Working on a superhero RPG (tabletop), need help with secret origins.

[lugaru]

So I have a homebrew RPG that I have not played in 10 years but I work on variations of it on and off as a hobby. It works very nicely, it is d6 based where characters compare opposing rolls added to their statistics and the difference tells you the damage and if it is critical (many games have you roll again for damage and again for odds that it is a critical hit).

Anway it is "universal" but I've made a Fantasy and cyberpunk version and I'm working on a superhero one. The thing I'm looking for is examples of secret origins, as a shortcut to character creation. Basically backgrounds in my game package some stuff at a discount, like growing up on the streets would give enough points in "crime" to have a basic understanding of illegal activities and provide a springboard to make a good cop or crook character.

Now for superheroes I'm thinking stuff like "legacy hero" which gives you a lot of extra points to purchase powers but less points in learning how to control them, so think you could "inherit" ironmans armor (which would be expensive) but have no clue how to use it to its full potential.

So far I have:
Legacy Hero
Archeological discovery (points to spend on academic expertise and mystical artifacts)
Scientific accident
Guinea pig
Clan
Curse

Any more origin ideas?

[Glitch Girl]

Off the top of my head...

Alien born (your powers are not of this earth, neither is your knowlege so possible "acclimation" disad there)

Home grown (Basically, Batman and Steel.  No powers except for what you make/learn)

Will add more if I have time.

[Reepicheep]

Divine intervention
Mutation
Personified Object (Something inanimate brought to life (Robots, plant people...))
Technology

[lugaru]

Displaced (past, future, dimensional) great abilities but no modern skills
Ex Sidekick (extra skills like leadership and tactics)
My past self is dead (no place in society but more powers, skills or will: bat villains or spawn)
Identity Theft (similar to legacy hero but no mentor)

[Uncle Yuan]

Mystic
Time traveler (thinking like Booster Gold or Kang)
Wanderer/The Man With No Name
Seeker (Ozymandias, Iron Fist)
Hope for The Future (Bred/trained by a group to do ?)
Undead of several different flavors
Nutjob (too crazy to realize that what they're doing isn't possible)
Recessive (extremely rare natural ability shared by a diverse group of others - think Highlander or Jumper)

[lugaru]

Thanks, lots of great ideas so far. Basically the way I'm organizing things so far is the following:

A superhero starts out perfectly standard... every stat is average and he has no skills or powers. You are alloted a number of points to spend depending on the level of your character, from lakey (a human with two or three skills, think your average thug) to demigod.

You then get to choose from 5 "origin trees" which provide discounts, bonuses and suggestions for flaws and perks from the long list of powers and skills:

Personal
Status: wealth, politics, leadership
Training: combat training, skills, science
Gifts: Mental, Physical, Will,
Alliance: Sidekick, Team Affiliation, Private Army

Technology
Gadgets: gimmicks, weapons, inventions, 
Cybernetics: senses, neurological, physical
Robotics: android, AI, techno organic   
Armor: protection, weapons, enhancement,

Biology
Mutants: Psychic, Physical, Energy
Genetic Experiment: Psychic, Physical, Energy,
Serums: Physical, Mental, Duplicate Power
Drugs: Boost, Duplicate Power, Heal

Mystical
Horror: lycanthropy, undeath, curse
Magic: natural, faith, spellcasting
Artifacts: armament, charm, alchemy
Fantasy: myth, legend, folk

Cosmic
Infused: radiation, cosmic energy, elemental,
Alien: humanoid, parasite, inhuman,
Dimensional: reality manipulation, self duplication, dimensional travel,
Temporal: displaced, alter time, time travel

Still the Secret Origins I'm asking for are to build packages, little combinations of skills, perks, powers and flaws that make great seeds for creating characters. Like "Archeological Discovery" would give you a character with points already allocated towards academic knowledge and mysticism, like a character who found powerful sumerian artifacts or a ghoulish villain who is an archeologist cursed by mummies.

Likewise a character who came from the past might have incredible fighting prowes but is banned from starting the game with knowledge in computers or firearms or whatnot.

Now almost all power categories have two types of abilities you can buy, power and control ones, together with advantages and disadvantages. Each power you buy you can also purchase multiples of, making it super, ultra or cosmic.

For example Shape Shifting:
Power:
1 Change size (super is big or tiny, cosmic is atom sized or mountain sized)
2 Change material (from becoming tough to becoming dense as a diamond)
Control:
1 Change Shape (from altering your face to duplicating a person perfectly including skills)
2 Imitate attributes (from making claws and wings to replicating complex machinery)
So for example Mystique would have:
Ultra Shape Change (imitate appearance, voice, etc)
Super Imitate Attributes (create wings, claws, etc)
Apocalypse would be ultra in all these things, growing to gigantic proportions and turning his fists into steel hard hammers or laser blasters. Or sometimes he just becomes somebody else. 
Flaws provide limitations, such as that you are always recognizable (Beast Boy turns into green animals) or perhaps you can only imitate somebody you have had some exchange with.

Any thoughts? I've considered making a wiki site with some of my games, I dont know if anyone would get too excited over them (we all have homebrews or a better game we purchased) but a lot of us like reading games.

[Silverlion]

I like reading games and playing games, especially superhero ones. (I wrote my own and its done decently well when it was published, I'm aiming for a 2E sometimes after next year.)

Your origin trees are an interesting thing, I've not quite seen that done in a game before. (Origins determining powers yes, but ideas and themes, not quite so much.)
Is that supposed to be Folklore under fantasy?

What about angels/demons under Mystic? They're pretty common (as well as ghost, but that could be "undeath")
Are drugs and serums close enough to be just "Chemical Modification?"


As to Wiki's: I know discussion forums/playtest mailing list work well but make it harder to organize the ideas, I do know some people have used Wiki's for game design but I'm not sure how well they've worked out.

One thing to look at too is archetypes for team characters (Blasters, Bricks, etc.) They often share some triats. Bricks ina  team don't tend to be the smartest of the team, Blasters tend to be hot headed and cocky. Of course don't make those classes, just sort of prepackaged advantages and disadvantage maybe?