Getting people to play Supers in RL RPG

[bangbang]

Seems I have a lot more trouble recruiting for SUPERS campaigns than any sort of fantasy/D&D knock off. Wonder why that is? Theories? Is it the genre? Or are people just stuck in a box?

[WildKnight]

Jul 7, 2011 15:55:14 GMT -5 bangbang said:

Seems I have a lot more trouble recruiting for SUPERS campaigns than any sort of fantasy/D&D knock off. Wonder why that is? Theories? Is it the genre? Or are people just stuck in a box?

The genre is much less flexible, doesn't have as good of a reputation... the list goes on and on.

I like supers games but I would much rather play fantasy most of the time.

[honestiago]

I dunno. There's really a not that much you can do in a Fantasy campaign that you can't do in a Supers campaign--except maybe run around slaying things like an evil d*ck (oh, wait--you cold do that in a Supers game, too). I guess it might be harder to "sandbox" a Supers game...maybe...

I have the same problem recruiting, and I'm not sure why. People may not read comics, but they've certainly seen movies. It's really the same s***t, just packaged differently. Taking down Doctor Doom is not unlike taking down the Big Bad in any fantasy setting. I don't really think flexibility is at issue, unless you're trying to emulate established supes (in fact, WK, I'm not exactly sure what yo mean by "more flexible," unless it's the same discussion we had previously over more versus fewer rules).

[WildKnight]

*shrugs*

As a writer, fantasy allows for more stories than super heroes. The comic book genre really is pretty limited, as much as the fanbase doesn't seem to want to admit it.

[Brainstem]

People expect bigger things out of fantasy, I think is what it boils down to. When players hear "supers," they probably just imagine playing out the X-Men. You have a team of super heroes running around and fighting whatever the next villain to pop up is and there might be some overarching Age of Apocalypse thing brewing in the background. Even though this isn't all that much different than a team of fantasy heroes taking jobs to help people out while evil Warlocks plan to raise some new demon from Hell, the fantasy setting feels more open. The world is new, the creatures are fantastic, and the adventures are epic. You're not running around a city squashing bank robbers, you're traveling across the globe and planes to squash dragons. It may just be a pallet swap, but it's more than just picking the alternate costumes in Smash Bros.

[WildKnight]

There's also the fact that most supers games suck for allowing or encouraging variety.

D&D 3.5 has two core classes that effectively do the same thing (wizard and sorcerer). They share the same spell list, even. But anyone who has played both of these classes knows that they play out very differently, and the strategies for using each are quite different (for those that really know what they're doing, anyway)

Conversely, in the majority of supers systems out there, Dr. Fate, Dr. Strange, Zatara, and, heck Green Lantern really... are all going to play out pretty much exactly the same system-wise, because the strategy is veritably always the same. This despite the fact that in the fiction they're based on, these are very different characters.

You also can't ignore the dungeon factor. By this I mean; a well-built team of super heroes is incredibly difficult to fence in. In most fantasy games, it takes a long time for players to access the powers that allow them to easily locate and travel to the enemy bypassing all dangers in-between (scrying, teleportation, and so on). Supers teams often begin play with these things.

While I'm specifying... players also have problems with super hero games because it's often very difficult to match concept to game reality. PCs don't begin play powerful enough, or the powers are too limited or too specific, etc. Fantasy characters rarely have this problem.

I could go on, but IMO these things are really peripheral, and my first point is really the one I think is the biggest reason; overall popularity, specifically with those die hard enough to engage in RPGs

[Brainstem]

Yeah, I'll definitely have to echo that dungeon factor. Even in Star Wars, I found that to be challenging to manage. If you have a Jedi in the squad, he can probably find a way to bust the team out of wherever they are.

Dungeons for supers have to be more creative, but it loses the "dungeon" feel. Instead of a literal dungeon, you wind up building cities like dungeons. While they play out the same, it doesn't necessarily feel the same. Casual players want to tramp around and kick down doors while hardcore players want to play a specific game, which the supers game probably isn't. Modern fantasy, yes, but that "modern" bit does change quite a few things.

[WildKnight]

Jul 7, 2011 17:23:55 GMT -5 Brainstem said:

but that "modern" bit does change quite a few things.

Cell phones. The best GM I know who runs a fantastic Cthulhu game every year at GenCon (which we have lovingly dubbed "Cthulou" in his honor) refuses to run any CoC game set after the early 90's, because cellular phones make it far too easy to communicate between players w/o resorting to cheesy GM tactics like "uh, your cell phone doesn't appear to be working..."

[andyman]

Jul 7, 2011 15:55:14 GMT -5 bangbang said:

Seems I have a lot more trouble recruiting for SUPERS campaigns than any sort of fantasy/D&D knock off. Wonder why that is? Theories? Is it the genre? Or are people just stuck in a box?

I've noticed the same thing. I think it's like proposing a game of D&D in which everyone will be lawful good and won't kill or steal. Instead they need to capture the monsters and take them to jail.

In other words after playing D&D many feel that superheroes in tights are goody-two-shoes wussies.

[WildKnight]

There's also the leveling factor.

Specifically; fantasy characters gain new abilities as they improve. Super heroes only get better at what they could already do (mostly).

[honestiago]

I would guess then, that a good supers game focuses on non-linear growth of characters, since i agree improvement is not the same as in fantasy. I think you can approximate growth by starting small and gaining power, but would agree it's a diffeteny animal. Since the environ may be familiar, i would propse then, that a good supers game has a layered story with some mystery, highs and lows, and the challenge of foes becoming more capable. I would also think a good supers game really needs great character interaction, or at least tension, like you might find in claremont's x-men or even the petty bickering of the fantastic four. Perhaps this means the focus really is more on character turmoil and motivation than pursuit of power toward a satisfactory end. A lot of what makes the supers world interesting is how these powerful beings view their role in the world. It's sort of related to the basic human question of how we all determine who we shall be and what we have to offer. Which might a bit outside the range of what most of us want from a plain ol' game.

[honestiago]

That said, I'd wish it were easier to get more folks to play supes, but it's hard to compete with power acquisition. You'd have to do something simlar to CoH, where you gain powers as you go.