|
Marvel Comics has had many roleplaying games, most of them are great. Let's talk about them in this thread. It's pretty weird in a way that basically a highly corporatized and tightly controlled licensed property has produced consistently innovative (sometimes downright weird) roleplaying games. For whatever reason, the Marvel property has attracted some of the best talent in roleplaying, who have pushed hard (not always successfully) in different and new directions. In 1984, TSR got the license to do a Marvel game. The result was the brilliant Marvel Super Heroes RPG.  It used a percentile system - your characters had rankings in attributes and powers, and those rankings determined what percentile you needed to roll to gain the desired result. The acronym that became famous (and which most people remember the system by today) was FASERIP: Fighting, Agility, Strength, Endurance, Reason, Intuition and Psyche. The game was innovative for it's light approach (a Basic Game was also produced, and updated/rereleased in 1991) and dynamic combat system. Compared to the drudge and misery, I MEAN STRATEGIC CHALLENGE, of creating a Champions character (the other extant superhero system at the time), it took off like a shot. The games came with big maps divided into "areas" instead of normal gaming map "ranges" - getting punched by the Hulk might knock you back through several areas, resulting in hilarity. The game was a big success for many years, resulting in multiple supplements, campaign books, and even an "alternate dark future" series of modules in which your characters battled Sentinels and anti-mutant jerkoffs through the Days of Future Past. The key resource site for this game is Classic Marvel Forever, a site where you can legally download many of the out-of-print materials for this game, as well as updates, house rules and writeups. In 1998, TSR re-launched the Marvel roleplaying property with their new card-based SAGA system, also used for the Fifth Age Dragonlance property. Cards were used to try to give players more control and options in play. This version was called the Marvel Superheroes Adventure Game.  I haven't played it myself but SAGA does have its adherents and many said the decks were fun to play with and resulted in a lot of back-and-forth. More info would be cool from someone who knows more about this edition. In 2003, Marvel took the property back in-house and released the Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game. It used an innovative resource allocation system in which stones of effort were put in different places on your character sheet to reflect the effort/effect your character obtained through taking that action. A lot of morons on the Internet never understood it because they never took the time to actually put stones on a piece of paper and move them around - the tactile element of the game was a big teaching helper. A unique game with great production values and at a great price point made this an underrated game all the way around.  (I'm pretty sure that cover was never actually used.) Two supplements were released, the X-Men and the Hulk/Avengers. However, allegedly Marvel was looking for the game to sell as many or more copies than D&D, not realizing that D&D numbers are around 80 percent of the roleplaying hobby and no non-D&D property ever sells in D&D numbers. Despite selling through many print runs, the game was eventually discontinued. In 2012, Margaret Weis Productions released Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. It uses the "Cortex+ System", somewhat of a misnomer since the only thing that really survives from Cortex is the collection of dice into a pool and keeping 2 after rolling them.  Among other innovations in this game is the "Event" setup, which organizes the events of the campaign into discrete "events" dealing with a specific threat and a specific segment of character development, formalized as "Milestones" that produce XP. Since it just recently came out, there's a lot of buzz about it. (I also have freelanced a bit for it.) The game will have several Event Books, the first of which, Civil War, is out in PDF and will soon be in print. In mid-2013, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying went away due to licensing issues. There won't be any further print runs and nothing else is coming in print. You may still be able to get some stuff that was printed before the license was pulled. (The Annihilation supplement which contained most of what I worked on didn't enter print, it was only in PDF, and all the PDFs were pulled from digital shelves.) Discussion/speculation/nerdtears about this begins on p.4 of the thread. As with prior Marvel games it seems that the license bears the curse of a spooky ghost. The story most people are saying is that Marvel (again) had unrealistic expectations for the license and would rather spend their licensing time on something that can make them a lot of money, instead of RPGs. My favorite Marvel Heroic blog is Plot Points, which did a hilarious Psylocke writeup in which you get XP if she says that something, anything, is the "focused totality of her psychic powers". The Milestone is called "The 90s Were Awesome". And because I'm the OP dammit, here's a playset I made with all-original characters detailing a version of the Arizona Initiative. Post more links, resources, images, thoughts, etc. and I'll add them to the OP. Edit: Updated collapse of MHR. JDCorley fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Sep 1, 2013 |
#
¿
Jul 10, 2012 20:39
