Summary from RPGNet:
* Cortex Plus based. Uses d4, d6, d8, d10, d12.
* Traits rated by dice. No "default" attributes.
* Actions use dice from appropriate traits. All actions are opposed by reaction rolls. No fixed difficulty.
* Powers are grouped into Power Sets with special effects (SFX) and limits.
* Skills are grouped into broad Specialties such as Covert, Crime, Menace, Science, and Tech.
* Character baseline action die is one of three Affiliations: Solo, Buddy, Team, rated from d6 to d10.
* Default presentation is Marvel characters prepared for play, but you're able to make your own.
* Product line is event-based, i.e. event books for Civil War, Annihilation, Age of Apocalypse in 2012.
* Operations Manual is the rulebook which first appears in the Basic Game softcover ($20, February) and later bundled with premium edition event books ($40) though essentials editions will be available for event books if you don't want to buy the Op Manual again ($30)
* GM is called the Watcher and specific rules exist to enable him to force narrative. Otherwise narrative is shared w/players.
* No "generic" versions of Marvel characters. All are tied to specific events or points in Marvel history. Basic Game has two dozen heroes for play based on the first story arc of New Avengers from 2005 ("Breakout"), including New Avengers, FF, X-Men.
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How the fuck is reprinting characters over and over again, based upon the story in any given campaign book, a good idea? Any other game would just give one set of stats for each major character, preferably in a book full of characters (or even a specific book like X-Men and their enemies) instead of rewriting them constantly.
No default traits? This will make comparing different characters and designing new ones unnecessarily difficult, IMO. Unless there's actually a base "attack" ability that is given a generic bonus and a description that doesn't really mean anything (which I'm ok with, but it doesn't sound that way).
Well it'll make it easier to ignore the event books you have zero interest in for one thing so that means no need to buy the event books for anything besides Annihilation in my case as every event marvel has done since House of M that hasnt been set in space has sucked giant donkey ballz imo.
I have little interest in this, though a few friends of mine are devoted comic fans, and at least one of them commented on terrible money - grubbing of Marvel RPG. Eh, us poor Polish paupers.
QuoteHow the fuck is reprinting characters over and over again, based upon the story in any given campaign book, a good idea? Any other game would just give one set of stats for each major character, preferably in a book full of characters (or even a specific book like X-Men and their enemies) instead of rewriting them constantly.
I can somewhat understand that - the characters' skills do sort of evolve/change between storylines.
I have absolutely no faith in the Cortex system handling the Physical and Mental difference between Charles Xavier and the Hulk.
Add to this the fact that every game since Serenity has had TV-Show Immersion mechanics, and color me gone.
Each new Marvel RPG seems to suck worse and worse. It's all been a slow slide downhill from FASERIP.
As some of the aforementioned posters have stated their opinion, I am in the same camp of not being interested in such a game.
Nothing will replace my Villains & Vigilantes, Champions, and Mutants and Mastermind rpgs...
It sounds all right to me. Can't see me buying it, though.
Although I hated the marble-based game less than most people, I agree it's been downhill. Too bad, too. It used to be a great game.
I'd love to play the new Marvel game when it comes out. I might even go as far as buy it for a fellow GM for his birthday (subtle and disinterested, I know).
As for me though, I'm really, really happy with ICONS right now. I already have this huge backlog of ICONS I want to run and as I only GM 1/3 of the time and I like to vary between genres I ain't going to get through this backlog anytime soon. As such I can't see splitting my attention between different super games working well.
Quote from: TristramEvans;506157Each new Marvel RPG seems to suck worse and worse. It's all been a slow slide downhill from FASERIP.
I think of it more as plummeting from FASERIP.
Quote from: CRKrueger;506153I have absolutely no faith in the Cortex system handling the Physical and Mental difference between Charles Xavier and the Hulk.
I honestly don't know much of anything about the Cortex system, other than the summary I posted in the OP.
Quote from: danbuter;506215I honestly don't know much of anything about the Cortex system, other than the summary I posted in the OP.
The classic Cortex system is fairly light, traditional system much like cinematic Unisystem but with step-dice which MWP used in a number of mostly licensed games. I played a good deal of Supernatural. It was good.
The newer MWP games, Smallville and Leverage, use Cortex Plus which apparently features much stronger narrative style mechanics in part inspired by those sort of games that aren't that popular on this forum. I've not played either of these Coretx Plus games so I can't give an opinion.
Quote from: danbuter;506215I honestly don't know much of anything about the Cortex system, other than the summary I posted in the OP.
