Marvel Multiverse: oh boy I’m underwhelmed

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Probably would make a better AGE game based on Modern Age. I got my playtest today I'd preordered last year. OH BY ODIN"S BEARD THE NUMBERS!
 
Are we ready for Supers - The Edition War Thread?

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*[sarcasm] yes, the greatest. Your mileage will NOT vary, upon pain of derision.[/sarcasm]

I was nearly impressed by your post, but then realized you had overlooked some true stars of super hero RPGs.

guPwUI3.jpg
 
You can have your MSH, DCH, Icons, Masks, SAGA, etc. but I think we all really know the greatest supers rpgs of all time is...

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The funny thing is, I actually saw a copy of that in Borders book store around 2002. I don’t know how it got there, other than somebody ordered it for a customer and they never bought it, probably because they couldn’t handle the lush artwork and the evocative setting material.
 
I know I've played BNW but my memories of it are negligible; I don't remember it feeling very supersy though.
You basically get one power that has a few stunts/moves and the government really doesn't like you using it. lol

I've used the Brave New World setting in 3 supers campaigns in the last 2 years, one for Worlds in Peril and two for the new version, Galaxies in Peril. My players wanted a setting where there was metahuman registration and the government was basically the bad guys, so it fit perfectly. Unlike, BNW, players had much more flexibility with their powers and made all kinds of supers.
 
OK, I just got done making up a character.

1. Determine the character's Rank.

I decided that Rank 5 sounded good. The character has had their powers for a short while and gained some experience. They're at the neighborhood protecting scale.

Not that it matters right now, but I see the Rank Cap as Rank 10. The character's potential is to be a city protector or on a nationally renowned team.


2. Create a character concept.

This character is a magical girl. She's a young schoolgirl who transforms into a fighting form wielding a sword rapier and wearing a frilly pastel dress. She fights evil with the power of hope and love and stabbyness.

Her superhero name is "Magic Girl." Hey, she's a sample character, cut me some slack.


3. Pick an Archetype

Magical Girl is going to be a Striker. This is something like Daredevil or Wolverine. That's a good fit for Magic Girl, except she's just frillier.

I cross reference Rank 5 against the Striker archetype chart and write down 16 numbers I'll need in the next step. The Archetype also increases my character's Ability Score caps on Agility and Might depending on my character's Rank, so I note that too. Since Magic Girl is Rank 5, her Ability Caps in those areas are a 6. All other Ability Caps are 4.

I'll note that this and the next step is probably the messiest part of the whole character creation process. Get used to me saying that I'm cross referencing a chart by Rank.


4. Pick Ability Scores.

It's time to cross reference a chart based on Rank to determine how many Ability Points Magic Girl gets. She's Rank 5 so she gets 18 points.

I decide on the following allotment:

Might = 2, +8, 17
Agility = 6, +10, 23
Resilience = 3, +7, 18
Vigilance = 0, +4, 15
Ego = 4, +6, 17
Logic = 3, +5, 18

The first number is the Ability Score which I've allocated. The second number is the Ability Modifier determined by adding the Ability Score to the modifier shown by the Archetype chart. The last number is the Ability Resistance determined by adding the Ability Score to the resistance shown on the Archetype chart.

Magic Girl is really agile and dodgy. She's also really cute and charming, but also smart. Sadly, she's a bit oblivious.

Other derived stats are determined at this time, such as Health, Focus, Karma, and Initiative modifier.


4. Pick backstory elements (origin and profession) and traits.

Magic Girl has a Magic Origin. Duh! Her Profession is Student. I don't see any real mechanical meaning of these elements in the Playtest book.

For Traits, it's time to reference a chart by Rank again. Doing so reveals that Magic Girl can have 2 Traits. I choose Short since she's a young petite girl and Combat Finesse so she can use Agility for Fight checks instead of Might.

