Mutant Registration Act Enacted: Details Within

[Anna Fernandez]

The Mutant Registration Act has been enacted in California. For now this is just a state law, the federal bill having been struck down several times. I'm sure there will be legal battles over the MRA, and it may get thrown out, but for now this is what our CA mutants have to live with.

There is a short 'voluntary registration' period at first, perhaps three months, where no one is forced to register as a mutant, but it is strongly encouraged. Private businesses may go ahead and make it mandatory for employment, simply to be ahead of the curve. Hospitals will ask, but are not allowed to register a mutant without their consent (doesn't mean they won't, but legally they're not supposed to).

After the grace period, Mutant Registration becomes mandatory.

Questions, and thoughts?

[Stern]

What is the purpose of registering? Is it simply that they take your name and a description of your powers, like fingerprinting people? Or is there more to it than that?

[Anna Fernandez]

The purpose of registering is for public safety - the government can keep tabs on 'dangerous' mutants.

[Aidan Fox]

A lot of details need to be hammered out, but here are some things to consider.

1. While we're calling it the Mutant Registration Act for the sake of simplicity, in real life it would be called something like the Genetic Diversity Protection Act - something that makes it sound like a benefit to mutants and humans alike. It will certainly be marketed as something mutants should support: "Register and receive tax breaks for health care! Register and become eligible for genetic advantage scholarships! Register so we can better understand the mutant phenomenon and provide the programs and services our mutant population needs!"

2. As Holly stated above, there's a transition period where registration is encouraged but not mandated. However, registration is mandatory for all mutants who are arrested. Many hospitals already keep mutant gene sequences on file, and mutants who check in to any of these hospitals are all-but registered already. When the mandatory period kicks in, those profiles will be added to the central state database.

3. Registration requires a DNA sample - it's as simple as a cheek swab. Thanks to recent in-universe advances in genetic imaging, each mutants' X-gene sequence can be isolated and stored with their file in the database.

Ummmm I'll come up with more later! Clearly we need to spell out more precisely what the Act requires.

[Stern]

Stern will be required to uphold this law. Who gains access to the registration files and for what purpose is important. If the list is used for purposes outside of a database for helping mutants (i.e. providing Jericho with a "call list" to gather "volunteers"), he will have a major problem.

Also, Klaus will already have an extensive list of known mutants, their genetic codes, and list of powers. He will probably try to keep his records out of government hands unless an agreement can be made.

[Jane]

Threat Level explanation (from Registry Card for the wiki):

There's a baseline threat level assigned depending on the nature of your mutation, but it goes up if you have a criminal record, up higher if it involves violent crime.

Highest would be ten which would be, I don't know, a psychotic mutant capable of exploding like an atomic bomb (I'm looking at you, Neutron).

Aimee Connors is a 2 - her baseline is 1, but she has a non-violent juvenile record for B&E so her threat level is 2.

[Aidan Fox]

Holly and I have discussed the mutant threat ratings, and we've come up with a scale that we think will be nice and workable. It's still open to suggestions! Once again, every mutant is assessed a baseline threat rating based on their powers alone. If they have a criminal record, their rating is raised by one. If they have a record of violent crime, the rating is raised by two.

Officially, no mutant can be rated higher than three on powers alone. However, individuals deemed to be unusually threatening may be rated higher. Note that five and six are not based merely on powers but on criminal behavior as well.


