Favorite Superhero TTRPG

[Theory of Games]

Greetings earth beings.

There are numerous tabletop ropleplaying games in the Superhero category. I've run or played a lot of them and every time a new one comes out, of course, I at least read a review or watch an actual play of that game. Comic books were one of my childhood things so I'm a fan of the genre. The Supers TTRPG category is sensational because as a GM you can do so much with it: the supernatural, science fiction, old-school pulp action, morality tales, horror, alternate history, comic book retroactive continuity, cyberpunk, et aL

I've had a few "loves": , , , but none of 'em hit like . Just a complete work of artistic genius. The hot wet Chef Kiss of Chef Kisses. M&M has all the versatility of Champions, but is faster and easier. I know there's many superhero ttrpg fans on EN World and this thread is about YOU. There are other supers games like Savage Worlds Supers, GURPS Supers, Sentinel Comics, Prowlers and Paragons, ICONS, Supers/Red, BASH!, DC Heroes, Silver Age Sentinels ...... just too many to name, right?

What is YOUR favorite superhero tabletop roleplaying game? When did you first find it? Why do you love it? Do you have a favorite superhero character that you created? Let's talk about what makes it all so super

 

[Delazar]

I was firmly in the MnM camp for many years… until I tried Marvel Multiverse RPG. Now MMRPG is my go-to supers game.
Creating characters of any rank it’s just super easy (especially when I compare it with MnM), but it still retains the right amount of crunchiness.
I think I really fell in love when I saw how they handle super-strength and lifting stuff. Simple and gets the job done.
And I’m actually a DC fan, so I really wanted to stay with MnM, but MMRPG is just a better option for me. And much easier to play with newbies.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I've got several I like a number of elements but nothing I'm entirely satisfied with any more. I think I've just gotten old and fussy.

 

[payn]

What is YOUR favorite superhero tabletop roleplaying game?

Didn’t think I’d have one since Supers are not really my thing. The crunchy systems never seemed to do Batman and Superman in same reality well.

Then, I tried Masks and the narrative approach opened doors for me no other supers system had. This, to me is how you do it.

When did you first find it?

One shot as a favor to a friend preparing for a con.

Why do you love it?

Felt the focus was more on the narrative and characters in particular. Less goofy combat mechanics and trad play oddities to navigate.

Do you have a favorite superhero character that you created?

I’ve just done pregens. I played a female Wolverine like C-23 and was fun. I’d have fun designing my own playbook and character for sure tho.

 

[Theory of Games]

I've got several I like a number of elements but nothing I'm entirely satisfied with any more. I think I've just gotten old and fussy.

Yeah I have stock in Old & Fussy®

I was firmly in the MnM camp for many years… until I tried Marvel Multiverse RPG. Now MMRPG is my go-to supers game.
Creating characters of any rank it’s just super easy (especially when I compare it with MnM), but it still retains the right amount of crunchiness.
I think I really fell in love when I saw how they handle super-strength and lifting stuff. Simple and gets the job done.
And I’m actually a DC fan, so I really wanted to stay with MnM, but MMRPG is just a better option for me. And much easier to play with newbies.

Wow you left M&M for MM. I really, really studied the system but, it just wasn't my thing, which is wild since I'm a Forbeck fan. I recently considered a different system, but I'm holding my ground until M&M 4e drops. I'm with you 100% that MM is way easier for newbies than M&M.

I was also a huge DC fan until CoIE wiped their multiverse, then I jumped on Claremont's X-Men and never looked back.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yeah I have stock in Old & Fussy®

Ironically, I used to be an M&M guy for many years (I was pretty well known on the Atomic Think Tank under a different handle) until I realized that, fundamentally, most in-game choices were either bad or illusory, and from that point on I decided it was mechanically waaay too dull for me.

 

[Evaniel]

I enjoyed M&M 2e, but as I got older, I found it to be crunchier than I like. Steve Kenson is a S tier designer, though, so when he put out Icons: Assembled, I was all over it. It's become my go-to for supers: it really marries a lot of what I like best about M&M with a skeleton that is clearly derived from the old Marvel Superheroes RPG.

The original yellow box set of the MSHRPG may be my favorite RPG period, and I think its "Advanced" version has unfortunately affected how people remember it. Many of the complaints I see about the MSHRPG tend to be specific to the Advanced version. C'est la vie!

My experience of supers RPGs outside of these systems is fairly limited. I used to enjoy Palladium's Heroes Unlimited BitD, but anything Palladium tends to be too wonky for me these days. I've always wanted to like Aberrant more than I ended up actually liking it. I'm embarrassed to say that I've never tried V&V or Champions. I'd certainly play in them, but I don't see myself ever running them.

Finally, re: the Marvel Multiverse RPG. I was excited when it was announced, and then utterly dismayed when I bought a copy of the playtest rules. Then I was excited when they discussed how they were revising them. Then dismayed again when I bought the rulebook. When I got to the ineffable passages on knockback and item damage, I noped out for good. I keep telling myself I'll give it another try, but every time I look at it, my eyes start to cross. 5e is about the upper limit of my tolerance for system complexity. I'm not saying it's a bad game by any stretch. Rather, it's not to my taste for GMing (which is mostly my role these days).

 

[humble minion]

I <3 mutants and masterminds, but these days it carries just a little too much outdated d20 mechanical baggage for me to be entirely happy with it any more. Even moving from measuring distances in 5ft battlemap squares to range bands like FFG Star Wars or the Alien RPG would be a nice simplification I think. Superman shouldn’t be worrying about 5ft increments, and speedsters make using the battlemap futile anyway.

I don’t think this is the way Green Ronin are going though. The Valiant Adventures kickstarter seems to bring in a bunch of 5e concepts to make it more familiar to the 5th edition crowd, rather than going in a slightly more abstract direction.

 

[jdrakeh]

What is YOUR favorite superhero tabletop roleplaying game?

Right now, it's Longshot City by the same folks who brought us Troika.

When did you first find it?

Earlier this year.

Why do you love it?

I love the random character gen, the weird art, and the initiative system yoinked from Troika.

Do you have a favorite superhero character that you created?

Not yet. I've only read it, not played it.

 

[Blue]

My current favorite is Masks: A New Generation. I played decades of Champions (now Hero System) when I was younger (and had a lot more time), which is basically a superpower physics simulation. Masks is the exact opposite, and cares more about who the heroes will become and all the rivalry, drama and such that makes them so than exactly how far their punch knocks someone back. It's laser focused on teen superteams, and I'm okay with that.

EDIT: I'm come to realize that just like magic that "this spells does XdY fire damage in a X' cone" isn't magical nor fantastical, reducing superpowers to the same isn't either. If the system can't handle, "well, I'm going to try to use my plasma powers to superheat the air and lift Doc Hurricane's twister going towards the school bus so it never comes down enough to touch them" then it's not, well, what I want to play.

Marvel Heroic Roleplay (the Margaret Weis Productions, not the current Marvel offering), based on Cortex Plus I liked a lot. Now that Cortex Prime is out it could be updated to be even better. Want that Spidey will throw jibes at a villain until the villain lashes out, at which point Spidey had positioned himself in front of another villain and dodges so it hits them? Mechanically easily, since there's a lot of narrative in the system for describing how you are using what you do. Want some heroes better on their own, others buddied up, and others with a team? Want Hawkeye and Thor to be on an adventure together and their power difference doesn't mean Thor steals the spotlight? Got it all.