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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RareBreed" data-source="post: 8268563" data-attributes="member: 6945590">This article motivated me to write my first ever post on this site, and indeed my first post on an RPG site in probably around 18 years.I have been a lurker in the RPG scene for close to 30 years, not having played a session since the early 90s.  The last games I played were Twilight 2000 (2.0) and Ars Magica (2nd ed).  I started role-playing at the ripe old age of 8 in 1980, so my role-playing "career" was only about 12 years long, mostly through the 80s.However, I always kept in touch with role-playing even if I didn't play anymore.  I often bought games from the late 90s until now, just to see how rules system, genres, and role-playing itself had advanced.   The trend I have noticed even more in the last 30 years or so, is moving characters from "heroes" to "superheroes" as you put it.  Growing up, my favorite games included the following:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Twilight 2000</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Justice Inc</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveller (more 2300 than classic)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Phoenix Command (yes, that Phoenix Command, running a Vietnam campaign I GM'ed)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">RPG (from RPG Inc, and the 2nd ed from Palladium)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Living Steel</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Top Secret</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">MERP (1st edition)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Champions (1st through 4th ed)</li> </ul>We occasionally played some other games (Paranoia, Superworld, Runequest, Chill, CoC, Ghostbusters come to mind), but the above were the games we played the most.  Perhaps you noticed a common theme in the above games (other than the obvious lack of D&D)?With the exception of Champions, pretty much all those games were about regular Joes facing extraordinary situations.  Yes, MERP was fantasy, but it was low powered fantasy (especially the way we played it). And yes, Traveller and Living Steel had "powers" in the form of high technology, but I enjoyed playing on low-tech worlds, or in the apocalyptic setting of Rhand. As Timothy Dalton's quote you mentioned says, it's easier to relate to a hero than a super hero.  It's something we as players can actually aspire to.  My favorite campaign of all time was the one I ran using Phoenix Command for a Vietnam War setting.  Phoenix Command has a reputation for being insanely hard, with too much emphases on game mechanics, and perhaps not enough in roleplaying.  My experience was just the opposite.  Because combat was so deadly, the players (and their characters) were extremely reluctant to engage in combat.  This meant more role-playing opportunities instead of <a href="https://75.stripes.com/galleries/mad-minute-1968" target="_blank">mad minute</a> sessions all the time.  Every child who ran up to them became a life and death decision for them.  The fear of death, and of causing death (including friendly fire), was what made the campaign so memorable to me.There were no fireballs.  No magic armor to save you.  No healing spells.  No first aid kits to get you back on your feet in no time flat.  Every decision counted, and had consequences.  This provided very memorably experiences which I found lacking when I played in super-powered settings, whether those powers came from magical, technological, or comic book sources.I have noticed the trend today is towards playing super characters. When I read other posts about this topic, I invariably hear someone say "But I want to escape from reality.  That's why I play RPG's".  I am curious if these people have ever actually played in a setting with just regular Joes in extraordinary circumstances?  I feel like in the last 15-20 years, there are very few games where you even can play a regular human (the few I can think of are horror games which explicitly do this to make the characters feel vulnerable and powerless, like CoC, or Outbreak).I have long felt that role-playing can (and should) be about more than just entertainment.  It can be a way to (safely) explore choices, decisions and possible consequences.  I would argue that Documentary shows are not "fun" and neither are they entertaining, but they can be enjoyable, because they help us learn. Does that mean I am against super powers or super heroes?  Not at all.  I collected or read comics since I was 11, and was absorbed in what these super heroes could do.  But there was a difference.  When I read comics, I never put myself in Thor's shoes, or even Iron Man's.  I lived vicariously through their exploits as a spectator, but never really asked "what would I do in that situation"?  It was more about me learning how these superheroes acted, or wonder about the amazing feats and situations that they were presented with.To illustrate, one of my favorite TV shows of all time is now Wanda Vision. (Spoiler Alert coming!!)One of the most intriguing things to me about the show, was "what really is the Vision?" (and yeah, I read the original Avengers comics this story arc was gleaned from).  When Wanda's Vision faced the "real" Vision, and they pontificated on the Ship of Thucydides, this was pure genius.  But the line that got me was when the Vision asked Wanda, "What am I?" and later said, "what will I become next?".These are deep philosophical questions that are most easily presented in a supermundane setting.  The Matrix was brilliant for example, because it allowed us to view "the brain in a jar" question but in a cool sci-fi setting.  The question that Vision posed about what his nature was, and who the real self is, is most easily done in a setting where the fantastic is possible. So, to answer your question, which do I prefer, heroic or superheroic?For active storytelling (i.e, role-playing), I think heroic systems are most to my liking, both as a player and as a GM.  I think they are more relatable and can teach us more human stories.  But for passive non-interactive storytelling, I prefer the superheroic, because it can present us with allegories and metaphors in a more interesting way than our real world can. I feel that from a role-playing perspective, where neither the player nor the GM can fully control the narrative, I feel that superheroic settings are not as powerful for storytelling (or at least are much more difficult to do correctly).  YMMV of course.The trend in RPG settings towards the superheroic is one reason I have never really gotten back into active role-playing.</blockquote>

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