Posts made by Runescryer

@Wizz said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

@Runescryer said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

For the most part, I 100% agree with you. However, you do have exceptions in the form of characters like The Punisher, Red Hood, even Green Arrow sometimes. My solution is to have 3 hero 'classifications': Superhero, Vigilante, & Anti-Hero

So you're going for a more "modern age" comic feel, rather than four color?
What'll the setting be? Real or fictional city?

Or is it too early to start batting this stuff around?

Two fictional cities, ala Metropolis & Gotham, but by way of the West Coast. New Avalon is going to be the Four Color heroic home city; across the bay is going to be San Macario, where the street-level vigilantes fight crime and corruption.

@Arkandel said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

For a comic book MU* PvP shouldn't be lethal anyway. That's kinda how it works in comics.

Ship'em off to prison so they can escape or tie them in your deathtrap that doesn't work and move on.

For the most part, I 100% agree with you. However, you do have exceptions in the form of characters like The Punisher, Red Hood, even Green Arrow sometimes. My solution is to have 3 hero 'classifications': Superhero, Vigilante, & Anti-Hero

Superheroes are, well, pretty self explanatory

Vigilantes are the Batman & Daredevil type characters. There may be some superhuman ability, but mostly they fight crime by punching people in the face and fight more 'street level' concerns like organized crime, drugs, and political corruption

Anti-Heroes are the characters that believe lethal force is justified to make the city/world safer. Mostly, they're going to be sharing the same sphere as the Vigilantes

Player-run villains aren't going to be killable, unless consent is given. NPC Henchmen and mooks can be killed by the truckloads by Anti-Heroes. Of course, they have to deal with the consequences of their actions...

@Lithium said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

@ThatGuyThere said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

I understand what you are saying from a thematic point of view but that does not jibe at all with my experience in mushes with mechanical systems.
Granted that is limited to WoD and Star Wars games but I have most often seen people led with their biggest gun first.
Now is it in theme for Spidey to go all out versus a jewelry thief, not of course not it is a frequent thing in the comics of Spidey either mentioning or thinking how much he has to hold back against normal humans. However if there is no significant mechanical drawback for doing it I think we would see it in game more often than not. Especially since this is an OC game so you would not have Spidey, you would have Alt-Spidey and it would be easy enough to bang out a personality and background where you would have similar powers and no compunction against using them on over matched foes.
If you are going to house rule it when/if it becomes a problem you should likely house rule it to prevent it from becoming a problem.
Also are Advantages intended to be an occasional boost? the ones with trade offs such as All out attack, defensive attack etc have nothing written into them that limits their use.

^^^ This.

There is nothing stopping someone from writing a character that just goes all out, all the time, because they do not care, or think they are invincible, or because they take pleasure in just smashing things/people.

A comic book has the advantage of being written by one person, generally, and the store is the important bit. On a Game that everyone thinks they are writing their own story, and that they are the protagonist and nobody else is, then it becomes problematic very quickly.

I am also somewhat concerned by the statement of /not/ seeing people break things in WoD? People break things in WoD /all the time/.

They pick abusive merit/power combo's, they use them every fight they can get away with it, they steal the show because they can, and because the rules allow them to.

Given that M&M has this thing where you can't even /kill/ someone accidentally, there is absolutely zero draw back to using Power Attack all the time, unless you are facing something that can hurt you /and/ your defense would actually make a difference (A very very rare occasion in M&M in my experience).

I get all that, and thanks for the objective analysis. I just would rather give players the benefit of the doubt before automatically assuming that everyone is going to abuse the system. Maybe that's not feasible, but we'll see

As for characters creating 'ruthless aggression' types that would take advantage of those rules...I'd prefer a story-driven ICA=ICC solution to rein them in. If not, things can get Nerfed.

