Vote up a SUPERS! setting.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

I'd suggest waiting on origins until time frame has been set.

A solid idea. But I'm not asking for votes on Origins. I'm asking for all the crazy ideas you guys would toss out. Then, once we've picked the general time frame, and refined that a bit more, I'll have options to offer in a poll.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

I second that. No sense on getting all invested in mystical spirits and ancient heroes and then the campaign is set in the Cold War.

Maybe the mystical spirits caused the war. Or they could simply not want an atomic war.

[hari]

Well, while we're brainstorming, here are a few ideas:

Granted by Transdimensional Aliens. I prefer my aliens to be from somewhere not quite as simple as just another planet. They walk the Earth, but more than that, they often grant powers to us. Are they creepily experimenting on us? Are they simply helping us achieve our own potential? Are they beneficial or malevolent? Are they all of the above? How unified or divided are they themselves? What do they want? Do they have some kind of power over their champions? (I would personally answer those questions by having various factions of benefactors that grant not only powers but also mental disadvantages).

Dream Magic. Supers of this category not only have great power over dreams and in the land of dreams, they also journey into the land of dreams in search of gifts that can be used when awake.

[hari]

The problem here is probably that we don't know how broad or how specific to get. Both of these origins I just wrote up are pretty specific examples of broad origins that have already been written up. There's also the possibility of having two different specific kinds of origins that both fall into the same general category of origin. For example, we could have Dream Magic, Spirit Granted Magic, and also Ritual Magic all in the same SUPERS! setting.

My own personal suggestion would be to offer choices in a way something like this:

Magical Origins:
Dream Magic
Spirit Granted Magic
Ritual Magic
Reincarnations of Gods or Heroes
Fantasy Races

Mundane Origins:
Tech, Science and Gadgetry
Savant / Super Training

Science Origins:
Granted by Aliens
Biotech from Future Time Travellers
Alien Races
Atomic Mutants
Psi

Each of these could be further fleshed out after being chosen.

Not sure if it's a useful idea, but hey, it's an idea. I like it anyways.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by hari

The problem here is probably that we don't know how broad or how specific to get.

As little or as much as you like. Throw any idea out there and see if it resonates.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

As tempting as the 1980s are, I went with:

Originally Posted by Astromancer

A) Pre-neolithic (Cavemen, Atlantis, and Mamoths oh my!)

C) Classical Times (Between 600BCE and 600CE)

H) Pulp (1890-1939)

[samd6]

The following probably falls under super/rubber-science, or magic:
Reality-Warping Insanity (though it might just be a single ability, but having multiple possible abilites... Think the powers from Don't Rest Your Head and Unkown Armies)

[aesir23]

I'll throw out a couple more:

Enlightenment: you've seen the true nature of reality, and can therefore "rewrite the code" or simply transcend physical limitations.

and, I know this is a subset of "granted by aliens" but cosmic horror powers Granted by Things Man was not Meant to Know always intrigued me, ever since I read an old Pyramid article about it.

More generally, I'd like for this thread to eventually get specific about the origins, for instance, if powers are granted by by aliens, let's figure out which aliens exist. Are there warring factions? Are some of the aliens lost precursors? How does the existence of power-granting aliens effect the universe and it's cosmology. How do the aliens feel about the lost civilization?

I think specificity is what will make this feel like "a few origins", and not "any possible origin sorted into one of a few broad categories."

[EDIT] I'd also like for us to eventually draw connecting threads between all origins, to make the world feel cohesive: perhaps mutants exist because of precursor tampering with the gene pool, and Atlantis relies on technology granted to them thousands of years ago by the precursor's rivals, etc.... After all, we did not vote for a kitchen sink setting.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by aesir23

I'll throw out a couple more:

Enlightenment: you've seen the true nature of reality, and can therefore "rewrite the code" or simply transcend physical limitations.

and, I know this is a subset of "granted by aliens" but cosmic horror powers Granted by Things Man was not Meant to Know always intrigued me, ever since I read an old Pyramid article about it.

More generally, I'd like for this thread to eventually get specific about the origins, for instance, "

We can't do that until the time frame is set.

[Astromancer]

Final tally on the first round of When!

A) 2

B) 3

C) 3

E) 4

G) 1

H) 8

I) 5

J) 7

K) 5

L) 4

Now we'll have a run-off!