Favorite Superhero TTRPG

Theory of Games

Storied Gamist
Torg.
Okay, not really, but that is the closest to a superhero system I actually played. All storm knights have a bit of superheroic abiltiies thanks to their possibilities and coming from realms with access to different levels of technology and magic, and Terra's pulp heroes specifically can give you at least "lower" powered superheroes.
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I enjoyed a Golden Heroes campaign in 1984-85. I liked the rules-lite approach (Champions I found far to complicated) randomness of character generation, with it’s widely different power level heroes, and its hint of Britishness.
Great game and there's been a couple of clones. Squadron UK was the one I'm remembering right now.
 

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I'm running a M&M game right now. Being related to D20 systems, transitioning from my largely D&D experience made it work well enough. It is taking longer than I like to grok the particulars.

Currently my group is assisting Keanu Reeves (and Elon Musk) as they expell the forces of Ultralord from the fortress of Keanu.
 

Thomas Shey

Legend
Torg.
Okay, not really, but that is the closest to a superhero system I actually played. All storm knights have a bit of superheroic abiltiies thanks to their possibilities and coming from realms with access to different levels of technology and magic, and Terra's pulp heroes specifically can give you at least "lower" powered superheroes.

The old Nile Empire absolutely had low to sometimes moderate superheroes in it.
 


Hey @Wofano Wotanto and @aramis erak , both of you mentioned Sentinel Comics. I own it and want to try but never got a group going for it. Can you tell me a little about how it plays and what it's strengths are?
Aramis has already done a lengthy post that I don't want to either duplicate or contradict here, so I'm going to point you at one of the index pages on my blog with my (incomplete) musings about the game for you to look at at your leisure. Hopefully there's some content there that will be useful for you, and you can always ask questions either in the comments there (which would be more convenient for me) or here and I'll try to help. I'm very much a fan of the game for one-offs, shorts arcs, and ongoing campaigns up to about 50 sessions in length, although I think it needs some tweaking to go much beyond that (where mounting "experience" in the form of collections outpaces the encounter design system).

You mentioned having played MHR, and it's probably the closest thing out there (if a dead licensed game can properly be called "out there") to SCRPG, sharing designers and enough mechanical elements to be familiar. The two are sort of funhouse mirror reflections of their Cortex ancestor, with SCRPG maybe being the more divergent of the two.
 

hawkeyefan

Legend
I've played most of the major ones over the years, though some far more than others. I've never really clicked with the heavier systems like Champions. They just don't feel like comics to me.

My favorites that I've played recently:

- Galaxies in Peril- this is a Forged in the Dark take on superheroes, and it works surprisingly well. The system for powers is almost absent... you simply pick what kind of powers you want, that fit with your playbook, and that's it. It works really well. I think the default setting could be tweaked a bit to better suit the team and downtime elements, but other than that, it's a highly functional game and we had a great year-long weekly campaign of it.

- Marvel Superheroes RPG- the classic by TSR. I broke it out recently to play with my 6 year old. The game not only holds up really well... I think it was ahead of its time in a lot of ways. Degrees of success, player facing mechanics, player resources to influence play. The whole karma system to incentivize decision making and present difficult choices. It works really well, it's very simple, and also robust. Absolutely a blast to play and it flows really well. For the most part, all you need is the Universal Table to run a game.

- Masks- I only played two sessions of this, but it's a fantastic game. As others have said, it's very much focused on the identities of the characters more than just super-heroics. But that's what makes it so compelling. Most superhero comics... or most good ones, anyway... aren't just about the powers and the fights. They're about the characters. And this game ensures that happens... play is absolutely about the characters and their identities... not just the superhero masks that they wear, but the kind we all wear.
 

Theory of Games

Storied Gamist
Galaxies in Peril- this is a Forged in the Dark take on superheroes, and it works surprisingly well. The system for powers is almost absent... you simply pick what kind of powers you want, that fit with your playbook, and that's it. It works really well. I think the default setting could be tweaked a bit to better suit the team and downtime elements, but other than that, it's a highly functional game and we had a great year-long weekly campaign of it.
I got Worlds but only glanced at Galaxies. I'll take another look since I like FitD.
 

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