A note on Traits. It doesn't matter if they're advantageous or disadvantageous traits. They still take a slot. Disad traits let you play to them and earn Karma.


5. Pick Power Sets and Powers.

Once again, it's time to cross reference a chart based on Rank. Magic Girl is Rank 5. That means she can have 5 Powers belonging to 2 Power Sets.

Magic Girl definitely needs the Blades power set. This Power Set automatically allows Magic Girl to pick the highest of her Might and Agility to add to her Fight Damage with blades. So, her Agility. It also adds +6 (!) to both her Agility and Might Caps. So at this point she could have a 12 Agility and Might if I had the points to buy it!

For her Blades powers, I choose Fast Slashes which allows her to attack multiple times quickly. I also choose Slash & Dash, which allows her to perform a move-by attack.

Now she needs a super agility style of power set that will allow her to dodge and jump. In the Playtest game that is reflected by the Spider Powers Power Set. This set increases the Agility and Vigilance score caps by 6. So now Magic Girl could have an 18 Agility and a Vigilance of 10. The Power Set also makes note of the strength of webbing, but I'm not choosing any webbing powers.

The powers I do pick are Jump 1 (so Magic Girl can do some anime jumping), Spider Dodge (so she can evade even better than her Agility already allows her to), and Venom Strike.

That last one is supposed to represent that she can energize her sword and throw it as a ranged attack, and have it return to her. There are no specific rules for what I just described, but I'm just going to fudge for effect.

Now, I COULD replicate the thrown sword ability with the power from the Shield Bearer Power Set called Rico-Shield. That one is more explicitly mechanically what I'm going for. The catch is that I can't choose another Power Set and the power also has pre-requisites that Magic Girl doesn't meet. UNLESS, I chose the Surprising Power Trait. Then I could ignore all the pre-requisites and Power Set and just choose the power. But I want to keep the Traits I've already chosen.

And... That's it.

Magic Girl, Rank 5, Striker

Might = 2, +8, 17. Cap = 12
Agility = 6, +10, 23. Cap = 18
Resilience = 3, +7, 18. Cap = 4
Vigilance = 0, +4, 15. Cap = 10
Ego = 4, +6, 17. Cap = 4
Logic = 3, +5, 18. Cap = 4

Fight Damage = 3d6 + 7 + 6
Ranged Damage = 3d6 + 6
Health = 45
Focus = 30
Karma = 3
Initiative Bonus + 6

Origin = Magic
Profession = Student

Traits
Short
Combat Finesse

Power Sets
Blades
Spider-Powers

Powers
Fast Slashes
Slash & Dash
Jump 1
Spider Dodge
Venom Strike

Not represented in any of this is that Magic Girl has a cute little companion that looks like a 1 1/2 foot tall stuffed bunny toy. This little guy is how she got her powers. He's pretty defenseless. There don't seem to be any kind of "Dependent" traits.
 
Interesting. That all made sense to me, which bodes well for my comprehension when I get the book.

I like the Power Sets. I find lists of powers that can be combined with any other powers to be daunting so grouped powers is nice. They did something similar in AMP Year Zero. Not that its particularly Marvel-like, with its amazingly diverse and gonzo power sets, but it should at least be manageable at the table.
 
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I’m not feeling it. The archetype name “striker” irritates me for some reason.

I am very hard to please when it comes to supers though. The last game to blow me away was M&M and that was 20 years ago.
 
A couple of other notes.

Looking at Thor, it seems I could have chosen the Signature Weapon trait for Magic Girl's sword and then "worked with the GM" to define the qualities I wanted. Effectively, I wouldn't have had to choose the Rico-Shield power and that portion of the ability would just be assumed by the Trait.

I'm making the leap of faith that even if I don't pick Signature Weapon, then the selection of the Blades Power Set includes a weapon. The Blades Power Set also says of blades defined as Claws that they are retractable as long as you don't choose the Extreme Appearance trait. Therefore, my definition of Magic Girl's sword is that she can summon it from some interdimensional space.

