First, you can make an argument for numerous classes/subclasses for the same inspirational character (albeit some better than others) depending on how you flavor them.
Second, Are you talking about a Batman inspired character and another one based on Superman, or some kind of mashed up "The Fly" style transporter clone (yes, that Voyager episode "Tuvix" was totally a ripoff of a classic 1986 Jeff Goldblum movie)? Because the two have some major differences.
The first class most think of for Batman is rogue because of his mastery of stealth and appearing seemingly out of nowhere when least expected, as well as being able to identify an adversary's weak point (ie sneak attack). Inquisitive could be argued for "the world's greatest detective," but the same goes for Assassin because he's basically a ninja. Or maybe Arcane Trickster using illusion magic as a stand in for smoke bombs. Go off in a different way and choose fighter to focus on his martial prowess and add stealth proficiency from a background or feat. Eldritch Knight could be flavored for spells in lieu of weapons and gadgets (or you could go full out on that with any veriety of Artificer), or Battlemaster because he's an intellectual fighter who analyzes his foes and controls the battle with expert strategy. Paladin for his devotion to his cause with smites representing his masterful blows instead of sneak attack, superiority dice, or spells. Primary caster classes aren't obvious choices in general, with the possible exception of Bard because that class can literally do just about anything if you build and flavor it right. Let's not forget Monk to reflect the fact that he's a master martial artist plus all the different spins you can put on it's subclass options.
Is Superman a Barbarian for the lack of need for armor and the damage resistance of rage? But he almost never actually rages. Again with Battlemaster, Eldritch Knight, and Paladin subbing superiority dice, spells, and smites for his feats of strength and resilience. Again with Monk for the superhuman physical abilities. In fact, Cal El isn't even human, so why should a Superman inspired D&D character be? Aasimar for the holy-touched pure goodness of his heart? Half Orc for the boosts to melee combat and Intimidate because anybody who knows who he is will get frozen in their tracks by a stern glare from him? Dwarf because they tend to be tough? "I have darkvision!?" Try convincing your DM to give you X-ray vision (good luck on that one).
Seriously, there is no single right answer. Find something with abilities you like and think are fun and fitting with the particular flavor you want. As an example of how such characters can work, I created an Protector Aasimar Life Cleric who worships Pelor and didn't even realize that I was playing a medieval sun themed Sailor Moon magical girl fanfic OC until a fellow player pointed it out. I know that doesn't sound like something you do by accident but I was going from a different template/inspiration that turned out to have a lot of overlap and once it was pointed out I decided to just lean into it because it gives me an excuse to crank up the corniness at times.
Superman's powers are racial, not class and thus really hard to simulate unless your DM just lets you have an OP homebrewed race.
You'd probably have better luck trying to homebrew a subclass instead. But really you're not going to be allowed to do it either way due to how stupidly OP Kryptonians are.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Superman's powers are racial, not class and thus really hard to simulate unless your DM just lets you have an OP homebrewed race.
You'd probably have better luck trying to homebrew a subclass instead. But really you're not going to be allowed to do it either way due to how stupidly OP Kryptonians are.
I would think there has to be some huge racial penalty to intelligence to explain why they stayed on a dying planet doomed to explode/disintegrate/burn/whatever in the latest reboot while possessing interstellar travel and knowing full well that they would be functionally immortal, invincible, hyperaware, etc if they just moved to a planet orbiting a younger star. You know, a planet that wasn't facing imminent doom along with the extinction of everything living on it. I know the whole deal is supposed to be an allegory for the hubris of humanity and our own racial ability to go into massive denial about things we don't want to be true while seeking moral refuge in complacent apathy, but I'm not saying we have a great track record for intelligence on a species scale either.
Superman is straight up Paladin with some kind of homebrew alien ancestry. Subclass is either Redemption or Devotion, i think more the latter. However, Superman is more of a demigod or a unique non-player character of great power.
Superman is going to be hard to work with…technically, his physical stats, his powers, and his Charisma would stretch him far too thin for any single class.
However, let’s see how much we can hit in one go…I’d say Celestial Warlock makes for an interesting concept: since Superman historically drew his power from the sun; it would be cool if you had an aasimar who draws their power from Mt. Celestia: thus, you have a pseudo-Kryptonian getting their inherent power from a pseudo-power source.
Eldritch Blast would serve as your laser beams…all that Charisma would certainly suit Superman…the flying & the Strength are a bit tricky; but with the Warlock Invocation “Ascendant Step” or the “Fly” spell, you could at least leap tall buildings in a single bound.