As for 'no accidental killing'...That's another thing I'm looking into. Possibly adding a 'killing' level of damage if an Attack Effect is 2x greater than the defending Toughness. And you have to declare your Effect value before rolling to hit. Also, Advantages like All Out Attack automatically use the maximum Effect Value.

@Lithium said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

@Runescryer Annnd now I don't understand why you wouldn't just fix the problem to begin with.

You say you are looking into Afflictions, why not look into other things?

Any time you have a way things can be exploited, someone will exploit it. It's human nature.

But... your game, your choice. Just seems silly not to head off a problem before it becomes a problem.

Because, sometimes there's thematic excuses. Like the Indiana Jones scene that I mentioned. There are innumerate times in comic books where the climatic battle hinges on one character pushing themselves 'beyond'. When used in this context, the All Out Attack Advantage, and others, are appropriate.

Example....

Spider-Man is facing down Green Goblin. If Spider-Man doesn't stop the Goblin RIGHT NOW, the Goblin's going to launch a missile that will demolish the Empire State Buliding. All Out Attack would be dramatically appropriate to use here.

vs.

Spider-Man comes across a jewel thief trying to break into a store. He leads off with a massive punch to take the crook down. All Out Attack wouldn't be dramatically appropriate to use here, and would be abusive if Spider-Man's player lead off every encounter with crooks that he already overpowers in this way.

For me, it comes down to the appropriateness of the situation as to whether something is acceptable or abusive.

I see the situation with the Affliction rules as separate, since that's more of a built-in to character powers, rather than an occasional 'boost' the way some of the Advantages are intended to be.

@Lithium said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

@ThatOneDude As was mentioned previously, there's the trade off of attack and damage, but there is a feat that lets you reduce your defense in trade off for bonus attack. So instead of having +8 to hit with a damage of 12, and a 14 toughness with a 6 defense, you'd go to +12 to hit with a damage of 12, 14 toughness with a 2 defense.

Thing is, a 6 defense isn't dodging crap to begin with, you're built around /taking/ the hits, so losing 4 defense? That's nothing.

And that's just one way in which the PL system gets skewed. There are several Feats that all break the PL system.

And, if such Advantages are used sparingly and only when it's dramatically appropriate, that's fine; they're not game breaking when used in a situation like, say Indiana Jones against the Nazi mechanic in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (that's how I picture All out Attack).

Going back to my earlier post about system abuse being more of a behavioral problem on the part of the player than a flaw in the system, if players are always breaking the PL caps with those Advantages, it's easy enough to House Rule that 'No Advantage can raise a Bonus/Effect combination beyond the PL*2 cap'.

@ThatOneDude said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

@Lithium said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

@Ominous That's the thing, there's a lot of different systems but /none/ of them really translate to MU* format well. You can hack Fate or use one of the Fate super settings, that works well for cinematic stuff. You can go the opposite route and go with say, Hero System.

Honestly... if you can successfully patch afflictions, and fix the broken feats that totally alter your power scale... then M&M isn't /bad/ per se.

As for changing the world, this needs to be possible. Nothing is more game killing for a super hero game (for me) than knowing that no matter what I do... it doesn't matter to the game world at all.

I'm curious about this game breaking part of the rules and the example used. This is honestly just an honest question as I don't know the system in use. Your example sounded like a Superman or like character (hits hard and can take a hit). Wouldn't the balance be a like character? I mean the equalizer for Batman vs Superman is leveraging superman's weakness but with out that one material it's not a "fair fight". But if you stand Superman against someone with like power it changes things.

Mutants & Masterminds uses a character building scale called Power Level (PL). Your PL also determines the maximum your combined Attack & Damage and Defense & Resistance can be. In other words, if you hage a higher damage output with an attack, the attack has a lower 'bonus to hit' cap in compensation. The higher your Defense (dodging/avoiding), the lower your Resistance to Damage is for when you get hit. Also, Characters of comparable PL's are going to be even in a 1 on 1 fight, usually. To give some examples...

