Look! Up in the sky!
Apr. 8th, 2007 09:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreI was thinking about super-hero worlds, and relative power levels. There was a post in one of the SJG forums about basing the number of metahumans on economic data (which was interesting and kept the American/European-centric feel of most comics alive) but it didn't address the power levels.
I've worked out a scale for the distribution of power levels. How many Supermen are there going to be compared to Robins?
Level 0: Baseline human. This are the normals. They can be extremely talented but lack the advantage of a metahuman trait.
Level I: Slight talent. Most of these folks don't know they even posses a metahuman trait. Their advantages are very slight and not obvious to the observer. I'd put The Punisher in this category. He could take punches to the head from Spiderman (who can lift ten tons) with no ill effects. He obviously possessed some unusual abilities in the damage resistance and healing areas. This group makes up 50% of all metahumans.
Level II: Moderate talent. At this level, the metahuman trait is obvious and extends beyond the abilities of normal people. Most level II's possess a single meta-talent, like controlling plants, telekinesis, or extreme strength. This also includes those metas with extreme levels of physical development coupled with high levels of training. Poison Ivy, Nightwing, and Iron Fist are good examples of this group. 25 percent of all metahumans fall into this group. They make up the "street" heroes.
Level III: Strong talent: These are the true superheroes (and villains) of the setting. They possess multiple metatraits that allow them to perform actions far beyond anything a normal could do. Flight, damage resistance, unusual energy effects, physical abilities that defy normal biological limitations, these are the marks of a level III. Most of this group have a set of powers grouped around a single theme. The Flash, The X-Men, Captain Britain all fall into this category. 15% of metahumans are this powerful.
Level IV: Extreme talent: At this point the metahuman in question can perform feats like lifting oil tankers out of the water, fly at FTL, and withstand almost any damage. They are the champions of the city and can single handedly handle most threats. Green Lantern, Dr. Fate, The Fantastic Four, Thor are all Level IV. Only 8% of metas reach this level.
Level V: Ultimate talent: Metahumans at this level are less people than forces of nature. There is very little they cannot do, and are nearly impossible to harm. Their powers are godlike to most people. They defend the world, if not reality, from threats. Superman, Dr. Strange, The Spectre, Adam Warlock, and the Hulk all reach this level. 2% of metas are Level V
I figure that the ratio of heroes to villains will be 40%/60% (hey, those rogues galleries have to come from somewhere!) The original article had New York City (and surrounding areas) supporting about 95 metahumans. Let's plug in the numbers
Level I: 48 metahumans. 19 heroes, 29 villains
Level II: 24 metahumans. 10 heroes, 14 villains
Level III: 14 metahumans. 6 heroes, 8 villains
Level IV: 8 metahumans. 3 heroes, 5 villains
Level V: 2 metahumans. 1 hero, 1 villain
Note that this makes no attempt to discern where the power comes from. Weird alien jewelerly given out by dying spacemen, bitten by radioactive voles, super-science, it doesn't matter.
And you just know when those two Level V metas face off, it's bad news.
I've worked out a scale for the distribution of power levels. How many Supermen are there going to be compared to Robins?
Level 0: Baseline human. This are the normals. They can be extremely talented but lack the advantage of a metahuman trait.
Level I: Slight talent. Most of these folks don't know they even posses a metahuman trait. Their advantages are very slight and not obvious to the observer. I'd put The Punisher in this category. He could take punches to the head from Spiderman (who can lift ten tons) with no ill effects. He obviously possessed some unusual abilities in the damage resistance and healing areas. This group makes up 50% of all metahumans.
Level II: Moderate talent. At this level, the metahuman trait is obvious and extends beyond the abilities of normal people. Most level II's possess a single meta-talent, like controlling plants, telekinesis, or extreme strength. This also includes those metas with extreme levels of physical development coupled with high levels of training. Poison Ivy, Nightwing, and Iron Fist are good examples of this group. 25 percent of all metahumans fall into this group. They make up the "street" heroes.
