There are endless lists, ad nauseum reviews of the best D&D and fantasy adventure modules. But what are the best Superhero RPG adventures? Does anyone here play Champions, or MSH, or Mutants & Masterminds, or Guardians, etc. ? What makes a good superhero adventure?

And while you're at it what is your favorite superhero RPG and why? Mine is still the original Marvel Super Heroes.

Can't say about adventures because my usual gaming group pretty much dislikes superhero games: never been able to convince them to play something in that regard, not even one shots.

I, on the other hand, like them a lot; especially the ones that allow for truly high power builds and don't give a fuck about balance, forcing players to think really hard (and very out of the box) when they have to solve some problem.
Wild Talents is my "default" game when talking about supers: pretty much unlimited character options, effect based power design, explicitly unbalanced and proud of it. Want a totally indestructible character ? That's 400 points out of 500 at character creation. Want to end all life in the galaxy with but a glance ? That's 96 (or 86, don't remember exactly). Both are examples provided in the book, by the way, and totally legal character builds.

Dishonorable mention: Masks. It's PbtA (so already a false start), but a superhero game without even a single superpower described in the whole book and without rules to create them completely misses the point about supes games. Want to make a good game ? Look at masks and do the opposite.

Quote from: Thor's Nads on June 08, 2023, 04:29:18 AM
There are endless lists, ad nauseum reviews of the best D&D and fantasy adventure modules. But what are the best Superhero RPG adventures? Does anyone here play Champions, or MSH, or Mutants & Masterminds, or Guardians, etc. ? What makes a good superhero adventure?

And while you're at it what is your favorite superhero RPG and why? Mine is still the original Marvel Super Heroes.

TSR's Marvel Super Heroes can be fun and it had a series of modules in a "Nightmare of Future Past" setting that had the PCs trying to save the world from the Sentinels.

Mutants and Masterminds is arguably the best supers rpg and the "Emerald City Knights" campaign is one of the best I've run.

Villains and Vigilantes is a nice old-school supers rpg that had a few good modules. There was a two-parter: "Death Duel with the Destroyers" + "The Island of Doctor Apocalypse" that was fun to play/run back in the day.

The stakes makes a great supers module: it's always better IME having to save the world, than taking down bank-robbers all the time. Having well-designed super-fights where you have to protect bystanders while simultaneously fighting super-crooks never gets old.

M&M is my fav: has the versatility to create any power like Champions, the d20 combat plays very fast unlike a lot of supers rpgs, and it has rules for equipment, vehicles and building a headquarters which a lot of supers rpgs don't have. Plus all the rules are online at d20Hero.

Mutants and Masterminds remains the undefeated King of most balanced, most customizable, and easiest to use Superhero RPG out there.

If you want all the flexability of Champions without having to use a Scientific Calculator, than it's the way to go hands down. There are other systems out there that I'll still play and or run when I want a specific "Feel". Savage Worlds Superhero companion has always been good for doing a lower power Marvel style campaign, for example.

But Mutants and Masterminds will always be my choice in the end.

Adventure wise.... Going back to Savage Worlds, "Necessary Evil" is one of the most fun and interesting Superhero Adventure Scenarios ever created.... You play as VILLAINS who have to save the world after aliens have conquered it and killed all the Heroes... I've ran the campaign three separate times and always added my own twists to it.

After that, for Superhero Settings, Champions 4th edition is probably one of the most interesting Superhero Settings that has everything you need while still being it's own thing. The changes made for the 5th and 6th edition to the setting made it worse... I got lucky with a Humble Bundle that had the entire 4th edition Champions run, and I fell in love with the setting and all it's possibilities..... Shout out goes to "New Millenium"'s Champions setting for capturing the perfect early 90s Image style setting if you want to do that instead.... Just don't use it's "Fuzion" system.

But avoiding out of Print books... the best "settings" Still remain Freedom City and Emerald Knights from again... Mutants and Masterminds... You get a setting that's detailed, well filled out with tons of plot hooks and everything you could want and need.

When it comes to individual "Adventures" I have found nearly all of them to be lacking.... Outside of stand outs like again, "Necessary Evil" or some of the old Champions adventures (Champions and Hero in general have some of the best superhero gaming advice, recognizing that what happens in a Comic Book and is good for a Comic Book isn't necessarily good for an RPG)

If I were to give the best Superhero example I could of how a Superhero Tabletop game should go... It would be the "Young Justice" Series.

