We have had classical adventures, dungeon crawls, fairy tales, pirates, kingmaking, gothic horror, cosmic horror, sci-fi, and more. Given the new Vigilante class, and a few other newer ones that fit the theme, it stands to reason that a superhero themed Adventure Path isn't completely outside the realm of possibility. Which bears the question, where? What do you all feel would be the ideal region or nation for a superhero AP to take place in?
As a side question, what do you think the ideal party for said AP would be? Personally I think a Vigilante (Batman, Daredevil, etc), Brawler (Captain America, Wolverine, She-hulk, too many to name), Kineticist (Human Torch, Iceman, etc), and Psychic (Professor X, Jean Grey, etc) would probably be the four most thematically fitting as far as iconic superhero literary archetypes go, though a case could be made for several other classes also.
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I have to say I am very interested in a superhero game using Pathfinder rules. I know there have been countless debates as to which class/race Thor is etc, but I love the idea of a superhero game and I'm not hugely enamored with Mutants and Masterminds.
So whilst I agree with Dudemeister that Absolom would be a great setting for such a game within Golarion, how might you differentiate it enough that it doesn't feel like any other urban adventure?
I've been toying with the idea of running some kind of game like this whether in a modern or fantasy setting but I'm struggling to reconcile a few things. For example, how would this Captain America brawler be any different in terms of feats and gear than any other brawler?
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Differentiation comes from the flavor of villains.
The players don't just bust into a necromancer's lair. They stop the nefarious plot of none other than Baron Blackskull, and his bonesaw bandits. No special rules needed.
Now as to how to differentiate things from merely heroic/adventurous to Super Heroic, I think a light touch of Mythic Rules might be the answer to that. Our heroes each have a tiny shard of the Starstone, granting them power beyond the means of mere mortals!
Depends on the type of superhero.
Late 1980s X-Men in the Australian Outback hiding out from enemies? Varisia is wide open.
"Classic" Avengers or JLA? Absalom, all the way.
Gritty morally-grey "do we ever REALLY win" stuff? Cheliax or Taldor.
And so on.
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Another fun one would be a city in Ustalav like Caliphas.
Where players are all monster-blooded races:
Dhampyr, Tiefling, Skinwalker, Gill-men, Changeling
Or spooky themed classes:
Witch, anything Occult, Sorcerer, Bloodrager, Alchemist.
Protecting a world that hates and fears them.
Now there's your superhero campaign.
Drawn by Mike Mignola.
Written by Neil Gaiman.
Gothic Horror Halloweenpunk Superheroes.
It's a campaign I've wanted to run forever.
I think Wrath of the Righteous is best interpreted as "fantasy superhero".
Mummy's Mask set in the twenties would be a hoot.
Jalmeray.
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Mummy's Mask set in the twenties would be a hoot.
This would be cool, especially if the PC's were modeled after pulp era heroes like The Phantom, The Shadow, Green Hornet, Kato, etc.
Doesn't the Red Raven, the iconic Vigilante, come from Galt? Galt is a place of revolution and such, that looks perfect for a Vigilante.
Then again, Cheliax would have worked as well, especially with the infernal influence.
The game I am working on will likely be set in Absalom. The main theme is rooting out corruption and basically trying to make the city a better place. This way you have elements of rebellion while still trying to be part of society. This is why the characters would want to protect their identity.
Hell's Rebels has some themes that could lend itself to a super hero game. Don't know how well it would modernize, but could be worth a shot. My group is talking about replaying it as an all vigilante group for kicks and giggles.
But if a real super hero style adventure pops up I'm so down.
I am working on a pet project (that I can see becoming an obsession) that looks to use PF's robust rules in addition to D20 modern, Path of War and other sources and turn it into some kind of workable Superhero Setting.
Who knows how successful it'll be in the end but I'm having fun tossing around ideas anyway :)
There aren't enough choices. Most of Golarion we have no information on. Even the kingdoms of the Inner Sea region have been covered in wildly varying levels of detail.
I would expect that "fantasy superheroes" would be dealing with threats from the Great Beyond or master Aboleths with their galaxy spanning magic but there isn't enough information on any of that to get players invested in it.
This has been my main complaint about Paizo over the last few years: they seem unwilling to expand on Golarion knowledge. Distant Shores was a neat read but raises more questions than it answers and gives too little information for me to invest my players in it. Occult Mysteries (the only Paizo book I've sold away) is nothing more than paying money to be told what you aren't going to be told.
Golarion is what interested me in Pathfinder before Pathfinder was its own thing. It's sad to see that it's become nothing more than a reference point for AP placement.