Gurps Supers

Rating:
Summary: Close to perfect!
Review: As a long time RPG gamer and a long time comic book freak, this game really came as a life-saver to me. My GURPS group figured out how to work Supers into EVERYHING we did. The powers, modifiers, advantages, and disadvantages all work together to make nearly limitless possibilities. Do you want a telepathic, death-crazed, cybernetic monkey who can create clouds of foul smelling, poison gas? Or a night-stalking, brooding, anti-hero with blades a-plenty springing from every orifice? GURPS Supers will do it. Any hero you can imagine can be built with this system.

The only thing that kept me from giving it a five-star rating is that it is very rules-heavy. Normally, I like that... but it is hard to create the full, off-the-wall, goofy flavor of the Jack Kirby/ Stan Lee comic books when you're constantly trying to remember that you only do 38% damage in a full moon... say, how do we keep track of moon-phases anyway?

Other than that one complaint, GURPS Supers has been a terrific addition to our gaming group.

Rating:
Summary: Look no further...
Review: To begin, I started with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in 1981, and Villains & Vigilantes two years after that, and my gaming buddies and I have played mostly in the superhero genre ever since. Although we've delved into other game systems (Heroes Unlimited, Marvel, and others), we stayed true to the V&V style of playing yourself with the addition of super abilities. Then, in 1991, we happened upon GURPS and have used it ever since. One of the things I love about this system is the ability to personalize a character as you want...as complex or simplistic as you will...and always be compatible and balanced with a similarly-leveled group. Now, with regard to the supers genre, some will decry GURPS for being "un-comic book like", as the combat system is extremely realistic. Staring down a mutant thug with an energy blast attack? If you don't have decent Damage Resistance, you'd BETTER have Passive Defense, good Dodging ability, or LUCK, or kiss Captain Podunk's a** GOOD-BYE. When you win in the end, you've EARNED the experience points you're given, as you've really had to THINK, and use an equal measure of guts and discretion, to survive. Un-comic book like? ONLY if you're talking about Golden- or Silver-Age, Comics Code Authority publications, where villains weren't ALLOWED to win in the end...NO evil deed was allowed to be seen to triumph when all was said and done. THIS system is the absolute BEST at simulating the gritty, hardcore, "street-reality" of many of today's comics, where heroes DO face grave threats, agonizing moral imperatives, and inter-personal relationships...and don't NECCESSARILY always win. If, however, 60s-70s era Super Friends-type play is what you're after, the Stun Points & related optional rules easily bring your characters into line with what you want. If actual role-playing and personalization are what you want to do in an RPG, you'll like this game alot. If YOU TOO play with a gang of wild-eyed, dangerously-intelligent REAL WORLD thugs, martial artists & military vets with a taste for blood, you'll freakin' LOVE it!