Think of it like X-Men meets The Red Badge of Courage. This Favored Land is the first supplement for Wild Talents Second Edition (actually releasing well before the core rulebook, although the stripped-down Essential Edition is available now). Where Wild Talents' progenitor Godlike presented gritty supers in World War II, This Favored Land takes them to the War Between the States.
On October 7, 1849, two events happened. First, Edgar Allan Poe died. Second, certain individuals across North America asleep in their beds shared a singular dream. At the end of this dream, each was shown an image of a supernatural Gift they might receive if their future transpired in just the right way. In the morning, the dreamers awoke and many wrote about the Dream in journals, but none remembered the last part, the part about their Gift.
It is now 1861, and War rages. The Gifted are feared and reviled, so they hide their abilities. Some put on uniforms. Others fight behind the lines in the name of freedom or hatred. And still others just try to keep their heads down.
This Favored Land includes excellent guidelines for keeping powers low-key and for introducing some of the nastier sides of 19th-century warfare, including bleeding and infection and rules for amputation. Author Allan Goodall includes an extensive history of the real Civil War, making this a sourcebook for purely historical gaming as well.
If you're looking for an historical supers setting that focuses on covert powers and a feeling of "secret history" rather than alternate history, I highly recommend This Favored Land.
This Favored Land is available in PDF now; hard copies are available for pre-order. Arc Dream Publishing. 226 pages; $14.99 (B&W PDF); $29.99 (B&W Softcover)
