I hate Wolverine.
Or rather I loved Wolverine but then I came to loathe what
he did to superhero RPGs.
I’m old enough to remember reading my sister’s copies of
X-Men during the Dark Phoenix Saga. Wolverine took on the Hellfire Club
and won. It was badass and I loved it. I religiously followed Frank Miller’s ’82 Wolverine
mini-series blending ninjas and samurai honor even more deeply into his backstory.
It was awesome and he was brutal, not like other wimps.
But he was
a hero with knives on the back of his hands.
It was some time before that started to seep into games. In Champions we’d
almost always taken as a given that players would take “Code
Against Killing” as a disadvantage. Even if they didn’t- it was understood that
killing wasn’t what heroes did. We weren’t playing Murderhobos- that was for
D&D and those kinds of games. Killing was bad. It crossed the line. It
changed things. If it happened, it had to be a dramatic moment- a testing
decision for everyone involved.
Then Dark Champions appeared and introduced a new disad- “Casual
Killer.” That didn’t kick things off- no, it had already been brewing in the
games. Killing had become cool in some campaigns- the easy way to settle things
permanently. Not for all games, but enough that you could tell things were
shifting. After all when you’re players, you’re problem-solvers. And actually
putting a freeze blast in the Joker’s head pretty much solves the problem. Comics
and games in the 1990’s joined forces, with the Iron Age brutality and new RPGs blending together.
While fantasy games had alignment systems, superhero games
relied more on optional player-selected limits. It’s interesting to consider
how superhero systems deal with morality. Do they have rules about that or is a
code of conduct just assumed? What kinds of consequences exist- social, mental,
character sheet, or otherwise to represent this? Does the setting have a
particular moral inflection (Underground
vs. Marvel Supers) or is that
deliberately ambiguous (Godlike or Aberrant)? I think defining that stance
is hugely important for a supers GM. Some find the idea of four-color
restrictions limiting, some don’t want heroic action valued over other types,
while others really need a moral compass in the game.
TIMELINE
Events: Dark Reign, Blackest Night, Final
Crisis, Battle for the Cowl, Captain America Reborn, War of Kings, Messiah War,
Utopia, Necrosha, Fall of the Hulks, The Flash Rebirth
Television: kamen Rider: Dragon Knight,
Wolverine and the X-Men, Power Rangers: RPM, Noonbory and the Super Seven, Class of the Titans,
Fanboy and Chum Chum,
Films: The Dark Knight, Push, Watchmen, X-Men
Origins: Wolverine, Astro Boy
These lists cover a smaller slice of time than my past rpg
lists. I hope this makes them easier to read. As we get closer to the present
the lists expand and contract weirdly. I include mostly core books, but also
significant setting or sourcebooks. Given the number of great things published
I haven't included everything I wanted to. I list revised editions which significantly
changed a line. Generally I only include published material- print or
electronic. I leave out freebie or self-published games. I'm sure I've
left something off without adequate reason; feel free to add a comment about a
line I missed (if published in 2009). I've arranged these by year and then
alphabetically within that year.
As I said on my Victoriana list, Agents of the Crown suffers
from coming out the same year as The Kerberos Club IMHO. A Victorian-era
superhero supplement for Basic Roleplaying, this campaign setting borrows liberally
from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The players serve as super-powered
operatives for the British Crown. The volume's fairly light, but would be at least
a good starting point for GMs thinking about supers in the period. It has the added
advantage of using the BRP system which many players know through Call of Cthulhu.
But it also has awful full-page grey water-markings. Reading the pdf is a
chore, a problem I’ve seen with several Chaosium supplements like this. The game
itself leans to low-powered heroes more in keeping with the fiction of the period.
Perhaps this might be proto-pulp? Pick character creation. Various dice resolution.
On my 2004 list I missed the first edition of BASH- Basic
Action Super Heroes. I don't feel so bad because BASH 2e deserves all the attention.
It’s a brilliant little game with a simple and clean art style. If you make your
game echo the designs of Batman TAS or
Justice League Unlimited- without just
tracing the characters- then I'm hardwired to like your game. BASH combines consistent
visuals with effective layout and text design. It has some bells & whistles,
but favors functionality over other elements.
BASH uses a simple exploding 2d6 roll multiplied by a stat or
power and then tested against a difficulty number. That has a nice feeling of scale-
which reminds me a little of DC Heroes
or FASERIP. Characters are built on a relatively modest number of points: 40 for
a world class hero (I guess that would be something like PL12 in M&M or 250
pt. in Champions). The game comes with
a solid list of powers broken down into seven categories for easy reference and
connection. Players can also buy advantages, but only by taking an equal number
of disadvantages. The system feels fast and fun- with an emphasis on transparency
on the GM's part. The combat rules still have enough crunch to offer some extra
options. I also like that the vehicle and gadget system doesn't bog the game down.
