[@Genon]

Let me answer the questions one at a time:

1. It's not that closely related, no. The Dragon Balls exist, as do many of the planets from Canon but not much beyond that.

2. Canon Characters, for the most part, don't exist here. A few select villains will show up but the characters will largely be original.

3. The power gap will be much narrower. My intention is for the Races to feel distinct from each other without letting one overpower all the others. While it's true that Namekians and Saiyans may still commonly possess higher raw power levels, Humans are specifically intended to be far more versatile. They will be learning more techniques than any other race which means they will get to have a larger pool of skills to rely on in battle.