More Game Design Questions: What Are The Quintessential Superhero Stories?

poshniallo

You were all so helpful when I asked questions about the Avengers that I decided to ask more dumb questions!

Some background: In this card game I'm making, there is a type of card called Memories or Experiences or something similar. They represent events in the hero's life which, in the end, increase the hero's power or emotional reserves. They might be some training, a superhero-esque event such as having your powers suddenly increase, or a mundane event such as having a child.

The cards have to be:

(a) An event or experience which, once dealt with, makes the hero stronger in some way (wisdom, bravery, empathy, intelligence etc are in the game system as well as being physically powerful). This part is not too difficult to do - most difficult experiences can be portrayed as positive if you try hard, e.g. A Comrade Falls - A fellow hero falls in battle. Afterwards, the memory of their sacrifice sustains you in a life-threatening situation.

(b) Generic, Quintessential Superhero Tropes. This is the harder part. These cards have to try and sum up superhero stories, and this is the main reason I'm here asking for help. What have I missed? What am I including that I shouldn't be?

There are 4 types: Hero Life, Home Life, Crises, and Training. 10 cards in each.

The card names (provisional, don't worry about the wording, just the trope they represent) are:

Hero Life:
A Comrade Falls
Romance With A Fellow Hero
Romance with A Villain
Temporary Power Loss
Temporary Power Boost
Alien Encounter
Time Travel Encounter
Brainwashed/Mind Controlled
Duplicated/Cloned.
Near-Death Experience

Home Life:
Wedding Bells
It's Over/Divorce
A True Friend/A Friend In Need
Death In The Family
Losing a Friend
One Peaceful Day
A Child is Born
New Romance
Public/Secret ID Clash
A Pure Clear Good Memory

Training:
Endurance Training
Willpower Training
Strategy Training
Defensive Combat Style
All-Out Attack
Research
Outnumbered and Alone
Stealth/Wetwork
Courage Under Fire
Danger Room Malfunction

Crises/Troubles:
Drugs
Drink
Bad Romance
Secret ID In Danger
Crippling Injury
The Lure Of Power
Greed
Anger Management
Crossing The Line
Crisis Of Faith
Turning To Evil


So, any biggies I've missed? Thanks in advance.

WiseManTobes

Ressurection, both the ability of it ( to return a character to life) and the aftermath, a character that can remember being dead. ( could cause either fear of death, or the reverse)
Team stuff for training? could lead to solo/team abilities

A game reset type ability, or a removal ability , called Retcon would be funny I think.

Bogart

You've got a lot on there, and most of the ones that are occuring to me off the top of my head are already covered. How about:

Crisis
My Whole Life Is A Lie! Find out you're actually a robot or something sent to kill Superguy.
Framed! Doctor Douchebag put you in the picture for the murder of orphan Annie.
Crossover!

Home Life
Family/Friend taken Hostage

Hero Life
Team-Up. You join forces with the Amazing Plant-Dude.

Wildcat

How about 'Not So Different, You and I' in the Crises section?

Solar

One classic that I always really liked is less a single story and more of a bunch of stories as an arc. I call it the "Someone's Behind it All." You know, when all the villains and plots and emotional issues and so on all pile up and start dragging the hero down, exhausting him physically and mentally, so that the ultimate villain can launch his master strike that he has been building up to for, like, 30 issues.

poshniallo

Solar wrote:

One classic that I always really liked is less a single story and more of a bunch of stories as an arc. I call it the "Someone's Behind it All." You know, when all the villains and plots and emotional issues and so on all pile up and start dragging the hero down, exhausting him physically and mentally, so that the ultimate villain can launch his master strike that he has been building up to for, like, 30 issues.

That's interesting, but I need to make all of them have a positive side for the heroes. I have a 'Mastermind villain' mechanic in the game.

What could the upside of 'Someone's Behind It All' be?

poshniallo

Wildcat wrote:

How about 'Not So Different, You and I' in the Crises section?

