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Unlike previous Marvel RPGs (and unlike most superhero RPGs), the goal of MHRP is to replicate the feel of comic book storylines, with the assumption that you will be playing an existing superhero character in a limited event. (There are rules for going outside that, but it's clearly the default.)
The basic mechanic is for a player to assemble a pool of dice from any relevant attributes (both powers and narrative elements); this determines the scale and effectiveness of their chosen way of affecting the narrative (usually inflicting physical, mental, or emotional stress on foes). They are opposed by the Watcher (GM), who has access to a "Doom Pool" they can use to escalate the situation (and which grows as the players fail). In this way it's similar to games like Fate. Characters can earn XP by meeting certain character or event milestones - these can be used to increase the character's abilities or unlock benefits during the course of the event (such as helper characters).
These basic mechanics are all fine, but there are a few things that bothered me about the book. First of all, there are a lot of ways to affect the dice pool (such as the many power SFX), and it was overwhelming. I actually wish there had been fewer, and the system had been even more abstract. I also wasn't a fan of its apparent assumption that you wouldn't want to make your own material, rather than adapting existing characters and storylines - and their guidelines for making your own stuff were only functional.
Most significantly, the rules explanations weren't always clear. Several times I had to reread sections to get what was intended, and even then it often didn't click into place until I read an example. Had there been more examples at every step, that would have been mitigated. In fact, the chapter midway through that brought everything together should have been at the beginning in a condensed form; it would have provided some useful context for the rest of the book.
Overall, MHRP looks like it could be fun to play, but I'm not sure it's a game I'd want to run. There are a lot of fun ideas in it - the doom pool and the way they handle stress, among others - but a slightly simpler game probably would have served those ideas better. Still, I can see that it'd be appealing to certain gamers, and I won't say it's a bad system at all. Just probably not for me. (Originally posted on Goodreads)
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This game remains my favorite supers role-playing game. Not because of the license or art or anything superficial. The Cortex Heroic system is solidly designed and simple to create virtually any super-powered character (in one expansion, Howard the Duck gets an official write-up).
Even if you've moved on and already purchased Cortex Prime, using MHR as a guidepost for creating a new edition of Cortex Heroic is a great idea.
The sheer number of character datafiles make it easy to figure out how to make your own characters. Reskinning Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Captain America, Hawkeye, Monica Rambeau, Super Skrull, Venom, Rogue, or even Squirrel Girl to fit a character concept can be done in a flash.
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An interesting game system. Sadly it didn't really get a chance to get a following.
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I've bought three copies of this total: one digital, and two physical copies. Its very well done, is a real bargain for its production values, and the game itself? Nice, reasonably light, and flexible. I like that its looser than HERO or M&M, and isn't so focused on specific minutia for simulating things as those titles, but rather its more about making the game "feel" like a comic to me.
I'd really encourage you to pick it up; at $10 for the PDF, its a steal. From what I've read, its very "hackable," so you can use it for other games/genres. The upcoming Cortex Hacker's Guide will even have a fantasy hack for it as an example! If they ever release this particular Cortex variant as a stand-alone set of rules, definitely get it!
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While I am a fan of flexible rule systems, this one is too vague, and non-existent when it comes to character creation. Without a decent character creation system, this is little more than pen-and-paper cosplay. I don't want to play Iron Man, or Thor, or any other already-existing characters. I want to create a new, unique character.
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A superhero that is fast, easy and focus on the important things:
First Role-Playing this game mechanist built for you to role play, you do not collect EXP by killing monsters lot, but by playing your character. Every action description of the player and build a pool of dice to try to accomplish this.
2nd Capture the feeling: when playing a superhero in the MARVEL universe, do you feel like a superhero in the MARVEL universe. This game can be played on so many different levels, even if the focus is on (The Fun) battle.
3rd Value for money: This PDF gives you a lot of money, and you only need this file to play in many adventures foreward.
Is warmly recomended!
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Games of Futures Past
There’s no doubt about it: the Marvel Universe has gone through quite a lot of changes during the last decade or so. Characters have come and gone, super hero teams have disassembled, reassembled or changed their rosters and there’s even been a civil war that shook the foundations of the world for a while. With so much stuff happening, there was a need for a new RPG that translated the current characters and their powers in game stats. Margaret Weis Productions took up the challenge, filling the void that was left after Marvel decided to cancel its own RPG, Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game (2003) after they found out it wasn’t able to outsell Dungeons & Dragons, even though the sales figures were excellent compared to any other roleplaying game.