That one thing you mentioned about not being able to easily compare characters won't be a problem. In Cortex+ games, it's always pretty obvious which stats you can use for attack and defense in a particular contest. And comparing them is really easy, too. d6 > d4, y'know.
Also, I'm seriously hoping for an Infinity Gauntlet event book. To be honest, I'd prefer an Infinity Crusade one. It's probably not quite as good of a story, but that's the event that was going on when I first got into Marvel comics(I picked up Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, Thanos Quest, etc. later) so I have a soft spot for it. Their cosmic powered stuff was really awesome for a while there, and I was sad to see some of the post-Infinity stuff retconned in more recent stories.
Quote from: danbuter;506135Summary from RPGNet
The trouble with this summary is that it says nothing about what it's like in actual play, and as far as I'm concerned it's the first Marvel game that actually PLAYS like Marvel. I wish it used fewer dice, but I can get past that.
Quote from: CRKrueger;506153Add to this the fact that every game since Serenity has had TV-Show Immersion mechanics, and color me gone.
Wait, you mean the ones that were based on *gasp* TV shows?
I'm still waiting for Beyond HUman from Eden.
And I still have MSHAG despite somehow losing the fucking cards.
You do wonder why someone doesn't just get the rights to the old MSH system and just reprint that. It'd fly off the shelves!
I think Marvel has the rights to MSH, unless Jeff Grubb had a deal with TSR where he got the rights to the system back when the line was cancelled.
Quote from: Ghost Whistler;506481I'm still waiting for Beyond HUman from Eden.
:rotfl:
Quote from: Ghost Whistler;506481I'm still waiting for Beyond HUman from Eden.
And I still have MSHAG despite somehow losing the fucking cards.
You do wonder why someone doesn't just get the rights to the old MSH system and just reprint that. It'd fly off the shelves!
I wish we could. Seriously it would be awesome thing to do.
Although, I think H&S2E, will be a bit more Marvel like in some ways than 1E. An improved setting, and I'm explaining everything, so its begun to look like Marvel. Like how Agility can be used to catch things, or Might to block attacks, and so on.
Although I've fudged the real world a lot for my setting. (Two small cities fictionally altered to be one huge one after a devastating event and fewer economic crashes over the years, so I've got a sufficiently suitable supers environment.
I love MSH, and if they hadn't stopped printing it, I'd likely never have written a superhero game. I just hope people see 2E in a better light. Especially since I've got rules for how banter impacts play!
It will be interesting to see how the GM presented as the Watcher mechanic works and how exactly the game handles forced narrative as opposed to regular rail-roading.
It may not create the desired effect by pitting player and GM against each other. It can work, if handled well (Deadlands to a certain extent, and 7th Sea in which the GM had his own set of drama dice to upset the players plans and ensure their villains got away to fight another day.
Do I want to see another superhero RPG? No.
Do I want to see another Marvel RPG? No.
Do I want to see this RPG? Oddly yes, but I dislike the Cortex system as its rather ineptly designed and implemented.
The main thing that made me pre-order the Marvel game (aside from my inner nerd wanting to collect every supers game regardless of how good or shite it is) is that the author, Cam Banks, frequents various forums and answers questions, sets people straight and interacts. That to me is better than buying blind (as I have done with other games) only to find that they are garbage, and I like that, so I figured I'd say 'thanks' and order the book.
That said, I still don't have a damn clue how the Cortex system works, and as far as I can tell, Characters are super powered or REALLY super powered (meaning they have d10 for some vague catch all attribute or d12). If I were comparing the old FASERIP game it would be like saying everyone with Amazing strength to Unearthly strength has d12. Everyone Remarkable to Incredible has d10.
Kind of makes a lot of characters look and play the same, and that's the part that baffles me. If Hulk is really the strongest there is, how come She Hulk, Thing, Colossus, Wonder Man, Thor, Silver Surfer, Rogue, Miss Marvel, Rhino, Abomination, Iron Man, Hercules, Namor, and every other heavy lifter in the Marvel Universe is as strong?
I'll wait and see what happens when I open the pages for a read, but I'm kind of cringing that it will be complete and utter shit when I want and hope for it to be great, best thing since sliced bread and all that. They are doing everything else differently - rather than sourcebooks about Avengers and X men and all that, they are covering events. That said... I think you'll end up finding if you want the stats for a specific team you'll end up looking across several books, which is good for them, bad if I want the current line up of the Avengers to run for a game and only have one or two books.
