I've been thinking, why aren't superhero ttrpgs more popular...

I've been thinking, why aren't superhero ttrpgs more popular? Superhero movies have been huge for the past ten years and most nerds I know enjoy or at least watch them, but none of them play M&M or whatever. You could argue argue that the table-top market is it's thing and doesn't experience much influence from the popular culture, but as far as I know when cyberpunk hit it big there was a glut (considering that publishing a game was srs bsns) of cyberpunk rpgs some of which like Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2013 became pretty popular.

That's a really good point.

comics-tier super powers make for poor storytelling

Because DC and Marvel hate anything they cannot control and monetize.

Because it's really hard to make a good-one. MHR comes the closest IMHO, but even it falls short, because they never really finished making a non-random procedural character creation process, which most players/tables see as essential.

You don't actually need an IP to make a good cape RPG. All popular characters can be represented by broad archetypes like "Flying brick" or "Badass unpowered dude with gadgets" really well.

Poor storytelling? Why? Superhero story may seem like nightmare to run, but I'm sure no one would say that Annie Rice vampires were very playable before Masquerade.

I mean...I feel like casters would provide more of a problem. With most superhero power sets, you can probably balance most of them....

The players might be content with 'Superhero fantasy' which most high fantasy somewhat are, like D&D.

Superhero games are hard to run. They are mostly not about how characters do things, but what and why. Making drama plots like those work isn't easy. Cyberpunk on the other hand can be turned into a dungeon crawl with security cyborgs and robotic tanks instead of orks and dragons.

You can easily get around that by making the game not focus on the external conflicts, think Masks or (and I dread to bring is up) Superhuman

This. D&D is essentially the same niche as superheroes, except less spandex and more swords.

Personally I think the biggest roadblock is that superheroes are very visual. It's like how you don't see any superhero novels really. Superheroes are largely defined by their bright, cool costumes, and unless you're all talented artists, your group likely won't be able to create the same level of visual impact, and the game will feel a bit hollow for reasons you can't really pin down.

You can argue that old world of darkness games where about superheroes with fangs and furry superheroes and a lot of people actually played them like that. You can argue that cyberpunk rpgs are about overpowered cyborg superheroes and might not be far from the truth for some groups. Still those games successfully competed with DnD in their heyday and carved sizable niches in the market.

No idea senpai. I usually run Mutants & Masterminds oneshots Wah a mix of my usual RPG group and some normies I pull from class, goes off without a hitch every time.

MnM is reeaaallly damn good at both self-policing balance at any given PL (makes it easy on me) and having a pretty easy resolution system of 1d20+Rank vs DC (makes it easy for the normies).

I tend to be in my oneshots like Avengers movies: big on the action, a pretty straightforward plot, and lots of banter. I save the big ongoing explorations of tropes for ongoing campaigns, the oneshots are for blowing off steam or introducing RPGs.

*with a mix
**tend to run my oneshots
Autocorrect ate some stuff there.

But yeah I don't get it; non-gamers tend to take more interest in superheroes than high fantasy at the table level, and as user said further upthread it's easy to run custom settings when everyone knows 'Im a superman guy,' 'he's playing a flash guy', 'oh right so the villain has a death ray....' etc.

Maybe it's a purely logistic aspect? A fantasy party can be easily constrained into a small, linear space, and still have the illusion of freedom.
Supers have access to modern transport and communication, and need space to make the city come to life.

Using WORM as the setting might be neat...

Making mechanics and balancing would be quite daunting, but it would probably be best to build something from scratch...

I'm thinking point based, with powers defined by four variables?

We'd need to have lists of options for each category with associated costs...

Something like: [subject], [effect], [limitations], [complications]

...

Points allocated: 10

Subject: Insectoid(-3)

Effect: Absolute control (-10)

Limitation: Decreased Range(+1)

Complication: Psych effect: Mild Headache ~ Triggers on over-extension of power (5 turns of continuous use without skipping a turn to rest) ~ Consequence could be a temporary stat decrease, or strain/psych. damage (+2)

...

Mhm...

I am not good at this...

Anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

Mostly because the ones that are out do the job pretty well. Mutants & Masterminds for the d20 fans, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, and Wild Talents are also out there. That's ignoring the number of different generic systems that can be used to run a 'superhero' game, all without actually laying out what power level of superhero you're talking about.

M&M is based on the d20 system. It's a bit cleaned up, but it's still extremely crunch-heavy with a ton of numbers to juggle.

But that said, it is sort of odd that it hasn't caught on more.

IMO, part of it is that two lynchpins of the classical tabletop experience - advancement and loot - are not present in the framework of superhero stories, pretty much at all. There are bits and pieces here and there, but for the most part, it's totally absent, and a lot of people still like to just go clear out a dungeon, learn a new spell, and get a magic sword.

Hi /co/ here
The same comic sales are still in the trash despite popular movies.
People who watch movies =/= people who buy comics =/= people who play RPGs.
Some overlap but sadly not enough.

Comic sales being in the trash is very fitting because comics are trash.