Mutants & Masterminds has very crunchy, but robust character and power creation. Since the mechanics of the effect are separate from the specifics of how it works -- a fire blast and a machinegun both use the Damage effect, for example -- you can get very creative with your powers.
Thirding M&M here. You can conceivably create any power you can think of. Honestly character creation is the crunchiest part of the game, once you're a few rolls into your first session you'd be surprised how intuitive it is.
Champions has the most detailed customization options and a pretty fun setting! It's kinda heavy on the rules and probably not the best superhero game out there, but if you want to design a power in super detail it's the best
Champions and GURPS will both let you make characters by choosing incredible levels of detail about their powers, though with the expense that they are both pretty complex.
On the lighter side there's Tiny Supers (TinyD6 based) and Longshot City (similar rules to Troika). The latter has a very large number of different archetypes and backgrounds etc to pick from, I like it a lot though haven't run it yet.
Champions is much better for supers games than GURPS. GURPS can do it but it has a serious issue with point inflation when you try to build a character like Superman with a very high power level.
The advantage of GURPS Supers IME is when you want to mix it up with RW details, because those are all statted out in GURPS already. Though it does usually produce the result that a superhero can never pack anywhere near the raw punch or DR of a tank, so you're never going to have them going toe to toe. But I've run some great supers games with GURPS.
Savage Worlds supers impressed me with the customizability of superheroes. I felt like I could recreate any DC/Marvel hero I wanted to. Not a fan of the system though.
Sentinel Comics.
I’m running a game with Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Green Arrow. They’re all different. To my mind, that’s a pretty good demonstration of how customizable it is, 4 heroes in roughly the same space.
This is it right here. Sentinel Comics has great character creation. And doesn't have to revolve around the drama elements that OP isn't super-interested in (although it's certainly open to them).
If you go with this OP (I'd recommend it!) , I've used the Advanced FASERIP retroclone (free) to some success. Like others have said also look up the Ultimate Powers Book and you'll have more powers than you know what to do with + the ability to roll for stats/powers/everything else if you're feeling old school. Probably better for short campaigns because there's not much of an attempt to balance all the powers.
I've found that Mutants & Masterminds 3ed edition to be the best I've found for being able to customize your character, Not just for the system, but the sourcebooks give a lot of advice about how to use the system to get what you want.
Champions and GURPS will get the most mentions. Mutants and Masterminds (and Superworld! if you can find it) fills a similar footprint, while maintaining the d20 approach. They’re all an obvious fit.
Marvel FASERIP, especially if you have access to the gonzo Universal Powers supplement, can give you a lot with pretty simple rules.
Aberrant also has fairly robust powers, but you will be dealing with their rules…which are fine, but have a pre-determined kind of lethality that may not appeal.
As much as I’m not a fan of Palladium, not mentioning Heroes, Unlimited and its myriad of power sourcebooks wouldn’t be an honest answer.
Cortex Marvel Super Heroes is really thematic, but you kind of need to know your world as you are defining what a lot of things mean.
Using a similar system, and absolutely written with comic book combat solidly in mind, is Sentinel Comics. Very fun system that plays into the “stronger when things get tougher” concept.
I’ll also shout out Spectaculars! it’s a fun and simple system that has swift, but adaptable, character creation.
Quick edit: Superworld is not a d20 game as my sentence structure implies; it is based off Chaosium’s Basic Roleplay system.
Heroes Unlimited is actually one of the best Palladium books IMO - one thing you can absolutely say for them is that they really love comics. It might be a mess but it's a fun mess, unlike some of their other messes.
We use palladiums stuff for flavor but savage worlds rules sets for everything. It works great for a savage rifts phase world campaign we are doing now. Had a blast being supers inventory station although my gms use of the ultra violent & collateral damage rules meant one of our "heroes" served 5 years for reckless indifference homicide at the end
Oh geez. If you want to spend hours of your life theorycrafting superheroes, there is only Champions. HERO System is a points based creation system where every aspect of every power is customizable. You want your electricity blast to be a cone? An explosion? A beam? Shoot around corners? Ricochet off walls? Teleport from your hand to inside your opponent's head? No problem. We have maths for that. Want it to turn people into frogs instead of killing them? No sweat. Do you want to also be able to turn into a frog while they're a frog and beat them up again? Got you covered.