Mutant Threat Ratings


1: Minimal. Mutation is not inherently dangerous. Mutation offers little physical advantage over individual humans. Effects are usually limited to the individual mutant. Examples: Aimee Connors (baseline), Ronnie Bluth, Taya Robbins, Riley Grace.
2: Moderate. Mutation is potentially dangerous, or dangerous with limited effects. Mutation offers significant physical advantage over individual humans. Effects may extend beyond the individual mutant. Examples: Alex Kaine, Jamie Morrigan, Tess Abrahams, Jake Foley.
3: Significant. Mutation is inherently dangerous. Mutation offers significant physical advantages over groups of humans. Effects may be environment-altering. Examples: Anna Fernandez, Jacinda Blake, Carlos Calaveras, Michael Stern.
4: High. Mutation is inherently dangerous on a city-block scale. Significant trained manpower needed to overcome this individual. May threaten entire communities. Examples: Aidan Fox, Feral, John Rhee.
5: Extreme. Individual shows a willingness to use mutation for violent crime. Only criminals can be given this rating. Examples: Geryon, Flux, Pedro Calaveras, Mute.
6: Critical. Individual uses mutation to wage war against the American government and its people. Mutation is dangerous enough to warrant a rating of three or four. Generally reserved for the leadership of extremist groups like the Brotherhood. Examples: Saladin, Spectre, Jane, Neutron.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Very interesting!

I'm surprised Jacinda isn't rated higher after the incident.

[Alex Kaine]

Well, most of these examples are theoretical, since few of these characters are actually registered. I was going on the theory that Jacinda's powers were artificially supercharged for the hurricane. That incident certainly would have bumped her up to level four, and it's possible her powers will develop to the point that she'd be up there anyway.

One question that emerges is how the levels are assigned, since it seems it would be easy for a powerful mutant to feign a less dangerous power. I was toying with the idea that Vanguard has a mutant prisoner whose gift is determining the potential of other mutants. They could feed the data to the mutant and get a number back.

Or the ratings just work, and no one can really explain how. :)

[Aidan Fox]

New Amendment:

Mutants understandably are not happy that someone like Anna Fernandez can be assigned the same threat level (3) as someone with a "non-threatening mutation" who commits violent crime (1 + 2). While mutants are required to carry an ID card as proof of registration, mutants without a criminal record can ask to have their threat rating omitted from the card. Their rating will only appear in the official registry, where it will be visible only to law enforcement, hospitals, and government officials.

Oddly enough, among some elements of the mutant subculture, a higher threat level has become a badge of honor. Conversely, there is a popular assumption that mutants without a number on their card must have something to hide. After all, if you were only a 1, you'd want people to feel at ease around you, right?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

http://www.sw-fans.net/wiki/index.php?title=California_Mutant_Registry

Wiki page !

[Flux]

Flux would be ecstatic at his 5 star rating, then in the next step mortified that he didn't rate a 6. :XD BUT! Suppose a Mutant Criminal is somehow reformed. Does that reduce the threat rating?

Also, I like the idea that "The ratings just work". It keeps things ambiguous as to who the hell came up with this, whether it was Jericho, Vanguard, or the Government. Like we didn't have enough reasons to make tension between mutant and mundane, right?

[Dasquian Belargic]

I might be overlooking this somehow... but what was the actual date the act came into effect?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

They enacted it the night of No Timeouts Left. Which doesn't have an exact date. Beginning of June.

[Alex Kaine]

I believe the transitional period was supposed to be three months or ninety days or something like that, so it'll become mandatory for all mutants sometime in early September.

[Saul Nielsen]

Alright. Just wanted to get a feel for the sort of dates I should be putting onto my characters registration dates :)

[Tom Harriman]

Having looked through the list of registered mutants and their respective cardy-whatsists, it looks like we're set in 2009. Are we?

If so, it'd be useful to have that mentioned somewhere: I'm apparently two years younger than I thought I was (not complaining!).

[Taya Robbins]

It's mentioned in the Mutants, Unite Timeline, in that all the current threads are set in the summer of '09. We could possibly add a current story synopsis, including the date, to the main page for Mutants, Unite in the wiki.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Yeah usually the timeline is a good place to find out the when of the RPs...

[Tom Harriman]

If you're new / have been out of the loop, the timeline isn't as helpful as you might think.

Unless you sit there cross-referencing every single X-Men thread with the timeline, there's no way to know if the timeline is up to date, if the thread names you're reading are "current" (or if they're old ones that have neen necro'd / taken ages to write / etc).

