For the better part of a year, I've been running a MSH campaign that's just a little different. None of the popular heroes from either Marvel or DC are present. Certain lesser used heroes are present, such as Dominic Fortune – Hero for Hire, and many of the villains are too, such as the Wizard and the Sinister Six, just no Spiderman/Batman/whoever-is-popular-in-comics-today to confront them. The current year is ambiguous, but Art Deco is the architectural rage and cars are built in the style of the 40s and 50s - but with relatively modern performance values. There are cell phones and internet, but Newspapers haven't been replaced. Police and News networks both use dirigibles, and autogyros are still considered cutting edge tech. All Superheroes are considered special detectives by law enforcement and reap the benefits of wide public support by default.
A run-down of the more popular NPC heroes of the city, which is absolutely and directly inspired by Astro City, are: Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Green Lama, The Black Terror, The Challengers of the Unknown (in this incarnation consisting of Rip Hunter, Adam Strange, Tomorrow Woman, and Machine Man,) The Hanged Man, Agatha Harkness, Doctor Solar, Mr. Monster, and Dynamic Man.
Hydra exists and is more organized than usual; in fact they're gaining ground and support in Europe and the Middle East. I have placed Project Pegasus just outside Astro City's corporation limit, and it still maintains a “super jail” for particularly dangerous prisoners. SHIELD and SWORD both exist as the shadowy Feds in this world who seem to have all the secrets and sometimes work against heroes to keep them (a few of the heroes playing have direct connections to these organization through Department X). There is most definitely an alien presence in this world, from Skrullian, Khundian, or Kree agents to dangerous Kaiju attacks.
There is one other thing that helps simulate the feel I'm going for in this campaign and that is regarding the killing rule and Karma. Many of the heroes are armed with firearms as their go to power. We are using the slightly tweaked Vigilante house rule in these instances. If it's a clean kill against armed assailants, then no Karma loss. Shooting the Wizard after he is defeated as a sort of coup de grace is unacceptable. Some heroes, like Doc Savage, abhor killing at all costs, and that's fine; these heroes get an additional Karma award for their restraint.
This pulpy style has caused a revitalization among my players. Currently, characters such as Doctor Occulto and the Silver Shroud – who are not particularly high end heroes - dare to meet the ever growing number of villains, Super and Mundane, that threaten Astro City in a modified version of the Night Moves adventure.
Dr. A.