In the DC adaptation of Mutants & Masterminds, Batman is a PL 12, Superman is a PL 15. However, Superman has some exploits that Batman can use to make the fight more even. Also, Batman can create a suit of armor that puts him at a PL 14 and makes the fight about even.

Superman has a +11 to hit in close combat and does 19 damage (Attack + Damage is capped at PL*2). Wonder Woman is also a PL 15, but has a +14 to hit in close combat and does 16 Damage, reflecting that Wonder Woman is a better overall fighter than Superman, but not as strong. Superman has a Dodge & Parry of 10 each, and a Toughness of 18, about equal to his Strength. Wonder Woman has a Dodge & Parry of 16 each, and a Toughness of 14.

To hit in Mutants & Masterminds, you need to roll equal to a target's Defense + 10 on a d20 Roll, plus your attack bonus. To hit Wonder Woman, Superman would need to roll a 15 (15+11=26=16+10). Conversely, Wonder Woman would only need a 6 (6+14=20=10+10)

Now, if Superman hits Wonder Woman, she needs to resist the attack, and would need to beat Superman's Strength + 10 on a d20 roll + her Toughness. So, that would be a roll of a 15 for her (15+14=29=19+10). If Wonder Woman hit Superman, he needs to roll an 8 to resist (8+18=26=16+10).

That's just a quick and dirty example, but it does show how things balance out in the game. Effects of damage are based on how badly you miss making your resistance roll.

@Ominous said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

I kind of want to make an OC villain, The Red Scare - a Soviet Mr. Incredible who is angry at Russia's betrayal of communism and has come to smack the US around in his red spandex.

Hey, that's fine with me Trope characters can be fun

@ThatGuyThere said in New Superhero Game Looking for Staff/Feedback:

@Runescryer
Not @Lithium but I will toss out the place where I think it is the most broken.
If you have two people who are the same PL and they each follow the games' advice of buying saves and attacks to PL level then a fight between them will be a one shot ko 25 percent of the time. Which while maybe fitting for some genres never felt like Superheroes to me.

While this is mathematically accurate, the use of Hero Points to lessen the effect of a hit throws off the statistical probability. Also, the way I'm looking at incorporating the Karma Point system, to either supplement or completely replace Hero Points, reduces the likelihood of the 'one punch fight' happening.

@Lithium

So, here's how I handle situations like that. And I have had situations like that in just about every game system I've run.

Step 0: If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It. No system is perfect and every system has exploits. So, is this particular exploit being used extensively to the point of overuse/abuse? If not, then it's currently not a problem to resolve; everyone is playing in the spirit of the game.

Step 1: Nerf. If the exploit is being used extensively, then there's a problem and something needs to be done. In the case of the All-Out Attack Advantage, which you're referring to, House Rule that All Out Attack affects BOTH Defense and Resistance in exchange for a bonus to attack. Offer characters with All-Out Attack the chance to adjust the character to remove the Advantage if they wish in exchange for another Advantage.

Step 2: Hit 'Em Where It Hurts. If certain players remain undeterred and continue to abuse the nerfed exploit, time to up the ante. Look at their character sheet and create opponents that exploit their use of the exploit. A villain that reflects attacks back; someone who's Min/Maxing the Attack/Damage using All Out Attack probably has a higher Damage rating that can overcome their own Resistance, especially if the Nerf example is in place.

Step 3: Hit 'Em Where They Ain't. If it continues, time to create opponents and situations that completely negate the exploit. Pit the player excessively exploiting the All Out Attack Advantage against foes that go intangible or are Mentalists who can exploit the character's (most likely) low mental defenses & resistances. Set the character up; since they use All Out Attack all the time, put an impressive looking armored enemy in front of them in a public battle who really has horrible Defenses and Resistances. The character goes all out and blows the patsy villain away, most likely in front of a large crowd who can confirm to law enforcement that the character showed absolutely no restraint in attacking.

