What to expect from a Superhero themed book

Game Development Writing and Content
1

I am currently working on a book with @HGoltara and it’s theme is in the superhero genre. The plot centers around a young middle school kid who has to deal with growing up without parents and the sudden realization of his powers.

My questions are:
  • How do you build a character and aid their
    development?
  • How do you expect the stats menu to feel like?
    Cause I know the stats menu is one of the
    pillars of CoG games.
  • How do you balance out stats?
  • How do you make a good villain?
  • How are characters meant to relate with each
    other?
  • How do you explain science without coming off
    as too sciency?
  • How do you design a plot?
  • Does the presence of an established superhero
    world still work nowadays?
  • What role does romance play in these type of
    genres?
    And last but not least,
  • What makes a great superhero themed book?

I know it’s a lot of questions but we’re new to writing and we want to make this book as great as we can. So we need some thoughts on this topic. THANK YOU

2

I think you may want to avoid DC. I like DC but they write iconic character, symbols. It’s not that great for rpg.

First, the hero isn’t just a Guy with power and some justice idéals. He has to be personally involve in the story somehow. In Heroes Rise spin-off, you are involve in the story because you want to save your sister, for example.
Spiderman knew a lot of vilain before they became vilains (in the last game, I really liked his friendship with Otto).
I won’t tell you have to focus on heroic life or Say to Say life, it’s up to you, but the MC must be the hero of his own story, even if it’s not save the world or defeat this crimelord. You’re MC is human (or alien but that’s irrelevant here), he must not be a god (and not just in power). He has weakness, fondness, silly secrets (he love resident evil movie despite knowing it’s a Bad movie, he est pickle with chocolate, he hates clown…).

Dark stuff aren’t that great either. I like the boys, but to be frank… it’s too much. I would take héro fall as référence here. World is dark, MC is deprrssif, system is quite corrupting… But people around you are very human, with qualities and not only Bad traits.

Vilain work like that too. Everybody can make a villain with world destroyer power. You have to make him mémorable with other ways.

For your science, I think it’s up to you. Player, and MC, can follow a story without knowing precisly how something is built or create. He has to know the fonction, how to use, maybe a little on the création processing (just a little bit) and that’s all.
You really know how spiderman gadget were built?

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3

Okay, let’s tackle this one by one;

Here’s how I do it;

Character building

I design a basic mindset for a character. Then I take the Briggs-Myers test with that character’s mindset. The result gives me a solid base to work with, to which I build upon by using a character quiz.

But that’s the way I work. Just follow whatever way you feel comfortable with.

Not necessarily true. You can write a CoG/HG game without stats, like Creatures Such as We did.

However, in that case, try not to make the stats screen look too clunky. Too much variables with no or minimal use are always bad.

I use a stats “cap”. I specify a maximum value for each stat that it should hit for every part (or chapter) and spread stat increases accordingly. Fairmath helps a lot too.

That depends on what kind of villain you want.

I will say this; try to give the villain a good motive for their actions.

Ummm…they don’t. They’re separate entities and they’re meant to be different.

If you’re going to do that, just try to put it subtly and not hammer it in the face of the readers.

Watch Mythbusters, you’ll know your answer :joy:

Honestly, an info-dump in the stat screen works too.

See this article.

It works if you can make it work.

Honestly, probably nothing. You’re a superhero, you’re meant to save the world, not go on dates with every attractive people you see.

But that’s just probably me :joy:

As the author, it’s you who should decide that, not us.

Last but not least, all of these are just my personal preferences. You shouldn’t follow them strictly, try to change up, try to Google stuff and try to read other authors’ works to get a good grip on this genre.

Hope that helps!

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4

Questions you listed here are best figured out by yourself, the authors of the book. For tips and methods, you can find them on many different sources, but if you ask me what am I expecting, I expect a good story; Doesn’t matter if it’s a simple story, a story with save-the-world deal, or about being a sidekick.

If you're looking for specific tips, I think I can tackle one or two questions:
  • How do you expect the stats menu to feel like?
    I like a simple and concise stats screen. Stats that are important and core to the game are put upfront, while the others are set aside to put on different place or hidden altogether.
  • How do you explain science without coming off as too sciency?
    The main rule of techno anybabble: Understand what you're saying.
    Never attempt to technobabble Schrödinger's Cat without knowing the basics of quantum mechanic (and even understanding it's a thought experiment--never done practically, AFAIK).

    Now, people might not as geek as you, so I'll quote a phrase from a famous physician: If you can't explain it to an elementary grader, you don't understand it enough. Science is logical, and being too sciency is because you're being illogical. But whether you want to go overboard and explain the thing in detail or just skip on it, that's up to you.

  • How do you design a plot?
    The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The Hero's Journey. Three-act structure. For a different story approach, see Kishōtenketsu (Four-act structure). These are guidelines anyway, and what is works best for you depend on yourself only.
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5

Thanks y’all I really appreciate it

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6

Well in my opinion…

The Villian,hero(mc) and other characters should all have motivations for their actions
Not all characters have to be with the mc or the villian.

Build characters based on people you know…thats my own advice

Stats menu
…Should have stats relating to abilities
As for the characters personality stats,thats up to you

A villian that’s makes you like them… To the point you feel the reason for their actions.

I don’t know much about romance
But We know how it is romancing superheroes

Know your science even if it’s fictional…

That’s all I can say

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When it comes to Villains, I always prefer the intimidating evil villain trope. One where your life hangs in the balance and your character feels afraid of them. A true challenge even. My favorite villain of all time is Coryphius from Dragon Age because he truly comes across as a all powerful entity and basically kicks your teeth in the first time you meet him.

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A good villain huh? Hm, Guess what works for me, it’s the feeling(s) they have on the reader. You can make a person whose sole goal is killing and still be great if they feel impactful or intimidating enough for the reader. You don’t have to always give each one some sad backstory or grey morality.

Sometimes just having a villain that is easy to hate just works.

Keep in mind, this is just me.

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