Does High Level Fantasy = Low Powered Supers?

Herobizkit

Adventurer
After reading several of my gaming supplements (specifically BESM d20, Blue Rose, and Arcana Unearthed), I have come up with a theory.

Looking at the capabilities of many "standard" high-level 3.x PCs, they seem more and more like superheroes... especially (but not limited to) wizards.

You have your warriors that dish out a great amount of attacks and damage and are near invulnerable to normal wo/men. The wizards can do all sorts of abilities... flight, blasting, changing a to b, and so forth. The rogues can perform all sorts of near-superhuman feats and (usually) gain the greatest amount of public fame/infamy. The (good) priests command power over life itself, and gather people en masse to follow one specific goal... the betterment of their people.

I've also seen a number of similarities between BESM d20, GURPS, and Blue Rose. The most significant that I've found is that, in all three cases, spells/magic is skill-based rather than "fire and forget". Mana points/Fatigue and failed skill checks notwithstanding, most magic can be used almost indefinitely with no real disadvantage for doing so. The same can be said for most super-powers.

Mechanically, however, I raise the question: Comparing PCs from the various sources I've listed above and the base classes from 3.x, do you consider that high level PCs can be mechanically represented as low- or even high-powered Superheroes?

EDIT: I ask because I am looking for "THE" Ruleset I'd like to use for all my future campaigns, and while each setting has a lot to offer, I don't want to go through the bother of trying to convert one to another without knowing which one to use as the base.
 
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Yes; back in the day we had a group of 2e characters that actually became superheroes, such as the Shadow (and his sidekick Shade), Iron Dwarf, Dr. Magic, etc.
 

A High Level Druid can turn into a storm/tidal wave/bonfire/rock/animal/plant they can summon storms and earthquakes and drop them from a mile away, they can call magical beasts into exsistence, they're immune to disease and poison, can look like anything and anyone and can control plants animals fey and the weather

- thats not a low leveled superhero, that there is a god!!!! (and only level 18!!!)
 


To further your analogy, I see PCs as dualistic in nature. They have inherent superpowers like spells, feats, and skills. Their other side is gadgeteer, with all their magic items accrued over a lifetime of adventuring.

-blarg
 

Tonguez said:
A High Level Druid can turn into a storm/tidal wave/bonfire/rock/animal/plant they can summon storms and earthquakes and drop them from a mile away, they can call magical beasts into exsistence, they're immune to disease and poison, can look like anything and anyone and can control plants animals fey and the weather

- thats not a low leveled superhero, that there is a god!!!! (and only level 18!!!)

:) And that is specifically why I raised the question. Why do high-powered Fantasy characters seem to have it so much better than actual Superheroes, ability-wise?
 

Because actual superheroes only exist inside a scripted universe and if they needed a nifty new widget, they'd have it given to them by the author and PC's are actually pieces in a game played by people who are a heck of a lot more pragmatic than superheroes?

Superhero - The bad guy has this super bad nasty meanie weapon. I must destroy it!

PC - The bad guy has the coolest baddest weapon. I must HAVE it!

;)
 


To be honest, I haven't played one since a couple of sessions of Paladium's Hero game (whose name escaped me at the moment) and a bunch of sessions of Villains and Vigilantes (Yes,I'm THAT old). So, I really can't comment all that much.

However, it would seem to me that the power curve for superhero games should ramp up considerably if the superhero is being played by an optimization minded player. If I'm playing Spider Man (for example) and I've just kicked the tar out of Mr. Unmemorable Bad Guy for the fifth time, instead of handing him over to the authorities, I'm going to grab a hold of his blaster gauntlets and keep them and THEN turn him over to the authorities. The next time Doctor Octopus shows his ugly mug, I put a couple of lazer beams into his chest, cutting off those bloody arms, he goes down in a smoking heap and the townspeople rejoice.

Maybe there's a reason I don't play superhero games. ;)
 

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