This reviewer still fondly remembers Marvel Superheroes (Advanced Game) by TSR. It was first published in 1984, with the expanded edition following close on its heels in 1986. Marvel Superheroes used something that was nicknamed the ‘FASERIP’ system, an abbreviation of the 7 Attributes in the game (Fighting, Agility, Strength, Endurance, Reason, Intuition and Psyche). It was a very well-researched game that used a great table, different colors to represent levels of success and an ingenious way to categorize Powers and Attributes, dividing them up in different categories: Shift 0 (0), Feeble (average score of 2), Poor (average of 4), Typical (6), Good (10), Excellent (20), Remarkable (30), Incredible (40), Amazing (50), Monstrous (75), Unearthly (100), Shift X (150), Shift Y (200), Shift Z (500), Class 1000, Class 3000, Class 5000 and Beyond, with especially the latter 4 and often even 6 or 7 categories usually reserved for intergalactic beings. It was a great, intuitive system, except for one thing: with all of the damage and defenses being fixed, one always dished out exactly the same damage and oftentimes villains or heroes weren’t even able to scratch their foes because of the fact that their fixed damage was lower than their opponents’ fixed defenses.
TSR later issued the Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game, which used the SAGA System that had been conceived for the underestimated Dragonlance: Fifth Age RPG. It used 96 custom-made cards instead of dice and the characters were all based on 4 Abilities rated 1 through 30, but the rules were left too vague in some places, which many players found confusing.
Marvel then took matters in its own hands by coming up with the Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game, which featured a diceless mechanic based on the allocation of energy (or effort) represented by ‘red stones’. As already stated, the company expected an unrealistic amount of sales and cancelled the game soon after the basic rulebook was released.
Cortex
Enter Margaret Weis Productions, which decided to adapt its acclaimed Cortex System to the Marvel Universe. However, instead of basing Marvel Heroic Roleplaying on the generic rulebook that was released a while ago or instead of making the new RPG compatible with earlier efforts such as the now-discontinued Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Serenity or Supernatural, the rules went through quite a lot of changes before they were considered ‘right’ for a superhero game based on the Marvel comics.
Even though Smallville was adapted quite heavily to a unique style of play that suited the series quite well, all of the other Cortex games (including the simplified Leverage) have used 6 Attributes: Agility, Alertness, Intelligence, Strength, Vitality and Willpower. Marvel Heroic Gaming, however, ditches all Attributes in favor of a much simpler, narrative style of gaming and we’re not really sure if that was the right way to go…
Marvel Heroic Gaming: Datafiles
First off, allow us to make one thing clear: this game looks beautiful. The makers definitely benefit from the great artwork provided by Marvel and ably directed by Jeremy Keller. This is a great book to look at, both as far as the drawings and as far as the layout are concerned, and with 234 pages of full-color delight in your hands, the expectation bar for first-time readers is set very, very high.
The book starts off with a foreword and a sample Datafile, followed by an explanation of the dice types used. Margaret Weis is still allergic to anything remotely resembling a D20, though, and so the game only uses 5 dice types: D4, D6, D8, D10 and D12.
Each character has 3 Affiliations, which describe if (s)he is at his or her best Solo, with a Buddy or in a Team. Unfortunately, there’s no way not to prioritize, as there’s only a D6, a D8 and a D10 to allocate to each Affiliation. This means there’s absolutely no way to simulate that a given hero or villain is just as effective on his own or in a team. Obviously, this is an effort to keep game balance, but it feels like too much of a constraint, limiting your options in the game.
All characters also have several Distinctions, which are snapshots of their personality traits, backgrounds, attitudes or catchphrases. These can be just about anything, from ‘I Don’t Have Time For This’, ‘Tactical Genius’ and ‘Uncompromising’ (Cyclops) to ‘Hotheaded Hero’, ‘Never Grows Up’ and ‘Shameles Flirt’ (Human Torch).
