Raduin711
Hero
So I had this idea for a superheroes game a while back and I was recently reminded of it. I kind of worry that it's a little too high-concept/complex/weird, but maybe you guys would have different thoughts.
Basically the idea for the campaign is that there is a fictional comic book company and we are going to, as the campaign progresses, create the lore for.
We would start the campaign by creating a group of Golden-Age style heroes. Characters should fit the general style and theme for the era, and then we would run a story set in that era.
After it was finished, we would set these characters aside and then move on to the Silver-Age. At the same time, we would decide what happened to the Golden-Age Heroes in the intervening years, in broad terms. I think I might enforce this with a roll on a random table, that might look like this:
1- Your character endures. You enter the next age with the same character.
2- Your character endures, with revisions. Make 3 significant changes to power set and/or weaknesses.
3- Your character endures, but passes on the mantle. Create a new character with the same mantle and general power set, but with a new origin. Your old hero is "retired" and serves as a mentor to the new hero.
4- Your character passes on into obscurity. Create a new, unrelated character.
5- Your character died, tragically. Create a new, unrelated character.
etc.
However, just because a character dies, retires, or fades into obscurity, does not mean they are gone forever. This is comics, after all.
At this time, we will not fill in the details of how this happened, exactly. Just that it happened.
Essentially, as the campaign continues, players will eventually create 4 characters for the 4 ages of comic books (Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Modern) and after each story we will jump around in the timeline of the comics. So if the Silver Hornet died somewhere in the silver age, then later on we can run a session where the Silver Hornet makes his heroic sacrifice. Or instead, we might run a Bronze age comic where the characters discover a frozen capsule and inside is... The Silver Hornet! How did this happen? Well, to find that out, we will have to go back to the Golden Age, and play THAT story.
Essentially, players will see their characters fall into and out of obscurity, rise from the dead, have their powers changed and then changed back, etc. Not to mention the villains, who are going to have their own histories and threads to follow. They might even become heroes!
Basically the idea for the campaign is that there is a fictional comic book company and we are going to, as the campaign progresses, create the lore for.
We would start the campaign by creating a group of Golden-Age style heroes. Characters should fit the general style and theme for the era, and then we would run a story set in that era.
After it was finished, we would set these characters aside and then move on to the Silver-Age. At the same time, we would decide what happened to the Golden-Age Heroes in the intervening years, in broad terms. I think I might enforce this with a roll on a random table, that might look like this:
1- Your character endures. You enter the next age with the same character.
2- Your character endures, with revisions. Make 3 significant changes to power set and/or weaknesses.
3- Your character endures, but passes on the mantle. Create a new character with the same mantle and general power set, but with a new origin. Your old hero is "retired" and serves as a mentor to the new hero.
4- Your character passes on into obscurity. Create a new, unrelated character.
5- Your character died, tragically. Create a new, unrelated character.
etc.
However, just because a character dies, retires, or fades into obscurity, does not mean they are gone forever. This is comics, after all.
At this time, we will not fill in the details of how this happened, exactly. Just that it happened.
Essentially, as the campaign continues, players will eventually create 4 characters for the 4 ages of comic books (Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Modern) and after each story we will jump around in the timeline of the comics. So if the Silver Hornet died somewhere in the silver age, then later on we can run a session where the Silver Hornet makes his heroic sacrifice. Or instead, we might run a Bronze age comic where the characters discover a frozen capsule and inside is... The Silver Hornet! How did this happen? Well, to find that out, we will have to go back to the Golden Age, and play THAT story.
Essentially, players will see their characters fall into and out of obscurity, rise from the dead, have their powers changed and then changed back, etc. Not to mention the villains, who are going to have their own histories and threads to follow. They might even become heroes!