D20 Superhero Group

[Beardliest]

Hey everyone. Long time since last posting here. Used to have another account, but lost it.

So, anyway, soon me and my best friends are starting a superhero campaign. We have 6 people, me and someone else in that group are co-DMing to help alleviate tension as well as give everyone a chance to be a hero and keep the story going well. We are using a combination of D20 Aberrant, Future, Modern, and the PhoenixProject to make everyone's characters.

The group is composed of
1. A super strong alien with four arms, super strength and senses, adaptation to survive in space and underwater, and a transforming weapon
2. Wild Tiger from the Tiger & Bunny anime (early not late)
3. A male version of Raven
4. A military robot powerful enough to take out a tank or three
5. The soul of Gilgamesh (from the Epic) in an amulet that allows him to possess whoever wears it and use his abilities
6. And my character, a good version of the Joker, with Batman's money and tech

Now, my question: does my character, whom I refer to as Mr. J, have any place in this super team?

I understand that Batman is very capable character who is very good at planning and is decent in combat when he has an advantage to him (kryptonite vs Superman, the god killer bullet, etc.) but I have been wrestling with whether or not my character fits in this group. I know that he has a different tone than all the other characters, but that isn't the point. I just don't know if my character will work in this game in terms of being useful in combat, which will probably be a heavier focus than most other encounters because of the nature of these superheroes

[Red Fel]

Hey everyone. Long time since last posting here. Used to have another account, but lost it.

So, anyway, soon me and my best friends are starting a superhero campaign. We have 6 people, me and someone else in that group are co-DMing to help alleviate tension as well as give everyone a chance to be a hero and keep the story going well. We are using a combination of D20 Aberrant, Future, Modern, and the PhoenixProject to make everyone's characters.

The group is composed of
1. A super strong alien with four arms, super strength and senses, adaptation to survive in space and underwater, and a transforming weapon
2. Wild Tiger from the Tiger & Bunny anime (early not late)
3. A male version of Raven
4. A military robot powerful enough to take out a tank or three
5. The soul of Gilgamesh (from the Epic) in an amulet that allows him to possess whoever wears it and use his abilities
6. And my character, a good version of the Joker, with Batman's money and tech

Now, my question: does my character, whom I refer to as Mr. J, have any place in this super team?

I understand that Batman is very capable character who is very good at planning and is decent in combat when he has an advantage to him (kryptonite vs Superman, the god killer bullet, etc.) but I have been wrestling with whether or not my character fits in this group. I know that he has a different tone than all the other characters, but that isn't the point. I just don't know if my character will work in this game in terms of being useful in combat, which will probably be a heavier focus than most other encounters because of the nature of these superheroes

It's a simple question: How likely is your party to face an obstacle, combat or otherwise, that cannot be addressed by a super-strong alien, Wild Tiger, male!Raven, a robot, and an epic hero? If the answer is "Very," then having a rich smart guy around to research and solve problems is "very" useful. If the answer is "Not very," then the rich guy is going to be "not very" useful while his team smashes everything.

That's the bottom line. A Batman-type is amazing at coming up with alternative solutions the team can use when direct application of violence ceases to be an effective strategy. But if the game will only boil down to "Hit it" and "Hit it harder" scenarios, that's not when Batman shines.

Oh, I loved when he went toe-to-toe with Darkseid. But he only won by threatening to remotely detonate Darkseid's store of planet-busting explosives. He's good for scenarios where punching isn't working, and the team needs something else.

So, simple question: Will the team need that something else?

[Beardliest]

It's a simple question: How likely is your party to face an obstacle, combat or otherwise, that cannot be addressed by a super-strong alien, Wild Tiger, male!Raven, a robot, and an epic hero? If the answer is "Very," then having a rich smart guy around to research and solve problems is "very" useful. If the answer is "Not very," then the rich guy is going to be "not very" useful while his team smashes everything.

That's the bottom line. A Batman-type is amazing at coming up with alternative solutions the team can use when direct application of violence ceases to be an effective strategy. But if the game will only boil down to "Hit it" and "Hit it harder" scenarios, that's not when Batman shines.

Oh, I loved when he went toe-to-toe with Darkseid. But he only won by threatening to remotely detonate Darkseid's store of planet-busting explosives. He's good for scenarios where punching isn't working, and the team needs something else.

So, simple question: Will the team need that something else?