Just as an example - there's no mention of the Registration act anywhere on that timeline. I had to search the forums to get "June". Big events like that might be useful things to map on a / the timeline.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

That is true and I will add it immediately.

[Taya Robbins]

I had a thought - the MRA threat levels right now are written from an in-universe perspective. It's the sort of thing you'd see on official policy documents, a list of criteria meant to cover a broad variety of potential cases. But that doesn't mean it's the most approachable guide, especially for writers who are new to this setting.

Technically, characters who aren't registered don't even need to bother with threat levels, but since it's a useful way of categorizing your character, here's a simple writer's guide to the threat scale. It's all based on how many non-mutants it takes to pose a serious threat to your character.

1. A mutant with a threat level of one doesn't have any significant combat advantages over a normal human being. So if you bumped into a large, angry thug who decided to turn violent, you'd need to consider him a very real threat.

2. A mutant with a threat level of two has some significant advantage that allows him or her to either overpower or escape one attacker. Maybe you can paralyze him with a psychic attack or simply evade him with super speed or invisibility. But if he has a gang of friends with him, you're in danger of being overwhelmed.

3. A mutant with a threat level of three will give that gang serious pause. Sure, you might eventually be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, especially if they're armed, but you'll take so many of them down with you that they'll be reluctant to attack. More powerful threes will be able to wipe out a room full of bad guys without taking a scratch. This is a broad category, and it's where most combat-focused mutants fall.

4. Replace that gang of thugs with a company of highly trained, heavily armed special forces personnel. A level four mutant can either combat these troops to a standstill or create an environment so hostile that they can't effectively get to you (for instance, turning an entire city block into a raging firestorm). Aside from heavy military hardware, just about the only thing that can seriously threaten a level-four mutant is other mutants.

Level five simply means a level three mutant who is a dangerous criminal, and level six is reserved for enemy mutant masterminds like Saladin.

You may find your character is straddling the line between two categories. If that's the case, just pick what you think feels right.

[Captain Untouchable]

One thing I could use a smidge of clarity on - is this the threat level of their power, or the threat level of the character as a whole?

Using Tom Harriman as an example: his power is probably a 2, based on your description. However, as a soldier and martial artist, he can probably "give a gang serious pause". I went with a 3 for criminal record reasons, and it still fits the character as a whole once everything is taken into account... but would someone like that be a "natural 3" anyway, or is the rating purely on their mutation?

Does your threat rating increase if you're a muscly mo-fo who does a lot of boxing, but your mutant power is to make daisies shoot out of your nose?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

It's my understanding this is based on mutation/criminal record only, but certainly things like military training or service could be taken into consideration. Perhaps adding a point, much like a rap sheet does?

So, Tom is a 2, plus 1 for non violent crime, plus 1 for military training? But then it's starting to get a little ridiculous and we'd need more than six numbers.

So, then, it's rating mutation and how it sets a character apart from a regular human. So military training would be a note on the file but not affect the ultimate rating. I think that works best - just leave it as is. Mundanes are military or skilled martial artists, so we're rating how Tom's mutation gives him an advantage over them, too, not just against the granny that lives on the corner.

[Aidan Fox]

Your baseline threat level measures mutation alone. For example: if Scott Green, an NPC who can change his skin color, became a mixed martial arts master, he certainly could defeat the average thug and might even be able to intimidate a crowd, but his prowess would have nothing to do with his mutation. He'd still be a one, barring a criminal record.

There are going to be marginal cases like Harriman. In those cases, it's totally up to the author. You could say he gets bumped up because his physical training includes creative ways to weaponize his mutation. Or you could say what you said there - he gets two points for his mutation, one for his criminal record.

I've done the same sort of thing with Taya. Her claws could certainly give her an advantage over a lone assailant, but her temperament, combined with the fact that she's a 105-lb girl, really say non-com to me. So I kept her a one.

TL;DR, go with what feels right for the character. I enjoy systems and categories like this, but it's a spectrum, and I'm certainly not going to be anal about it. :)