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Superheroic core stories


buzz

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Jumping on the core story bandwagon here...

 

HERO, of course, has no core story, as it's a generic RPG designed to be adapted to whatever core story you want to tell.

 

But what about Champions (or the supers genre in general)? Maybe...

 

"A party of superheroes bands together to use their powers for a stated goal, usually upholding the law (or their conception of it) in a given city or nation they protect. Opponents appear who aim to thwart the superheroes' goal, either directly or indirectly. The superheroes defeat the opponents, restoring balance and/or furthering their goal. Next week, the same thing happens."

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Re: Superheroic core stories

 

Hmm... I could simplfy this even more. Superheroes are all about Law Enforcement.

 

"One or more superheroes aim to uphold The Law. One or more villains (super or not) works to violate The Law. The superheroes battle the villains and restore order. Repeat."

 

The variable is the source of The Law. In a Golden- or Silver-Age game, that source is usually the city or nation in which the super resides, e.g., WW2-era Superman upholding "truth, jsutice, and the American way" by sabotaging Japanese battleships. In a Bronze- or Iron-Age game, the source may be a more general "higher" law that transcends borders (e.g., the Justice League, sorta), or else an individual super's conception of what's right and wrong, e.g. the Harbinger of Justice acting as judge, jury, and executioner.

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Re: Superheroic core stories

 

"A party of superheroes bands together to use their powers for a stated goal, usually upholding the law (or their conception of it) in a given city or nation they protect. Opponents appear who aim to thwart the superheroes' goal, either directly or indirectly. The superheroes defeat the opponents, restoring balance and/or furthering their goal. Next week, the same thing happens."

 

Sounds about right ot me. IMO, As a rule, super heroes tend to be retroactive. They have to wait for evil to come to them or their turf, then respond.

 

There are exceptions, natch

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Re: Superheroic core stories

 

Sounds about right ot me. IMO, As a rule, super heroes tend to be retroactive. They have to wait for evil to come to them or their turf, then respond.

 

There are exceptions, natch

E.g., Harbinger of Justice, Punisher, or even the Authority, maybe. "We know there's evil out there. Let's go kill it." :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Re: Superheroic core stories

 

I think also that you'll find that the Hero campaigns lack a core theme other than something incredibly broad because it's still sort of a toolkit approach in a way, in that people can/should bring their own increased thematic focus (if any), to them, unlike say something like Aberrant or Deadlands which come with clear themes already.

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Re: Superheroic core stories

 

If you use a core story, you have to be ready to only deal with that background (IE fed investigators of alien abductions, mercenary vigilantes protecting a section of the city for money, mutant angst and anti-mutant sentiments). I've found when starting a group, especially a newbie group, to not put any core story in and see where the adventure arc takes us. After 5 or 6 different adventures, I like to use player questionaires with "Are you happy with the current adventure?" and "What sort of adventures would you like to play in/be challenged by?" Sort of hokey and straight forward (OH MY GOD! HE'S USING LOGIC JIM! STUN HIM!) but I get great feedback, am able to refine the background using the played adventures and plan surprises for the players that they want to participate in.

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