Looking for a super hero game system

[HandofCrom]

I've got an idea for a super hero game I'd love to run, but I'm not sure what system to use, especially as I have never played nor run super hero games. My idea is a modern day super hero game with supers divided distinctly into the Captain America / Iron Man level tier along with a Superman level tier, kind of like Brave New World's delta/alpha tiers. I would like all types of superhero powers available, especially a superscience distinct from real science ala Genius. In addition, all super heroes have a compulsion or personality disorder to act like a certain archetype, such as a Superman style Cape, a Punisher style Vigilante, a Monarch style Cackler, or a Joker style Slasher. For deltas, these compulsions are independent of their personality and are a disorder that can never be suppressed but can be controlled and managed. A pacifist Slasher may find healthy outlets for their cruel urges, while a criminal Cape may be disgusted by their annoying urges to do good. In alphas, the archetypes are completely uncontrollable. The players would be in a deltas working for a government agency trying to manage controllable alphas so they do not cause too much property damage or casualties, find dangerous and unmanageable alphas and try to eliminate them (probably with the help of manageable alphas), assist normals in managing delta level crime, and try to manage their own archetypes without going insane.

I'm sure I will need to homebrew a lot of these rules, but what would be a good system to use as a base, and what would be good rule systems to rip off for the homebrew for the rest? To reiterate, I'm looking for superpowers, distinct weight classes, superscience, and managing personality disorders for someone new to super hero games (as I do not think I can just glue Genius inspiration and Exalted limit breaks in BNW easily).

[dsmiles]

Personally, I'd pick either (one of the various incarnations of) Champions or Mutants and Masterminds 2E. M&M 3E (DC Adventures) is available, but I don't have any experience with that system.

[Beleriphon]

Personally, I'd pick either (one of the various incarnations of) Champions or Mutants and Masterminds 2E. M&M 3E (DC Adventures) is available, but I don't have any experience with that system.

I'm going to suggest M&M 3rd Edition. It is awesome incarnate. DC Adventures is the same game with DC Comics serial numbers.

For personality disorders you don't need to really hardwire that into the rules. That said, all characters in M&M require at least two complications, which can be personality related. The idea is when the complication makes the character's life more difficult they get a hero point for later.

[Vknight]

Wait M&M 3e is out! Awesome!

[Beleriphon]

Wait M&M 3e is out! Awesome!

It sure is, you can get the PDF of the Heroes Handbook for $5 by pre-ordering the dead tree version from Green Ronin. At least you could when I checked a few days ago.

[dsmiles]

It sure is, you can get the PDF of the Heroes Handbook for $5 by pre-ordering the dead tree version from Green Ronin. At least you could when I checked a few days ago.

Is it backwards compatible with 2e? Being stuck with just one book (until they release the next one, that is) sucks.

[Vknight]

This is awesome but I think I'll stay with 2e

[Saint GoH]

You could just homebrew the personality quirks and have everyone play Wizards.

They are like Super Heroes by lvl 15 right?

[Hammerhead]

FATE seems like it could be interesting with your depravity. Characters get 'Aspects' which players get to invent (examples for a crazy person could be things like "Just between the two of me" or "Brain replaced by a goldfish"), which can be invoked (by both the character's player and other players) to create advantages and disadvantages for a character, when narratively appropriate.

Generally, the system isn't designed to deal with different power tiers, but you could probably deal with that with extra skills (numerical bonuses to things characters do) or stunts (extra beneficial rules characters can use, like feats in d20). Or by giving characters extra aspects (which are generally good for a character to have, but which can also create extra problems).

The system is free in a couple ways:
The generic Fate system (2nd edition) is available as a free pdf (http://www.faterpg.com/dl/FATE2fe.pdf).
A somewhat cleaned up and better-focused version of Fate (3rd edition), Spirit of the Century, is also available as a free pdf (http://www.faterpg.com/dl/dirk_SotC_SRD.pdf), but it's focused more toward generic pulp than supers. There's a discussion on that system floating around the first page of these forums.


I've also heard good things about Capes, but it doesn't sound like what you're looking for.

[Beleriphon]

Is it backwards compatible with 2e? Being stuck with just one book (until they release the next one, that is) sucks.

More or less. There are some conversion guidelines on the website right now, but I will point out that most the 2e stuff was fluff by and large and works without any specific rules mechanics.

[Knaight]

Wild Talents and Godlike should both work well, though I have to throw in additional support for Mutants and Masterminds.

[Jay R]

If your players like fiddling with the system to create characters, nothing beats Champions. Your tiers are easily set up with point totals. (It sounds to me like you want 250 point characters and 350-400 point characters, and you can require a 25 point Psychological Limitation.

The great thing about Champions is that powers are general effects, customized with advantages and disadvantages. Torch's fireball, Iron Man's repulsor rays, cyclops's eye beams, and Superman's heat vision are all just Energy Beam, but cyclops's eyebeams have the advantage Area Effect - Cone, and disadvantages Always On, and No Effect Against Rose Quartz, and he buys a rose quartz visor. By contrast, Iron Man's repulsor ray has the same power, modified by Obvious Inaccessible Focus and a Power Battery.

But if they won't enjoy fiddling with the rules, they miss the games advantages.

[Artanis]

You could use Exalted and homebrew a new setting. Make the "alphas" Solars and the "deltas" could be God-bloods.

[Beleriphon]

You could use Exalted and homebrew a new setting. Make the "alphas" Solars and the "deltas" could be God-bloods.

The main problem there is that Solars and God-bloods are radically different levels of power. With M&M or Champions (recommend the first, Champions really does require a character generator its so complex) you can have characters of the same power level without breaking the bank. Especially since, from how I understood the first post, was that the difference between the two was level of compulsion rather than power.

[Artanis]

Ah. It sounded to me like he wanted differing levels of compulsion and power, but if it's just compulsion, you're right that Exalted wouldn't work well at all.

[Jay R]

With M&M or Champions (recommend the first, Champions really does require a character generator its so complex)...

Nah, I've played Champions many times, and have never had a character generator. You need to be comfortable with, and willing to do, 6th grade math (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions).

My characters usually wind up in Excel, like my D&D characters, but it's no more necessary for Champions than for D&D.