The idea with the stuff like the Origins and Professions is to use them as guidelines for what Traits are appropriate, but it isn't a firm rule. Plus, it's kind of silly. For example, Magic Girl has the Origin of Magic. What does the book list as suggested traits? It suggests I pick the Supernatural Trait. Looking at the Supernatural Trait, it indicates Magic Girl's powers come from magic. Buh? Didn't the Magic Origin cover that?

In fact, there are only three Traits with actual pre-requisites: Green Door = Gamma Mutates only, Krakoan = Mutants only, and X-Gene = Mutants only. All are Marvel setting specific rather than more generic traits. Still, X-Gene is kind of restating the Mutant origin just like Supernatural repeats the Magic Origin.

I think Origins and Professions will primarily be used as keywords to provide modifiers to Action Checks in place of any kind of skill system.

Edit: Also, in a nice touch, the front cover depicts the Marvel characters which are given character sheets in the book (no Galactus, just the heroes), with the silhouette representing the character creation rules.
 
It may also reach some new folks. I don’t know what final format the playtest book will be, but for $10, I’m picturing the equivalent of a big ass comic.

Got my copy today and it's basically a small TPB. The cover and page quality are the same as well. Your expectations were right.
 
No real villains in the book, which I guess means... Matt Forbeck is the REAL villain and the only one you'll ever need?

Also, I couldn't resist slipping my copy into a plastic cover. How could you not?
 
We played a sample fight of Magic Girl against 6 Hydra Agents. I can report that even though Magic Girl is only Rank 5, she absolutely decimated the Hydra goons. The only way they could even touch her was to roll 616, and she was just a death machine.

The partner had issue with this. He felt the mooks should be able to do something. I didn't agree, as I felt that it was the same as a bunch of street thugs fighting Spider-Man. We need to use higher ranked enemies next time.

Now in the aftermath, I'm thinking about the game. And I think I like it. I think I'm looking forward to the full book. Character creation was kind of fun and had some interesting moving parts while largely just being simple selecting from a parts list. There are some interesting rule interactions during combat between powers as well as the edge/trouble mechanics. The dice gimmick has some potential.

Then, during this reflection I thought of something which I'm a bit loathe to share, as I know people will leap upon it as an automatic negative for the game. But it occurred to me that I had played similar combat mechanics before. I had played something with a similar feel.

D&D4e. Combat mechanics bear some distinct similarity to D&D4e in play.
 
We played a sample fight of Magic Girl against 6 Hydra Agents. I can report that even though Magic Girl is only Rank 5, she absolutely decimated the Hydra goons. The only way they could even touch her was to roll 616, and she was just a death machine.

The partner had issue with this. He felt the mooks should be able to do something. I didn't agree, as I felt that it was the same as a bunch of street thugs fighting Spider-Man. We need to use higher ranked enemies next time.

Now in the aftermath, I'm thinking about the game. And I think I like it. I think I'm looking forward to the full book. Character creation was kind of fun and had some interesting moving parts while largely just being simple selecting from a parts list. There are some interesting rule interactions during combat between powers as well as the edge/trouble mechanics. The dice gimmick has some potential.

Then, during this reflection I thought of something which I'm a bit loathe to share, as I know people will leap upon it as an automatic negative for the game. But it occurred to me that I had played similar combat mechanics before. I had played something with a similar feel.

D&D4e. Combat mechanics bear some distinct similarity to D&D4e in play.
I can't tell if you think is is too hardcore or not. For example, a Solo character in Cyberpunk is quite capable of killing four or five other non-Solo PCs without them even getting an action. Is that better or worse?
 
I can't tell if you think is is too hardcore or not. For example, a Solo character in Cyberpunk is quite capable of killing four or five other non-Solo PCs without them even getting an action. Is that better or worse?

