Some TTRPG superheroes wish to keep their alter ego a secret.
There is a lot to be gained by having a secret identity as a superhero. The main advantage is not having the public, reporters, fans, and supervillains alike all up in your business 24/7. It’s also good for protecting family from all of the aforementioned onlookers. Plus, it might prevent other heroes from assuming the character is available all the time, always on duty.
That’s why I tend to envy Batman and Superman and feel really bad for Tony Stark and Reed Richards most of the time. People might suspect, but very few people actually know Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent lead double lives. On the other hand, Stark is a bit of an egomaniac and I think he actually enjoys the rockstar status. I think Reed Richards sees his public identity as a distraction from getting more work done.
“I have to excuse myself to the bathroom. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Leading a secret life does have its disadvantages. Having to excuse oneself suddenly due to a major emergency is definitely one of them. Where does Clark go all the time? People ask. Thank goodness for superspeed and the ability to make up bull🦆🦆t excuses on the fly.
There’s also the awkward need to both protect family and friends while pretending not to be someone they see every day. “No, ahem, I mean, No Mrs. Smith. I haven’t seen Johnny, but I’m sure he’ll be okay, now let’s get you away from the radioactive fire monster.”
It’s such a fun roleplaying quandary to put the players in. Do they hero up in front of the family and save the day? Do the PCs risk exposing themselves by saving their loved ones by virtue doing their jobs as heroes?
Testing those waters.
My two favorite tests for heroes are the plane hijacking and the convenience store holdup. Forcing characters into these situations in their alter egos really makes them think about what they’re doing. Guys like Wolverine can’t do much when a plane is going down due to engine failure. But if a plane is threatened by hijackers in midair? But what if he was travelling incognito?
My other favorite is the convenience store robbery scenario which works so well to test the hero’s mettle on so many levels. It’s cool if the character is the only one in the store with a bunch of strangers, almost ideal. But protecting innocent lives, especially friends and family, is a lot harder. One of the best responses to this was borrowed from a well known Power Rangers internet production.
Robber: Any last words before we kill you, mister?
Brock: Yeah, as a matter of fact I do.
Robber Boss: Oh yeah, what’s that?
Brock: It’s Morphin Time! Go, go. Lightning Force Black. (Lightning strikes transforming him into his armor.)
Robber: What?!? (Shoots into the back of Brock’s helmet. Bullets bounce off.)
Brock: (Turning around to the robber.) You shot me? Gimme that. (Yanks the gun from the startled robber.)
Robber Boss: Get him! Augh! (Cut off by Brock throwing the robber’s gun at his face.)
Brutal beatdown ensues. Brock inevitably wins. Then he had to answer to Rose and Lori for exposing his identity to five grateful people in the convenience store. Luckily no one recognized him in his civilian attire. Although isn’t it strange how six teenagers wear the same color clothes every day and always seem to be hanging out together. Could they be..?
I love superhero scenarios where the characters have to think beyond their power set. Imagine if the civilian scenario happened in a bank where the hostages were separated. What if anything but the most subtle use of powers might mean someone getting injured. Heaven forbid the character isn’t actually bulletproof. (I lost a really cool character that way once.)
The hero life can make things difficult for characters.
Dating in secret identity is difficult at best. Anyone who has regularly read Spiderman or Superman before they got married knows dating is difficult at best when you’re living a double life and their significant other thinks they’re cheating. Or one too many broken date can lead to no more second chances.
In TTRPG terms, characters dating civilians who don’t know they’re heroes while in secret identity is an awesome scenario. If the players are into it, there can be endless amounts of both comedy and tragedy as the hero’s trouble alert bracelet goes off in the middle of the candlelight dinner his girlfriend spent weeks planning and hours preparing. Then there’s always trying to explain why the hero is three hours late to the next date because he was busy saving a train loaded with passengers from a costumed egomaniac.
Other casual scenarios can be complicated, too. A hero tries to hang out with his non-hero party bros and bang down a few beers when suddenly his watch starts beeping. Uh oh, looks like the mad mastermind is back. Time to hero up except they’re gonna notice he’s not there and his breath reeks of cheap brew. What’s a super strong guy to do?
Family holidays are probably the hardest for characters with secret identities. Imagine a character sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Dad’s ready to carve the turkey and suddenly Johnny’s watch starts beeping. Awkward because everyone’s staring now.
What do you do? Ignore the call and maybe people get hurt. Hero up in front of the family and give Grams a heart attack? Quietly excuse oneself to answer the call. Where does one even go in that situation?
Speaking of answering the call.
The age of cell phones and their handy GPS tracking has to be a curse to modern superheroes. What? Johnny isn’t answering his phone. Now Mom, Girlfriend and police are all looking while the cowled crusader is off blissfully punching bad guys and saving the world from deep space dangers. Johnny is fully unaware of any problem until he gets back to his civilian attire to find everyone gathered around his cell phone wondering why it’s in the middle of a train station.
That phone is also a leash for married or committed characters. Imagine the character’s cell phone going off in the middle of a hostage rescue. “Sorry. Can’t talk right now. I need to, uh, get back to those really tough, uh, numbers at my super boring accounting job here at the software company.” Or “I’m going to be late for dinner because the building is on fire again. No, uh, not my building, but a building… next door. Yeah. That’s it.”
I could go into more anecdotes about superhero life and probably will at some point. I love ICONS and Power Rangers RPG so much. Marvel Multiverse Solo is proving to be a lot of fun as well right now. I’m running into a lot of these little scenarios that are food for thought.
Thanks for stopping by today. I appreciate you. Mega March is a concept I borrowed from the OG GM. You can find him here on YouTube. He’s awesome when it comes to all things superhero. He’s also a fellow Marvel Superheroes RPG fan from way back.
Jeff's Game Box 