Do you prefer superhero settings where all the “super” comes from the same source (i.e. all the X-Men and their villains get their powers from being mutants) or settings where lots of different power sources mix freely (i.e. the Avengers include science, magic, mutations and more)?
Do you prefer superhero settings where all the “super” comes from the same source (i.e.
Do you prefer superhero settings where all the “super” comes from the same source (i.e.
The latter, because origin stories can be cool and dramatic pieces of a character, and that gets lost a bit when everyone pretty much has the same origin. Also it tends to allow a wider and wackier range of comic book shenanigans in general (if everything is mutants, you can’t really have demons or aliens), so yeah.
You can mix some (but not all) of the advantages of single source with those from the whatever category if the world at large has multiple sources, but your team are all from the same one. You get some of the thematic consistency that way, but can pull in other sources to make a NPC stand out.
I generally prefer the latter, but I had a real soft spot for the way it was done in Adventure/Aberrant/Trinity, with each generation of powers coming from the same source but being slightly different.
I had a game where the Janus had powers that came from being exposed to a dimensional rift, and chose to interpret everyone else’s powers as deriving from the same principle. The Doomed, meanwhile, was simply the child of a demon-goddess, and the Legacy likewise was the latest in a divine line. So they had a very different read. There was no one answer, just different interpretations and understandings of where superpowers came from.
A lot of it depends on exactly what setting you’re going with. Even with a common origin, you can generate an enjoyable variety of backgrounds for the characters.
For example, the Godlike setting (superpowered individuals during WWII) essentially has a common origin (ability to bend reality), but you’re still able to get a wide variety of effects and backstories.
I think “same source” can be useful in a lot of contained fiction that doesn’t try to be part of a grander superhero universe–see X men, or the Flash TV show. However, when you’re building a broader superhero universe, you need multiple and diverse origins–and that robust and long-established superhero universe is the fictional environment that Masks depends on.
I don’t like same source. If you have Mutants and Aliens and Gods you have much more room and themes to play with. You also have more sense of wonder and alienes.
When everyone is a Mutant there is not much you can do outside a specific parameter.
Sebastian Baker: Yes.
Also the X-Men fight Sentinels and Aliens as well. Now part of this is because of the shared universe they live in but it also speaks to the fact that you can only go to the same source so often.
Another same-origin setting that just occurred to me is Strikeforce: Morituri. I once was working on a sadly still-born campaign where the PCs were artificially-enhanced super-soldiers fighting an alien invasion.
Also just in X-Men they have had 2 mutants who also turned out to be actual witches (one of them who was granted powers from a demon), and one character who was a techno-organic alien.
So even in a setting with mostly contained sources…they still had a smattering of options.
Likewise, in Wild Cards, most characters get their abilities from the virus, but then you’ve also got an android, some alien characters, a super-normal archer, etc.