Like I said, no system is completely exploit proof. Players abusively exploiting a system is a behavioral problem on the part of the player, not an indictment of the system. Work to correct the disruptive behavior when it occurs and you'll end up with a better player as part of your game.

@Lithium

Give me an example of how you think the system can be broken. That way, we can work to patch up flaws. No system is perfect and I'd rather be proactive about preventing possible misuse of the game system.

If you're talking about the Affliction rules, I'm working on a resolution for that.

Okay, time to send out some feelers for Staff and general interest in this idea….

I’m looking for a full set of Staff for a new Superhero game that I’ve been planning out. The theme will be all Original Characters and the game will use the Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition as a combat/task resolution system. Now, to answer the two questions that are probably coming to everyone’s minds right now…

Why an Original Character Supers game?
For lots of reasons. First, virtually all the Supers games currently populated are based off of the main Comic Book sources of Marvel & DC already. Second, the ‘Big Name’ characters on Marvel/DC games get a lot of interest and attraction for RP, becoming more of ‘status’ symbols that you’re scening with them rather than another character that you interact with. Third, a previous player may have engaged in plots and RP that lead to consequences that future players don’t want to deal with, leaving major characters unapped for long stretches of time or having to figure out a continuity reset for the character, or sometimes even the whole game.

By making this a completely all Original Character theme, we can reduce the effects of those problems, since all characters start off with an even level in terms of popularity on the game, and a player that drops unexpectedly can return later and be assured that the character they created and invested time and energy into will still be available to them.

Finally, possibly most importantly, having all Original Characters means that there are no expectations as to where RP would or should lead to. No expectations of canon pairings or favorite ships or ‘we should do this Event storyline in our game’.

This doesn’t mean that Feature Characters or Media Creations or Published Characters or whatever the terminology next evolves into, won’t be welcomed so long as there are sufficient modifications. Homage characters are certainly welcome; just use a different name and work a few unique aspects into the character is all we’re asking.

Why Use A Dice System?
Again, I realize it’s not the popular option for Super games. However, using a well established Table Top RPG system does have some advantages. It provides firm statistics and benchmarks of what a character can and cannot do. It prevents, or helps lessen at the very least, characters from being automatically successful in every action from combat to social interactions; even the best superheroes can have off days, which the random dice rolls help reflect. Finally, using an established game system allows us to bring in table top gamers that are used to the game system and it helps lessen the amount of adjustments they have to make in learning how to play via MUD/MUSH/MUX, also having the benefit of expanding the game population beyond the usual MU community. In fact, I’m already generating some player interest with discussion outside of the MU Community.

Now, I realize that there are people that are going to disagree with my conclusions here and the concepts, and that’s fine. I’m trying out a different path for the game, one that doesn’t get used all that often for a variety of reasons. In the end, I’m looking for Staff and players that want to try this out and make a universe together with me.

Other Cool (or not so Cool) Ideas
There’s lots of stuff from other games, online & TableTop, that I would like to try and incorporate. Such as:

-Automated Dice rolling & Action Resolution: I want to have the combat and skills use automated as much as possible.

-Open Access to low-level villains. Comic books are filled with lots of low-level villains that are good for a quick bank robbery, heist, or other anchor for an action scene. I want to have these Rogues available as bits for anyone to log into, without having to app first, to facilitate impromptu scenes.

-Will & Testament. Basically, when someone makes up a character, they write a note saying what they want to have done with the character if they drop unexpectedly. Ranging from ‘allow the character to be apped by someone else’ to ‘mysterious disappearance’ to ‘they get heavily involved with X situation and retire from the superhero business’

-Autologging system that posts straight to the wiki

-Karma & Popularity. Adapted from the old Marvel Super Heroes game in the 80’s. Karma is a points system rewarding you for your logged actions, mostly combat but some social, where the points can be spent to modify die rolls or stored up to (slowly) improve your character. Popularity is a measurement of how well known your character is, adapted to lower the difficulty of certain interactions with NPC’s, and can rise and fall according to your actions.