I try not to judge a game based on hearsay and my own inability to understand the rules but the Smallville system uses a form of the cortex system I believe, and that uses Duty, Glory, Justice, Love, Power, and Truth as stats... Let's see, Hulk has... d12 power and ... uh. Hmmm. Justice, he kind of likes to do the right thing. d6? So, uh, duty... glory ... truth? *tumble of weed as character writeup stalls indefinitely*
When a superhero fights a supervillain, his ability to win a chatwar is kind of secondary to how hard he knocks bad guys teeth through his butt. That's the part where I'm confused about the Cortex system, and hero games are all about guys in tights knocking each other about and blasting stuff.
Well, at least I thought they were supposed to be... :confused:
Quote from: APN;506605I try not to judge a game based on hearsay and my own inability to understand the rules but the Smallville system uses a form of the cortex system I believe, and that uses Duty, Glory, Justice, Love, Power, and Truth as stats... Let's see, Hulk has... d12 power and ... uh. Hmmm. Justice, he kind of likes to do the right thing. d6? So, uh, duty... glory ... truth? *tumble of weed as character writeup stalls indefinitely*
I could be misremembering, but I think I read Cam Banks claim over at tBP that the game system's explicitly not as abstract (storygamey?) as Smallville. Which most seemed to interpret, hopefully, as a game about garishly costumed superbeings beating the ever-loving snot out of each other, as opposed to high school drama with superpowers.
I have some sentimental attachment to ol' MSH (TSR/FASERIP) but I can't say I'm fond of the system (I don't hate it either). If I was to run a Marvel-verse supers game, I'd probably use ICONS (which feels like MSH but plays better) or Supers! (which is my go-to rules-lite supers game) and convert the old MSH supplements (which by the way picture their characters at what I deem a far more interesting juncture in continuity than whatever Marvel's putting out right now. Stopped buying circa 1997 with the Onslaught fiasco and never looked back).
Quote from: APN;506605The main thing that made me pre-order the Marvel game (aside from my inner nerd wanting to collect every supers game regardless of how good or shite it is) is that the author, Cam Banks, frequents various forums and answers questions, sets people straight and interacts. That to me is better than buying blind (as I have done with other games) only to find that they are garbage, and I like that, so I figured I'd say 'thanks' and order the book.
When a superhero fights a supervillain, his ability to win a chatwar is kind of secondary to how hard he knocks bad guys teeth through his butt. That's the part where I'm confused about the Cortex system, and hero games are all about guys in tights knocking each other about and blasting stuff.
I don't have my copy of Leverage atm, but iirc Cortex + resolution is two dice (In Leverage, it's Attribute + Role), plus bonus dice from Talents, plus bonus dice from the situation (The equivalent of situational modifiers in other games). Roll, total the two highest, and that's your result.
GM does the same thing (Falling back to 2d6 if other dice aren't appropriate) and highest score wins.
If the GM rolls any 1's, they're Opportunities for the character (Which are good!), and if the player rolls any 1's, they're Complications for the character (Which are bad!).
Dice are always added, not subtracted, due to the way the resolution works; adding smaller dice to the pool, for example, isn't likely to affect your final result - because it's always just the highest two dice - but it will make you more likely to score a 1 and a complication. Similarly, adding more dice is more likely to make you roll a 1, complicating the situation; the more resources the PC calls on, the more likely it is something is going to go wrong.
My guess is that, for example, even if Hulk and Iron Man (Frex) both have Strength d12, Hulk would have a talent that lets him roll extra dice on anything involving being bloody strong (Because it's his thing), so if he engages in a strength-off with Iron Man (Who is incidentally strong), he's more likely to win. Any time someone doesn't have an appropriate talent to oppose something, it'll probably fall-back to a standard die.
Thanks for trying to explain it, but I'm still none the wiser. I'd have to have a step by step breakdown of a combat to go 'ah!' I think. I'm probably just thick.
The Captain America writeup:
(http://s15.postimage.org/5ge7feq7v/data_file_captain_america_promo_22a.jpg)
Still none the frakkin wiser...
Quote from: The Butcher;506630I could be misremembering, but I think I read Cam Banks claim over at tBP that the game system's explicitly not as abstract (storygamey?) as Smallville. Which most seemed to interpret, hopefully, as a game about garishly costumed superbeings beating the ever-loving snot out of each other, as opposed to high school drama with superpowers.
I have some sentimental attachment to ol' MSH (TSR/FASERIP) but I can't say I'm fond of the system (I don't hate it either). If I was to run a Marvel-verse supers game, I'd probably use ICONS (which feels like MSH but plays better) or Supers! (which is my go-to rules-lite supers game) and convert the old MSH supplements (which by the way picture their characters at what I deem a far more interesting juncture in continuity than whatever Marvel's putting out right now. Stopped buying circa 1997 with the Onslaught fiasco and never looked back).
