Guide to Street Supers

[JmOz]

So I am starting writing the book that my powers book got morphed into. This is going to be a guide to playing in the world of Daredevil, Batman, some spider-man, etc...Basically the hero who deals with organized crime and serial killers more than costumed villains (who normally work for organized crime). I am planning on useing Hero Basic as the primary engine for this, borrowing from 6th when needed.

 

I. Introduction

a. Who I am

b. What this book is about

c. What this book is not about

 

II. Chapter 1: Guide to Street Heroes

a. A quick review of the super hero genre in general

b. A More detailed looking at the street super hero genre

i. Common Genre Conventions

ii. A call for maturity

iii. Power Levels, averages, etc…

iv. Optional rules

c. Character Creation

i. Powers

ii. Skills

iii. Perks (lots here)

1. Vehicles

2. Bases

3. Followers

 

III. Chapter 2: Setting

a. City Information

i. General City information (Population, etc…)

ii. History of the city

1. History of the Fox

b. Areas of the city

i. Docks

ii. Chinatown

iii. Warehouse

iv. “Richy” neighborhood

c. Daily Life

i. Politics

ii. Crime

iii. Culture

iv. Mystisism/Religion

 

IV. Chapter 3: SourceBook

a. Powers/Equipment

b. Defenders of the City

i. Vixen

ii. Cub

iii. Marksman

iv. 3 others

c. Undesirables

i. 12 villains

d. Generic NPC’s

i. Cops

ii. Mobsters

iii. Gangbangers/thugs

iv. Reporter?

[assault]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

III. Chapter 2: Setting

a. City Information

i. General City information (Population, etc…)

ii. History of the city

1. History of the Fox

b. Areas of the city

i. Docks

ii. Chinatown

iii. Warehouse

iv. “Richy” neighborhood

 

Neat. I was thinking about how to briefly present a city setting earlier this week, and you seem to have a similar approach.

 

I'd suggest a "v" in section "b" - a detailed slum area. Basically, an area that has a particular need for a vigilante protector. Kind of like Hell's Kitchen in Daredevil, Suicide Slum in Metropolis, or bits of Gotham city. The kind of area where you would find Daredevil, Catwoman, Black Lightning, the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion, or even Green Arrow in his more "relevant" moods.

 

Obviously much of the city would be like this - that's kind of the point - but an area that is particularly vulnerable, and detailed, would be useful.

 

I was actually thinking that my version of it would lie between Chinatown, the Docks and the (Abandoned) Warehouse district, so I guess we share a common set of tropes.

[itsalwayssunny]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

I would like to read your book! I like "street-sweeper" heroes.

 

It would be neat if you had more types of neighborhoods in your city, like the Garment District, Banker's Hill, Central Park, Harlem, Financial District (or Wall Street), Fleet Street, Coney Island, and so on, for more variety than the usual "Chinatown," "Docks," and gratuitous part of town full of conveniently abandoned run-down warehouses. Or is this based on a real city?

 

--Kap

[JmOz]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

not really based on a real city, and still very rough outline on that part. I know it will be based on a mission in California however

[megaplayboy]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

I like the idea of a street superheroes book. I'd particularly like one that offers more than a vigilante campaign setting. Street superheroes can encompass powered heroes and colorful costumes as well as grim and gritty gothic avengers. I'm working on the "uptown" side of superheroing--Epic champions, so to speak--right now. Would be a nice complement to each other.

[JmOz]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

Good point. Spiderman types need to be covered, maybe an example character like that...

[Alverant]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

I was actually considering something like this for a Champions campaign. The PCs would be low powered heroes. One thing I would like to shoot for is the feeling that their world is a lot stranger than they realize. My problem is that if you can fly, your world is already strange and discovering the hidden mysticism in Campaign City won't have the same effect if the campaign had no powers.

 

One thing I'd like to see addressed in your book is dealing with paranormal powers. Is magic allowed and if so, what kind? Is it the "realistic" magic as described in some of the books? Is it tied to religious rituals like exorcisms? Can it be used in combat? Etc.

