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Superhero Game Systems?
DeVryGuy
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Registered User regular
After my current D&D campaign wraps, I think it would be a fun change of pace to make a Superhero game. Does any one system stand out above the rest?
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Seconded.
If you can't find that, the old Marvel Superheroes game using the Saga system provided my friends and I with quite a bit of face smashing fun.
For the love of god, stay a way from Heroes (I think that's what it's called). Unless you enjoy using differential equations to throw punches....
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Heroes Unlimited was the first RPG I ever played. The rules (especially character building) were pretty time consuming, but I liked things like the random power tables. It was fun not knowing what powers your hero was going to end up with.
Edit: My Rambo/Nick Fury/Cable/Malone illo:
Switch: nin.codes/roldford
The forward of the player's guide literally says that it's not meant to be played as a "four-color" game, but more like Heroes or Rising Stars, and that you're a wuss if you play otherwise.
Some of the powers and combos are broken, however, so it requires a diligent and careful GM. (Mental Blast + Aggravated Extra ) + (Telepathy + Channeling extra) = Death From Afar.
Silver Age Sentinels?
Be part of something big, even if you are small.
WEG did the DCU Roleplaying Game around 2000/2001.
Not WEG (GoO), but incredibly awesome for supers.
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OK kids, let me clear this up for y'all.
Ahem.
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What's Aberrant by White Wolf?
Aberrant is a super-hero role-playing game, the second in a trilogy of games by White Wolf and not a part of their World of Darkness line. It is the prequel to the futuristic, sci-fi rpg "Trinity" (also known as AEON), and it's own prequel is the pulp genre rpg "Adventure!" The supers of the world are known as "Novas," and can develop strange problems known as aberrations. These corrupt "Aberrants" are referred to as such in Trinity and form a rationale for super-villainy. Using a D10 dice pooling system for combat resolution, Aberrant was published by White Wolf Studios in 1999 and was written by Justin R. Achilli, Andrew Bates, et al.
What's Avengers of Justice by Better Games?
Avengers of Justice is a free-form supers game which resolves discrepancies through role-playing and drama rather than randomization. The adventures are treated like a comic book series; if a super-hero is slain, his associates (including villains) are removed from play since his comic line is considered cancelled. Avengers of Justice, by Joseph Hillmer and George Rahm, was published by Better Games.
What's The Batman RPG by Mayfair Games?
The Batman RPG was marketed at the time of the first Batman movie. The system is a rules-light version of the DC Heroes Second Edition and the setting focuses on the Dark Knight's menagerie of associates and adversaries in Gotham City. The Batman RPG was written in 1989 by Jack A. Barker and Ray Winninger
What's Blood of Heroes by Pulsar Games?
Blood of Heroes is a super-hero and super-villain role-playing game that recycles M.E.G.S used in the third edition of the DC Heroes RPG. It's Sidekick Sourcebook suppliment and later version, Blood of Heroes: Special Edition, which combined Sidekick and the main rulebook essentially represent the fourth edition of DC Heroes. Blood of Heroes is by Tony Oliveira, Ray Hedman, and Jeff Oliveira and was first published by Pulsar Games Incorporated in 1998. The Blood of Heroes: Special Edition revision is by Joshua Marquart, Chris Tatro, Jon Cassie, Tony Oliveira, et. al and was first published in 2001.
What's Brave New World by Pinnacle?
Brave New World is a super-heroic game set in a near future where all the high-powered heroes, &qout;Alphas," have all disappeared and only the low-powered "Deltas" are still around. These Deltas fight a corrupt government. Characters are created using templates and somewhat limited power packages, a concept that has received bad press. Matt Forbeck's Brave New World was first published in 1999 by Pinnacle, and later by AEG, but Matt is currently seeking a publisher so he may reveal the rest of the setting's secrets.
What's Champions by Hero Games?
