Thank you for the link, and I took a look to give me a sanity check to ensure I am covering core aspects of the heroes. M&M is a much more detailed and comprehensive system than 5e, so in order to give the heroes (the 5e treatment) I went with a significantly simplier model. Still its a good reference so thank you.
Don't worry, I plan to give batman plenty of tricks to explain how he can take out Superman. So this is less about Superman's stats, and more about batman's.
So one of the key things I did with my Superman was to rationalize his feats and his "non-feats". How could a guy that moves at light speed still get hit? How could a guy that can move a star still get grappled by normal effects?
While there are several ways to do this, I used a simple "5e esque" approach to the problem. I separated his core stats from his cosmic like feats to create a superman that in theory can do the main feats that are ascribed to him, but still provide reasonable stats for the 5e system.
For example, Cosmic Strength: Superman has no limit to his carrying capacity, and gains +27 to his melee damage (included in his statblock). His attacks deal double damage to objects and structures.
This is a big one, no carrying capacity limit. So to the question "Can superman lift, carry, or push it?" The answer is.... "yes". Superman effectively has infinite strength....but in the comic book means of "lifting things" and not in the dnd way of "avoid grapples and dealing damage".
Similar with his endurance. While Superman has a high but mortal con, these abilities:
Heroic Recovery: At the start of his turn, Superman regains 30 hit points and removes all conditions currently affecting him, unless the condition was imposed by an enhancement spell or effect.
Man of Steel: Superman takes no damage from any effect unless it is generated by a spell or a magic item. When Superman rolls less than an 8 on a saving throw, treat the die as if he rolled an 8. Superman does not need to breathe.
Gives him the core Superman resiliency. Regular old saving throws can't hinder superman. You could make a poison that would effect Supes (higher DC)...for a few seconds and then he is 100% fine. Sure Superman can get exhausted....for a few seconds than he is back fresh as a daisy. Yes your electricity (that doesn't do any actual damage) is holding up Superman....for a few seconds than he rips off the cords and goes and kicks your butt.
Or Superman's speed? While Superman has a very hittable AC, and his tactical speed is "only really good" we give him this:
Cosmic Speed: When performing the Dash Action, Superman can move to any location on the same plane. Superman can move through any barrier to get to the location, except ones immune to damage.
To showcase he's insane speed ability, while at the same time allowing for the fact that Superman is hit frequently in the comics. So a lower dex combined with these type of crazy speed abilities.
My goal is to capture the core essence of superman's feats but with the simplicity of 5e monster design. Obviously my audience will have to tell me how I did, but I do greatly encourage people to separate the abilities from the stats, you have to look at the whole package to decide if this superman can reflect the general feats of the comics and cartoon movies.
My last note here, just as Dnd is not LoTR, dnd is also not comic book stories either. In dnd, any hero can roll a 1 on a saving throw. Magic doesn't "just work", there is a chance of failure, sometimes a decent amount. The graceful and charismatic champion one minute, can accidentally trip and fall down some stairs. Dnd allows for possibilities that simply do not exist compared to when an author makes all the rules. So we have to reconcile that in our thinking. We can't always say "Superman would NEVER fail against that" ..... because in Dnd terms.... there is always that chance. The goal here is not to force Dnd to play by comic book rules....but to adapt comic books as faithfully as possible but still in the arena of how dnd operates.
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