I own every Marvel game out, and whilst the FASERIP game got played to death by our group as soon as DC Heroes turned up (1e on) that was it. never played it since (tried to with the Advanced game, but it only made me want to play DC more).
The Marvel Saga game I've got in front of me and I find it vague. Combat as far as I can tell works like : you try to hit the bad guy and try to dodge the bad guy. Can't find anyone who can tell me exactly how it works as the fansite has tumble weed blowing through it.
The Marvel Universe (stones, diceless) game is playable but very vague in places. Plays surprisingly well online (and the community is going strong for it), character creation is fast but again, it's open to interpretation and min/maxing. Someone who knows the rules inside out could make a starting character to beat Hulk I expect (I never could, though I'm sure it could be done). Of all the Marvel games, I think this had the most potential and a second edition would've done better I think.
As for the games you mention, I have them in PDF (both bought in Tsunami/disaster relief bundles I think?) and not played either. I'm most interested in systems that play well by forum as my forum group is scattered across the world. We use Golden Heroes/Squadron UK but the longer the game goes on, the clearer it is the game is firmly rooted at street level when the players are ready to reach for the stars.
I'm writing my own houseruled version of DC Heroes to use specifically by forum, but the more I write it, the less it looks like the MEG system. We'll see what happens if/when it's done.*
Interested to hear your take on Icons and Supers (as in, play by forum - good or no?) and from anyone who can explain Marvel Saga combat to an imbecile like me. :huhsign:
*when books are holographic and we're all neurally networked feeding a giant computer with our brainwaves.
Oh god, complications. I really hope I can't hit Spidey in the Mary Jane.
What that character sheet doesn't tell me is how well Captain America resists one of Professor X's mind bolts (or whatever he uses) or what happens if Doc Strange blasts him with the furry cock cheese of Agamemnon spell. Those specialities give the nearest clue I guess. How well does he spot something odd about a situation, as he does in the comics?
I dunno. FASERIP gave a good idea of how smart, tough, strong, intuitive and strong willed the character was and how well he compared to other characters, and what level to set an adventure at (Cosmic heralds only if in the Avengers, but he's fine from street-mid power level). With this writeup? I have no clue.
Quote from: APN;506639Thanks for trying to explain it, but I'm still none the wiser. I'd have to have a step by step breakdown of a combat to go 'ah!' I think. I'm probably just thick.
The Captain America writeup:
(http://s15.postimage.org/5ge7feq7v/data_file_captain_america_promo_22a.jpg)
Still none the frakkin wiser...
Hmm; looking at that, my guess is that your standard action roll is going to be one of
team affiliation (So if he's solo at the moment Cap'll pick up a d6, with a buddy a d8, and in a group a d10), plus any other die of the appropriate size, then roll 'em.
So as a quick and dirty example, Captain America sees some rocks about to fall on a nearby group of schoolchildren. Oh no! This looks like something a Superhero could handle! So he charges in, and let's say he picks up:
* d6 - He's acting on his own (Solo)
* d4 - He's "leading by example". We'll take the d4 because, while it makes a complication more likely, it'll give him a Plot Point (Generic fate adjuster token) to use later
* d12 - Godlike durability, as he attempts to hide under his shield
* d8 - Enhanced reflexes, which he uses to get there faster
Cap rolls those dice, picks the two highest.
GM decides that the rocks are worth 2 d8 (They're potentially very deadly, after all) and rolls his dice.
Highest total wins.
There's probably a lot more to it (Some of the options look like they will let you muck about with die steps and exploit opportunities), but that looks like a pretty solid sheet to me.
I like that "milestone XP" concept. Powers look pretty simple, too, and adding new ones should be pretty easy.
Quote from: APN;506643Interested to hear your take on Icons and Supers (as in, play by forum - good or no?) and from anyone who can explain Marvel Saga combat to an imbecile like me. :huhsign:
Zero experience with play-by-forum, sorry. :(
Supers! is fast and loose. It's very, very easy to stat up a character; you have a set number of dice (typically 25-30D) to spread between Resistances, Powers, Skills (or is it Talent? No matter) and Adavantages. 1D of anything costs 1D, whether it's a Resistance or a Power or a Skill (or is it Talent? No matter), and all Advantages cost 1D apiece. Powers are somewhat broadly defined, e.g. Energy Control (choose type), with Bonuses and Limitations which better refine what ou want them to represent (e.g. Atack Only if all you want is an energy blast; Device if it's a ray gun). You can theoretically attack and defend with any Power (save specific Limitation), which means you can defend against Telepathy with your Super-Strength...
if you can persuade the GM (tricky part). As you can see, a lot is left up to the GM and the players, the rules mostly get out of your way. There's also a nice chapter on what superheroes can do to assist in case of natural disasters, a nice change of pace from villain-punching (or maybe just a change of scenery, see the recent Gotham earthquake for inspiration).
