Is there a superhero system where the focus isn't on combat?
I'm looking to run a superhero game where I have characters who can punch the supervillains, but can't punch the "real" problems.
So they have trouble with their relationships, with their dad's cancer, with paying their mortgage.
Or maybe after a point, when they're rich and famous and their daily problems are small, they realize they can't punch poverty and racism. (If, later in the campaign, they try to take over the world...I'm fine with that.)
On the one hand, I want a game with decent combat mechanics. Partially because there will occasionally be actual supervillains to fight, and partially because I want them to feel powerful and powerless at the same time and tempted to just go shooting into the White House.
On the other hand, it's possible that we might have a couple sessions in a row with no combat whatsoever, and I don't necessarily want to handle all of that freeform. I can, I like freeform and I'm good at it, but the players I have in mind would panic.
First I thought of M&M, because I quite like it. Three problems there. One, building villains will take me a day each time. Two, players with utility powers can render a lot of issues moot. (It's shockingly cheap to build a character who can broadcast messages to the entire world, for example.) Three, the focus of the system is on combat. I mean, not THAT much, as the system is really quite light once you're done with character creation. Still though.
I thought some jRPGs and animes/mangas actually deal with stuff like this, the old "high school student saves the world" thing, so I took a little look at OVA and BESM.(Admittedly, not a very detailed look.) But they seem to be very heavily focused on combat as well. (I'd say MORE than M&M, in fact.) At least, nothing popped out that would make me pick them over M&M. (Well, I suppose it would be a little less work for me, but I don't mind.)
I don't want something as light as, say, Icons. If I went there I may as well just run it freeform.
So does anyone have any suggestions as to a better system, or should I just stick with M&M?
This message was last updated by a moderator, as it was the wrong forum, at 15:14, Fri 15 Apr 2016.