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 17, 2024 19:35 |
|
|
I also ran a major campaign in an original world using the 2003 MURPG system, I almost forgot that I put up a webpage with a tutorial on how to play the game. Here's the campaign, which I aimed at approximately the midpoint of the X-Men ("wah wah, everyone we save hates us") and the Suicide Squad ("super-criminals doing dark deeds for the government  ")Here's the MSPAINT example of play. if you want to see how actually playing MURPG worked.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 10, 2012 23:22
|
|
|
Yeah..."balance" in a supers game is more about making sure everyone can contribute in some way than in making sure that two characters' capabilities are exactly equal to the 40th decimal point. There are a ton of problematic "builds" in MURPG - but it's not a game meant to be "built" exactly. The loony-tunes stuff on the sample characters demonstrate that really well. MHR uses a cool action order system to be sure that there's some form of this balance in the game as well. The fastest person goes first (normally there's some jerk with spider-senses or super-speed and everyone knows they go first), then that person picks who goes next, down through the end of the round. This includes picking GM badguys to go next. If all the heroes want to go before all the villains, fine. But then the villains all go at once, and the last villain in the round picks himself to go first at the beginning of the next round. Pretty great little mini-game of working out how to pass along the initiative (in the normal "action inertia" definition of initiative, not the D&D definition.) It means your Asgardian mega-god has to plan for how the li'l teenaged mutant girl next to you is going to contribute to the conflict, otherwise the villains will be getting all kinds of extra hits in. JDCorley fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Jul 11, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Jul 11, 2012 00:21
|
|
|
Yeah, I remember doing like 20 random characters in an afternoon and using them as a "stable", "like a real comic book company"! I read a lot of Marvel Team-Up. It was kind of fun trying to figure out a crisis that really needed a robot plant controller and an alien kung fu master. The invulnerability question is really a tough one for all superhero RPGs. The obvious question of whether a guy with a gun should mechanically be able to take out the Thing becomes less obvious when you're the guy with the gun. MSH said "nope, plink away all day, idiot, you can't do it". MURPG said "welp, if you can find enough situational modifiers, give it a try". MHR says "it depends on who has the plot points/doom pool, really".
|
|
#
¿
Jul 11, 2012 18:03
|
|
|
Spoil away, anyone reading the RPGs is going to be spoiled anyway. A trip report would be great. Warren Spector, later known for his groundbreaking videogame work on Thief, Deus Ex and System Shock, worked on the Days of Future Past scenario for MSH back in the day. I can remember thinking as a kid how great it would be if there was a one-page scenario in the back of all the comics that was actually about what the comic was about. This because the Sentinel dark future crisis had been over for 8 years by the time the RPG scenarios came out. By that point we were all trying to figure out who the hell Madeline Pryor was and why we should care.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 12, 2012 22:52
|
|
|
I actually came up with some more event Milestones/Unlockables for my version of Breakout and the aftermath. I didn't send the group to the Savage Land afterwards, for two reasons: first, the connection between the two scenes is a bit dodgy - it works for the New Avengers characters but not for original characters or even Marvel characters played by people that don't know anything about Marvel. There were two characters in the Breakout that we had characters with "redemption" Milestones requested. One was for an original mutant terrorist called Blueshift, another was for Typhoid Mary (  )Here's what I wrote: Milestone (Blueshift) 1 XP - meet Blueshift, protect or advocate for Blueshift, say he’s not such a bad person, make an excuse for his past crimes, dig into his past, or try to steer him onto the path of righteousness. 3 XP - when you protect Blueshift from being recaptured by the authorities or targeted by his former associates. 10 XP - When you join Bio-Genes and carry out an attack on an African government faction, turn on Blueshift and send him back to jail, or when you team up with Blueshift in a life-threatening situation he could just walk away from. Milestone (Typhoid Mary) 1 XP - meet a personality of Mary, protect or advocate for her, say she’s not such a bad person, make an excuse for her past crimes, try to steer her onto the path of righteousness, dig into the traumas that created her or her past activities. 3 XP - Protect Mary from being recaptured by the authorities or targeted by her former associates. 10 XP - When you help one of Mary’s violent personalities kill someone, or when you put your life in the hands of one of her violent personalities. Unlockables (Any "redemption" Milestone) 5 XP - A former victim comes forward to forgive them. This gives you the d8 Asset A New Leaf to use for an Act of your choice, including this one. 5 XP - The authorities agree to a period of temporary, secret parole in your custody. The parole officer provides a Scene Distinction of Got My Eye On You to any scene of your choice. 