graphic design and book layout
The #RPGaDAY prompt for the 19th was “Which RPG features the best writing?”
Hey. You. I’m going to tell how the sausage is made. Let’s look at any 7th Sea sourcebook. Read through all 208 pages of that thing, every chapter, every sidebar, and yes, even the fiction in the front. See how well that thing flows? See how well that runs together? It’s like there’s one voice telling you all about this bit of the setting and explaining these rules to you, right?
Now look at the credits.
The #RPGaDAY event has begun once more! Daily writing prompts about our gaming hobby to spur creativity and share the joy of gaming with friends, family, and complete strangers at conventions and game days! I’ll also be revisiting past questions, but first today’s topic: “What published RPG do you wish you were playing right now?”
Wait, you mean right now, now, on the evening before this goes live while a gentle breeze is sending a light sun shower along the way while I hear our neighbor mowing his back yard and the family is all busy winding down after an emotionally draining day?
That right now?
Day 19 of #RPGaDAY2015! Favorite Superhero/Comic Book RPG.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, no contest.
Back 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.