The game will become stale if the GM doesn't offer a variety of challenges. But how do you make normal people a threat to people with superpowers? If normal people outnumber the superpeople they will find a way to miminze the threat Supers pose to them. My goal with developing strategies for normal’s is to allow the GM to use that NPC type in several of the encounter types below, not just the mundane and weak scenarios. 

In a RPG much of the character growth comes about through the experience system. This won’t change your characters thinking, or feelings, but this is both a game and a story so those points of progression have equal value (to some, more value). The problem is that if you progress the NPC’s at the same rate, it doesn’t seem to the PC’s that they have progressed much at all. You need some encounters designed to let them show off their new powers and woop some a**.

The kinds of encounters I try to include in most if not all of my games are

• PC’s vs mundane people – Maybe it is a super hero fighting a normal thug with a gun, or a knight stopping a revolt of angry farmers who have been manipulated by the bad guy. This allows the pc’s to see how far they have progressed. This kind of encounter should only happen when the PC’s need a boost. Use it too often and they will get bored.
  
  

• PC’s vs mostly evenly powered individuals / groups – this should be the most common encounter in the game. This allows the pc’s to do what they do best.
  
  

• PC’s vs the main villain – most often these fights involve serious challenge and risk. They must go up against this entity as it is their ultimate mission, but they know he/she/it is stronger than them, and will require team work, and could cost them their lives. This kind of encounter should happen rarely and usually represents the climax of a story. Use it too often and your pc’s will become frustrated and lose focus.
  
  

• PC’s vs some physical challenge – This is a fun way to put your pc’s to the test on skills they may not have thought to develop thus far. Use this one sparingly as well as there isn’t a whole lot of satisfaction in either winning, or losing to a non-entity.
  
  

• PC’s vs the weak – In this encounter the pc’s must overcome some challenge in which they could easily dominate with violence, but it would be the wrong choice. For instance they might have to get a child to reveal a secret he doesn’t want to reveal. They could beat it out of him but that would clearly place them on the side of evil. This is a great way to keep a mystery a mystery, but use this only once or twice in an entire campaign. Players will appreciate you pulling this rabbit out of the hat once, but no more…..
  
  

• PC’s vs certain death – some times you want the pc’s to be captured, or forced to flee. Usually this kind of encounter is used to push your pcs onto a different story path, and should be used almost never. It is an option of last resort; your players will HATE it. This is an exception to the statement above.
  
  

• PC’s vs each other – for friendly sparing this is ok, but I have almost never seen this turn out for the best in a game. Players love there characters and when the characters fight, players take it personally. In most cases I would be willing to sacrifice some of the story elements to stop this. This is an exception to the statement above.
  
  

• PC’s vs themselves – not talking about intra-party here, but intra-character. I find that you really have to build up the story elements to pull this off well, but when it goes off well, it really works. I love this encounter most of all and will strive to have this happen as often as possible. That said, if you force it is hooky and bad. Doing this right takes the most work on the part of the GM.