I hadn't paid any attention to BASH prior to looking through
this, but holy cow this is an excellent set of playable rules. The GM section, which
takes up about half the book, is equally solid. It has a nice assortment of random
tables, advice, sample adversaries, ideas for settings, and optional mechanics.
Plus it has an index. I will seriously consider this for running light and fast
supers games. Basic Action Games has released a number of supplements for BASH including
the Awesome Powers
series, Comic Character Cavalcade, and Crook Book #1.
Point buy. 2d6 Resolution.
Here's an odd one, though not for the usual reasons. Comic
Book Super-Heroes (second edition) is another d20 supers game built on the d20 Modern OGL. Players
pick one of eight possible classes defining either origin (Gadgeteer, Magician,
Alien, Artificial) or power type (Physical, Mentalist, Energy manipulator, Extraordinary).
I'm used to one approach or the other, rather than mixing them. Within those classes,
players get "Super Points" to buy & increase powers and improve rolls.
The classes set limits, give special features, and offer a choice of vulnerabilities.
The structure itself doesn't look too bad- and there's a decent list of powers.
But it feels like just another d20 adaptation and approach. CBSH doesn't offer any
world setting or background. d20 Gamers looking for a vanilla system may want to
check it out.
The weirdness came when I tried to find out more about the game
and company. The publisher, The Le Games, doesn't seem to have a website anymore.
Instead their links lead back to HeroClix World. I assume the company shifted over
to that at some point. They still sell a hodge-podge of d20 products through DriveThru
rpg- including the Unorthodox Series series. I also found this apology from the company for posting sock-puppet reviews. I wonder if that
explains the relative scarcity of reviews for this product? Level and class. Various dice resolution.
4. Corner Cases
(2009)
A few items this year fall at the edge of my definition of superhero.
Thrilling Tales 2e revises this classic pulp adventure rpg to Savage Worlds. There's a lot to love there and if you wanted to do a
masked adventurer '30s & '40s game, you could do worse than this. Thrilling Tales offers a solid, one-volume
approach. For me it’s a toss-up between this and Pulp Hero as the best
resource for the genre. Another solid genre-emulation book is Green Ronin's Mecha & Manga.
I've listed anime-style books on these lists before (Sailor Moon, Bubblegum Crisis). This sourcebook offers ideas for how to adapt M&M to these
tropes. It doesn't add much in the way of new mechanics, but instead talks about
what the games should feel like. It is ambitious and perhaps takes on too many ideas
for the book’s size. One last game is an even further reach. We've seen rpgs
with modern mythological heroes (ala Scion).
And classical myths inform many supers (Wonder Woman, Thor). So perhaps something
like the ancient heroes of Arete
might be proto-supers, just like Pulp heroes? Perhaps not.
This is a crazy year for Wild
Talents, with four distinct and impressive setting sourcebooks landing. That’s
an interesting publishing approach. Rather than build on Wild Talents’ established setting or even the precursor Godlike material, Arc Dream chose to
follow up with multiple new ways to play. The approaches read like thought-experiments
and eCollapse makes that explicit in its
introduction. Here Greg Stolze wants to explore choices and defining ‘good guys’ versus ‘bad guys’. You can see the seeds of his
later Better Angels; he
mentions wanting to do a setting based on the behavior of supervillains.
eCollapse presents
a near future, post-crash society. It isn’t exactly post-apocalyptic, but more
just that everything’s kind of crappy. Slackers, economic decay, erosion of
liberties, environmental pollution, full-on surveillance state, etc. But on the
plus side, biotech superpowers are readily available…though with some
non-monetary costs. The power list is interesting, tightly defined, and full
off traps for the unwary player. That’s combined with player-chosen weaknesses
and ideologies (what you’re for and against). These deeply flawed characters
then strive against the background of this dystopian future- trying to figure
out what they stand for and what’s worth actually sacrificing for. eCollapse borrows a little from Cyberpunk, but feels closer to Underground (with less goofiness and
attitude).
The rules include an alternate approach to resolution for
those who don’t want to deal with the crunch of Wild Talents. Called “Smear of Destiny,” these mechanics sit just
atop the main ones in the book. There’s also a substantial section at the end
with a full explanation. Unlike some dual-stat books, one system doesn’t get in
the way of the other. Smear of Destiny
uses a deck of playing cards for competitive narrative resolution, with the red
and black of the suits mirroring the question of black and white in the
universe. That’s smart given the dramatic focus of eCollapse. A solid setting sourcebook for those wanting a near
future and/or darker spin on supers.
