From the introduction:
This is a world of not-quite-comic-book villainy. Costumed heroes and villains are aplenty, relatively, and whole subcultures have emerged around them. Super-powered heroes and villains are not unknown here, though the mundane ones far outnumber them. While there is camp aplenty with world-guardian organizations like VANGUARD and locales such as Merit City or Fort Klanx, make no mistake: this is the no-holds-barred ‘real world’. Heroes are not above killing you if you cross their line, or if you prove yourself too dangerous to simply incarcerate. Some even kill as a matter of course, per their modus operandi. You will assume the role of a fledgling villain. Will you become the latest and greatest of your kind, or merely another failure among many who’s ambition outshone their ability?