Supers World Building

Crakkerjakk · 10-17-2009, 12:30 AM

Okay, so I have a rather specific idea of how I want my supers world to work. What I would love is some consequences and brainstorming from y'all.

Assumptions:

There are a wide variety of power levels, from individuals that can stop armies to some guy who can smell spoons. The low utility mutations are far more common.
About 1 in 10,000 people is at around the x-men level. 1 in 100 have some sort of power. 1 in a billion are threats to nations. Due to the fact the number of heroes is based on populations, this does mean that China and India have far more supers than the US.
Typical marvel-esque power sources are available, from magic to moral to alien to super-tech, etc.
Powers started working around WWII. There was a supernova whose wavefront hit Earth in 1938. Powers are from a variety of sources, the best explanation scientists can come up with is that the Solar System was contained in a special frame of reference. (Cue technobable) The supernova either destroyed the special frame of reference or disrupted it.
Artifacts of ancient civilizations are constantly cropping up and bestowing powers on some schmuck. Scientists are unsure if this means that at some time in the past similar powers were available, or people are somehow retroactively creating civilizations to bestow upon them powers. The same is true of crashing alien spacecraft, pagan gods, or any other typically marvel-esque power source.
Events and technology is largely similar to modern day, with some elite government agencies with power armor or laser rifles. Space programs are slightly more active, although that just means a bases on Luna and Mars as opposed to full-fledged space infrastructure. Electric and hybrid cars are more common due to better battery technology, but 80% of the cars on the road are still internal combustion engines. Basically, the world is just a little bit closer to TL 9, with certain government agencies having experimental tech that is solidly astride it.
Despite all this, the world typically follows real world physics. Yes, some people can wantonly violate the laws of thermodynamics, but there is no "Comic book physics." A man who can bend steel will put his fist clean through most people he hits, unless he is very careful, and a bullet will kill a super just as easy as a normal unless they are specifically protected from physical damage through some aspect of their powers.
People are people. There are actual superheroes, and villains, but for the most part the heroes have actual reasons for dressing up (or not) and kicking villain tail, and villains are generally just looking for an easy buck or have serious psychological problems. The vast majority of people with powers are just trying to earn enough to make ends meet and not be shunned or mobbed because they can sneeze peanut butter.

So what I'd like is some brainstorming of what kind of world this would result in. Basically, I want all the powers of Marvel, but set in the real world and with real people. I'm fine with supers' treatment following the mood and themes of comics, from mystery men to golden age to silver age to iron age to modern day, but I want a reasonable explanation for this. I don't want entire pantheons of pagan gods actively involved in earth's troubles, or a massive alien empire overshadowing earth. I want the storyline and power focused on earth and humanity. I'd also like any aliens to actually be alien as opposed to the typical people in rubber masks you see in most comics. And finally I'd like to keep the number of supers who can do pretty much anything at will to a minimum. No Dr. Manhattans.

So: Anyone have any cool ideas? I don't want a retread of the unreasoning hatred of supers from the civil war storyline, but I don't have a problem with people being justifiably scared after one of the class A supers leveled an entire city. I want consequences, just not supers substituting for blacks in a re-tread of the civil rights movement.

Basically I want Wild Cards, but with wider power source possibilities and a population distribution instead of a regional distribution.

Is all this too specific or is this sparking any ideas with anyone?

10-17-2009, 12:30 AM	#1
Crakkerjakk "Gimme 18 minutes . . ." Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Albuquerque, NM	Supers World Building Okay, so I have a rather specific idea of how I want my supers world to work. What I would love is some consequences and brainstorming from y'all. Assumptions: There are a wide variety of power levels, from individuals that can stop armies to some guy who can smell spoons. The low utility mutations are far more common. About 1 in 10,000 people is at around the x-men level. 1 in 100 have some sort of power. 1 in a billion are threats to nations. Due to the fact the number of heroes is based on populations, this does mean that China and India have far more supers than the US. Typical marvel-esque power sources are available, from magic to moral to alien to super-tech, etc. Powers started working around WWII. There was a supernova whose wavefront hit Earth in 1938. Powers are from a variety of sources, the best explanation scientists can come up with is that the Solar System was contained in a special frame of reference. (Cue technobable) The supernova either destroyed the special frame of reference or disrupted it. Artifacts of ancient civilizations are constantly cropping up and bestowing powers on some schmuck. Scientists are unsure if this means that at some time in the past similar powers were available, or people are somehow retroactively creating civilizations to bestow upon them powers. The same is true of crashing alien spacecraft, pagan gods, or any other typically marvel-esque power source. Events and technology is largely similar to modern day, with some elite government agencies with power armor or laser rifles. Space programs are slightly more active, although that just means a bases on Luna and Mars as opposed to full-fledged space infrastructure. Electric and hybrid cars are more common due to better battery technology, but 80% of the cars on the road are still internal combustion engines. Basically, the world is just a little bit closer to TL 9, with certain government agencies having experimental tech that is solidly astride it. Despite all this, the world typically follows real world physics. Yes, some people can wantonly violate the laws of thermodynamics, but there is no "Comic book physics." A man who can bend steel will put his fist clean through most people he hits, unless he is very careful, and a bullet will kill a super just as easy as a normal unless they are specifically protected from physical damage through some aspect of their powers. People are people. There are actual superheroes, and villains, but for the most part the heroes have actual reasons for dressing up (or not) and kicking villain tail, and villains are generally just looking for an easy buck or have serious psychological problems. The vast majority of people with powers are just trying to earn enough to make ends meet and not be shunned or mobbed because they can sneeze peanut butter. So what I'd like is some brainstorming of what kind of world this would result in. Basically, I want all the powers of Marvel, but set in the real world and with real people. I'm fine with supers' treatment following the mood and themes of comics, from mystery men to golden age to silver age to iron age to modern day, but I want a reasonable explanation for this. I don't want entire pantheons of pagan gods actively involved in earth's troubles, or a massive alien empire overshadowing earth. I want the storyline and power focused on earth and humanity. I'd also like any aliens to actually be alien as opposed to the typical people in rubber masks you see in most comics. And finally I'd like to keep the number of supers who can do pretty much anything at will to a minimum. No Dr. Manhattans. So: Anyone have any cool ideas? I don't want a retread of the unreasoning hatred of supers from the civil war storyline, but I don't have a problem with people being justifiably scared after one of the class A supers leveled an entire city. I want consequences, just not supers substituting for blacks in a re-tread of the civil rights movement. Basically I want Wild Cards, but with wider power source possibilities and a population distribution instead of a regional distribution. Is all this too specific or is this sparking any ideas with anyone? __________________ My bare bones web page Semper Fi Last edited by Crakkerjakk; 10-17-2009 at 12:33 AM.