Champions has been the most popular of all the super-hero role-playing games, it's fourth edition presenting the complex game system as a stand-alone, universal/generic, core rules set named "HERO." Champions was the first super-hero system to feature a point-pool, player-created character creation system. During it's over 20 year lineage, Champions has built it's own setting and has support from hundreds of fans. The first edition by George MacDonald and Steve Peterson was originally released in 1981 by Hero Games. It is currently on the 4th Edition of the HERO system, the hardcover version of which is known as "The Big Blue Book," with a 5th Edition inevitable (Steve Long claims to have a finished copy on his Palm Pilot, so you know who to mug at the conventions). Check the Hero Games site for more information on 5th Edition.
What's Champions: The New Millenium by R. Talsorian Games?
The New Millenium is a super-heroic rpg set in a revised version of the Champions universe. Instead of the HERO system, the game uses the universal Fuzion system, a combination of the HERO system and R. Talsorian's Interlock system. New Millenium was produced in 1997 by R. Talsorian Games.
What's Cosmic Enforcers by Myrmidon Press?
Cosmic Enforcers is a futuristic blend of super-heroics and science fiction that is reminiscent of Palladium's Rifts. The player super-heroes are referred to as the "cosmic enforcers" who battle a dark, chaotic force bent on striking down a galactic alliance. It is by Myrmidon Press.
What's DC Heroes RPG by Mayfair Games?
DC Heroes is the first super-hero RPG set in the DC Comics universe. With an extrodinarily elegant, one-dice-roll-does-all system (later dubbed M.E.G.S./Mayfair's Exponential Gaming System) designed by Greg Gorden, DC Heroes was contender in the 1980's. It went through three editions; a first edition that had a higher point scale than later editions, second edition that solved problems with gadgetry among other things, and a third edition, which combined all previous rules into one package. The Batman Role-Playing Game is a "light" version of the second edition rules, and when Mayfair Games lost the DC Comics license, a different "light" version of M.E.G.S. appeared as Ray Winninger's Underground. Pulsar Games currently has the M.E.G.S. license and their Blood of Heroes is essentially the fourth edition of DC Heroes. DC Heroes was first published in 1985 by Mayfair Games.
What's DC Universe RPG by West End Games?
DC Universe is the second super-hero RPG set in the DC Comics universe. Instead of using M.E.G.S., DC Universe has adapted the "D6 Legend" system. DC Universe was written by Fred Jandt and Nikola Vrtis and was first published by (the no longer bankrupt) West End Games in 1999.
What's Godlike by Pagan Publishing?
Written by Denis Detwiller and with a system developed by Greg Stolz, Godlike is set during World War II where super-powered "Talents" have altered the world through belief in their own super-abilities.
What's GURPS: Supers by Steve Jackson Games?
GURPS, Generic Universal Role-Playing System, was published in 1986 by Steve Jackson GAmes. It is a generic system that has a number of suppliments for super-heroic gaming, including GURPS Supers, GURPS International Super Teams (IST), and GURPS Wild Cards. The original version of GURPS Supers was ill-received when first published in 1989 because it used a different system for power and ability determination than the typical point-based system; it broke the rules. A second edition was quickly published to clear up any problems, but GURPS Supers is still criticized. GURPS is best used for lower-end gaming, normals and standard humans, and some problems result when it reaches the high powered levels that GURPS Supers extends to. Fortunately, the GURPS Supers book is fantastic and has tons of super-heroic role-playing information that even non-GURPS players should read. Every super-hero gamer should have GURPS Supers on their shelf, if only as a reference book.
What's Heroes Unlimited by Palladium Games?
Using a variant of the Palladium RPG system, which uses a form of class and level advancement, Heroes Unlimited was developed in 1984 by Kevin Siembieda as a modern day super-hero RPG. It was developed to be useable with all of the other Palladium system products. Heroes Unlimited was later adapted to licensed Palladium projects such as The Justice Machine Sourcebook and Erick Wujcik's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness.
What's Living Legends by Jeff Dee?
Published by Unigames, Living Legends is a revision of the classic Villains & Vigilantes game and is currently on it's 3rd Edition. It's available online and was originally written by Jeff Dee and Jack Herman in 1999. According to Jeff, "Living Legends is the sequel to Villains & Vigilantes. It features both point-based and random character generation, fast and exciting combat, and a world setting created with a true appreciation for and understanding of the superhero genre."
