Modern City Disasters

[Quasqueton]

I'm running a Marvel Super Heroes campaign. I'd like to have some scenes in NYC that don't involve just bashing bad guys. I've come up with a few ideas, but I would like to have about a dozen to choose from when I need them.

I've done a power blackout which lead to the heroes rescuing a pregnant woman from an elevator and then getting her quickly to the hospital.

I've thought about a building fire; a bad car/truck accident (maybe with a fire); a suicide attempt (leaping from a building roof).

Maybe the firetrucks and ambulances can't get to a scene (traffic jams), and the heroes have to either move the victims or move the rescue vehicles.

What are some non-combat scenes for heroes in a big city?

Quasqueton

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Floods, mundane burglaries, a plane crash, publicity appearances/stunts, working security...

Or involve their secret IDs- perhaps there is a conflict at their place of business and they can't "go super" without revealing their secret IDs.

They're out on a camping trip with the local BSA Troop, and get hit by a freak blizzard.

 

[Slife]

Not all are applicable...

A Water main bursts. A train/bus/whatever's brakes have failed. The bridge is collapsing. Earthquakes, icestorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, floods. Some large construction machinery is malfunctioning. One of those roof-mounted water towers is about to fall (or anything high up, really). An escape at the zoo - and the rare animals have to be returned alive (and only a few of them are really dangerous, most are just fast/good at hiding/good at detection {for example, the red rumped agouti can hear a fruit fall in a rainforest from two miles away}). Famine. Plague. Blizzard. Mudslide. Rioting (don't hurt the civvies).

 

[Steel_Wind]

I'm running a Marvel Super Heroes campaign. I'd like to have some scenes in NYC that don't involve just bashing bad guys.

What are some non-combat scenes for heroes in a big city?

One of the Heroes goes nuclear and blows up?

 

[Alzrius]

A crane situated at the edge of a skyscraper goes haywire due to a sudden power surge, making the steel beam it's lifting smash into nearby buildings, sending people plummeting.

 

[Celebrim]

A building is on fire.
Forest fires threaten to enter the city.
Nearby forest fires send heavy smoke into part of the city, forcing it to be evacuated.
A balcony of a building collapses due to a crowd.
A gasoline tanker crashes and catches fire.
A semi damages a bridge supports, causes a roadway to collapse.
A barge damages a bridge supports, causing a roadway to collapse.
A fire gets loose in an underground rail system, causing roadways/buildings to collapse.
A train derails.
Two subway trains coalide.
A subway trains breaks fail, causing it to crash into a platform at the end of the line.
A tunnel collapses.
Structural peices of a tunnel fall into the roadway.
A tanker carrying toxins crashes and causes a chemical leak.
A train carrying toxins derails and causes a chemical leak.
A flash flood washes a person into a storm sewer.
A flash flood washes a car into a river.
Exotic animals are released in the city, or are discovered in an abandoned building (snakes? killer bees? aligators in the sewers?)
A levy breaks causing widespread flooding.
A dam breaks due to heavy rains causing sudden flash flooding.
A car crash knocks over a telephone pole sending live electrical wires ontop of nearby cars.
A storage tank ruptures causes a local flood of some dangerous substand - say hot mollases.
A cache of dynamite used in local construction explodes, damaging nearby structures.
A demolition of a building goes badly wrong, endangering the demolition workers.
A chemical plant, or somewhere that stores chemicals, has an accident.
A shipload of fertilizer or some other explosive goes off in the harbor.
An airplane crashes into one or more buildings.
An epidemic breaks out.
An asteroid impacts the city.
The city experiences a large magnitude earthquake.
A tsunami strikes the city.
The city is hit by a hurricane.

Terrorists/sabateurs/nutcases cause any of the above.
A suicide bomber blows up in a parking garage.
Terrorists set off a dirty bomb.
Terrorists release biological agents.
Terrorists release chemical agents.
Terrorists set off a nuclear bomb.

Actually, the big problem with this thread is my realism is getting in the way. I can't think of any thing that realistically could happen, that would happen slowly enough that it would make sense for superheroes to be able to intervene.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

The city's sanitation workers go on strike and the garbage starts piling up. Again! But this time the heroes get to deal with it. Hey, it's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Here's one I've not seen in this thread:

The PCs are part of a charity event and are using their powers to raise funds for Blind Children of Dyslexic Dwarves or some such.

The best permutation of this I've seen in the comics is when the supers are in some kind of sporting event- Baseball if they're playing against normal people, football or basketball if they're going against other supers.

You could even up the ante if villains are involved- say, as a version of "The Longest Yard." Or out of genuine interest in the charity (or favorable publicity to be gained), showing their good side...like Dr. Doom stepping up to bat as the DH while Johnny Storm is the pitcher...and throws the high inside heat! (Sorry, had to! )

It could happen- consider The Christmas Truce in WW1 (1914), where German and English soldiers celebrated Christmas together.

 

[Nyaricus]

A crane situated at the edge of a skyscraper goes haywire due to a sudden power surge, making the steel beam it's lifting smash into nearby buildings, sending people plummeting.

Wow, that actually sounds like it could really test the heroes abilities! What an original idea

 

[Quasqueton]

Thanks much everyone (especially Celebrim's long list).

Actually, the big problem with this thread is my realism is getting in the way. I can't think of any thing that realistically could happen, that would happen slowly enough that it would make sense for superheroes to be able to intervene.

Also, a big problem for me coming up with these is thinking of something that the PCs have abilities/powers that can affect them. But maybe that's what the heroes should figure out on their own.

Quasqueton