Capebusters -- brainstorming a single-setting game

[(E)]

The alcohol comment sparked a thought. What if whatever caused Supers had a fairly universal side effect? The side effect being reduced inhibition.

The explanation being that supers have a part of their brain hyper developed to cause their powers to manifest. This hyper development comes at the cost of the part of the brain that relates to inhibition.

Side effects include thinking that brightly colored spandex and lycra are wise fashion choices. Increased penchant for crime and other disruptive behaviour would also be part of the package. There may even be a medical syndrome related to super powers

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I'm remembering the humorous definition "The super-ego is the part of the personality that is soluble in alcohol."

I like that. Where did you see it? :)

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

The thing is though that without proof and trial, you can't know they are criminals. All I know is that some masked guy is going around illegally and violently assaulting people that he says are all criminals. He also says that he only uses as much force as is necessary. Without any oversight, we have no reason to believe him.

Not neccesarily illegally. Self-defense and citizens arrest allow you to do quite a lot in many jurisdictions.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

The thing is though that without proof and trial, you can't know they are criminals.

So? As long as the masked guy is proven retroactively correct, I can't see society feeling too badly about the result.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

I like that. Where did you see it?

I believe it was quoted in Arthur Koestler's book The Act of Creation, which I first read in the mid-sixties, but it wasn't original with him.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Anthony

So? As long as the masked guy is proven retroactively correct, I can't see society feeling too badly about the result.

Now, there's a slippery slope.

[Culture20]

Originally Posted by Andreas

Not neccesarily illegally. Self-defense and citizens arrest allow you to do quite a lot in many jurisdictions.

And defense of life usually includes defense of others, not just self defense.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Now, there's a slippery slope.

I was more talking about actual decision making than how decisions 'should' be made. If something is reliably right, even if we don't know why, there's a tendency to trust it.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I was more talking about actual decision making than how decisions 'should' be made. If something is reliably right, even if we don't know why, there's a tendency to trust it.

In comic books and TV, the skeptic is almost always the delusional butt monkey mocked to no end. But in reality, they're often right.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

In comic books and TV, the skeptic is almost always the delusional butt monkey mocked to no end. But in reality, they're often right.

In comic books and TV, rules and regulations are obstacles preventing the heroes from doing the Right Thing. In reality, they generally exist to prevent people from doing the Wrong Thing, and often are based on incidents where people did the Wrong Thing.