-Testing Room(s). Basically a room or set of rooms on the OOC Grid where players can test out their powers and abilities against automated targets to see how effective the build is before having Staff lock the changes in place. Also, a way for players to get familiar with the various commands to attack or use powers/skills

Needed Staff

I’ll keep this first post updated to keep it easy for people to see what’s been filled and what’s still needed.

Currently needed, in order of priority….

Coders (Main and Assistants): Should be familiar with M&M 3rd Edition or know where to find pre-written code for the game. If you need help with the system, I can help walk you through it.

Wiki Coder: I'd like to have a wiki up and running before a full open

Builders (Main and Assistants)

Administration : Just general helpful folks that can answer questions, run events, and solve disputes when the game fully opens. Knowledge of the Mutants & Masterminds system a plus, but it’s an easy system to learn

In addition to providing the game hosting, I’m also setting up a Discord server to help coordinate Staff and the building of the game. If you’re interested, chime in on the thread or send me a PM here.

Even if you’re not interested, feel free to leave constructive criticism/discussions here.

Thanks

UPDATE 1 We've got a head coder and the start of both a grid and a wiki! Thanks to ZombieGenesis!

@Tempest said in The Metaplot:

@WTFE

I've never seen anything remotely close to that in regards to metaplot on a MUSH. Maybe I've just been lucky.

On a MUD, sure. On Firan, probably.

Metaplot on a MUSH is, in my experience, pretty easy to ignore, if it even exists in the first place.

That staff behavior honestly sounds almost exactly like some run-ins I had with various MUD staffers over the years. Like. Exactly.

MUD staff is definitely prone to "OMG YOU WILL PARTICIPATE IN THIS STORY I WROTE (AND IS ENTIRELY SCRIPTED ALREADY) AND ACKNOWLEDGE IT IS THE BEST THING EVER OR ELSE THERE WILL BE ACTUAL MECHANICAL SETBACKS FOR YOU AND THE ENTIRE GAME". I've never seen anything remotely like that on a MUSH, unless you count Firan (I wouldn't).

Makes me wonder, did this Castle Marrach staff hide behind anonymity? IE no record of who they played and they generally wouldn't even say which staffer was making decisions or doing things in-game that affected players?

Kushiel's Debut had something similar, although not to that level of insanity, a year or two ago. Staff pushed a metaplot where everyone's divine abilities went away. Players were supposed to be alarmed and try to figure out what was going on. But mostly, players just shrugged and said 'meh' and continued cavorting in the bedchambers. Staff didn't up the ante, but just sort of went 'Okay, fine,' and left it in place. No-one really cared. For maybe 1 year and a half? Players that did worry about the loss of their divine blood connections sort of treated it as an SEP (Someone Else's Problem), and expected others that weren't 100% focused on TS and/or politics to go and solve it. The whole thing lead to another massive drop-off in the player base, and Staff eventually had to say 'fark it' and do a reset, IIRC.

@Arkandel said in High Fantasy:

@Runescryer said in High Fantasy:

@Ominous The big advantage to WoT is the same advantage of LotR: a wonderfully detailed and awesome world to play in.

The big downside to WoT is the same downside to LotR: All that detailed world-building was done to cater to a small group of characters who pretty much do every awesome thing possible, so there's nothing really for the players to do that could recapture that epic tale feeling you had when reading the series.

The only real option is to create an alt-universe, IMO

There are ways - and there have been games which took advantage of them - to get around the issue. The easy way is to set it in a different era; go back fifty years and go at it. Unless you want Tarmon Gaidon to happen within the MU*'s timeline you don't even have to worry about the prophecies, since they will eventually come true anyway, or you can have them be about something else.

On A Moment in Tyme we did something similar at some point - we thought plot was getting a bit stale so we created a What If? alternate timeline where Lews Therin Telamon wrestled control and took over Rand's mind at an early point, which basically meant we tossed the events in the books out and just did our own thing. @Seraphim73 might be better able to tell if that was successful or not since my perspective was from driving this, but I recall people having fun.

