My other favorite Super Hero game

[Mozie]

I made a couple of characters in this game that I want to transfer to CoH. It should be easy, Right? RIGHT? 

I wouldn't consider myself a table top plater but I enjoyed the two short games I was a part of. Maybe I just like hitting buttons instead of talking.

 

[lemming]

I've translated some Champions characters, but it's more spirit of the char

[Mozie]

8 hours ago, lemming said:

I've translated some Champions characters, but it's more spirit of the char

That does not sound easy from what I know of the Champions books.

[BlackSpectre]

My main is translated from the paper and dice Champions. 

 

Originally, he was a martial artist with weird darkness powers... but as gameplay evolved I started relying more and more on his dark powers. So when it was time to translate him into COH, the game wouldn't let me take Dark Miasma, Dark Blast, and Martial Arts. I had to drop martial arts, but since he was mostly using the dark powers anyway by the end of the Champions run, it was OK.  It's still in his origin though. 🙂

 

So yeah, you probably won't be able to translate it perfectly, but overall it should work.

 

 

[WumpusRat]

On 7/13/2025 at 5:53 PM, lemming said:

I've translated some Champions characters, but it's more spirit of the char

My big project I've been working on for the last year and a half or so was making CoH characters out of the various D&D and Pathfinder classes.

Some were easy to translate (rogue, fighter, barbarian, etc), others proved really difficult.

But it was a ton of fun.

[Octogoat]

My other favorite superhero game I'm ashamed to say is saints row 4 purely for mechanics

[Major_Decoy]

Even with stuff like Pathfinder Kingmaker from Owlcat Studios, which almost exactly uses Pathfinder 1e as a basis, it can be difficult to bring a character from the pen and paper game to the computer.

 

There are just so many limitations to the different mediums, adaptation is a struggle.

Edit: At the end of the day, City of Heroes is more like playing a series of modules, not an adventure path, not a campaign. (I suppose the signature Story Arcs are more like adventure paths)

Edited Tuesday at 10:24 PM by Major_Decoy

[Billbailey96]

If we are talking about TTRPGs there is Masks: A New Generation, but that's centered around teen Super Heroes. There is Mutants and Masterminds, one I have been looking at is Multiverses in Peril which uses a TTRPG engine I am fond of called Forged in the Dark. Sorry I collect TTRPGs (I have over 80 physical books in my library and can go on about this.) Probably talk more about this in Off topic at some point

 

[Xalon]

Tabletop RPGs - man that brings me back. When the players are into it and the GM is someone with personality and imagination, you can have some amazing adventures. I wish more played. 

 

[lemming]

I did switch over to Paragons & Protertors UE from Champions.   It's a nice system and the original Champs people like it as well.

[Mozie]

On 7/15/2025 at 3:19 AM, BlackSpectre said:

My main is translated from the paper and dice Champions. 

 

Originally, he was a martial artist with weird darkness powers... but as gameplay evolved I started relying more and more on his dark powers. So when it was time to translate him into COH, the game wouldn't let me take Dark Miasma, Dark Blast, and Martial Arts. I had to drop martial arts, but since he was mostly using the dark powers anyway by the end of the Champions run, it was OK.  It's still in his origin though. 🙂

 

So yeah, you probably won't be able to translate it perfectly, but overall it should work.

 

 

Isn't Champions a more detailed and more difficult game for character creation? I do want play it.

[Mozie]

On 7/15/2025 at 5:03 PM, Octogoat said:

My other favorite superhero game I'm ashamed to say is saints row 4 purely for mechanics

Is that the one with the one thing as the weapon or is that 3?

[Mozie]

On 7/15/2025 at 5:09 PM, Major_Decoy said:

Even with stuff like Pathfinder Kingmaker from Owlcat Studios, which almost exactly uses Pathfinder 1e as a basis, it can be difficult to bring a character from the pen and paper game to the computer.

 

There are just so many limitations to the different mediums, adaptation is a struggle.

Edit: At the end of the day, City of Heroes is more like playing a series of modules, not an adventure path, not a campaign. (I suppose the signature Story Arcs are more like adventure paths)

They should have made a module. 

[Mozie]

3 hours ago, Billbailey96 said:

If we are talking about TTRPGs there is Masks: A New Generation, but that's centered around teen Super Heroes. There is Mutants and Masterminds, one I have been looking at is Multiverses in Peril which uses a TTRPG engine I am fond of called Forged in the Dark. Sorry I collect TTRPGs (I have over 80 physical books in my library and can go on about this.) Probably talk more about this in Off topic at some point

 

And I thought I had a lot. 5 is a lot btw.