Next up are powers, which are arranged in one or more Power Sets. Each Set groups together powers that have the same origin, such as Iron Man’s Powered Armor (grouping together Cybernetic Senses D6, Superhuman Durability D10, Enhanced Reflexes D8 and Superhuman Strength D10) and Weapons Platform (consisting of Missiles D6, Supersonic Flight D10 and Repulsors D8). Most of the powers are left purposefully vague, leaving the Storyteller and the players to add in the blanks, usually based on their knowledge of the hero or villain they’re playing. This is a problem, since it is obvious that Mister Fantastic’s D10 Stretching, for example, works in a very different way than Carnage’s Stretching. Let’s take Elemental Control, which is a general moniker for Air Control, Cosmic Control, Darkforce Control, Earth Control, Electric Control, Fire/Heat Control, Gravity Control, Ice/Cold Control or any other type of energy one can come up with. No rules distinction is made between any of these types of control, leaving Storytellers with a general description only. The system is remarkably flexible, allowing for ‘Complications’ that can mirror just about any effect, but you really need to know the characters in order to be sure what they can do with each power. When you’re used to playing the Hero System, Fuzion or even Mutants & Masterminds, where powers are so well-defined that they’re virtually impossible to misinterpret, this is a major worry.
Another problem with powers is their very limited effect range. All Powers use either a D6, a D8, a D10 or a D12, allowing for only 4 levels of Power. In the Basic Game, Armor, Beast, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel, Sentry, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman all have the Power Superhuman Strength (D10). This may be cutting it too close for a lot of gamers and comic fans, as many of us love to compare statistics and discuss who is the stronger hero, etc. Compare this to the virtually unlimited range in games like Hero System and Mutants & Masterminds and you quickly realize more could have been done to distinguish one character from another, especially since Attributes don’t exist in this game.
Every Power Set includes one or more special effects, but these are very general and only affect the way dice are rolled, the number of dice rolled or the die type rolled. Still, quite a lot of effects can be simulated with this, but again the rules aren’t able to express the difference between one special effect and another. For example, Area Attack allows a character to add a D6 and keep an additional effect die for each additional target. It works exactly the same way, no matter if you’re playing the Human Torch or the Invisible Woman.
All Power Sets also come with at least one Limit, such as Conscious Activation, Gear or Mutually Exclusive. Only 7 Limits are provided, but they seem to cover most of the bases.
All Powers, Special Effects and Limits are listed as ‘examples’. There’s no exhaustive list, allowing the Watcher to come up with his or her own descriptors. However, there’s no way to create your own hero (or villain, for that matter). Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is totally geared towards playing existing heroes, sometimes even in ‘troupe play’ (allowing the players to play several heroes, one after another, during a single gaming session). This is a glaring omission, since creating your own character not only is part of the fun for a great many gamers, it also allows everyone to avoid the annoyance and inconsistencies that invariably result when a player handles an established character very differently than the way that character would normally act. Luckily, it’s possible to download a Random Datafile Generator document from the Margaret Weis Productions website, which allows players to roll on a number of tables in order to create a character. The character creation is fast, but powers and the like need a lot of explanation in order to explain what can and can’t be done with them. Also, randomly rolled powers are only rated D8, D10 or D12, which further limits the range available.
Next up are Specialties, which are skills, like Acrobatic, Business, Combat, Mystic and Psych. These have an even more limited range than powers do, with all Specialties rated either Expert (D8) or Master (D10), even though the D8 can be substituted by 2D6 and the D10 by 2D8 or 3D6.
Lastly, characters are also defined by Milestones. Each of these has three progressively more significant levels, which grant 1, 3 or 10 Experience Points, respectively. For example, Wolverine has two Milestones: ‘…And What I Do Isn’t Very Nice’ and ‘Old Friends Old Enemies’. The first Milestone provides 1 XP if Wolverine first chooses to inflict physical stress in a Scene, 3 XP when another hero rebukes Wolverine for his violence or when Wolverine threatens another hero with violence and 10 XP when Wolverine kills someone or recovers from his berserker rage in front of innocents. They’re a nice way to add a roleplaying element to the rules, just as Distinctions are, even though they’re rather limited in scope.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying: Dice pools
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying uses narrative ‘Transition Scenes’ and more action-packed ‘Action Scenes’. During Action Scenes, characters can take an action or respond with a reaction. Attack actions are rolled against the Watcher’s dice pool, which is called the Doom pool. The character’s dice pool consists of:
• The appropriate Affiliation die, depending on whether the character is alone, acting with a buddy or within a team (this will always be a D6, a D8 or a D10).
• One Distinction. Players have the option of using the Distinction in a positive way and choosing a D8 or deciding that the Distinction is used negatively, which only adds a D4 to their dice pool, but also grants a Plot Point.
• The die for one Power from each of the Power Sets.
