I've spent the last decade trying to find a Superhero RPG to run. This quest didn't lead me to the first edition of Aberrant; however, it gave me hands on experience with my fair share of superhero RPGs. If you're looking for a superhero game to run, you don't need to read the rest of this review. Buy this. This is an insanely good superhero game.

Let me explain why. 1) Differentiated options in smooth narrative play. Fire attacks do persistent damage. Arrows can be swapped out on the fly to whatever payload you need. Speedsters might go splat if you hit them but good luck getting that hit off. The characters you make feel different; however, the underlying system also allows improvization on the fly. You spend your bonus successes on stunts. These stunts give you options. These options can be predefined and have mechanical goodness. Alternatively, these stunts can be poured into narrative bonuses or narrative complications for the enemy. This allows the joy of building your character with plenty of options to pour xp into, but it also allows you to truly play an adaptive roleplaying story game and not a grindy board game.

2) Setting. My quest for the perfect superhero RPG initially struggled with the system. There's a lot of systems with a lot of flaws. Eventually, I found plenty of options. Cortex Prime, Mutants & Masterminds, Prowlers & Paragons Ultimate Edition. These are all great RPGs to run a superhero game. I then stared wide eyed at a blank sheet thinking "what do I do now?". When players have ultimate power, it's so hard to figure out how to direct them. How do you challenge someone with the combat skills of a legend? How do you keep a campaign going when the players can fly to the objective? What do players do? Aberrant has a setting already developed. It tells you who the players could be. It tells you about the challenges your characters might face. It doesn't just tell you how to run a superhero game. It tells you how to weave a superhero story.

3) The Batman/Superman answer. Different games have their ways of answering the age old superhero RPG question. How do you have Batman and Superman in the same party? Different systems have their own ways of addressing this. I think each of the systems I listed above tackles them in a competent enough way. Aberrant addresses this by outright telling you- Novas (the super powered player archtype) will forever be stronger. They get additional experience at character creation, and they even score successes on dice rolls easier than Talents (the mortal but skilled Batman archtype). Talents instead get luck manipulation. They can edit scenes and introduce story details. Their Gifts (feats specifically for Talents) allow them further luck manipulation. This is so fun to play with. The mortal character never hits as hard the super powered character, but they are contributing to the story in an incredibly meaningful way. You want the person without any powers on your team.

If you're looking to pick up a new RPG and like superheros, I highly recommend Trinity Continuum: Aberrant.