|
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
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 04:48 |
|
|
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
|
|
|
MURPG was/is rad as hell, but very easy to break - I know some fans began working on a MURPG 2.0 project to try and make it a "better" game, which is admirable, but the better solution is for the DM to not invite dickheads to play and let the crazyness stand.
|
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2012 23:59
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
I had yellow box Basic Marvel Super Heroes and then the Advanced version that game with all the little cardboard standees you were supposed to use as miniatures on the game map. The system was certainly very easy to learn and the intention that you use colourful maps and counters to play was great for getting players hooked. Unfortunately it also wasn't very flexible - some things would just be impossible to accomplish no matter what you did, which was discouraging in a supers game. - Can I shoot him with my energy blast? - Yes, fine, but it does no damage. - Not even if I roll really well? - Yeah, doesn't matter. - What if I burn all these Karma points I have saved up? - Yeah, doesn't matter. I don't remember character generation working really well either. Advanced had random tables, which made for some hosed up characters. It was pretty great if you took established characters and played one of the pregen modules though. Eventually we moved on to DC Heroes, which had point-based character generation and although the system was a little harder to learn, in theory anything was possible if you rolled well enough, and that was more fun.
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2012 00:38
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
I've just put up the first post of a read-through of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying: Basic Game over in FATAL and Friends. I posted about the game over in the Indie Games thread, but I would reiterate that while it took a close reading and re-reading of the first few chapters before the system clicked with me, as it took shape I definitely got that warm feeling of inspiration as my mind started spinning out possibilities. My regular gaming group is about half and half with regard to comics readership, but we had a blast. Deadpool is somebody's favorite Marvel character, so she picked him, likewise for our Rocket Raccoon (who I cobbled from parts of Captain America, Cable, and others), whose player isn't much of a Marvel guy. The other two chose Scarlet Spider (Kane) and Agent Venom (Flash Thompson) from the list at Exploring Infinity. Needless to say, this is not the group that Brian Bendis assembled for the Breakout story on which the included adventure in the Basic Game book is based. I hadn't actually read the real story until last night when I remembered someone passed me some early New Avengers issues some years ago. Ours was better. Would anyone mind if I dumped a session report here? If I do, should I be careful about potential spoilers for a story that predates Civil War? I get that my session and how we went about things won't be yours or how you might do it, but I don't want anyone who's interested in playing the Breakout mini-event to get spoiled on any of the goings on baked into the thing. Quick edit to shamelessly promote part two of my read-through. PrincessWuffles fucked around with this message at 11:44 on Jul 12, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2012 09:55
|
|
|
I have adored every form the Marvel RPG has taken and own as many of the books as I can find. My absolute favorite bits from each version were -The giant and detailed maps from the TSR version. I still use those to this day when the group is in any modern city. Also running a game in that system for five or so years that started out in the Age of Apocalypse and tumbled into a version of te 90's marvel U. A character in that group who had emotion control powers managed to make the Hulk scared of him. -The character creation system in the saga edition. Everything ran off the cards and it was crazy intuitive and fun stating your guy out. Also the Saga system handled low power street characters better than any other system I've played. - The XP system of the relaunch bead thing. At the end of every game you get X amount of sentences. The sentence could be something like "I'm really good at seeing through Skrull disguises." then the next time you were around a disguised Skrull you got a bonus. It was inspired. - The initiative system in the newest one is great fun. Everyone piles into the room to fight the red skull, the DM (here called the Watcher [glee!]) has the option to use a doom token to let the red skull go first, if he doesn't then it falls o the players to decide who goes first. Well, this is really Captain America's deal, he should deliver the big speech and throw his mighty shield. Great, he does. Now who goes? The players discuss it amongst themselves and then pass the story stick around until everyone has had a turn. For my money, I ad the most fun with the original. I was a big campaign with lots of kirby-explosions and the system was great for that. I recently re-purchased the saga system and would love to give that another go but want to run a big game with the new system too. Not enough time in the day  Not until my mutant power kicks in.
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2012 14:42
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
JDCorley posted:Spoil away, anyone reading the RPGs is going to be spoiled anyway. A trip report would be great. JDCorley posted:... 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. Speaking of RPG materials, Part 3 of my read-through for FATAL and Friends is up!
