Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

[Spence]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

I'm kind of with Ghost Angel - supers is about my least favorite of the major Hero genres.

 

Why I like it? Because anything goes as far as character concept and power construction.

 

I prefer pulp - which in many cases boils down to very low-power supers, because you can theoretically have just about the same range of character types as supers, especially if you extend "pulp" to include all the '30's stuff like jungles, space opera, mystic powers and the like. The difference to me is that in pulps, a thug with a normal gun can still a significant threat to a hero. Also, the heroes' power is much more limited in general, forcing them to be less flamboyant and (IMO) a bit more clever.

 

ROCKY JONES SPAAAAACE RANGER!

 

 

Pulp is kewl :D

[Jhaierr]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

It's the sheer variety or stories and characters that are available, but the genre still having a certain consistent "feel" to it nonetheless.

[AdamLeisemann]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

Well, a good supers RPG allows for both flexibility and the ability to do cool stuff.

 

In most genres, you are constrained by a sense of realism that does not allow for being awesome-- or constrained by a sense of balance that says for every way you can be awesome, there is a way you must be lame. And most balancing systems fall in favor of "lame."

 

The Supers genre is all about experiencing what it means to be awesome, if you know how to work the system. Admittedly, that is an area I need help in.

 

EDIT: Of course, I just like any game/genre that lets me go wild with ideas.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

Cuz it's kewl...

 

Errr, I mean, in an increasingly complex world in which the word justice seems to have an increasingly obscured meaning, and the common man feels more and more marginalized in a society where he is supposedly the norm, it is only natural to yearn for a sense of empowerment, quite literally, in which his often surprised desire to improve not just his lot, but the world around him, can now be acted on, if only in the world of his imagination. One often feels a call towards activism, and in the superhero setting this call is not only encouraged, but rewarded on many levels. Complexities can exist, but they are mutually agreed upon option for the most part, and in a matter of fiction, a creator can look upon his creation and announce with jove like confidence, "This would be a good man" for more than powers have been defined, the mind, the very soul of the character is as developed or not as he wills, and this is treasured, for in the real world, no man can fully know the soul of another, even if he be lucky enough to know his own.

 

There is, of course, also the call of the mythic. Those that desire grandeur, bigger and greater things, to pretend they are legends of old, but without losing the morality and ethics they themselves may hold to (Or wish they were strong enough to hold to in real life). No blood thirsty Achilles here, no brutish Hercules, no, not even a selfishly lecherous Zeus, but rather beings of comparable power can be played that hold to higher virtues still... if we so desire, and a mutually crafted mythos is made. One can use it to right tragedies, tell high and low drama, and yes, indeed, dabble in farce as pleases one.

 

One should also not forget, one can draw from numerous over genres in this. Science Fiction? By all means, embrace the wonders and terrors of technology that may, through superheroic or villainous form either be the savior or bane of your imaginary world. Fantasy? It is fantasy, albeit a modern mythos as said above. Western themes, the power of an individual to enter a town, and force the town itself to change ,and for the better, abound. Mystery, horror, and satire, all these are but hues that players and GMs alike may bring into the canvas of their campaign should they will it. Only the limits of their talent and imagination could ever render such a chance monotone.

 

It is escapism, and yet also can be an intensely honest time, for like light humor used to test the waters to see how others might react to true feelings, one may decide to safely ask the heavy questions under the protective shield of a mask and cape.

 

 

That, and because it's kewl

 

I'd say something, but Hermit summed it up better than I ever could.

 

That and you can RP good werewolves in superhero games without all the White Wolf wangst.

[MilkmanDan]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

Because traditional four-color supers are pure, unadulterated fun. I don't care for Iron Age/Dark Champions stuff, because gloomy isn't fun. Fantasy and Sci-Fi have their moments, but still, they often get into more serious territory and, regardless, you're quite possibly hacking-and-slashing your way through your virtual worlds. With supers, you're doing goofy, improbable things and building the communal story on a foundation of just plain having fun. It's fun to throw trucks and save the civilians and just do any weird thing you can imagine. It's good clean escapism.

 

Plus what Hermit said.

[GrooveD70]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

Because almost everytime someone plays a RPG, it is a fantasy game. I think it just gets tired after a while.

 

Also, I think that the Superheroes usually have a deeper purpose than traipsing across a Tolkenesque landscape killing monsters and talking their treasure.

 

I prefer reoccuring villians to monsters ot the week/room. When I game in FRPG's I often get bored fighting mindless predators.

 

I have had fun playing fantasy rpg's and would do it again, but I would much rather play Champions.

[Lysando]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

I am just curious why you play or have interest in this Genre of RPGs? What is it about the stories, adventures, characters, etc or whatever grabs you where other game settings or genre don't so much or at all?

