Anybody with experience with 1000+ cp superhero campaigns?

[pawsplay]

I think one valid approach is to make a 250 point adventurer, and then add whatever powers fit, no budget. Batman gets to be a 550 point character.

[zoncxs]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

From experience with very high pt games in 3e and 4e my advice is to design the characters to match their concept while _ignoring_ point costs.

Originally Posted by pawsplay

I think one valid approach is to make a 250 point adventurer, and then add whatever powers fit, no budget. Batman gets to be a 550 point character.

This.

The few times I ran a supers, I had them create a normal character first, usually with 150/-25 or 250/-25 points, or with a template I created. Then I would sit down with them and we would decide what their power was, how it worked, and as the GM I would write it up. After which I would fine tune it so that everyone was closer to "power level" together.

At that point, everyone had different point costs.


When it came to damage, I use my own house rules. For you, I would change Innate attacks to function like Telekinesis. The level is treated as a comparable ST level.

So an innate attack 10 deals the same swing damage as an ST 10 person. This might seem like a major nerf but remember this is still a ranged attack AND at higher levels it will out pace straight ST due to it costing less by default.

Crushing Attack 100 cost 500pts, deals 13d cr. at range.

For 500 points the Brick gets +50 ST, dealing 7d-1 or 9d swing damage, but also has HP 60.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

I think one valid approach is to make a 250 point adventurer, and then add whatever powers fit, no budget. Batman gets to be a 550 point character.

I have done this to great advantage in my own games. 250 pt. Action characters + build-to-concept for powers works nicely for superhero games that are along the lines of Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men, Justice League, Outsiders, adult Titans, etc.; reduce to 75 to 150 pts for "mutant high school" type games (original New Mutants, Generation X, various incarnations of Teen Titans where they're actually teenagers, etc).

The trick is making sure they have room to grow with earned XP.

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

The trick is making sure they have room to grow with earned XP.

In a lot of superhero stories, the characters don't grow much in terms of their powers. I've played in a supers-adjacent game where "character growth" was handled primarily in terms of the story. Defeating enemies, making alliances, building a base, etc. Character points weren't really in play, though players would make adjustments over time to reflect some personal evolution (often just swapping quirks or disads.)

[Culture20]

I've played with 1000+ characters as a player and GM. Currently running a Marvel based game with one 1200 and several 900ish characters.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is all points aren't equal. Super teams often have great disparity; giants and gods fighting side by side with circus performers and scientists. The adventure scenarios need to be set for the wide variety of the team.
Some things that can greatly beef up a lower point character concept into a higher point range:
* connections to other super teams (contact or ally)
* stumbling upon crimes in progress (serendipity) No one in my current game has this, so they're always playing catchup investigating instead of preventing
* bang skills (sword!, bow!, shield!, detective!)

Regarding 1000+ bricks: Supers has an option for general strength using the Super enhancement at +300% but also remove the cost of fatigue by paying for cosmic (and the reduced fatigue cost), which is essentially always-on massive ST. DR is a different matter, but high levels of Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction is the common way to replicate nigh invulnerability.

You don't need 3000 cp to lift buildings, although lifting buildings might need some sort of enhancement to provide structural stability depending on how close to true physics your world works.