You mean when the hero realises (perhaps due to the villain's rhetoric) that they are similar?

poshniallo

Bogart wrote:

You've got a lot on there, and most of the ones that are occuring to me off the top of my head are already covered. How about:

Crisis
My Whole Life Is A Lie! Find out you're actually a robot or something sent to kill Superguy.
Framed! Doctor Douchebag put you in the picture for the murder of orphan Annie.
Crossover!

Home Life
Family/Friend taken Hostage

Hero Life
Team-Up. You join forces with the Amazing Plant-Dude.

Team-Up gave me a clever idea for a card special ability. Thanks.

The others are cool too. I remember that I never saw The Man-Thing except in team-ups.

Bogart

poshniallo wrote:

Solar wrote:

One classic that I always really liked is less a single story and more of a bunch of stories as an arc. I call it the "Someone's Behind it All." You know, when all the villains and plots and emotional issues and so on all pile up and start dragging the hero down, exhausting him physically and mentally, so that the ultimate villain can launch his master strike that he has been building up to for, like, 30 issues.

That's interesting, but I need to make all of them have a positive side for the heroes. I have a 'Mastermind villain' mechanic in the game.

What could the upside of 'Someone's Behind It All' be?

You're unmasking the mastermind! Getting to the bottom of his nefarious plots!

poshniallo

Bogart wrote:

poshniallo wrote:

Solar wrote:

One classic that I always really liked is less a single story and more of a bunch of stories as an arc. I call it the "Someone's Behind it All." You know, when all the villains and plots and emotional issues and so on all pile up and start dragging the hero down, exhausting him physically and mentally, so that the ultimate villain can launch his master strike that he has been building up to for, like, 30 issues.

That's interesting, but I need to make all of them have a positive side for the heroes. I have a 'Mastermind villain' mechanic in the game.

What could the upside of 'Someone's Behind It All' be?

You're unmasking the mastermind! Getting to the bottom of his nefarious plots!

Ah - I can think of a game way to effectively make a Mastermind become more like a normal villain. That might be the special power of a card like that!

Interesting.

Solar

Yeah, "Someone's Behind It All" could be the hero's moment of clarity, when he realises what is going on, and decides to head straight for the source. The Mastermind is revealed and can be struck at like an ordinary foe.

Wildcat

poshniallo wrote:

Wildcat wrote:

How about 'Not So Different, You and I' in the Crises section?

You mean when the hero realises (perhaps due to the villain's rhetoric) that they are similar?

Exactly!

Jacobkosh

What about the old saw where two heroes or teams of heroes meet, mistake each other for the villains/jewel thieves/whatever, and fight for a bit before teaming up to take on the real culprit?

Government registration/bureaucratic meddling is always a good one. This sort of thing:



I don't know if you're looking for team stuff, but "The Old Order Changeth!" is always a perennial. If the card has artwork, it should be like one of those covers with all the floating heads and question marks. A whole new team! Who will go?! Who will stay?!

Jacobkosh

Oh! "Smeared in the Press." I guess that might be too close to "Framed," but maybe not?

Crimson King

I'm actually doing something like this for my honours thesis. There's a guy called Vladimir Propp who wrote a book breaking Russian fairytales down into their most basic narrative elements, and I'm taking the same methodological approach to superhero comics.

So what you're basically looking for is those events which recur in superhero stories, quite independent of theme or character or whatever?

The obvious one is Death and Rebirth. This is classic hero's-journey stuff, every superhero dies and comes back to life at some point. Other good ones; Approach Mentor? Confront Alternate Self? Redeem Old Foe? Defeat Nemesis? Save The World?

Bogart

Or how about Gets Shitty Writer! The hero has to immediately swap all his cards for another set of cards, signifying the fact that he's now acting completely different.

Matev

Origin Story naturally!

WiseManTobes

"Someone's behind it all", could start it's own side event, hero vs villian, with various buffs/debuffs for a kinda sidegame 1 on 1 battle for all the marbles ( is this a person vs person game, or more of a solitaire style?)