What Heroes Leave Behind — Demo Out Now
Author: Jay Johnson (Diablo Obsidian)
Genre: Superhero / Character-Driven / LGBTQ+ Inclusive
Demo: ~60,000 words (Full character creation + Chapters 1–3)
Full Game: 200,000+ words, 24 chapters, 5 interludes
Demo Link: CoGDemos
Hey everyone. I’ve been working on this one for a while and it’s ready for eyes.
What Heroes Leave Behind is set in Averton, a city reeling from the fall of the Vanguard — the world’s greatest hero team — and a global event called the Surge that gave forty percent of humanity superpowers overnight. You’re stepping into the gap they left. What kind of hero you become, or whether you become one at all, is entirely up to you.
The character creation is deep. Full gender customization including nonbinary and custom options. Pronouns include neopronouns (ze/zir, xe/xem, fae/faer, ey/em). Orientation is stated and respected. Ethnicity is tracked with reactive content woven throughout — not cosmetic, meaningful. Five distinct backgrounds that change how the world treats you and how you move through the story.
12 power categories. 54 subcategories. Every one plays differently. Telekinesis doesn’t read like gravity manipulation. Pyrokinesis doesn’t play like cryokinesis. The game knows the difference. You can also play full Baseline — no powers, just skill and stubbornness. It’s the hardest path and I’m proudest of it.
Costume customization is head to toe. Thirteen categories from style to boots to whether your power glows through the suit. Your costume shows up in combat, social scenes, and the quiet moments when you take the mask off.
5 ROs, all gender-selectable, all organically developed — no upfront selection screen. A speedster, an engineer, an empath, a soldier, and a secret fifth earned through choices.
The villain is an AI called the Architect that wants to automate heroism. Its argument is uncomfortably reasonable. Its methods are not.
The full game tracks moral alignment (hero/antihero/vigilante), media perception, power evolution across three tiers, NPC-to-NPC relationships that develop independently of you, a rival hero, enemy adaptation to your tactics, and a community in Southside that remembers what you do for them.
Now — the fourth wall mode.
Before you pick your name, the game asks about tone. Pick “maximum irreverence” and the whole experience shifts. Your MC addresses the reader directly. The name selection offers legally distinct versions of classic heroes:
Clarke (“the E is doing heroic amounts of legal work”), Brice (“one vowel away from a very expensive lawsuit”), Pedro (“same name, different language — the lawyers are satisfied”), Deanna (“one extra syllable changes everything, legally”), Toni (“the I is your legal shield”), Garry (“the G is the thin red line between homage and IP theft”), Hale (“one extra letter — it changes everything, legally”), Stev (“people will ask about the missing E for the rest of your life”).
Surnames: Kentt, Wain, Parkour, Prinze, Stork, Allyn, Jordyn, Rodgers.
Then eight classic hero power sets unlock — The Full Package, The Amazon, The Dark Genius, The Iron Expression, The Speedster Package, The Web-Slinger, The Emerald Will, The Super-Soldier. Each with unique team reaction dialogue. Your speedster teammate has a genuine existential crisis when they find out you’re faster.
And eight matching costumes: The Large Cerulean, The Gloomy Evening Gentleman, The Sticky Lad, The Amazonian Princess Situation, The Ferrous Exoskeleton, The Velocity Situation, The Chartreuse Crusader, and Captain Generica.
A full irreverent run can be Clarke Kentt wearing The Large Cerulean with The Full Package power set. The game never stops acknowledging it. The serious path is equally deep — same story, same stakes, different lens.
The demo covers Chapters 1–3. Character creation, the inciting Surge event, your first combat encounter with subcategory-reactive prose, and the introduction of the community you’ll spend the game fighting for.
I’d love feedback on the creation flow, power balance, tone, and pacing. Drop comments or DM me.
Thanks for playing.
— Jay (Diablo Obsidian)
AI Disclosure:
No — This project does not contain the output of Generative AI
Yes — This project contains the output of Generative AI
I used Raphael.ai to generate the cover art as a placeholder and inspiration for the finished product.
