Super-Hero Demographics

[Supreme]

I have a friend who's dutifully trying to come up with a formula to determine how many supers of each type (crime-fighter, mystic, generic -- his breakdown) exist in any one area at any time. So far he's taken into account things like GNP, population, land area, age of civilization. Trouble is his current formula doesn't put enough mystic supers (folks like the Swamp Thing, Phantom Stranger, Dr. Strange, guys who wander around taking out the supernatural threats that fly under the radar of more generic supers) in Europe. Anyone have any ideas on what he can use in his formula?

Current formula:

Mystics = Land Area * sqrt of Civilization Age / constant

[BlackCobra]

Uh, I have no idea how you'd generate the number I'm about to suggest (GURPS Mysterious Places, maybe?), but how about adding in the number of mystic places in the region. The logic is: the more mystic sites, the more mystic stuff is going to happen or have to be protected against. Ergo, the more mystic protectors.

In Europe, I'd definitely factor in the number of standing-stone sites (since they're part of the ley-line network), maybe the number of cathedrals, places like Lourdes, haunted houses, etc.

BTW, is he calculating the number of Heroes or just folks with unusual abilities?

[Gary]

How does he factor in dudes like Dr. Destroyer or Telios who create superbeings on a mass scale?

[Supreme]

Originally posted by BlackCobra
Uh, I have no idea how you'd generate the number I'm about to suggest (GURPS Mysterious Places, maybe?), but how about adding in the number of mystic places in the region. The logic is: the more mystic sites, the more mystic stuff is going to happen or have to be protected against. Ergo, the more mystic protectors.

In Europe, I'd definitely factor in the number of standing-stone sites (since they're part of the ley-line network), maybe the number of cathedrals, places like Lourdes, haunted houses, etc.

BTW, is he calculating the number of Heroes or just folks with unusual abilities?

He's calculating heroes. Mystic places wouldn't work because he's trying to come up with a formula that justifies mystic places by using a formula that functions on aspects of the population and country/culture itself but is not tied to something like "mystic places" which you could argue over until you die (is every haunted house a "mystic place", what about every "mystery spot").

[TheEmerged]

Couple of factors I'm using for my own demographics

1> Mystics tend to have a higher-than-usual percentage of "unreporteds" -- a mystic has a full 67% chance of not reporting for registration.

2> Mystics tend to live longer (genre bit). This doesn't affect my campaign too much since I only have an origin dating back to 1972, but if your campaign goes further it almost certainly will cause the percentage to tend upwards.

3> Mystics are somewhat more likely to "get better" after death. Again, this increases the number of survivors and therefore slants the number still around.

As such, it's fairly safe to say that the number of mystics still kicking will tend to be high relative to the rate of "eruption".

[BlackCobra]

Hmmm, well, then I'd recommend a figure based on how long people have been settled in the area -- which might be a much longer time than civilization age, since many mystical places are left-overs of earlier civilizations anyway.

For instance, a place like the Salisbury plain in southern England might have a very very old Age rating, since people have lived there for thousands of years, giving rise to such places as Stone Henge and Salisbury Cathedral.

Your friend might want to factor in such things as Age of Civilization (current) and Age of Occupation. Keeping track of them separately seems like a good idea.

[Supreme]

Originally posted by Gary
How does he factor in dudes like Dr. Destroyer or Telios who create superbeings on a mass scale?

He doesn't. He writes his own campaign history.

Originally posted by BlackCobra
Hmmm, well, then I'd recommend a figure based on how long people have been settled in the area -- which might be a much longer time than civilization age, since many mystical places are left-overs of earlier civilizations anyway.

For instance, a place like the Salisbury plain in southern England might have a very very old Age rating, since people have lived there for thousands of years, giving rise to such places as Stone Henge and Salisbury Cathedral.

Your friend might want to factor in such things as Age of Civilization (current) and Age of Occupation. Keeping track of them separately seems like a good idea.

That sounds like a good idea. I'll pass it along. Thanks.

[lemming]

Originally posted by Supreme
He doesn't. He writes his own campaign history.

On villian generators like Dr. Destroyer & Telios; Does your friend have any villians that are responsible for creating supers?

[Mutant for Hire]

I'd add to TheEmerged's list:

4> Mystics often have mystic kids. Don't overlook that mystic bloodline factor.

5> Mystics often create mystic relics that get left around for others to pick up.