Best and worst jobs for Superheroes

[Pental]

So most heroes have secret ID's...and a lot of heroes have day jobs.
So the big question is, what are the best and worst jobs for heroes to have?

I think Peter Parker has an ideal job for a superhero; any job that involves you being out in public and out from under the boss's watchful eye would probably be good.

Worst job would probably be 'McDonald's drive thru operator'.

Any more? :)

[Karmakaze]

To some degree, it depends on the writer. Peter Parker and Clark Kent both work for major metropolitan newspapers and have a lot of autonomy with their schedules, but it works out a whole lot better for Kent.

Reporters and Law Enforcement/Emergency Workers have a bit of an edge because it gives them an excuse to be on hand when superheroics are needed. Independently Wealthy works well, of course. With slacker chic these days, you also see delivery guys or clerks, because those are jobs with high turnover; if our hero loses the job due to heroic commitments, he just gets another. Musicians also work, because of the free schedule, and because they have an excuse to be wandering urban hours late at night.

[wcw43921]

I would think that the absolute perfect job for a superhero would be the writer/artist who writes and draws his own comic-book adventures--

THE EDITOR: "Great job on these Thunder Man pages, Robbie! We've got another best-selling issue for sure!"

ROBBIE: "Thanks, Chief!"

THE EDITOR: "I love these action scenes! It feels like I'm right there in the middle of the action! Reading these, I could actually believe YOU were Thunder Man!"

ROBBIE: "HA HA HA HA HA! That's a good one, Chief! But we both know I couldn't possibly be Thunder Man!"

(Broad Wink At The Audience)

[input.jack]

THE EDITOR: "I love these action scenes! It feels like I'm right there in the middle of the action! Reading these, I could actually believe YOU were Thunder Man!"

ROBBIE: "HA HA HA HA HA! That's a good one, Chief! But we both know I couldn't possibly be Thunder Man!"

(Broad Wink At The Audience)

Of COURSE he cant be Thunder Man. Robbie wears these thick glasses. Thunder Man doesnt. How would he see? How would he see? :cool:

[lemming]

Bad job: IT worker especially a sysadmin expected to be on call 24/7

[Mike W]

Generally speaking, I would say the best "jobs" are:

billionaire playboy/idle rich - What job?

Next tier:

artist/writer, inventor, anything that lets you work from home and be self-employed.

college professor - you are in class 12-15 hours a week, in the office 5 or 6 but can easily cancel and have meetings maybe once a week. Again, you do almost as much work at home as on campus - or you can.

Worst jobs:

night security, policeman, fireman - jobs where you have to work the nightshift and HAVE to be there

retail/fast food - but only if you work after 5. Before 5 it's tricky but not as bad

television reporter - you're supposed to be in front of the camera when the story happens, but not in costume

[Mike W]

I would think that the absolute perfect job for a superhero would be the writer/artist who writes and draws his own comic-book adventures--

THE EDITOR: "Great job on these Thunder Man pages, Robbie! We've got another best-selling issue for sure!"

ROBBIE: "Thanks, Chief!"

THE EDITOR: "I love these action scenes! It feels like I'm right there in the middle of the action! Reading these, I could actually believe YOU were Thunder Man!"

ROBBIE: "HA HA HA HA HA! That's a good one, Chief! But we both know I couldn't possibly be Thunder Man!"

(Broad Wink At The Audience)

Yeah, Steve Rogers was the artist on Capt. America comics in Marvel for a while. But then, that's where you got the idea from isn't it?:D

[wcw43921]

Yeah, Steve Rogers was the artist on Capt. America comics in Marvel for a while. But then, that's where you got the idea from isn't it?:D

I knew Steve Rogers was an artist, but I don't remember him drawing his own Captain America adventures. :confused:

No, it just seemed like a funny thing to write.

[Hermit]

I knew Steve Rogers was an artist, but I don't remember him drawing his own Captain America adventures. :confused:

No, it just seemed like a funny thing to write.

