So, I'm considering starting a superhero campaign with my

>>53651380
Check out the Marvel supers RPG that came out a few years ago (2014?)

You might also check out Masks. It's a PbtA game, but it's basically exactly what you're aiming at power-level-wise.

>>53651456
I've heard the Marvel RPG is pretty good, yeah. There was a similar thread yesterday I think where someone mentioned it, but they also said it has problems doing campaigns that don't fall into a sort of four act structure. Does it fall apart if you don't necessarily follow that structure?

As for Masks, I've never heard of it before but I'll give it a look at least. My main problem with PbtA games is that they generally want you to retire the character after a certain point (like after reaching level 10), which is a pain for games that run for a long time.

>>53651380
Well mutants and masterminds, as well as the marvel rpg system come to mind (I know significantly more about the former than the latter)

Depending on how attached you are to the d20, I've heard good things about ORE and wild talents, plus if you ever catch one of their threads they're usually super helpful about explaining things/building shit for you.

Other than that I think gurps has a module?

Valor is an interesting option, similar in style to Mutants and Masterminds but with a flavour closer to 4e than 3.PF, building powers to suit. It's not d20 based though and the system seems pretty interesting, you can find it in the pdf share thread.

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>>53651544
>mutants and masterminds
BALL OF ARMS MAN!

>>53651638
Ball of arms man and Solomon are the two strongest memes to come out of that system

>>53651514
Guy that suggested it yesterday here:
>it has problems doing campaigns that don't fall into a sort of four act structure. Does it fall apart if you don't necessarily follow that structure?
Not necessarily four, but it definitely assumes you prepare acts
Marvel Heroic is designed more to replicate big comic book events, more than handle a long-running 'serial adventures' sort of game. The act-based 'Event' structure they set up in the book is great for handling something like that, and it hooks into assumptions about how you get XP and how you spend it, and what sort of limits there can be for heroes' abilities.
If you want to have a long-running campaign your best bet would probably be to just design them in sequence, like a bespoke adventure path. Or maybe more like a movie franchise.

When I ran it I had the game shoved on me on pretty short notice and in lieu of being able to prepare an event tried to have a more sandbox campaign, and it diluted much of what the game has going for it (it didn't help that it was the first time I'd ever GM'd it).
If you're expecting to run it like that, you might want to augment it in a few ways:
- Have a ton of prepared Unlockables for the setting, tying into different groups and character concepts, including ones for each adventure seed's midpoint and resolution.
- Increase the cost of upgrading power trait ratings to d12.
- Encourage players to swap between characters often.

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>>53651456

If you're talking about Marvel Heroic Roleplaying then you're a man of taste. Hands-down the best system I've ever read for emulating the genre.

Let's run it down OP's list:

>Has to be capable of running low-powerlevel games. The idea is that the PCs are students at college training to be heroes, so think more along the lines of Hero Academia or Spiderman than Superman or Flash

Check. While hardly "gritty" (the system's designed for emulating high-flying superhero stuff), it supports (and in fact has already statted) characters as low-powered as Punisher and other street-level guys. Plus, it literally has Spider-Man, so if that's the power-level you're looking for there you go.

>Preferably not d20, and not PbtA (since PbtA games generally want you to retire characters after a certain level

Marvel Heroic is neither. Although it does do that weird thing where it uses every goddamn die in the game (it's a dice pool system, with sets of dice representing different things about your character ranging from d4s to d12s to represent power differences).

(Continued)

(Continued) >>53652671

>Customization options for powers

The system (necessarily, as a vehicle to support a huge stable of Marvel characters) supports a wide range of powers. The game breaks them down into broad categories ("Durability", "Senses", "Sorcery"), which are then further customized by "Special Effects", which are pretty free-form. There's also a system of "Limits" for powers, which gets into the meta-currency of the game and having characters with exploitable weaknesses and is super neat, but maybe too much to get into right now.

>Decently balanced, enough that there's a risk of failure or consequences for PCs without having to actively gimp antagonists to avoid one-shotting PCs

Marvel Heroic's balance is weird, but I'll answer your specific question rather than get into all that: the system allows for some pretty dynamic fights, and it makes no assumption that winning a fight means you killed the bad guy (this is a comic-book game, remember? Nobody with a costume ever really dies). While death is possible, the system encourages wins through more...comic-booky methods. Dangling the heroes' friends over a vat of acid literally causes a damage-equivalent in this game, for instance. Your villains are free to get villainous and be difficult to beat without you having to make them capable of turning your players into superhero-colored paste.

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DC Heroes has better rules than some.

M&M is a very streamlined version of D20, very playable. Herolab has a character builder for both 2nd Ed and 3rd Ed. The Demo version is free.

>>53651380
Mutants and Masterminds 3e

insanely customizable
choose power level 7-9 if you want relatively low level games
maintain a power level limit balance of 50% max, don't let heroes go beyond that
don't use magic and shapeshifting as written, they're completely broken even for a system like this
related to the earlier issue, reign in you players when it comes to alternate power arrays. This is why the magic power sucks, it's a broken array that disregards their own rules about arrays, and basically allows for characters that can do anything.
Don't allow the luck advantage or effect, they break the action/hero point economy. If a hero wants luck powers, they can build powers using luck as a descriptor, like everyone else.
understand complications and hero points. complications are very, very important. Spiderman and Wolverine have very good complications that help propel the plot.

>>53653568
Sorry for the autistic post. Let me edit that.

Mutants and Masterminds 3e

- Insanely customizable.
- Choose power level 7-9 if you want relatively low level games. The system is geared toward high power but you can pull off medium power or street level games, too.
- Maintain a power level limit balance of 50% max, don't let heroes go beyond that. For example, If the power level is 8, don't level heroes get a rank 3 attack with +13 to-hit bonus, the limit should be rank 4 with +12, rank 12 with +4 or anything in between. You'll understand once you read the power level rules.
- Don't use magic as written, it's completely broken even for a system like this.
- Related to the earlier issue, keep an eye out for broken arrays of alternate powers. This is why the magic power sucks, it's a broken array that disregards the basic M&M rules for arrays, and basically allows for characters that can do anything.
- Don't allow the luck advantage or effect, they break the action/hero point economy. If a hero wants luck powers, they can build powers using luck as a descriptor, like everyone else.
- Understand complications and hero points. complications are very, very important. Spiderman and Wolverine have very good complications that help propel the plot.
- Shapeshifting and similar powers are very complex. I couldn't really find any way around that, it's just very complex and takes a long time to handle. Make sure to do all the calculations between sessions, don't allow shapeshifters to mess up your pacing by calculating things in real time.

>>53651380
GURPS can handle low powered heroes real well, doesn't use d20 and has a shitload of power customization options. With default rules, low powered one-trick pony heroes still are at risk of dying if the opponents use guns, but there are optional rules and character options that can definitely make that much, much less of a problem.