That, or do a Divine Soul Sorcerer who got their Kryptonian powers from their bloodline…the various spells could check off all the Superman powers, and eventually, they actually get the ability to fly at will. They also get all the Charisma that Superman has.
Batman, I feel, would be an Armorer Artificer…different kind of bat suits for stealth or battle…an Intelligence suiting the World’s Greatest Detective…throwable bataraangs (Returning Weapon Infusion)…and all the gadgets you would need.
Superman's powers are racial, not class and thus really hard to simulate unless your DM just lets you have an OP homebrewed race.
You'd probably have better luck trying to homebrew a subclass instead. But really you're not going to be allowed to do it either way due to how stupidly OP Kryptonians are.
I'm not 100% but I think that magic affects superman just fine. As such, perhaps having a character who is a werewolf/bear/boar/rat and also an Aarakokra would give you immunity to nonmagial non-silvered attacks and also the ability to fly.
Go for a multiclass of monk (for unarmed strikes and speed and such) and a spellcaster for whatever spells you flavour to be all his powers (x-ray vision is detect magic, for example).
Obviously you can't be superman for a game because he's basically invulnerable, but you his practical powers you can find proxies and reskins to suit!
Superman's powers are racial, not class and thus really hard to simulate unless your DM just lets you have an OP homebrewed race.
You'd probably have better luck trying to homebrew a subclass instead. But really you're not going to be allowed to do it either way due to how stupidly OP Kryptonians are.
I would think there has to be some huge racial penalty to intelligence to explain why they stayed on a dying planet doomed to explode/disintegrate/burn/whatever in the latest reboot while possessing interstellar travel and knowing full well that they would be functionally immortal, invincible, hyperaware, etc if they just moved to a planet orbiting a younger star. You know, a planet that wasn't facing imminent doom along with the extinction of everything living on it. I know the whole deal is supposed to be an allegory for the hubris of humanity and our own racial ability to go into massive denial about things we don't want to be true while seeking moral refuge in complacent apathy, but I'm not saying we have a great track record for intelligence on a species scale either.
Modern interpretations have gone with Krypton's sun exploding rather than Krypton itself, and the disaster struck so quickly that Superman and Supergirl's escape pods were the only ones that had time to launch and actually get clear fast enough.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
You really need to break it down into the powers and concepts you want to include. The whole point of Superman is that he's super ridiculously strong to the point that his challenges are generally either kryptonite or not really based on power but rather moral/philosophical issues. Supes is a level 20 PC.
So it would be better to say, "I want to be able to do X like Superman and Y like Batman." You can do some things they can do, but a D&D PC can't do all the things they can do until very high levels.
I've been working on a "Superhero" character for a modern fantasy one-shot that could be happening, and although the character was inspired by Superman, I didn't really try to replicate Superman's specific powers. But just try to capture the feel of being a big strong combatant.
My thought process was trying to conceive of a character who primarily battles unarmed, is super strong, and is as durable as possible within the constraints of D&D 5e.
So, right off the bat... I'm going Variant Human to start the game with Tavern Brawler. Then from there, it's a multiclass between mostly Totem Barbarian, and just 3 levels of Fighter to get to Cavalier. I feel like Totem Barbarian is pretty self-explanatory... Bear Totem gives Resistance to nearly all damage, and can also double carry capacity/give always-on advantage for Athletics checks to push/pull/lift objects, and can eventually gain a limited Fly Speed. Nothing that puts you on par with Superman... closer to The Hulk, if anything, but still a solid build. If you have a generous DM, you might be able to arrange for the doubled Carry Capacity to let you pick up large objects to swing around, with Tavern Brawler giving you proficiency in, say... picking up a light post and smacking a guy with it.
The three levels of Fighter, however, are to get the Unarmed Fighting Style... bump that d4 from Tavern Brawler to a d8, and the bonus action grapple as part of Tavern Brawler pairs with the Fighting Style's ability to deal minor, but free damage against any creature you grapple. Cavalier might not seem like an obvious choice... the Subclass is clearly flavored and built toward being a mounted combatant, but it actually has a lot of great abilities that are built for protecting allies. Unwavering Mark is a great way to make sure your allies are protected, and anyone who takes their focus off of you gets harshly punished... when you hit a creature with an attack, you can Mark them, giving them disadvantage to attack anyone other than yourself (as long as you keep them within 5 feet of yourself, which is made easier with Tavern Brawler grapples). If they do attack someone else anyway, you get a bonus action attack you can use against them on your next round, which deals additional damage and is done with advantage (although the advantage is less valuable for this build, since you have little reason not to attack recklessly every round).
