Having actually played marvel superheroes before I can say it's so different from d&d that it makes any comparisons rather questionable at best.
The problem with those assumptions and rule of thumb, they got derailled as soon as you are concretely playing high level on a regular basis.As a rule of thumb:
Fame = 10^level/2
For example:
When level = 12:
Fame = 10^ (12/2) = 10^6 = 1,000,000
So, when at the Master tier at level 12, about a million people know who this person is. This is the contemporary population of a large cosmopolitan city or a small nation.
With a Grandmaster at level 16, about a 100,000,000 people are familiar. This is fame across a very large nation.
Note, at Legend level 17, the fame is among roughly 320,000,000 persons (10^8.5). Consider how in reallife year 1000, the entire human species might have a global population of about 275,000,000. The Legend tier correlates with fame across other planes and planets as well, and the populations there.
When referring to the "Masters of the Realm", it doesnt necessarily mean the leaders of a realm. It does mean celebrity (or notorious villain). It could be celebrated sports hero, like knight who wins many swordfighting contests, and is the "master of the sport", known by many. It can also mean, the leaders of a realm. If the players are ambitious in this way, the DM should encourage it. Then use the fame to determine the scale of the political game.
For my understanding I rather useI can't speak to the Marvel side of the comparison with much expertise, but I think this tiering system significantly understates the expected power/significance of 5e characters. The "official" tiers described in the PHB and DMG are:
Local Heroes (Levels 1-4)
Heroes of the Realm (Levels 5-10)
Masters of the Realm (Levels 11-16)
Masters of the World (Levels 17-20)
D&D 5e Tiers (Levels) | MARVEL SUPER HEROES (3) |
Zero (0) | [4.0] [≈4] Poor (4) |
Zero (0) | [5.0] [≈5] |
Zero (0) | [6.3] [≈6] Typical (6) |
Zero (0) | [7.9] [≈8] |
Zero (0) | [10] Good (10) |
Student (1−2) | [13] |
Student (3−4) | [16] |
Professional (5−6) | [20] Excellent (20) |
Professional (7−8) | [25] |
Master (9−10) | [32] Remarkable (30) |
Master (11−12) | [40] Incredible (40) |
Grandmaster (13−14) | [50] Amazing (50) |
Grandmaster (15−16) | [63] |
Legend (17−18) | [79] Monstrous (75) |
Legend (19−20) | [100] Unearthly (100) |
Epic (21−22) | [130] |
Epic (23−24) | [160] Shift-X (150) |
Epic (25−26) | [200] Shift-Y (200) |
Epic (27−28) | [250] |
Epic (29−30) | [320] |
Epic (31−32) | [400] |
Epic (33−34) | [500] Shift-Z (500) |
Epic (35−36) | [630] |
Epic (37−38) | [790] |
Epic (39−40) | [1000] Class-1000 (1000) |
That is a good point about "national funerals" becoming a recurring theme in a high-play world.The problem with those assumptions and rule of thumb, they got derailled as soon as you are concretely playing high level on a regular basis.
To sustain a high level adventure you need a immense amount of legendary characters or even only famous like a 12th level character. all of them will be thrown into the meet grinder as the party go adventuring.
That should make the entire world into continual national funeral as famous heroes are shut down by a high level adventuring party.
If one is fighting high tier Evil creatures who are harming many people, one tends to want the Evil creatures to stay dead or contained by other means, at least until behaving better.what about resurrection on a daily basis ?