ICONS is a FATE game only in that it uses of Aspects, which are broken down into Qualities (postive, taggable aspects which seem purposefully vague, i.e. apt to be tagged in almost any situation) and Challenges (negative Aspects that fuel the Fate Point pool, here called Determination). Unlike most FATE games, there are attributes, which, like the powers, are deliberately evocative of MSH. Also plays quick, no-frills, in combat and similar situations.
No experience with Marvel Saga or MU.
Quote from: Ladybird;506652There's probably a lot more to it (Some of the options look like they will let you muck about with die steps and exploit opportunities), but that looks like a pretty solid sheet to me.
Hmm, well I'm still not sure it can handle the Hulk, but it looks like the dice can step up to 3d6 possibly with using more then two values, so maybe.
In any case Ladybird's convinced me to check it out just to see what the Cortex+ version can do without the Soap Opera bullshit added in.
Quote from: CRKrueger;506683Hmm, well I'm still not sure it can handle the Hulk, but it looks like the dice can step up to 3d6 possibly with using more then two values, so maybe.
In any case Ladybird's convinced me to check it out just to see what the Cortex+ version can do without the Soap Opera bullshit added in.
I'm curious about that die-splitting bit, because Cortex+ has you rolling your dice in a bunch. I presume what it means is that instead of putting a d8 into your roll, you're putting in 2 d6's; "die steps" is probably the usual d4 - d6 - d8 - d10 - d12 range.
"Enhanced", "Godlike", "Master" and "Expert" look like keywords, signifying "better than average"; a character without them would probably be considered to have a d6 in "Attributes" (Durability, Reflexes, Stamina, Strength, etc).
My guess is the Hulk would have something like solo d10 / buddy d8 / team d6; "On the run", "Strongest in the world" and something else for distinctions; an ability not too dissimilar to "Super-Soldier Program" to represent the Hulk form; a similar mental ability to represent Bruce Banner, with some sort of "Limit" forcing him to become the Hulk at inconvenient times. Dunno about specialities and special XP rewards.
On paper, he probably won't look overwhelmingly more powerful, but the player would bring it out in play.
APN: I can explain Marvel Saga. Are you being serious? I'm pretty good at it (I think) because I've explained it to more newbies than long term players. Mind you, I've explained them as well.
Now, Marvel Saga is the one with the cards. Not the one with the beads. Which, never quite "worked" for me.
If you have *anything* (some text file with a combat example broken down maybe) that would be great with regards teaching me Marvel Saga. I have the book in front of me but can't find any combat broken down step by step save on 42/43 of the game book (Spiderman vs Electro, Rhino and JJ Jameson with a pen) and thought I had it but wanted to be sure before I taught the basics to my playing group for a tryout.
I get:
Edge & Hand
Playing cards and trump
Doom cards
Injuries are a bit odd - you remove values of cards but for bad guys they have health scores (because they don't have cards)?
Anything you have for noobs/thickos would be appreciated! Cheers!
Quote from: APN;507267Anything you have for noobs/thickos would be appreciated! Cheers!
It would be easier to run a short game on IRC :D
I can write something up though. I'll try sometime this weekend.
IRC is probably out (I'm guessing you're in America and 'middle of the night' is not good for you). Think I just need the basics - step by step this is what you do with fights, what cards you draw, when, and what happens with the other guy while you're doing all that. If you can sort that out it would be a great help! Thanks for any help you can offer in any case...
They are doing a core book, and a series of event based editions (Civil war for instance).
Therein lies the interesting (covering events) and the problematic. The problem as I see it is that characters will be spread across event books. Without a dedicated X Men or Avengers book you might have to collect several event books to get the avengers line up all in the same place. That said, no one really knows who is going to be in which book. The core book (to my mind) should have Spiderman, Wolverine, Cap America, Thor, Hulk, Silver Surfer and the Fantastic Four as a minimum in it. The thing that gave rise to my concern was the list of villains going in the basic game:
Armadillo, the Brothers Grimm, Bushwacker, Carnage, Chemistro, Constrictor, Controller, Count Nefaria, Crossbones, Crossfire, Crusader, Cutthroat, Electro, Graviton, Grey Gargoyle, Griffin, Hydro-Man, Jigsaw, Living Laser, Mandrill, Mentallo, Mister Fear, Mister Hyde, Purple Man, Razor-Fist, Scarecrow, Silver Samurai, Tiger Shark, Typhoid Mary, Vermin, Zzzax, the Wrecking Crew, the U-Foes, and our friends from the Savage Land (including Karl Lykos himself). Plus Yelena Belova, the other Black Widow.