What's Marvel Superheroes Adventure Game (Marvel SAGA) by Wizards of the Coast?
Marvel SAGA is the second super-heroic RPG using the Marvel Comics Universe as it's setting, and features the Marvel Comics characters. It was originally published by TSR, who published the original Marvel Superheroes till 1994, but when they were absorbed by Wizards of the Coast (WOTC), Marvel SAGA transferred hands as well. The system used is known as SAGA, which was originally used as a replacement for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition system in the Dragonlance setting. Rather than dice, SAGA has each player hold a hand of cards to use for his actions. Though a number of suppliments were published, this game is now out of print and WOTC and Marvel Comics have not renewed their expired contract.
What's Marvel Superheroes by TSR?
First printed by TSR in 1984, The Marvel Superheroes Role-Playing Game was a fairly basic super-heroic role-playing game set in the Marvel Universe. The rules were quite easy to use; words defining the power-level of abilities (from the meager "Feeble" to the inconceivable "Unearthly") and color-coded results attempted to simplify task resolution. The system went through two editions, with an Advanced version also available. The most sought-after resource from this game is it's "Ultimate Powers Sourcebook," a comprehensive compilation of powers and abilities ranging from the mundane to the exotic and beyond. A later version using the SAGA system was published in the late 1990's.
What's Silver Age Sentinels by Guardians of Order?
To be published in the summer of 2002, Silver Age Sentinels will use a variation on the Big Eyes, Small Mouth "Tri-Stat" System, allowing play from street vigilantes to spandex-clad heroes to galactic entities. A number of genres, including far-future Earth, high-fantasy, World War II, modern-day urban darkness, near-future fascist America, Gold Age pulp, Victorian steampunk, and many others will be supported.
What's Stuperpowers by Unstoppable Productions?
The first seriously, goofy, super-hero, role-playing game, Stuperpowers has players take the roles of themselves as super-heroes with powers like "Vacuum Butt" and "Urine of Invisibility (Target affected for one hour)." It's fun, amusing, and available in an online format. Stuperpowers Deluxe is also available.
What's Superworld by Chaosium?
Worlds of Wonder was Chaosium's "Basic Role-Playing" (BRP) system, currently revised and used in Call of Cthulhu. The Worlds of Wonder were originally published as a collection of game worlds including the Magicworld (later Runequest), Futureworld (a typical sci-fi setting), and Superworld, a super-powered setting with heroes and villains. Superworld was later expanded and published as a stand-along game, which included many revised rules.
What's Villains & Vigilantes by Fantasy Games Unlimited?
Villains & Vigilantes is the brainchild of Jeff Dee and Jack Herman. They released the industry-altering Revised Villains & Vigilantes game in 1982 and it has been a standard to which all other super-hero games are measured ever since. Contrary to popular belief, Villains & Vigilantes, one of the first super-hero role-playing games ever, is still in print. Even though FGU no longer advertises or attends conventions, V&V is still in print. A lot of distributors either no longer bother with it, or are simply unaware that they can still get it, which is why it's commonly believed to be out of print. V&V has been revised into Living Legends.
I remember one sample character who could become invisible, but only when his eyes were closed so he had to feel his way around. I remember another character could leap huge distances and land safely, but without much accuracy because he couldn't see where he was going to land when he took off.
i think the rule system is a little to complicated and it slows the game down some what aswell..
Nice world thou
Just make sure you pick up the Tri-Stat version, not the D20 version.
Extremely simple ruleset, a joy to run, and plenty of superpowers. You can easily modify the villain-based storyline to accommodate heroes.
Thank you, Rubacava!
You shut the hell up. I love the Hero system. I will freely admit that it's very complex and takes some getting used to, but it's really not that much worse than most other dice pool type systems. Unless you tweak every power you have with modifiers and shit. And, the actual playing doesn't take a while.* And it's still the most versatile system I've ever seen.**
*Making a character can take a good hour or so, but it's only once a campaign.