• One Specialty.
• One of the opposition’s stress or complication dice, if any. Stress can be physical, emotional or mental and represents damage or mental or emotional overload. When either one of these types of stress exceeds D12, the character is ‘stressed out’ and pretty useless for a while. Complications are usually the result of certain actions taking effect or obstacles. For example, entangling someone might add a complication of D10, while a foe standing on difficult ground might have a complication of D6 to deal with. Almost no examples are given, leaving the Watcher a lot of freedom, at the risk of ruling inconsistently if (s)he doesn’t write down what die he previously assigned to what kind of Complication.
• One asset, if any. An asset is a brief, situational advantage, usually created by using the effect die of an action. For example, if Kitty Pride manages to crack an opponent’s firewall, she can create a temporary ‘Compromised Security’ asset equal to her effect die.
• One Push Die (1 Plot Point grants an extra D6), stunt (basically a push die connected to one of a character’s Power Sets or Specialties, which grants a D8 instead of a D6, or a D10 if the Watcher rolled a 1 on one of his dice, which is called an ‘opportunity’) or resource (a professional contact, equipment or some kind of knowledge connected to a Specialty during a Transition Scene), if any.
Players can then send Plot Points in order to change their pool in a number of ways and roll the dice, setting aside ‘opportunities’ (any dice that come up as 1’s). Out of the remaining dice, they add two dice together to generate a total and pick one die as their effect die. The Watcher usually rolls the dice out of his doom pool – which is similar to the players’ dice pools, but works slightly differently. If the player beats the Watcher’s total, the action succeeds at an effect equal to the effect die type (not the exact roll).
Plot Points are very important, as they can be used while generating the dice pool to add a push die, an extra power or Distinction beyond the single power or Distinction used or a D8 (or D10) stunt die. Players can also activate certain special effects by spending a Plot Point or add one of their stress dice, but this also steps up the stress die after the roll. For example, if Captain America sees the Statue of Liberty is being taken down, this may enrage him, causing him D8 emotional stress. He can use this extra D8 and throw his anger in his next attack, but this creates even more stress, leaving him with D10 emotional stress afterwards. If he exceeds D12, it’s game over for Cap.
Plot Points can also be spent on results. A PP can be used to add an extra die from the original roll to the total if any dice are left, to keep an extra effect die, to activate an opportunity (a 1) rolled by the Watcher, to activate certain special effects, to use an effect die from a reaction roll (for example, as a riposte) or to change stress to another type.
Obviously, this system is pretty innovative and allows for a lot of options. It promotes tactical playing and certainly adds a level of depth and strategy to the game, while also having the benefit of being interpretable in a multitude of different ways without necessarily needing rules for every eventuality. However, the number of dice in a pool and the limited range of the powers and Specialties also means there aren’t enough differences between the characters. This evens the playing field a little bit too much, allowing for minor characters to beat major league players too easily, for example. If Powers and Specialties would add more dice than just one and if a wider range had been used (for example, D4 up to D20), a lot of these problems would have been solved. If the Attributes from other Cortex games had been kept, that would have added flavor and more variety as well. As it stands now, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying looks great and offers a lot of promise, but its innovative rules system is inherently flawed and might not please all comic or RPG fans. Most of us like our characters diverse and unique, and most of us like clear differences between attributes, skills, powers and more.
Events
Adventures are called Events in Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. They’re broken down in ‘chapters’ that mirror comic book sensibilities, such as Acts, Action Scenes and Transition Scenes. The Event provided in the basic rulebook mirrors the Breakout story in the first 6 issues of New Avengers and the separately published Events all mirror known Marvel comic stories as well. This is unfortunate, as players who already know these stories might not be particularly challenged, surprised or enthusiastic about playing through scenes they know will be featured in the story. It would be nice if Margaret Weis Productions adds more options for newly-generated characters and starts to publish unique Events that don’t mimic what’s already out there. Please, guys?
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Great storytelling rpg engine. Love it. Perfect for super hero action the Marvel way.
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This week in am reviewing Marvel Heroic Roleplaying from Margaret Weis Productions.
First things first – the game as a PDF, or at least a set of PDFs. The Marvel Heroic Roleplaying available from DriveThru RPG includes six items; the 234 page basic
• Marvel Heroic Basic Book,
• a cheat sheet for Watchers,
• a cheat sheet for players,
• a guide to character creation,
• a catalog of Marvel Heroes,
• and an example of play.
