How Do You Like Your Super Hero TTRPG Games/Campaigns?

[hawkeyefan]

I voted for all of them except for:

• High Crunch- yeah, no
• Humorous- prefer moments of humor in an otherwise fairly serious game
• One Shot- generally not something my group does, but not really against it
• Comic terminology in design- not against this, just can't think of any games I play that use it

Honestly, I'm really open when it comes to superheroes. I find that supers are best when combined with another genre.

My next supers campaign idea is to play a series of short campaigns across a long time span, so we'll cover most of the comic eras, with connections running along throughout. So that'll run the gamut.

 

[Blue]

Humorous- prefer moments of humor in an otherwise fairly serious game

This is my default in most genres, but for me in supers, that "moment" can be a whole issue. We played so much Champions, in the 80s and 90s, and every once in a while you end up with C.L.O.W.N. or Foxbat or other humorous villain or organization and it just shook you out of your baddie-of-the-week. Change ups in pacing and expectations were good. It's like having a light session after a really heavy one in other RPGs.

My next supers campaign idea is to play a series of short campaigns across a long time span, so we'll cover most of the comic eras, with connections running along throughout. So that'll run the gamut.

Wow, this sounds fantastic! We played a decade+, with game time roughly advancing with real time, but I'd love to actually play different generations of heroes.

 

[hawkeyefan]

This is my default in most genres, but for me in supers, that "moment" can be a whole issue. We played so much Champions, in the 80s and 90s, and every once in a while you end up with C.L.O.W.N. or Foxbat or other humorous villain or organization and it just shook you out of your baddie-of-the-week. Change ups in pacing and expectations were good. It's like having a light session after a really heavy one in other RPGs.

Yeah, I generally avoid purely humorous campaigns, but a character or concept here and there sometimes makes its way into things. We did recently play a longish campaign of a game that was pure humor (not supers, though) and it was a lot more fun for a lot longer than I expected. But I think we got that out of our system and can deal with some more serious campaigns for a bit.

Wow, this sounds fantastic! We played a decade+, with game time roughly advancing with real time, but I'd love to actually play different generations of heroes.

Thanks! The idea is very much about generational elements... I have some ideas about legacy concepts and lingering plots that live on for another generation to deal with, and that kind of stuff. Nothing too detailed because I feel like the first group would establish a lot of that stuff in play, and then I would use that to inform the subsequent eras.

Not sure when I'll run it, but the last time I ran a supers game, it went over very well, and that was the first time I ran one in a long time. So I think my group would be open to this idea. However, we're in the middle of a campaign now, and I expect to run something else next. Maybe after that!

 

[Reynard]

My most successful long term supers game was actually the modern era of my long running D&D campaign after the return of magic. In a pulp adventure the players released the God of magic and chaos. Then we played in the Golden Age for a while where old evils tried to reassert themselves, followed by a long silver age era. I did a massive Crisis event for our 20th anniversary as a game group, including bringing in players from geographically far away. Sadly thr group mostly petered out after that. I still play with a couple of those folks but the group itself fell apart.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In the spirit of the recent Spiderverse stuff…

Have your players brainstorm a single cool character concept appropriate for the campaign*. After they do so (if it meets your approval), have each player create their own unique riff on it from another time and/or dimension. That’s their PC for the campaign.







* probably best for supers, sci-fi, or high-magic

 

[Scottius]

I really enjoy a lot of variety when it comes to Super Hero RPGs so I marked a lot of the categories in this poll. The main era/genre I tend to avoid is the overly grim/gritty Iron Age since that's the least interesting option IMO.

My favorite campaigns have tended to be one of these two:

A mashup of silver/bronze age with a bit of modern post-Iron age with a team focused on protecting a single major city from all manner of crime & threats. Generally hitting a tone somewhere along the lines of the Justice League & Teen Titans cartoons.

A smaller scaled slightly lower powered Street Level heroes campaign focused more on a neighborhood beset by gangs, criminal organizations, and a smattering of street level villain types.

Campaign types I've only run once thus far but would definitely consider again include the Super School/Teen Heroes ala Xavier's School or Sky High, Mutants fighting for their rights while protecting a world that tends to hate/fear them ala the X-Men, and super hero cosmic adventurers ala Guardians of the Galaxy and the Starjammers.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I'm in a weird position where I'm kind of vaguely dissatisfied with even the five or six systems I like most.

 

[ThrorII]

So, I've played Champions, Heroes Unlimited, and Marvel FASRIP in the 80s, and played ICONS in the 2000's. ICONS is now my go to supers system. For any game nowadays, I prefer low crunch that captures the feel of the genre.

I prefer the Silver Age motif, but I've run a World War II campaign with super soldiers before. My next campaign (whenever that will be) will use ICONS and be placed a non-de script, timeless, faux 60's-ish Silver Age game (newspapers & radio, no internet; no cell phones or ubiquitous surveillance; computers take up a whole room, etc.), initially placed in a modified Fainting Goat's Stark City (superhero Chicago).

 

[Scottius]

So, I've played Champions, Heroes Unlimited, and Marvel FASRIP in the 80s, and played ICONS in the 2000's. ICONS is now my go to supers system. For any game nowadays, I prefer low crunch that captures the feel of the genre.

I prefer the Silver Age motif, but I've run a World War II campaign with super soldiers before. My next campaign (whenever that will be) will use ICONS and be placed a non-de script, timeless, faux 60's-ish Silver Age game (newspapers & radio, no internet; no cell phones or ubiquitous surveillance; computers take up a whole room, etc.), initially placed in a modified Fainting Goat's Stark City (superhero Chicago).

I've always been a sucker for a Super Hero RPG. I've played Champions, Heroes Unlimited, FASERIP, Mayfair's DC Heroes, Mutants & Masterminds, SuperWorld, Icons, & Sentinels of the Multiverse. Mutants & Masterminds & Icons are my current go to systems depending on what I'm feeling.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I'm in a weird position where I'm kind of vaguely dissatisfied with even the five or six systems I like most.

I don't think that's all that weird. No single supers game of the dozens I've played has ever been 100% satisfactory, and I'm pretty sure none ever will be. The supers genre is too broad and my tastes too varied for one system to scratch the itch all the time. Sometimes I'm in the mood for Masks, sometimes I want a crunchy Champions experience, when I want something that really feels like a comic book more than an RPG about supers Sentinel Comics comes to mind, and once in a while something cynical and deconstructive appeals and Aberrant comes off the shelf, to name just a few. Sometimes sheer nostalgia takes over and I round up a crew for Villains & Vigilantes or Mighty Protectors, even. I'm pretty open-minded about systems and do a lot of one-shots or short arcs, something that fits the supers genre fairly well IMO.

Only things I voted for were Embrace the Genre (which is almost meaningless given how broad "superhero" is as a genre) and Homebrew Universe (not a fan of licenses or meta-plots, I really prefer an emergent setting).