IMHO any game based on original material needs to unshackle itself from the exact events and characters as soon as possible. The focus needs to be on the PCs, not what the canonical protagonists are going to do; they can still be used for the cool factor now and then ("OMG I'M IN A ROOM WITH LUKE SKYWALKER OMG") but if it's overdone then that, too, becomes trite and loses its coolness factor.

As for WoT, it has a great magic system where both male and female characters have super amazing yet different things they can do, a complex and detailed magic system, built-in politics and a bunch of interesting NPC enemies you can have to spice things up with some paranoia as well as brute force.

For the most part, I agree with you on all that. However, in my experience, there's a good chunk of players, possibly even a majority of players, in RPG's who want to be the stars of the show, and if there's a more powerful/famous/better NPC, there will be complains as to why they can't be as powerful as or do the same things as Luke Skywalker/Superman/Rand al'Thor/whoever, even if it's an alternate timeline/universe game. And that's where the 'no' line has to start being used and some players start to toss complaints about Staff being a bunch of tyrannical Nazis engaging in favoritism, probably because they're TSing with a character who is tangentially related to the issue at hand.

To summarize the summary: people are a problem

@Thenomain said in High Fantasy:

@Runescryer said in High Fantasy:

@Thenomain said in High Fantasy:

@Runescryer

I guess being in the minority, I want to build or play a game I would enjoy, not one with the widest appeal. If they are the same thing, then cool. If not, so what?

I agree 100% with that. We (mostly) don't do this hobby of Role Playing (in all of it's forms) for money or prestige; we do it because it's fun for us. If there's no fun, why bother? Now, there's as many definitions of fun as there are people, granted, but if you find others who are having fun alongside you, that makes it all the better.

Well, let's be honest; a game without other people enjoying it with us is not very fun. I have been involved in enough of those projects that I would, myself, rather a game that appeals to more people even if it means compromising some of my own wants, because I know the pay-off can be absolutely worth it.

Having a game with too many players because you've compromised too much can also be a bad thing. Just saying

It's finding the Goldielocks Zone: ideally everything is just right.

@Thenomain said in High Fantasy:

@Runescryer

I guess being in the minority, I want to build or play a game I would enjoy, not one with the widest appeal. If they are the same thing, then cool. If not, so what?

I agree 100% with that. We (mostly) don't do this hobby of Role Playing (in all of it's forms) for money or prestige; we do it because it's fun for us. If there's no fun, why bother? Now, there's as many definitions of fun as there are people, granted, but if you find others who are having fun alongside you, that makes it all the better.

@Thenomain said in High Fantasy:

@Runescryer

The most badass things the characters in LotR did were sacrifice and gathering help. The sacrifices were all notable, but they were notable to character development above other effects.

Very true.

The issue here is can you get people to play character focused challenges. There is a place for it that I’d like to play, for sure.

I think that there are players who can do that. They're in the minority of players, but they do exist. There's also games/settings like 'Blue Rose' where inter-character relationships are more of the focus than 'kill monster, loot, repeat'.

One of the old RPG System mechanics that I would love to bring back is the old DC Heroes 'Subplot' concept. When you created a character, you also wrote down a number of subplots for that character, including a sort of sketch outline of how each subplot can be resolved eventually. Every time your subplot gets advanced as part of the gaming session, in addition to fighting the threat, you got an extra XP reward. When your subplot was resolved, you wrote up a new subplot to take its place. I thought it was a great way to encourage character development and challenges unique to each character.

@Thenomain said in High Fantasy:

@Runescryer

I dunno, Shadows Of Mordor was pretty cool. It would've probably been pretty cool without the How-I-Got-My-Powers McGuffin too, but as it came out around the Saint's Row 4 days maybe not as popular.

