Marvel Heros "Teen" Campaign

[thejc]

So I took some time off work for the holidays and introduced my son to gaming (this would have been done much sooner but we are fostering to adopt and they just moved in Dec 22). He really likes the avengers cartoon; I passed all of my substantial comic collection for Xmas. Needless to say he's 9 and supers are the rage for him. So I broke out Marvel Hero's RPG (though seriously modded and homebrewed by myself) and he played Thor (his fave) whooped up on Iron Man and squeaked out a victory vs. the hulk in the Avengers training room.

So we make his own guy. He decides he likes the Thor aspect and we roll with that. So we make a "Rage the Son of Thor!" He’s strong and can fly and has short range "Lightning Vision". We also decide he 16 lives with his midguardian mom in Jackson Mississippi and is a Tight End on the Football team.

I made his best friend a character named "Star-Falcon" also in his high school but kind of geek. He was exposed to a fallen satellite that contained an unknown radioactive isotope that allows him to Fly and shoot his "Star Bolts".

They just recently graduated to "Jr. Avengers". What would be some of the encounters they would go through? We are doing "Day of the Octopus" right now. But can you guys give me some encounters that would be appropriate for a teenage superhero?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

They just recently graduated to "Jr. Avengers". What would be some of the encounters they would go through? We are doing "Day of the Octopus" right now. But can you guys give me some encounters that would be appropriate for a teenage superhero?

Really, appropriate challenges depends less on age and more on power level...and campaign settings (past/present/future; Earth or galactic empire, etc.).

Look at Teen Titans, Legion of Super Heroes, Justice Machine, Power Pack, New Mutants and any comic involving sidekicks, and you'll see youngsters facing:

1. Rivals- social or super
2. RW issues- upcoming tests, curfews, being suspected of anything/everything due to oddball hours
3. Mundane gangs, criminals & cliques; serial violent offenders
4. Supers threatening them directly, robbing The Mall, attacking the faculty & students
5. Vampires...alien invaders...Nazis...evil robots...the Devil...drug abuse...global hunger...environmental disasters...The Man

What kind of tone are you wanting to set?

 

[thejc]

Thanks! as for tone we are playing a kind of late silver age/early bronze age. There are some darkness issues but Supers never kill people. The villains don't really either. I want it to be pretty actiony at 9 he struggles with roleplaying a bit or at least not near what I am used to in my adult(if I could call my gaming group that lol) games.

So I think I will focus on just on being a hero, dealing with his overprotective Dad, him not using his superstrength and lightning to crush bullies or people on the football team.

I was thinking of creating a rival. Maybe along the vein of the Son of Aries.

How about other things besides combat can he do to be a hero?

 

[thejc]

Also if there were an all "supers" school what competitive sports would they engage in with other superschools?

 

[fba827]

Noncombat hero things, mmm...

*sporting and olympic style competitions
*scavenger hunt style (race around the city to get certain things)
*thor is on trial for a crime he didn't do, the son of thor must hurry and find the real culrpit before the week-long trial is over (the crime can be as benign as broke odin's spear or took the last cookie, or can be more involved.. but this would involve (possibly) setting up a good mystery and clues that could be found in an rpg since it's often hard to get 'visual' clues and you'll rely on RP and verbal clues in conversations
* stop a rival from getting supplies (it doesn't need to be combat-y, just can he find a way to stop the supply train)
*the city has a problem (flood, fire, famine, draught) and son of thor is asked to help (redirect a nearby river, fix the dam, find a way to put out the forest fire before it reaches the city, get the supplies to the stranded people, and so on) <-- this idea could be mined for several variations, just be sure to spread it with some variety of 'missions' inbetween


I know you don't want to get into killing people, but how about either a) robots or b) aliens.. aliens would still be alive but if you make them freaky abominations with no association with human charactertistics or humanity, it has less of an impact... or robots would be one step even further removed than that. but i know tossing around "hit it, kill it, smash it in the head" probably isn't the type of terminology you want to instil just yet until ethical lines are better developed.)


By the way ...
It may end up being a little more teenage-oriented than your son's current age group, but if you get cartoon network (fridays 7pm), check out the new series Young Justice (it's DC universe teenage "sidekicks" that are dealing with a) learning their superpowers b) trying to lead normal high school lives and c) getting involved in something that the justice league (aka the adults) can't get directly involved in.
But it might give you some 'plot'/'mission' ideas

 

[fba827]

Also if there were an all "supers" school what competitive sports would they engage in with other superschools?

Weightlifting competition (but with a cheesier name) -- How many cars can you lift?

Obstacle Course (called "Save the Citizen, with a little doll taking the place of a citizen as the goal). Run through the obstacle course to get to the citizen before time runs out.

"The Line" - two teams of two. (or three or whatever you find manageable). One team tries to protect the 'citizen/doll' while the other has to get to it. (possibly mix this with the obstacle course so that there is more going on in the environment... or those that have the best time in the obstacle course get to each pick their team mate and it's used as a finalist style competition)

have a couple mental style things to mix it up (if only to show that there is a purpose for the mental stats and it isn't all physical; and that your hero will be good at some things, and others will be better in other things, etc).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Can't believe I forgot this one: check out the cartoon, Powerpuff Girls.

As mentioned just above, fire & flood give your hero all kinds of non-combat opportunities to flex, and rescues of all kinds are meat & potatoes to supers. With his power list, he could rescue people from buildings, act as a human Jaws of Life untangling accidents...and if he has enough control over his electrical powers, he could be a defibrillator. If not, he could act as a replacement generator...say, if the power to the hospital ran out.

...all of which brings us to recurring enemies & frenemies.

Instead of the Son of Ares, why not Loki's Daughter? She's hot, a shapechanger (jotun blood), and thinks your kid's PC is cute...and can't understand why he doesn't feel for her like she feels for him. So like Catwoman & Batman or Spidey & Black Cat, sometimes she tries to ingratiate herself with him...and sometimes she's working against him.

And of course, there's always the psychopathic supergenius rival (a common trope). Sometimes ultrawealthy as well, he could even have arranged a series of mishaps around the town to show his superiority AND exhaust the main character in order to weaken him for a coup de grace.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Another source to check out: PS 238. Excellent stories about superheroic kids...and the unique challenges their school faces.

 

[thejc]

Ran through Day of the Octopuss(adv. in which Doc Oc uses a 30 ft tall robot) and introduced "Cairn the Son of Ares" as a rival. Went pretty good. He figured out to find a maintenance hatch and go through to destory the central controls. Awesome! I was impressed!

Used the Rival to set up a transfer of schools to a Supers academy. Son of Thor plays Tight End, Son of Ares plays Outside Linebacker, during practice it got pretty hot but they managed to keep it fairly contained. Son of Ares transferred after revealing his villanous nature and pulled an ambush knocking both Son of Thor and Star Falcon out cold for a few rounds, enough time to spray paint losers across their chests and flee.

I think I will definitely use the daughter of Loki as well.

I also want to get him to think outside the box a bit and use some power stunts with his abilities for example I had Star Falcon(a blaster type character) instead of using his energy beams he created an energy cage. But he's coming along. I'll probably make a Story Hour here pretty soon.

 

[kitsune9]

Interesting concept!