Superheroes

[Xathan]

[ooc]Damn you, ElDo, for putting this idea in my head.[/ooc]

Thanks two our resident bag of cheese flavored sylvan tortilla chips, coupled with recently seeing all 3 X men and Superman Returns (much to my chagrin on X3 and Superman), I have begun to develop an interest in making a superhero setting. This setting would possibly use the Mutants and Masterminds rules, a variant on the Exalted rules, or just might use an entirely new gaming system designed by me. If the latter, this project will fade off the radar for a bit whilst I work on my system. However, the setting. I have a few options Iâ,¬,,¢m pondering:

1)   This setting would be interesting, and somewhat unique â,¬' I would take a standard (by my standards, of course) fantasy world and inject superheroes into it. Their powers would be different from the powers of mages and clerics because the powers of heroes would be an inherent quality scientifically explainable, or, in game terms, an Extraordinary ability (I might make a new category for super powers and call them â,¬Å"preternaturalâ,¬Â or redefine old supernatural as preternatural and make superpowers supernatural, functioning fully in an antimagic field and such.)

2)   This setting would be the â,¬Ëstandardâ,¬,,¢ for comic book worlds, where I take the Earth and begin injecting superhuman beings into it. Iâ,¬,,¢d follow the normal comic book standard of slow injection at first, and then rapidly increase. So superbeings would feature very rarely in WWII, but by the late 1980s, superbeings would be common enough that world history would start to change significantly. Power in this setting would come from mutations, alien/outsider blood, rituals, technology, magic artifacts, radioactive accidents and genetic experimentation.

3)   I take superbeings, normal humans, and aliens, and then open up the universe to them. Iâ,¬,,¢d set it in something along the lines of the year 2143.
 
4)   The most complex of the four, I take a fantasy setting a la #1 and then evolve it to modern day technology with superbeings present, but part of thinks that would get too cluttered.

Probably should have mentioned that I was curious on everyone's takes on these settings and that I am curious as to which one is your favorite. :P

[SDragon]

id love to see it- if you can find any games or books with an already established superhero setting, they might be good to look at (and fairly common, of course)

[Elven Doritos]

My vote, as I've said over and over:

MUTANTS & MASTERMINDS (Second Edition)

Beautiful, beautiful book.

Oh, and let it be known: I, too, am making a superheroic setting. Let the games begin!

~ElDo
Punmaster

EDIT: My vote is for the "standard" comic setting.

[the_taken]

Super heroes are cool.

World 1: What do you think all those templates and spells and feats are for? Reflavor the reason a dude gets his magic missile and your good to go.

World 2: Ahh. The classic comic book orrigins. My favorite. Nothing's more awesome than stopping a heist with white sticky goo then having the robbers squeel like sissies 'cause your an unstoppable fighting maching, and the guy in the tank just wet his pants.

World 3: I think somebody published a futuristic space age campaign setting. DragonStar d20 or something. Had book about making space ships in it once. Never found it after I hid it from my siblings. Might be worth checking out.

World 4: Eh... Okay. Sounds good. Don't know why you're worried about clutter. Just let the pencil/keyboard do the talking.

[Epic Meepo]

Oh, and let it be known: I, too, am making a superheroic setting. Let the games begin!

I can see the marketing-gimmick crossover now.  We pair up heroes from world A with heroes from world B, invent an entirely contrived conflict between them, then have fans vote who wins each fight.

[Elven Doritos]

Oh, and let it be known: I, too, am making a superheroic setting. Let the games begin!

I can see the marketing-gimmick crossover now.  We pair up heroes from world A with heroes from world B, invent an entirely contrived conflict between them, then have fans vote who wins each fight.

Hee. Sorta the idea that's in the behind-the-scenes right now...

I've always maintained that there are two driving forces in a superheroic setting.

The first is characters. The superheroic is an exploration of unique and fascinating individuals who are gifted with some extraordinary ability, whether it be flight and heat vision or the ability to build (and pilot!) a mechanized war suit with all the fixings.