The basic Marvel Heroic book comes with a nice table of contents, an index and book marks. None of the other documents, aside from the 48-page catalog of heroes, are really long enough to include bookmarks. The catalog is problematic as it is a perfect repetition of a catalog that already exists in the main book, and it should have bookmarks to make it easier to navigate. It also does not include any of Marvel’s notable villains.
All the works are full color, well designed and include ample art from Marvel comics. The pages are a bit busy in terms of layout, but not badly so – though it can take a few seconds for the busier pages to fully load and present all their contents.
Moving on we get to the mechanics – as with other games from Margaret Weis Productions, such as Smallville, Firefly and Leverage, Marvel Heroic employs a variation of the Cortex System. Marvel Heroic does a good job in setting up a structural dynamic similar to the comic books it seeks to emulate. That is any comics, not just Marvel, something I will get back to soon. It is deeply story driven rather than a numbers game. This is a virtue and a handicap for the game.
Unfortunately, Marvel Heroic is not a good choice for people new to role-playing games. Narrative fiction does work under a system of rules, such as tension between opposed forces, rising action, character arc, climaxes and so forth. However, these rules are not as transparent or intuitive as the basic arithmetic that determines the mechanics of many, if not most, role-playing game systems.
The basic book is dense with terminology that can be difficult for new gamers or gamers used to a more mechanically straightforward affair. This includes terms like Affiliation, Stress and the Doom Pool.
The book introduces a double handful of potentially new terms and while there is a lexicon, it is in the back of the book rather than the front. As such, the plethora of new terms is a hurdle for first time gamers.
In the game, character are built out of various traits, including specialties, distinctions, powers and the like. Examples of these include elements such as being a trained human, an altered human, being best in a team, being best as part of a pair or being best when operating along, enhanced strength, enhanced durability and resistance to cold or heat. Further, characters include details such as personality traits, reputations, backstory, a catchphrase or title and some notable feature. Each of these, at least the important ones, receives a dice rating, be it a d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12. The d4 is special case, as it is nominally a liability but grants an advantage later.
To put it another way, think of any particular Marvel Heroic in terms of descriptive terminology, adjectives and adverbs rather than numbers to fill out things like strength, dexterity, constitution and so forth.
Players must keep handy a dice pool matching their characters and when it is required, they roll the appropriate dice. Appropriate dice are determined by a situation in story terms, not mechanically – Captain America’s trait as a natural leader comes into play in group situations with a team behind him, but would not be much of an issue in a singular combat with a robo-Nazi. There are ultimately too many variations and possibilities to get into in a single review, suffice to say to it is a system that is so dynamic it can be frustratingly flexible. Players employ the highest two dice and the next two highest dice for attempts to accomplish tasks or do something important. The doom pool is the name of the dice pool the game master employs for villains and difficult situation; it is the dice pool that opposes the player actions. The same basic rule about rolling the dice of the dice pool governs all situations where dice are rolled from fighting a killer Sentinel Robot to getting into a snark contest with Spider-Man.
That the game is so potentially flexible is not inherently a problem – depending on the group. Which is the crux of the issue – the rules come from a determination to reflect stories as they appear in comics and in this Marvel Heroic is successful. However, its dynamic quality makes it more vulnerable to disputes at a game table.
The rules of initiative in Pathfinder and 4E D&D are relatively rigid and a determined by an impartial roll of the dice while by comparison order of action in Marvel Heroic depends on fictional constraints. The game master chooses who goes first, based upon who is team leader or the fastest… and then the player of that character chooses who goes next. This might make narrative sense but it also depends upon the group getting on well.
Further, the rules specifically urge game masters to be quote “shamelessly transparent” unquote. This will be a real philosophical change of pace for many game masters.
These are issues that are not accidentally or incidentally a part of the structure of the game, but are basic design elements of the game. They are not flaws, but assets – simply assets that will not suit everyone or for work well for everyone, such as new gamers or contentious group. Among the few real flaws the book possesses is that it does not present any actual villains.
The game is admirably adaptable. A flaw of the Smallville game was excessive amounts of space in that book given over to a canceled TV show. Marvel Heroic fortunately discusses Marvel comic by presenting the major heroes and discussing the comics in large strokes – it does not devote pages to lengthy discussions of what happens in the comic. That space is reserved for the actual game. In any event, it should be with-in reach of a competent game master to use the system with characters from comics such as Dark Horse, IDW, Image, NBM and… what is the other one. Oh, right, and DC Comics.