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2012 02:57
|
|
|
JDCorley posted: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. I'm disappointed that confusion over the stones had anything to do with MURPG not being popular. That wasn't a particularly difficult mechanic and it worked so well for strategizing: no dice rolls or cards, you knew what you could do and what your opponent could do. JDCorley posted:A unique game with great production values and at a great price point made this an underrated game all the way around. I agree. I would happily play this again if I had the chance. (Though to be fair, I'd do the same for the TSR Marvel Super Heroes game, too.) PrincessWuffles posted:Would anyone mind if I dumped a session report here? If I do, should I be careful about potential spoilers for a story that predates Civil War? I get that my session and how we went about things won't be yours or how you might do it, but I don't want anyone who's interested in playing the Breakout mini-event to get spoiled on any of the goings on baked into the thing. You could always put spoiler tags if need be. And yes, please do post the session report.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2012 13:27
|
|
|
ibntumart posted:I'm disappointed that confusion over the stones had anything to do with MURPG not being popular. That wasn't a particularly difficult mechanic and it worked so well for strategizing: no dice rolls or cards, you knew what you could do and what your opponent could do. ibntumart posted:...You could always put spoiler tags if need be. And yes, please do post the session report. Either way, I'm running Act 2 in an hour or so, so after that I'll write up the whole thing for the thread.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2012 00:42
|
|
|
PrincessWuffles posted:This system sounds cool. Definitely going to have to do some research now. I see used copies aren't too expensive on amazon. It's worth a buy as long as it doesn't set you back a lot. I remember the PBP sessions going pretty quickly (the game is set up as a series of immediately sequential panels, so it's streamlined that way); IRC would probably go even more efficiently. PrincessWuffles posted:Well, I started writing up Act 1 with spoiler tags, but now that I think about it, the only real spoilers involved with the way I ran it would be the villains and one big hero that appear. Of course, the way my players defeated them also gives away who the villain is, to a degree, so it would be a confusing mess with tags. Am I concerned over nothing here? The guy doing the Buffy RPG review put in an actual play without any spoilers and no one cared. So you'd probably be fine if you mentioned you're running the scenario in the book and anyone who doesn't want to have that spoiled should just skip ahead.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2012 09:07
|
|
|
All right, well, here goes! Breakout! Act 1 Part 1 Although the story we're dealing with here predates Civil War, and the way we played things out is only marginally similar to the actual events, so maybe spoilers isn't the term, if you're concerned about spoiling yourself on the events of the mini-event Breakout, based on the first six issues of New Avengers … Spoilers follow. The scenario in the book had starting locations for all the heroes involved in the version that went down in the comics, so we had to wing it. I'm all about player agency, and I wasn't about to force my friends to play out a story that's already been done with for years now, so I asked them. A forewarning is also probably in order, that I run a pretty loose table, so it took us a while to actually get to the scenario. Rocket Raccoon was a tricky one to work in, at first, but we decided he had been unceremoniously dropped off on Earth by his Guardians teammates for some reason, and found himself in New York on the night of the blackout. Specifically, he was at a zoo, railing about animal rights. This was awesome mostly because this player is usually quiet and withdrawn, but something in the freedom of the story-game ideal must have sparked in him. Deadpool was watching Golden Girls in his apartment, when the power went out. Naturally, he did what any hero would do in a crisis, and leapt straight out the nearest window to get down to some serious looting. Why not just loot his own apartment building, I asked? Well, they know him there, and he's got all their good stuff already. Venom was working for S.H.I.E.L.D. on the Raft, so he was more or less on site when Electro busted out with Karl Lykos (AKA Sauron), and the big prison break began. He put down a mob of escapees, and his presence let me string out a few details about what was going on, but I didn't want to get things started too heavily until we had everybody on the island, so we did a lot of cutting back and forth until then. Scarlet Spider (Kane) was swinging over the city, and was the one who actually saw the flash of lightning as Electro blew a hole through the roof of the Raft. Kane here and Deadpool were the first characters to encounter each other, as Kane swung past Deadpool falling to the pavement from his impulsive leap to the looting. It was in that moment that Deadpool realized