Any tips for overpowered heroes in Vigilante City?

vigilante-city
#1

Hi! I am preparing to run a campaign in Vigilante City, and I was looking for any advice on how to run it from anyone who has already tried it. I’m specifically interested in how to handle extremely powerful heroes (with powers to fly, teleport, destroy large objects, etc).
I’m concerned because usually the more reigned in I can make things, the more it doesn’t fall apart. I’m worried if players can make portals, break walls, and fly around at will that it will be hard to keep up with them and it will have to be Theater of the Mind by neccessity.

I play using a wet-erase mat and simple minis, and maybe some print-outs if I’m going all out.

Thanks!

#2

UDT or Ultimate Dungeon Terrain is intrinsic to the style of play. If not using this, Google Earth becomes important in today’s age.

It’s not too hard to keep track of, but choosing spotlight or map based gaming becomes important.

https://youtu.be/dQqhTiE7i84 Explains the reasons best, but not the how.

https://youtu.be/i73Pe1LJrB0 The how and what of making it…and some of the why…but video 1 covers the other why.

However, another way to do it is have a master screen and your players use their phones to understand the area, and how they would use it.

Destroying downtown Prescott AZ to save downtown Prescott is not viable for a super team. Too many bad reactions.
While adding likes vs dislikes might seem non-super heroic…it can add an element if your players are the right type.

34°32’31"N 112°28’09"W · 1.01 mi
So you can use UTE (ultimate dungeon terrain) or you can use Google Earth or a combination. But SuperHero’s are gonna go through walls, or throw super villains through cars. How you manage it is up to you.

Think of frames of buildings as paper and 2x4s. Not easy to get through but not hard. Most people respect walls, but it is not impossible to cross.

#3

Superheroes don’t have the same “problem” as Godbounds: in my Godbound game, the demi-gods can’t have too many enemies of their power level. Otherwise my players will start to feel like very strong adventurers in a small pond.

In superhero games, the pleasure comes from the sedentary playstyle and building over every previous adventures and events in the campaign: keep your superheroes in the same city, every citizen NPC are from very different jobs and all have the potential to become dramatic villains or even sidekicks!

Keep bringing back your NPCs when the time is right, they can come from a variety of backgrounds, and all have their way of causing damage to your heroes. They don’t all need to be Lex Luthor: a simple trouble-making kid stealing the cape of a hero just to cause him grief can invest your players! That big city is now their home!

Just make sure your players understand what kind of game that they are getting into, during session zero: you expect them to play heroes. Tell them that you will outright YOINK murderous characters from their hands! That’s what I did, and I got a very colorful, and pleasant superhero team!

God Speid! o7

Edit: Godbound was written by Kevin Crawford, not me!