Best Heroes game to start

[Coredump]

Okay, I realize this is like asking which DnD edition is the best....

My group is thinking about changing campaigns and playing superhero game, but most of us have little or no experience with recent ones.

I am looking to find information about their pros and cons, so we can decide which is the best match for out needs and style.

Some of us are familiar with HERO, but from 3rd edition. We are all familiar with DnD and D20SW, but have played enough games that learning a new system is not a huge hurdle.

This will likely be a pretty straightforward superhero compaign.

So what are the advantages/disadvantages? And this includes things like how many supplements are available, or how many supplements are 'required' to play. How easy is it to play with only a couple of copies of the book(s), or will we each need a copy,etc.

Thanks

 

[C. Baize]

It sort of depends on what you want to do, and what system you want to use, and how much you want to purchase.
If you want a bolt-on to base D20, I'd say to go with 4 Color to Fantasy.
Advantage is that it pretty much bolts right on to your base D20 mechanics.
Disadvantage is that it's a bit too ... simplistic, I guess... not enough to it.

If you want D20 Modern, I'd say to go with Blood and Vigilance.
Advantages - Built specifically for D20 Modern. Is built to work with Blood and Fists, Blood and Circuits, Blood and Circuits: Cybernetics, there's been one Modern Dispatch article for it already. Likely to be future support in one form or another.
Disadvantage - If you don't already have D20 Modern, you have to get that book to play it.

Figured I'd get my $0.02 in before the thread is overrun with M&M suggestions.
Which, if you want something that kept the d20 and dropped the system... might work for your group.

 

[Kanegrundar]

It's all in what you want.

My personal choice is M&M 2E. It's a great, fluid system that is flexible enough to make any super hero under the sun. It's not math heavy like Hero and plays much like the D20 system games that it's loosely built from. One only need 1 die (d20) to play and the rule mimic comic book action very well. It's hands down the best supers RPG on the market. I would say "IMO", but it's that good that I consider it fact!

Kane

 

[Psion]

My personal fave is DC Heroes (not the WEG abomination, but the long out of print Mayfair thing). Since it is very out of print, finding it might be the first obstacle. It is phenomenal at scaling up and down.

Hero is also a long time fave, highly adaptabel and well supported. Can be a little deep for some players.

M&M is very good, stripped down d20 supers system based on d20, though it does have some very exploitable bits if your players are twinks.

If you are looking more for adding to your existing game or mixing it up with other genres, Blood & Vigilance is nice.

 

[Kanegrundar]

B&V is great if you want to use D20 Modern for Supers. I tweaked it a bit to use in my psuedo-Rifts D20 Modern game.

 

[Henry]

This will likely be a pretty straightforward superhero compaign.

So what are the advantages/disadvantages? And this includes things like how many supplements are available, or how many supplements are 'required' to play. How easy is it to play with only a couple of copies of the book(s), or will we each need a copy,etc.

Mutants and Masterminds

PROS:
--Plenty of supplements, both from Green Ronin and from other publishers using Superlink license. Supplements include full-length adventures, side-adventures, books of NPCs & supervillains, etc.
--Very flexible system that uses a special saving throw instead of hit points to track damage.
--Action is very fast compared to some other superhero systems.

CONS:
--Grittier hero games don't work well with the default system; you can toolbox it, but the feel just isn't "right" to me. Think Marvel and DC compared to Dark Horse & Vertigo.


Four Color to Fantasy

PROS:
--Power point buy bolted on to existing d20 framework. Want Gnome Bards with Super strength and X-ray vision? This is your system.

CONS:
Inherently the system is still whatever the base is (modern, D&D, what have you). Combat is as fast or slow in that system as it usually is.

Blood and Vigilance, DC Heroes, all those I can tell you nothing of as I do not own them. My group and I find Mutants and Masterminds the pinnacle of supers games for us to run, and have never had a need to look elsewhere, because there's never been a need it didn't fill for us in the superhero genre.

 

[C. Baize]

Oh!
Didn't mention my all time favorite non-D20 supers game...

Marvel Super Heroes.

It's all about the FASERIP, baby!

 

[Jim Hague]

I'll chime in with MnM - because you're coming from the HERO side of things, MnM as some clear HERO influences in its design, but is leaner, meaner and a lot faster. The other suggestions offered here are all good as well, but my vote's with MnM.

 

[Nomad4life]

This is another M&M recommendation, but an enthusiastic one. I love 1st edition, but I’m not completely sold on 2nd edition. Just be aware that the two are pretty different.

 

[Dwarven Godfather]

If you want to try a new system I recommend Heroe's Unlimited from Palladium Books which I was heavy into a couple years ago. It allows you to create any type of Super hero you can think of along with it also has a Villian's sourcebook just in case you would also like to go that route also.

Con: new to system creating characters could take up to about two hours to create but once you understand the system creation could go faster. I think that is the only Con I know of for the system. I have to determine for your self any other cons it system would have once you get a hold of the main book.

My biggest experience with the Heroe's Unlimited was about ten years ago I ran a Villian's Unlimited game on Wednesday night for the adults and a Heroe's Unlimited game on Friday night for the kids to promote leadership and teamwork within that group along with regular appearances by wednesday night villians to see if the Heroe's could find and fight the villians also hoping that it would be a great experience for all the parties, but the kids just got to easily side tracked and forgot all about the villians. So I ended the Heroe's Unlimited game and continued the Villian's Unlimited game.

Now I'm pro-D20 since the owner of Palladium Books does not want to cave in to the OGL/D20 system which would have been a great move for his whole system, to me anyway.