What's Your Favorite Super System?

[cailano]

11 hours ago, Actana said:

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).

Is it as useless as your unnecessary and negative post? Don't be such a downer, we're just having fun here.

[cailano]

Are there supers rules for Cypher System?

[Actana]

6 minutes ago, cailano said:

Is it as useless as your unnecessary and negative post? Don't be such a downer, we're just having fun here.

Simply cautioning against drawing any conclusions about what games are what based on the data of the poll. Take that how you will.

[Michael Silverbane]

53 minutes ago, cailano said:

Are there supers rules for Cypher System?

There are, Claim the Sky is the official super-genre book, but we used just the base Cypher System rules when I was playing it.

[Blue Firebird]

My favorite supers system is still the MEGS system used in DC Heroes and, later, Blood of Heroes. It still has too much crunch in the wrong areas for me these days, but gosh, it's just so exciting as a system. The elegance and ability to scale to basically anything is awesome.

[cailano]

Seeing all those votes in the poll for Champions made me wonder if HERO Games had free quick start rules available. They do, along with a four-book mini-campaign!

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/383467/Champions-Begins

[cailano]

2 hours ago, Blue Firebird said:

My favorite supers system is still the MEGS system used in DC Heroes and, later, Blood of Heroes. It still has too much crunch in the wrong areas for me these days, but gosh, it's just so exciting as a system. The elegance and ability to scale to basically anything is awesome.

That was a fun system. It reminded me of Champions, actually.

[Morphling]

On 12/1/2023 at 11:44 AM, 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.

I love Masks too. Not much else to add here.

[Papa Bear]

I'm with cailano, champions first with a close second on the MSH FASERIP system. Funny how those two systems are about as polar opposites as systems can get :)

[cybersavant]

 

On 12/2/2023 at 12:16 AM, cailano said:

On 12/1/2023 at 9:15 PM, 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.

 

haha, read that as Champions and Prowlers

 

i have heard of Champions - never really played it

[leons1701]

Hmm. That makes me wonder a bit, what all systems have I played supers with and how would I rank them?

 

Probably like this. Champions, Mutants and Masterminds, GURPS, DC Heroes (MEGS), Marvel Super Heroes (FASERIP), Wild Talents, BESM (TriStat). Below this line, games I feel no obligation to ever play again: Heroes Unlimited, Brave New World, Silver Age Sentinels (d20).

Games I haven't played but have interest in trying: Masks, Cypher (I've played base Cypher once), Savage Worlds (played Deadlands Reloaded and some non-supers convention one shot games), maybe the new Marvel one.

[Roughtrade]

City of Heroes MMO

[Roughtrade]

Table Top = Probably Champions.

Play by Post = Champions is a nightmare. Avoid at all costs. The initiative system will kill your game.

Mutants and Masterminds is probably the most accessible. Most players are familiar with the D20 system and it is D20 adjacent.

I am becoming a fan of the Cortex system. I just need more familiarity with it. It seems like the Cortex-Supers adaptation would be exceptional. It is certainly more flexible than any of the above. I have wind powers. I attack with my wind powers. How do I attack? Maybe I blow a tree over on my opponent. Blow sand up into their face. Send them tumbling into a wall. Flip them up into the air and land hard on the ground.

[cailano]

2 hours ago, Roughtrade said:

Table Top = Probably Champions.

Play by Post = Champions is a nightmare. Avoid at all costs. The initiative system will kill your game.

While a good group of attentive players could make it work, this is none the less a valid point.

Okay, what about this: what if all heroes and lesser villains are speed four and the big bads are always speed six? You still make the PCs pay for speed four, but it's basically a tax. Or they could get it for free, either way.

Big bads get the speed six just to gave them more of a fighting chance against swarming PCs.

[cailano]

14 hours ago, cybersavant said:

 

 

haha, read that as Champions and Prowlers

 

i have heard of Champions - never really played it

Haha, that makes more sense.