A solo superhero, but not a solo campaign [IC] [GURPS 4E]

The premise: Using touchstones from TV shows such as Arrow, Smallville, and Supergirl, this is an unequal point value game about a superhero and the people that support them and make their adventures possible. A superhero fights for justice in a city that needs it, but they need ordinary but still very talented people to help them. The characters may or may not interact or with other superheroes, but the hero has no interest in joining a team of superheroes.

Why can’t we all play Supers? Find a way to balance a high-point value GURPS campaign where everyone has wildly different powers and get back to me.

Why don’t we all just play normals? Because I’m in my superhero arc and I feel like this is a potentially interesting idea.

The world: As fantastical as the DC and Marvel universes. The hero is not the only superhero in The City, nor are you trailblazing the first era of metahumanity. Superheroes and villains have been around for all of human history, and have been in the public eye for the last hundred years. Alien invasions, interdimensional portals, underwater civilizations, wizards, and who knows what else, are part of life.

Character Restrictions
The Hero: There will be one hero with a point value of 500 points. They will be very restricted in their build, selecting a template from GURPS Supers from among Biomorph, Blaster, Improviser, Kinetic, Man Plus, Mesmerist, Metamorph, Renaissance Man, Shaper, Sifu, Speedster, Supermage (500 point advantage version only), or Techno. For these templates, remember that the disadvantages are merely suggestions, you may substitute them with anything appropriate. The hero may also take -5 points in quirks and spend them on whatever they wish.

If none of these templates fit your concept, I will consider allowing other options, such as a stripped-down Brick or a scaled-up Acrobat, Nightstalker, Phantom, Rubberman, or Superspy. If you have a concept that still doesn’t fit any of these, like an archer with a magical bow, then I will allow you more free reign in creating your character. However, you may take no more than -30 points in disadvantages and have no more than 30 points in ordinary skills, including skills that support your powers. This limit does not apply to exotic skills, cinematic skills and techniques, or wildcard skills. Ultimately, if you don’t follow a template, I will expect your character to be very well thought out mechanically with a solid theme.

The Hero's Support: There will be three to four characters who support the hero who each have a value of 250 points and may take up to -30 points in disadvantages and -5 points in quirks. They will get their time to shine by possessing skills that the hero lacks, dealing with less powerful foes while the hero is occupied elsewhere, acting as a force multiplier when the hero is outnumbered, and having access to cinematic rules and options that the hero is not allowed – the hero must rely on their powers to protect them. They will have little or no restrictions to their build, with the exception that they have no superpowers, exotic skills, or cinematic skills or techniques (cinematic advantages and wildcard skills are fine). Alternatively, you may submit a character who has up to 30 points in the above prohibited traits. I am mainly looking for normal humans, but I will consider exceptional concepts that break this rule a little bit. Sample concepts include friends on the force, intrepid reporters, spies fighting for justice, the heroes’ sidekick, vigilantes without powers, and whitehat hackers.

Game duration and post frequency: This will be an ongoing campaign. I have a lot of experience with play by post and have found that any posting requirements I might have will not survive contact with the enemy (real life), so I am generally pretty lax about this. That being said, I like to give players 48 to 72 hours to post, and then try to move on with the game regardless of whether or not everyone has had their turn or not. Exceptions and extensions will be made for those who require them due to real life circumstances. If you go for a week or longer without posting or communicating with me, you will be removed from the game and a replacement will be sought.

Specialized software and resources: All OOC communication will take place over Discord.

Player experience requirements: This game will be open to both new and experienced GURPS players. If you are new, I suggest relying on a template or coming to me or another experienced player for help with your character. Since I am new to Gamer’s Plane and have never GMed a game on it before, I would strongly prefer at least some players be experienced with the technical aspects and willing to help me.

This game would be welcoming of LGBTQ+ characters and minority or marginalized characters of all descriptions.

At this point, I just want to know if anyone would be interested in playing this game. Would you be interested even if you weren’t playing the hero? Do you have any concepts you’d like to give me an elevator pitch for, of either a superhero or their support?

It's been a while since I played GURPS and I have limited experience at that but did pay champions which I believe is similar. It has been a bit since my last supper or even contemporary campaign. I would actually prefer being the support but I wouldn't mind a bit of above normal or super ability, as per you guidelines above. I would actually prefer to have the super build first so the support around them a bit.

I'm a veteran of the site, 4 years here, and have run several games and helped others set their own up as well

Hi there,

It's been ages since I last played GURPS, and as the game advertised by WhtKnt seems to be on hold, I'd be in for this one.

I would also prefer a support role, and I'm thinking about the inventor/gadgeteer/weird scientist who supplies the Hero with all the gadgets he needs for special situations. He could also give support in action scenes where there are too many minions and the Hero needs help. Like operating some big piece of tech, or commanding a swarm of robots.

That concept probably will probably work a lot better as a 500 point hero who uses all those cool gadgets himself.

Well, my idea was more Q from James Bond than Tony Stark/Iron man. But I guess both could work. :-)

You'd probably need about 1,000 points to build a guy in power armor that's in any way credible. A guy that produces tech, invents things cinematically, and controls robots would probably best be built on 500 points, and there's even a perfect template for it in the Techno.

You could still build a tech support staff for 250. I assume that's what gnomius meant.

I have a couple thoughts including a minor psychic gift for danger sense and other low level psi tricks (30 or less) as a supplement to an information and security agent but was planning on holding off on any fixed plans till the super joined the team

That's a good concept. As far as recruiting goes, I was thinking of letting everyone submit both a hero and support concept and then just picking whichever hero concept I liked best and thought would fit in best with the support concepts.

