Capebusters -- brainstorming a single-setting game

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by (E)

Having an absence of any technology that can "neutralize" super abilities will lead to some hard choices. Do you bring in the super knowing they cannot be contained?

If there is no such technology, note that the "Super" power modifier in GURPS will have to be downgraded. Its -10% includes -5% for being susceptible to technological countermeasures.

Depending on the level of powers, a super whose powers aren't subject to countermeasures of a technological support might perfectly well be containable. Most characters with super-strength, for example, aren't at the level of the Hulk or Superman. Put them inside thick enough walls of strong enough material and they're not going anywhere. Lock most telepaths inside ordinary cages, with food provided by robots and communication only via Skype, and they can't control anyone. And so on for a lot of other powers.

[(E)]

I was more thinking about those odd cases, the turn insubstantial types or possibly the ones that are too expensive to contain. They might not be the norm but throwing one against the PCs for the second or third session will add a bit of Grey morality to the mix

[Phantasm]

One take I used once in a game was a statement saying that states with a high superhuman population treated superhuman crimefighters as private investigators, including requiring investigator licenses. There wasn't an official agency in the fictional city we were playing in that dealt with "unlicensed" supers, but the police SWAT teams had technology for capturing and detaining a wide variety of supers (mostly Stark-Tech or Wayne-Tech).

As far as the first responder/disaster relief angle, with supers acting as firefighters, lifeguards, and other "save the lives" bit, the existence of Good Samaritan Laws IRL helped. That the guy who saved you from the burning building or stopped the mugger was wearing his underwear on the outside (have you seen some of the old Golden Age and Silver Age uniforms?!) with his face hidden didn't seem to matter much, so long as the boys and girls in spandex stuck around to give the police a statement.

That said, we had some serious IC and OOC arguments with our Leifeldian Dork Age player about "reasonable force" who insisted that supers had "a legal responsibility to kill" (his words) the bad guys first and ask the survivors questions. He was the kind of guy who ICly stated, "there are two levels of force: lethal or none at all". Subduing and capturing the guys for trial was beyond this guy. And when an NPC started a smear campaign against supers, stating that super-powers inherently drove people insane and that they should be rounded up and "cured" or exterminated, our Dork Age Player was almost proving the NPC right!

So this begets the question: What level of force are the capes using in this Capebusters setting?

[PTTG]

Well, there's no standing "culture" of supers at the start. It's just a bunch of teenagers around the world all getting superpowers over the same multi-year period.

Which means that the determining factor in force levels is how a given super's culture considers force, with a very wide range considering possible different backgrounds.

In practice, the PCs will mainly see the troublemakers, which usually means the ones who use excessive force or weird powers.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

One take I used once in a game was a statement saying that states with a high superhuman population treated superhuman crimefighters as private investigators, including requiring investigator licenses. There wasn't an official agency in the fictional city we were playing in that dealt with "unlicensed" supers, but the police SWAT teams had technology for capturing and detaining a wide variety of supers (mostly Stark-Tech or Wayne-Tech).

As far as the first responder/disaster relief angle, with supers acting as firefighters, lifeguards, and other "save the lives" bit, the existence of Good Samaritan Laws IRL helped. That the guy who saved you from the burning building or stopped the mugger was wearing his underwear on the outside (have you seen some of the old Golden Age and Silver Age uniforms?!) with his face hidden didn't seem to matter much, so long as the boys and girls in spandex stuck around to give the police a statement.

That said, we had some serious IC and OOC arguments with our Leifeldian Dork Age player about "reasonable force" who insisted that supers had "a legal responsibility to kill" (his words) the bad guys first and ask the survivors questions. He was the kind of guy who ICly stated, "there are two levels of force: lethal or none at all". Subduing and capturing the guys for trial was beyond this guy. And when an NPC started a smear campaign against supers, stating that super-powers inherently drove people insane and that they should be rounded up and "cured" or exterminated, our Dork Age Player was almost proving the NPC right!

So this begets the question: What level of force are the capes using in this Capebusters setting?

Wow. You should write up that guy as a villain for the group to encounter. He's a psychopath in desperate need of a bullet to the brain -- or, at least, a heavily-reinforced padded cell and lots and lots of medications.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Wow. You should write up that guy as a villain for the group to encounter. He's a psychopath in desperate need of a bullet to the brain -- or, at least, a heavily-reinforced padded cell and lots and lots of medications.

Oh, yes, this. Wow.

That sounds like what would happen, both here, and in my Five Earths setting (lots of low-level supers, a few higher-level ones, but treated fairly realistically; it's part of the reason I'm so interested in this thread).

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Wow. You should write up that guy as a villain for the group to encounter. He's a psychopath in desperate need of a bullet to the brain -- or, at least, a heavily-reinforced padded cell and lots and lots of medications.

Saldy, a far more likely result of most people gaining super powers than golden age goody two shoes. To a degree. I doubt most would go serial killer vigilante, but a disturbing number greater than nil, in my opinion.
I don't know of any medication that can alter morality. And I hope none is ever invented in reality or game.

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I don't know of any medication that can alter morality. And I hope none is ever invented in reality or game.

Closest I can think of is that treatment for Parkinson's that turns a small proportion of the people taking it into compulsive gamblers.

[The Benj]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

Closest I can think of is that treatment for Parkinson's that turns a small proportion of the people taking it into compulsive gamblers.

A friend of mine is on those. Such a weird side effect.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Saldy, a far more likely result of most people gaining super powers than golden age goody two shoes. To a degree. I doubt most would go serial killer vigilante, but a disturbing number greater than nil, in my opinion.
I don't know of any medication that can alter morality. And I hope none is ever invented in reality or game.

I had no conception of a medication that altered his morality. I was mostly interested in keeping him sedated so he couldn't break out of his padded cell and hurt someone.

Seriously, the guy needs to be dead or locked up, forever.