It was funny :thumbup: but yes, at one time IIRC, Steve Rogers drew for Marvel (or Marvel in the MU). I recall a rather humorous scene where he tried to make a few suggestions to the writer of the Captain America comic book about how to better portray cap. The writer mutters a 'yeah sure' and thought clouds about artists giving him lectures ;)

[Mike W]

It was funny :thumbup: but yes, at one time IIRC, Steve Rogers drew for Marvel (or Marvel in the MU). I recall a rather humorous scene where he tried to make a few suggestions to the writer of the Captain America comic book about how to better portray cap. The writer mutters a 'yeah sure' and thought clouds about artists giving him lectures ;)

Yeah, Cap drawing Cap led to a few really good moments like that.

[JmOz]

Bad job: IT worker especially a sysadmin expected to be on call 24/7

But it could be funny, espesialy if he is working on a cell phone type thing

Random Villain: What are you talking about

Hero Man (Holding finger up in a one minute type of way to villain): now click OK, yes restart the machine. OK, now is it working, that's great, glad I could help and please call us here an Technohelp with all of your computer problems

Random Villain: ARE YOU ON THE PHONE YOU JERK

Hero Man, ok back to you eat fire blast...one minute, Hello Technohelp, this is John, how can I help you today

[CrosshairCollie]

But it could be funny, espesialy if he is working on a cell phone type thing

Random Villain: What are you talking about

Hero Man (Holding finger up in a one minute type of way to villain): now click OK, yes restart the machine. OK, now is it working, that's great, glad I could help and please call us here an Technohelp with all of your computer problems

Random Villain: ARE YOU ON THE PHONE YOU JERK

Hero Man, ok back to you eat fire blast...one minute, Hello Technohelp, this is John, how can I help you today

I now have the urge to have a villain try this stunt on the heroes to see if it works.

[Hermit]

Best job... Tabloid Reporter... c'mon, you don't even have to be accurate, and you have super senses. You can actually REPORT on aliens, animal men, and sea monsters and your publisher will pay for the story. X ray vision means no celebrity scandal is safe!

:D

[transmetahuman]

One of those work-from-home phone sex hotline jobs, where you call in from home to punch in or out, then the computer/switchboard routes the 900 number callers to your home phone (or, hey, your cell - imagine that sysadmin scene for someone with this job). Maybe you can get specialist clientele because your voice just happens to sound just like Power Girl's.

[lemming]

Villain : I don't know why, but your voice sounds really familiar.

[Certified]

One of those work-from-home phone sex hotline jobs, where you call in from home to punch in or out, then the computer/switchboard routes the 900 number callers to your home phone (or, hey, your cell - imagine that sysadmin scene for someone with this job). Maybe you can get specialist clientele because your voice just happens to sound just like Power Girl's.

Hay it only takes 6 character points for never sleeps and +5 PRE (Sex Phone Voice)

[Clonus]

What makes a job bad for a superhero?


Located in rural areas with limited opportunities for action
Heavily supervised by a manager
Long hours
Subsistence pay

[DrunkonDUty]

that list makes a bad job for anyone.

[Kenn]

"Okay... I'm taking off my blouse... This looks like a job for DANCETEN-LOOXTHREE GIRL"

[pawsplay]

that list makes a bad job for anyone.

True dat.

Some other really good jobs for superheroes:
Kept man/woman
Similarly, housewife/househusband to reasonably wealthy spouse
Salaried member of a sanctioned superteam
Layabout friend to billionaire
Bestselling author or self-employed inventor earning royalties
Public appearances in costume (provided ID is public or secret ID is well protected)
Homeless person with a safe deposit box
Personal instructor (karate, yoga, personal finance, fitness)

Especially bad jobs:
Comptroller
Social worker
Migrant farm worker
US Senator

[ryan07]

Well i think a job of a hero is all depends on writer or director you say ..... he can made him anything , but remeber a hero is a hero....

[Bengalelf]

I think the worst job would a trainee for UNTIL. Don't they have Grond in hypersleep? Who do you think changes his diaper? Something tells me it isn't Secretary Marshall Wilhelm Carl Eckhardt

[dustytomes]

Amway dealer: set yer own hours, and you can't be fired, plus Amway dealers are so despised it counts as a disadvantage as well.

[Comic]

Jobs with perks that can get you places ordinary people don't get to go are pretty useful to investigator-type heroes.

A press pass is worth its weight in gold, but you gotta do the job.