I'm mostly fine with it. The Hydra Agents are effectively this game's version of Goblins or Kobolds, and I basically made a Level 5 starting character. In terms of your Cyberpunk example, the Solo is in much more danger in the aspect that if the Solo doesn't kill everyone else, there is a decent chance the counterattack will be really bad. In comparison, even though my Rank 5 character wasn't capable of subduing every enemy in a single turn, she was also completely untouchable barring a 1 in 216 chance, and even then the character had a power which would force a reroll of that hit.

The Hydra Agents would be even less effective against the sample heroes in the book. Then again, the sample adventure does say that the Hydra Goons are only provided so the players can learn the combat system. So they're pretty much there entirely as a toothless tutorial.
 
Polygon is ripping on this game pretty hard. I got to the part where the reviewer complained that the dice were confusing because they weren't D20s and decided I don't care about this reviewer's opinion. Not even trying to stick up for the game, but if you lead with "D20 is the best mechanic", you're losing me already.

 
Polygon is ripping on this game pretty hard. I got to the part where the reviewer complained that the dice were confusing because they weren't D20s and decided I don't care about this reviewer's opinion. Not even trying to stick up for the game, but if you lead with "D20 is the best mechanic", you're losing me already.


Far from the worst Polygon article I've ever read. There's not much point arguing with it. About the only gross mischaracterization I can see is the writer clearly expects the $9.99 playtest book to be the full $60 or whatever deluxe hardcover with all the rules and essays.

I have written a lot of stuff about RPGs that I have not made a character in or played so much as a sample combat in. I am sure I shall write on RPGs in such circumstances in the future.

So when I tell you that I can clearly see this person just gave the game a quick skim and slapped out an article of things he had already decided to say beforehand, I think you may want to take me on some level of expertise on that observation.
 
Far from the worst Polygon article I've ever read. There's not much point arguing with it. About the only gross mischaracterization I can see is the writer clearly expects the $9.99 playtest book to be the full $60 or whatever deluxe hardcover with all the rules and essays.

I have written a lot of stuff about RPGs that I have not made a character in or played so much as a sample combat in. I am sure I shall write on RPGs in such circumstances in the future.

So when I tell you that I can clearly see this person just gave the game a quick skim and slapped out an article of things he had already decided to say beforehand, I think you may want to take me on some level of expertise on that observation.
One of the dudes from Syetem Mastery even called him out on it, and those dudes shit on everything because that's their whole shtick.
 
G Gabriel, cool first character! One thing though, you missed a few Traits. You automatically get the Traits listed with the Origin and Profession you choose. So Supernatural from Magic Origin and Mentor, Quick Learner and Obligation: School from the Student Profession. Those aren't just suggestions, they are freebies. Page 51 under the Professions header: "they each come with a package of traits that the character picks up from them". And page 49 under Origins header: "Each comes with a package of traits that are defined later in this chapter".
 
G Gabriel, cool first character! One thing though, you missed a few Traits. You automatically get the Traits listed with the Origin and Profession you choose. So Supernatural from Magic Origin and Mentor, Quick Learner and Obligation: School from the Student Profession.

Really? I definitely did miss that. That makes quite a bit more sense. As I stated earlier, for some reason I read it as "these are suggested traits for you to pick" rather than "these are traits you get." No idea how I misread that so badly.
 
Really? I definitely did miss that. That makes quite a bit more sense. As I stated earlier, for some reason I read it as "these are suggested traits for you to pick" rather than "these are traits you get." No idea how I misread that so badly.
Yeah, it took me a minute to find those quotes. I looked at the provided characters and it bears it out as well. They all have the traits associated with their origins and professions plus the traits choices that they would get from their rank.

I made a character that my son had in a different system, essentially a take on Valkyrie. Complete with sword, armor, etc. Differences from the Marvel Valkyrie though. He wanted her to have wings, so I added Flight 1. Used Signature Weapon and Signature Attack for the sword. Somehow though, I completely overlooked the Blades power set. Gotta go back and re-work the character a bit.

