"Essential" Books for Supers

[Zarathustra]

Originally Posted by whswhs

When I ran my last GURPS Supers campaign, a rather high-end one with PCs built on 1,500 points, I used Powers, Supers—and High-Tech. When PCs can do damage comparable to that from a tank or a battleship, you need information on conventional weapons on that scale. And one of the PCs carried a variety of heavy weapons into combat, using her super-strength. High-Tech was really useful.

Bill Stoddard

Good point. It's definitely moving up to "Must Buy".

What do you guys think of Bio-Tech and Psi-Tech? Can I safely ignore them or are they worth the price of admission?

Also, I already have Power-Ups: Enhancements and one of the chapters is about modifying existing damage. If I have Enhancements do I need Imbuements?

[Anaraxes]

Imbuements is a different system, basically a way to be able to power up any ordinary weapon you pick up to make it a flaming sword (or whatever).

It turns out that it's actually fairly awkward to build something around Innate Attack that looks a lot like a regular melee attack, but with bonus damage. The damage has to change with weapon type, damage type, user's Strength, and so on, and there's not a really clean and satisfying way to do that with IA. So, a new system was born.

Imbuements could fit a few types of supers -- Green Arrow / Hawkeye, perhaps, though they're more poster children for Alternate Attacks. Gambit likes to charge up playing cards as a matter of style, but he can do that to any object. But it wouldn't be high on my list of essentials.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Zarathustra

What do you guys think of Bio-Tech and Psi-Tech? Can I safely ignore them or are they worth the price of admission?

Psi-tech is useful if you're going to have powers that are reproduced by technology. It has "Psi" on the cover, but its about how to use technology when augmenting powers. I've never used it in a campaign though.

If you want to have a no holds barred gadgeteer, its probably a decent buy, but I don't know.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Zarathustra

What do you guys think of Bio-Tech and Psi-Tech? Can I safely ignore them or are they worth the price of admission?

Bio-Tech is more realistic than most treatments of superpowers are. You might be able to use it in a campaign that was (a) at the low end of the power scale and (b) unusually concerned with making its heroes seem plausible. For a four-color campaign it would give you more depth of coverage in a part of the spectrum that four-color rarely emphasizes—which could be good or bad.

It might be helpful in suggesting plots for mad bioscientists to come up with to use on the normal people that the supers are sworn to protect, though.

I think it wouldn't be my top priority for that particular genre. I'd look at it more for classic sf or near-future realistic sf—or maybe for horror or anthropomorphics. If you want to play Sirius or C'mell or Sergeant Taura it may be just what you need.

Bill Stoddard

[Kalzazz]

Imbuements is Very Different from Enhancements

As a preview of what imbuements is like, see this post by Kromm

http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.p...24&postcount=6

[Rocket Man]

It depends on the kind of Supers game you want to play. I do a lower-key grim n' gritty, so I've gotten a decent amount of mileage from GURPS Mysteries and GURPS Bio-Tech (the campaign's main PC is a physician gadgeteer) with some occasional assists from GURPS Social Engineering and GURPS High-Tech. Plus the core three of Basic1, Basic2 and Powers, of course.

But to me, the really essential thing for Supers is a good setting, and there you're going to have either make your own or grab one from another company. (I found a modified version of Hero Games' Hudson City to be good for what I needed.)

[dcarson]

If you want the kind of magic user you see in comics (not a fixed list of spells) with any effect they can imagine I'd look at Ritual Path magic from Monster Hunters book 1.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by dcarson

If you want the kind of magic user you see in comics (not a fixed list of spells) with any effect they can imagine I'd look at Ritual Path magic from Monster Hunters book 1.

A Magic! wildcard power or maybe Realm magic might be a better choice. RPM is still more operational than tactical and it involves funky ritual components more sophisticated than just sdrawkcab gnikaeps.