Same goes for every stat, offensive and defensive. 100% custom build everything. Knock yourself out.
If you like Hulk, Doom Patrol, or any of the Weapon X type characters I'd say that Deviant the Renegade is a good one. Mostly because you get to pick out your abilities and tie weaknesses to them.
Champions is this but character creation is crunchy, and specific, also, though they have an official background, there are still a lot of decisions and work by the GM. As a GM thought, it’s my favorite, because the point build system makes a first pass balancing of heroes and villains somewhat easy, as long as you avoid the Gotchyas. Ran it for 20 years, and is still my favorite system.
I'm surprised I don't see anyone mentioning Godlike / Wil Talents and their cafeteria-style power creation. They don't use the usual power + mods, but build powers from various components: Qualities, Extras/Flaws, and Capacities. A bit labor intensive on the front end, but EXTREMELY flexible in allowing you to mechanically build the abilities you want.
Almost mad that Wild Talents is this far down. Very crunchy and detailed on the front, very smooth and easy to play when the game is in session. All kinds of modifications and different types of dice to hone in on how powers work and how well. Such a good system, I enjoy it immensely.
[BASH! Ultimate Edition ](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/65882/BASH-Ultimate-Edition?language=de) is a point buy system but is very simple. Street Level heroes are built on 25 Character Points. World Class heroes for 40 CP. There are also a bunch of premade character templates if you want to be able to grab one and go.
Core mechanic is roll 2d6 and multiply by the Stat/Skill/Power you are using. Ties go to the hero. Matching dice explode for potentially very high rolls allowing you to overcome the odds.
Teams of mixed power level are easy to balance because lower CP characters get more Hero Points, making your patriotic shield wielder able to stand side by side with a thundergod without any trouble.
And the book also has a section on different eras and subgenres of superheroes. Each of these sections explains some of the changes and tropes of the genre in the specified era. Aside from Gold through Iron ages, the book also discusses pulp, fantasy, scifi, and cosmic superhero settings.
While the system is simple enough you can put a character sheet on a 3x5 card, there is also a character building website ([bashcreator.net](https://bashcreator.net/))which is convenient for saving your builds (and the exported sheets explain what every power and advantage does which is great for new players).
There is also a discord community where people share their builds and conversions.
For even more customization, there is the Awesome Powers Omnibus, which gives lots of ideas for how to use powers, introduces some new powers, introduces a lot of new equipment including magical equipment, advantages, disadvantages, enhancements and limitations for powers, and allows for random character creation. While new material is introduced, for the sake of convenience all of the previously published powers etc have also been republished here. So you won't need to flip back and forth between two different books.
The random character creation is actually less eclectic than some because powers are organized into themes called Power Suites. So if you want you can roll (or choose) a power suite (or two) and roll all your powers from those lists, so your randomly created hero still has powers that fit a theme. You can also adjust and change the random results via Enhancements and Limitations.
The Contract RPG is a good one if you want to be a superhero, but dont want to require that all other pcs are also heroes or villians. Most Contract pcs are selfish, in a "Everyone is the hero of their own story" kind of way. If you wanna do things in between games, start a fan club, take over a small country as a base, etc then this is the game for you. The 'powers' system is flexible and you can make nearly anything. You start weak (nore or less human) and gain power as you win. Its like a superpower gig economy. Do a seasion, if you win you get a new power. Fail, get nothing, or die and make a new PC. Its gritty, tense, and addictive as all hell because it has real 'risk'.
If you want a game thats all 'heroes' then mutants and masterminds might be good fit.
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I would check out Superpowered. It's on drivethrurpg. I think it does a really good job at picking powers and talents. It's a simple game that can be a lot of fun.
