super setting
May. 3rd, 2022 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marycatelliWas reading "how-to" advice on how to write a superhero story.
A lot of it neglected the world-building. In all senses. It did not discuss how the supers would affect the world -- though it does seem to be a trope that the answer is "not at all" even when you have super-inventors -- but it also did not discuss how the super-world is constructed. Not even at the base level of assuming that you have a standard ripoff of DC/Marvel where there are masses of superheroes and supervillains and much crime and crime fighting involved. . . .
Are there a lot of superpowers? Some? One? Or does everyone have a power? Are all the powers basically on the same level, or do you have powerhouses and jokes? How much variety is there in the powers? How much variety is there in the origins? Do people get powers that suit them? That don't? It's random? (Hint: for random powers, use a randomizer for most people. You can handcraft some but they have to hidden in a mass of randomness.)
It matters enormously if the boy with superstrength, flight, invulnerability, eyebeams, and supersenses is typical, or amazing, or weak. It matters whether he's one of the crowd or unique. He might be able to do as he pleases without anyone stopping him, or he might be one of a small group who could stop each other but laugh any less human to scorn, or he might be vulnerable to a concerted effort by normal humans. He might discover that as a powerhouse with no rivals, he can't actually make anyone do anything, he can only make them regret not doing it, which is not the same at all.
It matters whether powers are easily mastered. And whether they are dangerous or merely useless when not mastered. And whether the superpowered can effectively sideline the powers and engage in a job of other skills, or whether they have to use their powers to earn a living because they can't train as anything else.
Ripple effects go outward. It's important whether their powers are useful for a wide variety of jobs -- as they almost certainly are. It's important whether they are regarded as useful tools by people in power. (Including Mad Scientists, Ancient Conspiracies and all those other comic book tropes.) And then you start to get into the actual effects on the world. . . .
A lot of it neglected the world-building. In all senses. It did not discuss how the supers would affect the world -- though it does seem to be a trope that the answer is "not at all" even when you have super-inventors -- but it also did not discuss how the super-world is constructed. Not even at the base level of assuming that you have a standard ripoff of DC/Marvel where there are masses of superheroes and supervillains and much crime and crime fighting involved. . . .
Are there a lot of superpowers? Some? One? Or does everyone have a power? Are all the powers basically on the same level, or do you have powerhouses and jokes? How much variety is there in the powers? How much variety is there in the origins? Do people get powers that suit them? That don't? It's random? (Hint: for random powers, use a randomizer for most people. You can handcraft some but they have to hidden in a mass of randomness.)
It matters enormously if the boy with superstrength, flight, invulnerability, eyebeams, and supersenses is typical, or amazing, or weak. It matters whether he's one of the crowd or unique. He might be able to do as he pleases without anyone stopping him, or he might be one of a small group who could stop each other but laugh any less human to scorn, or he might be vulnerable to a concerted effort by normal humans. He might discover that as a powerhouse with no rivals, he can't actually make anyone do anything, he can only make them regret not doing it, which is not the same at all.
It matters whether powers are easily mastered. And whether they are dangerous or merely useless when not mastered. And whether the superpowered can effectively sideline the powers and engage in a job of other skills, or whether they have to use their powers to earn a living because they can't train as anything else.
Ripple effects go outward. It's important whether their powers are useful for a wide variety of jobs -- as they almost certainly are. It's important whether they are regarded as useful tools by people in power. (Including Mad Scientists, Ancient Conspiracies and all those other comic book tropes.) And then you start to get into the actual effects on the world. . . .