The Fantastic Four: First Steps is due out on July 25th, 2025. It promises to be an optimistic, retro-futuristic superhero story with bright colors drawing inspiration from the Silver Age of comic books. Whether you’re a longtime fan of the Fantastic Four, or just now encountering them as Marvel prepares to bring their first family into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this upcoming film promises an exciting time!
If you’d like to bring that excitement to the table, there are several superhero tabletop roleplaying games that promise grand adventures! From exploring the galaxy to building amazing gadgets, to stopping simple street crime, these TTRPGs let you step into the shoes (or boots) of superheroes to craft your own adventures!
Marvel TTRPG
First and foremost you have the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game, which is the latest official TTRPG published by Marvel. This game was developed by veteran RPG designer Matt Forbeck and allows you to assume the roles of existing Marvel characters or create your own characters to play alongside (or in opposition to) familiar characters from the Marvel Universe. The rule set is simple and straightforward, the corebook provides a robust collection of characters and powers, and several expansions present pre-built character sheets for dozens of established characters. In fact, the Fantastic Four are among the characters provided in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game core rulebook!
If you want the Fantastic Four experience, this is likely the best option for you! There are older RPGs featuring characters from the Marvel Universe including the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game, which was licensed by Margaret Weis Productions and featured the Cortex Plus system as well as the Marvel Superheroes FASERIP system which was licensed by TSR in the 1980s. While official support for both of those games ended long ago, they offer interesting and detailed snapshots of the Marvel Universe as it stood at the time of their publications. You can easily slip right into the roles of the Fantastic Four in any of these games.
Mutants & Masterminds
Aside from those systems officially created or endorsed by Marvel there are plenty of superhero based roleplaying games that can support adventures inspired by or similar to the adventures of the Fantastic Four. Those of you familiar with d20 based games such as Dungeons & Dragons might find Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition more to your taste. While the mechanics in Mutants and Masterminds are distinct from those presented in D&D, they both operate on the same basic core mechanics. Mutants and Masterminds allows for remarkable character customization and does a great job of conveying superpowers in an easy to understand system.
Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds is another simple system that offers fast, furious, and fun play. By incorporating the Super Powers Companion into your game you can easily capture the exciting feel of a superhero setting.The Setting Rules allow you to dial in mechanics to help cement the feel of your favorite comics. Whether you want a bright and shiny Silver Age action romp, or a gritty deconstructionist game, Savage Worlds can provide.
Trinity Continuum: Aberrant
Speaking of games that offer tools for customizing the tone of your game Trinity Continuum: Aberrant presents a unique take on superheroes. The novas of Trinity Continuum Aberrant gain their powers through a process called eruption. This can be triggered by various factors, but regardless of what awakens those powers, each superhero character in Aberrant is a human who underwent eruption and became a nova. Their powers come from their innate ability to manipulate quantum energy, and their powers have costs, limits, and quirks that play into the setting’s conceits. Furthermore, the setting as written is completely science fiction; there is no magic in the Trinity Continuum.
While aliens do exist in the broader Trinity Continuum setting, none are canonically introduced in Aberrant. This may not suit every table, but the Aberrant core book provides toggles for subgenre and tone to allow you to dial in a customizable feel that matches the experience you want! Aberrant is also designed to permit radical reskinning of powers, helping further customize the game to your table’s tastes.
Masks: A New Generation
Masks: A New Generation is another game that provides a great superhero roleplaying experience, but is connected to a setting that is definitely different from Marvel comics or the MCU. In Masks, you play a teenage superhero operating in the Halcyon City setting. Characters are assumed to be young heroes on a superhero team, and the drama and rules are crafted to provide that experience, which they do remarkably well. Fans of the comics who appreciate the Franklin Richards led Future Foundation era of Fantastic Four might find the most gratification in a game of Masks.
These are just a few of the superhero games you can jump right into on StartPlaying to get your superhero fix ahead of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. There are several other games out there that fall strictly within the superhero genre or can be easily reskinned to provide superhero play. So get out there and save the world!
Travis Legge is a writer, developer, and streamer working with Onyx Path Publishing, Aegis Studios, and more.