Have you looked into the The One Ring RPG system? It takes cues from almost all other Middle Earth games in that your character can more or less be depressed to death. Better than a morality system, that's for sure.

Haven't checked out The One Ring yet, but I have a ton of material for MERP/Rolemaster from back in the day.

And it's not impossible to have a good game take place in a setting like WoT/LotR, it's just very difficult because of the constructed timelines and the fact that you have these characters that are/will kick all sorts of epic butt in their adventure, so you just can't plop PC into the setting without forethought or adjustment. The PC's have to understand and accept that they're not the ones that will ultimately save the world, but they can save their own corner of the world/galaxy/whatever. It's a lesson from Star Wars gaming; yes, you're not going to be the one that blows up the Death Star, fights Darth Vader, or kills the Emperor, but you can still make an impact in your sector and go up against stakes and enemies that matter there. So, in a way, this all ties into the 'Low Stakes' thread here in terms of 'Comparative Stakes'.

@Ominous The big advantage to WoT is the same advantage of LotR: a wonderfully detailed and awesome world to play in.

The big downside to WoT is the same downside to LotR: All that detailed world-building was done to cater to a small group of characters who pretty much do every awesome thing possible, so there's nothing really for the players to do that could recapture that epic tale feeling you had when reading the series.

The only real option is to create an alt-universe, IMO

@Ghost said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

My pitch for Starfinder is that it is d20 based, we've seen Pathfinder MUs, and Starfinder is the Sci-Fi upgrade of Pathfinder.

So, in theory, it's doable.

It is Pathfinder in space....and it isn't. There's some internal consistency problems when it comes to the Pathfinder Lore, which I love.

-Elves are traditionalists preserving their ancient ways on Castronovel, yet no magic Classes from Pathfinder are presented.
-Pathfinder Deities are still worshiped and acknowledged, but no Clerics or Paladins

It's sort of like the Pathfinder lore and conversion rules were sort of tacked on as an afterthought.

Rogue Genius Games did release a Starfinder supplement called 'The Starfarer's Companion' that converts a lot of the Pathfinder Classes to Starfinder; I highly recommend it if you're wanting a bit more out of the setting.

Still, even without the extra material, I'd join a Starfinder game without hesitation.

If you're thinking of doing something along the lines of 'Wild Cards', whether it's superheroes or not, it's probably not going to work for all of the above reasons and a few dozen more that haven't been stated. As an example...

Let's say you organize this where each player has sole control and copyright over their character, while you get control and copyright over the world at large. Now, how are you going to publish these stories? Online via a game website where revenue is generated through Google Ads or something similar? An official submission to a publishing house? Self publish in e-book or other format?

Next, there's the question of how the stories are written. Are you just cleaning up and editing game logs for publication? Or are the individual players writing stories about their own characters? Will there sometimes be stories about a group of characters and if so, who writes them and how are they written? One individual writes the group story or everyone writes their own character?

Then, there's the matter of payment or revenue sharing. Who gets what and how much? If character A turns out to be more popular and generates more interest/story clicks/whatever, does the owning player get paid more than other players whose characters are involved in stories? That's an express train to apocalypse-level drama on the game.What happens if a player leaves the group through inactivity or a desire to pitch the character on his/her own? How do you split any advances or royalty payments on published books?

There's the pre-printing stuff. You're going to need to pay the writers before publication. If a player agrees to their character appearing in a story they're not writing, you'll have to pay for the character appearance.

How are you going to advertise the stories? Are you going to set up a booth at local conventions to sell copies? Unless you have a publishing deal, that's all coming out of you. You can always set up a 'group trust' that gets paid into, but that opens up more questions and headaches (how much from each story goes into the trust, should there be a 'participation fee' that goes to the trust, will any money you personally put up as seed funding be repaid to you and at what point would the repayment happen)

In short, you're asking for all the headaches of opening and running a MU, along with all the headaches of managing a self-publishing group.