What's Your Favorite Super System?

[cailano]

There have been a lot of superhero systems over the years. What is your favorite? What makes a great super system?

Rules:

1. No edition bashing. You can talk up your favorite system, but no putting down alternatives.

2. No bashing play styles. It's perfectly okay for some to prefer narrative systems and others to like a lot of crunch.

3. The system doesn't have to be the best. It just has to be your favorite.

4. Be sure to vote in the poll!

[Actana]

Masks bar none. It's the only superhero game I've found that really manages to tackle the interesting storylines of superhero stories and to do so through its mechanics. Namely, that of relationships, characters and how their powers affect these things and their lives.

It also happens to be probably the closest I've found to being the perfect RPG to begin with, regardless of genre. So there's that too.

[RedRajah]

Champions was what I was raised on.

[eltorin]

I’d choose Other from the list as my favourite game is Ascendant but I can't pick just one, M&M 3e, Faserip, Champions and Prowlers and Paragons UE are also among my favourite supers systems and I try to use them all depending on the people I play with.

Edited December 2, 2023 by eltorin (see edit history)

[Vladim]

I haven't done supers, and I am not sure if I ever will-the genre doesn't appeal to me hugely-but regardless, City of Mist always looked interesting. I can't speak for the mechanics, but the core premise is cool.

[Lord Foul]

The only supers games I've played are Villains and Vigilantes, many many years ago, and Wild Talents, a lot more recently.

I can't claim either to have been the best game system out there, but I found Wild Talents to be quite a decent system in terms of mechanics and character building. The version of V&V I played back in the day must have been an early edition, and I know they've brought out several upgrades since then, so it's probably a whole lot better in its modern incarnation. We still had fun with it though.

I always liked reading the Marvel FASERIP character studies they did in Dragon magazine, although I never got to play it.

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Lord Foul (see edit history)

[MrAndrewJ]

I got my start around 1992 with FASERIP / Marvel in the second edition boxed set.

Then I moved onto a TMNT / Heroes Unlimited hybrid game, probably around 1993/94. I have to vote "other" just for those days in the Palladium system. And, sadly, I was unable to back the recent Kickstarter.

[cailano]

5 hours ago, Actana said:

Masks bar none. It's the only superhero game I've found that really manages to tackle the interesting storylines of superhero stories and to do so through its mechanics. Namely, that of relationships, characters and how their powers affect these things and their lives.

It also happens to be probably the closest I've found to being the perfect RPG to begin with, regardless of genre. So there's that too.

Well that's a pretty strong recommendation!

[leons1701]

28 minutes ago, MrAndrewJ said:

Then I moved onto a TMNT / Heroes Unlimited hybrid game, probably around 1993/94. I have to vote "other" just for those days in the Palladium system. And, sadly, I was unable to back the recent Kickstarter.

Yeah, I still have my copy of TMNT and Other Strangeness, it's the only Palladium book I'd even consider hanging on to. I did have a hybrid TMNT/HU/Ninjas and Superspies/Beyond the Supernatural game at one point, but the notebook full of rules to make that work (and add some things I felt the original HU really needed, some of which actually showed in later editions) was actually bigger than the TMNT book itself. Didn't really take long to move on to the original Mayfair edition of DC Heroes and then Champions 3e.

 

A bit surprised GURPS didn't make the list. Not really surprised the other super RPG's I've played didn't. BESM (Tri-Stat) didn't really scale to supers as well as it should have and Brave New World was limited in ways even Heroes Unlimited wasn't and had a typically godawful Pinnacle/Alderac metaplot.

[pesukarhu]

6 hours ago, Actana said:

Masks bar none. It's the only superhero game I've found that really manages to tackle the interesting storylines of superhero stories and to do so through its mechanics. Namely, that of relationships, characters and how their powers affect these things and their lives.

I think Smallville did some of that pretty well, too.

[cybersavant]

never heard of Masks, Ascendant, Champions and Prowlers and Paragons UE, Wild Talents

Edited December 2, 2023 by cybersavant (see edit history)

[cailano]

2 hours ago, cybersavant said:

never heard of Masks, Ascendant, Champions and Prowlers and Paragons UE, Wild Talents

Interesting that you've been gaming since 1980 and missed Champions. It was a pretty big deal in the 1980s and 90s.

[cailano]

I go back and forth between Classic Marvel and Champions, which are the two supers systems I have the most experience with. The HERO System (which is what Champions is built on) was my go to rule set from around 1990 to 2003. I used it for everything. It's crunchy as all get out but it actually plays pretty fast once you're used to it and it is unmatched for versatility in character creation. If I were going to play or run a game with original heroes, Champions would be the system I'd pick

Classic Marvel is almost the opposite. It is very rules light and it's random character creation system tends to create some... Unusual characters, but it just nails the feel of comics. I love how the stats have names like Incredible and Amazing, I love how ahead of their time the designers were with their universal mechanic, and I love the tone of the rule books. Classic Marvel shines while playing the heroes of the Marvel Universe. If I wanted to play or run a game where the players were taking on the roles of Spider-Man or Wolverine or Spectrum I think Classic Marvel would be the system I'd pick.

[Actana]

To be honest, this poll is kind of useless. How many of us can claim to be able to weigh all these options equally? So it's less about what the favorite superhero system is, and more about what superhero system you know (and maybe choose between one or two).

[Michael Silverbane]

That's a good point. Of those that I've played, (Supers-specific games, like - Champions, Mutants & Masterminds, Masks, Classic Marvel, Aberrant, Heroes Unlimited, Storyteller Mutant; and Non-Supers-Specific games, like - GURPS, Rifts, The Window, Cypher System), I think that Mutants & Masterminds is my favorite.

For me, Mutants & Masterminds fits into a nice medium-crunch area where I can get some level of detail and granularity in power weirdness.

For a heavier crunch game, I prefer GURPS to Champions, mostly because I'm more familiar with GURPS, rather than due to any actual advantage in the way that it does things. For a lighter game, I prefer Cypher System to Masks. Masks is hyper-focused on the teen drama aspect of the Supers-genre, which is great, but not always what I want.

Edit: And now that I'm thinking about it some more, I have really fond memories of Mutant, the storyteller-base netbook. I wonder if it is still floating around the dark places of the old internet somewhere.

Edited December 2, 2023 by Michael Silverbane (see edit history)