Looking for Low-Powered Heroes Unlimited Story Ideas

This is a place for G.M.s and GM wannabes to share ideas and their own methods of play. It is not a locked forum so be aware your players may be watching!

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

User avatar
LostOne
Champion
Posts: 2009
Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 10:29 pm

Looking for Low-Powered Heroes Unlimited Story Ideas

Unread post by LostOne »

I'm looking for plot ideas (both mini-adventures and long running plotlines) for a lower powered non-costumed HU game, similar to the Heroes TV show. Each character will be getting 1 major and 1 minor power, powers will be greatly limited. Very few flashy powers, etc.

I already have some of my own, but was looking for more ideas that other people would like to see in such a game.
"But you can't make an omelet without ruthlessly crushing dozens of eggs beneath your steel boot and then publicly disemboweling the chickens that laid them as a warning to others." -Order of the Stick #760
User avatar
lather
Champion
Posts: 2146
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 5:10 pm

Unread post by lather »

Do you know the powers they will be picking?

Build it around the characters so they do not have a lumbering dumb monstrous hulk needing to complete a sudoku puzzle in order to get up the ladder to the first level boss.

Scavenger hunts are always fun.
User avatar
lather
Champion
Posts: 2146
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 5:10 pm

Unread post by lather »

Redmond, Washington, here we come!
Rahmota
Adventurer
Posts: 409
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:47 am
Location: USA, Ohio

Unread post by Rahmota »

Well there is always the formula the show used and I've used to success before of having the charactrs deal with their emerging powers and grow into becoming a hero ,or villan. All sorts of obstacles, issues and general role playing ideas can come about with that.

Do they keep it secret, do they HAVE to keep it secret, how do their friends and family react, do they wind up in trouble because of their powers, etc..... How realistic are you planning on hing the world and go from there is an idea you might hold.
TANSTAAFL!
User avatar
LostOne
Champion
Posts: 2009
Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 10:29 pm

Unread post by LostOne »

LOL...maybe Starbucks is the face of the evil alien invasion. :)

As for the puzzles, one player always plays thinking characters, he isn't big on the big powerful brute characters, so I can count on him being around for the puzzles (which he loves).

Are there any threads here dealing with puzzles? I've been having troubles thinking of new ones, and he's seen all my best ones already.
"But you can't make an omelet without ruthlessly crushing dozens of eggs beneath your steel boot and then publicly disemboweling the chickens that laid them as a warning to others." -Order of the Stick #760
User avatar
lather
Champion
Posts: 2146
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 5:10 pm

Unread post by lather »

None come off the top of my head.

Maybe search "puzzle" or something?
User avatar
lather
Champion
Posts: 2146
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 5:10 pm

Unread post by lather »

Have you considered Beyond the Supernatural

(shameless plug)
GA
Explorer
Posts: 162
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 6:13 am
Comment: Master of Dirk Diggler Style
Location: California
Contact:

Unread post by GA »

Using James Bond storylines might work although that might be more suited toward N&S. Having a rival organization with criminals with similar minor/major powers who are organizing would work as well. That's the old X-men bit of course but scaled down. Military- Post WWII or Neo Nazis of some kind could work too, especially if you throw in the old genetic research bit by the nazis.You could also try some sort of religious angle. That could work for a healer type character real easily although would probably be a sub plot....

Just some random ideas.
You kill my dog I'ma slay yo cat-Flava Flav, Terminator X to the Edge of Panic, 1988
A man's gotta know his limitations-Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, 1973
No good deed goes unpunished-Clare Booth Luce
User avatar
shiiv-a
Adventurer
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:55 pm
Comment: I see people as people first, anything else is secondary
Location: BC, Canada

Unread post by shiiv-a »

not sure this will be a big help .. but i recall sitting and watching a few 1 hour long detective shows .. and plotting games about that ... just hope that no one else watched the same show ...

hey it worked. just give it a bit of fluff afterwards to fill in the areas that seem to get char's off the right track and slowly steer them back ...
a witness .. a pic on the net .. or something like that

never know .. it could work
Creator of the Chi grenade. Used in game by Kevarin [GM] and self as Mai - Civilian Martial artist that got amped via experiment. Ghost weapons and shirts rule.

Nano Missiles - used once and GM banned further use. They weren't THAT bad. and did stop a demon scout ship from returning with valuable info.
User avatar
Marrowlight
Knight
Posts: 4623
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 9:22 pm
Comment: Listen very carefully, human...the fact that I even allow you to speak directly to me is a gift I bestow upon you. You do not order me. You beg for my appreciation and then wait to see if I choose to bestow it upon you.
Location: At the forefront of the War between Evil & Good.

