There's a thread on RPG.net on people's experiences with MHR after 6 months. http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?643141-MHR-6-months-out-how-s-Marvel-treating-you

Quote from: Skywalker;575878There's a thread on RPG.net on people's experiences with MHR after 6 months. http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?643141-MHR-6-months-out-how-s-Marvel-treating-you

It's good that people are enjoying it; I just don't know if I can stomach it long enough to enjoy it.

I don't really care about allocating assets, applying negative dice, whatever. Futzing with a dicepool is not what I enjoy about rpgs.


Instead of all that futzing I would rather do freeform roleplay, or use Nobilis for supers.


But I will conceed that many seem to like the system.

Quote from: Bill;576038But I will conceed that many seem to like the system.

Completely anecdotally, after a year running the following RPGs for my local high school group, I asked them which one they wanted to play again for our final session of the year:

- Star Wars WEG 1e
- Dragon Age
- Marvel Heroic
- nWoD
- Dragon Warriors
- D&D4e
- AD&D1e

They chose "Marvel Heroic".

Quote from: Skywalker;583109Completely anecdotally, after a year running the following RPGs for my local high school group, I asked them which one they wanted to play again for our final session of the year:

- Star Wars WEG 1e
- Dragon Age
- Marvel Heroic
- nWoD
- Dragon Warriors
- D&D4e
- AD&D1e

They chose "Marvel Heroic".

System theory/speculation aside, do you think it could be because it's the only game out of that list which uses current and successful pop-culture media?

Quote from: Peregrin;583607System theory/speculation aside, do you think it could be because it's the only game out of that list which uses current and successful pop-culture media?

I think Star Wars and Dragon Age could probably qualify on that level too.

In any case, though it may be a part of the appeal, I don't think that it is the dominant reason as they are not Marvel fans. I had a short conversation with them and the standout feature for them seems to be the way the system encouraged them to think outside their characters and allow them to make fun for themselves and the other players direct. They referred specifically to a scene where the whole table co-ordinated to create the kind of dramatic antics that you are perhaps more likely to see onscreen or in a comic than in the other RPGs we have played.

FWIW here was my thoughts at the time: http://www.therpgsite.com/showpost.php?p=522291&postcount=228.

I'm playing in a play by post game and it seems the group have already figured that Area Effect is 'broken'. I don't have the knowledge to explain why it's broken (my first game, still learning) but maybe someone else on here has run into the problem and can better explain it than I can.

Other than that, it feels kind of vague. I'm running Luke Cage, and rather than knowing that Cage hits stuff, looks mean and has invulnerable skin, I'm rolling a bunch of dice from different stuff to get the job done. It could be as likely that he uses his die from being a Buddy to another hero rather than his main asset, namely his strength. It takes some getting your head round, but I'm trying my best not to dislike it and give it a fair crack.

I'd have a hell of a time convincing my play by post group to switch to this though...

Quote from: APN;583633I'm playing in a play by post game and it seems the group have already figured that Area Effect is 'broken'. I don't have the knowledge to explain why it's broken (my first game, still learning) but maybe someone else on here has run into the problem and can better explain it than I can.

The SFX are all supposed to be balanced, but some are certainly better than others. Area of Effect is on the top tier of them. You add another d6 for every additional target - this can be great for clearing a room of very minor enemies, but greatly increases the odds of contributing to the Doom Pool with 1's. To say that it's "broken" is short-sighed - as in, they haven't seen it sharply increase the Doom Pool yet, but it is still one of the three or four more advantageous SFX in the game.

//Panjumanju

Quote from: APN;583633I'm playing in a play by post game and it seems the group have already figured that Area Effect is 'broken'. I don't have the knowledge to explain why it's broken (my first game, still learning) but maybe someone else on here has run into the problem and can better explain it than I can.

As described above, Area Effect is good for taking out weak groups but its also very risky as it boosts the Doom Pool i.e. collateral damage.

Remember getting more dice isn't necessarily a good thing if those dice are d4s and d6s.

Quote from: APN;583633Other than that, it feels kind of vague. I'm running Luke Cage, and rather than knowing that Cage hits stuff, looks mean and has invulnerable skin, I'm rolling a bunch of dice from different stuff to get the job done. It could be as likely that he uses his die from being a Buddy to another hero rather than his main asset, namely his strength. It takes some getting your head round, but I'm trying my best not to dislike it and give it a fair crack.

I enjoyed playing Luke Cage. Most of his stats are physically focussed, but in the comics he is defined as much by his relationships with other people and what he believes in. I found that his stats can be applied in ways outside the box with a little creativity. I think its that element of MHR which the players picked up on the most, and also why I think it does a good job of capturing the comic book feel.

Quote from: Skywalker;583109Completely anecdotally, after a year running the following RPGs for my local high school group, I asked them which one they wanted to play again for our final session of the year:

- Star Wars WEG 1e
- Dragon Age
- Marvel Heroic
- nWoD
- Dragon Warriors
- D&D4e
- AD&D1e

They chose "Marvel Heroic".

It could be they just wanted to play superheroes.

Quote from: TristramEvans;583880It could be they just wanted to play superheroes.

Possibly but I doubt it was the most influential factor. They all said when we started that they aren't big superhero fans and one even commented that she was surprised how much she enjoyed herself given that superheroes weren't her thing. The prevalent comment was how much they liked the way the felt able to shape the story and scenes directly and the resultant interplay between them.

Quote from: Skywalker;583608I think Star Wars and Dragon Age could probably qualify on that level too.

In any case, though it may be a part of the appeal, I don't think that it is the dominant reason as they are not Marvel fans. I had a short conversation with them and the standout feature for them seems to be the way the system encouraged them to think outside their characters and allow them to make fun for themselves and the other players direct. They referred specifically to a scene where the whole table co-ordinated to create the kind of dramatic antics that you are perhaps more likely to see onscreen or in a comic than in the other RPGs we have played.

FWIW here was my thoughts at the time: http://www.therpgsite.com/showpost.php?p=522291&postcount=228.

Cool.  The system really interests me, but I haven't had a chance to read/play it yet.

The only reason I said what I did is that Star Wars, while still relatively popular, is, IMO, on its way out for younger gens (barring a successful reboot/new movies), and DA always seemed like a love-letter to older fantasy CRPG fans.  Meanwhile, supers movies are in right now and comics are getting more attention than they have in a long time, especially among younger kids.

I definitely think it was a part of the appeal, just not the main one. I note that I ran this before Avengers was released.

Dragon Age was their second most favourite, with the nWoD one off being next (it was their first horror game ).

Things have developed and in addition to the Marvel Heroic final session, it looks like we will be starting a weekly campaign too starting in December. This means my wife gets to play too.

So in preparation I have been reading through Civil War, with 50 State Initiative and Young Avengers & Runaways supplements lined up behind it, and I have to say that I am impressed so far. It really matches the kind of sandboxy toolkit adventure campaign that many seem to want but are pretty rare these days. Bags of flexibility, playability and support.

I will try and post more detail on the book here later, as I don't think I have seen anything but the Basic Game discussed here so far.

Is it fun rolling a dice pool versus another dice pool, as opposed to a fixed target number?

I don't think either is inherently more fun than the other.