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I've had some great times playing this game - I remember thinking that the character creation process was extensive enough to allow pretty much any kind of hero you wanted. However, I also remember absolutely HATING the system for it, specifically combat. I'm much, much more focused on story than rules when I game, so for me to notice how terrible a system is says something. If I remember correctly, it was basically just 2nd Edition D&D with hundreds more hit points in the form of SDC, meaning that even the most meaningless fights would wind up taking hours to play out. I remember that you could put five bullets into a thug before he'd go down for good.
Does anyone else remember frustrations with this system (or positive memories, for that matter)? My friends and I enjoyed the game, but I think it was more for the excitement of having a superhero RPG of any kind than for the game itself. Are there other superhero games that work better?
Where superheroes are concerned, I think building a system that really brings to life the comic book feel is tough to do. I am an old-school Marvel Superheroes player. That system favored the heavy hitters and penalized the agile folk (such as Quicksilver and Spiderman); my own superhero was the agile type and this drawback really irritated me.
I created a homebrew hero game that addressed these issues and found that at the end of the day it was a bit too unweildy. Since my fellow gamers are D&D ONLY types, we don't play hero games anough to warrant an overhaul on the work I have done in the past. Oh well....
Where superheroes are concerned, I think building a system that really brings to life the comic book feel is tough to do. I am an old-school Marvel Superheroes player. That system favored the heavy hitters and penalized the agile folk (such as Quicksilver and Spiderman); my own superhero was the agile type and this drawback really irritated me.
I created a homebrew hero game that addressed these issues and found that at the end of the day it was a bit too unweildy. Since my fellow gamers are D&D ONLY types, we don't play hero games anough to warrant an overhaul on the work I have done in the past. Oh well....
I love the old school marvel superheroes game. In fact I am running it tonight! I agree, its hard to play an agile character effective in combat against brick characters. It's key to get ahold of Martial Arts A and D as they really help you put the big guys down with Stuns and Slams. Man I love this game!!! Can't wait to run tonight!
It just kills me when a player has, say Monstrous Agility, and gets shot by some no named thug who rolled a "66" or better (I think "66" is the lowest GREEN found on the Shift 0 column.
Its nostalgia just having this conversation!
It just kills me when a player has, say Monstrous Agility, and gets shot by some no named thug who rolled a "66" or better (I think "66" is the lowest GREEN found on the Shift 0 column.
Its nostalgia just having this conversation!
HA! You'd love my house rules. Every body gets to take a Dodge no matter what all the time. I do this for most games. I hate just getting hit when I have a really high Agility. Also if you roll a Red Agility feat with Monstrous you get to catch that bullet in flight!!! Nice!!!
Does anyone else remember frustrations with this system (or positive memories, for that matter)? My friends and I enjoyed the game, but I think it was more for the excitement of having a superhero RPG of any kind than for the game itself. Are there other superhero games that work better?
Heroes Unlimited used the Palladium rules system, which was clunky.
I've always been a fan of Champions for superhero gaming, at least the one using the 4th edition Hero System rules (which is what I own). First, it was a completely point-based system; no rolling, no levels. Second, lethal and non-lethal damage were separated in the rules, instead of being ad-hoc add-ons. Third, the game rules were specifically concerned with game mechanics only; what a power looked like, whether it was fire, cold, telekinetic force, or banana creme pies, was up to the person designing the character. Fourth, the rules were extremely open-ended (including such game-breakers as mind reading, precongition, retrocognition, time travel, etc.), allowing ANY type of character, if you could figure out how to apply the game mechanics to his abilities.