[Closed] Aberrant: A dystopian supers game

I could come around to smallville after scanning the core book. I played 2nd edition mutants and masterminds and wasn't a huge fan, but possibly 3e comes with some improvements? I'm interested enough in the setting to make it work if that's what we settle on

Correct me if I'm wrong, But Smallville seems mostly like one's powers are flavoring for rolls. Even moreso than Venture City Fate?

They are. There are some mechanics behind them but the game mostly just assumes you will roleplay them.
It's a drama simulator, not a superpower simulator 😄

Personally I do want a bit of the superhero simulator crunch. (If it wasn't obvious from me choosing Mutants and Masterminds as my favorite).

I volunteer to play the flying brick. In Mutants and Masterminds

Roger that, I'm leaning towards a system that'll let us have some degree of superhero crunch: an array of powers that'll let us clearly resolve situations (whether combat, subterfuge, negotiation, etc) without a drawn-out slugfest that would bog PbP down.

So I'm leaning away from Smallville, not because there won't be drama in what I imagine this game to be, but I don't envision needing mechanics to describe the drama.

Letting bowlofspinach know so your expectations of this game won't be too dashed. :)

I might still be interested in the game, depending on the setting choice, though
this is what Smallville does perfectly in my opinion.

But I'm fine with other systems, as I said. We just got to the topic of Smallville and once we do, I can't stop talking about it 😆 Will mute myself now :p

What tier of play are we thinking?
(Especially @Bedzonell)

I’m fine with any system, honestly (other than Powered by the Apocalypse, maybe). Mutants and Masterminds does have the crunch to make really detailed supers, from what I’ve seen.

I don’t know much about Smallville, but I have played Cortex Classic. I enjoyed the system but haven’t seen how well it works for supers.

Is this game intended to be very gritty and serious?

If it's M&M, I wouldn't join. I joined a game of that a while ago but dropped out during CC because it was way too crunchy for me and didn't seem like the type of game I enjoy.
But if that's the consensus then go for it without me. It's not like this would be my only game on GP 😅

Responding to Phoenix's question first, in M&M terms, we're playing power level 10, just behind the big leagues.

I want to thank everyone for weighing in with their perspective and their experiences, which have certainly been very diverse in the supers genre. This feels like a genuine interest check discussion.

That said, I still have to pick one, and I'm going for Aberrant 1e aka Storyteller system. I think that's a sensible common ground between the crunchiness of M&M and the more fluid narrative-based aspects of Fate or Smallville. I do not expect WoD systems to be too problematic (there are some idiosyncrasies but they can be resolved), in case anyone has any reservations that the system I'm choosing might get in the way of an enjoyable game.

This decision was also prompted by Gnome's question about grittiness. I think the Taint mechanic in Aberrant could be enjoyable in this particular setting. The big Justice League baddies are essentially world-dominating bullies, and the PCs will have to consider what sacrifices they are prepared to make in order to confront them / take them down / be better than them / join them(?) etc.

It's finally the weekend, so I'll set up the game thread in a day or so and send everyone here an invite. Pop in when you can to read my description of the setting and directions for character creation, and then you can decide whether to commit.

With that, I shall rename this thread to say [Recruitment].

Thanks all! And further interest from others is still welcome!

I am looking at the Aberrant book... and it us a slog to get through. It us really hard to pick out where character creation starts and the massive chunks of sorytelling end.

Yeah. The Aberrant 1e book was a lot of style over function. That goes for most of that line of books. There should be a couple of us that are familiar enough with the system to help out or bounce ideas off of if you need it.

Ok. I'm not sure how much all of these powers cost? There doesn't seem to be telling me what each power is?
The powers dont seem to be laid out in one place, I see an option referenced for armor before, but no armor. For example.

I’ve been re-familiarizing myself with the system. Taint is an interesting mechanic. Are all the Aberrant 1e books permissible to use?

Continued:It looks like powers are around 12-25 Nova points? And we get 30, so we get about 2 powers?
Which seems like less than most WOD games?

It depends on the level of the power. The level One Quantum Powers are fairly cheap. Level Two Powers are moderately priced. Level Three is really expensive. With 30 Nova Points, you should be able to have a decent mix of level One and Two Powers, especially if you don’t put any points into Mega-Attributes and Enhancements.

Level Three Powers are pretty expensive, so I’m guessing most starting characters with access to that Level would normally have only one of those (if any at all). They are extremely potent, but the Quantum rating requirement definitely eats into your available points.

I might go the opposite route. I’m thinking of making a nova with no points in Powers, and all his points in Mega-Attributes. Sort of a "Captain America" build: superhuman physical and mental performance without overt super powers.

If we're going to lay concepts out (which I think might be helpful to avoid stepping on each other's toes thematically, as well as possibly create complimentary characters) I was considering a super based on Mega-Intelligence and associated effects. A mastermind in the vein of Lex Luthor and Brainiac's love child...or MegaMind depending on how his luck runs ;)

I'm choosing between an a fire type blaster or a brawler type.
Either way, fairly front lines.

I only see 1 list on pg101.