Any Supers Game that feels Super?

Umbran · Jun 19, 2024

Wofano Wotanto said:
Getting a real fear of death or lasting injury for the PCs would be an even bigger step...

Yeah. To the point where doing so puts you into "Why are you trying to use a screwdriver as a hammer?" territory, and will have consequences on the rest of the mechanics.

We should note that in SCRPG, scenes aren't tests of tactical wargame acumen. They are scenes in which the villains are trying to accomplish something, and if the PCs don't stop them in time, the villains get what they want out of the scene. The scene track is a countdown clock to failure, even if the PCs are at full health when they get to the end of it.

Being alive will be small comfort when Baron Blade pulls the Moon down to collide with the Earth, or Grand Warlord Voss overruns the planet.

Death isn't off the table in SCRPG because players are weak, or something. It is to enable them to take some pretty outlandish comic book style risks without worrying about ruining their future play experience.

Wofano Wotanto · Jun 20, 2024

Umbran said:
Yeah. To the point where doing so puts you into "Why are you trying to use a screwdriver as a hammer?" territory, and will have consequences on the rest of the mechanics.

Look at my posts and look at my blog, and then ask yourself if you really think I don't understand that. It's not even a reasonable sample of what I said, you've taken a tiny portion of a much longer quote out of context.

I was responding a question about how dark you could go with the game if you wanted to. One aspect of that is potential hero mortality or lasting injury, which is largely a narrative-only decision by default. I provided suggestions that might do the job both mechanically and tonally - a lot of it would come down to narrative approach and player buy-in as well. Whether they'd work I can't say without testing, but they offer a starting point. The game engine is remarkably versatile, far more so than you seem to give it credit for, and with some tweaks I suspect it could do the Boys almost as well as the Silver/Bronze Age style stories the published adventures most resemble. That's not to my personal tastes, but some people will want it.

You ask why I'd use a screwdriver as a hammer. I ask you why you think a Swiss army knife only works as a corkscrew.

Umbran · Jun 20, 2024

Wofano Wotanto said:
Look at my posts and look at my blog, and then ask yourself if you really think I don't understand that. It's not even a reasonable sample of what I said, you've taken a tiny portion of a much longer quote out of context.

whispers: Psst. I'm writing for the purpose of elucidating how the system normally works for people who aren't familiar with it!

Dannyalcatraz · Jun 20, 2024

Wofano Wotanto said:
It's one reason why many HERO fans don't actually use it for Champions/supers much these days.

Usually, the only thing stopping me from using HERO is the other players.

Starfox · Jun 20, 2024

White Wolf made the Aberrant system, along with companion games set in earlier and later eras. I have the d20 port of these, but not the originals. Any opinions on these?

Thomas Shey · Jun 20, 2024

Starfox said:
White Wolf made the Aberrant system, along with companion games set in earlier and later eras. I have the d20 port of these, but not the originals. Any opinions on these?

My own feeling is if you're going to use Aberrant, use the newer Storypath version. Its much more aimed at trying (as the name says) for a more narrative-flow result.

However, be aware the system makes a lot of setting-specific assumptions, and is closer to a people-with-powers game than a superhero game per se.

Starfox · Jun 20, 2024

Thomas Shey said:
My own feeling is if you're going to use Aberrant, use the newer Storypath version. Its much more aimed at trying (as the name says) for a more narrative-flow result.

However, be aware the system makes a lot of setting-specific assumptions, and is closer to a people-with-powers game than a superhero game per se.

I bought Aberrant and the others mostly for the setting material to read.

TheHand · Jun 20, 2024

Starfox said:
White Wolf made the Aberrant system, along with companion games set in earlier and later eras. I have the d20 port of these, but not the originals. Any opinions on these?

I played in a short-lived Aberrant game. The feeling we got was that it worked OK for doing low-powered 'barely super' type games, ala something like the old Heroes TV show, and that the old White Wolf engine broke down with higher dice pools and powers. I think there's probably lots better engines out there these days for doing low-powered paranormals, but the lore & background information is certainly valid (if not fairly universe-specific).

ART! · Jun 20, 2024

Masks: A New Generation is phenomenal. It's one of the 2 or 3 best supers games I've seen, and I've seen a lot. I say this with the caveat that it a specific sub-genre os supers, teen heroes.

I'm super-duper looking forward to Kids in Capes.

aramis erak · Jun 20, 2024

a few other things about Sentinel Comics:

Death only happens with player permission.
advancement is shallow and infrequent - between "collections" - usually 6 "issues" (adventures); for my store game, that was about 9 sessions each time.
- The substantial change is swap a power, quality, principle, or ability for another of same type and size
- The major change is literally change the choices in character gen, and essentially just make them over
- Either way, the collection also adds the ability to call-back to the collection
Callbacks - 1 per adventure collection on sheet (including the backstory one), just have to have a short "flashback" description
- change a die after rolling to whatever you want it to be
- make a narrative declaration of something
- avoid a minor complication

The lack of obvious mechanical power growth is intentional; the extra callbacks don't seem that potent, but they are. that's essentially an overome complete success. or a max damage attack. This is a very shallow growth, but it's a very flexible one.

Any Supers Game that feels Super?

Umbran

Mod Squad

Wofano Wotanto

Hero

Umbran

Mod Squad

Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator

Starfox

Hero

Thomas Shey

Legend

Starfox

Hero

TheHand

Adventurer

ART!

Deluxe Unhuman

aramis erak

Legend

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