masses and the first mass produced vehicle. Other automobile company's do exist but currently ford and its model T completely dominate the market.

Outside of the burgeoning automobile industry and the old fashioned horse and buggy New Yorkers have the option of riding the cities newly improved Subway system, or taking one of the cities many trolley lines to get about. These marvels of modern technology can take you almost anywhere in the city with ease and you can hop on or off at any time along its route.

Another popular (not just in new york but around the world) form of travel is the Blimp, affordable and secure air travel for the masses these massive dirigibles can be seen from almost any point in the city. If you're going to be traveling by air chances are it'll be in a blimp rather then a plane. Blimps are currently a more common site then even buses in the twin cities of Gotham and Metropolis. While planes do exist jet fighters, and rocket planes do not, it's all propeller planes.

Home television sets have only just hit the market and are a luxury belonging only to the highest echelons of society or those who've saved for years just for the opportunity. Currently there's only one television station in existence call sign W2XB (Also known as WGY TV) broadcast from the General Electric facility in Schenectady, NY from 7AM to 10PM Monday through Saturday. There is no such thing as color TV or color film yet, with sound only having come to film as recently as 1923. Even with the advent of 'talkies', silent movies dominate the market almost completely leaving 'talkies' a very rare treat only used in short films, or in WGY's news broadcasts.

While there are no Cellphones, modern computers, or the internet, there are still ways to communicate with one another from landlines to radios, and old fashioned telegrams or even just snailmail to speak with people over long distances. Due to limitations of technology phones still require what's known as switch board operators, real people who have to manually route your call. This also means most if not all of the news people receive comes from either the Newspaper or the radio. Information is a much more tightly controlled and regulated commodity on this earth.

With staff permission some superheroes such as Batman may have access to very primitive computers. When made from earth technology these computers would take up a vast real estate (Likely taking up 5 floors of a building minimum for something as simple as a calculator) the also have much fewer features then a modern computer usually functioning for a singular purpose. Using Punchcards (a piece of rigid paper used to store digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes placed across the surface of the page) spread across the multi floor Goliath machines. In the case of the batman example it would be an electronic filing system that would be able to spit out the location of a file inside his bat-cave.

## **Prohibition**

 When the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect the production, transport, and sale of alcohol was made completely against the law. However this did not ban the private ownership or drinking of alcohol.

The Volstead Act laid the groundwork for what alcohols would be covered and how enforcement of the law would be handled.These two put together spelled an end for publicly open bars and the sale of alcohol.

Following the ban crime exploded exponentially all across the US, from rumrunners to the mafia. They found themselves a foothold and legitimacy in the eyes of the American people. Many police outright refuse to enforce the laws, and New York has always been a historically wet state, leading towards their crimes becoming bolder and more open, and corruption running rampant through the police force. Even still liqueur raids on speakeasies and illicit distilleries are an all too common sight.

## **Crime in NYC**

For a decades, all east coast crime has been dominated by one man: Anthony 'Boss' Zucco, patriarch of the notorious Zucco crime family. The Zucco crime family possesses a stranglehold on illicit activities all across the east coast, that only strengthened with the start of prohibition in 1920.

He's known as the most powerful man in America due to his criminal empire, and sheer criminal influence. In 1920 he even made a failed bid for president of the united states, running against Warren G Harding and James M Cox as an independent. Even the mysterious death of Warren G. Harding, couldn't secure the election for him.

Smaller gangs do exist but none (On the Eastern seaboard at least) that can truly compete with the operations of The Zucco Crime Family. While in many ways his absolute domination of criminal activities has lead to increased crimerates, many people view Zucco, the head of the organization as something of a folk hero. His actions to fight prohibition have made him a household name, and many police support his actions completely viewing him in a very positive light. He's been considered by people across the US: Completely untouchable.

## Segregation

Segregation is defined by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance as "the act by which a (natural or legal) person separates other persons on the basis of one of the enumerated grounds without an objective and reasonable justification, in conformity with the proposed definition of discrimination. As a result, the voluntary act of separating oneself from other people on the basis of one of the enumerated grounds does not constitute segregation" And was a very real issue in the 1920's of the real world.

We are not the real world however. In many ways this is a much more progressive view of the 1920's. Segregation does exist but it's a rare sight inside of the area in which our game takes place, the New York region. Mostly this is because I don't want the game to get bogged down in that. You can still role-play it out if you want to, a buss here a restaurant there, but it's not the focus of the game. The focus of this game is getting that 'authentic' noir ***feel*** first and foremost, not an accurate simulation of the real world 1920's.

The only other thing I have to say on this matter is that in our verse the color of your skin is a lot more accepted then if you happen to be a visible mutant. So you're more likely to get discriminated against if you have some strange form of mutation that is unsettling to people. Again that doesn't mean you can't roleplay out both being a thing, it's just again not really the focus of this place.

## Civil Rights Movement

Spearheaded by some of the very same men and women who helped to win the Great War there's been a disturbance to the status quo. The same soldiers who were finally allowed to fight side by side with their fellow man as equals have demanded they be treated the same on the home front. Women have the right to vote, and the right to vote can not be denied any citizen of the united states for their race.

Over the last 9 years the movement has stumbled its way to a stand supported by mutants, women, and minorities alike. They solidified the right to vote, now they push back against things like segregation looking to see that all men and women are treated equal.

## **Inflation**

When making any statement of monetary value in our game it's important to keep in mind the value of a dollar. An easy way to keep this in mind is to remember the current inflation since 1928 (When the game takes place) up until now. Since then there has been a 1349.5% inflation in us currency. That means just ONE dollar in our game has the same spending power as $14.50. To put this in further perspective let's look at how much stuff actually costs in our games world.

In 1928 on average:

* A quart of milk is **5 cents**.
* Gasoline is **21 cents** per gallon
* A loaf of bread costs **10 cents**
* Insurance is **7 dollars** per month
* Eggs are **45 cents** per dozen
* Movie tickets are **35 cents** each
* An ounce of gold costs **20 dollars, and 63 cents**
* A block of salt is **90 cents**
* A bathtub is **62 cents**
* A Chevy AC coupe model 1928 would run you **695 dollars** new
* Coffee is **50 cents** a pound
* A house is **2,500** dollars having a new one built from scratch **5,000 dollars**
* An assistant manager at a company earns **4,000 dollars** annually with only **3.52% of people** paying any taxes
* The average American makes **2,010 dollars** annually, and pays **117 dollars** in taxes
* A 2 to 3 bedroom apartment in Gotham or in Metropolis' suicide slums would run you **25 to 50 dollars per month**