why would a SuperHero campaign need a sandbox?

[jaerdaph]

Yes - and the newsfeed definitely plays an integral role in most supers comics.

Brainstorming some example newsfeeds:

1. The hero has a secret identity as a reporter, cop or other law enforcement, or as a first responder and has instant access to info.
2. The hero has a love interest, informant or other connection to someone who is one of the above (e.g. Commissioner Gordon via the Batphone).
3. A powerful device or supercomputer that monitors "crime" or "activity" (e.g. the Batcomputer or Cerebro).
4. The Old Fashioned or Mundane Way - police scanners, newspapers, radio, television, the Internet.

5. A mysterious benefactor, patron or other figure that usually remains in the anonymous or in the shadows (e.g. Oracle/Barbara Gordon from Birds of Prey, Orwell from The Cape)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Other examples of newsfeeds:

6) a network of contacts, the bigger and more varied the better.

7) news organizations like the AP, CNN...and even whackos on the Internet like on shows like FreakyLinks and The Lone Gunmen
FreakyLinks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lone_Gunmen_(TV_series)

8) beings- possibly even PCs- with oracular powers.

9) being part of an agency or organization with an intelligence branch. See X-Files and Millennium.
The X-Files - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_(TV_series)

10) a plot device like the newspaper from the future in Early Edition.
Early Edition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia