# too many heroes?



## Telemecus (Mar 7, 2013)

In my WIP, I have a city who's main export is, to put it simply, heroes. The equipment, people, and everything else required is produced within the city. A chunk of the city's standing army is made up of heroes. They walk with the common people in the streets, and have rich fulfilling lives, while making a living being awesome. This originally came about because the city lies in the path of the migrations of several species of dangerous creatures, and there are many tumultuous nations surrounding it. 

What do you think the effect of all these heroes would be on the daily lives of the citizens, the governing body, and the heroes themselves? Any ideas?


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## Lucas (Mar 7, 2013)

Are the heroes "superheroes" or ordinary adventurers? It sounds like most online RPG cities, with the exception that most people do not have silly, spirit-devastating names like "cool_dude_98" or "mr latino lover".


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## CupofJoe (Mar 7, 2013)

The nearest real world equivalent sounds like Sparta.


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## Telemecus (Mar 7, 2013)

Adventurers, but above and beyond the "regular" ones. Almost every person in the city has some fighting skill, but the guys I am wondering about are the celebrity/super-charged/epic ones, the upper crust, at least in comparative power. This city has a much higher concentration of them than anywhere else on my mythical continent, by a ways.


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## Lucas (Mar 7, 2013)

Telemecus said:


> Adventurers, but above and beyond the "regular" ones. Almost every person in the city has some fighting skill, but the guys I am wondering about are the celebrity/super-charged/epic ones, the upper crust, at least in comparative power. This city has a much higher concentration of them than anywhere else on my mythical continent, by a ways.



Sounds like Runescape. ^^


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## Lucas (Mar 7, 2013)

CupofJoe said:


> The nearest real world equivalent sounds like Sparta.



No. Sparta was a military state, not an individualistic state. There are no collectivistic adventurers. Not even communist revolutionary guerilla heroes are collectivists.


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## Alex97 (Mar 7, 2013)

Lucas said:


> No. Sparta was a military state, not an individualistic state. There are no collectivistic adventurers. Not even communist revolutionary guerilla heroes are collectivists.



Yeah, Sparta was more about duty to the state than epic lone adventurers. Each man received military training with the sole purpose to serve the state.  

I'm curious as to how a society and economy would work if most of the population leave to adventure.  It sounds more to me like early tribal cultures where the main food source was gained via hunting but even they would return with food to share out.  The individual people might make money from their adventures but how would the government make any (aside from some tax) if the citizens leave to seek their fortune?  

Perhaps the city could be based around trade, that way people would still travel a lot.  Alternatively they could export the weapons and equipment they manufacture or you could make them a military state.  However, I'm not sure a city could work with an economy based around adventuring heroes.  That said I could be wrong.


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## Telemecus (Mar 7, 2013)

The way I have the city economy set up is that, inside the city center are portals that lead to very secluded wilderness areas where raw materials can be mined and collected, as well as food grown in relative safety, which was developed to thwart sieges. The city is in the center of a very sketchy continent, and so most legal trade tends to go through it, since it is very safe and stable compared to the other cities around, and it is a great place to hire guards. Also, while military service is not required (except in certain states of emergency), it is highly, highly, _HIGHLY_ encouraged. There are various branches, and except for the most basic wall sentinels, equipment is provided by the person applying for the military, making a very active market for weapons, armor, magic items, and the like.

The easy availability of resources, the influx of trade, and the death and need for replacement of the soldiers support an active economy. The safety of having so many soldiers in such a harsh terrain makes it an attractive place to live for the average joe, too.

Those are my thoughts, at least.


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## Lucas (Mar 7, 2013)

Telemecus said:


> The way I have the city economy set up is that, inside the city center are portals that lead to very secluded wilderness areas where raw materials can be mined and collected, as well as food grown in relative safety, which was developed to thwart sieges. The city is in the center of a very sketchy continent, and so most legal trade tends to go through it, since it is very safe and stable compared to the other cities around, and it is a great place to hire guards. Also, while military service is not required (except in certain states of emergency), it is highly, highly, _HIGHLY_ encouraged. There are various branches, and except for the most basic wall sentinels, equipment is provided by the person applying for the military, making a very active market for weapons, armor, magic items, and the like.
> 
> The easy availability of resources, the influx of trade, and the death and need for replacement of the soldiers support an active economy. The safety of having so many soldiers in such a harsh terrain makes it an attractive place to live for the average joe, too.
> 
> Those are my thoughts, at least.



Sounds very counter-intuitive, but you have a given fan club amongst the libertarians/objectivists. And also the online rpg players.


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## Queshire (Mar 7, 2013)

Does it primarily grow the adventurers, or does it attract the heroes from elsewhere? If they attract them from elsewhere then there's plenty of places designed around attracting people to come and spend a lot of money there for a short time. On thing that comes to mind is Las Vegas. I expect there would be plenty of taverns as well as brothels if you're willing to portray that. Guildhalls and equipment shops. An arena certainly. And then a lesser emphasized "backstage" portion of the town to cater to the locals and employees that cater to the adventurers. And then there would have to be some reason to keep the adventurers in line and preserve peace yet be unable to deal with the monster problem that the adventurers come to the city to deal with in the first place.


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## Jamber (Mar 7, 2013)

Is this a place where people who have a degree of pre-existing heroic standing go to live (and be called upon to champion something)? Something like Mount Olympus, only human?

I imagine there'd be a good deal of arrogance, petty feuds that turn into major battles, and egotistical infighting, just as in Greek myths. Some heroic 'causes' might be seen as less worthy than others, but some returning heroes might have won the crowds with sheer charisma or post-battle exaggeration. Their elevation might annoy those whose heroism was achieved more nobly. There might be a kind of heroic meritocracy in place —*that is, heroes get kudos for their past deeds, and ascend the ranks as they accumulate acolytes or brownie points or whatever -- but the system might also be prone to corruption. Olympus/Olympics... 

cheers
Jennie


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## wordwalker (Mar 7, 2013)

Do the heroes hire out to other lands as mercenaries too? If the city has a partnership with them to take a cut from that, in exchange for connections and support, the economy starts to look better. (The Dorsai planet's main export was mercenaries, though not at the individual level.)

Or, if there was a major industry in dragon teeth and other unique materials the heroes could bring in from those nearby creatures.


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## Penpilot (Mar 8, 2013)

Reminds me of the comic _Top 10_ Here's a link and a brief description.

Top 10 (comics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Gene Ha and Zander Cannon, the series details the lives and work of the police force of Neopolis, a city in which everyone, from the police and criminals to civilians, children and even pets, has super powers and colourful costumes.

Be a good idea to see if you can see how they handle things so you can avoid too much overlap and maybe steal...er... borrow some ideas.


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## ProjectZ (Mar 12, 2013)

I feel you are using the term hero very loosely. A hero is not always a badass able to take on legions of enemies or one big foe. But the affects of a society that has alot of "Heros" an idea that I had was the politics. Powerful men will use powerful heros and often times compete for the best. Kind of the under belly of the government ruled by force in an inhospitable nation I feel like power should be a regular theme.

Also another issue that I have with this idea of a surplus of heros. Is how flat and repeatative behaviors of the heroes would be. Can a hero do bad? I might be riding the use of the word hero, but this question is nesecerry in my point.


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## wordwalker (Mar 12, 2013)

ProjectZ said:


> I feel you are using the term hero very loosely. A hero is not always a badass able to take on legions of enemies or one big foe. But the affects of a society that has alot of "Heros" an idea that I had was the politics. Powerful men will use powerful heros and often times compete for the best. Kind of the under belly of the government ruled by force in an inhospitable nation I feel like power should be a regular theme.
> 
> Also another issue that I have with this idea of a surplus of heros. Is how flat and repeatative behaviors of the heroes would be. Can a hero do bad? I might be riding the use of the word hero, but this question is nesecerry in my point.



Agreed. "Hero" is a bit like what we keep reminding ourselves about "evil": it's a _result_ of particular motivations, not a goal in itself. What someone walks around thinking is "I've got to protect _them_ from _that_," or maybe "I'm going to keep fighting _that_ until I'm rich and famous."

