What's your favorite superhero TTRPG and why?

[DammitVictor]

For now, I'm going to say MHR but I'm going to preemptively say it'll probably be Legends of Greyskull when that comes out. Already looking forward to playing Marlena the First, the Rebel Queen, She-Ra at first opportunity.

Also rans here are Street Fighter and Palladium's TMNT.

 

[Tonguez]

Although its Pulp rather than pure Supers I really like Spirit of the Century and the way it uses Background Phases to build the characters Aspects - in particulae First Pulp Novel and Guest Star help generate in game bonds and hooks.

I like most of the Fate Supers versions and Fate Accelerated's Approaches + Stunts works really well for Supers, since the system is about what the character can achieve, it allows for vastly different power levels interacting, overcoming obstacles in their own way.

for the more complex systems I like M&M

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Wow, so little love for Champions here.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

My favorites MEGS DC, HERO SYSTEM and Mutants and Masterminds.

I've never been interested in playing established characters in established universes. I like playing original characters in established universes or original characters in original universes.

I REALLY like characters at the table all built with the same point allocation but have them be very different. A lot of the narrative games don't do it for me because they're trying very hard to emulate the comics and I get it.
I want to play in and or run a super hero game, which is a very different beast in a lot of ways, so HERO SYSTEM, M&M and DC MEGS actually work better for that.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Wow, so little love for Champions here.

It has math and is a little crunchier so I'm not surprised that we dont see alot of love for it here. I LOOOOOOOOVE it and have run some amazing supers games with it but it think that a lot of gamers have a really bad impression of any game that has crunch and involves some math. SHRUG

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Wow, so little love for Champions here.

I love the concept/idea behind the HERO system (the one Champions uses). I own them all...multiple copies...a stack of books about, oh, 3' tall (not kidding!). BUT...I've never actually run it. Character creation is just SOOOO daunting for the majority of players that the only people that seem to be really interested in the game are those who are "into the world building aspect and getting into the nitty gritty of all the points and options and stuff". In other words: GM's.

What the HERO system needs to do is come out with a "HERO Basic Set". Make it a box. Make it two or three booklets of about 30 pages each, and have it all be very much 'basic HERO system'; limited everything...but the core system should be there along with "packages" that people could just choose, plug in, and play. Once you get into the system (it's a really simple one; roll 3d6, get under a target number), I think people would naturally branch out into more detailed/complex choices.

I'd give Champions a shot...but watching a Champions game at a con back in the late 90's required TWO GM's for the 5 players; at 10am they started a fight, round 1. When I left that day I checked in with them; it was about 8pm, and they were just wrapping up...that fight! O_O Sorry, but 10 hours to play ONE battle with only 5 heroes and a roughly equal amount of bad guys? No Thank You, Evil!

(PS: Just another plug for SUPERS! rpg...seriously people...go check it out! Now! ).

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Mallus]

Mutants and Masterminds 2e. It’s like Champions, only more streamlined and modern. It’s the system I used to create my favorite PC — Joseirus, the Egyptian God of Mexican Wrestling. In a mechanically satisfying way. Damn fine game…

 

[pemerton]

Marvel Heroic RP (Cortex+). I've read a lot of superhero comics, but it was the first Supers game that made me interested. It plays well, though on the GM side it can take a little while to get the hang of Doom Pool management.

 

[aramis erak]

Wow, so little love for Champions here.

Like Paul, I love the concept of Champions.
I've run a number of successful Fantasy Hero campaigns.
But... it's just too much work.

 

[RangerWickett]

Weirdly, aside from the D20-Modern-compatible "Four Color to Fantasy" I wrote (and as such, needed to playtest), the only 'superhero' game I've ever played used the new World of Darkness rules, and had a vibe a lot like the TV show Heroes, with characters being normal folks with screwed up issues whose lives get even more frustrating as they develop super-powers.

We didn't really have mechanics for the powers. The flashiest power anyone had was the ability to create forcefields. Then there was the reporter who could read minds, the grad student who could understand any language, the electrician who could sense and understand broadcasts and electromagnetic currents, and the (super-overpowered) unemployed guy who had a radius around him within which reality operated on Hollywood blockbuster logic.