Best table top super hero system?

[brant167]

To make a long story short my weeknight’s group long running game collapsed because of an outside incident and now we are starting a new game at a new location. I am considering running a comic-book game. Where in the players play super-heroes or super-villains and would like to know what options are out there for this type of game. I have looked into BESM 2nd and 3rd edition however I feel it is some-what lackluster in dealing with a justice league type game. So what other options are out there for pen and paper games that focus on the super-hero genera? And how do these games run?

[Collin152]

Classic Marvel roleplaying system.
Simple, fun, flexible, 100% free of all monetary charges of any kind in every country.

[brant167]

Nice, checking it out right now, thanks for the advice.

[mikeejimbo]

I always thought GURPS handled it well, but if you're not already into GURPS you probably want one more specifically tailored to it.

[Tallis]

Marvel Superheroes game is fun and simple. For something a bit more complex Mutants and Masterminds looks good (though I only just started playing it, so you should get a second opinion on it).

[Hzurr]

Mutants & Masterminds is a lot of fun. Like all point-buy systems, it can be broken pretty bad, but if everyone goes into it to have fun, it can be a fantastic game. I really enjoyed playing it.

[Tsotha-lanti]

Mutants & Masterminds (2nd edition). Simplicity and grace itself. Just make sure to heed the handy warnings about how the abilities can be abused and which ones shouldn't be allowed to players (like Duplication with some extras).

[Skjaldbakka]

BESM 3rd, Silver Age Sentinels, Mutants and Masterminds, and Savage Worlds are all systems I've played that would work well for a superheroes game.

[ryuteki]

If you want to stay closer to the D&D style of play, you're probably looking for Paladium Heroes. Palladium's one flaw is that it can get a bit overpowered sometimes, but when you're playing the Heroes system that's a very forgiveable flaw. :)

My personal favorite was Mayfair Games' DC Heroes RPG (rules later reprinted as Blood of Heroes RPG when they lost the license). It is a point buy system that has a lot of customizability, without the cripping complexity of a game like Champions (in which your first two sessions will be spent generating characters with spreadsheets). DC has as it's flaw the fact that it uses an exponential system (so Str 10 is twice as powerful as Str 9 and four times as powerful as Str 8), which means it doesn't work as well for low-power characters like Spidey.

Marvel is ok as well, with a neat Power Tricks option, but the random generation system is really horrible. When we tried it, we ended up with two spidey or flash-level characters, a superman, and a God. Literally, a Deific Being with massively more power than the entire rest of the team combined even before you added in his ability to copy any power in range. SO bad.

[Severus]

http://www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=12762

Hero System, the current version of champions is the best, most flexible, richest system for supers. It may require a spreadsheet to build a character, but almost anything you can think of, you can build.

If you want a quick and simple system, the others are probably better, but if you learn this one, you'll really love it. I think it runs circles around GURPS.

[Mr.Bookworm]

In my opinion, Mutants & Masterminds, without a doubt.

It's both simple and deep, and you can pretty much do anything you want with creativity. It's also rooted in the d20 system, so if your players are coming from there, it'll be much easier to learn.

[Saihyol]

Marvel - was always a lot of fun but as noted don't use the random character generation also expect not to have the most flexibility or guidance in how/what powers do.

Gurps - a stage up in complexity with more tailoring available.

Hero System - Very complex, bring a calculator to build your character, but also allows the most tailoring and some unique builds. Unfortunately very open to abuse if the GM doesn't know the system too well.

[Jerthanis]

I've had great success with the Mutants and Masterminds 2nd edition game system. It's one of the most flexible and balanced point-based character creation systems I've seen. It's fast to learn, fast in play, but has robust options for character creation. Give it a look if you see it in your FLGS.

[Danzaver]

I always liked Heroes Unlimited by Palladium Books, but I'm not sure if you can still get it. That was an iconic game of my teenagerhood.

[Collin152]

Marvel is ok as well, with a neat Power Tricks option, but the random generation system is really horrible. When we tried it, we ended up with two spidey or flash-level characters, a superman, and a God. Literally, a Deific Being with massively more power than the entire rest of the team combined even before you added in his ability to copy any power in range. SO bad.

That's why random generation...
Is a Trap!
Seriously, not only does it lead to imbalance, it restricts creativity.