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Author Topic: Favorite Supers RPG? Which one and why!!!  (Read 5484 times)

Simon W

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Favorite Supers RPG? Which one and why!!!
« Reply #45 on: September 17, 2019, 06:40:43 PM »
Triumphant! because I wrote it and because its the only Supers rpg my group has played for the last 6+ years. Before that it was Supers! and before that it was V&V.

Rhedyn
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« Reply #46 on: September 17, 2019, 07:19:46 PM »
Quote from: Antiquation!;1104516
I'm curious as I've read Savage Worlds core but not supers (1e; never got around to playing it), how is the powers system constructed?

Edit: Oh and does it scale well?

So supers is just an arcane background, but the power points are used to buy powers rather than spent to use powers. That's the basic idea but a bunch of static and active powers are buy-able like more armor or the ability to create storms. Smaller point buys run faster, but it does scale pretty high, we played a game with 70 power points just fine.

SavageSchemer

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Favorite Supers RPG? Which one and why!!!
« Reply #47 on: September 17, 2019, 07:31:05 PM »
I don't often play supers, but when I do it's Truth & Justice all the way. I could also see Heroquest 2e working quite well, but it's been ages since I've used that game for anything at all.
The more clichéd my group plays their characters, the better. I don't want Deep Drama™ and Real Acting™ in the precious few hours away from my family and job. I want cheap thrills, constant action, involved-but-not-super-complex plots, and cheesy but lovable characters.
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cranebump

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« Reply #48 on: September 17, 2019, 07:46:21 PM »
Quote from: Simon W;1104521
Triumphant! because I wrote it and because its the only Supers rpg my group has played for the last 6+ years. Before that it was Supers! and before that it was V&V.


I've run both Triumphant and Supers! Good games, both.
"When devils will the blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows..."

tenbones

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« Reply #49 on: September 18, 2019, 03:08:40 PM »
Quote from: Rhedyn;1104513
Try again when the companion gets updated to SWADE. PEGs been doing open playtest now (since it's gotten popular enough). With some feedback SW may end up honestly being a better supers game for it's crunch level than others.

Most Supers games are kind of clusterfuck IMO.

I'm all in on SWADE and everything they produce for it. So it's going to be on the shelf no matter what. Getting my players to convert to it specifically for SUPERS? That's another issue entirely...

BUT! I have a dirty stinking plan!!!!!

I have *yet* to run Savage Rifts for them. I already purchased all the SWADE Rifts stuff... my dirty plan is to convert their FASERIP characters to Savage Rifts stats when the SWADE Hero book drops, then pull them into Rifts... and force them to play their characters using SWADE while in the Rifts setting.


Just as an episodic arc in their ongoing campaign (which we do one big story arc, then set it down and play something else, then go to the next "issue" /rinse repeat).

I'll knock out three birds with one toss.

tenbones

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« Reply #50 on: September 18, 2019, 03:14:47 PM »
Quote from: Antiquation!;1104516
I'm curious as I've read Savage Worlds core but not supers (1e; never got around to playing it), how is the powers system constructed?

Edit: Oh and does it scale well?

Yep it scales. Savage Rifts for instance is unquestioningly "Hero scale" - you're fighting stuff in there the Justice League would be taking on.

I've never actually RUN Savage Worlds at that scale. I know it can do it. I don't know how it *feels*. I've run tons of Savage Worlds and I've run it doing things well into the "spiderman-power-level" range in various genres without expressly playing Heroes.

On paper - it should work fine. But you know... my players ****REALLY**** like FASERIP. I've tempted them with M&M3e... they want *none* of it (though they love the setting). Savage Worlds should do the job. But I can't endorse it until I *do* it.

The Catch-22 for me is pulling the epic bait-and-switch of a lifetime and getting them to drink the water. Goddamn stubborn horses.

nope

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« Reply #51 on: September 18, 2019, 03:30:58 PM »
Quote from: Rhedyn;1104513
Try again when the companion gets updated to SWADE. PEGs been doing open playtest now (since it's gotten popular enough). With some feedback SW may end up honestly being a better supers game for it's crunch level than others.