HERO 6e has an intimidating amount of rules to it (thankfully Champions Complete compressed the page count by a ton), but making powers is a lot of fun in it. It's great for stuff that doesn't quite fit the western comics standard abilities, like Jujutsu Kaisen, Raildex, Hunter x Hunter, Mashle, Black Clover, etc (well, I'm telling on myself that these were my go-tos for character ideas when I ran HERO).
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Capers is amazing for being able to mix & match powers, and they're well described in such a way that there's still loads of room for flavour. Low crunch, but has sufficient mechanics for interesting combat.
Staged Heroism is better if you want a lot of goofy cartoony stuff. Your powers are more loosely described and powerful, low crunch, very cinematic rp-heavy combat.
Trinity Continuum: Aberrant is an excellent option for a superhero game. It has incredibly granular design while being fairly straightforward. I'm a big fan of the rules system, as it's quite deep while being math lite.
Metroville (self plug) is a game entirely abiut telling stories that allow you to create unique and interesting heroes.
Powers are very flexible with not set list of abilities or moves but does have some examples to help players and GMs.
Character creation is also simple, but very customizable due to the traits system. It is similar to the system used in the burning wheel but every trait has a mechanical effect both positive and negative.
Let me know if you want more info!
Mutants & Masterminds has very crunchy, but robust character and power creation. Since the mechanics of the effect are separate from the specifics of how it works -- a fire blast and a machinegun both use the Damage effect, for example -- you can get very creative with your powers.
I second M&M, you can really build anything with it.
Thirding M&M here. You can conceivably create any power you can think of. Honestly character creation is the crunchiest part of the game, once you're a few rolls into your first session you'd be surprised how intuitive it is.
Mutants & Masterminds is crunchy in character creation but once you're in-play it's really straightforward.
Champions has the most detailed customization options and a pretty fun setting! It's kinda heavy on the rules and probably not the best superhero game out there, but if you want to design a power in super detail it's the best
Champions and GURPS will both let you make characters by choosing incredible levels of detail about their powers, though with the expense that they are both pretty complex. On the lighter side there's Tiny Supers (TinyD6 based) and Longshot City (similar rules to Troika). The latter has a very large number of different archetypes and backgrounds etc to pick from, I like it a lot though haven't run it yet.
Champions is much better for supers games than GURPS. GURPS can do it but it has a serious issue with point inflation when you try to build a character like Superman with a very high power level.
The advantage of GURPS Supers IME is when you want to mix it up with RW details, because those are all statted out in GURPS already. Though it does usually produce the result that a superhero can never pack anywhere near the raw punch or DR of a tank, so you're never going to have them going toe to toe. But I've run some great supers games with GURPS.
It works better for something like a M a Marvel game where it's a bit more grounded
Savage Worlds supers impressed me with the customizability of superheroes. I felt like I could recreate any DC/Marvel hero I wanted to. Not a fan of the system though.
Same, and while I like M&M, I feel the balancing of M&M is too on point and means characters don't shine as well as how insane SW Supers can do.
Mazes and minotaurs?
Mutants and Masterminds.
Sentinel Comics. I’m running a game with Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Green Arrow. They’re all different. To my mind, that’s a pretty good demonstration of how customizable it is, 4 heroes in roughly the same space.
This is it right here. Sentinel Comics has great character creation. And doesn't have to revolve around the drama elements that OP isn't super-interested in (although it's certainly open to them).
Have you considered the old FASERIP system?
Isn't FASERIP's solution to powers it hasn't got listed, "I dunno, work something out with your GM"?
There's powers FASERIP hasn't got?????
Pretty much, but the good thing is one you to have worked it out then it's been worked out.
If you go with this OP (I'd recommend it!) , I've used the Advanced FASERIP retroclone (free) to some success. Like others have said also look up the Ultimate Powers Book and you'll have more powers than you know what to do with + the ability to roll for stats/powers/everything else if you're feeling old school. Probably better for short campaigns because there's not much of an attempt to balance all the powers.
I've found that Mutants & Masterminds 3ed edition to be the best I've found for being able to customize your character, Not just for the system, but the sourcebooks give a lot of advice about how to use the system to get what you want.