Level III: Strong talent: These are the true superheroes (and villains) of the setting. They possess multiple metatraits that allow them to perform actions far beyond anything a normal could do. Flight, damage resistance, unusual energy effects, physical abilities that defy normal biological limitations, these are the marks of a level III. Most of this group have a set of powers grouped around a single theme. The Flash, The X-Men, Captain Britain all fall into this category. 15% of metahumans are this powerful.
Level IV: Extreme talent: At this point the metahuman in question can perform feats like lifting oil tankers out of the water, fly at FTL, and withstand almost any damage. They are the champions of the city and can single handedly handle most threats. Green Lantern, Dr. Fate, The Fantastic Four, Thor are all Level IV. Only 8% of metas reach this level.
Level V: Ultimate talent: Metahumans at this level are less people than forces of nature. There is very little they cannot do, and are nearly impossible to harm. Their powers are godlike to most people. They defend the world, if not reality, from threats. Superman, Dr. Strange, The Spectre, Adam Warlock, and the Hulk all reach this level. 2% of metas are Level V
I figure that the ratio of heroes to villains will be 40%/60% (hey, those rogues galleries have to come from somewhere!) The original article had New York City (and surrounding areas) supporting about 95 metahumans. Let's plug in the numbers
Level I: 48 metahumans. 19 heroes, 29 villains
Level II: 24 metahumans. 10 heroes, 14 villains
Level III: 14 metahumans. 6 heroes, 8 villains
Level IV: 8 metahumans. 3 heroes, 5 villains
Level V: 2 metahumans. 1 hero, 1 villain
Note that this makes no attempt to discern where the power comes from. Weird alien jewelerly given out by dying spacemen, bitten by radioactive voles, super-science, it doesn't matter.
And you just know when those two Level V metas face off, it's bad news.
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no subject
Date: 8 Apr 2007 16:34 (UTC)no subject
Date: 8 Apr 2007 21:16 (UTC)no subject
Date: 8 Apr 2007 22:19 (UTC)I doubt this would be used in game, it's more a world-building tool to determine the distribution of supers worldwide. I am pleased that NYC came out far less crowded than the Marvel version.
no subject
Date: 16 Apr 2007 15:19 (UTC)Plug the numbers in (without reference to the original work...just a straight percentage) and the reason the Marvel universe NYC is so crowded becomes apparent...
With roughly 82,000 people in the US (0.0002% of 301,624,039) at Class I and above, NYC probably retains it's "Starlet attracting" status...
*pictures a young girl getting on a bus in Iowa, suitcase in hand, dreaming of being famous someday...*
Should there be more Supers waiting tables and hoping for their big break?
...and why isn't L.A. as popular? It's just as big... It is more spread out, however... I'd imagine there's a higher percentage of Supers who can fly (or otherwise move really really fast to where they're needed) in L.A. as compared to New York...
Very Cool Tier IV
Date: 9 Apr 2007 14:59 (UTC)Very cool stuff. and I like your classifications/distribution. Yeah I figure there's some squabbling with where they lie, but without getting into the 17 classifications (or whatever) of Marvel SuperHeroes, it's a general grouping.
I wonder if you accounted for power growth, with them, as they may grow either within their field or even jump to the next tier. (my reasoning is that people will get knocked off, and nature hates a void, so you'll either have more powerful meta's being born, or promoted (ala slayers in the buffy-verse )
Re: Very Cool Tier IV
Date: 10 Apr 2007 00:01 (UTC)A good example would be Static Shock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_Shock). In the present he's a teenager just getting control of, and discovering the extent of, his powers. 40 years down the road we learn that Stitic is concidered Earth's most powerful hero.
no subject
Date: 11 Apr 2007 23:55 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Apr 2007 03:09 (UTC)The reason I went for the ratio I did was to allow for heroes to have a variety of "regulars" who keep showing up, and to make it hard for the heroes.
Besides, I have a dim view of human nature, and am pretty sure that if most people were granted superpowers, they'd be off and running for the nearest bank to rob it.
no subject
Date: 12 Apr 2007 03:15 (UTC)