Overall, I kinda like the game so far. Building characters, even with the limited playtest rules, is pretty fun. The dice gimmick is fine, and happily doesn't require "special" proprietary dice, just the normal 3d6. The system itself does not feel that crunchy to me, roll 3d6, add them, then add a modifier for whatever ability you are using and beat a target number. The characters DO have a fair number of abilities, traits and powers to keep track of but it remains to be seen if that will make gameplay difficult. I'm not picky about all games that come out in 2022 must be revolutionary. If character creation is fun, the game plays relatively smoothly, and the rules aren't a complete mess, I'm good. I'll reserve judgement until I have a chance to play or run this one but so far, it seems decent enough.
 
I was nearly impressed by your post, but then realized you had overlooked some true stars of super hero RPGs.

guPwUI3.jpg

Your Super Squadron box is in far better shape than mine. There are posts elsewhere about me printing and binding books together (and so far they are impressively durable even if I say so myself. I can't take credit - I just follow guides on the internet) but I may have to have a go at either restoring the box or making a new one.

Superbabes was a game that came up on my radar as one of my players has a thing for it but (in the UK anyway) it's not a game that comes up for sale too often and certainly not for what I consider reasonable money (and even less chance of that these days). Challengers and Superdudes I've never heard of.

The last lot (as far as I can see, there may be others on the shelves or in boxes) are:

Last-lot.png


Super Squadron with its beat up to hell box. If anyone can point to a guide on the internet on how to fix this I'll have a go but I have loads (like a lot) of greyboard and I may end up with some considerably sturdier than the original if I do it right. It's thick stuff.

Don't really know anything about Heroes and Heroines - were there any more books for it? Can't remember. If there were I may have something else for it somewhere because it rings a bell unless I'm mistaken (easy at my age).

Power Trip - Tunnels and Trolls Superheroes is a relative rarity because it was published by Outlaw Press legitimately. Shipman became somewhat infamous for selling stuff using other peoples' work and not paying or crediting them. Apparently someone is still out there flogging his stuff under different names on Amazon and the like as the fellow himself has passed away. As for the game?

1650439858716.jpg


(Apologies for the 'grey' picture I forgot to turn the light on and can't be bothered to re-take the picture)

1650440142035.jpg


(Hope this one turned out better)

Where there are asterisks next to the stats a TARO (Triples add and roll over) have come up for character creation/that stat. The second image should explain how the character in the first image ended up with stats (effectively) in the thousands. With 14090 Combat adds, a fight is a non event with this character.

T&T fans feel free to roll your eyes. It's not Ken St Andre's finest hour at any rate, but there is a seed of a good idea in here somewhere.

no-wood-floor.png


Edit: The box isn't fuzzy. That's my zero effort attempt to photoshop the wood floor from the picture.

The Legend D6 game of DC Universe RPG is an odd ball. It's printed on really low quality paper and has proprietary dice (With Bat symbol, Superman symbol, Darkseid and Joker faces). You roll a bucket load of dice (for Superman, for example) and count successes if I recall. There were quite a few supplements and I think I had all of it but sold it in one of the purges. My reasoning was that the game didn't grab me and it made a dent in the pile o stuff I had to sell so off it went. Didn't fetch much on ebay either (this was years ago). This box set is an oddity to me. I may have picked it up a few years after the purge to give it a second chance or it was hidden in another pile or something. Anyway, proof that DC has its failed RPGs as much as Marvel.

Justice Inc is in there as a supers game because the guy on the (glorious) box cover has a mask on whilst he's beating the snot out of a crook. It's probably not a supers game (or at best street level) and I think... it may be the first time I've opened the box in ... decades. The previous owner might have been a smoker. Ewww. Anyway.

