"Nightfall" by Blind Guardian
Super heroes---Street Level or slightly above

Okay, I'd likely have this idea start with some small vignettes in other games and then lead to the bigger story.

Starting vignettes: A rash of kidnappings and murders have rocked a small suburb of the great city. A young child has survived but is terrified by what she's seen. The shadows burst into life and a man was lifted by them. Her mother, father, and brother were torn apart by the tentacles before her eyes.

The shadows were crying.

When the players find the creature, they find a homeless man, driven beyond sanity by the thing that's infected him. The shadow that has been driven into him needs to feed on life essences.

During other adventures, shadows may burst to life and take criminals or others into themselves, leaving a withered husk behind before disappearing entirely.

Later:
The local crime families are at war. Minor criminals and super villians have been hired by the five families as they go to war. The players get involved as the fighting breaks out in more public areas.

Vince Caravetti, who was part of a minor family, has been making some great in-roads. His is approached by a strange man about helping put an end to this war and start a truce between the families. Vince doesn't want trouble from the players or the cops... he wants to quietly make good on the kinds of crimes that are, in essence, victimless (to his mind).

The man is possessed, body and soul, by the Shadow. The Shadow enters its host and turns them into a weapon, able to change the body in grotesque ways that make it very powerful. The Shadow, as far as it knows, cannot be killed, though its host can. It becomes inert during the day, living only at night. It needs Vince to run things. It's goal--to take over the city as a place to feed and rule.

It puts shards of itself into opposing soldiers in the crime war. It allows them to use their abilities to aid their families and brings down the players, the police, and other families, who brook deals with no devils, on the afflicted families before the shard is cut loose and aids in the destruction.

All the while, the Cavaretti family stays on the side of the angels, joining up with others against their demonic foes. Building power. Seeing all their enemies infected and turned until Vince is able to take control of the city's crime.

The players will see this play out over time and it won't be until Vince is desperate enough to try to rid himself of the Shadow that the players will be made aware of its existence. The Shadow is guarding Vince's family as hostages for his good behavior. Vince can't know if a shard has been placed in them yet, but he can't put them at risk any longer.

No real process.

I listen to the song, look at the lyrics, and see what images it pops up in my head. I grab hold of the ones that interest me most and then start extrapolating from there. How does this fit into the genre? (This one could have gone cosmic, but I saw a modern day 'king' of the city as either a mayor or crime lord. Both could be involved, but I saw a power behind the king splitting open and death pouring out against his foes.) I start to figure out what this could be and work up a backstory.

Doesn't take long and the holes can be filled in on the way.

This was an epic song, so it seemed right to be something that played out over a longer period of time.

Some times, I just feel like being a dick, ya know?

Genre: Modern Espionage
Song: Rock It
Artist: Gorillaz
Video:

genre?

Whoops. Fixed. Knew I forgot something.

Genre: Modern Espionage
Song: Rock It
Artist: Gorillaz

Fred Gillhouse was a coward and always had been. He's on his way to meet the players, who are supposed to help him defect. He's smart as hell, but he'll spook easily if the players don't keep his trail open.

And he's supposed to be met by only one person, a person he's met before, and not the whole team.

The other players are spread out along the route and enemy agents are aware that Fred is trying to defect. The players each get a chance to be awesome while Fred is en-route. A sniper is following him by rooftop. Agents have been sent to intercept him. Fred himself will rabbit at the first thing that spooks him.

When he finally reaches the PCs, he's not going to leave without his family and wants assurances from them.

Getting them to want to leave is a bit of a problem.

Also, Fred didn't actually bring the files he was supposed to bring with him to the meet. Since he's been tagged, getting those files is going to be a lot more difficult than it would have been if that fat bastard had brought them with him like he said he would.

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Song: Millie and Billie
Artist: Alice Cooper
Video:

Sorry, forgot about this.

Millle and Billie by Alice Cooper
Urban Fantasy

You know how, when you're first in love, it feels like the entire world drops away and it's just the two of you?

Billie and Millie's love warps the world around them.

They're still in that honeymoon phase, where they can't stand to be apart. Their love spawns translucent "children" who help them in their psychotic, violent crime spree. They take what they want and terrorize other as they kiss and hold each other.

They sometimes find couples they like so much during their travels that they force them to spend time with the them until Milllie and Billie are disappointed by them. Then, they die hard.

Together, the two of them are almost invincible as they carve a swath through the city. Once they've been disillusioned by each other, their reality-warping powers crumble around them and make them vulnerable.

This is an enemy they can't defeat with raw power. Their first contact comes through video of them robbing a bank and befriending the manager and bank teller who are later found ritually murdered.

The first battle won't go well, but their joy at overcoming the players means they'll leave them alive and trying to find another way to stop them.

I'm totally up for continuing this challenge if people have songs they want turned into sessions or campaigns.

Little Talks, Of Monsters and Men
Fantasy



[Yes, the lyrics appear to have nothing to do with the video, bonus points for connecting the two.]