Most Supers games are kind of clusterfuck IMO.

Quote from: tenbones;1104650
Yep it scales. Savage Rifts for instance is unquestioningly "Hero scale" - you're fighting stuff in there the Justice League would be taking on.

I've never actually RUN Savage Worlds at that scale. I know it can do it. I don't know how it *feels*. I've run tons of Savage Worlds and I've run it doing things well into the "spiderman-power-level" range in various genres without expressly playing Heroes.

On paper - it should work fine. But you know... my players ****REALLY**** like FASERIP. I've tempted them with M&M3e... they want *none* of it (though they love the setting). Savage Worlds should do the job. But I can't endorse it until I *do* it.

The Catch-22 for me is pulling the epic bait-and-switch of a lifetime and getting them to drink the water. Goddamn stubborn horses.

Interesting, thanks for the rundown! Maybe I will take a look when the new edition's companion books come out.

sniderman

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Favorite Supers RPG? Which one and why!!!
« Reply #52 on: September 18, 2019, 07:14:14 PM »
Cut my teeth on V&V, and it will always be my first super-love. But one that I really enjoy running (and one I haven't seen mentioned) is John Stater's Mystery Men. Runs on the OGL system, which really shouldn't work, but it does. Also, the mythos is based in the golden age of supers, so it has a retro appeal that I like.
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Rhedyn
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« Reply #53 on: September 18, 2019, 10:19:41 PM »
Quote from: tenbones;1104649
I'm all in on SWADE and everything they produce for it. So it's going to be on the shelf no matter what. Getting my players to convert to it specifically for SUPERS? That's another issue entirely...

BUT! I have a dirty stinking plan!!!!!

I have *yet* to run Savage Rifts for them. I already purchased all the SWADE Rifts stuff... my dirty plan is to convert their FASERIP characters to Savage Rifts stats when the SWADE Hero book drops, then pull them into Rifts... and force them to play their characters using SWADE while in the Rifts setting.


Just as an episodic arc in their ongoing campaign (which we do one big story arc, then set it down and play something else, then go to the next "issue" /rinse repeat).

I'll knock out three birds with one toss.

I would pitch it as a way to introduce the Rifts setting and let them play regular novice Rifts characters if they want too after the "introduction". You could set it up like the other campaign didn't end and this is just a way to introduce Rifts.

That way if it blows up you can fallback, but if they do not riot, then you got them hooked and can just keep running the Rifts game.

tenbones

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« Reply #54 on: September 19, 2019, 10:23:10 AM »
Quote from: Rhedyn;1104783
I would pitch it as a way to introduce the Rifts setting and let them play regular novice Rifts characters if they want too after the "introduction". You could set it up like the other campaign didn't end and this is just a way to introduce Rifts.

That way if it blows up you can fallback, but if they do not riot, then you got them hooked and can just keep running the Rifts game.

Well the double-whammy is that they *love* their Supers characters. Rifts is a hard sell for half the group because of their pre-conceived notions about the setting, largely from watching those old Flame Wars from the Palladium threads and everyone's non-contextual horror stories.

Anyone that's played Rifts natively for any amount of time knows differently. I think some of them are skeptical of the sheer Gonzo nature of Rifts. Which is weird given the Gonzo nature of Supers in general. So my plan is to CROSS THE STREAMS!

Brad

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« Reply #55 on: September 19, 2019, 11:10:24 AM »
Quote from: tenbones;1104849
Well the double-whammy is that they *love* their Supers characters. Rifts is a hard sell for half the group because of their pre-conceived notions about the setting, largely from watching those old Flame Wars from the Palladium threads and everyone's non-contextual horror stories.

Anyone that's played Rifts natively for any amount of time knows differently. I think some of them are skeptical of the sheer Gonzo nature of Rifts. Which is weird given the Gonzo nature of Supers in general. So my plan is to CROSS THE STREAMS!