In the end I give Marvel Heroic Roleplaying a 20 on a d20 with two important qualifiers, first this is not a game for people new to role-playing, even if they are also long time fans of comics, second, this is not a game for a contentious group, unless they also like games exploding in their face – it is best suited to a group which works well together and who are fans of comic books.
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Creator Reply: |
Thanks for the review! Just a clarification with the bonus PDF of characters: this is a printer-friendly version of the hero datafiles in the main book, which is why it's a repetition of those characters. It's bonus content for those who purchase the PDF and want to save ink. |
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First the good points, this is a well thought out and well writ tern game. If you get this it's because you are a marvel fan, but the character backgrounds are short but hold all the details you need to grasp the characters motives, history and personality.
This is a great system to run and play, had hours of fun running the game, the pregen senarios are fun and have a great feel, overall this is a great game
Now the bad point, just one there is an issue with the art, many of the pictures cover the text which is really irritating and poor presentation/editing.
I hope there is an update soon
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This excellent roleplaying system is extremely easy to pick up and use, with extreme flexibility and user friendliness. My personal group has already adapted this system to two other roleplaying worlds and it works flawlessly. This book is a steal, and well worth the initial investment.
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I got to play this at a convention back in March and while it wasn't a life changing experience it was a lot of fun. When I got home I laid out for the PDF, was generally impressed and I've GMed about 20 hours of the game.
So first off let's deal with the bad bits. Or rather bad bit. Had it not been for the game I played at the con it would have taken me a lot longer to get the hang of the rules. The order they're presented in and the way you have to keep hunting all over the rulebook to find a particular facet of a rule is, for me, a nightmare. It's not the Necronomicon of RPGs but my sanity did feel a bit dented afterwards. "HULK SMASH!" and "PUNY AUTHOR" probably summarise my frustration.
However this is balanced out by the good bits. First the system...
Anyone that's played a so-called player controlled narrative game will get the hang of this real quick. At it's core it's a dice pool system. You assemble a pool from the descriptive traits of your character, narrating how each one helps you achieve your goal. If you've played and liked the systems in "Dogs in the Vineyard" (traits are attributes, traits and relationships), "HeroQuest" (traits are abilities) or perhaps "FATE" (traits are aspects, including scene aspects) you'll be at home here.
Then when you get your dice pool there's what looks like a load of mechanical crunch and options affecting how you interpret the dice rolled. However that's the rule book running you all over the shop to find what the options mean - see my one complaint for details. As a player though a quick explanation of the rules, your Hero's Data File (that's character sheet to you and me) and copy of the player's reference sheet is enough to get playing.
When you get the hang of it (give it an hour or two) play speeds up to the point where, with creative players who embrace the genre, you'll be turning out a panel's worth of story every minute or so. Yes, it's that fast.
Secondly thing is the way the game represents the power levels of the different characters. There's always been the problem in superhero games of representing the Hulk or Abomination at one end of the spectrum and The Black Widow at the other. Various solutions have been tried (logarithmic attributes is one dimly remembered nightmare from DC Heroes, exponentially increasing derived attributes another from Villains and Vigilantes) but none seemed to get it right for me. In this game traits aren't rated by some absolute measure but by how they effectively they can be applied in conflicts - just like "DiTV", "HeroQuest" and all those other subversive indie games out there. So Iron Man can lift more than Spider-man but both have the same strength rating in the game as they're equally effective applying strength in conflicts.
Not only that but as all traits are equivalent in game mechanical terms. If Spiderman lets off a few wisecracks he can counter Captain America's Enhanced Strength but Cap, being one of the top five fighters in the world (TM) can counter Spidey's Superhuman reflexes in return.
And you can handle things that aren't involved in conflicts using "narrative common sense"; by describing things in genre. Spidey, with his Superhuman Strength, can support one corner of a 10 story building on his shoulders for a couple of minutes to let the people inside escape while Thor with his Godlike Strength can hold any building in New York up as long as it takes to get the contractors in, brace it, lay new block work and re-plumb the toilets. If Cap tried it he'd a stain oozing out from under the rubble.
The third thing is the way players and the GM can influence the narrative. The players use things called plot points ("The Script is with me!") while the GM has a pool of dice (cue twirly moustache). Both turn over really fast (Heroes can gain a plot point every time they act) and can be used to aid various acts of Heroism and Villainy. They're similar to FATE points, Hero Points, Action Points, Fan Mail, ad nauseum in other games.
