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Are we ready for Supers - The Edition War Thread?
*[sarcasm] yes, the greatest. Your mileage will NOT vary, upon pain of derision.[/sarcasm]
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.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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You basically get one power that has a few stunts/moves and the government really doesn't like you using it. lolI know I've played BNW but my memories of it are negligible; I don't remember it feeling very supersy though.
Internet Man Card revoked.Bro, Do you even know how to internet?!?
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.
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?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?
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.
The Marvel Multiverse game feels out of step with modern tabletop RPGs
The early rules provide plenty of details and numbers but very little heartwww.polygon.com
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.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.
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.
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.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.
I was nearly impressed by your post, but then realized you had overlooked some true stars of super hero RPGs.
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.
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).
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.
The Marvel Multiverse game feels out of step with modern tabletop RPGs
The early rules provide plenty of details and numbers but very little heartwww.polygon.com
Cool write-up. You helped me clarify a few things, including how ability caps work, so thanks for that.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.
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.Edit: looks like Marvel already beat Justice Inc to the post with 'Derek Man'
I love D-Man.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.
Me too! I wish there was more done with him. I'd play him in a game.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.
Not sure how valid it is on a site called Geek Chic Elite, but I digress.
A positive review: https://www.geekchicelite.com/marvel-universe-rpg-soars/
Not sure how valid it is on a site called Geek Chic Elite, but I digress.
Yeah to quote TristramEvans in regard the Polygon review:I'm positive about the game, but I don't think I'd use quite as intense of superlatives as that article does.
Its just positive rather than negativeit reads like a hot take of someone who spent a few hours googling armed with a secondhand knowledge of D&D from Community episodes