If Champions never existed, what superhero RPG would you have played (or be playing today)?

[fdw3773]

It was one of those "what if" questions someone asked when she found out that I had collected/played Champions in its various forms for over 30 years. For me, it would have been DC Heroes published by Mayfair Games since I played it often my first year or two in college and the game support materials were available at the various game stores I shopped (I would transition to run Champions/Fantasy Hero in the latter two). Nowadays, it would be ICONS, which I host at the local game events.

 

So, if Champions never existed, what superhero RPG would you have played (or be playing today)? 🤔

[assault]

Probably none. I wasn't into comics when I started playing Champions. I never really fancied V&V, the other biggish superhero RPG at the time. (All FGU (Fantasy Games Unlimited) games tended to be too complicated for my tastes.)

I would have happily stayed with Fantasy (mostly D&D) and Science Fiction (mostly Traveller).

[Grailknight]

If there was no Champions but other publishers had filled the void?  

 

Probably either Gurps:Supers or SuperWorld.

 

SuperWorld had the most flexibility but no support beyond the first product. ( I loved that you could make Firestorm or Voltron with the ruleset with no modification. Duplication:Reverse)

 

Gurps had the support and would most likely been the market replacement for Champions.

 

I nevr got into V&V but I never actually saw a copy of the ruleset until I'd had 5 years with Hero. 

[Tjack]

   I got into Champions because a girl asked me to.  I was chasing after her and she was in a game and knew I was into comic books in a big way. I loved the game and stayed with it long after she and I were no more.  
   So you’ll have to ask her what game she would have been playing ‘cause she could have asked me to try laying down in traffic and I would have said OK.

[fdw3773]

2 hours ago, Grailknight said:

If there was no Champions but other publishers had filled the void? 

Yes! I didn't realize until I read the 5th Edition Champions source book and Silver Age Sentinels that so many superhero RPGs had been published over the years. Am curious to see what, if any, other superhero RPGs others would have played such as Marvel FASERIP, Villains & Vigilantes a.k.a. Mighty Protectors, DC Heroes/Blood of Heroes, and so on. 🙂

[Christopher R Taylor]

Probably M&M, because D&D's 3rd edition was pretty solid even with some major flaws inherent to the system.

[Sundog]

Oddly enough, probably a modified version of Aberrant.

[dmjalund]

Either FASERIP or DC Heroes

[steriaca]

I'm not actually playing ANY pen and paper rpg right now. But I would probably say either FASERIP or Big Eyes Small Mouth. Only thing...BESM wouldn't exist without Champions and the Hero System. 

[Hotspur]

14 hours ago, Tjack said:

   I got into Champions because a girl asked me to.  I was chasing after her and she was in a game and knew I was into comic books in a big way. I loved the game and stayed with it long after she and I were no more.  
   So you’ll have to ask her what game she would have been playing ‘cause she could have asked me to try laying down in traffic and I would have said OK.

 

OMG this is probably a facet of when I picked up RPGS - Tjack - you must be possibly the only person I know who got into an RPG because they were chasing a girl! My gaming has been resolutely male and, while there was lots of interest in women/girls, it was a matter of finding other ways of meeting them.  🙂 Kudos...

[Hermit]

Oh, I liked some V&V modules, but FASERIP would be my go to if it weren't for Champions

[Derek Hiemforth]

Ignoring the fact that many games that came out after Champions would never have existed (or would have been very different) because Champions was so influential, I would say definitely DC Heroes/Blood of Heroes.  In fact, although it may seem heresy to say so, I think that in many ways, if you're only playing superheroes, DCH may actually be better than Champions...

[Tjack]

20 minutes ago, Hotspur said:

 

OMG this is probably a facet of when I picked up RPGS - Tjack - you must be possibly the only person I know who got into an RPG because they were chasing a girl! My gaming has been resolutely male and, while there was lots of interest in women/girls, it was a matter of finding other ways of meeting them.  🙂 Kudos...

    I think it was a statistical thing because the gaming group I started with was the M.I.T. Strategic Games Society.  I had a high school GED and one year of night school college, but there I was. The S.G.S. had around 25 to 30 (If one of the two other members of that group on this board could please check my memory) members so there were occasional female players. Funny thing, the two most consistent women playing were both named Debbie and had the last initial S. 

[Asperion]

When I discovered Champions,  I was big in FASERIP and other systems similar to that.  I was also realizing that universal systems exist.  As a result,  I most likely would have gone for GURPS, M&M, Fate, or some other universal. I was introduced to gaming through DnD, but had many problems with the strong rigidity and how everything was laid out (plus I have a preference towards supers and sf).

[Joe Walsh]

Champions 2e was our entry point, but it was the whole HERO System that kept us coming back instead of growing tired of the game and moving on like we did with so many others.

 

Without Champions, I doubt we would have played any supers RPG for very long.

 

FASERIP was fun for a while.

 

These days, it'd be Supers! RED for occasional one-offs, I suspect.

 

[Spence]

Started Supers with V&V. 

 

Then Champs 1e entered our neck of the world we quickly changed over. 

 

Played a little DC Heroes and really tried to play M&M but it's power/combat resolution system never clicked for me.

 

So if Champs never existed it would probably be V&V.  Early edition V&V.

 

 

[BigJackBrass]

Golden Heroes for me. As a matter of fact we still play it now and again. It’s the only supers game I’ve found where the random character generation is interesting enough to be a point in the game’s favour.

 

Very different to Champions and certainly more restrictive, but we’ve had some marvellous adventures with it.

[AlgaeNymph]

For me it'd be Mutants & Masterminds, since I read the most supplements for that one.

[Ninja-Bear]

I’m not sure what game but I’d have more money! 😂

[Scott Ruggels]

Probably none. I would have continued with Bushido, and Traveller, and played other non Class, non D20 based systems.  The attraction was because Champions was a well designed "Game", which to me was far more attractive than Superheroes.

More importantly, without Champions, point buy systems would be a lot rarer, and/or stunted.  D&D would have had less competition. I may have picked up some of the Tri-Tac games a little sooner.  Cyberpunk, as written, would have been very different. 

[Sketchpad]

As many have stated, without Hero/Champions, we might not have some of the options we have today. But, in a world where Hero was removed but games still evolved to where we were? I think I would've latched onto Villains & Vigilantes more, or maybe have played more Palladium. But, eventually, I would've played more FASERIP (which I played the hell out of in the '80s). I think, eventually, I'd have found myself playing Silver Age Sentinels, and eventually Mutants & Masterminds, much like I do these days. But maybe with a different perspective than I have now. 

 

If we view this as game evolution having mutated due to Hero's absence, and the game not existing to inspire others? I think I'd have just stuck with FASERIP, honestly. Always loved the game, and have always been curious how it would look if it had more game evolution over the decades.

[Ninja-Bear]

Well, I probably wouldn’t have met my friend through Champions. So my other friends played more Wargaming so probably been still doing that.

 

I read and article where the creator of Supergame where he said that the creator of Champions played together and asked him some questions about his game. Who knows? Maybe Supergame would’ve took off? 

[Ninja-Bear]

I could see myself playing Savage Worlds. And I still play SWD6 now and again.

[drunkonduty]

Definitely FASERIP. Had loads of fun with that. 

[Tech]

Probably none; it's hard to say. Maybe V&V.