Feat-wise... Sentinel will make this even more devastating. Now if someone attacks your ally, not only do you get your Mark from Cavalier, but you can use a Reaction to punch them immediately. Another fun, flavorful feat would be Crusher, allowing you to knock people around the battlefield to hammer home just how hard you're punching people. But ultimately you're still going to want to prioritize maxing out STR and CON... luckily both Tavern Brawler and Crusher are half-feats that you can use to round out either of those scores.
Anyway, it could probably use some refinement, but this is my best attempt at creating... well, not really Superman. Maybe more The Tick, but a big tough dude who can dish out damage without relying on any equipment whatsoever.
Sure Superman is OP, but in the comics he had a HUGE vulnerability to magic, which is a core part of DnD. If you completely inflate his weaknesses, he'll be more balanced.
Sure Superman is OP, but in the comics he had a HUGE vulnerability to magic, which is a core part of DnD. If you completely inflate his weaknesses, he'll be more balanced.
In D&D terms, Superman doesn't have vulnerability to magic, he just doesn't have any resistances to it. But even if he was vulnerable to it, it wouldn't matter because you can't balance a character by giving them super duper stats and then giving them a massive weakness, that functionally translates to them being OP when their weakness isn't present and useless when it is.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Sure Superman is OP, but in the comics he had a HUGE vulnerability to magic, which is a core part of DnD. If you completely inflate his weaknesses, he'll be more balanced.
In D&D terms, Superman doesn't have vulnerability to magic, he just doesn't have any resistances to it. But even if he was vulnerable to it, it wouldn't matter because you can't balance a character by giving them super duper stats and then giving them a massive weakness, that functionally translates to them being OP when their weakness isn't present and useless when it is.
That is pretty much how Superman is written, though. Now figuring out a campaign where such a character would work would be very challenging, but that source character has existed since 1938 and is still popular, with new stories still being written for them and said stories still having a major fan base.
So such a hypothetical campaign is likely very possible.
Sure Superman is OP, but in the comics he had a HUGE vulnerability to magic, which is a core part of DnD. If you completely inflate his weaknesses, he'll be more balanced.
In D&D terms, Superman doesn't have vulnerability to magic, he just doesn't have any resistances to it. But even if he was vulnerable to it, it wouldn't matter because you can't balance a character by giving them super duper stats and then giving them a massive weakness, that functionally translates to them being OP when their weakness isn't present and useless when it is.
That is pretty much how Superman is written, though. Now figuring out a campaign where such a character would work would be very challenging, but that source character has existed since 1938 and is still popular, with new stories still being written for them and said stories still having a major fan base.
So such a hypothetical campaign is likely very possible.
Whether or not it's authentic to Superman is irrelevant (and the answer to that question varies wildly depending on the era) because it's not something that works well for D&D or any other RPG. You don't want wild disparity between party members because that just leads to too many situations where someone is doing everything while everyone else is left unable to contribute.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Sure Superman is OP, but in the comics he had a HUGE vulnerability to magic, which is a core part of DnD. If you completely inflate his weaknesses, he'll be more balanced.
In D&D terms, Superman doesn't have vulnerability to magic, he just doesn't have any resistances to it. But even if he was vulnerable to it, it wouldn't matter because you can't balance a character by giving them super duper stats and then giving them a massive weakness, that functionally translates to them being OP when their weakness isn't present and useless when it is.
That is pretty much how Superman is written, though. Now figuring out a campaign where such a character would work would be very challenging, but that source character has existed since 1938 and is still popular, with new stories still being written for them and said stories still having a major fan base.
So such a hypothetical campaign is likely very possible.
Whether or not it's authentic to Superman is irrelevant (and the answer to that question varies wildly depending on the era) because it's not something that works well for D&D or any other RPG. You don't want wild disparity between party members because that just leads to too many situations where someone is doing everything while everyone else is left unable to contribute.
It is harder to write for, but there is a similar problem with stealthy party members vs non-stealthy, casters vs melee outside combat, one party member being a flyer....
The wild disparity problem is actually still a problem with the super hero genre. It is probably the main reason (even if not officially stated) why batman and superman are usually not active justice league members, but they do still manage good stories with them being involved. Plus... it might be a solo campaign, in which case there is no party disparity issue.