Lots of these guys turn up once in a blue moon, get their ass kicked and disappear again. Others I haven't even heard of, or haven't seen for so long I don't have a clue whose rogues gallery they are supposed to belong to.
The event books are:
Feb: the basic rule book is released
Mar: the Civil War event book premium and essential versions
Apr: the 50 states initiative book for Civil War
May: Young avengers / runaways book for Civil War
Jun: X-men book for Civil War, and the Annihilation event book premium and essential versions
Jul: Conquest for Annihilation
Aug: War of Kings for Annihilation
Sep: Thanos Imperative for Annihilation, Age of Apocalypse event book Premium and Essential versions
Oct: Generation Next for Apocalypse
Nov: Human High Council for Apocalypse
Dec: X-Ternals for Apocalypse.
I already preordered the core book, but what's in that will determine what else I buy (though I'm a sucker for collecting hero games, so my guess is 'all of them'. We'll see.)
No Dr. Doom in the core book? Screw that. Looks like they're trying for a White Wolf "collectible-splats" approach to this one. I hope it bankrupts 'em.
Yeah, I never even liked FASERIP compared to Hero or even Mayfair's DC, but after the SAGA system, the beads and now this, Face Rip is lookin' better and better over time.
Although I'm not immediately offended by the idea that each character gets separate writeups depending on what story arc is being represented. Because let's face it, that's how comic books WORK. It's also how a lot of simulation games work- the German army in The Guns of August isn't nearly as badass in 1918 as they were in 1914, for example. Certainly the Captain America who said "No- YOU move" wasn't the same one who just punked out and gave up in CIVIL WAR.
In any event, this thread as at least given me the phrase "furry cock cheese of Agamemnon spell." :D
JG
I suppose that, so long as the basic book allows players to create their own heroes and villains, it won't be so much of an issue. But it won't give a huge amount of Marvel setting/background to work with. As a generic SHRPG it may then be quite decent. What i've seen of the system and what's implied in that Captain America writeup looks interesting. But this approach really doesn't convince me. MSHAG had about 30 heroes and villains and they were mainly the big guns, including silver surfer, xmen, and the avengers, as well as Dr Doom, Magneto, Green Goblin and Annihilus. No one I hadn't heard of.
Once the NDA is up I'll give you all playtest impressions.
APN I pmed you, let me know where to send this thing...:D
I still think IRC may be better. Faster to explain as we play than writing out hypotheitcals..
Thanks for doing that Silverlion - hopefully I'll get some use out of the Marvel game now rather than wondering "what the heck do I do with this?"
Quote from: Ghost Whistler;507956I suppose that, so long as the basic book allows players to create their own heroes and villains, it won't be so much of an issue. But it won't give a huge amount of Marvel setting/background to work with. As a generic SHRPG it may then be quite decent. What i've seen of the system and what's implied in that Captain America writeup looks interesting. But this approach really doesn't convince me. MSHAG had about 30 heroes and villains and they were mainly the big guns, including silver surfer, xmen, and the avengers, as well as Dr Doom, Magneto, Green Goblin and Annihilus. No one I hadn't heard of.
Even if they don't, hacking character creation together doesn't look too hard, from the example of that sheet. With more examples to go from, and the actual game mechanics in hand, it should be easy.
Hey folks!
Creating and modifying existing hero data files is not hard at all. It's a lot like how Marvel Super Heroes allowed you to modify or create new heroes in FASERIP. For folks who like to go gonzo over random rolls, we've got a free download being prepped to do that, although that's not a part of the actual Basic Game book.
If you only know about the system from Serenity or Smallville, you may have some basic idea (traits rated in dice, rolling pools of dice, use Plot Points to modify outcomes) but it's a lot different. I like to design toward the license rather than slap the license onto an existing system, so Marvel Heroic Roleplaying got a lot of attention to make it play like a comic book story, with all that you'd expect from that.
Cheers,
Cam
Quote from: Cam Banks;508154Hey folks!
Creating and modifying existing hero data files is not hard at all. It's a lot like how Marvel Super Heroes allowed you to modify or create new heroes in FASERIP. For folks who like to go gonzo over random rolls, we've got a free download being prepped to do that, although that's not a part of the actual Basic Game book.