Derek.png


I can confidently state with near 100% certainty that no other game has an example hero called Derek. That crunch in the example makes my eyes glaze and drags me back to trying to grok Champions 3e. 'They move at 10 inches per frame? Fook me why are they shuffling about? Are their shoelaces tied together, is the floor ankle deep in treacle, what???' I was younger then.

I'm sure there must be people on this board who have played and loved Justice Inc. If I were to start a Crimson Skies play by post I'd struggle to find a more ready fit than this (feel free to suggest some. I'm sure Savage Worlds has a good fit).

Might read the book sometime to see how Derek got on. Wonder if he wears spandex with a big 'D' on the front. :trigger:

Edit: looks like Marvel already beat Justice Inc to the post with 'Derek Man'

derek-man.png
 
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Your Super Squadron box is in far better shape than mine. There are posts elsewhere about me printing and binding books together (and so far they are impressively durable even if I say so myself. I can't take credit - I just follow guides on the internet) but I may have to have a go at either restoring the box or making a new one.

Took a couple years to find a copy of Super Squadron on Ebay for a reasonable cost (about $50), but I'd always wanted to own it since I missed out on it back in the 1980s.

To be clear, your collection is remarkable. Super Dudes was part of the TWERPS booklets (The Worlds Easiest Role Playing System) which were mostly parodies of various RPG genres. Challengers was by the same guy (Dave Nalle who passed last year) who did the Ysgarth RPG (Ragnarok Enterprises).

As for my more recent additions? My super hero RPG of choice is now Supers! Revised, which is a dice pool system but the neat thing is being able to use any Skill or Power to defend/attack if you can justify it to the GM. It really encourages narrative combat and you don't always see the same attacks/defenses again and again as a result. A half-sibling of Supers! Revised would be Triumphant! as it uses some similar ideas with a dice stepping system (D6 to D8 to D10 for example) to show power level.

I backed the Kickstarter for Tiny Supers, and I really wanted to love the system for super heroes, but it just didn't quite work for us. The failure rate of attacks meant a couple rounds could go by with no one actually hitting. Coming from Supers! Revised where EVERY attack creates a Target Number to defend against was part of the problem I think. There are some neat setting ideas in the Tiny Supers book though and I'm glad to have a copy of it.

Mighty Protectors was just me being nostalgic for V&V, the first super hero RPG I ever played back in the day. The Jeff Dee art alone is a good reason.

Dg738TO.jpg
 
Don't really know anything about Heroes and Heroines - were there any more books for it? Can't remember. If there were I may have something else for it somewhere because it rings a bell unless I'm mistaken (easy at my age).

There was at least two licensed supplements - IIRC one might have been Ex-Mutants, but the significant one (for me) was Sam Keith's The Maxx
 
Polygon is ripping on this game pretty hard. I got to the part where the reviewer complained that the dice were confusing because they weren't D20s and decided I don't care about this reviewer's opinion. Not even trying to stick up for the game, but if you lead with "D20 is the best mechanic", you're losing me already.


it reads like a hot take of someone who spent a few hours googling armed with a secondhand knowledge of D&D from Community episodes
 
OK, I just got done making up a character.

1. Determine the character's Rank.

I decided that Rank 5 sounded good. The character has had their powers for a short while and gained some experience. They're at the neighborhood protecting scale.

Not that it matters right now, but I see the Rank Cap as Rank 10. The character's potential is to be a city protector or on a nationally renowned team.


2. Create a character concept.

This character is a magical girl. She's a young schoolgirl who transforms into a fighting form wielding a sword rapier and wearing a frilly pastel dress. She fights evil with the power of hope and love and stabbyness.

Her superhero name is "Magic Girl." Hey, she's a sample character, cut me some slack.


3. Pick an Archetype

Magical Girl is going to be a Striker. This is something like Daredevil or Wolverine. That's a good fit for Magic Girl, except she's just frillier.

