Yet ANOTHER Superhero RPG: Destined Tabletop RPG Overview

[@ottawamonsterpocalypse7729]

I think my major problem comes down to the mishmash of tastes for those I usually play with. I tend to like more silver-age stuff as well as Tokusatsu, so I'm the "goofy one." Not sure it's really appropriate since there is a lot of Tokusatsu and a fair bit of silver-age that is not at all goofy and indeed quite dark. I often run into problems with the lower power level stuff mentally, which is to say, balancing things between the high and the low. I like that a lot of systems balance power levels. So I guess the problem is partly also as follows, people I've known who like superheroes: 1) The Batman fan 2) The Punisher fan 3) The Lone-wolf Samurai fan 4) The Lone-wolf spawn fan 5) The guy who wants to pay a unpowered human detective, but at least he's a teamster 6) The one who wants to be the villain instead 7) the one who wants to be Tony Stark (like number 5, I like this one) 8) the one who wants to be a detective and utterly fails at any kind of investigative roleplay 9) the one whose idea of heroism involves summoning Cthulhu And unfortunately a number of these try to kill each other's characters if in the same room together. The two most cooperative examples I've listed are actually good gaming buddies but rarely have compatible schedules and that's the final nail in the coffin. I've never been able to get a group with compatible people with compatible schedules together. Other than that, i believe I've mentioned my headaches with power level discrepencies and such in the past, and you are right, I probably do need to read more superhero comics. I read a lot of Transformers, Ninja High School, and Gold Digger back in the 80s and 90s, along with Dark Horse localizations of manga. I have Mutants and Masterminds 3E, BESM, Feng Shui, and Tenra Bansho Zero (could be used for it) for physical systems at home. Also an aging Champions book I inherited from a friend. Currently looking at PDFs of Marvel since you recommended it. There's a localization for a Henshin Hero game I mean to look up as well. The real trick will be tracking down people interested for that once I get a concept far enough if I like the system. I don't know many people who share my love for Kamen Rider, Sentai, etc... Question for you as you review more Superhero RPGs: Are any of the new ones dethroning/competing with any of the old ones on your personal tier list? Are there some things you've found in the new ones that you wish the old ones did?

[@jacobhouck1182]

I haven’t played one yet, but I’m wanting to.

[@templar51]

"What your do you like or dislike about superhero ttrpgs?" It is by far no way my favorite genre, although I haven't got to actually play or run them very much. I think the idea of having superpowers is so cool, and I love the combination of big budget action scenes mixed with cool interpersonal drama. I love it so much that I actually developed my own system based on a number of my favorite games. As one of my favorite KZbinrs, I would be happy to send you a copy for perusal and/or review if you would be at all interested. Keep up the great superhero content, there's not a lot of it on KZbin!

[@mikelarsen6457]

I like the Super Hero genre, running a super hero scenario at a con this weekend, in Oklahoma city, Later leets

[@shockerck4465]

Marvel is my favorite. Supers and Icons are also good. When i look at a super rpg, i have to see a sample character and an example of hero vs. villain combat. That tells a lot about a game

[@derekburge5294]

This does sound a good bit better than the other superhero TTRPGs I've played. Much more open with the powers at least! That's always been my big hangup with what few cape games I've played: the lack of flexibility and codification of abilities just doesn't jive with the comics, in my opinion.

[@zarekodynski9077]

QoTV: I love Superhero RPGs, as you know, but I think most are flawed in one way or another which has stopped me from being able to get my group to try them out. The first flaw in my opinion is that character creation tends to be overly complex. This can be in one of two ways: 1- being so open ended when it comes to defining your powers makes it hard to make decisions about the character and their powers, 2- there are so many details to customize about powers (Mutants and Masterminds as the prime example here) that it’s just overly complex and confusing. This, in my experience and from what I’ve heard around the internet, makes people hesitant to even learn the systems or give them a try. The second flaw is one that I think I’ve mentioned before on one of your videos, which is that people seem to struggle with understanding how you go about playing a superhero game. As in what type of scenarios happen, what do the players do to drive the story forward, etc. I think this isn’t a failing of the superhero genre so much as it is an issue caused by most people’s first foray into RPG’s (in the current era) being in the fantasy genre. This makes their mind view that as the baseline experience, and superhero storylines and experiences do not line up with that.

