Superheroes-Genre

Eventually we will play a Superhero game. I am going to write all sorts of stuff here to try and figure out what kind of superhero game people might want to play. This even includes Dieter, he doesn't like a lot of things about superheroes as a gaming genre, but maybe there is a happy medium in there for him. Anyone who wants to comment on this stuff, or respond to comments, should do so. I am not going to necessarily integrate it all, but it is all valuable to hear.

Power Level

There are a million power levels possible. I don't think I would want to do anything too high level unless there was an overwhelming desire to have it. The most likely candidates are 'street level' and 'standard'. The power level section is more about the scope of the campaign. It would be possible for characters to be at differing power levels and still have a consistent campaign.

Street Level

This is the default for Dark Champions. The characters would be somewhere between 200-275 points. The enemies would be of the same level. The powers would be low level. Anything too crazy would be disallowed unless there was a good explanation. The enemies would be lower level than the PCs for the most part, but chapter enemies would be a little higher. The law would be an obstacle in many cases.

Typical scenarios might be dealing with crimes such as theft or serious 'dark' crime. Tragedy might be more common. Enemies would often use killing attacks (guns and knives). Some street level heroes are The Punisher, Power Man, Hellboy or the protagonists in most action movies.

Standard

These are standard superheroes like you see in most movies and comics. The characters would be 300-400 points. The enemies would generally be of the same power level as the PCs. The main enemies would be much more powerful than the PCs, but fewer in number. Virtually all powers would be allowed in most cases. The law would be little more than a nuisance as long as the PCs make an effort to be on the right side.

Typical scenarios deal with crime of all type, leading to a crescendo of the scale the enemies determine with their overall goals. Killing attacks would be rare and potentially regulated.

Mixed

One idea I have had is that the group might not be homogeneous. Maybe there are 1-2 actual 'heroes' and more supporting characters, with different power levels and other important roles. The first example I saw was in Shadowman, where the main character is a true superhero, but his two supporting characters are much lower level, but still vital. One is an occultist who also understands ritual magic and what it is to be Shadowman (the guy who is Shadowman is new and doesn't know this), the other is a normal who can wield magical abilities. This is not the only possibility, but it is something to consider.

Believability

This is an important question. How much suspension of disbelief is necessary, and where is it allowed and disallowed? For example, does the plot need to make sense at each turn, or are only the big things matter? Conversely, do the little things matter but not the big ones?