humantorch101 Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 I am throwing a very broad question at you guys, what elements (heroes,villains,groups,places,items,organisations) should a great superhero universe/setting perhaps contain? I am looking for ideas and inspiration, are there certain hero or villain homages or archetypes that just have to be present? what type of superhero groups or support organisations? Alien races or strange places? fictional cities or powerful items? List one element per post and lets get creative! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Hidden lands. Remnants of mythical realms, archaic civilizations, extinct ecosystems, stranded aliens, etc. In inaccessible mountain valleys, deep jungles, underground caverns, beneath the ocean, in Antarctica, even on the Moon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Mythic gods. A nigh-limitless supply of potential villains, heroes, and origins, as well as marvelous god-realms to visit. Could be magical or technologically advanced, extraterrestrial or extradimensional, as you prefer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Shapeshifters. Hidden among humanity, working to take over our world from within. Secretly replacing our leaders, even our superheroes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Modern-day Nazis. Not pathetic white supremacist gang types, but genuine died-in-the-wool, jack-booting, fascistically organized, fanatical, aspiring world conquerors. Direct or spiritual descendants of the originals, perhaps with a broader philosophy, and a charismatic, ruthless, yet brilliant leader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? At least one alien tyrant. Ruthless master of a planet, dimension, or even interstellar empire. Possessed of great power and resources, with ambition and plans to make himself master of all. Typically Earth is the one thing standing in his way, or possesses the key element to bring his plans to fruition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Cosmic beings. Generally possessed of more power than superheroes can defeat through brute force, they may be threats to the whole Earth whose weakness the heroes must discover; or they can make superheroes (and villains) pawns in games they play for their amusement or more inscrutable motives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Human looking aliens who have incredible powers. Good Aliens who recruit humans into their multi-species alliance while granting them powers. A powerful super agent organization that works both with and against the heroes. A shadowy government agency that recruits villains for special missions in exchange for clemency. Ancient Mythological Beings who become superheroes/villains. The easy availability of hand held blaster weapons, force field devices, exotic power sources, along side with sleep gas, knock out darts, and good old fashioned chloroform. One group of superhumans shunned by humanity forces them to operate undercover to save innocents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? BTW humantorch101 asked for "one element per post," which is why I was so repetitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steamteck Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A sense of epic larger than life heroism Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? a n adventurer with withenhanced physical abiltes loyal to his country yet seeming to be a ninja/martial artist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostDancer Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A larger-than-life arch villain, ala Doctor Doom, Deathstroke the Terminator, Foxbat, etc.[ATTACH=CONFIG]45168[/ATTACH] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Disaster Rescues, Common Criminal Busts, and my favourite Mass Minion Crunch. Heh, they will just make more. "Killer Robots from Venus" QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackEagle Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Every superhero universe sould have a suport mechanism for its heros. Heros need people they could turn to. Perhaps this could be other heros. Alo I think a great arch vilon like Lex Luthor or The Joker would be essential. Maybe even a few surprises thrown in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A sense of community among superheroes, and even supervillains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Costumes. The lack of costumes in modern superhero fiction is a case of "too cool for school" mentality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Costumes. The lack of costumes in modern superhero fiction is a case of "too cool for school" mentality. Agreed. Hopefully the success of recent serious superhero movies, with costumes in all their colorful symbolic glory, will push that trend through all the media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asperion Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? The real question is just how powerful a campaign do you wish to run? The ones that i have had the greatest success/happiness in emulates reality in a minor way. Here are some things that i believe goes into a good story/campaign: 1) While i do believe that aliens exist, none have currently visited Earth, so i would not bring in aliens (except those that come from another country ). 2) If secret societies exist then they would need to obtain funding from private funds (if they get public funds then the public can find out about them - although that could be extremely difficult). 3) If mutants are introduced (give rational?) A) Does the public know? a) If yes, are they accepted or rejected by the mainstream population? If no, how do they hide themselves? Is there a method of detecting mutants & how does it work? C) How "out-there" are mutant powers/abilities allowed to get - only minor variations on normal humans, low-level comics, "standard" comics, high-powered comics? 4) Advanced tech - what is the nature of such? Who has it (gov, corp, indiv)? Hope that this helps you in creating your campaign. My two cents only - hope that it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Agreed. Hopefully the success of recent serious superhero movies' date=' with costumes in all their colorful symbolic glory, will push that trend through all the media.[/quote'] lets hope so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Costumes can be functional and still look good. Batman's costume in the Dark Knight is a good example (although I think Christian Bale's head may be a touch off center). There is nothing wrong with Black Canary wearing bulletproof fishnets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? a an obsessed detictive that definately needs to betold to lay off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? There needs to be at least one powerful Alien race bent on conquest, with Earth as it's target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrestlinggeek Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? The Greatest Hero of Them All. This can be the first superhero in the world, the most powerful, the most respected, or some combination of the above. But he (or she) needs to be the shining example that others look up to, and who sets the standard they are compared to. This can be a PC or an NPC, depending on the setting, but either way, he should fulfill the role of the Hero above all others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrestlinggeek Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Robots! Giant sentient machines who wage a mellenia-old war on Earth. Man-shape AIs who are dedicated to the detruction of all organic life. And giant piloted war-machines who defend our coastal cities from... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.