Long answer: “traditional superheroes” are defenders of post-war peacetime eras, so yes, they’re reactionary. But if “superheroes” are part of a local reconstruction effort making a demilitarized zone safe for humanity again, that could also work. Think “Fallout.” They might also be selfish, enriching themselves only. Either way works if your players are otherwise ordinary folk augmented by powerful, yet modest, superpowers.

Forced march to get out of owlbear territory? Lose Con. Fever in the Frog Marches? Lose Wisdom. Dripping wet in the Hidden Stair in the dead of winter? Lose Strength.

You could also score short-term benefits. Gaze in the Moon Pool? Gain Wisdom, if you do it right. Drink the hearty Druidic mead the Keeper of Bees gave you? Gain Con. Drink the strange brew in the mushroom caves? Lose Charisma (because you’re a little nutty and freaking everyone out) but gain Wisdom, at least for a while.

Ability score damage was pretty much a constant presence — we rarely had a game without it. It was nice because you could lay on very small impairing effects (ooh, stagnant water, Fort save or -1 Dex), so environmental decisions, like having a good wilderness skill to find good water, made a difference, but it wasn’t a save vs poison or die kind of thing.

PCs who survive are rewarded in lots of ways, and having the pick of the loot is one of them. The only way I can see this as a problem is a social one, where other players are annoyed that Bob’s Fighter has all the cool stuff, while their brand new characters have to struggle along with starter weapons and armor.

A lot hinges on the system you’re running. In my case, Red Box D&D is highly lethal at low levels, so no amount of treasure and gear is a panacea. But regardless of the system, if you’re following Ben’s advice about danger, it benefits the rich, successful PCs to kit out their poor cousins to increase the party killing power.

An adventuring company is another great way to put loot and certain items into a communal “battle chest”. In my current game there’s a Staff of Healing that the clerics pass around depending on which players have showed up to game. And a lot more players have started running clerics ever since it was discovered… funny that.

There’s always the good old acid pit, too.

If you have a near TPK, but one or a few PCs survive, what happens to the dead player’s stuff? It seems like over time the looting of the looters will get out of hand, and you suddenly have large concentrations of wealth in particular PCs. I don’t think any of the DMs having a problem with an imbalance in general, it’s just that at higher levels having an ally get killed off becomes more of a boon for other PCs.