[@garygrant6987]

I loved Marvel heroic back when it was out. I’ll have to check this one out!

[@Tygertyger8008]

QotV: I actually love the superhero genre (probably because of my overdeveloped sense of justice), but most superhero rpgs are deeply flawed. The genre lends itself to a more narratively-focused system, but Champions and Mutants and Masterminds involve a lot of number-crunching. That's not what I play superhero games for. GURPS Supers and Superhero 2044 have a similar problem. Another problem is that comic book superheroes tend to have clear themes -- the Flying Brick, the Dark Avenger, the Master of the Mystic Arts, and so on. It's hard to build a character with a coherent theme with a system that uses random roll character creation. Looking at you, Marvel Superheroes (sorry, Servant!) and Villains and Vigilantes. The final problem is that a superhero game requires cinematic action, and some systems aren't the best fit for that. I see this problem, sadly, with highly narrative games like Icons and Masks. A good GM can overcome this limit, but let's be honest; not all GMs are good. There are games that overcome these limits, however. Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is pretty good, and my read of Cortex Prime suggests that further refinement is possible. I'm a huge fan of Cypher System, so I think Claim the Sky would also work. I've yet to try Marvel Multiverse, but I'm encouraged by Marvel finally figuring out that the success of a Marvel rpg requires a character creation system that's more than an afterthought.

[@theholeyknight]

I love Superhero RPGs. I like living out the fantasy of being a hero with powers greater than my own and seeing how the game world changes with our choices. I started with FASERiP and later also really liked Marvel Heroic. I've played games as simple as Psy-Run and as complicated as Champions. I'm not a big fan of most point buy systems, but I really enjoy making characters in Destined (I haven't played it yet, but have played Mythras, so am familiar with the system). I think its because the points for buying powers is small scale compared to games like DC Heroes or Mutants and Masterminds. I look forward to hopefully doing a few one-shots in Destined, and maybe getting a campaign if those go well. Thanks for making this video. It was fun to watch.

[@brandonpowers2480]

Just started your video and your statement about how you need all the Superhero TTRPGs made me feel like a kindred spirit! OK, got to the end and you had a question. I know that I don't have a problem getting into a Superhero RPG, but something that I have seen with a lot of people is something that you mentioned at the end of the video and how a lot of people don't seem to be able to get into it because they don't have a background with the source material. This combines with the fact that a lot of people associate "powers" with "superhero". While "Powers" are a trapping of a "Superhero" game, to me they are two separate aspects of it. Superhero RPGs deal with working to make the world a better place. I have shown up to a lot of games that are supposed to be "Superhero" and the person running the game seems to actively dislike Superhero things and is looking to run a game more like World of Darkness with people having powers, or something more akin to deconstructed superhero media. What do I like about Superhero genre? I am stepping back into the role of GM right now, and made an offer to my wife and the rest of the game table that I was interested in either a Shadowrun or a Superhero game. My wife loves Shadowrun, but we haven't played for like 20 years. The table universally voted for Superhero and one of the reasons was that at this time that they are wanting to use RPG to escape from reality in some ways, and Shadowrun felt like the way the world was heading. They wanted to play Superhero to be able to find a more positive impact. I have had players when I have run superheroes before tell me that the game we played MADE THEM a better person because they thought about what a SUPERHERO would do in mundane situations, and spent some time helping strangers, taking care of others, giving grace, and other things like that. I love the energy that you bring to your videos (have come across one or two before). I hope that you have time to get a great game of Superheroes in, and would love to sit at a table with you sometime.

[@joshuashaw5524]

Going to give this a good looking over. If nothing else, to pull ideas for my own games. QotV: I think the biggest issue I can think of is trying to adjudicate the powers for everyone involved. I remember one of my players is wanting time travel powers while another wants to be like Beast Boy. I think I could make it work, but it's a potential thing I could see as a challenge

[@davidhobbs6292]

The biggest problems with Superhero RPGs. (From my brother) The players are very reactive and don't build the kinds of social relationships that drive stories. They just wait for 'bad guy rampage on the news' and train. My issue is that a lot of the games don't mechanically evoke the feeling of a comic book during gameplay. A lot of this was due to players having a Fantasy HP depletion mindset and an expectation of being able to defeat anything with their powers. These aren't problems I have any longer, but breaking people out of preconceptions was difficult in my youth.

