I've successfully run a multi-session segment of a campaign featuring an NPC who was more knowledgeable and magically skilled than the party, but less used to combat. There wasn't much violence: they were exploring a region of the astral plane. It probably helped that they'd known and trusted the NPC for some time before this segment started, and felt that they needed a guide after previous attempts at exploration.
They’re the same “power levels” across much of DC’s history in terms of character efficacy, especially when you consider Batman’s noted ability & intent to plan to take down any superhero/supevillain he’s aware of, coupled with a billionaire’s bankroll to “get things done.” His cave that houses a supercomputer, cars, jet, helicopter and arsenal aren’t trivial resources.*
That was kind of my point. Batman as written for the past 20-30 years has an arsenal of equipment and a plan on how to use it against nearly any super-powered threat he knows of. With enough time to prepare, he’s a threat to virtually any DC character on Earth, and some off of it as well.
That all started with Morrison 25 years ago. He invented the "Batgod" version of Batman that could plan for anything and take down the JLA. Prior to.that, Batman was hyper competent but still largely depicted as human. Dark Knight Returns planted the seed, of course, but it didn't reach fruition until Morrison.
Interesting! I always said that Batman in JLA was basically a completely different character than his solo issues due to the fact that his essential trait becomes ingenuity and invention when with the justice league (the only characteristics he has that can be made to be relevant among his more powerful peers). Nice to learn there was a specific author that is responsible for that.
wasn't there a "Batman Inc." series that basically did this? Superior spiderman sorta did this as well, with Doc Oc (in the body of Spiderman) creating squadrons of spider henchmen to keep the city safe for him.
In Deadlands, PCs can take Veteran of the Weird West which bumps them up the next rank from whatever the starting rank is supposed to be. i.e. If the starting rank is Novice then the Veteran of the Weird West will start out as Seasoned, or if starting is Seasoned they'll start Heroic instead. The drawback is the player needs to draw a card to determine some sort of side effect and some of them can be pretty horrendous. Maybe that rifleman you built ends up with one arm or beneficial magic never works on you.
Could be. I basically quit buying comics in the mid-1990s, but still kept checking up on developments in the major characters. But not as obsessively as I used to when I was buying virtually everything.
Sure, but the way Savage Worlds works, arcane background powers are often more valuable than gaining a couple skill ranks. There isn't really parity between a highly skilled two gun kid and a undead gunslinger hungry for demon souls, both of which cost the same number of "points".