I have, perhaps, written before of my love for all game
things penned or co-penned by Ken Hite. This Wild Talents setting sourcebook combines his talents with that of
the excellent Greg Stolze. And it is insane. Not necessarily in an
awesome way, though it will be for some, but in a gonzo crazy “is this really
an rpg product?” kind of way.
In Grim War you
have your usual superpowered mutants, but you also have sorcerers. That’s cool-
and common in supers settings avoiding a fully sci-fi approach. The Marvel and
DC Universes have that going on. But this isn’t a case of having power blast
and slapping a magic descriptor or FX on it. No. You have a whole section on
invoking spirits and demons (which players can chose to call upon, control, or
actually play). Then there are the spells- each of which has an incredibly
specific and colorful requirement like crawling in a straight line non-stop for
a day and moving aside carefully any living thing which crosses your path.
There are mechanics for building new spells as well, with guidelines on how
make them just as over the top.
Add to that the use of the Company-rules from Reign, with the idea
of players managing and battling other factions. The non-mechanical sections of
the book cover multifarious cabals, orders & societies; a wide range of
potent NPCs; and plot hooks for actually putting all of this into play. I think
this can best be described as Unknown
Armies meets Aberrant. If you’re
looking for a complex supers plus Delta Green or secret world gone mad game,
consider checking this out.
If you're selling me a supers setting book you probably have
two approaches. On the one hand, you can hook with me with your cool and distinct
twist (Bedlam City's Iron Age sensibilities,
Adventures Into Darkness's Lovecraft-inspired
weirdness). On the other you can offer me a plethora of supervillains and characters
(Century Station).
If you can do both, so much the better. But half-measures don't interest me as much.
Halt Evil Doer 2.0 positions itself primarily as a campaign setting with
a supers history stretching back to the Victorian era. I don't think that's a great
stand-alone pitch. If a fantasy setting simply sold itself on having a long
timeline, it wouldn’t grab my attention. The back cover of the HED has the following
contradictory blurbs: "A World of Heroic Adventure" and "A World
Where Sometimes the Villains Win." I'm not sure what we're supposed to take
away from this- is it a darker and grittier setting or a more pulpy world?
But all is not lost. HED 2.0 offers up of about 60+ pages of
history, world presentation, and backstory; that’s stuff I’ll probably skip.
But that's followed by about 150 pages of heroes, organizations, and villains. Some
of them are pretty embedded in the setting, but they’re still useful. I always love
more ideas for bad guys.
Here’s the third and final (for now) version of Judge Dredd done
for rpgs. It comes from Mongoose Games who also did the previous d20 version. This
time they opt to repurpose their particular flavor of the Traveller engine
to suit the game. Traveller's fairly lethal,
which might change the feel of play. There's some weirdness with this game- as Mongoose’s
own web site doesn't do a very good job of making clear what's available for it
versus the d20 version. The latter is OOP but still available as a pdf, but the
former is buried among the Traveller products.
This version of Dredd also requires the Traveller
base book, though apparently you can get by with the digest version.
I'm assuming that Mongoose has reworked the Dredd-verse material
from the earlier edition and added on to with this. They're been pretty good about
that in the past (witness the reuse of material from Runequest to Runequest II
to Legend). In any case, gamers interested
in Judge Dredd will find this the most available version right now. Though not greatly
supported, I imagine Mongoose will keep it kicking around for some times. Plus MGP
has doubled-down on the property with Judge Dredd Miniatures Game. That's nice since it offers additional figures and resources
for play. Pick and random character creation.
d6 Resolution.
Another supplement I already covered on my Victoriana lists and
one I really love. The Kerberos Club presents
incredibly well thought out Victorian superheroes. The set-up has an internal consistency
missing from other games. The Kerberos Club of the title is a patron group which
brings together people with unique talents and abilities. They stand outside society,
protecting it. There's a nice dynamic of cooperation and opposition between the
club and the powers-that-be. The book offers ideas and background for running a
campaign in the early, middle, or late Victorian era.
As a supers book I love it because it bravely doesn't go the
route of quiet, low-powered beings in a Victorian setting (ala League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Instead
we get full-on earth-shattering superbeings changing history and wreaking havoc.
Add to that a supernaturally-empowered Queen Victorian and you have a recipe for
awesomeness. If you have players reluctant to do Victoriana because of the restraints
of conventions, consider this game filled with collateral damage of the physical
and social kind.