5 XP - Your redemption “project” agrees to aid the forces of good. They become a Watcher Character to assist you in an Action Scene of your choice. 5 XP - The villain takes concrete steps to make amends for a past evil deed. This gives you the d8 Asset Recompense Paid to use for an Act of your choice, including this one. 5 XP - The villain provides concrete assistance in bringing down a former associate. This assistance is more than just information and can take the form of a d8 Asset or Complication when used against the former associate. 5 XP - The villain publically apologizes for past misdeeds and says they are going straight, despite the personal risk. Scenes he is in gain the Distinction Going Straight? (It complicates things if former associates show up…) 5 XP - A significant political movement develops in favor of the villain getting another chance. The Political Support can be used as a d8 Asset or Complication when appropriate, for an Act of your choice, including this one. 5 XP - The media provides favorable attention to the villain’s efforts to reform. The Media Support can be used as a d8 Asset or Complication when appropriate, for an Act of your choice, including this one. 5 XP - A doctor agrees to work on Mary’s case, trying to formulate a treatment plan to help her. 10 XP - The authorities issue a pardon for Blueshift’s past crimes, a long-term suspension of his sentence, or other indefinite change of legal status. 10 XP - The authorities (quietly) declare Mary to be cured and release her. 10 XP - The Kingpin agrees not to use Typhoid Mary as an assassin in the forseeable future, and sticks to his word. I think Unlockables are way better than other things to do with XP, since they give players a lot of freedom in choosing how their plotlines develop. The Unlockables related to playing other characters don't really work for my group since they had no attachment to Marvel characters, saying "hey, how about THIS one" is not an incentive. They'd just prefer to keep playing their own characters.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 17, 2012 22:03
|
|
|
Basically since they write their own Milestones in the ideal situation, they're going to put tactics in that they are interested in trying or choosing between. For me, I always like having my characters make some big dramatic choice (and maybe change their minds a few times) - this is a key element of Marvel, especially my favorite part, the X-universe, where everyone is constantly switching sides and yelling at each other for switching sides, and sleeping with each other to try to get them to switch sides. So I would write a Milestone that had several choices. Whereas someone who likes playing a very particular version of (say) Wolverine, wouldn't put a choice in, they'd just put in Milestones for how they want Wolverine to develop/act and follow that course. Here's my guidelines for Milestones: 1 XP - Just a little snippet of a thing you can do whenever. Something where the reader would go "Oh Tony Stark, you lovable rogue" and chuckle and shake their heads. 3 XP - A significant step, issue, problem, something big that would be the focus of the "personal aspects" of the issue of a comic. Something that develops or advances a plot or character. 10 XP - A game-changer, something that has major lasting impacts on the characters involved. Like, if my wife's character ends up putting her life in Mary's hands, and she pulls through, that's a major achievement. People who deal with Mary in the future will say "I know she's a psycho, but let's not forget that when the chips were down..." Edit: Here's some Unlockables for a character who had the same Milestones as Beast did for "Mutants sans Fronteres": 5 XP - Gain the NGO Observer Distinction for the rest of the Event. It can be used when persuading, applying leverage and protecting the oppressed. It can also complicate things as a normal Distinction when dealing with politically conservative, nationalist or tyrannical leaders or their agents. 5 XP - Gain an Asset: Political Support d8, for one Act of your choice (including this one). You can use this Asset without spending a Plot Point. 5 XP - You become too High Profile for anti-mutant agents to directly attack. If they do, your High Profile becomes a d10 Complication against their attacks, as they have to either make it look like an accident or in some way stymie your fame. 5 XP - Refugee Ally. One of the mutants you aid joins you as a Watcher Character in an Action Scene if your choice. They are taken out on a d10 or higher of Stress and have one Power Set with the Mutant Limit. 5 XP - A former “evil mutant” (Brotherhood member, criminal) shows up to aid you in an Action Scene of your choice. They are arrested or disappear at the end of the Act. 5 XP - A major media outlet (cable news, newspaper, top-tier bloggers) takes up the cause of oppressed mutants. You may put the Scene Distinction Media Attention on any single scene you choose. 10 XP - A locale declares itself a mutant safe haven, as a result of your organization and protection of mutant refugees. 10 XP - A locale with oppressive anti-mutant programs gives up its position (though not necessarily its bigotry) due to international attention raised by your deeds. JDCorley fucked around with this message at 00:36 on Jul 18, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Jul 18, 2012 00:32
|
|
|
The new random character creation rules are a lot more cohesive because characters have themed power sets instead of just a list of powers as in MSH. I definitely suggest making a couple of characters with it to see how it comes out.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2012 16:21
