Billbailey96 Posted Thursday at 04:02 PM Posted Thursday at 04:02 PM Inspired by a post in general: I wanted to talk about various Superhero TTRPGS
Billbailey96 Posted Thursday at 04:08 PM Author Posted Thursday at 04:08 PM One that's fairly popular in some of the circles I run is a game called Masks: A New Generation. As the name suggests its a game about young superheroes growing into the role. Mechanics wise its based of the Powered by the Apocalypse engine started by the titular game Apocalypse World. For those unfamiliar with them PBtA are very narrative heavy games and are light on mechanics. That's not to say that the mechanics aren't deep, but they are created in a way to further the story rather than to create tactically interesting combat. If tactical combat is something you are looking for, don't play Masks. If you are a fan of shows like Young Justice, Teen Titans, or Young Avengers this might be something for you.
JKCarrier Posted Thursday at 05:49 PM Posted Thursday at 05:49 PM One I like a lot is MIGHTY PROTECTORS, from Monkey House Games. If you ever played Villains & Vigilantes back in the '80s, this is a revised version of that. The superpowers are more balanced and better-defined than in V&V, and you have the option of creating your characters through point-buy, or by random rolling. There's also a lot of options for customizing the powers -- turning a single-target attack into an AoE, for instance, or switching your lightning bolt from electric damage to psychic. I'd describe it as "medium-crunch" -- more complicated than a PbtA type game, but less so than something like Champions. 1 --- 64453 - This Was Your Life? - An AE arc that lets you relive your hero's greatest triumphs! (Er, there may still be some bugs in the system...)
Ulysses Dare Posted Thursday at 06:37 PM Posted Thursday at 06:37 PM I've play a bunch of superhero TTRPGs. These days I find that the simple mechanics and narrative freedom of Fate suits me best. A great guide to running superheros with Fate is The Essential Four-Color FAE.
Billbailey96 Posted Thursday at 07:44 PM Author Posted Thursday at 07:44 PM 1 hour ago, Ulysses Dare said: I've play a bunch of superhero TTRPGs. These days I find that the simple mechanics and narrative freedom of Fate suits me best. A great guide to running superheros with Fate is The Essential Four-Color FAE. Spirit of the Century is good too for fate if you are more interested in old school pulp and you like FATE.
Ulysses Dare Posted Thursday at 10:17 PM Posted Thursday at 10:17 PM 2 hours ago, Billbailey96 said: Spirit of the Century is good too for fate if you are more interested in old school pulp and you like FATE. SotC was, in fact, my gateway into Fate. But, as Fate version 1.0, it had a fair number of rough edges that got sanded down in later versions. Especially the way stress and consequences worked. Were I to run it today, I'd definitely update the rules. 1
lemming Posted yesterday at 12:09 AM Posted yesterday at 12:09 AM https://mobiusworldspublishing.com/products/prowlers-paragons-ultimate-edition/ 1
Lunar Ronin Posted yesterday at 12:58 AM Posted yesterday at 12:58 AM 32 years after the last edition, and still the best IMO. Also, Mutants & Masterminds 4E was just announced a few days ago. 2
Billbailey96 Posted 21 hours ago Author Posted 21 hours ago 13 hours ago, lemming said: https://mobiusworldspublishing.com/products/prowlers-paragons-ultimate-edition/ I had a buddy of mine who recommended prowlers and paragons to me. Mostly because they are working on a hack of it.
Billbailey96 Posted 20 hours ago Author Posted 20 hours ago One TTRPG that I have been looking at and plan to get once I have the money is Galaxies in Peril. Its a spin off of Worlds in Peril made by the same publisher. Where Worlds is a PbTA game, Galaxies is a Forged in the Dark Game meaning its based off the game Blades in the Dark. One reason I am interested in its Blades in the Dark is good at faction mechanics and using a team play book to create a solid foundation for the group the players want to play. In this case you pick what kind of super team you want to play (street level detectives, Guardian of the Galaxy style explorers, vigilantes going up against the supervillians etc...). The faction mechanics are also interesting to me since it evokes the various villian groups that are a staple of City of Heroes. I've only read reviews and I'll post more about this once I have actually read the book itself. 1
Billbailey96 Posted 20 hours ago Author Posted 20 hours ago 14 hours ago, Lunar Ronin said: 32 years after the last edition, and still the best IMO. Also, Mutants & Masterminds 4E was just announced a few days ago. How does this play? Do you create your own characters or do you play as an established character?
Ulysses Dare Posted 15 hours ago Posted 15 hours ago Before there was Fate, this was my superhero system of choice for over a decade: Champions. I loved they way it defined powers in terms of mechanics and left the cosmetic details up to the players and game master. Sadly it's reputation for complexity is well earned.
JKCarrier Posted 7 hours ago Posted 7 hours ago 12 hours ago, Billbailey96 said: How does this play? Do you create your own characters or do you play as an established character? It's kind of complicated, but once you understand the basics, every type of action is resolved the same way. There's an Action Table where you cross-reference your attack value vs. your enemy's defense value, and that gives you your target number. If you roll high enough to succeed, you look on the Result Table and compare how strong your attack is vs. how tough the enemy is, and that tells you the damage done. This works for non-combat actions too; if you were investigating a crime scene, you might use your Detective skill vs. the Intelligence of the bad guy who committed the crime to see if any clues were left behind. There's rules for creating original characters, as well as pre-made stats for the familiar DC heroes and villains. --- 64453 - This Was Your Life? - An AE arc that lets you relive your hero's greatest triumphs! (Er, there may still be some bugs in the system...)
Aracknight Posted 8 minutes ago Posted 8 minutes ago I always liked Heroes Unlimited from Palladium Books, and the FASERIP Marvel Super Heroes game was my gateway into gaming.
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