The Sidekicks stepping up into their own team, with a home base, dealing with their emotions and budding powers, and being assigened missions by the more experienced Justice League.... and uncovering a secret conspiracy the Justice League isn't even aware of and having to take action themselves..

It's an excellent set up for new and experienced players that eases them in... New Heroes given their own base, with more experienced Heroes sending them out on 'covert' missions for the bigger picture against the villains... while the GM drops plot hooks the 'bigger established Heroes' are not aware of... until the players are confidant enough to search out those plot hooks on their own, without the prodding of an NPC 'more experienced Hero' telling them what to do.... The Young Justice series even jumped ahead 5 years to have the formely 'young' Heroes now the established ones, mentoring the younger ones, while still running their own missions to break apart Villain conspiracy and plans.

Quote from: Orphan81 on June 08, 2023, 01:01:37 PM
After that, for Superhero Settings, Champions 4th edition is probably one of the most interesting Superhero Settings that has everything you need while still being it's own thing. The changes made for the 5th and 6th edition to the setting made it worse... I got lucky with a Humble Bundle that had the entire 4th edition Champions run, and I fell in love with the setting and all it's possibilities..... Shout out goes to "New Millenium"'s Champions setting for capturing the perfect early 90s Image style setting if you want to do that instead.... Just don't use it's "Fuzion" system.

Quote from: Orphan81 on June 08, 2023, 01:01:37 PM
If I were to give the best Superhero example I could of how a Superhero Tabletop game should go... It would be the "Young Justice" Series.

Within Champions, my old favorites were The Coriolis Effect (by Dennis Mallonee) and the campaign book Strike Force (by Aaron Allston). They're both soap-opera-y which fits pretty well with 1980s comic style as well as the Young Justice animated series. Also, the sourcebook Normals Unbound has some great NPCs for subplots.

I didn't care for the "New Millenium" setting, personally, but tastes differ. (Definitely agree to avoid the Fuzion system, though.)

Quote from: jhkim on June 08, 2023, 02:38:15 PM

Quote from: Orphan81 on June 08, 2023, 01:01:37 PM
After that, for Superhero Settings, Champions 4th edition is probably one of the most interesting Superhero Settings that has everything you need while still being it's own thing. The changes made for the 5th and 6th edition to the setting made it worse... I got lucky with a Humble Bundle that had the entire 4th edition Champions run, and I fell in love with the setting and all it's possibilities..... Shout out goes to "New Millenium"'s Champions setting for capturing the perfect early 90s Image style setting if you want to do that instead.... Just don't use it's "Fuzion" system.

Quote from: Orphan81 on June 08, 2023, 01:01:37 PM
If I were to give the best Superhero example I could of how a Superhero Tabletop game should go... It would be the "Young Justice" Series.

Within Champions, my old favorites were The Coriolis Effect (by Dennis Mallonee) and the campaign book Strike Force (by Aaron Allston). They're both soap-opera-y which fits pretty well with 1980s comic style as well as the Young Justice animated series. Also, the sourcebook Normals Unbound has some great NPCs for subplots.

I didn't care for the "New Millenium" setting, personally, but tastes differ. (Definitely agree to avoid the Fuzion system, though.)

I ended up getting the updated Strike Force not to long ago, that book really should be essential reading for anyone truly serious about running Superhero games long term. One of the Good 5th edition supplements "Villany Amok" broke down how to do some of the all time classic Superhero scenarios (Alien Invasion, Bank Robbery, Super Wedding) in an RPG setting and how to translate it.

And as for Millenium (LOL) I get what you mean... It's not for everyone, but for those who really DO want an Iron Age, way too many pockets, Jim Lee, Erik Larson, and Todd McFarlane Style over substance game... it's really perfect for it. If that isn't your thing though, it's definitely to be avoided.

Really this gets to the idea, Hero games put out a lot of quality content... even if I think Mutants and Masterminds surpassed them with ease of system use and presentation.

I feel like a good writer or DM can make a good module out of just about anything story wise. As such, the very best modules have a solid mechanical system and setting backing them.