|
|
|
I don't think you can get 3 power sets out of the random character generation. It's fairly unusual for characters to have more than 1. Those with two normally have one of them be a piece of super-equipment that can break or get turned off or whatever. The nice things about power disparity in MHR are: * the initiative system requires everyone to share spotlight time and include weaker characters in the tactics/planning * weaker characters roll more 1s and thus get more plot points that they can use to pull off amazing things. A d6 is far more likely than a d12 to come up 1.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2012 20:31
|
|
|
Exactly, it works because Frank has to demolish the building Hulk is in (create a Complication/step it up over d12) or steal gamma-draining sniper rifle bullets from the Army (obtain a Resource/use a Limit to shut down Hulk's Power Set). Hulk's not likely to take him out the first time he throws a car at him (d8 Physical Stress), but he's got SFX to step up physical stress he causes, or to step down physical stress he receives, and can probably wreck puny Punisher in the second round... which is what happens in the comics. Frank can probably dodge for a little bit, or maybe GTFO, but if he stays, and doesn't have a plan, he'll be down. Everyone really knocks themselves out about the die pool and the die pool really isn't the central part of the game. It's just the thing your hands touch. In addition, Punisher Task Force 4 lyfe. JDCorley fucked around with this message at 00:36 on Oct 2, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2012 00:31
|
|
|
Yep, exactly. I've had many powerful characters taken out with complications: Frozen In Ice, I had an emotionally stressed out mutant terrorist flee in tears ("I AM right!! I HAVE to be!!", just as bad as a real X-comic.)
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2012 07:28
|
|
|
Complications normally remain until the end of the scene. You can make it last longer if you spend a Plot Point (the Watcher spends a die out of doom). You can get rid of complications (or assets) by acting against them (vs doom or vs the character who's trying to maintain the complication) and beating the die type with your effect die. If you don't beat the die type, you step the complication back instead. See OM54 for more on this.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 21, 2012 21:31
|
|
|
They don't, I misunderstood your question. If an NPC has a complication put on them, but the PC isn't actively maintaining it and they want to get rid of it, you should just spend a die out of the doom pool to remove the complication (or step it back if it's smaller). Alternately you could just have the NPC roll against the PC even if the PC isn't directly maintaining the complication. This is at the bottom of OM55.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 21, 2012 22:51
|
|
|
Since this thread was started, there were some new supplements out. (I got permission to hotlink the cover images from rpgnow. You can also get 'em on amazon.): Civil War Event Book  This actually helped me understand events way better than the sample event in the main book, since Civil War is actually a lot bigger and more wide-spread. It gives you an idea of why you would want to change characters mid-Event, or have multiple characters throughout. Very cool stuff. (Link is to the Essentials edition, which is the one you buy if you already own the main game.) Civil War Young Avengers/Runaways  Actually Runaways is one of the best "teen heroes" RPG setups I've ever seen, though as the run progressed they got away from some of the things that make it good (i.e. a strong motivation and connection to a set of villains, their parents.) Someday I'm going to do a "Runaways reboot" as a campaign. Of course the Young Avengers/Initiative stuff is also a good setup. In fact, I think this may be an even better introductory campaign book than the main Civil War event book now that I'm sitting here typing about it. Civil War X-Men supplement:  What can I say, I adore those muties. Plus there's stats for every kind of Sentinel surrounding the 198 during that time frame, so if you like giant purple death robots, you can't go wrong with this one, also, everyone in the world likes giant purple death robots. The X-Men personal milestones are the best in the business. If you want to be sleeping with each other to gain each other's trust/yelling at each other about sleeping with each other, then play the X-Men.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2012 21:45
|
|
|
Emotional stress and complications are a good way of taking out invulnerable people. As an example, there was a young, inexperienced but reeeally powerful mutant terrorist ripping crap up in my game. Basically he was one of Magneto's acolytes who had let mutant supremacist ideas get into his head. The characters used their Distinctions (like "good-hearted" and "decent" and "humanist" (and "mutant" of course) their Psych specialties, to throw the kid into such torment and uncertainty over whether he should have thrown in with Magneto that he fled in tears. You know, just like a real X-Men villain. I just got the latest stuff on Annihilation and it is looking really good. Like Civil War, there's going to be some unique stuff in it that's tailored to that Event. Civil War is really where the game started to come together for me and I understood why some of the mechanics (Milestones primarily, though also Unlockables) really worked very well with established Marvel characters and Events.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2013 06:33