Ultimately though, there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in this so far. I did figure it was a long shot.

Hehe, have faith, only 2 days have passed! (and also people tend to be less active on weekend)

Worst case, if it's only the two of us interested, we can just play the classic Hero + sidekick story, if you feel like it. Not the same concept you had thought, though.

There is shockingly little activity on the site on weekends. I suspect most people hijack their work computers to do the bulk of their gaming. Shameful! Looks around in fear of being called out.

I came here to offer a Karen Page to a Daredevil, but if there are no eager haha in the supe, then:

GOSHAWKSUBJECT: "GOSHAWK" — REAL NAME UNKNOWN
KNOWN ALIASES: Verner Haus, Maximilian Mansion, Petr Osabnyak
CLASSIFICATION: ULTRA-BLACK
Subject is a deniable asset believed to have been recruited through the now-discontinued LARKSPUR Initiative, though all official documentation has been purged or sealed under Tier-7 compartmentalization. Field reports indicate Goshawk exhibits reflex latency and threat-processing speed beyond known human baselines, potentially the result of neurochemical conditioning performed prior to age twelve. Operational footprints across Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the South Pacific show a consistent pattern of precise, non-attributable neutralizations targeting hostile state actors and rogue paramilitary entities. Notably, subject has demonstrated a recurring tendency to eliminate secondary assets deemed "compromised," suggesting fractured loyalty to any controlling authority.

Recent intelligence places Goshawk in intermittent contact with former LARKSPUR handlers presumed dead or off-grid since the Lisbon Breach. Multiple agencies, domestic and foreig, have attempted interdiction, all unsuccessful. Surveillance imagery suggests the subject is operating independently under an unknown mission profile, potentially tied to the disappearance of three high-level cryptographers from the Voltaic Array security project. The subject should be considered extremely dangerous, tactically adaptive, and capable of complete environmental control within ninety seconds of insertion. Engage only with full authorization and contingency protocols in place; failure to do so is assessed at RED-LEVEL fatality probability.

This would be a Man Plus build, in the way of Jason Bourne or BlackWidow.

Penny Larkin
Penny Larkin, age 27, serves as the administrative assistant assigned to Redacted's civilian cover office, handling scheduling, correspondence, procurement requests, and personnel liaison duties. She's largely been unaware of her employer's real identity, and she has a nearly ingrained ability at interpreting irregular travel patterns, vague deadlines, and high-security communications as eccentricities of a demanding consultancy firm. She is meticulous, disarmingly cheerful, and adept at navigating bureaucratic chaos, traits which, unintentionally, have made her essential in maintaining the strange requests her job demands. However, beneath her play-along attitude, she's nearly come to terms that she may be involved in things that are not strictly legal, and that wakes her up at night, shivering.

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Oh, and I've been here a long time, never take breaks from the site, and usually only post on evenings and weekends. I've played GURPS 4e once, but have a vast experience in game systems and learn them quickly.

Ironically, you're the only one that's talked about playing a super seriously, and I find your support concept far more compelling.

I agree actually. After I posted it I thought - it's really not that super, and more action hero.

I can run the hero but would tie my system inexperience into the character by making them a displaced Outsider of some kind. A magical hero pulled to the reality ofthe game setting or an alien with immense but foreign technology are the two bar concepts I can work with. IRL is crazy for me so any serious designing would need to wait till the end out this week.

I mean, GURPS doesn't have a setting, it's short for Generic Universal Role-Playing System and it's designed to be used from any setting from medieval fantasy to weird west. So it doesn't really matter how familiar your character is with a setting I haven't even fully defined yet.

Still, going by a super template instead of building your character from scratch is probably a good move for a newbie. GURPS is a crunchy, heavily complicated system that I only run when I just need to move away from the rules-light systems I prefer and completely nerd out.

Now the wheels are turning for a psychedelic shaman superhero, based on Sámi mythologies. A literal reincarnation of Tiermes.

Why have you done this to me?

Because unplanned Chaos is more fun 😊

Yeah I would probably use a template, but I prefer to understand my characters a bit and going through the creation process is a good way for me to internalize and personalize

And if I design the character simple enough it doesn't matter what I know and what you do, they are still foreign and may not know how things work. Ex : alternate reality with different magic or laws of physics so their powers do not work the way they are familiar with. However their code of honor or mission has driven them to the service as a hero

@morphling

Ok so I have something ideating. Call it the marinating phase.

I see him being a counter cultural superhero, like a DJ who throws illegal raves for self promotion and uses his music as a form of suggestion to get people to be better. Like posthypnotic suggestions via emotion in the dance hall.

I like the idea that he guides the ready and willing through the Hero's Journey. Perhaps this is how he met the support.

And I am kicking around the idea that he either reincarnates as himself or he is an ancient. Like a Cro-Magnon shaman who became a quasi-diety.

Any suggestions from the list of heroes? I must define the superhero before thinking of his support.

Mesmerist is probably what you're looking for, or perhaps Improviser (which has a magical option) or Supermage.

However, I think I'm calling it at this point unless there is suddenly more interest in the next day or two. Either the concept isn't interesting enough or there just aren't enough players around who are interested in learning/playing GURPS. In the next couple of days, I'll present the forum with a different GURPS concept to see which it is, it will have everyone at an equal point value and be a Monster Hunter game about extraordinary humans who hunt vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night. If that sounds interesting to anyone, stay tuned.

Sad but understandable. Hard to deal with lack of engagement.