Bruce Wayne maintained a job working as a garbage collector.. hiring an actor to be the garbage collector for those shifts he didn't need to be sorting through trash.

And of course jobs where you can learn things people wouldn't expect you to know -- Bruce Wayne, again, attending science lectures in disguise so no one would suspect that the air-headed playboy was also a technical megagenius.

The Shadow worked as a janitor in police HQ.. and his uncle was Chief of Police. You'd think narcissism would count for more in those days.

Unlimited access to phenomenal resources practically fell into the hands of the Bill Bixby version of Bruce Banner, as a drifter willing to work as a custodian cleaning labs.

'Police Scientist' worked extremely well for The Flash. You get the police to collect the evidence and bring it to you. Plus, you gain the speed of lightning.

Private detective works for some.

Practically impossible to construct a secret superhero identity while a career soldier, unless you have duplication of some sort, can create robot duplicates, or manipulate minds.

Teacher of other supers is a pretty good gig, and if you're a billionaire philanthropist teacher of supers, an opportunity to build a secret base and collect a secret team.

Career criminal is an amazing job for a superhero. Nobody needs to wonder why you're where you are.. they know you're casing the joint for a burglary. Plus, you get to hang out with crooks, cops, and assorted victims.

[input.jack]

Amway dealer: set yer own hours, and you can't be fired, plus Amway dealers are so despised it counts as a disadvantage as well.

All true, but we were talking about jobs for a hero ;)

[zaras]

So most heroes have secret ID's...and a lot of heroes have day jobs.
So the big question is, what are the best and worst jobs for heroes to have?

I think Peter Parker has an ideal job for a superhero; any job that involves you being out in public and out from under the boss's watchful eye would probably be good.

Worst job would probably be 'McDonald's drive thru operator'.

Any more? :)

Gronds Manicurist

Dr Destroyers shrink

Working for the IRS

[DocSamson]

One of my last characters named Sludge (Brick with an Entangle only VPP), was a Sewer Worker. I actually ended up loving his job. He had tons of the Access Perk via sewer networks (hey, every building has a bathroom) and had a cool nemesis, The Sewer Alligator!

[Pental]

Gronds Manicurist

Dr Destroyers shrink

Working for the IRS

Ha ha...we had a game where one of the PC's did become Destroyer's shrink.
That was...intense to say the least.

[Spidey88]

I would think that the absolute perfect job for a superhero would be the writer/artist who writes and draws his own comic-book adventures--

THE EDITOR: "Great job on these Thunder Man pages, Robbie! We've got another best-selling issue for sure!"

ROBBIE: "Thanks, Chief!"

THE EDITOR: "I love these action scenes! It feels like I'm right there in the middle of the action! Reading these, I could actually believe YOU were Thunder Man!"

ROBBIE: "HA HA HA HA HA! That's a good one, Chief! But we both know I couldn't possibly be Thunder Man!"

(Broad Wink At The Audience)

My current Champions character, Phidippus, is a comic book artist and writer in his secret I.D. Of course, he's not so narcissistic as to write about himself - but he does work on comics about heroes he's actually met, which helps immensely!

[hfergus]

Bad job: IT worker especially a sysadmin expected to be on call 24/7
I once had this job. It's bad for anyone wanting to have a life.

[garou]

In a previous campaign, the worst job for anyone was a PRIMUS employee. Those guys had the life expectancy of small insects hovering over a trout stream at sunset. Typical encounter would start with Bad Guy of the Week doing something, PRIMUS and heroes arriving, PRIMUS agents dieing, and then real combat could begin.

Back to topic

Other good jobs might be motivational speaker/paid lecturer. If you are famous enough, you only need to do 4-6 lectures or speeches per year to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

[Clonus]

The best job for a superhero? Ambassador. It makes you immune to local law enforcement, gives you access to some information resources, and you probably won't be expelled as long as you stay reasonably popular with the locals. And you can make your own hours. Most of the real work is done by your flunkies anyway.

