Re: How do you design your champions game
How I run a superhero game depends on the characters presented to me and the feel of the campaign that the players are looking for.
Typically, me game group enjoys a standard superhero game with Bronze-Age style stories (similar to the DCAU).
One of the things that I find helps drive the game is trying to have particular scenes happen. For instance, I think like a movie director: I want a particular scene to happen, and I try to arange a plot where that scene will appear in the campaign. This worked well in my recent Metaworld Reborn campaign, when I got the two superheroine PCs to appear in all sorts of fun outfits (sci-fi slave-girl, egyptians, amazons, cave-girl furs, etc.).
It is important to have the PCs come up with interesting background for a GM to use as future plotlines. Goldenstar, for instance (one of the above-mentioned PCs) is the daughter of the world-famous hero American Eagle. She also had several Smallville-like adventures during her high school days. This allowed me to introduce villains from her father's past, as well as those from her school days.
It is also important to use villains of your own creation and find ways to tie them to the PCs for that added element of meta-plot. The other PC, Spirit Eagle, was made the ancestor of an immortal villain (the Sovereign). He felt the blood connection to her and, at the same time, attempted to woo her to his side.
Lastly, I recommend a GM to steal, steal, STEAL! Look through your favorite comics, movies, and stories and take ideas from them that you like. This helps flesh out the world you are running, especially when you are not sure of how to do these things yourself (it worked for me). Change the names, of course, so you are not accused of being completely lame. But use the characters nonetheless. American Eagle is nothing more than a Superman analog with a slightly different backstory. The Sovereign is a fun blending of Doctor Doom and Ra's Al-Ghul.
When trying to come up with plot ideas for a game, remember that three cliches can easily be turned into a plot.
I hope my ramblings help at least a little bit.