I know essentially no one but me is a fan of these articles, but I do enjoy writing them, and my follower numbers aren't so huge that I really worry about revenue or anything. The idea is pretty simple, here's another list of cities/towns/general locations which would be good for your superhero gaming as settings. There are a few reasons for wanting to do this, aside from not having the baggage of an existing superhero setting, like not having to make everything from scratch, being able to download online maps and resources and setting tone through location. Even if you do want to play in an existing setting, as will be discussed below, maybe being in Marvel New York or Gotham is just too tied up with continuity and being "off to the side", as it were, will be helpful. I personally find that moving to the locales not hit by the big events is a massive help when playing in the Marvel or DC sandbox myself.
Miskatonic University
Ok, so hear me out on this one. Run a Big Hero 6/Black Summer style game where all the heroes are university postgrads working on super-technology, but the antagonists are from the Lovecraft Mythos. Doesn't that sound cool? A bit like Cthulhu Tech, but superheroes and more modern-day. Or just run a university-based superhero team and leave the Lovecraft angle hanging to annoy your players? New England is lovely after all. Plus if you're roleplaying, there is simply tonnes of information and maps of the University and the area already, meaning you can skip quite a bit of preparation and dive right in.
Knowhere
Probably more known now as the mining colony in Guardians of the Galaxy, the Knowhere of the comics is actually even more interesting and a great base for a superhero team, as the comics demonstrate. Knowhere is a repository of Universal Knowledge, essentially a giant library and tech cave just waiting for the kind of players actually smart enough to research their targets and prepare plans. There's teleportation facilities for away missions and Cosmo the space dog is chief of security, so throw in some lost technology and you can end up with a much different vibe for your Marvel Universe game than you'll get working out of Avengers' Mansion.
Scrapyard
I may have mixed feelings about the "Alita" franchise, but the city of Scrapyard is really cool and worth a good look. Underneath a floating wonder-city of lost technology, scavengers and cyborgs compete for the chance to move to the world above whilst surviving on the garbage that is thrown down. Whilst the concept of 'superheroes' doesn't usually enter this world, it is primed for for exactly that kind of action, with a corrupt government, plenty of street gangs and a massive criminal empire that a rag-tag group of heroes could happily rail against. The setting introduces a great deal of future technology, but is also primitive in many ways, which a clever Game Master will be able to utilise to tell some great stories.
Paris
Look, maybe just run the game in Paris? This may feel like a cop-out, but trust me I'm going somewhere with it. Yes, I'm something of a Francophile and, yes, I really enjoy Miraculous, but I think Paris, or a version of it, has a lot to recommend as a setting. Despite not being strongly associated with superheroes, Paris is at least home to Nightrunner, Ladybug and Chat Noir, and, if you're not playing modern day, Les Hommes Mysterioux. Not being an American city provides a great change of tone and there is a huge history to the city that is lacking in the New World, such as a series of catacombs beneath the streets in which entire societies live, plenty of landmarks and museums and even slummy tower blocks for villains to recruit from. For a different look at the city, check out the District B-13 films or some early Luc Besson crime dramas; you may find some fun ideas for your next game.
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