What cities do you set your Heroes in?

gaby · Unread post by **gaby** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 11:43 am

Do you use real cities or made up ones?

I think it would be better if Marvel put some of ther Heroes in Other cities.

What do you think?

Mr.Incognito · Tue Oct 19, 2004 12:21 pm

Well when I start my game the Heroes will be set in Victory City.

Uncle Servo · Unread post by **Uncle Servo** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 1:08 pm

Real cities. While setting books like Century Station and Grammercy Island are great, nothing helps set the scene like real-life information.

With RL cities the internet is your sourcebook. Simply looking up a particular city's Chamber of Commerce website can provide you with a wealth of information. If the city also has a department of tourism, that's even more information right at your fingertips. Plus, Mapquest.com or Yahoo! Maps can provide you with any number of good maps of your campaign area(s).

Need the floorplan of your group's stately mansion? Floorplans are available on the internet. Need to set an adventure on a college campus? Campus maps are available for download. I've even taken the dean of business from a college near my current campaign's setting and fleshed him out as an NPC simply from his bio.

Of course, you can simply add touches from HU/VU/GI/CS/MU that you want... and if you don't like using the actual city, you can always just change the name and go from there.

Daniel Stoker · Tue Oct 19, 2004 1:22 pm

I use real cities. I like using Chicago myself but I played a great game in Birmingham with a friend once. There are a ton of little details you have in a real city that you don't have to make up, and the simple fact that with Mapquest and the like available online you don't even have to pay for them anymore.

Daniel Stoker

Uncle Servo · Unread post by **Uncle Servo** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 3:41 pm

Daniel Stoker wrote:I use real cities. I like using Chicago myself but I played a great game in Birmingham with a friend once. There are a ton of little details you have in a real city that you don't have to make up, and the simple fact that with Mapquest and the like available online you don't even have to pay for them anymore.

Birmingham? I'm intrigued... tell me more.

sinestus · Unread post by **sinestus** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 8:05 pm

both...

the longest HU game i ever ran was based out of the fictional city of Thor's Gate ....
didn't need maps or the like, 'cause with heroes we can be vauge and still have a vivid setting....
but then, in that one, the city itself was a bit of a plot device...

other games i've been in/ran have used real cities, and been just as fun... but generally modded the city to compensate for a different time period, and/or the existance of supers...

Larsen · Unread post by **Larsen** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 11:44 pm

It depends on the players and how Im feeling at that moment that I start the game. If I'm feeling like gming a very superhero non-reality based game I'll make up a city and design as much as I can in a short 5 minute span. However, most times I like to have games that are superheroes but grounded in how things would work out in reality or as close as it would work out. Those times its a real city. The last one I gmed was set in las vegas. It was interesting to say the least.

Daniel Stoker · Wed Oct 20, 2004 12:31 am

Uncle Servo wrote:
Daniel Stoker wrote:I use real cities. I like using Chicago myself but I played a great game in Birmingham with a friend once. There are a ton of little details you have in a real city that you don't have to make up, and the simple fact that with Mapquest and the like available online you don't even have to pay for them anymore.

Birmingham? I'm intrigued... tell me more.

It was a Teen Titans/New Mutants style game where we were a bunch of teens banded together trying to learn how to use our powers. No base or Professor X but it was a lot of fun and a mix of comics and horror in the game. The GM was basing it on a trip to visit a friend in Birmingham and some books he read based there. We don't recomend going into old mines without a LOT of fire power.

Daniel Stoker

Sir_Spirit · Unread post by **Sir_Spirit** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 2:47 am

I've allways liked the idea of making up your own cities. Mostly because I like the idea of a flying city. Somethin gthat everyone knows exists but can't explain rationally... :lol:

Uncle Servo · Unread post by **Uncle Servo** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 12:43 pm

Daniel Stoker wrote:
Uncle Servo wrote:
Daniel Stoker wrote:I use real cities. I like using Chicago myself but I played a great game in Birmingham with a friend once. There are a ton of little details you have in a real city that you don't have to make up, and the simple fact that with Mapquest and the like available online you don't even have to pay for them anymore.

Birmingham? I'm intrigued... tell me more.

It was a Teen Titans/New Mutants style game where we were a bunch of teens banded together trying to learn how to use our powers. No base or Professor X but it was a lot of fun and a mix of comics and horror in the game. The GM was basing it on a trip to visit a friend in Birmingham and some books he read based there. We don't recomend going into old mines without a LOT of fire power.

Cool. Games based in B'ham tend to get my attention as that's where I live. Even generated a Rifts version of the city with the creation rules in Rifter #1.

ZEN · Unread post by **ZEN** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 5:07 pm

The last real city I set a game in was Sydney.. there was a great battle between the player characters and a super villain who had built a mass mind control device on top of the Sydney tower.. the tower did not get completely destroyed in the battle, but I shudder to think how expensive it would be to patch up all those M60 bullet holes, the burnt out foyer, the blasted front doors, the big holes in the sides and the roof.. yeesh.

I tend to state things like "You find yourself downtown.. blah blah".. I don't even mention what city the player characters are in unless it is important.. for the most part its not that big a deal.. a city is a city, what makes the difference is specific monuments and unique buildings specific to certain locations.. thats when you need the old map websites.

I also run a lot of games not based on good old planet Earth.. Seeron is a fantastically difficult place to organise a brawl between super beings.. there are no maps, the city is basically everywhere and even a single block of buildings has multiple layers, levels, skywalks, transport tubes, flying vehicle lanes, power cables, sewer systems.. it's a nightmare to navigate and describe properly to your players.. but man is it cool.

On a related topic, ever try having players with characters native to Seeron have those characters end up on Earth in some wilderness environment?
Remember, the majority of people from Seeron have never been in a forest before.. as far as I know, there are no native animals left on Seeron, since it's just one giant city.. having a tough super hero freak out and start blasting trees because they are being stalked by squirrels is such cheese.. but it's so much fun!
8-)

Marcantony · Unread post by **Marcantony** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:25 pm

Real cities. Though I have then had crossovers into the Marvel and DC earths.

bigwhitehound · Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:25 am

I mostly use real cities, mainly New York, LA and Maimai.

Iczer · Unread post by **Iczer** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 1:43 am

Bloodangel wrote:All depends on the group I run with and what characters are incolved.

The New Inquisitors were an all Australian group, their HQ was located in the Outback, but they operated from New Zealand all the way to Antarctica.

.

The Outback?!?!?!?!

WTH?

Where in the outback dude? Thats a heck of a lot of territory.

Like having a team based in 'the atlantic' or 'Eastern Canada' Or 'China'

Wow

If only I could have been there. I could have spoken up as the 'technical advisor'