So I just started a super hero/villain hack for funsies after reading the current marvel rpg (it’s not very good).

13 thoughts on “So I just started a super hero/villain hack for funsies after reading the current marvel rpg (it’s not very good).”

1. “Mutant and masterminds” have nice archetype heroes that could become playbooks in a *world based game.

2. “It’s not very good” Woof.

3. I think a game that focuses on how the heroes interact with each other ad what they bring to the team would make a very interesting gamw

4. Adrian Thoen that’s sort of what I’m going for there.  My plan is base playbooks on the aspects of supers that cause friction. For instance, Captain America is seen as a boy scout while batman is cold.  My thought there is all supers are going to be awesome guaranteed.  What makes them interesting is their flaws.  Moves don’t reflect abilities, but how they interact with other heroes, enemies, and the public.

5. sub

6. Ok Jim Crocker, that wasn’t exactly nice nor constructive but hey let’s give you a shot. Why don’t you tell me what you believe my flawed premises are and why you see them that way. I would like to say though, 1 I’m doing this for fun, not with the plan to publish and 2: I don’t intend that if I do complete this game that it would be appealing to everyone. If you have constructive ideas to contribute please do so, but if you just want to shoot down what I am creating for my own and possibly others amusement please do not bother to comment again.

7. Well I certainly disagree with your first point Jim Crocker. I posted this message in the AW community, not the marvel. Also it’s not just me who has issues with the Heroic system, I’ve read some reviews saying the same. In any case, my opinion of Heroic has no impact on whether a super powered hack in this style could work, nor do I have any further interest in discussing the system (if I did I would have written a review).

   I see why you think that detailing powers is important for a super hero system, but I disagree. What makes these stories compelling to me isn’t what characters can do but what they do with them. My goal for the philosophy is that players can chose whatever powers they want but what they can or cannot accomplish with them is the basic moves (moves do not equal powers). In this way a character like superman can punch a villain through 15 walls and they brush it off like nothing while Squirrel Girl can defeat the same villain by tickling his nose with her tail. Of course defeating villains (or heroes) isn’t the point to me, just like shooting people isn’t the point of AW, it’s just a thing that happens with regularity.

   All in all I think your sorta right on one account. I don’t like superhero stories because their superhero stories. I like superhero stories when they are good stories, and to me a good rpg system should encourage the creation of good stories.

8. Jim Crocker It’s about the tension you want in your game. Superhero stories can have tension at “will he be able to punch the bad guy?” And that’s pulpy fun. But David Rothfeder is looking for the tension to be centred around character drama. “Can superman maintain his ideals when dealing with this situation?” “Can batman bring himself to trust his teammates?” “Can Wonder Woman reconcile her morality and beliefs with that of the world at large?” “Will the green lantern choose his connection to Earth, or his duty to the GL corps?”

   You could use PBTA to make both games, but the stats and moves would be very different.

9. Adrian Thoen got the nail on the head.  One thing I just came up with today is how specials work.  Sure sex happens in comics but that’s not really a huge part of the plot.  Now when heroes fight each other (or villains, I don’t just want players to be able to do either, I think it would be fun if it were possible for them to be shocked that what they turned out to be)

10. Smallville covers a lot of this, and informed some of the more dramatic aspects of Marvel Heroic (although to be fair, MHR was designed to be a heck of a lot more about the action). Smallville’s core version of Cortex Plus is about to be released as part of the Cortex Plus Hacker’s Guide in the form of Dramatic Roleplaying.

    Mind you, if you didn’t think MHR was very good, you might not like Smallville either.

11. Milestones had some potential as they tended to be more about character development than just fighting, but in my opinion there are 2 flaws which make them not interesting.  1: there are only 3 of them.  If there are only X chances for your character to grow then it will probably only happen X times.  The second issue is that milestones are pre-planned.  There’s no surprise to anybody what it would take for your character to change, it’s right there on your character sheet.  I prefer it when your character will surprise you, or when your shocked that something mattered to them.  

    In any case, I’m not here to compare a Supers AW to the Cortex Rules.  They are two different things, and if I was interested in Cortex I would have posted a forum for them.  I posted here because I thought discussions about AW hacks could help me through my process.  At this point if you want to discuss Cortex I would ask that you please do so elsewhere.  If you want to know my issues with heroic, you can ask me privately.  I will say that I am not interested in debating the system.  Just that if somebody wants to know the particulars of my opinions I am generally happy to oblige.

12. For a start, you can replace sex move with super combat move. A lot of time, in comics, when two supers have problem with each other they fight.

13. I really like this idea. You could have playbooks like “Boy Scout”, “Dark Wanderer”, and “Patriot” – each tied to the theme of the character, but not at all to the powers. Want to be a flying brick whose a Patriot? Great, but your moves still center around Duty and Compassion.

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