Superhero Systems Needed

[SSquirrel]

Out of curiosity what issues are you having w/Aberrant? I've run it a decent bit and except for a few small character gen tweaks, it's always run fine for me. I did have a lot of experience w/OWoD in the 90s which probably doesn't hurt. I have always liked Aberrant b/c it wasn't hard to build what I wanted and considering dice pools are always just 2 stats, it's pretty simple.

I have a copy of the Supers book for Savage Worlds, but haven't looked it over a whole lot honestly. I haven't touched M&M since 1st Ed and they have 3rd Ed out now or out soon, so that's been awhile Considering it is an OGL game tho, it is d20 at heart, so if you don't like 3E era D&D, that would be a mark against it.

 

[Ariosto]

TSR's "FASERIP" Marvel Super Heroes is very light (less so with Advanced), and captures the feel of its subject, well, marvelously. There's a "retro clone" called Four Colors (4C) that naturally lacks all the trademarked Marvel references.

Villains & Vigilantes is sort of like old TSR D&D. Whether that's funky in a good way or a bad way is a matter of taste.

 

[Stacie GmrGrl]

I will recommend Mutants and Masterminds 3rd edition and tell you that it is finally the edition of the game that has taken many of its roots from the d20 system and gotten rid of them, making it its own game system. 2e didn't go far enough for me. 3e, though, is really fun.

3e is very customizable, effects based and simple. It has a fairly decent in system design for balance that puts all characters within the same ballpark within a single Power Level. It works.

I'll also say that Wild Talents 2e is awesome, Supers! is simple simple fun and avoid Savage Worlds for superhero games (its wonky and doesn't really work, IMO).

If you want a more comic book feel M&M3e is the way to go. If you want a gritty game where you have the chance of really dying than go with Wild Talents (which can be modulated to fit not as gritty games).

If you're kind of a sadist than I can also recommend Heroes Unlimited (a Palladium books supers game)

 

[SSquirrel]

Stacie, he said he didn't want a clunky system, that rules out anything Palladium Heck I was a fan of the 4 Colors to Fantasy that ENWorld did, but that is more fitting super powers into a D&D type game heh

 

[Stacie GmrGrl]

Stacie, he said he didn't want a clunky system, that rules out anything Palladium Heck I was a fan of the 4 Colors to Fantasy that ENWorld did, but that is more fitting super powers into a D&D type game heh

Well I did start that by saying 'if you're a sadist' but I will take it back... Palladium is, if anything, one of the most clunky systems ever designed. .

I missed that part of the OP. Please don't punish me with thrown tomatoes or tossed school buses or toppled skyscrapers or energy beams or other-dimensional-beings-bent-on-world-domination.

 

[jaerdaph]

Mutants & Masterminds is, of course, a dedicated superhero game. However, just at a glance, it looks like it has a lot of D&D 3E in its genetic code. If I'm the type of GM who detests 3E and never wants to run it again (way too much bookkeeping and number-crunching), how am I likely to feel about M&M?

I have heard quite a few people over at RPGNet say that while they didn't care for the d20 System at all, they actually liked the implementation in 2e M&M and 3e M&M too.

That said, if you are looking for a much more rules-lite system for supers, I would highly recommend ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying from Adamant Entertainment. I've been playing it regularly for over a year now and I've really enjoyed it. I love the system - it plays very well but doesn't get in the way.

 

[Dausuul]

Thanks to everyone who's answered so far! Your suggestions are immensely helpful. You've gone a long way to assuage my concerns about M&M, and given me quite a few other options to look at as well.

Out of curiosity what issues are you having w/Aberrant? I've run it a decent bit and except for a few small character gen tweaks, it's always run fine for me. I did have a lot of experience w/OWoD in the 90s which probably doesn't hurt. I have always liked Aberrant b/c it wasn't hard to build what I wanted and considering dice pools are always just 2 stats, it's pretty simple.

Combat is an unholy mess--takes forever to resolve a single round, what with the stack-style initiative and having to hold back actions to dodge and keeping track of dice pools and all the myriad ways powers interact. The rules are often unclear and sometimes flatly contradict themselves. Many power mechanics are stupidly convoluted and make you look up other powers for no apparent reason: "Treat this power as if using that other power, except they don't actually work the same, so figure out how to reconcile that."

Powers with durations have to be tracked round-by-round in combat, and each power has its own duration--at least D&D was reasonably consistent about "one round per level." Powers range from the pathetic (Bioluminescence) to the absurdly broken (Telepathy). Chargen uses two distinct point systems, and then a third point system is used for advancement. The dice pool mechanic leads to wild variations in outcomes.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. I could deal with it if not for the combat system. A couple of my players like to get their fight on, and I normally enjoy a good tussle, but I shy away from starting combat in Aberrant because it eats up hours of game time--it makes the grindiest 4E fight you ever saw look brisk.

 

[NexusX]

I'd have to say that overall, M&M is a pretty fun game. I've only played 1st and 2nd Ed. though, not the latest.

My only beefs with M&M 2 were that coming up with how to go from the concept of your hero to the best way to represent that using the rules was for my gaming group, a bit daunting. Most hero designs weren't that bad, but there were some that were quite complicated, and I always got the feeling that there might be a better way to design it (you see, they give you lots of options on how to build the powers).

Also, I've never liked Wealth systems, which they use, nor am I into the level of abstraction they use for health, though both of these systems do work well to give you the comic-book feel. Personally, I like a grittier health system and more choices in races and such. But for what they were trying to do, they did a pretty good job. And as some have said here, 3rd Ed. is supposed to be better. Me, I've been making supers using the Cosmothea RPG, but that's not on the market yet, and if you like M&M's health and Wealth systems, then you might not like mine anyway. So, for now at least, my suggestion would be M&M 3.

 

[hopeless]

Icons

I agree wit take a look at Icons, its a fairly quick and simple system though try the pdf if you don't fancy paying for the hard print version, it really depends on what you fancy.

I bought Aberrants never got to run it and would have used it to generate up the aberrants or novas in the Trinity era rather than use the mentioned setting since I rather liked the idea that there was to what had been going on than simply the supers turning cthulhu!

 

[SilverSnake]

I've found M&M to break at lower levels. The hubbs ran a one-off superhero game with Savage Worlds last week at our FLGS, and it went over great. The system worked nicely for the powers, and everyone had a great time.