[JmOz]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

Interesting points, maybe a page should be given based on what type of campaign the city is,,,

[itsalwayssunny]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

not really based on a real city' date=' and still very rough outline on that part. I know it will be based on a mission in California however[/quote']

 

That's even more interesting to me than a generic Northeastern city since I'm in the San Diego area. You could include some stuff based on real Southern California locations like a mission, a presidio, the Navy base, Catalina Island, Disneyland...or is it Northern California for your book? Not a lot of missions up that way past San Francisco.

 

Could be neat section for "outside the city" for the mountains and deserts and valleys.

 

--Kap

[megaplayboy]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

I think campaign power levels are something to discuss as well. "low-powered" street supers could be as low as, say, 200 points(in 6E), with a "standard" beginning street supers at 300 points, "experienced" street supers at 400, and "high-level" street supers at 500 (or more). Damage Classes could range from 5-9 for the low-powered setting to as high as 12-16 for the high-level setting. Basically, at low-level, they're a lot tougher than the average street thug, but hardly invincible or bullet-proof.

 

Silver Age vs. Bronze Age vs. Iron Age is another thing to discuss. Drug dealers and street gangs are more of a BA/IA kinda thing, while Mafia-types and costumed crazies are more SA.

[JmOz]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

That's even more interesting to me than a generic Northeastern city since I'm in the San Diego area. You could include some stuff based on real Southern California locations like a mission, a presidio, the Navy base, Catalina Island, Disneyland...or is it Northern California for your book? Not a lot of missions up that way past San Francisco.

 

Could be neat section for "outside the city" for the mountains and deserts and valleys.

 

--Kap

 

SoCal, while I will not come out and say it, the main hero is a decedent of the original masked hero named the Fox...

[JmOz]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

I think campaign power levels are something to discuss as well. "low-powered" street supers could be as low as, say, 200 points(in 6E), with a "standard" beginning street supers at 300 points, "experienced" street supers at 400, and "high-level" street supers at 500 (or more). Damage Classes could range from 5-9 for the low-powered setting to as high as 12-16 for the high-level setting. Basically, at low-level, they're a lot tougher than the average street thug, but hardly invincible or bullet-proof.

 

Silver Age vs. Bronze Age vs. Iron Age is another thing to discuss. Drug dealers and street gangs are more of a BA/IA kinda thing, while Mafia-types and costumed crazies are more SA.

 

Good call, I was going to just set it at low powered super (300, 50 disads), but some comments about upping and lowering power level is warranted.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

Have you seen the San Angelo sourcebook? WOW that has just about everything written out about a city that could be.

[kahuna's bro]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

I was actually considering something like this for a Champions campaign. The PCs would be low powered heroes. One thing I would like to shoot for is the feeling that their world is a lot stranger than they realize. My problem is that if you can fly, your world is already strange and discovering the hidden mysticism in Campaign City won't have the same effect if the campaign had no powers.

 

One thing I'd like to see addressed in your book is dealing with paranormal powers. Is magic allowed and if so, what kind? Is it the "realistic" magic as described in some of the books? Is it tied to religious rituals like exorcisms? Can it be used in combat? Etc.

if magic does exst you could adapt the power levels of urban fantasy HERO to fit your game

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

Damn, just what the Doctor ordered.

 

Good timing.

 

QM

[JmOz]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

I like the idea of a street superheroes book. I'd particularly like one that offers more than a vigilante campaign setting. Street superheroes can encompass powered heroes and colorful costumes as well as grim and gritty gothic avengers. I'm working on the "uptown" side of superheroing--Epic champions' date=' so to speak--right now. Would be a nice complement to each other. [/quote']

 

Want to set up a bit of peer review/moral support? I read yours, you read mine?

[megaplayboy]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

Want to set up a bit of peer review/moral support? I read yours' date=' you read mine?[/quote']

 

That works.

 

The wildest idea that just occurred to me was something along the lines of "Epic Street Heroes of Babylon"(the eternal city of The Mystic World/Ultimate Mystic, where every block/neighborhood is from a different city in time and space). You could have phenomenally capable street heroes operating in a massive, sprawling megapolis where literally anything can happen.