 

I hope to get a better understanding so I might be able to spot a Super Hero Gamer experienced or not even broken in yet.

 

I really don't particularly like super hero comics, etc. A friend of mine has a superhero campaign I play in, but I do so because I really like my character concept (a formerly evil djinn who is trapped on Earth until he does 1 million and 1 good deeds).

 

I think one of the reasons we play super hero games because we come up with a particular character concept or concepts that we really like, and the games enable us to play out that concept.

[casualplayer]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

I play superhero games because I like to believe that a punch thrown at the right time at the right jaw can change the world for the better.

[psychonaut_raz]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

A flashback to my misspent youth. It's the adult version of my childhood which I spent running around pretending to be a superhero along with my brother and his best friend. Some of the best times of my life.

 

RPGs as adults tend to be more of an intellectual exercise at times, but there isn't a single one of us at the table who don't feel a giddy thrill from being the one to drop Dr. Destroyer.

I like this answer.

 

I grew up reading Marvel and DC comics from the 60's through to the 80's as a kid, then started collecting them as they came out from the 90's on....pretty much the answer is that I love superheroes. I love comic books. Pretending to be a comic-book superhero in a roleplaying game is the closest I'm ever gonna get to actually being one.

 

I have played other genres before (my Cyberpunk character Glam and my Star Trek Dr Jessica Ventura are two of my favourite characters that I've played), but what I enjoyed about those games were the roleplaying opportunities more than the actual genre itself. Make something about superheroes and you will have a hard time making me not wanna play it...

[T. K. Bertram]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

Well, I play Superhero RPGs because they allow me an escape from a universe filled with moral ambiguity.

 

Or to steal a line penned by JMS: "They were the bad guys. We were the good guys. And their heads made a very satisfying thump when they hit the ground."

[Guest Goradin]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

Its the best genre for character based roleplaying and one of the funnest genres. It doesn't get stale like fantasy roleplaying here we can time travel, go in outer space and still do fantasy. Its all genres combined when done well. I also happen to love comics.

[Lucius]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

Cuz it's kewl...

 

Errr, I mean, in an increasingly complex world in which the word justice seems to have an increasingly obscured meaning, and the common man feels more and more marginalized in a society where he is supposedly the norm, it is only natural to yearn for a sense of empowerment, quite literally, in which his often surprised desire to improve not just his lot, but the world around him, can now be acted on, if only in the world of his imagination. One often feels a call towards activism, and in the superhero setting this call is not only encouraged, but rewarded on many levels. Complexities can exist, but they are mutually agreed upon option for the most part, and in a matter of fiction, a creator can look upon his creation and announce with jove like confidence, "This would be a good man" for more than powers have been defined, the mind, the very soul of the character is as developed or not as he wills, and this is treasured, for in the real world, no man can fully know the soul of another, even if he be lucky enough to know his own.

 

There is, of course, also the call of the mythic. Those that desire grandeur, bigger and greater things, to pretend they are legends of old, but without losing the morality and ethics they themselves may hold to (Or wish they were strong enough to hold to in real life). No blood thirsty Achilles here, no brutish Hercules, no, not even a selfishly lecherous Zeus, but rather beings of comparable power can be played that hold to higher virtues still... if we so desire, and a mutually crafted mythos is made. One can use it to right tragedies, tell high and low drama, and yes, indeed, dabble in farce as pleases one.

 

One should also not forget, one can draw from numerous over genres in this. Science Fiction? By all means, embrace the wonders and terrors of technology that may, through superheroic or villainous form either be the savior or bane of your imaginary world. Fantasy? It is fantasy, albeit a modern mythos as said above. Western themes, the power of an individual to enter a town, and force the town itself to change ,and for the better, abound. Mystery, horror, and satire, all these are but hues that players and GMs alike may bring into the canvas of their campaign should they will it. Only the limits of their talent and imagination could ever render such a chance monotone.

 

It is escapism, and yet also can be an intensely honest time, for like light humor used to test the waters to see how others might react to true feelings, one may decide to safely ask the heavy questions under the protective shield of a mask and cape.

 

 

That, and because it's kewl

 

 

I owe you rep.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And a kewl palindromedary

[Lord Fyre]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

And there is . . . "Hot Chicks in Spandex!"

 

(B.T.W. - I have it on good authority that this does work both ways! )

[Sketchpad]

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games?

 

Why do I play in the super-hero genre? Because I love comics ... have for over 30 years ... and I'm a gamer. When the chance arose to play a super-hero in a RPG when I was a kid, I snagged it and haven't let go since Be honest, if there was only one genre to game in, I would want supers