All those horror stories seem to be made up out of whole cloth, and anything over at RPG.net that involves Palladium seems to devolve into some beatdown about how bad the system is, all while pretending to ignore it's really just house-ruled D&D. I think the true nature of Rifts for me is that even though there is so much evil, horrible shit going on with demon lords and vampires and alien intelligences in a completely devastated post-apocalyptic hell hole, most people haven't given up hope. It's by far the least nihilistic approach to the genre, and as you correctly point out, matches with superhero stories very well.

RE: superheros, when the Conversion Book came out, being a bunch of teenage boys everyone wanted powers of course, so we all created alts for our campaign. I ended up with a vagabond who had invulnerability and a strong distaste for the Coalition. That character was nothing more than the most obnoxious jackass ever, constantly getting the characters into trouble, never fully understanding that lasers and bullets and missile and whatever else HURT everyone else.
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.

tenbones

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« Reply #56 on: September 19, 2019, 12:38:04 PM »
Quote from: Brad;1104864
All those horror stories seem to be made up out of whole cloth, and anything over at RPG.net that involves Palladium seems to devolve into some beatdown about how bad the system is, all while pretending to ignore it's really just house-ruled D&D. I think the true nature of Rifts for me is that even though there is so much evil, horrible shit going on with demon lords and vampires and alien intelligences in a completely devastated post-apocalyptic hell hole, most people haven't given up hope. It's by far the least nihilistic approach to the genre, and as you correctly point out, matches with superhero stories very well.

RE: superheros, when the Conversion Book came out, being a bunch of teenage boys everyone wanted powers of course, so we all created alts for our campaign. I ended up with a vagabond who had invulnerability and a strong distaste for the Coalition. That character was nothing more than the most obnoxious jackass ever, constantly getting the characters into trouble, never fully understanding that lasers and bullets and missile and whatever else HURT everyone else.

It's TOTALLY true! I've never found Rifts to be troublesome. You just pick and choose which elements you want to dial-up or tone-down to whatever tastes make sense for gameplay. It is precisely as you put it - House Ruled D&D.

I had the same experience with the Conversion. My character was radically powerful. Body Alteration - Steel, insane strength and hypersonic flight (could have been a lot worse)... but I held my own in Rifts. To my surprise, I should reverse that statement - RIFTS more than held it's own to ME. I really thought I was like Superman unleashed in Greyhawk - what could stop me? Yeah there's no end to what Rifts can throw against you should you prove to be such a threat. Sure I was more powerful than most things you'd find... but I certainly wasn't more powerful or scarier than a LOT of shit in the world.

I think it is a great place for a post-apocalyptic alternate dimension Super-Hero game.

Rifts gets a much undeserved bad rap. It's a pretty awesome setting. If Siembieda ever got it together to do a new edition outside of Savage Worlds... he'd probably have my money, and a lot of other people's too.

Rhedyn
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« Reply #57 on: September 19, 2019, 12:58:01 PM »
Quote from: tenbones;1104880
Rifts gets a much undeserved bad rap. It's a pretty awesome setting. If Siembieda ever got it together to do a new edition outside of Savage Worlds... he'd probably have my money, and a lot of other people's too.
He seems to have trouble actually making RPGs now-a-days.

PEGs done a lot of license work and Rifts is a great project for them to work on before writing the companions of this edition, since rifts touches on everything and all of it works together.

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« Reply #58 on: October 03, 2019, 01:00:01 AM »
Quote from: Simon W;1104521
Triumphant! because I wrote it and because its the only Supers rpg my group has played for the last 6+ years. Before that it was Supers! and before that it was V&V.


Out of curiosity, what led you to create Triumphant after Supers!?

Simon W

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« Reply #59 on: October 03, 2019, 08:30:21 AM »
Quote from: Sunsword;1107343
Out of curiosity, what led you to create Triumphant after Supers!?

I guess I wasn't quite as done with the superheroes genre as I thought I was after I sold Supers! to Hazard Studios.