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<blockquote data-quote="Urriak Uruk" data-source="post: 8292465" data-attributes="member: 7015558"><p>Well, this has easy answers, that a lot of modern fantasy uses.</p><p></p><p>I'm going to use the most prominent example, being.... Batman! He lives in a modern city with modern police, how come they haven't caught him? Or caught his many enemies?</p><p></p><p>There are several answers (all of which are true in Batman's case):</p><p></p><p>1. The hero is always one step ahead.</p><p>Batman has a lot of resources of course, being a billionaire, and quite a lot of technology as well. But even if you read "Batman: Year One," Bruce here is just a rich guy dressing up to fight crime, with a fast car and a few gadgets. Not even close to the real-life Jeff Bezos, more "local rich guy" level, which is pretty ok to allow your PCs to have. That combined with Bruce convincingly leaving false leads and good acting to deceive the police who theorize "Maybe that playboy millionaire fights crime?" is more than enough to keep the cops off his trail.</p><p></p><p>2. The heroes work with the authorities.</p><p>Seems pretty obvious, but it works. The hero is after all a HERO, which means he'll work with the cops a little bit. And Batman does, setting up the bat-signal and appearing on the roof to coordinate with Detective (and later Commissioner) Gordon.</p><p></p><p>3. The authorities are corrupt.</p><p>Why don't the police go after the bad guys? Well, they ARE the bad guys. Or at least, they're getting bribed by bad guys. The mayor of Gotham is corrupt, the GCPD is corrupt, the rich are also the Mafia Falcon family... why catch the bad guys when they're signing your checks?</p><p></p><p>4. The villains are beyond the authorities capabilities.</p><p>I don't just mean beyond the authorities resources, but also what they're capable within the laws and rules they're meant to follow. Think the classic line, "I can't do it... but I'm betting you can." The police aren't allowed to just break into folks houses and hunt for clues whenever they want. But Batman? He's got only one rule, "Never kill." Beyond that, he does what he needs to do, when he needs to do it.</p><p></p><p>All of these examples by the way or for Batman in a non-magical, non-superpowered world. When throwing in magic, aliens, and superpowers, all of the above can be exacerbated in various ways. The heroes can use magic, the police can't. The commissioner is actually an Archfey who means to eat civilians dreams. The main villain is a Demon Lord who lurks in the city sewers. Lots of reasons can be made to get around why the authorities can't do what needs to be done.</p><p></p><p>Check out City of Mist which has a great Urban Setting for ideas to mine!</p><p></p><p>[URL unfurl="true"]https://cityofmist.co/[/URL]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Urriak Uruk, post: 8292465, member: 7015558"] Well, this has easy answers, that a lot of modern fantasy uses. I'm going to use the most prominent example, being.... Batman! He lives in a modern city with modern police, how come they haven't caught him? Or caught his many enemies? There are several answers (all of which are true in Batman's case): 1. The hero is always one step ahead. Batman has a lot of resources of course, being a billionaire, and quite a lot of technology as well. But even if you read "Batman: Year One," Bruce here is just a rich guy dressing up to fight crime, with a fast car and a few gadgets. Not even close to the real-life Jeff Bezos, more "local rich guy" level, which is pretty ok to allow your PCs to have. That combined with Bruce convincingly leaving false leads and good acting to deceive the police who theorize "Maybe that playboy millionaire fights crime?" is more than enough to keep the cops off his trail. 2. The heroes work with the authorities. Seems pretty obvious, but it works. The hero is after all a HERO, which means he'll work with the cops a little bit. And Batman does, setting up the bat-signal and appearing on the roof to coordinate with Detective (and later Commissioner) Gordon. 3. The authorities are corrupt. Why don't the police go after the bad guys? Well, they ARE the bad guys. Or at least, they're getting bribed by bad guys. The mayor of Gotham is corrupt, the GCPD is corrupt, the rich are also the Mafia Falcon family... why catch the bad guys when they're signing your checks? 4. The villains are beyond the authorities capabilities. I don't just mean beyond the authorities resources, but also what they're capable within the laws and rules they're meant to follow. Think the classic line, "I can't do it... but I'm betting you can." The police aren't allowed to just break into folks houses and hunt for clues whenever they want. But Batman? He's got only one rule, "Never kill." Beyond that, he does what he needs to do, when he needs to do it. All of these examples by the way or for Batman in a non-magical, non-superpowered world. When throwing in magic, aliens, and superpowers, all of the above can be exacerbated in various ways. The heroes can use magic, the police can't. The commissioner is actually an Archfey who means to eat civilians dreams. The main villain is a Demon Lord who lurks in the city sewers. Lots of reasons can be made to get around why the authorities can't do what needs to be done. Check out City of Mist which has a great Urban Setting for ideas to mine! [URL unfurl="true"]https://cityofmist.co/[/URL] [/QUOTE]
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