I believe if you want to make a superman esc character the best way to start is the custom lineage race in tasha's cauldron of everything. This will be your "kryptonian race" which will give you dark vision and the magic initiate druid feat allowing you to grab produce flames (heat vision), Gust (super breath), and the Jump spell (ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound) and if you are using the 2024 character creation rules your background is that of a farmer. With the standard array of 15,14,13,12,10,8 with the ASI being applied your stats are 17,14,14,8,10,12. And the best class will be the barbarian with the 2024 zealot barbarian being the best subclass to pick for this combination.
The rages could be consider righteous as superman will fly into a frenzy to protect people when the need arises. As a barbarian with a d12 of health, damage resistance and as a zealot with the ability to heal yourself your character will be nearly impervious to physical damage. You are vulnerable to attacks against the mind, while you are not dumb you aren't super in that regard either and with no resistance to magic a spell caster can beguile you. At higher levels the 2024 barbarian grants you increased movement speed and even the ability to burst movement speed as you enter your righteous rage to protect your friends and the people of your city. Finally, as you learn your powers even more, the 2024 zealot barbarian will gain the ability to fly.
So in this combo you have the ability to set things on fire (heat vision, produce flames), the ability to create strong gusts of wind with your breath (gust, super breath), the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound (jump), near invulnerability from all physical harm, a vulnerability to magical beguiling, enhanced senses, super speed and later the ability to fly. All the while your race is a custom lineage, last of your kind, Kryptonian who was raised by normal human parents on a farm.
Anything like the miniserie "Dark Knight of Steel"?
Batman is more "rogue", and Superman would be close to paladin but the superpowers usually are too OP for D&D standars. But the canon says superheroes from some parallalel earth are relatively "nerferd".
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See title.
First, you can make an argument for numerous classes/subclasses for the same inspirational character (albeit some better than others) depending on how you flavor them.
Second, Are you talking about a Batman inspired character and another one based on Superman, or some kind of mashed up "The Fly" style transporter clone (yes, that Voyager episode "Tuvix" was totally a ripoff of a classic 1986 Jeff Goldblum movie)? Because the two have some major differences.
The first class most think of for Batman is rogue because of his mastery of stealth and appearing seemingly out of nowhere when least expected, as well as being able to identify an adversary's weak point (ie sneak attack). Inquisitive could be argued for "the world's greatest detective," but the same goes for Assassin because he's basically a ninja. Or maybe Arcane Trickster using illusion magic as a stand in for smoke bombs. Go off in a different way and choose fighter to focus on his martial prowess and add stealth proficiency from a background or feat. Eldritch Knight could be flavored for spells in lieu of weapons and gadgets (or you could go full out on that with any veriety of Artificer), or Battlemaster because he's an intellectual fighter who analyzes his foes and controls the battle with expert strategy. Paladin for his devotion to his cause with smites representing his masterful blows instead of sneak attack, superiority dice, or spells. Primary caster classes aren't obvious choices in general, with the possible exception of Bard because that class can literally do just about anything if you build and flavor it right. Let's not forget Monk to reflect the fact that he's a master martial artist plus all the different spins you can put on it's subclass options.
Is Superman a Barbarian for the lack of need for armor and the damage resistance of rage? But he almost never actually rages. Again with Battlemaster, Eldritch Knight, and Paladin subbing superiority dice, spells, and smites for his feats of strength and resilience. Again with Monk for the superhuman physical abilities. In fact, Cal El isn't even human, so why should a Superman inspired D&D character be? Aasimar for the holy-touched pure goodness of his heart? Half Orc for the boosts to melee combat and Intimidate because anybody who knows who he is will get frozen in their tracks by a stern glare from him? Dwarf because they tend to be tough? "I have darkvision!?" Try convincing your DM to give you X-ray vision (good luck on that one).
Seriously, there is no single right answer. Find something with abilities you like and think are fun and fitting with the particular flavor you want. As an example of how such characters can work, I created an Protector Aasimar Life Cleric who worships Pelor and didn't even realize that I was playing a medieval sun themed Sailor Moon magical girl fanfic OC until a fellow player pointed it out. I know that doesn't sound like something you do by accident but I was going from a different template/inspiration that turned out to have a lot of overlap and once it was pointed out I decided to just lean into it because it gives me an excuse to crank up the corniness at times.
