Just because the comics do have characters who should be able to trivially outperform their colleagues at almost everything doesn’t mean that’s something you want to emulate in a game where hopefully everyone is supposed to be having fun and enjoying being able to work together with equal spotlight and usefulness. If the game allows great variations in character utility (not power level, that’s a different thing), that is a mechanical problem first and foremost.
Well. I've played, ran and read most of the superhero ttrpgs ever created because I enjoy the genre. Most of them allow for characters that vastly outperform others, either via random-rolled creation or point-buy creation. You're suggesting that gap in capability is a flaw, but again, that gap matches how the genre works. It's like saying ttrpgs emulating gunslingers of the 'Old West' is broken because some characters are faster on the draw than others. It's perfect genre emulation. Now, if a group wants all the characters to be the same, go for it.
There are quite a few game systems where lethal attacks are explicitly more effective than non lethal attacks and it’s not hard to imagine a superhero game doing the same. A good example might be MSH, where being able to get a Kill result (as you can with guns and swords) with a Red is mechanically better than almost any other outcome in combat, especially if there’s discussion about whether getting a Kill result costs you Karma in and of itself (we generally ruled not, because you couldn’t help the result with an energy blast or similar, you only lost the Karma if the person actually died).
Well, as usual, terms like "better" and "more effective" are super-subjective. Also, in MSH (Advanced) killing results in a superhero PC losing ALL of their Karma, even if the death is accidental or done when the character was under the control of another character. So no, I wouldn't define that as "mechanically better".
Just because the comics do have characters who should be able to trivially outperform their colleagues at almost everything doesn’t mean that’s something you want to emulate in a game where hopefully everyone is supposed to be having fun and enjoying being able to work together with equal spotlight and usefulness. If the game allows great variations in character utility (not power level, that’s a different thing), that is a mechanical problem first and foremost.
Well. I've played, ran and read most of the superhero ttrpgs ever created because I enjoy the genre. Most of them allow for characters that vastly outperform others, either via random-rolled creation or point-buy creation. You're suggesting that gap in capability is a flaw, but again, that gap matches how the genre works. It's like saying ttrpgs emulating gunslingers of the 'Old West' is broken because some characters are faster on the draw than others. It's perfect genre emulation. Now, if a group wants all the characters to be the same, go for it.
There are quite a few game systems where lethal attacks are explicitly more effective than non lethal attacks and it’s not hard to imagine a superhero game doing the same. A good example might be MSH, where being able to get a Kill result (as you can with guns and swords) with a Red is mechanically better than almost any other outcome in combat, especially if there’s discussion about whether getting a Kill result costs you Karma in and of itself (we generally ruled not, because you couldn’t help the result with an energy blast or similar, you only lost the Karma if the person actually died).
Well, as usual, terms like "better" and "more effective" are super-subjective. Also, in MSH (Advanced) killing results in a superhero PC losing ALL of their Karma, even if the death is accidental or done when the character was under the control of another character. So no, I wouldn't define that as "mechanically better".
Notice I said "passive", as in, "not taking up actions."
Noted. I was just noting that the option was actually in the game.
Also as I recall, it didn't work a lot even for characters avowedly good at it, and only helped so much even when they did (I will again note it has been a very long time though, so there could be something I'm forgetting).
Well YMMV. IF a player farmed enough Karma, their character could almost do anything they wanted with that system.
This assumes that players in a game will have the same reactions to their characters being overshadowed as writers in other fiction who are writing all the characters. Medium matters; games are not comics nor movies nor TV shows and all those have different demands.
I wasn't assuming or even mentioning player reactions. I was commenting on the genre and attempts at "balance" in the games.
Not all opponents are created equal; a super powered burgler is not the same as a metahuman mass murderer . And its still poor genre matching when combat counter selects against less lethal attacks.
Well. Sometimes you get both burglar and mass-murderer (most of Batman's villains). If the group wants a lethal gameplay experience, they should pick a system that best allows for that. But all systems don't need to perform exactly the same.
Sure, but that took their action for the round, no? DD is no closer to defeating the thugs if he does this.
I played mostly the Advanced edition, and with it players could perform multiple actions per turn (with a penalty). You also had Pre-Actions as part of the initiative sequence allowing a character to use Dodging, Evading or Blocking FEATs against (upcoming) opponent attacks.