Re: Looking for Low-Powered Heroes Unlimited Story Ideas

Unread post by Marrowlight »

LostOne wrote:I'm looking for plot ideas (both mini-adventures and long running plotlines) for a lower powered non-costumed HU game, similar to the Heroes TV show. Each character will be getting 1 major and 1 minor power, powers will be greatly limited. Very few flashy powers, etc.

I already have some of my own, but was looking for more ideas that other people would like to see in such a game.


without giving any specifics I'd suggest hitting the old 30's pulps pretty hard as a goldmine of potential ideas.
Soon I Shall Bring Forth A New Beginning, And All Shall Be Made Mighty At The Touch Of My Hand

Petty tyrants thrive when they have authority backed by vague regulations.
BillionSix
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 347
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:40 pm
Comment: All I need is a warm bed, a kind word, and unlimited power.
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Contact:

Unread post by BillionSix »

Would all the characters have super powers?

I like the idea of a detective agency. You could have a Super-Sleuth, maybe a Hardware guy, and a couple of powered people.

They could even use the standard range of powers, and not disrupt the game, since a detective game would center more on gathering information, talking to people, stuff like that. A Mega-Hero Mutant would actually be worse off in this game than a Super-Sleuth, and would advance more slowly. :)

Brian
All I need is a warm bed, a kind word and unlimited power.
DocS
Adventurer
Posts: 682
Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 1:23 pm

Unread post by DocS »

Low powered heroes?

Well, there's the 'super power serum'... It's a serum that gives minor superpowers and The Party has to find its source and stop it. It's been in many sources with many twists, but it's a useful one.

Are powers common in this world? If they are and the Party is the 'B-team', a lot can be done. So there's the MAJOR superbeing is on a rampage, and it's up to this low power bunch to stop him. There's the 'major event, but other plotline going on'. You know, Time Raider is rewriting history, but The Party is trying to stop a local mobster. The twist, they need to get the job done as all history is converging. Use the epic battle between Zardon and The Protectionaut as a setting while The Party needs to get something done. I'd run a standard 'take item from A to B', but in the middle, and epic battle breaks out for The Fate of The City, and now The Party has to navigate when two godlike beings are fighting! The more powerful and utterly beyond The Party that these beings are.... the more fun it is.

Play with corporate sponsoring. Is The Party accessible so that companies would want to sponsor them? Superman's not for sale... but Booster Gold sure is! Would they then run afoul of the teams sponsored by *other* companies? How messy can that get?

Where do the powers come from? That's also plot fodder. Do a plotline where the Party gets supercharged somehow, supercharged but can't control things. And then run an adventure where they're *trying* to lose most of their powers.

What is the tone of the adventures? Funny? Scary?
User avatar
KillWatch
Champion
Posts: 2003
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2001 2:01 am
Location: WI

Unread post by KillWatch »

um ok how about anything in your local paper?
The entire experiment may ultimately not work. But as Tiger Woods tears into the springbok, his mouth crimson with blood, he looks to have all the makings of a natural-born killer.
User avatar
MrMom
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 398
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:35 pm
Location: Troy, MI

Unread post by MrMom »

try haveing them hunt for a serial killer, they tend to be uber smart and there is always the possiblablity the PCs will get killed by the villian.
User avatar
LostOne
Champion
Posts: 2009
Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 10:29 pm

Unread post by LostOne »

BillionSix wrote:Would all the characters have super powers?

Yes.

Some good ideas since I last checked this thread, thanks everyone. Feel free to post more if anyone has more to add. The game isn't going to start for a while yet, it was postponed for a while.
"But you can't make an omelet without ruthlessly crushing dozens of eggs beneath your steel boot and then publicly disemboweling the chickens that laid them as a warning to others." -Order of the Stick #760
User avatar
Shorty Lickens
Hero
Posts: 1221
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2005 10:24 pm
Comment: Arrrrgggghhhh!
Location: Praxus

Unread post by Shorty Lickens »

I agree with some of the other posts here, have them fight normal human criminals.
It can be organized crime or a serial killer a professional assassin or something along those lines.

International intrigue is always fun.
Perhaps a frightened government has decided to form a special unit and wipe them out.

OR......
Perhaps their own government kidnaps/recruits them for experimentation, training, special ops, public relations, whatever.
http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/
Create and print dozens of different graph papers.
Locked

Return to “G.M.s Forum”