his predicament, and called for “Spider-man” to save him. The datafile we had for Kane gave him a milestone that would grant him xp anytime he acted indignant at being mistaken for Spider-man, so he sailed on by with all the power and none of the responsibility while we all had a good laugh. On the Raft, Venom continued to reconnoiter on the escalating prison break. He learned that a hole had been made on the upper levels, through which many prisoners were making their escape, or those who made it past the S.H.I.E.L.D agents anyway. Venom also got the first taste of combat when he fought off a mob of un-named villains with clubs. I don't want to cross too far into material I'll be covering in my FATAL and Friends report, but mobs are cool, in that they function as a single entity, like hordes in Deathwatch, although I chose to represent each of their D6 “Team” affiliation dice as a member of the mob, so every D8 of stress Venom dealt knocked one more bad guy out of the fight, so those remaining had their effectiveness reduced with the removal of one of the “Team” dice. I like that while he ended the fight, it didn't mean corpses. Most of the time, we would see going forward, there was the option to leave your opponent incapacitated but alive. Other than the definite possibility of crazy-good rolls, you only kill if you choose to take it to that level. Back in the city proper, Rocket Raccoon was making his way through the dark streets, on the way back to his hotel. Again, where else would he have a base under the circumstances? Anyway, with all this chaos, it wouldn't be long before he'd want firepower on his side, so back to the hotel for his guns was really the only option. A traffic jam in an intersection up ahead had turned into some kind of riot node, where crazies were dancing around trash can fires while the drivers of a knot of piled cars battled atop the wreckage of their vehicles. That's when it got weird. Walking by a broken-in storefront, Rocket saw something strange through the shattered window. Namely: Deadpool and his new gal pal: a lady mannequin. Rocket confronted Deadpool, who agreed the whole thing was a bit silly after all, and the two resolved to go to Rocket's hotel room, there to arm themselves from Rocket's arsenal. Ever-prepared, Deadpool brought along the shopping cart he'd used to smash in the storefront window. Deadpool's cellphone rang then to the tune of “Bad Romance” with a call from someone out on The Raft offering to buy his mercenary services in putting down the chaos at the prison. Kane, meanwhile, realized that the breakout at The Raft would be a good cover under which to get in and check up on Bob Reynolds (AKA The Sentry), who was, at that moment, locked away by choice at the deepest and most secure level of The Raft. If you don't know Sentry, the gist is that he thinks he killed his wife, and so he ordered Nick Fury to lock him up, and then used his phenomenal psychic powers to wipe all memory of his existence from the entire world, which is why he only (then) recently appeared in the comics. If you don't know why Kane of all people would have any connection to Sentry, well, that's more to do with the player playing Kane having chosen to pursue the set of Event Milestones relating to Sentry at the outset of the event. Anyway, he hitched a ride on a convenient S.H.I.E.L.D helicopter that was taking off from a nearby rooftop as he swung by. Using his invisibility, he took a seat in the back of the craft that would go empty anyway as the fourth member of this group of agents had left his weapons hanging on the coat-hook of a bathroom stall several floors below and had gone to retrieve them despite his compatriots assurances that they were indeed going to leave him behind. Did I mention things get a little stupid at my table? I claim full responsibility. Rocket's hotel room was the scene of him and Deadpool gathering as many weapons as Rocket's (mechanically supported in the system) obsessive-compulsive disorder deemed in proper working order into Deadpool's shopping cart. Deadpool's earlier phone conversation had scored him a boat ride to the prison, and we were at last on our way to having all of the player characters on the same landmass. Next time: Actual interaction with the scenario in the book from characters not named Venom!
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2012 07:29
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
Giving result based XP for political/social machinations is cool. How does it work if your group tries various tactics?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2012 22:50
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
I know this is an older thread, but gently caress it, I'm sure we're all still into Marvel comics and RPGs. So I got my copy of the Civil War Essentials rulebook yesterday and while I didn't follow all the comics that closely, this still strikes me as a fun campaign idea to run. Those of you who've got some experience running the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game, how do you like it now? Any advice for first time Watchers or players? Am I crazy for thinking I can just jump into running the Civil War Event without running this system before?