The second primary element is hype-- and the competition that comes from the hype. By having opposing points and a friendly competitive structure, the comics industry has perpetuated itself and thrived on the rivalry of the two major publishers. A similar rivalry between two campaign worlds might be an interesting parallel.

Xath and I will keep you folks updated.

[Varning]

I've often considered doing something similar to this.  I would DEFINATELY use Mutants and Masterminds 2nd Edition.  It is an absolutely incredible system.

I'm a bit confused by option 1.  All superpowers are from the same source then?  Perhaps some type of mutation, magical or natural?  Mutants alongside mages and clerics?  This is interesting, although if sorcerors exist then mutants may seem a little underwhelming.  Sorcerors get their powers from birth but can do a whole lot of things.  Owlbearman just has a razor-sharp beak.

Option 2 is cool, but has been done already by many, many people.  However, everyone has their own approach and I'm sure you could make it interesting.

Option 3 is interesting too, but what type of future?  A dark one that utilizes evil megacorporations?  A bright one with legions of superhumans that defend humanity?

Option 4 seems like a huge amount of work.  Just taking a fantasy setting and moving it to the present day is difficult, now you have to account for the presence of superbeings?

I've always liked the idea of a fantasy setting being approached from a superheroic direction.  Evil wizards with magically augmented minions (mystic cybernetics) fighting demigods alongside well-trained mortals.  Maybe I'm taking this a different direction from you guys, but I wish you huge amounts of luck.  Maybe your setting(s) will inspire me to try and make mine too.

[limetom]

Dicefreaks has begun stating a good number of Marvel and DC characters.  I beileved they used some alternate form of d20 Modern.

They've gotten pretty far along, and have a good number of Marvel and DC comics done.  Some others (myself included) are starting one for manga characters running off the same guidelines.

If you're interested, PM the moderator, Kain Darkwind.

[the_taken]

Dicefreaks has begun stating a good number of Marvel and DC characters.  I beileved they used some alternate form of d20 Modern.

They've gotten pretty far along, and have a good number of Marvel and DC comics done.  Some others (myself included) are starting one for manga characters running off the same guidelines.

If you're interested, PM the moderator, Kain Darkwind.

Mind posting a link directly to the right thread?

[Lmns Crn]

Of the options you provide, I like number one, but with a qualification. I'm concerned that the "supernaturalness" of superheroes might be comparitively diminished when you set them up next to mages/clerics/etc. Have you considered just adding superheroes directly to a pseudo-medieval world the same way you might add them to a modern-style world, but without a lot of non-superhero magic-user types to steal their thunder?

[Túrin]

Probably the most work, but it would be fascinating to play out a what-if history with superheroes: insert the first superheroes perhaps around the Victorian age (werewolves and vampires could be the first mutations that appear) and then go through history, gradually departing more and more from real-world history, ultimately stopping somewhere between 1985 and 2015 (I suggest). Option 4, I guess.
Good luck!
Túrin

[Poseptune]

I like Turin's idea.

Unless you are truely committed to the long arduous task of making your own game rules, I would use or modify an existing rule set. I've heard ElDo kinda likes Mutants and Masterminds.

[Xathan]

I got Mutants and Masterminds, and I am definatly using those rules. I'm going to be making multiple worlds, since this is me were are talking about. One world is going to be pretty much standard comic fantasy world, with some of my own twists. The other is going to be that same world, but in the 1970s suffered an apocalypse of some sort, since post-apocalypse plays is yay. Another world will be similar to what Turin discribed, with superpowers appearing much earlier on with mystic origins and dramatically altering world history, and the final world will be a complete fantasy world with superpowers replacing magic. More details on these and other ideas of mine as the day goes on! Updates, awwwwwwwwaaaaaaaay!!!

[Elven Doritos]

I've heard ElDo kinda likes Mutants and Masterminds.

Poseidon, you are the master of understatements.

~Elven Doritos
Mastermind, not Mutant

[Poseptune]

I've heard ElDo kinda likes Mutants and Masterminds.

Poseidon, you are the master of understatements.

~Elven Doritos
Mastermind, not Mutant

 :-)