So the question is, what kind of society has that many Thats lurking around, and how it supports individual heroes and who tries to use them, and why nobody's united them into an army or guild.


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## ProjectZ (Mar 13, 2013)

wordwalker said:


> So the question is, what kind of society has that many Thats lurking around, and how it supports individual heroes and who tries to use them, and why nobody's united them into an army or guild.



I could not say without some more information, like what level of threats are these monsters, how the other nations fair in contrast to them. 

Yet again, i am drawing from the concept of the hero. I like to think that heros in essence are driven by their own goals, and would not be easily manipulated. But, a world with great perils as well as a surviving race of people who have adapted to a certain way of life, seems more appropriate to call them simply warriors.

Like i mentioned before, raw power is probably the general motif for that society. There has to be a some sort of geographical or mutational trait helping these people thrive. It can be a simple clinch point or an adaptation that makes them stronger more durable. Take for example vikings, their ways are barbaric at best but they are fierce and can be a good example to draw from.

This really seems like the makings of a game, and mmo or the like. reminds me a bit of monster hunter i dont know if you have heard of it. 

If it is a concept drawn on that, the society would revolve around the slaying and protecting of the city. EVERYTHING will be for the one goal. There will be a strong sense of duty honor and selfless unity. Otherwise i feel like such a place could not be conceivable without some external mystical force driving these people and aiding in their survival. 

Or be unexplained like in games and just taken as what it is.


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## Telemecus (Mar 14, 2013)

I would like to elaborate and expand on my idea just a little. 

First: I use the term "hero" loosely. A hero in my story is someone who is both powerful to some extent, and has a fan-base of some sort. A powerful person that nobody likes or no one has ever heard of doesn't count, and neither does a wimp with a fan club.

Which leads me to...

Second: I envisioned this city to have a Hollywood-ish economy. Celebrities/Heroes tend to live their because it's a nice place and all the other Celebrities/Heroes live there, and it is "glamorous". The money they accumulate becoming a hero is paid to their assistants, maids, squires, secretaries, who in turn go shop at grocery stores, put their money in banks, invest, and do normal things like that. The Monsters/Invaders/"Bad Guys" are attracted by the large amount of people in the city, and attack. The Heroes beat them up, take their money, and everyone gets paid again! When times are slow, they can hire themselves out for short amounts of time, and make a quick profit, and everyone still gets paid.
There are several alternate revenue streams, such as trade, and portal-induced colonization, but the Heroes are a massive part of the economy.


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## Kahle (Mar 18, 2013)

It almost sounds like one giant mercenary company or guild, or at least a situation where the heroes would be familiar with each others' exploits. The economic system seems very much like the Roman patronage for senators and the like-each member of the elite acts as a patron for those of lesser influence. He takes care of these clients and pursues their interests and they in turn help him get elected and give him their votes.-not quite your system but the client idea might help you tie in the social aspects.

With the number of heroes, it would seem that there would be various petitions and clients seeking the aid of the heroes, which leads into the idea of Jason and the Argonauts-Jason recruited a band of heroes (Castor, Pollux, Heracles, etc.) and set out on a grand quest.-this might mean that the area around the heroes' city might be in chaos (might be what you meant by 'sketchy'). On this note, maybe the heroes compete in some way to earn the contracts (Olympics as Jamber mentioned?) or simply announce great hunts, like the Hunt for the Calydonian Boar, and see who gets it first (and receives the reward and fame).

Also, how do the heroes rise to fame? Some sort of proving grounds or controlled gladiatorial arena might serve such a function.

With all of this wealth, you mentioned that monsters, etc. would attack from outside. This also seems like a city where bankers, locksmiths, and *thieves* would have successful lives. High end assassins and thieves would likely be a major part of this city. 

Ends note-is this connected to the soul and weapon post?


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## Telemecus (Mar 19, 2013)

Yes, Kahle. Almost all my posts are centered around the same story. I am a pretty sheepish writer, so I love all the feedback! Thank you everyone!


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