Well, I guess the issue will be how much that happens. Like I said, I am a co-DM for this, but I'm the only one who isn't playing a straight combat man, so I don't know if it will be very fair to throw stuff that puts everyone except for me out of the way while I hack something or stealth around. Maybe I'm overthinking this

[ChaosStar]

Well, I guess the issue will be how much that happens. Like I said, I am a co-DM for this, but I'm the only one who isn't playing a straight combat man, so I don't know if it will be very fair to throw stuff that puts everyone except for me out of the way while I hack something or stealth around. Maybe I'm overthinking this

Any good superhero story needs something that isn't 'hit it' or 'hit it harder'. There have to be problems for the super scientists and detectives to tackle that the others would have a much harder time with. That's why superhero teams are varied in terms of combat capability. While the Supermans(combat focused) have something to punch you also need stuff for the Batmans(detectives) and Spidermans(super scientists) to do. Try to ask one of the other players to make one of their characters into a super scientist type of character so that the team has a good mix of abilities. Remember Super Scientists and Detectives don't have to be weak, just that combat isn't their main skillset.

Also your concept sounds a lot like the Jokester from Earth-3 of the DC Multiverse.

[Red Fel]

Any good superhero story needs something that isn't 'hit it' or 'hit it harder'. There have to be problems for the super scientists and detectives to tackle that the others would have a much harder time with. That's why superhero teams are varied in terms of combat capability. While the Supermans(combat focused) have something to punch you also need stuff for the Batmans(detectives) and Spidermans(super scientists) to do. Try to ask one of the other players to make one of their characters into a super scientist type of character so that the team has a good mix of abilities. Remember Super Scientists and Detectives don't have to be weak, just that combat isn't their main skillset.

To be fair, it sounds like it could work this way. Male!Raven isn't just a magical powerhouse, but is also potentially your Pokedex for all magic-related obstacles and research. Likewise, War!Bot is probably programmed with things like tactics, weapons information, and possibly the knowledge of mechanics and engineering necessary to repair or dismantle a robot like himself. And your Actual!Gilagmesh can basically explain gods and mythical figures from first-hand experience. So it's not too far-fetched to have combat bruisers that are also brainy experts in their independent fields.

Don't look at it as throwing stuff at the PCs that forces everyone out of the way while this lone PC gets a chance to shine. Instead, look at it as this lone PC finding new ways for the rest of the party to shine. For example, "Ordinary attacks aren't working. He's an energy being; try energy weapons!" Or, "This is a demon, right? Male!Raven, do you know any exorcism juju?" Or "Super!Alien, the central processor is in the torso! Try to crack that open and let War!Bot hack into it!"

Basically, be the brainy type that comes up with a different, but more effective, way for the rest of the party to do what it's doing, rather than demanding that everyone stop while you Batman up a solution on your own.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I've done a pretty good amount of superhero stuff, albeit using M&M, and I have to say... no. Your character does not fit with the group. You've got a group full of superpowered ass-kickers, and you've decided to play a clown with too much money. Forget mechanics for a moment; you're decided to play a character who's inherently at a lower power level than anyone else, and that never really works. Justice League type comics/shows tend to either have split-the-party parties, turn other characters into idiots, or they turn Batman into a super-gadgeteer with tank-busting batarangs and dimensional analyzers in his cowl. And you're going to force that choice on everyone else in your group-- either you become useless in the single most time-consuming part of the game (which many of them chose to specialize in), they have to bend over backwards to create situations where you're useful (because they'll still have noncombat schticks to bring to the table, with any luck, and that group has plenty of room for variety), or you have to up your character's game.


Don't look at it as throwing stuff at the PCs that forces everyone out of the way while this lone PC gets a chance to shine. Instead, look at it as this lone PC finding new ways for the rest of the party to shine. For example, "Ordinary attacks aren't working. He's an energy being; try energy weapons!" Or, "This is a demon, right? Male!Raven, do you know any exorcism juju?" Or "Super!Alien, the central processor is in the torso! Try to crack that open and let War!Bot hack into it!"
Don't do this, by the way. Unless you have some sort of special ability to back it up (buffing? super-senses/brainpower to pick up on otherwise-hidden weaknesses?) it'll almost certainly come off as obnoxious-- standing off to the side and shouting tactics at people rarely works well in RPGs.

[Afgncaap5]

Also your concept sounds a lot like the Jokester from Earth-3 of the DC Multiverse.

I was thinking that too. And I think that might be a key: can you make your character more of a "force multiplier" than a "problem solver"? Effectively, being a party bard. It's a whole lot easier for your friends to take down Galariel the Angel of Despair if you've just thrown a pie into Galariel's eyes so he can't see what's happening, after all.