[kahuna's bro]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

the crimefighting luchdore from lucha libre HERO could,with some geographical modifications can be used as a good example of a street super

[megaplayboy]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

the crimefighting luchdore from lucha libre HERO could' date='with some geographical modifications can be used as a good example of a street super[/quote']

 

That's very true. LLH is also an excellent supplement if you want to play a martial artist who specializes in grappling, because the list of maneuvers in there is extensive, to say the least.

[itsalwayssunny]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

the crimefighting luchdore from lucha libre HERO could' date='with some geographical modifications can be used as a good example of a street super[/quote']

 

That's a pretty sharp idea. I'm slapping my forehead. I have Lucha Libre Hero!

[JmOz]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

A quick sample from the introduction

 

The sound of sirens catches my attention; two patrol cars, three blocks away, heading towards me. Sounds like three cars going at least 50 miles an hour. I fire my line-gun at a nearby building, heading towards the Mission District. I see the lights of the police cars as they chase a muscle car from the seventies. Carefully I swing and land on the roof, the landing is hard, and momentarily I am at a loss to catch my breath. I hold on to the top of the car, knowing that if I let go I am street pizza. I flip onto my back, holding on to the passenger window. Then as he slows for a turn I spring up, using the window as a fulcrum to swing into the cab feet first. My kick knocks him out, and we go off the road, I leave through his window, rolling with the fall. A minute later I hear the crash of the car, a quick look and I see the airbag has deployed and he is still breathing. Before the cops can stop me I am on the roofs again running to make my meeting with Vixen. Not bad for a fifteen year old kid.

 

The streets are a dangerous place, even in a world with super heroes. Some heroes fly through space, stopping intergalactic threats. Others serve as firemen, waiting to put out the fires created by the flipside of a powered coin. Finally some, often with nothing more than skill and equipment bring the fight to the common criminals that concern the normal people of the world.

 

This book is about this last type. They defend the common person against both common and uncommon threats. They are as likely to stop a mugging or other violent crime as they are to stop some insane lunatic in a costume.

[torchwolf]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

That works.

 

The wildest idea that just occurred to me was something along the lines of "Epic Street Heroes of Babylon"(the eternal city of The Mystic World/Ultimate Mystic, where every block/neighborhood is from a different city in time and space). You could have phenomenally capable street heroes operating in a massive, sprawling megapolis where literally anything can happen.

Interesting. I've done some work on exactly this kind of setting, would be cool to discuss this in more detail.

[kahuna's bro]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

A quick sample from the introduction

 

The sound of sirens catches my attention; two patrol cars, three blocks away, heading towards me. Sounds like three cars going at least 50 miles an hour. I fire my line-gun at a nearby building, heading towards the Mission District. I see the lights of the police cars as they chase a muscle car from the seventies. Carefully I swing and land on the roof, the landing is hard, and momentarily I am at a loss to catch my breath. I hold on to the top of the car, knowing that if I let go I am street pizza. I flip onto my back, holding on to the passenger window. Then as he slows for a turn I spring up, using the window as a fulcrum to swing into the cab feet first. My kick knocks him out, and we go off the road, I leave through his window, rolling with the fall. A minute later I hear the crash of the car, a quick look and I see the airbag has deployed and he is still breathing. Before the cops can stop me I am on the roofs again running to make my meeting with Vixen. Not bad for a fifteen year old kid.

 

The streets are a dangerous place, even in a world with super heroes. Some heroes fly through space, stopping intergalactic threats. Others serve as firemen, waiting to put out the fires created by the flipside of a powered coin. Finally some, often with nothing more than skill and equipment bring the fight to the common criminals that concern the normal people of the world.

 

This book is about this last type. They defend the common person against both common and uncommon threats. They are as likely to stop a mugging or other violent crime as they are to stop some insane lunatic in a costume.

the perfect blend of CHAMPIONSand DARK CHAMPIONS the latter considered to represent the action hero movie genre more than the super hero

[JmOz]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

thank you, I did show it to y wife who pointed out a problem with it, so the car will be being changed into a brand new sports car

[assault]

Re: Guide to Street Supers

 

Was the airbag the problem? I wouldn't expect a "muscle car from the seventies" to have one, although that might depend on local regulations.