Wow, thanks! I'm going for a more superman type character, but there will be a few elements from Batman. Thanks!
You'd probably have better luck trying to homebrew a subclass instead. But really you're not going to be allowed to do it either way due to how stupidly OP Kryptonians are.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I would think there has to be some huge racial penalty to intelligence to explain why they stayed on a dying planet doomed to explode/disintegrate/burn/whatever in the latest reboot while possessing interstellar travel and knowing full well that they would be functionally immortal, invincible, hyperaware, etc if they just moved to a planet orbiting a younger star. You know, a planet that wasn't facing imminent doom along with the extinction of everything living on it. I know the whole deal is supposed to be an allegory for the hubris of humanity and our own racial ability to go into massive denial about things we don't want to be true while seeking moral refuge in complacent apathy, but I'm not saying we have a great track record for intelligence on a species scale either.
Superman is straight up Paladin with some kind of homebrew alien ancestry. Subclass is either Redemption or Devotion, i think more the latter. However, Superman is more of a demigod or a unique non-player character of great power.
Superman is going to be hard to work with…technically, his physical stats, his powers, and his Charisma would stretch him far too thin for any single class.
However, let’s see how much we can hit in one go…I’d say Celestial Warlock makes for an interesting concept: since Superman historically drew his power from the sun; it would be cool if you had an aasimar who draws their power from Mt. Celestia: thus, you have a pseudo-Kryptonian getting their inherent power from a pseudo-power source.
Eldritch Blast would serve as your laser beams…all that Charisma would certainly suit Superman…the flying & the Strength are a bit tricky; but with the Warlock Invocation “Ascendant Step” or the “Fly” spell, you could at least leap tall buildings in a single bound.
That, or do a Divine Soul Sorcerer who got their Kryptonian powers from their bloodline…the various spells could check off all the Superman powers, and eventually, they actually get the ability to fly at will. They also get all the Charisma that Superman has.
Batman, I feel, would be an Armorer Artificer…different kind of bat suits for stealth or battle…an Intelligence suiting the World’s Greatest Detective…throwable bataraangs (Returning Weapon Infusion)…and all the gadgets you would need.
I'm not 100% but I think that magic affects superman just fine. As such, perhaps having a character who is a werewolf/bear/boar/rat and also an Aarakokra would give you immunity to nonmagial non-silvered attacks and also the ability to fly.
Go for a multiclass of monk (for unarmed strikes and speed and such) and a spellcaster for whatever spells you flavour to be all his powers (x-ray vision is detect magic, for example).
Obviously you can't be superman for a game because he's basically invulnerable, but you his practical powers you can find proxies and reskins to suit!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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Modern interpretations have gone with Krypton's sun exploding rather than Krypton itself, and the disaster struck so quickly that Superman and Supergirl's escape pods were the only ones that had time to launch and actually get clear fast enough.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
You really need to break it down into the powers and concepts you want to include. The whole point of Superman is that he's super ridiculously strong to the point that his challenges are generally either kryptonite or not really based on power but rather moral/philosophical issues. Supes is a level 20 PC.
So it would be better to say, "I want to be able to do X like Superman and Y like Batman." You can do some things they can do, but a D&D PC can't do all the things they can do until very high levels.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I've been working on a "Superhero" character for a modern fantasy one-shot that could be happening, and although the character was inspired by Superman, I didn't really try to replicate Superman's specific powers. But just try to capture the feel of being a big strong combatant.
My thought process was trying to conceive of a character who primarily battles unarmed, is super strong, and is as durable as possible within the constraints of D&D 5e.
So, right off the bat... I'm going Variant Human to start the game with Tavern Brawler. Then from there, it's a multiclass between mostly Totem Barbarian, and just 3 levels of Fighter to get to Cavalier. I feel like Totem Barbarian is pretty self-explanatory... Bear Totem gives Resistance to nearly all damage, and can also double carry capacity/give always-on advantage for Athletics checks to push/pull/lift objects, and can eventually gain a limited Fly Speed. Nothing that puts you on par with Superman... closer to The Hulk, if anything, but still a solid build. If you have a generous DM, you might be able to arrange for the doubled Carry Capacity to let you pick up large objects to swing around, with Tavern Brawler giving you proficiency in, say... picking up a light post and smacking a guy with it.
