What Licensed RPG Do You Wish Used A Different System?

[Pseudohobbit]

I really enjoyed the FFG Star Wars dice system, but since it’ll probably never reach its former glory under Edge, I’d like an official Savage Wars version.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Fair enough. What exactly are these other games not doing that you want?

Its a long list, and would pretty much turn into my general critique of games in the D&D-sphere. Just as a starter, I think AC and baking armor penetration into skill makes less and less sense once you get away from fantasy (I don't think its even a great model for fantasy, but I think the all-or-nothing nature of it makes no sense with more modern armors--or even worse with settings where armor is rare and of minor impact).

 

[Parmandur]

I really enjoyed the FFG Star Wars dice system, but since it’ll probably never reach its former glory under Edge, I’d like an official Savage Wars version.

Have they even been producing new material for the RPG?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Its a long list, and would pretty much turn into my general critique of games in the D&D-sphere. Just as a starter, I think AC and baking armor penetration into skill makes less and less sense once you get away from fantasy (I don't think its even a great model for fantasy, but I think the all-or-nothing nature of it makes no sense with more modern armors--or even worse with settings where armor is rare and of minor impact).

I really just miss Damage Reduction.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I really just miss Damage Reduction.

Outside the D&D-sphere, its pretty near the default approach.

 

[CleverNickName]

I do have to point out that for all his conceptual quirkiness, Gambit is not actually as typically depicted a complex character; he' throws explosive objects (and can blow things up he touches), and has enhanced agility. It doesn't surprise me that he can be done.

I'm sure you're right; there are hundreds (thousands?) of comic book characters out there ranging from bumbling henchmen to Literally A God. All I can say is that 5E write-up was over 4000 words long, and that's about as complex of a character as I'm ever willing to play.

He's also not particularly high powered.

Except for throwing explosives and blowing up things he touches, you mean? I'm not gonna argue the power levels of different superheroes, I got all of that out of my system years ago. But your point stands: 5E isn't going to work for every superhero concept.

The way I see it: if you think of "superhero" as someone who can call down lightning with a thought, speak with the dead, teleport, and heal any amount of injury with just 8 hours of sleep, the 5E rules can handle it. If you need more than that, 5E is going to be really frustrating.

I had a lot of fun with that write-up, even if it was just a proof of concept. I wanted to see if 5E could handle a "superhero" character, so to test it I chose Gambit...not because Gambit is the hardest or most complex example I could think of, but because he's my favorite: he's the one I'm most familiar with and the one that I would be the most nitpicky about. I figure that if I couldn't write Gambit to my own satisfaction, there's no way I would be able to do any of the others. And it was a lot of fun walking down memory lane, and looking at my old favorite with a new eye.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I'm sure you're right; there are hundreds (thousands?) of comic book characters out there ranging from bumbling henchmen to Literally A God. All I can say is that 5E write-up was over 4000 words long, and that's about as complex of a character as I'm ever willing to play.

That's more an artifact of making it work with 5e though. With a system designed to actually handle supers it could be done significantly more simply.

Except for throwing explosives and blowing up things he touches, you mean? I'm not gonna argue the power levels of different superheroes, I got all of that out of my system years ago. But your point stands: 5E isn't going to work for every superhero concept.

Does that genuinely strike you as high powered for a superhero? I can't say it does to me; I probably could name another 20 who can do that as well or more without breaking a sweat.

 

[Valetudo]

I have always liked shadowruns flavor, but not its system. I did run a shadowrun campaign using d20modern that turned out really well. I'm still kinda shopping for a newer version to use.

 

[pemerton]

Well, arguably that gets back to whether those transmission media are acceptable in the first place. Or, see my comment up thread about the pass a lot of narrative focused games get on issues with superhero games that more representative games just can't use.

Well, if you are not going to have methods for transmitting stakes, consequences etc between characters who are not geographically proximate, then separating the characters will make things harder.

EDIT: Or even simpler - a method of pausing the action in Scene A, then turning to Scene B, without the unfolding of Scene A being determined in a way that is independent of whatever happens in Scene B.

For instance, in a system that works on granular time and distance, and extrapolates out from that to everything "bigger picture", then narrations like "OK, and so when you get back to the base so-and-so has just arrived" won't work, as they invite queries about whether the rules for space and time were properly complied with.

 

[Reynard]

That's more an artifact of making it work with 5e though. With a system designed to actually handle supers it could be done significantly more simply.

Being able to approximate a superhero in 5E is not really the point of the original argument though. The claim was that one couldn't build a class and level based superhero game on the 5E chassis that wasn't a "design failure" as a superhero game. Even more, the claim was that any superhero game was a design failure unless it could do any kind or scale of supers. Unless of course it gets an arbitrary pass for being narrative or focused.

Spoiler: a class and level.supers game is totally viable if, as with any other game, it does what you want it to do in play. And even if it doesn't, it isn't a "design failure" it is just not the game you were looking for.