wrestlinggeek Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Kaiju! Giant prehistoric monsters bent on carnage and destruction. And some of them breathe radioactive fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A Silver Age sensibility. The Silver Age was an era when everything was possible. Alien invaders, time travel, superheroes of all possible origins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A Silver Age sensibility. The Silver Age was an era when everything was possible. Alien invaders' date=' time travel, superheroes of all possible origins.[/quote'] second,third and forth the motion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Folded Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A dearth of lawyers who understand the terms 'property damage' and 'reckless endangerment'. The not-good-but-not-really-evil government agency tasked with dealing with supers without being super (and you need both SHIELD and Sentinel equivalents). Angst. White Wolf has nothing on Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne. A total lack of death. The most poignant, brilliantly told death scene, hero or villain, must be repeatedly undone by ever-more-outrageous and nonsensical methods for no particularly good reason. A military that refuses to co-opt powerful technology simply because the inventor refuses to part with it. Also, lots of inventors who prefer not to be rich and powerful. Lots of mental disorders associated with power. Especially monomania leading to entire themes of villainy and heroism. Black and white morality. There are good guys and bad guys. None of this anti-hero/anti-villain garbage. Names. Gotta have really good names. Captain, Man/Woman, Boy/Lad/Lass/Girl, etc... Also consider the long feudal sounding title as character name. A tolerance for the silly, the humorous and the light-hearted. Grim is good, but it's not the only flavor in the spice rack, and a good comic book knows this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Heroes that are capable of surviving explosion, machine gun bullets, and death trap filled with rotating blades, lasers, and boiling acid, but can be knocked out by a blow the the back of the head. Heroines who are just a good as their male counterparts, but as easily chloroformed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Continuity. A shared world where all your heroes exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A military that refuses to co-opt powerful technology simply because the inventor refuses to part with it. Also, lots of inventors who prefer not to be rich and powerful. Actually an acceptance that mass produced technology is always inferior to a hand-made prototype. The military may very well have units of guys in power armour, but they'll always suck compared to the unique creation of the original inventor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? The U.S. would be the center of Superhero Culture, and Technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Oxygen' date=' hydrogen, carbon... [/quote'] Great Krypton! Lucius Alexander The palindromedary proposes Earth, Water, Air, and Fire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrestlinggeek Posted November 18, 2012 Report Share Posted November 18, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Talking Gorillas. 'Nuff said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_A Posted November 18, 2012 Report Share Posted November 18, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? The U.S. would be the center of Superhero Culture' date=' and Technology.[/quote'] And what if your campaign is set in another country? Canada, for example? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted November 18, 2012 Report Share Posted November 18, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? then that country would have its share so superness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 19, 2012 Report Share Posted November 19, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Canada is America's Hat. Seriously, Canada would have polite, hero code using superheroes who cooperate with there government, and wouldn't use guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted November 19, 2012 Report Share Posted November 19, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A Silver Age sensibility. The Silver Age was an era when everything was possible. Alien invaders' date=' time travel, superheroes of all possible origins.[/quote'] For a great setting, I want either it to have any possible power type (aliens, supers, mutants, magic, psionics, gods, etc), or a very tightly controlled and restricted subset where most or all powers share an origin. But, imho, a silver age sensibility immediately restricts a setting to average at best, and most likely to boring nonsense barely suitable for a pre-teen group of players. Some love the silver age, while I find it insults my intelligence. I'd take something like the TV show Heroes any day (lack of costumes is a plus, not a minus, to me) over a silver age setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted November 19, 2012 Report Share Posted November 19, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? But' date=' imho, a silver age sensibility immediately restricts a setting to average at best, and most likely to boring nonsense barely suitable for a pre-teen group of players. Some love the silver age, while I find it insults my intelligence. I'd take something like the TV show Heroes any day (lack of costumes is a plus, not a minus, to me) over a silver age setting.[/quote'] Obviously. After all, childish nonsense like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Avengers has no place in any game played by adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? The Silver Age Justice League, Supergirl, Batgirl, Teen Titans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Thugs who are credible threats, of not in overall power, then in tactics (taking hostages, going after the hero's secret identity, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alverant Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A group of military-style trained vigilantes who consider themselves a deterrent against superheroes they think will try and take over the world "for its own good". They should have high (but not superadvanced) technology and be skilled and prepared enough to take on a team of heroes and have a good chance of winning. Nothing quite deflates a superhuman ego by being defeated by a bunch of weekend warriors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? well meaning,but bumbling her characterlike johnny thunder or joxer the mighty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steamteck Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? For a great setting, I want either it to have any possible power type (aliens, supers, mutants, magic, psionics, gods, etc), or a very tightly controlled and restricted subset where most or all powers share an origin. But, imho, a silver age sensibility immediately restricts a setting to average at best, and most likely to boring nonsense barely suitable for a pre-teen group of players. Some love the silver age, while I find it insults my intelligence. I'd take something like the TV show Heroes any day (lack of costumes is a plus, not a minus, to me) over a silver age setting. How about a bronzey compromise. personaly I dislike "people with powers settings " with a passion mainly becuase they tend to lose the larger than life quality. For Iron age though I reserve my true unbridled loathing so no iron age elements for me unless its to show them up as evil or nonsense. For me also guns have to be pretty ineffective against supers or not having their use widepsread and lots of heroes shot to death doesn't jell very well. looks to me like there are a few varying opinions on what what greatness to me. My idea is sort of cross between the animated Dc stuff and Doc Savage where pulp convention is natural law. For others I'm sure it would be horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? Obviously. After all' date=' childish nonsense like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Avengers has no place in any game played by adults.[/quote'] Well, the early silver age versions, I'd agree with you. When they write the characters for adults, rather than 8-year-old kids, then they have a place for adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? looks to me like there are a few varying opinions on what what greatness to me. My idea is sort of cross between the animated Dc stuff and Doc Savage where pulp convention is natural law. For others I'm sure it would be horrible. I'm mostly staying out of this thread just because what makes a setting great is so varied that anything can be mentioned and have both supporters and detractors. I estimate 3/4 of the things mentioned so far make the setting less great to me, and some go so far as to make it unplayable. Yet these same things are critical necessities for others to enjoy a game. A more useful discussion is what would make a great silver age, iron age, people with powers, etc. setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? This!!! (and everything else posted above. Check out the Epic City link in my sig for much, much more!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? INNOCENTS!!! Your setting will need REAL PEOPLE! Palpable members of society to which the heroes feel an attachment. People whose welfare is in the care of the heroes,who NEED to be saved and whose loss, should the heroes fail, will leave behind deep scars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? hidden lands. Remnants of mythical realms' date=' 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'] yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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