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 02:29
|
|
|
I really ought to be ashamed to even show my face after abandoning my write-up in the FATAL and Friends (and even here in this very) thread, but I really had a blast running this with my group. If you've run more complex systems, like, well, anything almost, you should do fine running MHR. Like most any fiction-first hippie storygame, you (as player or Watcher) choose your action based on what the character would do. Only then does the question of statistical capability come into play. The whole thing is so lightweight and barely-there as a system that playing and running is only really limited by your and your player's imaginations, rather than system weirdness or arcane rules. I definitely found that it was most effective to just jump the hell in, and the rules made much more sense in play. If the Civil War book looks cool to you, and you can grasp the intention->build dice pool->action mechanic, the only other obstacle is getting creative with the Doom Pool. Rock out, and let us know how it goes, man!
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 03:00
|
|
|
I'm not quite sure I get all of the mechanic---I get the intention and dice building parts, but need to take another look at Distinctions and the Doom Pool---but I think this is one of those things that is probably obvious once you've done it a couple of times. Like you said, just jump the hell in and it'll all become clear. Oh, one more question: did you guys use the premade characters or venture into making up your own? If---scratch that, when---I put up my Civil War recruitment thread, I will be strongly tempted to let players make up their own superheroes (or hell, their own duos/teams).
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 10:06
|
|
|
ibntumart posted:I'm not quite sure I get all of the mechanic---I get the intention and dice building parts, but need to take another look at Distinctions and the Doom Pool---but I think this is one of those things that is probably obvious once you've done it a couple of times. Like you said, just jump the hell in and it'll all become clear.  .ibntumart posted:Oh, one more question: did you guys use the premade characters or venture into making up your own? If---scratch that, when---I put up my Civil War recruitment thread, I will be strongly tempted to let players make up their own superheroes (or hell, their own duos/teams). PrincessWuffles fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Sep 28, 2012 |
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2012 04:33
|
|
|
I had a wonderful experience using random generation rules from the Marvel Website in Winson's game. Maybe give that thread a look to see how we did it? (It was a good game but ended up running out of momentum which sucked.)
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2012 04:51
|
|
|
Mr. Maltose posted:I had a wonderful experience using random generation rules from the Marvel Website in Winson's game. Maybe give that thread a look to see how we did it? (It was a good game but ended up running out of momentum which sucked.) Thanks for the tip! I skimmed through it and I think everything clicked into place mechanicswise. Sad to see that game end so soon, though. PrincessWuffles posted:The best advice I can give with regard to making characters is that you must must must know what you're making from the very beginning. The concept stage will shape your every selection in the process. The rules presented for creation are fine, but I went more for an eyeball approach using the pregens and scales in the Powers section of the rules as benchmarks. It's a good idea in the beginning to find a character who's similar to what you want, and tweak as needed. Dig in, get messy, and fight crime! That makes sense. I played around with random character generation, but despite fun memories of rolling up crazy-rear end PCs with the old MSH Ultimate Powers Book, I remember thinking the characters I came up with were not exactly cohesive. And it was always good advice to have a firm character concept in the various Mutants & Masterminds iterations (as well as the Marvel Univere Roleplaying Game and MSH, for that matter!).
