Super-Hero systems: pros and cons

[pawsplay]

SAS is probably the better game, by a smidge... but not by so much you can ignore M&M being in print, wildly popular, supported by a huge string of very successful sourcebooks, and very easy to convert to from d20 or True20.

By the way, I would consider SAS worth it, at a reasonable price, just for the GMing advice and the overview of the genre. Very nice book.

 

[WayneLigon]

I've played three sessions of S&S, the tri-stat-system version. I was really not very impressed, especially after playing M&M for as long as I have. I've played regular tri-stat and liked it fairly well, but the superhero version just doesn't stack up for a number of reasons. I found combat harder than it should be, and the lack of a stunt mechanic was really felt.

Three sessions, especially under the GM I had at the time, is probably not nearly enough to fairly evaluate it; there could be something in there that I flat-out missed, but the system itself did not inspire any great love in me.

I also find the setting to be more than a little bland and it has that 'thrown together at the last minute' feel to me. None of the 'iconics' are really appealing to me, either. That has nothing to do with the system, per se, but it means almost all of the supporting material is thin and not very well done.

The fiction that was published for it, though? Top notch. I also found the supplement Shield of Justice contains one of the best outlines of the superheroic motivation (basically, 'how to behave like a comic book superhero') I've ever read. Get that regardless of the system you decide to go with.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Gamer since 1977. My top 3 favorite RPG systems, in order: HERO, M&M, 3.X D&D.

The first 2 are, quite simply, the most robust and flexible RPG systems I've ever used. I've yet to imagine a PC concept, regardless of genre, that I can't work out in either one. (I have in other "toolbox" systems.)

In addition, given that it is a D20 system derived game, and almost everyone who games these days is at least familiar with the D20 system in general, M&M is the clear choice. Your players' learning curves will be quite easy to master.

 

[pawsplay]

I also find the setting to be more than a little bland and it has that 'thrown together at the last minute' feel to me.

I had the opposite reaction. I was like, "I would totally buy the comics of this."

 

[Cryptos]

Go with M&M, get a PDF of Ultimate Power (you're only using it during character creation, for the most part, so a PDF is all that's needed), and you should be able to do anything.

I honestly can't think of too many "cons" to the system. The "pros" or shock, awe, and wonder factors might not be as numerous as flashier systems, but the flexibility and the lack of a long list of drawbacks more than makes up for it.

 

[coyote6]

In fairness, this is true of HERO (with its 'stop sign' powers) and GURPS, as well. People may not play HERO and GURPS like that, but both systems pretty explicitly spell out that the GM should be involved in the character creation process and can veto certain powers/disads/etc.

Agreed; it's true of probably any point-buy system. It's true of M&M; you can combine traits to make up obnoxious characters (e.g., a Concealment/Teleport/ESP/Mental Blast combo to get a "hero" that teleports to London to participate in fights in SoCal), and the rules will allow it -- it's up to the GM to say no.

(note that I say this as a fan of M&M since 1e, 2e playtester, and guy for whom SAS just didn't click when I read it. M&M rocks, but it isn't absolute perfection.)

 

[pawsplay]

I honestly can't think of too many "cons" to the system. The "pros" or shock, awe, and wonder factors might not be as numerous as flashier systems, but the flexibility and the lack of a long list of drawbacks more than makes up for it.

I could pick it apart some, but why be negative? In a lot of ways, it's a system designed to be unobtrusive, and at that it succeeds.

 

[jdrakeh]

Agreed; it's true of probably any point-buy system. It's true of M&M; you can combine traits to make up obnoxious characters (e.g., a Concealment/Teleport/ESP/Mental Blast combo to get a "hero" that teleports to London to participate in fights in SoCal), and the rules will allow it -- it's up to the GM to say no.

I tried to run a GURPS Supers game wherein PCs were infamous criminals escaped from a multi-dimensional prison. It was horribly, horribly, broken and lasted only one session, but not before producing a great one-liner from one PC to another that I still remember vividly (almost 12 years laters):

"Lord Vader uses the force to crush Doom's brain!"

I still want to run that campaign someday, but not in GURPS and not with the level of player freedom that I allowed back then. I'd probably run it using The Authority (really, the least broken 'high-powered' supers game that I've seen) or M&M (I use 1e, but just because I like all of the rules under one cover).

Or maybe (just maybe) Superworld.

 

[Ahglock]

Gamer since 1977. My top 3 favorite RPG systems, in order: HERO, M&M, 3.X D&D.

The first 2 are, quite simply, the most robust and flexible RPG systems I've ever used. I've yet to imagine a PC concept, regardless of genre, that I can't work out in either one. (I have in other "toolbox" systems.)

In addition, given that it is a D20 system derived game, and almost everyone who games these days is at least familiar with the D20 system in general, M&M is the clear choice. Your players' learning curves will be quite easy to master.

I almost agree entirely with this post. I'm more Hero, M&M, Shadowrun2e. (for D&D its more the its D&D factor than the specific rules, so any edition works for me to some degree, though 2e and then BECM are probably my favorites.)