I highly recommend this as a game and a readable resource on
the era. It may not be as detailed as some others, but it is a pleasure to work
through. The world-building on display here is excellent and wrestles with some
of the implications of having women, non-humans, and "ethnics" with powers
operating in this culture. The FATE version of this is especially good (and complete),
but there's also a Wild Talents and a
Savage Worlds version you can buy. You
can read more of my thoughts on this here. Variable- multiple systems.
We lived in Mexico City when I was very young. I don't remember
much & I've lost all the Spanish I once knew. But I have strong memories of
black & white TV shows and Luchadores. I flashed back to those later the few
times they showed the Santo films on the low-budget Channel 44 out of Chicago. I
love the idea of the masked wrestler - heroic and weirdly worldly, hiding behind
the guise of simple sports. I never got into Pro Wrestling as entertainment, but
I loved when I saw characters like Rey Mysterioso. I cheered at Angel's The Cautionary
Tale of Numero Cinco episode and ¡Mucha
Lucha! on the KidsWB. Is it superheroes? It is for me: stories of masked characters
fighting villains. Mind you those villains are more like bad monster movie foes,
but it works for me. It’s garish, weird, and inconsistent and I love it.
The authors of Lucha Libre
Hero love it as well. They've created a game and a sourcebook covering the whole
Mexican masked wrestler genre. Like PS238,
LLH comes with a complete and streamlined version of the Hero System. That takes
up about 40% of the book. Another 20% presents one of the craziest and most in-depth
approaches to niche martial arts I've ever seen. I've always enjoyed MA in Hero
System and this section goes absolutely crazy with 150+ maneuvers (Anaconda Vice
to Frankenstein Death Swing to El Tornillo). Add to that the awesome "Stunt"
options like 'Evil...I Can Smell It,' 'Don't Touch That,' 'Terror of the Underworld,'
and many more. This is an amazing and detailed approach to a fairly cinematic genre.
If you like crunch you'll find it here. On the other hand even rules-light folks
(like myself) will discover rich ideas to lift and adapt.
The remainder of the book gives a guide for running Luchadore
campaigns: the history of the genre, bibliography, ideas for tone. There's an impressive
section of NPCs and a whole campaign outline with an adventure and a brief take
on weird Mexico City. I love the way the game mixes classic wrestling rivals, supernatural
foes, and mad science. The art's great and fits the material. Perhaps the only drawback
lies in your players' knowledge of the setting. I was a little surprised when I
talked about Luchadors with my group and only one or two of them knew what I was
talking about. I should also mention another Luchador game which also came out in
‘09, Luchador: Way of the Mask. It seems a little more focused on the wrestling life, but
the line has gotten some support (Luchador: Painted Honor, Luchador: Disciples of the North, etc). Point
buy. d6 Resolution.
This game is a moving target. This first edition arrived to some
pretty bad reviews based on system, layout, and editing. The following year Super Crusaders II popped up, replacing the
two-book version with a single volume. That completely changed major elements of
the game. Then in 2013 designer Lee Walser released another version, Super Crusaders
III with still more changes. You have to admire the work there- continually
revising and redeveloping a small game like this. For purposes of this blurb, I'm
going to focus on the most recent version since the others have vanished down the
memory hole.
Super Crusaders offers a stand-alone supers game, without
a specific universe. I've read through the rules a couple of times and I still don't
get exactly how things work. Character creation is very loose- with players simply
picking some powers. Origin affects this a little. There's a strangely board-gamey
feel to how actions are presented, with classes of things broken into Arm, Eye,
Leg, and Mind. The basic mechanic is a variable number of d6 rolled against a target
number. SC does offer a powers list along with ideas on how to tailor them. It has
a few interesting mechanics (certain powers can only be taken by NPCs), but overall
I'm not sure what new ideas it brings to the table. The art and graphic presentation
undercut the game as well, with weak MS Paint-esque graphics combined with clip-art
icons.
I had heard that Super
Crusaders had a strong religious element. That's true, but it isn't overwhelming.
I do like that we get another perspective on the tropes. The designer dislikes/disputes
the idea of superheroes as science-fiction. That's not a position I've seen taken
up in other supers rpgs. His faith comes through in places, particularly in his
discussion of heroic tropes and his own campaign world's history. In a couple of
places it is fairly explicit, "The superhero genre is about the struggle between
good and evil. It deals with the mysterious and miraculous in a symbolic way. Anyone
who doesn't realize that superheroes are really about religion, just isn't paying
attention." Your reaction may vary. Super
Crusaders does have some supporting materials, including Knights of Saint George, Minions & Monsters, and The Equipment Book.
Open pick generation. d6 Resolution.
A densely-presented supers sourcebook for the Iridium System.