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2012 09:35
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
Not only that, but you don't have to take the theme advice. I'm pretty sure Flit's powers were rolled up on the Mystic table, but I liked playing Fixer But Not A Jerk so I made it tech instead. The system is extremely flexible like that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2012 16:47
|
|
|
JDCorley posted: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. Oh, I have. It's just that without really having a concept for the character, I would up with cohesive *power sets*, but no no good sense of the character (which made thinking up SFX and new Limits a bit tricky). Plus I always worry with random generation. In MSH, you could have a PC who winds up with an angel who has Amazing Alter Reality in the same group as someone who rolled a half-goatman, half-fungus hero with Poor Levitation and Typical Prehensile Hair. I know that level of hilarious disparity isn't going to happen in Marvel Heroic, but there's still the chance of someone rolling a somewhat anemic single power set and someone else scoring three power sets with several D12s, right? Meh. I should just stop worrying about that. I might try converting some of my old PCs into the current rule system and see how that works out. I might even ask one of you guys to volunteer running a mock combat to make sure I know what I'm doing.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2012 19:24
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
ibntumart posted:Plus I always worry with random generation. In MSH, you could have a PC who winds up with an angel who has Amazing Alter Reality in the same group as someone who rolled a half-goatman, half-fungus hero with Poor Levitation and Typical Prehensile Hair. I know that level of hilarious disparity isn't going to happen in Marvel Heroic, but there's still the chance of someone rolling a somewhat anemic single power set and someone else scoring three power sets with several D12s, right? The great thing about Marvel Heroic is that, even if it looks like there's a huge disparity between, say, Hulk and his bucket-o'-d12s and Punisher with his handful of d8s, the actual difference is pretty small. Check it out: Let's say Frank Castle gets a little big for his britches and decides he's going after the Hulk. We'll further assume that Frank is being really dumb and not using his Specialties to create any real resources or anything before the fight. Finally, we'll stick to basic rolls for this illustration: no PP or SFX coming in to muddy the issue. Punisher's operating Solo (d10), he's an Obsessed Vigilante (d8), he's got a lot of guns (Weapon d8), and he's a Combat Master (d10). If we assume average rolls on all dice and characters going for the highest total rather than effect die, that puts Frank at a result of 11 with a d8 effect die. Hulk, on the other hand, is also a Solo act (d10), he's an Engine of Destruction (d8), and he's got Godlike Strength (d12). Following the same rules as Frank, that puts him at a result of 12 and a d8 effect die. Now, of course that's hugely simplified, and SFX and Plot Points and Scene Distinctions can all swing that outcome hugely, but still this example goes to show that Marvel has a deceptively flat power curve.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2012 21:43
|
|
|
Hmm, that's a very good point about the mechanics equalizing things. How would you frame that narratively, though? I get how the dice roll can result in Ennis's favorite antihero beating the Hulk, but this is all by default on the physical stress track and I don't see anything in Castle's arsenal logically causing the Hulk trauma. At least with preparing resources, I could envision some sort of special gamma-blocker bullets or something.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2012 02:31
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
Inflict Mental or Emotional stress, or rank up a sufficient Complication like "Full of goddamn sedatives". Dealing straight up physical damage against the Hulk is dumb, but you don't have to inflict physical stress with your moves.
|
|
#
?
Oct 2, 2012 01:01
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
SAGA was the first tabletop game I ever purchased, and it still holds a special place in my heart even if I never actually got to run it. It seemed pretty well put together in theory, but if anyone has actual stories about playing or running it I'd love to read them.
|
|
#
?
Oct 3, 2012 14:38
|
|
|
All right, I'm convinced this won't be that hard to run. Giving my first game recruitment a go: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3510621
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2012 11:03
|
|
|
Okay, figuring out how to put together dice pools and narrate so it all makes sense is actually a lot of fun. I'm really getting the sense of how a seemingly outclassed superhero can even the odds. I have run into one thing I can't quite figure out. When you create a Complication, how long does it last? Is this entirely up to the Watcher's judgment and common sense? Can the PC---or the Watcher, in the case of an affected NPC---target the Complication and roll against something (Doom Pool plus the Complication, maybe) to remove it?
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 08:29
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
Thanks, that was exactly the information I was looking for! Though I thought NPCs didn't ever roll against the doom pool for some reason.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 21:51
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 04:48 |
|
|
I'm surprised there's so little love for MHRP here. Seriously, it rocks. I've just started running a campaign and it seems to have all the best parts of Spirit of the Century, Wushu, and a few more its own. After two sessions, my group are learning to assemble their dice pool effectively (seriously, that took some explaining and an e-mail between sessions), I haven't introduced XP until we finish breakout, and everything else is rocking - although one of the PCs would have disagreed for a while (the player came up with a young mutant as character concept and didn't know what powers to give her - we aren't using canon characters right now, so I had her infected with a Carnage Spawn Symbiote). And I'm fairly sure that Hulk could flatten Punisher unless Punisher played it smart - although I'm surprised Hulk has Healing Factor and not Invulnerable. The Punisher can win some rounds against the Hulk - but the Hulk's going to just shrug the damage off.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2012 02:30
|
|
