The superman plague

[Andor]

Okay, this isn't particularly D&D related, but a lot of people here like playing with weird scenarios so I thought I'd throw this one out there.

What if sometime in the near future, like next week, everyone in the world gains super powers? Over some short period of time everybody gains the ability to fly at up to a couple of hundred miles per hour, toughness sufficient to make all but the most powerfull small arms worthless against humans, sufficient super strength that we can hurt each other (or lift a car) and some other miscillaneous superpower of moderate strength which varies according to the wishes of that person. (I.E. They get the first other superpower the wish for.)

What would happen going forward? Would it be wonderful? Would it be armaggedon? What would happen to the economy? The enviroment? Politically?

Please discuss.


* And to clarify, because I know this point will come up, military grade weaponry will still kill the average person. An M-16 won't work, but an RPG will.

** And yes I mean our world, not a D&D one.

 

[Tonguez]

If EVERYONE had the power then we would have an increase in international tourism but airlines would close down due to lack of demand.

Since most of us don't have the skill to make RPGs the use of guns in crime would reduce and instead crimes would require use of superpowers. This might see a shortterm increase in crime until the rise of super security guards

The people with the flashier powers and best control of said powers might become famous. It also depends on just how effective a power was against others - afterall Mindcontrol on a citywide scale is pretty impressive

After which life would return to normal (albeit with more international toursim) as people still need to get fed.

We might even get world peace and an end to hunger

 

[Meloncov]

They'll be a lot more colateral damage in war zones.

Do people need to eat increased amounts of food to power these feats, or is their some magical energy source?

 

[jmucchiello]

If everyone is superman, do all the 14 year old boys have x-ray vision? Sales of lead-lined clothing should skyrocket.

 

[phindar]

See Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex for the problems of a pubescent Superman. (There's going to be lots of microscopic holes in Smallville, I'd say.)

Alan Moore did a comic about a police force in a city where everybody had superpowers. Top Ten? Something like that. A friend of mine had it and I read it and it was pretty good. It seems like it would be a tough concept to keep going, but I've always like Moore's work.

 

[Relique du Madde]

I think it would be like Xanth but with super powers, if so that means there there would be alot of people who have completely useless powers and at least one person like Sylar who is actively murdering others to steal their powers.

 

[VirgilCaine]

toughness sufficient to make all but the most powerfull small arms worthless against humans,

So, cyanide darts and garrotes are still good?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

You mean I get the powers to easily reach - and beat up - everyone that annoys me, but everyone else gets it, too?

SUCKS!

 

[WayneLigon]

Using our normal world as a starting base and everyone having those powers... whew.

The economy drops into the toilet for a time because all of a sudden there is no need for gasoline anymore; people just fly everywhere they want to go, and much faster than in a car (personal protection for inclement weather follows shortly). All the money that goes into highway construction and maintence now goes elsewhere. Pollution starts to clear up. The only need for vehicles is for people who can't be trusted to fly on their own, or who are incapable of it; it's probably carried by four or six people who can, since everyone is pretty darn strong (thought I'm assuming age and maturity has something to do with that).

Airlines still exist because they're still vastly faster than 200 mph, and you can sleep on the flight. And they can carry a lot more cargo. Most smaller types of planes vanish, though.

Insurance companies have a major crisis and this affects the economy as well; not many people need auto insurance anymore and personal liability also goes out the window when people can't get hurt easily. Insurance costs go down for businesses like construction and other highly hazardous jobs.

We'll assume that with the strength and toughness comes a highly increased resistance to disease. Health care costs plumet, hospitals as we know them go out of business; another economic crisis as the monolithic health care industry contracts severely. Births and a handfull of other things are the only things you need a doctor for, and they're more like nurses, actually.

Immigration becomes almost impossible to enforce. Some countries are overwhelmed by massive waves of people, while a handful of countries are almost emptied. Predictably, wars start. Similarly, smuggling becomes a breeze.

Revolutions, coupes and brush wars sweep the globe as previously helpless peoples find themselves on par with their oppressors for the first time ever. The gun no longer is the equalizer it is now: everyone has become a gun. Two thirds of the world becomes a war zone for about 20 years until new nations start to form, as no-one is now bounded by borders or physical barriers or economic inability to travel. People can now live and farm in places they could never economically reach and exploit before.

The simple basic hardship of living in the more extreme climates and regions has been removed. All you'll need in some places is a person with rain-making and plant-shaping abilities. Those people become like gods in many, many places around the globe. The numbers of people whose wild-card power is to live underwater disappear into the vastness of the oceans. We hear from them occassionally. We wonder very, very much what they're doing down there....

It probably takes, oh, 50-60 years for the various economic crisises to pass and for a new global economic model to stabilize. Same for the various societal changes.

 

[Slife]

What about animals? Do animals get superpowers too?