Okay, some clarifications are probably in order....
Idea #1 (Aliens From Outer Space)
This idea is more along the lines of Superman than any other, in my head at least. Aliens crahs land to earth as losers in a war, or fleeing some catastrophic war/event of some kind, and end up in a location, and have to adapt to the new world. Very shortly, they realize that they can do things the humans can't, and must decide what to do with them ... especially since the Evil Aliens were planning to conquer this world as well (or some other plot like that).
The idea is primarily about being heroes for the reason of it being the right thing, not for reward, or fame, or glory. It's saving people because they need/deserve/should be, and you can. Its about being a monster trying to be a man, and the how and why of sacrifice.
Idea #2 (4-colour Superheroics)
Basically super hero world with all the stops pulled out. Every kind of superhero origin could be done, anything can happen and realism is pretty much shot straight to hell in favour of sheer wackiness and trying to balance private and public personas along with dealing with fun questions of the legitimacy of super law enforcers and the like.
How long superpowers have existed would have to be worked out (I'm partial to "starting" them in about 1980 just to avoid the overused world wards and Hiroshima stuff, tho using Roswell can work (i.e. the government breeds superhumans to combat an alien threat initially.))
I.e. what I'd intended Aftermath to sort of become (or at least be a prelcude to). As some players have noted, I tend to have trouble with 4-colour comics worlds. I keep wondering things, like WHY the masks, why the need/desire to hide ... and questions of conscience. Like, if you were Superman, could you *afford* to have a day job and normal life when that takes away from savings others? Still could be done, and be fun, if worked out right.
Idea #3 (Super spies)
The cold war. You have powers mortal men cannot even dream of, but must keep them a secret lest the evil capitalists (or communists) discover them, and are sent over the Iron Curtain to wreak havoc on the enemies of your nation ... not a superhero game in the normal 4-colour sense, but more about following orders, the prices of power and questions of loyalty. Will PCs be content to be hidden from the world, or try and forge a brighter future?
As you may have guessed, I'm most partial to idea #3 (tho I have no idea WHY :p). The ranking of the games is mostly in "how hard it would be to make." #3 is hardest solely from a research perspective, for players and the GM. #2 is hard simply in the amount of time it would take to make a real, viable superhero universe.
Addenum:
ReplyDeleteIf idea #2 is chosen, I plan to restrict it to Central City, a big fictional city in the middle of the USA somewhere. Fill it with a history,heroes, villains and the like and go from there.
Some ideas in my head:
- Captain Cosmo, the most powerful hero of the age, has gone missing.
- Dr No!, the evil villain who can make you "Just Say NO!"
Things like that, tongue in cheek done realistically. Just for oddness. And, well, superheroes have been around for a long time, in the setting. So the new kids find cosumes to be too cliche and the like, and admitting to parents you're a superhero is seen as major uncool, especially if the spazz.
PCs would need to be unique (or, in Baliadoc style via Freeform, cliched to the max). Basically, if you - the player - were a superhero, what would you want? Why? And go from there.
The game would be set silver age, so heroes don't kill the villains, the villains always escape ... but his absurdity is known to many, and new prisons built and the like. Superhero insurance would exist as well, of course.
Power level would need to be decided by prospective players. I personally favour underdog-style games and would prefer games driven more by reality than anything else. I.e.: pc needing a job, balancing school and saving the world, and the like along with family and friends and who they tell or don't tell about what they are.
Public reaction to heroes will depend on the PCs. They can be heroes, anti-heroes, celebrities .. all depends on the team, and how they work PR :p
Keep in mind that while superheroes are fun, unkillable pcs are not. Superman is lots of things, but not that much fun. Spiderman, otoh, is fun.
A few final thoughts:
- all pcs need to have teh powers
- no magic.
- no power to duplicate or cancel powers.
- no mind control (reading may be possible, for some pc ideas)
- Superheroes have weaknesses.
- What makes superheroes heroes is not power, but the fact that, even without them, they would still BE heroes, would still sacrifice themselves for others.
- all pcs need to have teh powers
ReplyDelete- What makes superheroes heroes is not power, but the fact that, even without them, they would still BE heroes, would still sacrifice themselves for others.
hahahah u r hipocrat