I cross reference Rank 5 against the Striker archetype chart and write down 16 numbers I'll need in the next step. The Archetype also increases my character's Ability Score caps on Agility and Might depending on my character's Rank, so I note that too. Since Magic Girl is Rank 5, her Ability Caps in those areas are a 6. All other Ability Caps are 4.

I'll note that this and the next step is probably the messiest part of the whole character creation process. Get used to me saying that I'm cross referencing a chart by Rank.


4. Pick Ability Scores.

It's time to cross reference a chart based on Rank to determine how many Ability Points Magic Girl gets. She's Rank 5 so she gets 18 points.

I decide on the following allotment:

Might = 2, +8, 17
Agility = 6, +10, 23
Resilience = 3, +7, 18
Vigilance = 0, +4, 15
Ego = 4, +6, 17
Logic = 3, +5, 18

The first number is the Ability Score which I've allocated. The second number is the Ability Modifier determined by adding the Ability Score to the modifier shown by the Archetype chart. The last number is the Ability Resistance determined by adding the Ability Score to the resistance shown on the Archetype chart.

Magic Girl is really agile and dodgy. She's also really cute and charming, but also smart. Sadly, she's a bit oblivious.

Other derived stats are determined at this time, such as Health, Focus, Karma, and Initiative modifier.


4. Pick backstory elements (origin and profession) and traits.

Magic Girl has a Magic Origin. Duh! Her Profession is Student. I don't see any real mechanical meaning of these elements in the Playtest book.

For Traits, it's time to reference a chart by Rank again. Doing so reveals that Magic Girl can have 2 Traits. I choose Short since she's a young petite girl and Combat Finesse so she can use Agility for Fight checks instead of Might.

A note on Traits. It doesn't matter if they're advantageous or disadvantageous traits. They still take a slot. Disad traits let you play to them and earn Karma.


5. Pick Power Sets and Powers.

Once again, it's time to cross reference a chart based on Rank. Magic Girl is Rank 5. That means she can have 5 Powers belonging to 2 Power Sets.

Magic Girl definitely needs the Blades power set. This Power Set automatically allows Magic Girl to pick the highest of her Might and Agility to add to her Fight Damage with blades. So, her Agility. It also adds +6 (!) to both her Agility and Might Caps. So at this point she could have a 12 Agility and Might if I had the points to buy it!

For her Blades powers, I choose Fast Slashes which allows her to attack multiple times quickly. I also choose Slash & Dash, which allows her to perform a move-by attack.

Now she needs a super agility style of power set that will allow her to dodge and jump. In the Playtest game that is reflected by the Spider Powers Power Set. This set increases the Agility and Vigilance score caps by 6. So now Magic Girl could have an 18 Agility and a Vigilance of 10. The Power Set also makes note of the strength of webbing, but I'm not choosing any webbing powers.

The powers I do pick are Jump 1 (so Magic Girl can do some anime jumping), Spider Dodge (so she can evade even better than her Agility already allows her to), and Venom Strike.

That last one is supposed to represent that she can energize her sword and throw it as a ranged attack, and have it return to her. There are no specific rules for what I just described, but I'm just going to fudge for effect.

Now, I COULD replicate the thrown sword ability with the power from the Shield Bearer Power Set called Rico-Shield. That one is more explicitly mechanically what I'm going for. The catch is that I can't choose another Power Set and the power also has pre-requisites that Magic Girl doesn't meet. UNLESS, I chose the Surprising Power Trait. Then I could ignore all the pre-requisites and Power Set and just choose the power. But I want to keep the Traits I've already chosen.

And... That's it.

