There are a few elements that are important in a good "Super-city", not just the presence of heroes and villains, but also a decent reason for them to be there. Think Batman trying to save the city he grew up in, the Avengers operating out of NYC because that's where Tony Stark lives or Robocop being in the most crime-ridden city in the USA. When crafting an RPG, I also like to have interesting areas for players to explore in "downtime", or that provide origins for antagonists or henchmen. Anything that makes the city more interesting to game in and more "real" need to be considered.
Naturally, building such a city "from scratch" is rather time-intensive and requires a great deal of explanation to players; but there is another option. Plenty of "Superhero Media" provides example cities and settings that are ripe for use, but also are 'open' enough to let game runners flesh out parts for themselves. I've been keeping track of a few of these, just in case I find myself in need of them, so I thought it would be of interest to some if I shared them here.
Neo Yokio (Neo Yokio)
I actually enjoyed this American Netflix anime, but I do get why it didn't have a broad appeal. Yes, the characters are annoying and their attitudes grate, but that's the point. People got that, right? That the viewer is meant to find the protagonist irritating? Anyway, the real star of the show is the city itself, a heady mix of New York, Kyoto and Vienna with plenty of Paris and Hong Kong thrown in for effect. The lives of the wealthy and poor are sharply divided in Neo Yokio, with palatial mansions and apartments kept separate from walled-off slums and ghettos, culture focuses on the "top end" of town, with media kept away from anything that will distract from the lives of the rich and famous the wealth divide is only felt more keenly by those on the wrong end.
There's plenty of scope for story in this city, even without the ghost and exorcist elements. What happens when a hero with a secret identity ends up on the Bachelor Board? Will a masked vigilante arise to combat the gangs in the slums only to find themselves in conflict with the police? I want to see what other stories there are to be found in Neo Yokio.
There's plenty of scope for story in this city, even without the ghost and exorcist elements. What happens when a hero with a secret identity ends up on the Bachelor Board? Will a masked vigilante arise to combat the gangs in the slums only to find themselves in conflict with the police? I want to see what other stories there are to be found in Neo Yokio.
Essentially a post-Katrina New Orleans, New Marais is the setting of inFamous 2, a superhero video game that I really enjoyed. I was actually working on a supers campaign set in the city for an RPG, but the group broke up and the notes were lost. New Marais itself is a great place to set a game, with areas relatively untouched by the hurricane and some neighborhoods underwater. As well as survivors and rescuers, police trying to hold the city together, doomsday cultists and newly-minted super-humans stalk the streets, each following their own agenda. For a number of reasons, New Marais would make a great city to set a game in which super-humans are a new phenomenon, where players can decide who their own goals to work towards. Being a popular video game, there is plenty of information about New Marais online, including maps, pictures and descriptions of important locations and major NPCs.
I spoke to someone once wanting to run a game set in Gotham City, but wondering how to get around the "Batman problem"; namely, why bother having any other superheroes in a city where Batman is running around? The solution to wanting to run a Batman style game without the presence of Batman is Bluhaven, Gotham's sister city, home of Nightwing and filled with just as many gangsters and mafioso's. Finding resources on Bludhaven can be a little tricky because the city has really gone through the wringer in the comics on occasion, even to the point of being destroyed by Chemo so that Intergang could access a secret government bunker beneath the city. That's a route you can go, if you like, but for me, the appeal of Bludhaven is having a city to run around in without all the established baggage of Gotham. Perhaps Nightwing is happy to have help where Batman would be antagonistic? Perhaps a major villain has just moved into town, thinking it may be easy pickings? Perhaps The Justice League has come recruiting and Nightwing needs someone to watch the city in his absence? Plenty of ideas that would work here.
An alternate version of San Fransisco with a much heavier Japanese influence, San Fran Sokoyo is a great setting for supers gaming for many reasons beyond the visual element and fun nomenclature. The level of technology is such that people can build elaborate robots to fight in gambling dens, which helps facilitate super-powers a lot better than many real-world cities. Also, there is a problem with illegal gambling so bad the the police do regular raids, in a Disney film? Why does this never come up? There's your criminal underbelly right there, a character like Kingpin, Black Mask or Machine Head could rise out of that situation pretty easily. The history of the city could come into play, like how did the population react to the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII? Presumably there was a large population of Japanese people in a city named San Fran Sokoyo. Real life San Fransisco can provide inspiration as well, with the tech sector, Spanish influence and liberal political leanings. Mexican emigre gang-bangers fighting in the poor districts saying "sayonara, ese" as they shoot someone is a pretty unique tableau. As with Neo Yokio above, there is plenty to explore here of genuine interest.
Also interesting for the setting in which the city floats, a massive, airborne, futuristic Tokyo is always going to add a unique flavour to your superhero games. A post-needs society where most of the manual labor is handled by robots, ruled by a conservative elite that fearmongers to stay in power and develop unnecessary weapons to fight a group of scavengers in a wasteland. Man, I should have given this a better review on that basis alone. Even without the presence of Astro Boy, there is plenty of scope for heroes and adventures in Metro City, from renegade robots (shades of Magnus, robot fighter)to enslaved artificial intelligence struggling to be free (think Vision), throw in corrupt government and police and you have a great deal to work with. Are cyborgs a privileged elite, or a downtrodden underclass? You can decide, or let your players to see what happens.
Hope there's some inspiration there for budding game masters or experienced ones to get your own games up and running. Remember, even if a piece of media isn't that great, it doesn't mean that you can't find some inspiration in it for your own tabletop adventures.
Hope there's some inspiration there for budding game masters or experienced ones to get your own games up and running. Remember, even if a piece of media isn't that great, it doesn't mean that you can't find some inspiration in it for your own tabletop adventures.
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