[Rishidian]

I've been reading some new Super Hero RPG's - not to translate to or from CoX, but looking for mechanics and ease of play.

Champions - Create a character with powers, then make the powers fit (Blast can be applies to MANY attack types (like arrows, guns, energy).

Absolute Power - Claims to be Anime based - still reading the rules

Wearing The Cape (based on the Fate System) - Not too sure about the mechanics - seems like it makes role playing to stiff and formal.

 

Input would be welcome!

[Mozie]

27 minutes ago, Xalon said:

Tabletop RPGs - man that brings me back. When the players are into it and the GM is someone with personality and imagination, you can have some amazing adventures. I wish more played. 

 

Is seems like it's making a comeback

[Mozie]

12 minutes ago, lemming said:

I did switch over to Paragons & Protertors UE from Champions.   It's a nice system and the original Champs people like it as well.

this is the first time I've heard of it.

[Mozie]

1 minute ago, Rishidian said:

I've been reading some new Super Hero RPG's - not to translate to or from CoX, but looking for mechanics and ease of play.

Champions - Create a character with powers, then make the powers fit (Blast can be applies to MANY attack types (like arrows, guns, energy).

Absolute Power - Claims to be Anime based - still reading the rules

Wearing The Cape (based on the Fate System) - Not too sure about the mechanics - seems like it makes role playing to stiff and formal.

 

Input would be welcome!

I've only heard of the first one.

[Darmian]

For me the best TTRPG Supers game was Aberrant, closely followed by Wild Talents.

[lemming]

1 hour ago, Mozie said:

this is the first time I've heard of it.

https://mobiusworldspublishing.com/products/prowlers-paragons-ultimate-edition/

 

Great people and there have been quite a few supplements.  I don't get to ttrpg like I used to, but this is a great game.

 

I have a bunch of others in storage currently, but mostly older (think 80s & 90s)

[Solarverse]

On 7/13/2025 at 6:52 PM, Mozie said:

I made a couple of characters in this game that I want to transfer to CoH. It should be easy, Right? RIGHT? 

I wouldn't consider myself a table top plater but I enjoyed the two short games I was a part of. Maybe I just like hitting buttons instead of talking.

 

 

Is this part of Heroes Unlimited?

[Octogoat]

10 hours ago, Mozie said:

Is that the one with the one thing as the weapon or is that 3?

 

Both games had dildo bat I think but saints row 4 had superpowers. And they did them in a really cool way. Superspeed made a vortex of cars, pedestrians, and debris as you ran.

 

[BZRKR]

14 hours ago, Mozie said:

Isn't Champions a more detailed and more difficult game for character creation? I do want play it.

My fond memories of the Champion pen and paper are mostly having a sleepover at the GM's house with the other players, making characters over the course of a weekend. We'd pool money and order pizza one day and sub sandwiches the next. It was like having a fun time doing your taxes with friends. 

 

We played the game once or twice too.

[BlackSpectre]

I ran across this a couple days ago while looking for different version of the COH Game Manual... it's for a game called Chaosium which apparently has been around since 1975 (but I never heard of it). Looks kinda cool...

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14F34VL7uuYGFTJa52EiyrPXwDgM1etVz/view?usp=sharing

 

 

[WumpusRat]

On 7/16/2025 at 4:58 PM, Mozie said:

Isn't Champions a more detailed and more difficult game for character creation? I do want play it.

Champions (and Hero System in general) was definitely a very complex character generation system IF you used all the bells and whistles. 

Essentially, it was a lot of math. But you could make just about any character you wanted.

 

They have (or had, at least, I haven't seen anything past 4th edition) general-purpose powers (Energy Blast, Armor, Flash, Killing Attack, etc) that you can buy, with various costs per 1d6, and then just say it's whatever special effect you want. 

A character with a high-powered rifle could have a ranged killing attack with it, or if they went with "slightly less lethal" rounds, buy it as an energy blast and say it's physical damage. If they wanted it to be completely non-lethal, they could apply a limitation on it of "no body-damage" (body being the stat for hit points, effectively) and make it cost a bit less, or if they want it to be some round that explodes on impact and douses the target in chemicals that knock them unconscious without dealing any other damage, you could buy the advantage "no normal defense" and say "the defense against this is having the power that means you don't have to breathe air", etc.

 

It's a fun game, but if you've never played it before, you'd definitely need someone to help design a character, as it's definitely made for math nerds. 🙂

Edited 20 hours ago by WumpusRat