Doug McCrae
Legend
On the D&D <> superheroes issue:
High level D&D PCs are indistinguishable from superheroes in a fantasy setting. Old school Gygaxian PCs were amoral looters but otoh there was a period in comics, the Iron Age, when superheroes weren't nice people either.
The only potential difference is, how did they acquire their power? Darrin is right that there seems to be something distinctive about the way a D&D character has slowly clawed his way up from first level, battling for every magic item and xp point. By contrast, superheroes like Superman, Spider-Man, the Flash and the Fantastic Four gained their powers without effort (though not always without suffering, which appeases our sense of karmic balance). Superheroes certainly fight a lot but that's not where they get their powers, unless they're Sylar.
However there are many superheroes who had to train or work hard for their powers. Iron Man didn't come into existence suddenly, the suit had to be built, and prior to that Tony Stark had to study. Although the X-Men's mutant powers are natural, they are portrayed as having to constantly train in the danger room to master them. There are many superheroes who are just normal people who trained hard and have a few gadgets like Batman, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Hawkeye and Wildcat. Captain America is more than just supersoldier serum and shield, his experience and leadership skills are far more important. Then there are the wizards such as Dr. Strange and Zatanna who would fit right into a D&D universe.
A D&D PC hasn't necessarily had to struggle for his power either, it might be a Monty Haul game where vorpal swords are guarded by goblins or one with a lot of randomness where pulling magic levers or drawing from a Deck of Many Things can grant levels. Sure, most of the deck results are bad but the characters that lucked out are analogous to a 60s superhero, gaining superpowers from radiation, instead of dying from leukaemia. Many D&D games start at higher than level 1 so there isn't such a sense of having worked for one's power. There have always been non-human PCs with innate magic powers. In the early days of D&D, players ran each side wargame style, so there were balrog and vampire PCs. TSR had a supplement for playing a dragon, Council of Wyrms. In 3e it's straightforward to play an LA race such as a nymph or half-demon using the core rules, and there's also the Savage Species option, allowing characters with superhero-y powers such as permanent flight from first level. I played an air elemental who could do just that in a recent game, he felt quite like a superhero.
I get a strong X-Men vibe from the sorcerer, born with a gift, who then builds on it with training. Same with psionics. In fact one 3e XPH class, the soulknife, is a straight ripoff of the X-Man, Psylocke.
In conclusion, while many D&D PCs do have to struggle for their power, and most superheroes don't, there's a lot who are just the opposite, D&D characters who lucked out and superheroes who worked hard.
High level D&D PCs are indistinguishable from superheroes in a fantasy setting. Old school Gygaxian PCs were amoral looters but otoh there was a period in comics, the Iron Age, when superheroes weren't nice people either.
The only potential difference is, how did they acquire their power? Darrin is right that there seems to be something distinctive about the way a D&D character has slowly clawed his way up from first level, battling for every magic item and xp point. By contrast, superheroes like Superman, Spider-Man, the Flash and the Fantastic Four gained their powers without effort (though not always without suffering, which appeases our sense of karmic balance). Superheroes certainly fight a lot but that's not where they get their powers, unless they're Sylar.
However there are many superheroes who had to train or work hard for their powers. Iron Man didn't come into existence suddenly, the suit had to be built, and prior to that Tony Stark had to study. Although the X-Men's mutant powers are natural, they are portrayed as having to constantly train in the danger room to master them. There are many superheroes who are just normal people who trained hard and have a few gadgets like Batman, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Hawkeye and Wildcat. Captain America is more than just supersoldier serum and shield, his experience and leadership skills are far more important. Then there are the wizards such as Dr. Strange and Zatanna who would fit right into a D&D universe.
A D&D PC hasn't necessarily had to struggle for his power either, it might be a Monty Haul game where vorpal swords are guarded by goblins or one with a lot of randomness where pulling magic levers or drawing from a Deck of Many Things can grant levels. Sure, most of the deck results are bad but the characters that lucked out are analogous to a 60s superhero, gaining superpowers from radiation, instead of dying from leukaemia. Many D&D games start at higher than level 1 so there isn't such a sense of having worked for one's power. There have always been non-human PCs with innate magic powers. In the early days of D&D, players ran each side wargame style, so there were balrog and vampire PCs. TSR had a supplement for playing a dragon, Council of Wyrms. In 3e it's straightforward to play an LA race such as a nymph or half-demon using the core rules, and there's also the Savage Species option, allowing characters with superhero-y powers such as permanent flight from first level. I played an air elemental who could do just that in a recent game, he felt quite like a superhero.
I get a strong X-Men vibe from the sorcerer, born with a gift, who then builds on it with training. Same with psionics. In fact one 3e XPH class, the soulknife, is a straight ripoff of the X-Man, Psylocke.
In conclusion, while many D&D PCs do have to struggle for their power, and most superheroes don't, there's a lot who are just the opposite, D&D characters who lucked out and superheroes who worked hard.
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