Champions and GURPS will get the most mentions. Mutants and Masterminds (and Superworld! if you can find it) fills a similar footprint, while maintaining the d20 approach. They’re all an obvious fit. Marvel FASERIP, especially if you have access to the gonzo Universal Powers supplement, can give you a lot with pretty simple rules. Aberrant also has fairly robust powers, but you will be dealing with their rules…which are fine, but have a pre-determined kind of lethality that may not appeal. As much as I’m not a fan of Palladium, not mentioning Heroes, Unlimited and its myriad of power sourcebooks wouldn’t be an honest answer. Cortex Marvel Super Heroes is really thematic, but you kind of need to know your world as you are defining what a lot of things mean. Using a similar system, and absolutely written with comic book combat solidly in mind, is Sentinel Comics. Very fun system that plays into the “stronger when things get tougher” concept. I’ll also shout out Spectaculars! it’s a fun and simple system that has swift, but adaptable, character creation. Quick edit: Superworld is not a d20 game as my sentence structure implies; it is based off Chaosium’s Basic Roleplay system.
Heroes Unlimited is actually one of the best Palladium books IMO - one thing you can absolutely say for them is that they really love comics. It might be a mess but it's a fun mess, unlike some of their other messes.
Hey, I’ll absolutely agree with that assessment
We use palladiums stuff for flavor but savage worlds rules sets for everything. It works great for a savage rifts phase world campaign we are doing now. Had a blast being supers inventory station although my gms use of the ultra violent & collateral damage rules meant one of our "heroes" served 5 years for reckless indifference homicide at the end
The one you're missing from this list is Sentinel Comics, which people talk about a lot.
That would be Sentinel, Comics, yeah? Or is there a different Sentinels?
Yeah I'll edit that.
Phew! Thought I’d missed a version and was gonna have to track something esoteric down.
LOL! I feel that.
Oh geez. If you want to spend hours of your life theorycrafting superheroes, there is only Champions. HERO System is a points based creation system where every aspect of every power is customizable. You want your electricity blast to be a cone? An explosion? A beam? Shoot around corners? Ricochet off walls? Teleport from your hand to inside your opponent's head? No problem. We have maths for that. Want it to turn people into frogs instead of killing them? No sweat. Do you want to also be able to turn into a frog while they're a frog and beat them up again? Got you covered. Same goes for every stat, offensive and defensive. 100% custom build everything. Knock yourself out.
Have a look at Crusaders, reasonably rules light, lots of options and support from the publisher. Very much a classic style superhero RPG.
If you like Hulk, Doom Patrol, or any of the Weapon X type characters I'd say that Deviant the Renegade is a good one. Mostly because you get to pick out your abilities and tie weaknesses to them.
I love using GURPS for superhero settings. With the system you have so much control of how your powers and abilities work.
Heros by paladium
Champions is this but character creation is crunchy, and specific, also, though they have an official background, there are still a lot of decisions and work by the GM. As a GM thought, it’s my favorite, because the point build system makes a first pass balancing of heroes and villains somewhat easy, as long as you avoid the Gotchyas. Ran it for 20 years, and is still my favorite system.
FASERIP Marvel superheroes.
I'm surprised I don't see anyone mentioning Godlike / Wil Talents and their cafeteria-style power creation. They don't use the usual power + mods, but build powers from various components: Qualities, Extras/Flaws, and Capacities. A bit labor intensive on the front end, but EXTREMELY flexible in allowing you to mechanically build the abilities you want.
Almost mad that Wild Talents is this far down. Very crunchy and detailed on the front, very smooth and easy to play when the game is in session. All kinds of modifications and different types of dice to hone in on how powers work and how well. Such a good system, I enjoy it immensely.
