[DNAwesome] Setting so far...

[dindenver]

Will,
  You and I are on the same track. I have been pondering how to hand wave money out of the system (like a hero can pay the rent, even get a new car when they need one without having to track that resource or make a roll). And I have been trying to come up with a way to do something just like that (sponsorship, etc), but without the irony/comedy...

  Any ideas?

[chronoplasm]

Badguys make a lot of money from drug pushing and stuff, right? Maybe when the superheroes beat up the supervillains they steal their wallets?

[Will]

How I would approach it would be to add two tracks being effected by the heroes antics, their popularity and their resources.

So now not only are they trying to make the world better and safer they are also trying to look good doing it. Resources could be used like a power to aid in resolving problems, but decreases when used (how many batcopters have to crash before Brucie begins to feel the pinch in his wallet?). Still thinking through how popularity could be used but I see it being gained through victory and lost through defeat... or maybe gained through public victory but spent in defeat to reduce ill effects?

Good PR could boost popularity at a cost of resources, sponsorship could do the reverse (who respects the hero with a pepsico patch more then the one doing it out of honor?)

[chronoplasm]

Some, like my example Al-Shaitan Al-Akbar, could have government backing? (Not that Al-Shaitan needs it, because he's a djinn. He pees oil. )
Maybe some heroes do promotions? Like Kool-Aid Man.
Maybe some take donations via paypal?

[dindenver]

Will,
  The thing to remember with this mechanics is, you buy the effects you want with the points you generate during Challenge resolution. If you want gobs of money, you buy it. The concern I want to cover for the players is: I need to survive. In other words, every PC in this game doesn't have to worry about: Rent, bills, car, health insurance, taxes, salary, etc. Unless they want to, the questions is, why?

So, the spectrum would be like this:
Rich Super Power: Can buy the world 10 times over (You are so rich, you can literally buy a solution to save the world and still have that much more money)
Rich Power: Can buy the world (this is super human after all. You are so rich, you can literally buy a solution to save the city and still have that much more money)
Rich Ability (Gates-like wealth)
No Rich Trait: Comfortable, doesn't have to worry about survival/bills
Mark of Poverty: Can survive, but never has any spare money
Poor Weakness: Lack of money is actually preventing them from saving the city
Super Poor Weakness: Lack of money could stop them from saving the world

  Everything in this spread is covered by the current Mechanics except "No Trait". That is what I have to cover with the setting (I think).

Kevin,
  I like the idea of a paypal link or something. Its modern, and doesn't have any irony/stigma attached to it like nascar-like corporate sponsorship does.

  I'll ruminate on that further and see where it takes me.

  The idea I had was local sponsorship. Like his Realtor covers his mortgage, as long as they can say SuperGuy is a proud sponsor, etc. It works, but it has the danger of ballooning into full-blown corporate sponsorship or just being silly. what do you think?

[chronoplasm]

Yeah, I don't like the idea of sponsorships, local or corporate, so much.
Merchandise could be cool though. Maybe some supers sell hats and t-shirts through their websites? Thats what I'd do if I were a super hero (or villain).

I could also see super-powered fighting tournaments in such a setting. I know it's a bit cliche (pretty much every anime that I've ever seen has had at least one season devoted to some kind of fighting tournament). It would be a good way for supers to make money though and it could make for some good campaigns. It's formulaic, but it's a fairly solid formula.

[dindenver]

Kevin,
  That is an awesome idea for an adventure hook. but I will figure out a way to incorporate that into a rumor/adventure hook/setting element.
  But, for the "no wealth trait character", I really want basic finances to be a handwave-type situation. In other words, there is nothing to track to pay rent, buy clothes, care, insurance, etc.
  The game is not about that and I don't want play to get side tracked in it, you know?

[chronoplasm]

Yeah.
Question:
Do you think it would side track things too much to have stuff in the game for internet based conflict and interaction? That is, if a super has a website and a paypal account to make a little money, their site is bound to get hacked at some point by villains or something? Or maybe somebody spams or trolls their forums? Or maybe the superheroes get into a flame war?
I know it's not a cyberpunk game or anything, but I think it might be important to address just in case somebody does want to play a character with technoempathy or the ability to enter cyberspace or something.

[dindenver]

Kevin,
  That is an EXCELLENT example of a Mental Chalenge (how did he hack my site and how do I fix it and prevent it from getting hacked again?)!
  And the flamewars might be a good social challenge that is not face-to-face, no?

  Its not cyberpunk, but it is modern and no one can deny that computers are a part of daily life for many people, right?

  Thanks for the strong example!

[Ken]

Dave-

Setting sounds cool. Not sure if you've ever played, or read Aberrant by White Wolf but it shares some surface thoughts on the whole "heroes and celebrities" thing. It also has kind of "Heroes" thing going on there. I think the real world as a setting has a lot of room for different hero styles; you can fit in the normal guy doing right with his powers while he's off work, the celebs with merchandising and flashy outfits, the comic book posers who don cape and mask when they use their powers, and even super powered law enforcement & military. Should make for an interesting setting.

Good luck,

Ken

[dindenver]

Ken,
  Thanks for checking it out. Aberrant keeps coming up in my posts. I guess I will have to check it out. If only to make sure I'm different somehow.
  Yeah, the idea is, I really want the players to be able to identify with the characters.