Magic Girl, Rank 5, Striker

Might = 2, +8, 17. Cap = 12
Agility = 6, +10, 23. Cap = 18
Resilience = 3, +7, 18. Cap = 4
Vigilance = 0, +4, 15. Cap = 10
Ego = 4, +6, 17. Cap = 4
Logic = 3, +5, 18. Cap = 4

Fight Damage = 3d6 + 7 + 6
Ranged Damage = 3d6 + 6
Health = 45
Focus = 30
Karma = 3
Initiative Bonus + 6

Origin = Magic
Profession = Student

Traits
Short
Combat Finesse

Power Sets
Blades
Spider-Powers

Powers
Fast Slashes
Slash & Dash
Jump 1
Spider Dodge
Venom Strike

Not represented in any of this is that Magic Girl has a cute little companion that looks like a 1 1/2 foot tall stuffed bunny toy. This little guy is how she got her powers. He's pretty defenseless. There don't seem to be any kind of "Dependent" traits.
Cool write-up. You helped me clarify a few things, including how ability caps work, so thanks for that.

Dependents is a trait, PG 54.

I've only skimmed it. I don't hate it. I keep thinking about how the advice for mixed rank groups is "make sure low rank pc's have wieners to fight while the cool kids wrestle Thanos".

Maybe you could do it like BASH!. Set a campaign rank, those below that get extra karma/edge, those above get extra trouble? Idk is a little early to be houseruling this shit.

Unless this is the First Houserule and I win a cake.
 
Cool write-up. You helped me clarify a few things, including how ability caps work, so thanks for that.

Dependents is a trait, PG 54.

I've only skimmed it. I don't hate it. I keep thinking about how the advice for mixed rank groups is "make sure low rank pc's have wieners to fight while the cool kids wrestle Thanos".

Maybe you could do it like BASH!. Set a campaign rank, those below that get extra karma/edge, those above get extra trouble? Idk is a little early to be houseruling this shit.

Unless this is the First Houserule and I win a cake.

Holy crap! There it is. Dependents. Right there. I looked over that exact page several times and I did not see it at all! I'm getting old and my reading ability is going to shit.

Maybe I can get a job writing articles for Polygon?

The advice for mixed rank groups is very basic, but I'd expect it to be. It provides some quick and workable advice for the audience the book is aimed at.

Speaking of which, I did go to the url mentioned in the back of the book to provide my feedback. There is absolutely nothing about the requested feedback that is anything about playtesting. It's all marketing questions aimed at determining what kinds of products people would like and what characters people want to see. In other words, a quiz to determine how they're going to proceed with the product line beyond the core rulebook. I don't think any of us expected anything otherwise.

The question I thought was funniest was "How many RPGs do you own?" and the top category of the list was "5+". I have more RPGs than that just sitting in front of me. I forget what the highest category was in the question of "How long have you played RPGs?" It was pathetically low.
 
Edit: looks like Marvel already beat Justice Inc to the post with 'Derek Man'

derek-man.png
Fun facts about D-Man, his superhero name is actually Demolition Man, but he shorten it to D-Man because it's an allusion to 'Demon'. And his costume is based off both Wolverine and Daredevil. And like Spider-Man and Daredevil (Peter Parker, Matt Murdoch), his name Dennis Dunphy was an alliterative. He also has a heart condition.
 
Fun facts about D-Man, his superhero name is actually Demolition Man, but he shorten it to D-Man because it's an allusion to 'Demon'. And his costume is based off both Wolverine and Daredevil. And like Spider-Man and Daredevil (Peter Parker, Matt Murdoch), his name Dennis Dunphy was an alliterative. He also has a heart condition.
I love D-Man.
 
That example paragraph of Derek wanting to shoot a DEX 10 thug etc... is pretty much the definition of WAY TOO COMPLEX for a simpleton like me. The table on calculating ranged penalties in Mythras was simpler to me.

LOL "that's a very simple introduction to combat" WTF?
 
I'm positive about the game, but I don't think I'd use quite as intense of superlatives as that article does.
Yeah to quote TristramEvans in regard the Polygon review:
it reads like a hot take of someone who spent a few hours googling armed with a secondhand knowledge of D&D from Community episodes
Its just positive rather than negative :smile:
 
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