|
|
|
Annihilation is out! RonPaulIt'sHappening.Gif!! The Premium Edition, which includes the Basic rules, and The Essentials Edition which just has the Annihilation stuff. It's even bigger than the Civil War book...I did the optional/add-on scenes so ask me whatever you want about it. For me the main innovation of this book is the implementation of a Timer. A Timer is something like "the ship is crashing" that counts up every turn unless someone does something about it - when it reaches d12, it doubles and goes into the Doom Pool so the Watcher can end the scene immediately. This is ideal for situations where a villain is going to blow up a preschool or cut your girlfriend in half in a deathtrap.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 13, 2013 23:21
|
|
|
I wrote the section on creating your own 'adventure to gain a source of cosmic power' so hopefully it helps. Basically you work out what it is, why nobody's gotten it before you, and what that implies for obstacles.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2013 06:32
|
|
|
Listen man. There are stats for Rocket Raccoon and Blackjack O'Hare in there.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2013 09:29
|
|
|
Stunning! And yes, I will edit the OP with links to all the supplements including 50 State Initiative. The most complicated thing I've done so far is one where the PCs, Boston's premier supervillain team, were punching HYDRA agents who were kidnapping a frost giant while everyone was targeted by Thor and the Wild Hunt and renegade SHIELD agents were arresting everyone. That's five sides to keep track of - total insanity.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2013 06:40
|
|
|
A villain getting their poo poo wrecked is a good informal Milestone that will let them shift their Affiliations around while they're on the Raft getting their cigarettes stolen by the Kingpin's guys.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2013 07:36
|
|
|
Age of Apocalypse, like so many X-Men plots, screams out for an RPG adaptation so that you can lavish the kind of obsessive care and attention on the PCs that was lavished on (yawn) the various Summerses and Greys. Same with Days of Future Past, which is why the Warren Spector adaptations were so great.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2013 01:04
|
|
|
Yes, I have one. I ordered it from Amazon Back In The Day. I don't know how many of the Civil War supplements are slated for print though, I just got the main one.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2013 23:42
|
|
|
DC Adventures is basically Mutants and Masterminds refined. It's a lot more 'roll to do X, did you succeed, here's what's happened'. Very straightforward, nothing bad about it. Marvel by contrast is, from the ground up, trying to really go after the comic book experience. There are a lot of things about the game that are unique and that players won't have seen in other games. This is good if people are willing to learn, if they just want to roll for initiative again, it's not so good.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2013 17:54
|
|
|
I'm about to wrap up my tabletop campaign with a Kree invasion plot arc. "Rejoice, people of [INSERT PLANET HERE]. You are now under the benevolent protection of the Kree! No longer will you be vulnerable in a galaxy of monsters. Your labor will fuel the valiant Kree warriors who will protect you from [INSERT PLANET'S ENEMIES HERE]. You may now celebrate for thirty minutes before beginning your life-long servitude."
|
|
#
¿
Apr 5, 2013 05:26
|
|
|
It does suck that I won't get to see my writin' on the same physical page as official Marvel art, but as I noted in the OP, Marvel RPGs have a hard time - they're often extremely innovative but only the first version really had longevity, and that was during an era when TSR was the 900 pound gorilla. Get yer PDFs now. I'll do an "Out" Event Book sometime, I swear to god. Edit: OP updated with link to Marvel Closeout page. JDCorley fucked around with this message at 07:44 on Apr 25, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2013 07:30
|
|
|
Ironically, my friend and I were kicking around dumb ideas for what we'd do if we were in charge of the SHIELD television show, came up with a neat concept for a campaign, and determined that Cortex Action, aka the Leverage RPG, would be ideal for it.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2013 08:03
|
|
|
When I was doing an X-Universe game using Smallville, I was amazed at how effective lovely 90s comics were in RPG form. Because they lavished insane amounts of attention/love/obsession on their favored characters, made the entire sanity/freedom/existence of the universe depend on who this pneumatic hot girl wants to sleep with, it made for extremely intense spotlights on the player characters. Nanny is a dumb character until it's YOUR mommy/daddy/abandonment issues she's poking at.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2013 03:23
|
|
|
I would give everyone on NextWave the "collateral damage" SFX where they can step up a die in doom or add a d6 Complication to themselves of some burning orphanage or exploding home for paraplegic kittens in exchange for area effects or counting three dice or something. Otherwise, seems good! NextWave villains can have smaller die types because they primarily exist to cause complications/problems and step them up.
