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Thread: Best Superhero system?
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2011-11-18, 08:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2009
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Best Superhero system?
A few of my friends and I wanted to go about running a Superhero table top game to supplement the two DnD games that we play off and on but we're not sure what exact game to use in order to play.
So I come to you wise folks of the Playground to ask, what game system allows the most realistic, fun and balanced Superheroing experience?
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2011-11-18, 08:37 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2008
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- Poland
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Re: Best Superhero system?
>realistic
>superheroes
Anyway, the best such system is undoubtedly Mutants and Masterminds 2e/3e. It might take a while for a newbie to make his first character, not because of complexity but due to the number of options available, but the actual gameplay is fast and pretty well-balanced for such an open system (the book even warns you of most of the broken powers available). Its biggest strength is that you can build pretty much anything you want - I used M&M for many things other than just superheroes.
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Spoiler
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2011-11-18, 08:40 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2009
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Re: Best Superhero system?
veri·sim·i·lar
adj \ˌver-ə-ˈsi-mə-lər, -ˈsim-lər\
Definition of VERISIMILAR
1
: having the appearance of truth : probable
2
: depicting realism (as in art or literature)
Anyway, the best such system is undoubtedly Mutants and Masterminds 2e/3e. It might take a while for a newbie to make his first character, not because of complexity but due to the number of options available, but the actual gameplay is fast and pretty well-balanced for such an open system (the book even warns you of most of the broken powers available). Its biggest strength is that you can build pretty much anything you want - I used M&M for many things other than just superheroes.
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2011-11-18, 09:15 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
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2011-11-19, 12:47 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
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- Overland Park, KS, USA
- Gender
Re: Best Superhero system?
I'm a fan of the Savage Worlds system for supers - it's very cinematic, and has one of the best settings I've ever read: Necessary Evil.
An alien race has invaded, killing most of the Earth's superheroes in one decisive stroke. Now the only beings left with enough power to resist the alien menace are those once feared for their crimes: the supervillains. The fate of the world lies with the scum of the earth...
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2011-11-19, 01:17 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2010
- Location
- Texas
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Re: Best Superhero system?
We've only ever used M&M2 and a homebrew that my buddy made up.
The homebrew was based on a fusion of d20modern and Star Wars Saga Edition, with saga taking the majority of the fusion. This worked really well for us because it let the DM have complete control over how the powers were going to interact with the world he'd built and let us customize a lot, however it did require a massive time sacrifice on his part as he had to design and balance a power talent tree for each mutant power we could come up with. If you're willing to put in the effort, building your own is the way to go, if not, M&M.
PS: Aberrant is out there too, but I've never tried it. Has anyone?Eladrin War-Skald avi by Vrythas Thanks so much! ^_^
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2011-11-19, 11:31 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2010
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- The summoning chamber
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Re: Best Superhero system?
I've played the original but not the D20 revamp. It's a solid system if you like the White Wolf mechanics (I do) and I have to say I have a bit of a soft spot for it. The strength of the game is that you can pretty much do anything you want to do, the powers system is flexible and robust and allows for basically anything you can imagine.
Actually, when I read Mutants and Masterminds 3E (my first exposure to M&M) I pretty much felt like it was Aberrant with better mechanics. Both are great systems, but for ease of play I would certainly recommend M&M 3E.
Avoid Heroes Unlimited by palladium books IMO. It's a good set of books to cannibalize ideas from, but the mechanics are absolutely horrid.A man who dies fighting with his principles intact dies in glory. To expect enemies to follow the same code of honor defiles that honor, reducing it to a set of arbitrary rules.
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2011-11-19, 01:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2005
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- Toronto, Canada
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Re: Best Superhero system?
Aberrant is a very fun setting, but the mechanics have serious issues. It is extremely easy for a starting character to have access to damage pools that will splatter any non-toughness-focused character across the floor. It is also very easy for a toughness-focused character to be totally immune to anything that you can throw at them. This is because damage powers cost a lot less, but damage resistance powers all stack with one another to infinity.
In addition, Abberant lacks any kind of robust social mechanics, which gets tricky in a game where you can throw around absurd degrees of social prowess. How useful a social character is becomes entirely GM fiat, which can cause problems.
Third, Abberant's mechanics are in large part inspired by the "Super Powers cause insanity" mechanics that the setting is rooted in, whereby more powerful supers and supers who get powerful more quickly are usually mutated maniacs. This works very well in Abberant, but makes it a bit harder to use the rules for a more generic setting.
Finally, Abberant is super out-of-print, making it difficult to find the books.
In short, the game is playable, and if someone told me they wanted to run an Abberant game I wouldn't say no, but there are enough flaws that I'd generally recommend using M&M instead.
(There's also a d20 version of Abberant, and you'll really, really want to avoid that.)If you like my thoughts, you'll love my writing. Visit me at www.mishahandman.com.
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2011-11-19, 04:05 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
- Location
- NC
Re: Best Superhero system?
For cinematic and fast tactical play, Savage Worlds. However it does have issues with scaling. So Wild Talents may be a better choice, particularly if you want gritty action over cinematic action. Or, if you want to stick with d20, Mutants and Masterminds is a derivative.
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