**I still haven't played in a game of GURPS yet, but I want to.
I haven't read it yet, but it looks cool. WWII and super powers, two great games that play great together?
The game comes with a full start to finish history of an alternate World War II, with the additional detail of marking the points on the timeline where they deviate from actual history, and birth-to-death info on some of the more famous supers (including ones that managed to live to a ripe old age). From this, they give two very mood-setting pieces of information.
1) If you play a "classic" hero, at best you will die like a legend, but more likely you will get slaughtered like a retarded steer. Grandstanding is basically a suicide play.
2) The "top ace" super of the war was a Nazi who pretended to surrender, so he could get close enough to use his extremely short range insta-kill power. This ploy saw him through to the end of the war, when he used it on himself and Hitler's corpse when the Fuehrerbunker fell, rather than get grabbed by the Russians, who did things to captured supers that would make the janitor at Auschwitz puke.
So if you like your mood heavy and your gunshot wounds fatal, grab Godlike.
The system is dead simple to use, combat is quick and fun.
Even better all the core rule books and most of the supplements are available as PDF online. (google Zan and Marvel.)
I'm currently running 4 newbies and 4 seasoned gamers through a X-men era game and everyone is able to participate equally and have a blast.
Re: Mutants and Masterminds - I own it, I like the system, but we keep playing marvel...
Re: Hereos... I haven;t played in ummm... 15 years? Wow I feel old.
I've not used it but it seems very simple and elegant to me. I can imagine it being open to some player abuse but if you have a good group that can use their imagination I think this would be perfect for those who want a simple system without endless equations for attacks and such.
Would like to hear anyone else's opinions on this as I've never heard of it actually being used.
SoogaGames Blog
And that sentence will sound terrible out of context.
Anyway. I've used The Window before for vaguely super-heroic games to great effect, but the simplicity and horrible pretention surrounding it tends to put a lot of people off.
So I'll put another vote in for Tri-StatDX. I've had brilliant experiences with that, especially when you factor in flaws to the effect that someone is ludicrously large...
If you can't get through the damn door, I don't care if you can bench-press that car!
I got nothing.
It isn't out yet? I thought I was released around the time of the CCG.
I really like super powered RPGs, and I the problem I see happening in a lot of campaigns I've played in is that most of us have played a lot of D&D, and a lot of the sense of accomplishment in that game comes from starting out weak, and then becoming more and more badass over time.
But in super powers games, you usually make your character using some sort of point-based system, and when you're done your hero pretty much has all the powers that he's going to get. Some of them may become somewhat more powerful over time, but basically he's the same at the beginning of the campaign as he is at the end.
I was hoping the CoH RPG would have addressed this issue. Alas, it is MIA. Is there any system that has the character growth enjoyment of a level-based mechanic, and the flexibility of a point-based character generation system?
I really liked the idea of tri-stat. I love simple systems like that but the combat system just sounded a bit terrible to me, from what I remember of it. Again I'd love to give it a go.
SoogaGames Blog
...you're right actually, but believe me, you can eventually get around it
And I'd definitely consider a Powergame Game On
Still reeling from my failed attempts to get a Window game started- but that system is notoriously bad for online play from my experience. Well... for first-timers, anyway...
You have any experience GMing Powergame, Ed?
SoogaGames Blog
I'm a writer, not a lover! Or something.
*cracks knuckles*
Worth reading up on, though, unless one of the resident Arcadians has done it before and can save us floundering about...
Edit: Is it wrong that I want to write up a campaign where the players are a somewhat camp team of wholesome heroes with powered-armour suits ala Centurions? The suits' various capabilities could easily be represented by the superpowers in powergame.
Hmmm....
SoogaGames Blog
Seems the big delay was the fact that they owed rent to fox for the Buffy/Angel license and that took a big chunk of thier cash.
Supposedly there was a big thing for the CoH RPG at Gencon. I hope this year it gets released. I'm looking over the quickplay rules and.... it doesn't seem as easy as I thought it would be.