When to set a "historical" supers game? (read OP before answering poll)

[Micah Sweet]

I was mostly channeling Marvel 1602.

 

[thullgrim]

I voted Mythic Age. The idea of a Supers crossed with mythology sounds pretty fascinating as either the ur source of the mythology or supers being misidentified as the scions of the gods.

I also voted Age of Exploration/Empire. A game set during the colonial era that explores supers with and against colonial powers would be the pretty cool.

 

[Aldarc]

"Truth, Justice, and the Athenian Way!"

"Not the hero that Corinth needs, but the hero it deserves..."

 

[Baron Opal II]

For me, either Mythic or Early Modern. The fall of Troy was when the last of the heroes and demigods threw down (supposedly), so that would make for a great climax. And, makes sense to seed the legends and myths. Or, Early Modern as the breakthroughs were being made and polymaths had enough information, connections, and resources to have those first great leaps of knowledge.

 

[Mad_Jack]

I picked multiple answers...

As others have mentioned, Mythic/Classical periods lead to supers as gods/demigods/mythical heroes, with powers attributed to either magic or divine birthright, while Renaissance-Steam eras give the opportunity to have the game take a more scientific or comic book approach to powers, and adventurers could be either fighting for or against colonial powers, against Moriarty-type villains, or even more steam-punk science-fiction things like aliens.

The Thieftaker series by D.B. Jackson is an excellent account of a low-level sorcerer working as a freelance thieftaker in Colonial Boston in the final days leading up to the American Revolution.

 

[Aldarc]

There is Gods of the Fall by Monte Cook Games for the Cypher System. I am not recommending the Cypher System here, just talking about the setting. But the premise is that the gods are dead, the horrors and evils that they imprisoned or kept at bay are wreaking havoc, and the PCs are those born with a divine spark of potential godhood who may become the next generation of gods. It is actual superhero fantasy but I could also see that premise working for a Mythic Age supers game.

 

[Baron Opal II]

Oh! Godbound would be viable for inspiration, too.

 

[Umbran]

Finally, note that this is NOT supposed to a "fantasy game" -- it is a supers game set significantly earlier than what we tend to think of as supers settings.

I think in any setting earlier than Dark Ages, the thing will feel like a fantasy game, regardless of intent - Classical and earlier, your supers will be indistinguishable from gods, demigods, and mythic heroes.

 

[Reynard]

I think in any setting earlier than Dark Ages, the thing will feel like a fantasy game, regardless of intent - Classical and earlier, your supers will be indistinguishable from gods, demigods, and mythic heroes.

I suppose I should have been more specific: not intended to be a typical gaming fantasy setting. That is, with orcs and clerics and low level adventurers and all that baggage.

 

[Umbran]

I suppose I should have been more specific: not intended to be a typical gaming fantasy setting. That is, with orcs and clerics and low level adventurers and all that baggage.

Sure, but my point is that it will still feel like fantasy even if the thing doesn't have Tolkienisms and D&Disms in it. It will feel like playing through Greek mythology.

Supers can still work as a mechanical structure, and probably work well, but the "supers" fictional trope structures will be washed out. And if your supers ruleset has rules to actively support the trope structures, some of them will likely seem highly anacrhonistic/awkward.