What's your favorite superhero TTRPG and why?

I haven't played Champions for over a decade. Several times a year I make characters. That's the staying power of it for me.

I'm sure making Champions characters is a huge slog for some, but I'm right there with you. It's like the TTRPG equivalent of working on a jigsaw puzzle. If you can commit to the crunch it's one of the most rewarding systems for making someone, whether you actually play them or not.
 

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pemerton

Legend
Some of us want--or in some cases outright need--more structure than modelling provides.
Fair enough.

There's an approach to PC build which I associate with Rolemaster, more so 3E D&D, and yet more so points-buy games. Optimisation of the build given the points/elements available is an aspect of this. MHRP certainly doesn't offer this, because the whole idea is to start from the outcome and then establish the build elements that will support that.

I think what MHRP doesn't have is a balanced PC gen system. It doesn't put some things in bounds and others out and try to make the characters roughly even mechanically.
One might reply to your first sentence that neither does 3E or 5e D&D! In relation to the second, it's easy enough to say no d12 power traits or no more than 4 specialties or similar.
 

DrunkonDuty

he/him
Controversial opinion coming here... I don't get why people want to to have Hulk and Hawkeye operating at the same power level. I'm not saying I don't understand why a person or persons would want to play such disparate characters. That I totally get. Even playing them on the same team is fine - it'll just require some good judgement by the GM to make sure everyone gets their time to shine . And some adjustment of expectations by the players; sometimes Hawkeye ain't gonna do squat, and sometimes Hulk is gonna be sitting on his big, dumb, green hands.

Let me give you an example from a game I ran for some friends earlier this year. (Hey! I just remembered - I played some Champions earlier this year! Woohoo!) It was a playtest for a con game (assuming cons ever happen again) and the team is basically the Avengers. We had (similar but legally distinct!) Ironman, Hulk, and Wasp. And Black Widow. Widow was much lower power than the others (yep, even Wasp) but had plenty of utility. The player didn't try going one on one with the enemy bricks, or to out-shoot the enemy power armour dude. But they had a great time. They infiltrated, tracked, found clues, completely circumvented my big set-piece final fight, and occasionally dropped knock out gas on bad guys. Everyone else did their own schtick. Hulk smashed, Wasp flipped between super stealth and zapping, and Ironman flew around zorching people.
 

DrunkonDuty

he/him
Another bee in my bonnet: Champions ain't that complicated to play.

There's what - 3 numbers to track? Compare that to the number of damn conditions DnD or PF have.

Character design can get very complex if you want it to be. But it's easy enough to build a Thing or Johnny Storm lookalike.

Anyway, I'll stop myself here or else I'll rant on for ages.
 


DrunkonDuty

he/him
I think a supers RPG, if it is to emulate comics has to allow a variety of characters to occupy the same narrative weight.
Equal narrative weight - sure. But that doesn't mean everyone has to kick arse to the same level. There's other fields in which characters can shine.
 

pemerton

Legend
Equal narrative weight - sure. But that doesn't mean everyone has to kick arse to the same level. There's other fields in which characters can shine.
What RPG has Hawkeye and Hulk "kicking arse" at the same level? In MHRP, for instance, The Hulk is most potent by punching things. Hawkeye is most potent using his acrobatics and trick arrows.

Either has a good chance at being the one to take down Titanium Man - The Hulk by punching, Hawkeye by using one of his Adamantium Arrows to puncture Titanium Man's armour.
 

I've never ran or played in a supers game, but I would like to. What would be the best system, if I'm looking for good character creation options, an exciting combat system (with a bit of strategy) and a bit of crunch? Mind you, I've played D&D 3.5 all my life, so is there a system that fills all those checkboxes and is easy to get into?
 

DrunkonDuty

he/him
What RPG has Hawkeye and Hulk "kicking arse" at the same level? In MHRP, for instance, The Hulk is most potent by punching things. Hawkeye is most potent using his acrobatics and trick arrows.

Either has a good chance at being the one to take down Titanium Man - The Hulk by punching, Hawkeye by using one of his Adamantium Arrows to puncture Titanium Man's armour.

Well, it sounds like this RPG has them kicking arse at the same level.
 

DrunkonDuty

he/him
I've never ran or played in a supers game, but I would like to. What would be the best system, if I'm looking for good character creation options, an exciting combat system (with a bit of strategy) and a bit of crunch? Mind you, I've played D&D 3.5 all my life, so is there a system that fills all those checkboxes and is easy to get into?

I recommend Champions (6th ed. is the current edition.)
 

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