|
|
#
¿
May 5, 2013 04:11
|
|
|
They're basically created for the context they exist in - the X-Men book is what the X-Men are like during the Civil War, so that's who's in there. Since we're on the subject of my favorite mutants, I made an adventure generator for what was basically a Xavier's Academy game, go to abulafia and check it out or improve it if you want.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2013 03:43
|
|
|
I think American Maid should have one of her Distinctions related to being patriotic. Actually the live-action version, Captain Liberty, might be even a bit more interesting, since she was way, way more neurotic and actually had the government on her back bothering her to do things. Edit: v Agreed, thanks for this. JDCorley fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Jun 19, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2013 05:09
|
|
|
The best use of any X-Man power is "the power, but Colossus throws it". And....actually that's kind of a genius adaptation of the Agent.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2013 00:32
|
|
|
Annihilation and Civil War both have some ideas for different groups experiencing different aspects of the same plot - for two sides actually the Civil War comics might give you some pacing ideas.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2013 02:59
|
|
|
Finally updated the OP about the end of Marvel Heroic. 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2013 15:58
|
|
|
Five Assets are at the edge of the cliff. Which Marvel wiki are you talking about? I'm not aware of one that takes RPG stats.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2013 17:39
|
|
|
You can make a more Iron Age/Punisher with 1,000 guns in a duffel bag type of game by renaming Taken Out to Dead for non-powered characters. It's not a big deal so long as that's the universe you want to play in.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 18, 2013 21:51
|
|
|
The balance in this game comes almost 100% from the plot point and action order economy and almost 0% from the die types and the SFX. Like, you can have a power set that gives you a d12 in literally everything - go right ahead. You will generate some large numbers, but you still only get to go one time per turn so your plans will still live or die on whether and how they incorporate the tactics and abilities of your teammates (if it doesn't, your enemies will get things like double actions, etc.), and also, you will generate FAR fewer plot points because you will roll far fewer 1s. Soon you will be out while the dumb kid with a rocket skateboard is crying about his parents again and has a stack of chips in front of them, and you will feel Quite The Fool. If they're having a hard time comprehending "Darkforce" or "Sorcery", don't have them play those characters. Play a big orange guy who can throw a building at people. Once they get the system, then they can swap out for the other dude. (This is a game that benefits from changing up characters too.)
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2013 21:33
|
|
|
That is almost exactly the story that the design team behind MURPG told - and that one wasn't even licensed - it was in house at Marvel. And I'll be fair to Marvel a little too - it's a fair critique of the entire RPG industry that Marvel can either clear and license a 300 page RPG book, paying someone to spend hours or days reviewing it and making sure it's OK, or you can clear and license a new design of a Spider-Man Trapper Keeper in a thousandth of the time and make 100 times the money. It just does not make financial sense to spend your licensing time on a RPG. This is why: 1 - Licenses are the bricks placed into the bagful of kittens that is a RPG before it is dropped into the river of commerce. 2 - It is absolutely insane that all four incarnations of Marvel-themed RPGs have been both released and extremely aggressively innovative for their day. They even got TSR, which had every reason to just do another D&D clone, to do something out-there and cool.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 29, 2013 20:10
|
|
|
I just have everyone who isn't a player character creating an Asset that the player characters can use. I don't roll, I just pick out a die type and write "Withering Suppressive Fire d6" on an index card and put it on the table or something.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 30, 2013 02:33
|
|
|
Danger-Pumpkin posted:Well I am goddamned buyin the hell out of that, as soon as possible. It might be easier to get my lame real-life friends to bite, if they didn't think they were going to have to know 50 years of continuity, and play second fiddle to Wolverine, or something. To a certain extent the present MHR (and actually the present Marvel comics) are the most noob-friendly. Most Marvel comics have a 3-sentence intro section these days saying "everything you need to know" instead of 50 years of continuity. And the present MHR assumes that you are playing Wolverine (and are a terrible person) or Spiderman (and are a good person) and really pushes "your own imagining" of the character and direction as what you bring to the table.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 30, 2013 02:35
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 17, 2024 19:35 |
|
|
I would say that in an Action Scene, normally the High Evolutionary's evolving/devolving effect is more gradual. "Argh, I can fight it!" yells the character. Essentially I would do something like "Devolving!" as a Complication and try to step it up over d12. Being 'Taken Out' by devolution means you run off into the Savage Land or the sewers of New York or something and the next scenes may have to do with the team trying to get an antidote for you, and maybe they have to fight you to administer it or something.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2013 06:09
|
|