LizardDaddy

Non-combat intensive plot Pcs have a fanboy about to get into serious trouble. >Roleplay, possibly staging a "learning experience for the NPC >dealing with responsibility to fans/image Rival organization- be it superhero or rival department at the company of a PC etc- challenges PCs to company olympics/scavenger hunt/something lighthearted. >Can the heroes win the event and keep identities under cover? PCs are visited by Alien superhero group who are curious about earther's methods and codes of conduct. Its a case of the Foreign Exchange Students run amok! >Can become a bit lighthearted. (TFOS!) Murder mystery- megavillain dies strangely. >lots of RP with former henchmen, other supers, looking into the past of the supervillain, exposing more of his /her backstory.

Taking over the country Hmm. I think a better point is not the stats on the incoming troops or how to make it a better fight but to make the *encounter* more pivotal. The PCs in this case are about to become villains. Do you want to have a showdown with the US govt? Will that be fun for the gang and will the pcs take the outcome and go "Cool!" and drive on? Something that might lead the campaign to greener pastures would be players being shown that controlling the country will remove them from being heroes- they'll be despots. Helpers for this: Savvy NPCs can point out the great responsibility of leading the country, how it breaks some people with the weight of decisions affecting lives etc. Villains could pop up out of nowhere- Evil, nasty, disgusting villains the PCs have fought before- suddenly willing to help the PCs out. far from being a trick these guys would love to see Democracy die, see a bunch of knuckleheads with superpowers try to run things. After a bit of this the PCs may realize that they are doing things villains do, and that taking over would make things just plain stink. Distraction - if the players march into congress and declare their intent to take over, have them taken into a closed session with the pres and a few other world leaders, have these guys reveal some terrible threat that makes their US conquest less important. "Whether you succeed in your coup or not, it may not matter. Dear God,... it may not matter at all". Bring the pcs back into the role of Heroes. If the PCs are adamant, throw normals at them. After bunches of heroic patriotic americans die trying to save their country, aided with a little GM description, the pcs might get a clue that things are going south.