[braincraft]

The qualities you're looking for are:

1. Lack of supervision. Any job can be great, so long as you don't have anyone hassling you about getting that TPS report in on time, or informing you that you've already used up all your sick days, or wondering why they never see you around when the Insidious Turtle-Man wrecks the city. Freelancing is popular for this; if one employer isn't convenient for you, find someplace else that needs your services. Working from home is perfect; creative writers or artists, for example, often have pretty much no supervision and need only hand in some material now and then. Not everyone can be a superstar, though; unless you're particularly well-known in your field, making ends meet without spending a lot of your free time working can still be hard... and fame brings its own kind of attention. Wage laborers might often have significant supervision while on shift, but if they go missing for a week while they secretly battle the Slime Spiders of Kraal in another dimension, no one goes looking.

2. Similar goals. Reporters have an excuse to be present at disasters and attacks; so do cops, firemen, paramedics, and insurance claim adjusters. On the flip side, this gives you conflicting interests when it hits the fan; you want to grab your cape and start blasting bad guys, but the other emergency workers are going to be unfairly shorthanded if you abandon your post in the middle of a deadly situation. They'll probably notice your absence, too, and perhaps fire you... or even bring legal action against you for criminal negligence. Nevertheless, it's often helpful to already be on the scene when your super persona is needed, instead of having to take the bus from the office downtown. Besides the convenience issue, many heroes got into the game out of altruism, and like being able to help out even when punches and Mega Rays aren't useful.

3. Access. Police detectives get to see all the crime reports that come in. Sometimes they can get away with steering investigations away from their own vigilante activities. Reporters have press passes, which are always useful for getting into those exclusive events that supervillains love crashing. The night janitor at ScienceCo, Inc. can secretly use the labs to create the serum that gives him incredible strength. On the other hand, positions with a great deal of access often involve a similarly great deal of oversight.

4. Easy for you. People with extraordinary abilities might find 'normal' jobs to be a piece of cake to accomplish. Captain Lightning can easily use his super-speed to get a whole day's work done in minutes, allowing him to spend the rest of his valuable time tracking down the evil mastermind's hideout. Cyber-Dude should find standard computer repair jobs to be a snap if he exercises his supernatural command over electronics. And of course, the plucky newsboy always has the scoop on the Astounding Arachnite's newsworthy exploits after mysteriously vanishing whenever the latter appears.

Of course, it's always nice not to have to work at all. Many heroes are independently wealthy, and can support themselves and their super activities without having to worry about the nine-to-five. Others are supported by super organizations like UNTIL; their superheroing is their job. And a rare few need no support at all; Azaran the Magician need only teleport to his sanctum santorum under the polar ice caps after missions, conjuring food and amenities as needed, while the Mighty Golem simply finds a quiet place to lay dormant between battles, needing neither food nor drink to sustain it throughout the centuries.

[moquif]

Good jobs:
gambler, no usual hours and you can sometimes dig up interesting criminal facts on the job
college student, this can work for a few years before the 'rents start pressuring you to be serious and quit goofing off (unaware that you've saved the world a few times)
not needing a job, good for magical creature PCs who can return to their home dimension and be with their own kind
inventor, you can make your own crime fighting tools and patent whatever doesn't use super technology

Bad jobs:
politician, more likely to be villain or considered a villain depending on party affiliation and the media spotlight is always on you
lawyer, you'd make money by defending the very criminals you blasted and collecting huge fees from them; but that wouldn't make you a hero
viper agent, "Jenkins, why did you run away right before Power Man showed up?" "I saw him coming and didn't want to get my skull caved in." "And why didn't you warn the rest of us? We could have laid a trap."

[transmetahuman]

True dat.

Some other really good jobs for superheroes:
...housewife/househusband to reasonably wealthy spouseMy God. Now I have to make a character who is basically Emily Gilmore (of Gilmore Girls). In between her countless society matron functions, she puts on a costume (NOTspandexNOTspandexNOTspandex) and fights crime...

It's beautiful.

[wcw43921]

My God. Now I have to make a character who is basically Emily Gilmore (of Gilmore Girls). In between her countless society matron functions, she puts on a costume (NOTspandexNOTspandexNOTspandex) and fights crime...

It's beautiful.


She should wear some sort of bulky power armor--somewhere between the Warlord's armor and Iron Man's "Hulk-Buster" suit. No one has any idea who's in the armor--for all people know it could be some sort of robot. They're just glad when it shows up to take on whatever invading army or kaiju-style monster is destroying the city this week.

[lemming]

I see her more in a villain role...