#RPGaDAY2015, Day 19: Favorite Superhero RPG

by ThomasNo Comments

Day 19 of #RPGaDAY2015! Favorite Superhero/Comic Book RPG.

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, no contest.

avengersBack in high school, I played a few Supers RPGs like Champions and Villains & Vigilantes, but despite the characters wearing their underwear on the outside, they never felt like they were actual scenes from a comic book. Marvel Heroic does.

Our heroes were at a remote location, trying to prevent the newest version of Ultron from activating, when at a crucial moment of the conflict our Superman-level hero was suddenly pulled out of space and time by his mystical supervisor and made to recount his failings on his path to redemption. The conflict about the hero’s past choices was just as important as the physical fight to stop Ultron. It felt like a comic book — hell, it felt like a Marvel comic book.

Oh, and the milestone system is so very much “Let me tell you what I want out of this game.” Player-driven agency, yay!

Part of (all of?) the design team on MHR are developing the Sentinel Comics RPG, by Greater Than Games. I’m interested in seeing how that shakes out. Sentinel Comics is the setting for the Sentinels of the Multiverse card game and all of SotM’s spinoffs.

Huh.

Not even 200 words today.

What else?

Oh, how about links to some of the fan work I created for Marvel Heroic?

If you’re playing that, here’s Christmas With The Hulk, an extended fight through midtown Manhattan against a very, very tough Hulk. If you’re planning on playing the Civil War event, you can use this as a prelude to that and have “the Rockerfeller Center Incident” be the kickoff to Civil War instead of Stamford.

Also, the Handling Action Scenes document I created, which talks about, well, how to handle action scenes in Marvel Heroic.

Oh, I forgot I had Deathblow, a mini-event about the resurgence of Hydra and (possibly) the death of America, uploaded! Grab that, too!

What else… maybe this thing I did about using allied heroes in your Marvel game? Or Freakshow, where I ramble on about a street-level police procedural in the Marvel Universe.

Marvel Heroic: Christmas with the Hulk

Marvel Heroic: Christmas with the Hulk

by ThomasNo Comments

Just in time for the holidays, it’s Christmas with the Hulk! This action scene for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is all about giving your heroes a very difficult challenge: stop the Hulk’s mad rampage throughout midtown Manhattan. With the televised trail of destruction, this action scene could be your group’s prologue to the Civil War event.

Are you ready to see if your heroes can stop the Hulk? Download Christmas with the Hulk and find out!

Marvel Heroic: Allied Watcher Characters

Marvel Heroic: Allied Watcher Characters

by ThomasNo Comments

My friend Jason asked a question about handling initiative in Marvel Heroic Roleplaying when there is an allied Watcher character. When the heroes choose that character, does the Watcher get to choose who should act next as if a hero player was choosing, or as the Watcher?

My preference when running a roleplaying game is to do as little work as possible. In this case, where there is an ally – let’s say Black Widow is tagging along with the heroes – if I controlled her as a character, I’m basically playing a dice game with myself. I’m making her attack rolls against the villains; I’m making the villains’ reaction rolls against her; the heroes are just sitting around as I’m rolling dice against myself. Instead, I would just place Black Widow on the board as an asset for the team rated at… well, she’s got a lot of d8s there, maybe a Black Widow d8 (asset). That way, I can use a version of the rules on OM53 (Support and Recovery Actions by Watcher Characters) and just say that whatever assistance Natasha uses, she’s doing support actions at d8.

But what if the heroes want Natasha to go after Bullseye while everyone else is tangled up with other opposition? Swap out the Black Widow d8 (asset) and turn that into a d8 Black Widow is all over my ass! (complication) and stick it on Bullseye. So no matter what Bullseye does – maybe he’s taking a pot shot at Iron Man, maybe he’s reacting to Iron Man slamming him into a wall – Black Widow’s  complication is always hindering him.