The three levels of Fighter, however, are to get the Unarmed Fighting Style... bump that d4 from Tavern Brawler to a d8, and the bonus action grapple as part of Tavern Brawler pairs with the Fighting Style's ability to deal minor, but free damage against any creature you grapple. Cavalier might not seem like an obvious choice... the Subclass is clearly flavored and built toward being a mounted combatant, but it actually has a lot of great abilities that are built for protecting allies. Unwavering Mark is a great way to make sure your allies are protected, and anyone who takes their focus off of you gets harshly punished... when you hit a creature with an attack, you can Mark them, giving them disadvantage to attack anyone other than yourself (as long as you keep them within 5 feet of yourself, which is made easier with Tavern Brawler grapples). If they do attack someone else anyway, you get a bonus action attack you can use against them on your next round, which deals additional damage and is done with advantage (although the advantage is less valuable for this build, since you have little reason not to attack recklessly every round).
Feat-wise... Sentinel will make this even more devastating. Now if someone attacks your ally, not only do you get your Mark from Cavalier, but you can use a Reaction to punch them immediately. Another fun, flavorful feat would be Crusher, allowing you to knock people around the battlefield to hammer home just how hard you're punching people. But ultimately you're still going to want to prioritize maxing out STR and CON... luckily both Tavern Brawler and Crusher are half-feats that you can use to round out either of those scores.
Anyway, it could probably use some refinement, but this is my best attempt at creating... well, not really Superman. Maybe more The Tick, but a big tough dude who can dish out damage without relying on any equipment whatsoever.
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Sure Superman is OP, but in the comics he had a HUGE vulnerability to magic, which is a core part of DnD. If you completely inflate his weaknesses, he'll be more balanced.
In D&D terms, Superman doesn't have vulnerability to magic, he just doesn't have any resistances to it. But even if he was vulnerable to it, it wouldn't matter because you can't balance a character by giving them super duper stats and then giving them a massive weakness, that functionally translates to them being OP when their weakness isn't present and useless when it is.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
That is pretty much how Superman is written, though. Now figuring out a campaign where such a character would work would be very challenging, but that source character has existed since 1938 and is still popular, with new stories still being written for them and said stories still having a major fan base.
So such a hypothetical campaign is likely very possible.
Whether or not it's authentic to Superman is irrelevant (and the answer to that question varies wildly depending on the era) because it's not something that works well for D&D or any other RPG. You don't want wild disparity between party members because that just leads to too many situations where someone is doing everything while everyone else is left unable to contribute.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
It is harder to write for, but there is a similar problem with stealthy party members vs non-stealthy, casters vs melee outside combat, one party member being a flyer....
The wild disparity problem is actually still a problem with the super hero genre. It is probably the main reason (even if not officially stated) why batman and superman are usually not active justice league members, but they do still manage good stories with them being involved. Plus... it might be a solo campaign, in which case there is no party disparity issue.
I believe if you want to make a superman esc character the best way to start is the custom lineage race in tasha's cauldron of everything. This will be your "kryptonian race" which will give you dark vision and the magic initiate druid feat allowing you to grab produce flames (heat vision), Gust (super breath), and the Jump spell (ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound) and if you are using the 2024 character creation rules your background is that of a farmer. With the standard array of 15,14,13,12,10,8 with the ASI being applied your stats are 17,14,14,8,10,12. And the best class will be the barbarian with the 2024 zealot barbarian being the best subclass to pick for this combination.
The rages could be consider righteous as superman will fly into a frenzy to protect people when the need arises. As a barbarian with a d12 of health, damage resistance and as a zealot with the ability to heal yourself your character will be nearly impervious to physical damage. You are vulnerable to attacks against the mind, while you are not dumb you aren't super in that regard either and with no resistance to magic a spell caster can beguile you. At higher levels the 2024 barbarian grants you increased movement speed and even the ability to burst movement speed as you enter your righteous rage to protect your friends and the people of your city. Finally, as you learn your powers even more, the 2024 zealot barbarian will gain the ability to fly.
So in this combo you have the ability to set things on fire (heat vision, produce flames), the ability to create strong gusts of wind with your breath (gust, super breath), the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound (jump), near invulnerability from all physical harm, a vulnerability to magical beguiling, enhanced senses, super speed and later the ability to fly. All the while your race is a custom lineage, last of your kind, Kryptonian who was raised by normal human parents on a farm.
Anything like the miniserie "Dark Knight of Steel"?
Batman is more "rogue", and Superman would be close to paladin but the superpowers usually are too OP for D&D standars. But the canon says superheroes from some parallalel earth are relatively "nerferd".