I saw where Margaret Weis Productions is going to be releasing a Smallville RPG based off the TV series this year. I've been a fan of the series since it started, even if sometimes the story arcs weren't always great. For those who are thinking of picking this up, what sort of features do you hope the game has? What style of play do you think it'll support?
L
http://www.margaretweis.com/component/content/article/38-fp-rokstories/67-s mallville-the-rpg
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I saw where Margaret Weis Productions is going to be releasing a Smallville RPG based off the TV series this year. I've been a fan of the series since it started, even if sometimes the story arcs weren't always great. For those who are thinking of picking this up, what sort of features do you hope the game has? What style of play do you think it'll support?
L
I'm not sure what to expect.
I saw where Margaret Weis Productions is going to be releasing a Smallville RPG based off the TV series this year. I've been a fan of the series since it started, even if sometimes the story arcs weren't always great. For those who are thinking of picking this up, what sort of features do you hope the game has? What style of play do you think it'll support?
The Smallville Roleplaying Game will be using a version of the Cortex System that we call Cortex K. It focuses heavily on the interaction of the characters, the drama, secrets, and values that the characters on the shows struggle with. In many ways, it's a young adult soap opera with superpowers.
Cheers,
Cam
Considering the good stuff that was done with the Supernatural RPG, this should also be just as good. I'm looking forward to this.
I saw where Margaret Weis Productions is going to be releasing a Smallville RPG based off the TV series this year. I've been a fan of the series since it started, even if sometimes the story arcs weren't always great. For those who are thinking of picking this up, what sort of features do you hope the game has? What style of play do you think it'll support?The Smallville Roleplaying Game will be using a version of the Cortex System that we call Cortex K. It focuses heavily on the interaction of the characters, the drama, secrets, and values that the characters on the shows struggle with. In many ways, it's a young adult soap opera with superpowers.
Cheers,
Cam
Does the game focus on the players playing the primary characters from the show, or is it more about playing unique original characters (meteor freaks and the like) who are allied with Clark, Oliver, etc.? I'm assuming that the game puts the PCs into the roles of heroes, if perhaps not always as boyscout as Clark Kent.
In many ways, it's a young adult soap opera with superpowers.
As soon as I read the title of thread I got excited. Now I've lost all interest.
In many ways, it's a young adult soap opera with superpowers.As soon as I read the title of thread I got excited. Now I've lost all interest.
What, you've never watched the show?
I'm hoping the game is setup to allow for a TV style episodic game, to make each game session like a single episode where the heroes deal with a problem and are able to resolve it satisfactorilly in 3-4 hours of play.
As an extension of that, it should easily allow for having seasons where episodes can have backstory and an overall plot that links them together - more than just the character's growth and increase in power.
On the power note, generally in Smallville the characters have relatively static levels of power. Early on Clark discovered new abilities pretty often (invulnerability, heat vision, x-ray vision, speed, etc.) but now there isn't a lot of new things he's mastered in a while (cough, cough, needs to fly, cough). Most of the growth in the characters, some of them anyway, between episodes and seasons has been more personal and professional growth. Most of the stories, especially later ones, are more stories of intrigue and discovery of a character's past or origins.
Not really a show where characters start out as a slightly tough out of work heroes helping granny cross the street and end up as a Superman by the end. I wonder if the game will reflect that style.
L
Does the game focus on the players playing the primary characters from the show, or is it more about playing unique original characters (meteor freaks and the like) who are allied with Clark, Oliver, etc.? I'm assuming that the game puts the PCs into the roles of heroes, if perhaps not always as boyscout as Clark Kent.
Our premise is that you're creating a spinoff show with your group of players, setting up all of the major characters, locations, and relationships of the campaign. This doesn't mean you can't play Clark, Ollie, Chloe, and so forth, and we include those characters (and many many others) in the book, too. But, we figured most players would be keen to tell their own stories, with their own central conflicts.
Cheers,
Cam
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The main issue i have with these scene based games is the lead up or interlude scenes that support the ongoing story is told outside of the players perspective. Think of all the lead in scenes for Supernatural. The audience is aware of whats happening but the players (Sam and Dean) do not see it. Only through investigation do they get clues. The build up is skipped and sometimes lost.
Smallville is the same way. How a person is infected with a meteor rock or why they become the protaganist is lost because Clark is not aware of an issue until the meteor freak creates the problem.