It presents a near-future setting of 2033 where corporations have developed genetic
modifications to create superbeings. The game sets itself up to be a battle between
those corporations and the PCs, but with conflicting agendas and political views.
There's more than a little feeling of Strikeforce
Mortui here- with the PCs accepting powers in exchange for submission. While
the premise is interesting, the game book does a terrible job of presenting it to
the readers. There's so much information here, but Supers Inc doesn't stop to really explain what the game's actually going
to be like: what do you do in this setting? what does a campaign look like? Again,
I understand the impulse to present a sandbox, but some callout material, early
on, talking about what the game can be would really help.
Supers, Inc has some neat concepts and gamers considering
a slightly dystopian supers game might want to look at it for ideas. In 54 pages
we get background and characters (14 pages), mechanics and stats (22 pages), an
adventure (12 pages), and cover and fluff (6 pages). The book includes a highly
compressed version of the Iridium Core
Lite rules. Players spend points to buy stats, skills, and powers. Resolution
works by rolling a d20 under their relevant skill+ bonus number. I think Supers, INC could easily be expanded- both
in material and page count to give this game room to breathe. As it is, despite
the density it doesn't feel like there's enough here to power a compelling campaign.
Point buy. Various dice resolution.
Modern20 is RPGObjects
reworking of the d20 Modern
system to support a faster and more cinematic game. It streamlines some systems
and ties advancement to achieving story goals. Supers20 takes and reworks the concepts from '02's Vigilance: Absolute
Power (mentioned on the earlier list). It does away with several elements including
power points and stunts. Supers20 builds
on the Modern20 framework, using the occupations
from those and adding some new ones. I especially like the idea of the "Super
Team" class. Your characters has been raised in and trained with the idea of
working with an established group (think Fantastic Four, or perhaps Astra from Astro
City). Powers are represented by feats, which can be modified by use of the
Power Control skill. At only 56-pages, Supers20
packs things in. Most of that covers the powers, but the last third offers advice
on genres and campaigns. Useful for d20 aficionados. Various generation options,
class and level advancement. Various dice resolution.
The last of the Wild
Talents settings on this list, This
Favored Land offers secret superheroes during the American Civil War. In the
same way that Godlike considers the implications
wartime supers, TFL puts them in the context of this period. In this world a
simultaneous and unexplained vision appears to people across the land. Later
these same people become possessed of strange powers. The books offers an
interesting framework, but leaves enough room for the GM to shift and develop
their explanation. There’s even some discussion of how to connect this with Godlike to form a continuous narrative. Enthusiasts
of Wild Talents will find some
interesting mechanics (about as much as eCollapse,
but less than Grim War) which might
make it worth picking up.
The designers present solid and rich material, worth reading
for anyone interested in running a game in this era. The game takes place
solidly during and around the Civil War, unlike most Westerns. It has a ton of
material on the conduct of that war, the timeline of the era, and the general
society. There’s a modest presentation of different campaign settings and ideas
on how to handle historical change. It also has a decent introductory scenario.
Like everything I've seen from Arc Dream, you can dive into this book and mine all
kinds of ideas. Recommended for Wild
Talents experimenters, ACW gamers, and GMs who want to look at the
presentation of a novel supers concept.
This very cool superhero setting began with Wargames 1: Superhuman
Threats of the Cold War, a 111-page M&M 2e sourcebook for Cold War superheroes.
That contains about ten pages of concept followed by two dozen pages of timeline
and background. The remainder showcases villains and organizations with a classic
feel. Doing historical supers can be a hard sell- so why a Cold War version? The
introduction has several explanations, but this pitch line caught my attention:
This is what I wish the 80s and 90s had been like for flag heroes
in superhero comics. This is the Iron Age that never was. This was a time in comics
when Captain America, Union Jack and Captain Britain were side-by-side facing down
their spandex-clad Soviet opposite numbers across the Berlin Wall and engaging in
a shadow war of a super-powered covert adventures.
For me it’s a campaign that could only be drawn by Jim Steranko . The Wargames series includes some single, Cobra-like foes (General Venom)
and two other major releases. Wargames 2: Superspies and Commandoes of the Cold War covers has agents and organizations,
some of which resemble Saturday Morning freedom fighters. Wargames 3: Sentinels of Berlin presents
a superhuman militarized Berlin and the cast of characters struggling for hearts
and minds there. In 2011, Vigiliance Press revised some of the material in a version
for Icons (Wargames 1: Superhero Roleplaying in the Last Days of the Cold War). Wargames is a neat and ambitious setting-
and I can easily imagine using this as an alternate dimension in an existing campaign.