I remember playing Villains and Vigilantes in my teens with family members. It had been out for decades at that point, but I was just discovering it. I loved the wide variety of powers and their links at times to real world numbers, though under the level system I felt they had less meaning than they otherwise might. I enjoyed it though, as a system, and that carried over to my appreciation for the modules.

Recently, though, my favorite superhero system has been Ascendant, and even the brief and meh-seeming Capital City Casefiles I have access to outperform those other modules. Because the system is so solid. Because I feel like each power and SP level has a very real meaning. And that helps bring the story and characters to life in a very tangible and simulationist way.

(I'd definitely advise giving ascendant a try for those potentially interested. It's not nearly as bad as some folks would have you believe out of woke motivation.)

Hero System 6E is my favorite. We never ran any of the pre-made adventures, but just about every game we created was set in Hudson City. If my house was on fire, and I could save only 5 of my RPG books, HC would be my first pick. It's the best city book I've ever read, for any RPG. There's a short adventure in the back for Dark Champions (street level heroes) but we've never run it.

Mutants and Masterminds 3E is a great game. We did a few games of that, but went back to Hero. Not sure why. I think both games are about equal in terms of what they do. I don't like the Toughness Save in MM, but I don't like Body Damage in Hero. I have Emerald City Knights, which looks amazing, but I've never played it.

But the next supers I run will be Marvel FASERIP. Such a great game. I can't recall any of the published adventures, it's been too long.

Some of TSR's Marvel Superheroes modules are pretty good.

Lone Wolves: This one has some usually solo heroes having to deal with various seemingly unrelated problems that come together.

Fault Line: REALLY short as its more a map pack. But I had this one way back and it works as another "unrelated string of problems are really part of a larger plan" sort of adventure.
 
Night Moves: This one is quite a bit more meaty an adventure and does Lone Wolves better than Lone Wolves.

I have a few others but they are in storage.
 
Personal favorite was the Time Travel series they did. Especially Weird Weird West.

Quote from: Thor's Nads on June 08, 2023, 04:29:18 AM
There are endless lists, ad nauseum reviews of the best D&D and fantasy adventure modules. But what are the best Superhero RPG adventures? Does anyone here play Champions, or MSH, or Mutants & Masterminds, or Guardians, etc. ? What makes a good superhero adventure?

And while you're at it what is your favorite superhero RPG and why? Mine is still the original Marvel Super Heroes.

I'm running MSH right now. It's been one of my staple games since its release in the early 80's and *always* is in high demand by my players. As for adventures? MSH has some fun ones, but the best stuff right now is made by fans.

Official adventures - Cosmos Cubed trilogy is good but it's very high-powered. Nightmares of Future Past trilogy is also excellent. I'm a big fan of Night Moves - its less an adventure as much as it is an excellent sandbox of NYC with tons of detail and adventure generators and is great for Street-level to Spiderman-level fair. Easily modifiable for more powerful characters.

Unofficial adventures - In the Shadow of Evil - simply glorious WWII era adventure that is one of the best superhero adventures I've ever read.

There are others out there, but these are standouts for me. The fact is supers games really come to life as sandbox games where the PC's do their thing in their own spheres of influence and the GM occasionally pulls them out. I'm also a firm believer that spending a lot of time in the non-hero side of their civilian identities is important in order to make their superhero activities matter. This is something that most modules don't really do much with - but it's something that you as a GM can incorporate into your larger game within the modules.

We had a lot of fun with the MSH adventure Lone Wolves.

Daredevil, Power Man, Iron Fist and Black Widow vs. Sabretooth, Vermin, Kraven, The Kingpin, The Punisher, and M.O.D.O.K.?

Are you kidding me? What's better than that? Nothing. There is nothing better than that.

Some of the old Champions adventures were quite good. Coriolis Effect's already been mentioned and is my favorite, but there are many honorable mentions. Shadows of the City and Hudson City Blues are both fun vigilante level adventures, Day of the Destroyer is a classic megavillain threat to the world, there's two different adventures that deal with villain groups specifically deciding to kill a hero - Target: Hero and VOICE of Doom (with VOICE of Doom being the better of the two), To Serve and Protect has a group of heroes that's gone rogue, and The Zodiac Conspiracy and Mind Games both present groups of villains and give a number of plots for the villains to be working on.