Money And Super-Mercenaries

[Black Rose]

Re: Money And Super-Mercenaries

 

(In our world' date=' when my character Zl'f said in an interview she liked horseback riding, 12 million teenaged girls in Europe and America immediately signed up for horseback riding lessons; starting the biggest teen fad for horses since the heyday of Secretariat in the 70's.) [/quote']

 

I wonder how many gamers have confronted this particular aspect of being a well-known super: when you say/don't say, do/don't do, or are/aren't anything, somehow, your fans are going to run with it in ways you never imagined (or wanted to, for that matter).

 

Every little thing that you do (don't like hot dogs? You just killed sales for Ballpark franks in the tri-state area), say (imagine that one thing you always say (not your catch-phrase, no, I mean something you always say [for me it's "dude"] becoming the new "dope", "phat", or "da bomb". Or the new "jerkin" for that matter.); it would never end.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Money And Super-Mercenaries

 

I wonder how many gamers have confronted this particular aspect of being a well-known super: when you say/don't say' date=' do/don't do, or are/aren't [i']anything[/i], somehow, your fans are going to run with it in ways you never imagined (or wanted to, for that matter).

 

Every little thing that you do (don't like hot dogs? You just killed sales for Ballpark franks in the tri-state area), say (imagine that one thing you always say (not your catch-phrase, no, I mean something you always say [for me it's "dude"] becoming the new "dope", "phat", or "da bomb". Or the new "jerkin" for that matter.); it would never end.

For my character the frustrating thing, after she got over her amazement over starting a fad, would have been that in the very same interview she talked more about how important her religious faith and helping others was to her, but there wasn't a corresponding teen spike in church attendance or volunteer programs.

[assault]

Re: Money And Super-Mercenaries

 

Not all mercenaries (or supermercenaries) are bad guys. Some would just prefer to make lots of money rather than performing (super)feats gratis. Two or three supers might be a much better and more reliable protective detail or troubleshooting team than scores of normal men with guns.

 

Heck, doesn't Luke Cage work for pay as a super? Don't the Avengers get sizable stipends?

 

Assault started as a Hero For Hire. His rates according to his clients' ability to pay.

 

He was eventually driven out of business by the insurance premiums. Superfights are _expensive_.

 

His business was structured more or less as a cross between a security and private investigation firm. In other words, he was halfway between being Sam Spade and a nightclub bouncer.

 

For more military super-merc enterprises, non-powered support staff can make a huge difference. Taken to an extreme, of course, you get outfits like VIPER and UNTIL, but much smaller teams are possible.

 

In fact, you could theoretically even play a campaign where one player runs a super, and the other players play his support. In many ways, the less powerful characters would be the more interesting ones: they are the ones doing the intelligence work, the tactical analysis, the training, the scientific work, piloting the stealth jets, providing combat backup and all that for the Big Boy. All he really has to do is break things and hit people.

 

Alternatively, you could have your normals supporting operations for a whole team of supers, so when all your hard work and planning ends up being put to the test by a bunch of spandex-clad knuckleheads, you all get to play one of the knuckleheads.

 

A team organised like this could well prove much more effective than one of a similar power level that relies on its own resources. After all, normals with the skills you are looking for are easier to hire than supers who just happen to be experts in a particular field.

 

You could even hire some minor mystics to give your non-magical heroes some degree of protection against magical attacks, and so on. At this point, of course, you are really actually talking about low-powered supers supporting higher powered supers, but the general principle is the same.

 

I won't bother thinking about the potential for abusing Usable by Others powers.

[TheEmerged]

Re: Money And Super-Mercenaries

 

I wonder how many gamers have confronted this particular aspect of being a well-known super: when you say/don't say' date=' do/don't do, or are/aren't [i']anything[/i], somehow, your fans are going to run with it in ways you never imagined (or wanted to, for that matter).

 

Every little thing that you do (don't like hot dogs? You just killed sales for Ballpark franks in the tri-state area), say (imagine that one thing you always say (not your catch-phrase, no, I mean something you always say [for me it's "dude"] becoming the new "dope", "phat", or "da bomb". Or the new "jerkin" for that matter.); it would never end.

 

If I ever run a campaign in which the PC's are popular, I might have to find out

[Colossus]

Re: Money And Super-Mercenaries

 

It all depends on supply and demand. If there are only 100 superhumans in your world - millions; if there are tens of thousands, less - though still a lot.

 

An Avenger made $52,000 a year in the 80's (plus room, board, medical, and insurance).

 

Remeber. A private hero working legally in the US would have to:

 

1. Carry loads of insurance

2. Pay taxes (check on IRS Website for amounts) - Maybe the CIA, FBI, Primus and the rest would overlook our hero - the IRS will not!

3. Be subject to legal restrictions

4. Be bated by the heroes who do it for free.

[Dog Soldier]

Re: Money And Super-Mercenaries

 

I like the idea of corporate sponsorship as portrayed in Mystery Men