This is something I thought a lot about when working on the setting for my upcoming DCA game, and ultimately I basically took the "Superman Stays Out of Gotham" approach so common to comics.  

In terms of the local area, the players are the "Main Group" of Central Valley (and the only legal one as far as the city is concerned), and that's implied to be more important than anyone except maybe Dr. Fate and certain cosmic-level entities realize.

So they are the first-responders in the setting, and because of certain mystical interferences, pretty much the only ones generally.  The out-of-towners may guest star occasionally but they're the stars of the show, just like what you see in most character books in comics.

Yes they were all original characters in an original supergroup.

The players didn't feel jammed into the Marvel Universe because it all happened rather gradually. The way it went is something like this. My plan was to run a Marvel-lite kind of game. Banking on the fact that I know the Marvel better than I probably should and my players not very much at all (or so I thought) I figured I'd just reuse some of the lesser known villains and save me a lot of work.

I'm not sure how it started, might have just be a casual remark about the team genius character playing chess with Reed Richards over the internet but it quickly became clear that (1) the players really enjoyed these camoes and rubbing shoulders with these well established characters and (2) even without being comic book readers, they new more about Marvel characters than I expected. So bit by bit it became a Marvel-intesive campaign.

Other things worth mentioning. There was an implied history. We did not start with the origins of the heroes or how they first met. The assumption was they are all established heroes in an well known and respected supergroup.  We did spell out exactly what this assumed history tough in play a few things emerged (like the fact that half the team were reformed supervillains in the Thunderbolts vein).

Also the NPCs, established heroes and civilians always treated the characters with respect and as peers. I never went for the "We wanted the Avengers but I guess you'll do." kind of approach.

The situations often showed the players in a flattering light. So for instance as I mentioned above when Thor got captured by Hel, it was up to party to rescue him. So okay, the player characters might have been partly responsible to getting Thor into trouble in the first place, but regardless rescuing someone like Thor does your self-esteem no harm. Of course the next session someone got taken out but a lowly HYDRA grunt's lucky shot, but them's the breaks.

This whole situation matters to me because I've only ever run one supers campaign in my entire GMing lifetime, the Legion of Super Heroes campaign.  In that one, the PCs were playing actual characters from the comic (Ultra Boy, Colossal Boy, Sun Boy, etc).

However, that game is wrapping up, and I actually plan to run a new campaign set in the Golden Age, a non-cannonical version but basically the DC universe's Golden Age (that is, there'll be non-DC heroes in it, no marvel ones though, and it will have most of the DC golden age JSA types as well).  The plan is that in this game, contrary to the Legion one, the PCs will all be new heroes, that are NOT canonical DC characters.  

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On additional advantage to focusing on the immediacy of the situation is that it allows PCs to be eye to eye with the heavy hitters if and when that time comes.  Superman can say "Weren't you the ones that stopped those 20 story surplus Soviet robots from nuking Las Vegas?" and they can say "yep, that was us" and Supes can say "Wow" and that's good times.

You might talk to your players Pundit. They may want the JSA around to back them up--being the big hitters when things go wrong for them they can give them a call for advice, or help.

On the other hand they may just hate that.

Quote from: RPGPundit;459900When you run a supers game, do you want, or have you had more success with, a game where the PCs are basically second-rung supers (ie. a known team but not the Big League guys of the universe, and you have NPCs who are the real "Alpha Supers" running around in the background), or where the PCs themselves are the Top Guns of the setting?

Run both sorts -- Second-String and Alpha Supers -- plus also an "Every Team is Beta" variant, where there is no actual Alpha team.

Second-String is good for character and power development. Think the Legion of Subs, or the Teen Titans.

Alpha Supers is great if power levels aren't going to fluctuate much. Start at the top of the game, and stay there.

Every Team is Beta is great for a mix of the two -- some character/power development, some of the fame and respect.

Quote from: RPGPundit;459900Does it make a difference if you are playing in a licensed world? And if so, how do you do it? If you're playing in the DC universe, do you have the PCs replace Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman? Or do you have them side-by-side with them? If so, how do you really make those PCs the equals of Supes or Bats, without having the latter seem less than what they should be?

If I'm playing in a licensed world, I generally play an established character or a side-by-side. For side-by-side, it's generally in a Second-String capacity

Replacing a big dog, only did it once, and it was just like playing an established character wearing a different mask. Rather unsatisfying. "Why am I just not playing Batman?"

Quote from: RPGPundit;459900Do you have the PCs be part of the Justice League, or is it better to have them running around being the Outsiders or the Doom Patrol, while the League is around in the background?

I prefer the Outsiders with the League in the background, but have played as "part of the JLU" sort of thing. It worked fine, but I suspect it's the benefit of a large organization there, like the JLU or the Legion. It don't think it'd work the same with the Big 7 JL or original Avengers.

(Also, though I recall you weren't all that hip on the system of Truth & Justice, if you still have the book, you might want to go back and look at the "Second-String Supers" setting chapter for some second-stringer ideas, and the "Supercorps" setting for Every Team is Beta ideas.)

I think that what will ultimately affect the campaign is the fact that when it begins, there won't be any Justice Society.  The game will begin at the very earliest period of the rise of costumed heroes.  So it will really depend on the players, both in terms of choices and of how they prove themselves, as to whether they end up becoming a part of the Justice Society, or a different group that is the equal of the Justice Society, or become the more powerful "alpha team" relegating the justice society (if it comes to exist at all) to the level of second-stringer group, or, on the contrary, if they become the more localized second-stringer group (akin to the Seven Soldiers of Victory or the Freedom Fighters) with regards to the heavy-hitters of the JSA.

It'll be an interesting part of the campaign, to see how it all pans out...

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