Thanks for this! As a long-time supers RPG fan, game designer AND someone about to publish my own supers TTRPG, I'm really glad you dug into this data like this! I truly hope that you are right about supers being the second port-of-call for new RPG fans. It was true for me. I wonder, too, if Bob's audience might be younger than he thinks? That would lead to the Marvel game getting more votes, based on the IP and the marketing skewing younger. (Also, those of us who have been playing for years HAVE our favorites already, I've found. A newer game must have a newer fan-base.)
What’s your game called? I’m always on the lookout for supers RPGs because I’m fascinated by how different folks approach the genre.
As for MMRPG coming out on top and the audience age issue, Bob showed his analytics in the video and there was virtually no representation in the lower age brackets for his subscribers. And from what I see, MMRPG has a fairly similar player demographic as far as age range is concerned.
I think its poll position can be squarely attributed to myself and Fuzzy sharing the poll on our socials. We talk almost exclusively about MMRPG, so it stands to reason it would skew the result in favour of the game.
Thanks! Yeah, I think you must be right. Almost all of your content is about MMRPG, so if you promoted the poll, that would have done it. It's amazing what one person can do in the right place!
My game is The Hero Instant, and you can find a cob-webby version here: www.TheHeroInstant.com. Or, if you go to many cons, you might find me running the game. RageCon in Reno? Gen-Con in Indianapolis?
I’m just a stone throw away of releasing a multiverse ttrpg that combines fantasy, super heroes, weird west, and Space Opera worlds together…
You’re right, this is the “what is your favourite” not “top five favourites” - hopefully Tales of Glory will eventually hit that list for super heroes and multiverses!
Supers is the toughest genre in the TTRPG space, I think. Because it's so broad and so hard to balance. The dice fall in ways that just never make sense when you read it in a comic. The faceless thug never actually manages to punch Spider-Man, nevertheless in an RPG if they roll a critical hit, it happens and immersion is broken. Moreover, balance is an issue. In a comic you can create balance via the predetermined narrartrive where Batman and Superman are somehow on equal footing in a team-up, but when you codify that it all falls apart. I think the only way for supers to work is if you go into its subgenres. Give me 30s style pulp supers with characters like The Shadow and The Rocketeer, or something like the X-Men where most characters (except for a few outliers like Jean Grey or Apocalypse) are on equal footing - narratively speaking you can create a believable campaign where Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Gambit are all about on par with one another. But when one player wants to play Captain America and another player wants to play Thor things crumble.
I think they only crumble if the game treats “balance” as a substantial factor. Look at Masks, for example. That’s a game where an archer and a Superman style powerhouse can very much be on the same team and the game still works because it’s not trying to simulate those characters’ powers or balance the players’ experiences with combat. I think that’s why so many people like it. It’s more about the characters themselves than it is about their capabilities as a superpowered individual.
I've not checked out Masks. I had, by and large, given up on the Superhero RPG. Last one I saw that was worth its salt was, ironically, Smallville. I'll give Masks a look.
I hear good things about Smallville. I believe it's the same engine as Marvel Heroic? That's another game people sing the praises of. A shame they were so short-lived.
Good to know it got to somebody! Luckily, the group still pops up in my feed because Facebook’s weird like that, so I do still see certain posts from the group.
Thanks for this! As a long-time supers RPG fan, game designer AND someone about to publish my own supers TTRPG, I'm really glad you dug into this data like this! I truly hope that you are right about supers being the second port-of-call for new RPG fans. It was true for me. I wonder, too, if Bob's audience might be younger than he thinks? That would lead to the Marvel game getting more votes, based on the IP and the marketing skewing younger. (Also, those of us who have been playing for years HAVE our favorites already, I've found. A newer game must have a newer fan-base.)
What’s your game called? I’m always on the lookout for supers RPGs because I’m fascinated by how different folks approach the genre.
As for MMRPG coming out on top and the audience age issue, Bob showed his analytics in the video and there was virtually no representation in the lower age brackets for his subscribers. And from what I see, MMRPG has a fairly similar player demographic as far as age range is concerned.
I think its poll position can be squarely attributed to myself and Fuzzy sharing the poll on our socials. We talk almost exclusively about MMRPG, so it stands to reason it would skew the result in favour of the game.
Thanks! Yeah, I think you must be right. Almost all of your content is about MMRPG, so if you promoted the poll, that would have done it. It's amazing what one person can do in the right place!
My game is The Hero Instant, and you can find a cob-webby version here: www.TheHeroInstant.com. Or, if you go to many cons, you might find me running the game. RageCon in Reno? Gen-Con in Indianapolis?
I live in Ireland, so I have yet to go to any of the bigger American cons. Considering it for next year though!
Thanks for the marketing research.
I’m just a stone throw away of releasing a multiverse ttrpg that combines fantasy, super heroes, weird west, and Space Opera worlds together…
You’re right, this is the “what is your favourite” not “top five favourites” - hopefully Tales of Glory will eventually hit that list for super heroes and multiverses!
Let me know when it drops, I'd love to take a look at it!
Faserip only got 6 votes? I weep for humanity.
Seriously though, while it is my favorite system, I spend most all of my time playing fantasy because that's the group I have.
Also, I'll be in the corner logged into City of Heroes foiling a Nemesis plot to make myself feel better.
If it makes you feel any better, as HEROIC uses a slightly modified FASERIP rules-set, it technically got 11 votes.
😁
Supers is the toughest genre in the TTRPG space, I think. Because it's so broad and so hard to balance. The dice fall in ways that just never make sense when you read it in a comic. The faceless thug never actually manages to punch Spider-Man, nevertheless in an RPG if they roll a critical hit, it happens and immersion is broken. Moreover, balance is an issue. In a comic you can create balance via the predetermined narrartrive where Batman and Superman are somehow on equal footing in a team-up, but when you codify that it all falls apart. I think the only way for supers to work is if you go into its subgenres. Give me 30s style pulp supers with characters like The Shadow and The Rocketeer, or something like the X-Men where most characters (except for a few outliers like Jean Grey or Apocalypse) are on equal footing - narratively speaking you can create a believable campaign where Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Gambit are all about on par with one another. But when one player wants to play Captain America and another player wants to play Thor things crumble.
I think they only crumble if the game treats “balance” as a substantial factor. Look at Masks, for example. That’s a game where an archer and a Superman style powerhouse can very much be on the same team and the game still works because it’s not trying to simulate those characters’ powers or balance the players’ experiences with combat. I think that’s why so many people like it. It’s more about the characters themselves than it is about their capabilities as a superpowered individual.
I've not checked out Masks. I had, by and large, given up on the Superhero RPG. Last one I saw that was worth its salt was, ironically, Smallville. I'll give Masks a look.
I hear good things about Smallville. I believe it's the same engine as Marvel Heroic? That's another game people sing the praises of. A shame they were so short-lived.
No. It uses the Cortex System. A very, very modified (in a good way) version of the Cortex System.
Marvel Heroic also uses the Cortex system, as far as I'm aware. Though I'm not sure how modified it is.
Oh. I did not know that. In Smallville instead of attributes, you have virtues so WHY you’re doing the action is as important as HOW you’re doing it.
I'm pretty sure I found your link based on the World of Supers RPG group. You should stick around there!
Good to know it got to somebody! Luckily, the group still pops up in my feed because Facebook’s weird like that, so I do still see certain posts from the group.
I think you may be commenting on the wrong post...