Cheers,
Cam
Quick someone shake the eight-ball that is Cam and see if we get a clearer answer...:D
Quote from: Silverlion;508274Quick someone shake the eight-ball that is Cam and see if we get a clearer answer...:D
Give me a clearer question. :) Wait, was there a question?
Cheers,
Cam
Cam, nice to see you posting here!
What led to the decision to split characters up by storyline? Why not do character books so they are easy to find?
Quote from: danbuter;508289Cam, nice to see you posting here!
What led to the decision to split characters up by storyline? Why not do character books so they are easy to find?
We have worked very closely with Marvel's licensing and publishing departments both before and during the production and development of the game. Our initial planning meeting with Marvel made it clear that they really liked the idea of tying the game to specific events or crossovers. Given the many interesting story lines, changes, power switch ups, and so forth that each character gets, it made sense to us to think of each event as a self-contained "setting" around which we would create product.
We can manage "easy to find" with proper indexing and character lists, too. I think the Basic Game will show off what we're able to do with book and event structure.
Cheers,
Cam
Quote from: Cam Banks;508277Give me a clearer question. :) Wait, was there a question?
Cheers,
Cam
Do we get character creation rules? ;D
Quote from: Silverlion;508347Do we get character creation rules? ;D
Yup!
Cheers,
Cam
Quote from: Cam Banks;508335We have worked very closely with Marvel's licensing and publishing departments both before and during the production and development of the game. Our initial planning meeting with Marvel made it clear that they really liked the idea of tying the game to specific events or crossovers. Given the many interesting story lines, changes, power switch ups, and so forth that each character gets, it made sense to us to think of each event as a self-contained "setting" around which we would create product.
We can manage "easy to find" with proper indexing and character lists, too. I think the Basic Game will show off what we're able to do with book and event structure.
Cheers,
Cam
Not to mention that's a very clever way of plotting out a lengthy splatbook run. Everytime Marvel reinvents the universe (which happens now, what, weekly? :D) you get a new setting. :hatsoff:
Quote from: CRKrueger;508368Not to mention that's a very clever way of plotting out a lengthy splatbook run.
I think you mean transparent. ;)
Quote from: CRKrueger;508368Not to mention that's a very clever way of plotting out a lengthy splatbook run. Everytime Marvel reinvents the universe (which happens now, what, weekly? :D) you get a new setting. :hatsoff:
That's a great point. Like I said, the writeup-for-every-arc approach fits the way superhero comics actually work.
JG
There are 1-2 marvel crossover events every year, plus for specific characters certain strong storylines that can be turned into sourcebooks. Plenty to go at I guess. All depends on how it sells. Last time out Marvel cancelled the MURPG (Diceless) game because it didn't sell in D&D numbers, according to some accounts. Some fans didn't get on with it, and it sure could've done with a revision and/or 2nd edition to more clearly define the powers and fix the 'death spiral' but it wasn't as bad as people make out. We'll have to see with this one, but Cam is (in my opinion) making the right moves by stoking up the interest with fans when he shows up on forums.
The MU game was interesting. I think it could have been made to worked really well. I even like the tone of the book, the fact that it avoided commonly used roleplaying jargon and conventions, in an attempt perhaps to be less of a niche product designed for a niche audience.
But what really put me off though was how labour intensive running NPCs in a fight promised to be.
Quote from: Soylent Green;508621The MU game was interesting. I think it could have been made to worked really well. I even like the tone of the book, the fact that it avoided commonly used roleplaying jargon and conventions, in an attempt perhaps to be less of a niche product designed for a niche audience.
But what really put me off though was how labour intensive running NPCs in a fight promised to be.
That and it needed a really good editing pass. I was more frustrated with the fact that it focused on round to round accounting, rather than smaller number of energy to power up actions.
I'm interested to hear on any ideas how the energy mechanic might be improved. Basically, if you had no energy you were screwed, so it was all out for one round, then on the defensive and hope to recover for 3 rounds, then all out again. If someone had significantly more energy (or wounded the other guy and reduced their energy pool) it was a foregone conclusion, with no random slip ups or occurrences that happen in the comics. I think that's why I burnt out with GMing it (that and I was playing in 4 games, and GMing 3, which can't have helped). I was seeing the 'same old' stuff. Players would min/max to get most bang for buck, the less able players would end up with naff characters and the min/max characters could drop thor, but weren't any good at anything else.
