Thinking Out Loud: Big Hero 6 Versus the 7 Guns

I really should get around to doing a "Superhero Media" on Black Summer, but for those who don't know, it's an indy graphic novel written by Warren Ellis, in which a cadre of university students develop technology to give them the super powers they need to strike back at the corrupt private police force who have a strangle-hold on their city. In Big Hero 6, a cadre of university students develop their experimental technology into superhero suits to avenge the death of their friend. Chicken and egg time, is Big Hero 6 the family-friendly Black Summer or is Black Summer the gritty and brutal Big Hero 6? Well, neither, really, as the two only have superficial commonalities, but it's kind of fun to compare and contrast the two works. For my money, Big Hero 6 is the better effort, if only because Black Summer was written as a response to the Bush Administration's handling of the War on Terror, so is pretty ranty and agenda-driven in sections. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Ellis is better when working for a big studio, where he has some editorial oversight. 

The core concept of both works, that super powers aren't given, but are made through ingenuity and research, is one that I really like, and feel could really have legs in your own narrative, be it miniatures or an RPG. More and more school-leavers are moving into tertiary education and, in my personal experience, most roleplayers are the kind to have at least dropped out of university, if not wasted too many years on postgraduate qualifications like myself, so a game where the players start as students would have plenty of near-universal themes. This idea is a great way to introduce powers to a setting that previously didn't have them as well, as I've met a few people for whom this mechanical detail, which I tend to find rather trivial, is hugely important in designing an original setting. For a more collaborative approach, literally having the players in the group set what the technology level is and how powers work through their original characters lets people be the arbiters on their own limits. Got that one killjoy in your group who insists that one particular thing never works? Make him happy by setting that limit in the technology from the get-go. 

The options for tone in this approach should be pretty obvious, if only due to the two works I've chosen to demonstrate it. Yes, Big Hero 6 is probably a little twee and light-hearted for most wargamers and roleplayers, but I'd argue that Black Summer is probably a bit too grimdark for the kind of game I'd really want to play. The "society is so bad we need to take up arms and kill cops for justice" concept has some potential, and whilst I could see running it from an ANTIFA angle, I'd be worried that it would be like running a Vampire: The Masquerade game where the group loses sight of the intended point and just starts reveling in murder and mayhem. A balance between the kind of youthful optimism that drives you into postgrad study and the brutal reality that makes otherwise sane young people develop super-suits is pretty much were I'd want this to sit. I have no plans for any games along this line anytime in the near future, but if you decide to give it a go, please let me know, chuck a link in the comments or whatever.