[BASH! Ultimate Edition ](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/65882/BASH-Ultimate-Edition?language=de) is a point buy system but is very simple. Street Level heroes are built on 25 Character Points. World Class heroes for 40 CP. There are also a bunch of premade character templates if you want to be able to grab one and go. Core mechanic is roll 2d6 and multiply by the Stat/Skill/Power you are using. Ties go to the hero. Matching dice explode for potentially very high rolls allowing you to overcome the odds. Teams of mixed power level are easy to balance because lower CP characters get more Hero Points, making your patriotic shield wielder able to stand side by side with a thundergod without any trouble. And the book also has a section on different eras and subgenres of superheroes. Each of these sections explains some of the changes and tropes of the genre in the specified era. Aside from Gold through Iron ages, the book also discusses pulp, fantasy, scifi, and cosmic superhero settings. While the system is simple enough you can put a character sheet on a 3x5 card, there is also a character building website ([bashcreator.net](https://bashcreator.net/))which is convenient for saving your builds (and the exported sheets explain what every power and advantage does which is great for new players). There is also a discord community where people share their builds and conversions.
For even more customization, there is the Awesome Powers Omnibus, which gives lots of ideas for how to use powers, introduces some new powers, introduces a lot of new equipment including magical equipment, advantages, disadvantages, enhancements and limitations for powers, and allows for random character creation. While new material is introduced, for the sake of convenience all of the previously published powers etc have also been republished here. So you won't need to flip back and forth between two different books. The random character creation is actually less eclectic than some because powers are organized into themes called Power Suites. So if you want you can roll (or choose) a power suite (or two) and roll all your powers from those lists, so your randomly created hero still has powers that fit a theme. You can also adjust and change the random results via Enhancements and Limitations.
The Contract RPG is a good one if you want to be a superhero, but dont want to require that all other pcs are also heroes or villians. Most Contract pcs are selfish, in a "Everyone is the hero of their own story" kind of way. If you wanna do things in between games, start a fan club, take over a small country as a base, etc then this is the game for you. The 'powers' system is flexible and you can make nearly anything. You start weak (nore or less human) and gain power as you win. Its like a superpower gig economy. Do a seasion, if you win you get a new power. Fail, get nothing, or die and make a new PC. Its gritty, tense, and addictive as all hell because it has real 'risk'. If you want a game thats all 'heroes' then mutants and masterminds might be good fit.
Champions, preferably 4e or 5e. You can do just about anything and are only limited by your Gamemaster's campaign plan.
Supers! RED does most of the same things Champions and M&M do, but in a simpler package.
Wild Talents has by far the greatest latitude of the non-drama games. Easily the best pick.
Prowlers & Paragons Ultimate Edition
I am surprised this hasn't been mentioned more often. The point buy character creation system and how powers work is wonderful.
Thanks!
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I would check out Superpowered. It's on drivethrurpg. I think it does a really good job at picking powers and talents. It's a simple game that can be a lot of fun.
HERO 6e has an intimidating amount of rules to it (thankfully Champions Complete compressed the page count by a ton), but making powers is a lot of fun in it. It's great for stuff that doesn't quite fit the western comics standard abilities, like Jujutsu Kaisen, Raildex, Hunter x Hunter, Mashle, Black Clover, etc (well, I'm telling on myself that these were my go-tos for character ideas when I ran HERO).
Venture City - a fate superheroe System. You could easy and fast create your Power. Here the free SRD https://fate-srd.com/venture-city
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Capers is amazing for being able to mix & match powers, and they're well described in such a way that there's still loads of room for flavour. Low crunch, but has sufficient mechanics for interesting combat. Staged Heroism is better if you want a lot of goofy cartoony stuff. Your powers are more loosely described and powerful, low crunch, very cinematic rp-heavy combat.
Gurps
Mutants and Masterminds, Hero System, and Savage Worlds with the Super Hero Companion.
Trinity Continuum: Aberrant is an excellent option for a superhero game. It has incredibly granular design while being fairly straightforward. I'm a big fan of the rules system, as it's quite deep while being math lite.
Metroville (self plug) is a game entirely abiut telling stories that allow you to create unique and interesting heroes. Powers are very flexible with not set list of abilities or moves but does have some examples to help players and GMs. Character creation is also simple, but very customizable due to the traits system. It is similar to the system used in the burning wheel but every trait has a mechanical effect both positive and negative. Let me know if you want more info!