Sadly, this is an issue with GMPCs. You don't want to be weak in comparison to everyone else, but you also don't want to be effective enough that the party couldn't last without you. Like, if you were just a player I'd recommend making use of Aberrant's dramatic editing capabilities to always be able to say things like "Well, good thing I scouted out ahead of time and stashed these grenades behind the desk" or "I pull the scarf and goggles out of my suit and put them on by the time I run up the stairs because, naturally, I left a helicopter up here before we infiltrated the base, and yes I'm spending a total of three nova points on that." As a GMPC that might seem a little more like you're just making the plot convenient to your character and less like you're using the system to let Mr. J be Mr. J.

[Beardliest]

Also your concept sounds a lot like the Jokester from Earth-3 of the DC Multiverse.


To be fair, it sounds like it could work this way. Male!Raven isn't just a magical powerhouse, but is also potentially your Pokedex for all magic-related obstacles and research. Likewise, War!Bot is probably programmed with things like tactics, weapons information, and possibly the knowledge of mechanics and engineering necessary to repair or dismantle a robot like himself. And your Actual!Gilagmesh can basically explain gods and mythical figures from first-hand experience. So it's not too far-fetched to have combat bruisers that are also brainy experts in their independent fields.

Don't look at it as throwing stuff at the PCs that forces everyone out of the way while this lone PC gets a chance to shine. Instead, look at it as this lone PC finding new ways for the rest of the party to shine. For example, "Ordinary attacks aren't working. He's an energy being; try energy weapons!" Or, "This is a demon, right? Male!Raven, do you know any exorcism juju?" Or "Super!Alien, the central processor is in the torso! Try to crack that open and let War!Bot hack into it!"

Basically, be the brainy type that comes up with a different, but more effective, way for the rest of the party to do what it's doing, rather than demanding that everyone stop while you Batman up a solution on your own.


I was thinking that too. And I think that might be a key: can you make your character more of a "force multiplier" than a "problem solver"? Effectively, being a party bard. It's a whole lot easier for your friends to take down Galariel the Angel of Despair if you've just thrown a pie into Galariel's eyes so he can't see what's happening, after all.

Sadly, this is an issue with GMPCs. You don't want to be weak in comparison to everyone else, but you also don't want to be effective enough that the party couldn't last without you. Like, if you were just a player I'd recommend making use of Aberrant's dramatic editing capabilities to always be able to say things like "Well, good thing I scouted out ahead of time and stashed these grenades behind the desk" or "I pull the scarf and goggles out of my suit and put them on by the time I run up the stairs because, naturally, I left a helicopter up here before we infiltrated the base, and yes I'm spending a total of three nova points on that." As a GMPC that might seem a little more like you're just making the plot convenient to your character and less like you're using the system to let Mr. J be Mr. J.

So glad everyone has been commenting. Thank you all so much.

I was kinda going for a Jokester type character. Myself and the other guy GMing came up with the idea of this campaign from him as the first character, so I was wanting to play him, but I can play him in other places also.

The issue I was also founding was, it wasn't that I was worthless in combat, but I was becoming too good in everything if I was going to be decent in combat to be fighting in the same CL as everyone. I don't think that was my original idea for this character, so I was wanting to find a way to be able to find other ways to play, but I don't think it'll be to possible without just being the idea guy, but then I'm not much of a part of combat. Then comes that everyone else has more than just combat, and I am not looking like too much of an addition unless I structure this into a different kind of story, pulling a major portion of the plot away from combat and more into the role play element. The issue there will be that everyone else is a combat specialist.

I am going to talk to my other GM and bring this up, but I think I might be changing.


I've done a pretty good amount of superhero stuff, albeit using M&M, and I have to say... no. Your character does not fit with the group. You've got a group full of superpowered ass-kickers, and you've decided to play a clown with too much money. Forget mechanics for a moment; you're decided to play a character who's inherently at a lower power level than anyone else, and that never really works. Justice League type comics/shows tend to either have split-the-party parties, turn other characters into idiots, or they turn Batman into a super-gadgeteer with tank-busting batarangs and dimensional analyzers in his cowl. And you're going to force that choice on everyone else in your group-- either you become useless in the single most time-consuming part of the game (which many of them chose to specialize in), they have to bend over backwards to create situations where you're useful (because they'll still have noncombat schticks to bring to the table, with any luck, and that group has plenty of room for variety), or you have to up your character's game.


Don't do this, by the way. Unless you have some sort of special ability to back it up (buffing? super-senses/brainpower to pick up on otherwise-hidden weaknesses?) it'll almost certainly come off as obnoxious-- standing off to the side and shouting tactics at people rarely works well in RPGs.

I was the first to have a character ready, so it was more that everyone else chose to play heavy hitters after hearing about my crazy clown, but I see your point. The buffs and things don't really appeal to me for this type of character anyway. Besides, I don't have any powers, except that I can't be poisoned.