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<blockquote data-quote="DarkKestral" data-source="post: 4193833" data-attributes="member: 40100"><p>Definitely not a single tier; Modern games generally stay well within what would be a single in D&D for the course of a longer time and there is often a huge jump from action hero to superhero that generally changes the system in ways that a lot of people wouldn't expect, and far more than say "ok, tactic switch to 'scry n' fry' begins in 3... 2... 1..." as it often is in D&D. Emulating superhero comics requires a far different mindset than say... emulating standard fantasy fiction. Many of the basic assumptions don't apply.</p><p></p><p>For one thing, the power source usually tends to matter, as magic, psi, and tech powers often have totally different effects on heroes; Superman's main weaknesses are krypton (an admittedly tech-based weakness) and magic, and it is often made out that a guy with a big honkin' magical sword may be a weakling, but because the sword is magical, it'll still damage Supes, but were that sword to be a chainsword without a krypton blade, Supes can shrug it off as if it were nothing more than a paper scratch. Additionally, powersources tend to define how a character's powers present themselves in some respects; there are powers which almost always show up only as a result of a specific power source. In a lot of fantasy fiction, powersource doesn't seem to matter so much; the fireball is just as often stopped by the magical plate armor as a sword would be, and a lot of powersources show up in multiple places.</p><p></p><p>Additionally, most characters in comics (Wolverine, Superman, and Jean Grey excepted) tend to stick with one single rough power level most of the time, occasional crossover specials notwithstanding, so there is little real "progression" to correlate with levels unlike say the genres of fiction D&D has always attempted to emulate. </p><p></p><p>As well, comics don't always stick with the generally clear delineations of ability sets found within most fantasy fiction; while there are certainly character archetypes that correspond to the main archetypes found in fantasy, not all blaster characters are glass cannons, and many have an array of apparent defensive abilities beyond just "run away." Likewise, a lot of tank characters have powers that aren't just "soak up more and more damage." As a result, some form of point buy is generally present in most successful superhero game systems. HERO, M&M, even GURPS and Tri-Stat have typically done better as superhero systems than pure D&D style classed, leveled systems. Perhaps the system that has done the best while remaining classed and leveled was City of Heroes's/Villains's system. Even there, the game requires that the player pick a few options, so they have a wide variety of given abilities they can choose from. Even there, the developers have now seemingly decided for their next game, they'll be more class-less than is the case in CoH/CoV, though they're sticking with levels and classes.</p><p></p><p>Even moreso, tactical combat's somewhat harder to do in supers games, as dealing with a mix of characters who can fly, run at super speeds, and other means of odd motion and mechanics makes tactical combat somewhat difficult to keep balanced.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DarkKestral, post: 4193833, member: 40100"] Definitely not a single tier; Modern games generally stay well within what would be a single in D&D for the course of a longer time and there is often a huge jump from action hero to superhero that generally changes the system in ways that a lot of people wouldn't expect, and far more than say "ok, tactic switch to 'scry n' fry' begins in 3... 2... 1..." as it often is in D&D. Emulating superhero comics requires a far different mindset than say... emulating standard fantasy fiction. Many of the basic assumptions don't apply. For one thing, the power source usually tends to matter, as magic, psi, and tech powers often have totally different effects on heroes; Superman's main weaknesses are krypton (an admittedly tech-based weakness) and magic, and it is often made out that a guy with a big honkin' magical sword may be a weakling, but because the sword is magical, it'll still damage Supes, but were that sword to be a chainsword without a krypton blade, Supes can shrug it off as if it were nothing more than a paper scratch. Additionally, powersources tend to define how a character's powers present themselves in some respects; there are powers which almost always show up only as a result of a specific power source. In a lot of fantasy fiction, powersource doesn't seem to matter so much; the fireball is just as often stopped by the magical plate armor as a sword would be, and a lot of powersources show up in multiple places. Additionally, most characters in comics (Wolverine, Superman, and Jean Grey excepted) tend to stick with one single rough power level most of the time, occasional crossover specials notwithstanding, so there is little real "progression" to correlate with levels unlike say the genres of fiction D&D has always attempted to emulate. As well, comics don't always stick with the generally clear delineations of ability sets found within most fantasy fiction; while there are certainly character archetypes that correspond to the main archetypes found in fantasy, not all blaster characters are glass cannons, and many have an array of apparent defensive abilities beyond just "run away." Likewise, a lot of tank characters have powers that aren't just "soak up more and more damage." As a result, some form of point buy is generally present in most successful superhero game systems. HERO, M&M, even GURPS and Tri-Stat have typically done better as superhero systems than pure D&D style classed, leveled systems. Perhaps the system that has done the best while remaining classed and leveled was City of Heroes's/Villains's system. Even there, the game requires that the player pick a few options, so they have a wide variety of given abilities they can choose from. Even there, the developers have now seemingly decided for their next game, they'll be more class-less than is the case in CoH/CoV, though they're sticking with levels and classes. Even moreso, tactical combat's somewhat harder to do in supers games, as dealing with a mix of characters who can fly, run at super speeds, and other means of odd motion and mechanics makes tactical combat somewhat difficult to keep balanced. [/QUOTE]
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