Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

[Ragitsu]

In your superhero games, how do your supers deal with/handle the consequences of accidentally damaging public property?

[Orion]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

I've seen all four of the below, and have used the last 2 personally.

 

1. Run away and hide. If they can't find us, they can't make us pay.

2. Handwavium.

3. Lower power levels, so more than busting a wall down is rare.

4. Ignore it. We don't care about that part of the story, so it never comes up.

[Ragitsu]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

2 and 4 are suspiciously alike.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

Unless the characters are intentionally trying to demolish something (picking up a car to throw, trying to collapse a building on someone, etc), I generally handwave it unless it's an intentional plot point ('you're fighting in a spaceship ... watch out for hull breach'). If I were feeling sadistic enough to institute a 'critical failure' rule, I might have an 18 involve hitting something important or troublesome in the background ... but I loathe critical failures.

[Zen Archer]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

The players in the main game I ran were urban vigilantes and the power level was low enough that they weren't wrecking buildings at the like. They didn't stick around after a battle to take responsibility for the damage they did cause.

 

In most of the supers games I played in, the power levels were higher and we had government or law enforcement backing. There was a higher level of accidental destruction but as long as it happened during the course of a legit assignment, it was handled. Sometimes a GM would have to remind players that it would be good for our reps if we helped with the cleanup.

[KX_Mushashi]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

I would probably handle it more like the TSR Marvel RPG and if the damage is more then Minor probably start docking XP , or take the Hancock approach and if they are not with a government/state agency have an story line where they are being hunted by the police/army or other supers after enough damage has been done to the city...oddly this second one is the shadowrun approach as well.

[Corsair]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

1. Rich character pays for the damages, while kissing babies and glad-handing the gawkers like a good political.

2. Underground group kind of melts away and is weakly pursued by lawyers, or strongly pursued by hired bounty hunters.

3. Government sanctioned group has the government pay for it all (expected collateral damage), unless it gets too far out of hand, in which case they get yelled at a lot. If I am feeling ornery, they lose their government sanction for a while (see 2 above).

4. Group patches everything up as best they can, and hopes for the best (usually see 2 above, but maybe they saved someone and they are both grateful and insured)

5. Insurance company gets annoyed and group is strongly pursued by high-powered lawyers and/or hired supers, or groups trying to protect their government sanction.

6. Group makes sure they pay their Super Group Insurance policy premium (see 1 above).

[Altheus]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

1 Gas Explosion (Useful when there's a fire breathing dragon in the group)

2 Subsidence (Terrible how half of that house has dropped a couple of feet, almost as though something heavy had sat on it)

3 Earthquake (Not really valid in England, the ones we get aren't strong enough to knock a cup off of the shelf)

4 Not me guv, we weren't even near the place (More difficult after we lost the teleporter)

5 Piss off, we're UNTIL (Sometimes works if delivered with enough presence)

 

That's how we do it in England

[Orion]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

2 and 4 are suspiciously alike.

 

Not really, at least in the way I mean it.

 

Handwavium:

1. Super construction company can rebuild the Empire State Building, Sears Tower, and Statue of Liberty in 2 weeks, so it's no big deal.

2. Every single building that is damaged had been abandoned and was slated for demolition.

3. For $4.95/week, the insurance company takes care of it all with no complaints.

4. Villain, villain organization, or evil megacorp that heroes were fighting have to repair it all as part of the lawsuit they will inevitably lose.

5. People love the hero so much, or hate the villain so much, they never complain about damages.

 

Ignore it:

1. Damage happens. It affects the reputation of the heroes. We are too busy fighting the next battle scene to play it out. Same thing as ignoring the endless trials and such because of killing a Viper agent or injuring a villain.

2. The villain never kidnaps the hero's girlfriend, because the player isn't interested in those storylines. Player also isn't interested in playing out lawsuits and trials.

3. Character is already hated by public and hunted by authorities, so additional destruction makes no difference.

[Starcloud]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

Register as a super with the government, you get a certain degree of "damage liability insurance." And the cleanup/reconstruction costs are covered.

Don't register with the government? You're on the hook for all of it. Assuming someone can track you down.

There are super-powered private investigators. Some of them work for insurance companies. Some of them are for hire.

 

That said, the guideline is "Don't destroy too much." Blatantly excessive destruction can get you kicked from the insurance rolls.

[Pattern Ghost]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

I would probably handle it more like the TSR Marvel RPG and if the damage is more then Minor probably start docking XP ' date=' or take the Hancock approach and if they are not with a government/state agency have an story line where they are being hunted by the police/army or other supers after enough damage has been done to the city...oddly this second one is the shadowrun approach as well.[/quote']

 

FASERIP Marvel docked Karma. Which is not quite the same as XP. Advancement was very secondary to Karma's use in the game. I personally wouldn't play in any game that docked XP for anything. That's just too heavy handed for my tastes and smacks of an adversarial relationship between the GM and players.

[Hermit]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

I think the GM should let his group know from the start HOW property damage is handled in his or her setting. In my own games, there are 'handwavium' type groups, not just out of laziness, but because generations of superheroes and megathreats have been around so I figure society has good reason to have super construction companies and 'superhuman insurance' (The premiums are, admittedly, a real pain)

[Marcus Impudite]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

Depending on how common an occurrence highly destructive superbattles are, I'd imagine those that could afford it would start having their homes, stores, office buildings, etc. reinforced to better stand up to those weekly supervillain and monster rampages.

[Marcus Impudite]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

Another consideration would be whether (legally speaking) the property damage is the fault of the heroes or the bad guy(s) who started the ruckus in the first place. Like if the evil Dr. Destructo-Beams shows up and starts blasting everything in sight, he'll be facing criminal charges for any damage he caused (if and when he gets arrested).

[Clonus]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

I merchandised the team and devoted most of the proceeds to fund to rebuild and replace damaged buildings and vehicles (and I suppose pay hospital bills for injured bystanders although the campaign was more into doing property damage.

[Nepenthe]

Re: Destruction of public property, and dealing with the aftermath

 

There are super-powered private investigators. Some of them work for insurance companies...

This could be an entire campaign... I'm thinking Merle and Millie from Trigun but with super powers.