[@carlosrivera9047]

My favorite Superhero RPGs have always been Classic Marvel FASERIP and DC Heroes

[@quantus5875]

DC Heroes!! Loved that game. My favorite supers TTRPG during the 80s and 90s.

[@johnwalsh4857]

me the best super hero RPG I played was GODLIKE and its modern day companion WILD TALENTS. love em. different take on the super hero genre. both published by Arc Dream.

[@quantus5875]

Mutants & Masterminds 3e -- 1) #1 supers game in terms of market share, 2) Super balanced -- a PL10 character and another PL10 character are very, very equal, 3) Character customization is out of this world, 4) More supplements and adventures available for it than any other supers games. If you want light however M&M 3e is not your game -- definitely a little on the intermediate level to crunchy side -- great if you like combat and character customization. I'm not into the rules-light (or story) supers games -- so definitely prefer M&M -- it supplanted my previous favorite which was DC Heroes from 1985.

[@jeframdenkar]

Been in a long term play by post Heroes Unlimited/Nightbane campaign. Overall enjoy bit but their been Problems with my characters capabilities. Most of the time my character (an Immortal Pixie ancient weapon master) is constantly being auto countered most fights despite having several abilities. What are your recommendations for players who want to keep a character but constantly are outclassed to the point of near uselessness?

[@sirpercarde709]

I've got the Marvel FASERIP game, two versions of the DC Heros game and Villians & Vigilantes. I am a DC fan. I was 5 when Batman was on TV two nights a week. Then add Batman '89. Best super hero movie ever! By far, I think the Marvel game is the easiest to use. Quickest character creation method. Loved having the character pawns battling the bad guys on the area map the game came with. Great system. But I'm a DC fan. The Marvel game just didn't seem to give a DC feal. So I bought the DC games. Is it any good? Not sure. I didn't like the character crsation mechanic. For some reason I didn't seem to understand it. The system of play just seemed clunky to me. But don't ask me why. I don't think I could explain it. 😭 Then I bought V&V on a lark. Five of us created a hero each. The system said to base the stats on the players. So we talked as a group and create ourselves as heros. That was a lot of fun and drew big laughs. But nobody really wanted to play these characters. So we did random creation and played a quick scenario. Result? Everyone suggested we go back to Marvel. Two players took actual Marvel heroes from the list, one created a character from scratch, one tried to transport a DC player and the last guy started a push to go back to D&D. He eventually created a character that he said he saw in a independant comic. The DC fan, guess who that was, got eased into the gamemaster slot and wecwere off.. Sadly the game lasted for aboyt 4 months. As a side note we played a game, based on my stories, that I cobbled together like Frankenstein's monster using Chivalry & Sorcery, boot hill and ideas that I pulled out of ghe ether. One series of scenarios, the characters were knights, fighting on the planet to expand or protect their individual fiefs. The next set, the same characters found themselves on a small starship, tasked to board a space hulk looking for specific items. After the first session of this mission, the players would breakout into a sweat if someone said look up or vermicelli. The the next sesslion, the same characters could be on a battlecruiser as part of a huge space battle. Cobbled together but we played for 10 years. Longest running campaigns I've ever had. Maybe we were just an odd group.

[@UltraTtrpger]

Is there a superhero ttrpg you would recommend to someone who prefers rules light gaming?

[@jacobhouck1182]

@@UltraTtrpger I’ve heard ICONS and SUPERS

[@Tygertyger8008]

Masks is good if roleplay matters more to you than superpowered shenanigans.

[@UltraTtrpger]

@@jacobhouck1182 I'm not familiar with either of those games.

[@UltraTtrpger]

@@Tygertyger8008 I already have masks, but that's for more like Teen Titans type heroes.

[@brandonpowers2480]

@@jacobhouck1182 Supers RED is a personal favorite of mine. I love crunchy superhero games, but that one is a light game that still makes me enjoy the play.