I toyed with introducing dice (didn't go down well on MURPG forum) and have toyed with using playing cards too (like the Marvel saga system I don't - or didn't thanks to you - understand). Or maybe just draw two cards, and one side gets high, the other low. Then add the card value to stats/abilities/powers that round, energy would be used to boost the value. Next round the other side gets the high card, the other, the low card. Royal cards double the energy stones the character spends in that round (but if you only spend 1 stone you don't get much of a bonus). Joker wipes out both energy stone totals to zero, and have some bonus if the suit matches whatever action you are attempting (Clubs=Strength, for example).
Anything to add a random element and shake it up really.
So is this game rolling against a target number? Rolling against an opposing die pool and highest wins? Or don't we know.
Quote from: Ghost Whistler;508906So is this game rolling against a target number? Rolling against an opposing die pool and highest wins? Or don't we know.
You roll your dice and add the top 2 together to get your result(you can spend plot points to add additional dice to your result if you have them to spend and want to do so). The GM rolls a die pool as well, treated the same way.
The GM's die pool is determined by a few things, but if you're rolling against something that doesn't have stats of its own(ie a situation as opposed to an NPC which will be statted up) it'll default to the "trouble pool," which starts at 2d6 and can increase or decrease(in both number of dice and die type) depending on how contests go. The general trend is for the trouble pool to get bigger as a session goes on, but characters also tend to have more plot points to burn later in the session so it's never as bad as it seems.
I've just read the Leverage (a tv show i believe to be based on the UK caperfest 'The Hustle', not to be confused with 'The Real Hustle' in which a glamour model shakes her assets to confuse idiots with improbable scams) quickstart. If it's anything like this ima have to buy this. Is this system free to use by any chance (Cortex I believe, though i've never played it, leverage, marvel, BSG, Smallville or Serenity).
Quote from: Ghost Whistler;509082I've just read the Leverage (a tv show i believe to be based on the UK caperfest 'The Hustle', not to be confused with 'The Real Hustle' in which a glamour model shakes her assets to confuse idiots with improbable scams) quickstart. If it's anything like this ima have to buy this. Is this system free to use by any chance (Cortex I believe, though i've never played it, leverage, marvel, BSG, Smallville or Serenity).
The generic Cortex PDF is $5 at the moment. It's in the vein of the older games like Serenity that were still your basic Stat + Skill, but the way the basic mechanics work is pretty much the same. The newer games since Smallville(Leverage, Dragon Brigade, Marvel) are all more tailored than that. So in Leverage you're rolling Stat + Role, in Smallville your basic roll is Value + Relationship, and so on.
I differentiate games that I've been lead on from the games that came prior to that by the terms Classic Cortex (Serenity, BSG, Supernatural, Cortex System RPG blue book) and Cortex Plus (Leverage, Smallville, Dragon Brigade, and now Marvel Heroic Roleplaying).
Classic Cortex has fixed Difficulty numbers, a more traditional setup of stats and skills, advantages and disadvantages, hit point-style damage tracks, and so forth.
Cortex Plus is a design language used to create each game from the ground up, so implementation varies from intensely dramatic/relationship-based (Smallville) to action/caper/competence porn (Leverage). Common elements in all Cortex Plus games are lack of fixed difficulty, no hit point-style damage, less reliance on traditional attribute/skill/ad/disad structure, and stronger support of expected genre outcomes.
This is all a fancier way of me saying we decided to stop using the same system for each license and instead treat each license as an RPG on its own merits using some common mechanical ideas. So far it's worked out really well.
Cheers,
Cam
Quote from: GeekEclectic;509112The generic Cortex PDF is $5 at the moment. It's in the vein of the older games like Serenity that were still your basic Stat + Skill, but the way the basic mechanics work is pretty much the same. The newer games since Smallville(Leverage, Dragon Brigade, Marvel) are all more tailored than that. So in Leverage you're rolling Stat + Role, in Smallville your basic roll is Value + Relationship, and so on.
It's the Cortex + stuff that interests me the most. I've been trying to devise a system that fits my ideas for a long time. In fact I wanted to see if I could put something together to try and make a few bob out of it (i'm realistic about it: a pdf for a few quid at most), and I find there's a game out there that's ticking all the boxes. This seems to be the best of both worlds: narrative and rules without being horrifically complicated or totally storytastic. I wish I'd thought it up!
Another preview (http://www.margaretweis.com/images/stories/bonus_content/mhr_breakout_preview.pdf) went up this evening. I had fun writing up stats for a T-Rex and various Savage Land Mutates. Jeremy Keller had fun laying this out with the David Finch art.
Cheers,
Cam