The fourth thing is the way experience works. XP in this game are generally used to buy ephemeral plot based things. So the first time the Fantastic Four faced down Galactus it could have been interpreted as Torch's player blowing 10XP on gaining access to the location of the Ultimate Nullifier. In the example adventure a couple of the unlockables are having the SHIELD Helicarrier arrive at an opportune moment or getting the Sentry to rip Carnage in half.
You gain XP by doing things in character or related to the story. Each action you gain XP for represents a choice your character has to make. The harder the choice the more XP. So Torch gets XP for whenever he has to choose between being a Hero or a dilettante at a party with his girlfriend. Choose the Hero and his girlfriend might leave him, choose the party and the rest of the Fantastic Four won't be too impressed. However making the choice nets him experience.
The final thing that really impressed me was character generation. The rules are basically "decide what you want your hero to be, write it down, play it." And I've found giving the players this freedom means they don't take the mickey that much - they followed Spidey's mantra of "With great power comes great responsibility." This makes it incredibly easy to come up with a character that works the way you want although I'd recommend playing the game as a vanilla canon character before unleashing Rat Man and Vole Boy onto the world so you get a handle on what's interesting and effective.
Anyway, the game gets a 5. Maybe I should have marked it down for the rubbish organisation but I don't want people to think that this is less than a superb game. While it may not say "Face it Tiger, you've just hit the jackpot" when it arrives on your front door it's well worth a play.
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http://www.teilzeithelden.de
Margaret Weis Productions hat sich vor einiger Zeit eine weitere große Lizenz gesichert: Marvel. Nach unter anderem Leverage, Smallville und Supernatural rollt also hier wieder eine neue Welle eines in meinen Augen ungewöhnlichen, wie zugleich visionären Rollenspiels heran.
Erscheinungsbild
Die mir vorliegenden pdf-Dokumente hauen mich um. Wirklich. Das Design der verschiedenen Unterlagen strotzt vor stylischem Marvel-Artwork. Auf fast jeder Seite sehe ich Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Storm und viele andere.
Der Text ist extrem gut lesbar gesetzt, wichtige Sätze oder Stichworte sind farblich anders gedruckt, so dass sie sofort ins Auge stechen und auf dem Rand fast jeder Seite finde ich Verweise, auf welchen Seiten ich die passenden Regeln finde.
Die Augen finden immer etwas Besonderes zum kurzzeitigen Verweilen. Der Textwand-Eindruck vieler anderer Grundregelwerke kommt hier erst gar nicht auf. Das ist bildhübsch und macht Spaß zu lesen! Gut, natürlich nur, wenn man Comics mag… Die Grundfarben Blau und Grau werden gut eingesetzt, um optische Kontraste und Leserlichkeit zu erzielen.
Zum Umfang des pdf-Bundles gehört:
• Core Rules – Die Grundregeln
• Example of Play – Ein kurzer Kampf durchgewürfelt mit erklärenden Texten. Wertvoll!
• MHR Player Sheet – Kurzübersicht über die Würfeleien und Möglichkeiten als Spieler
• MHR Watcher Sheet – Kurzübersicht über die Würfeleien und Möglichkeiten als Spielleiter, hier Watcher genannt.
• MHR Data Files – 24 Marvel-Charaktere mit Spielwerten, Kurzhistorie, Persönlichkeit und Fähigkeiten
• MHR Random Data File Generator – Erschaffung eigener Charaktere über Zufallstabellen
Was mir in meiner Version fehlt, sind verlinkte Inhalte. Aus den vielen Schlagworten und Verweisen zu Regelstellen hätte man wunderbar klickbare Links machen können.
Die harten Fakten:
• Format: pdf
• Seiten: 234 (+ weitere durch Hilfsdokumente)
• Verlag: Margaret Weis Productions; Auflage: Brdgm (17. April 2012)
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 1936685167
• ISBN-13: 978-1936685165
• Preis: 9,99 USD (pdf) oder 18,99 EUR (Buch)
• Bezugsquelle: DriveThruRPG (pdf | Klick) oder Amazon (Buch | Klick)
Das Buch kommt mit nur 128 Seiten daher laut Amazon, ich weiß jedoch nicht, ob die Seiten anders formatiert sind oder ob Inhalte fehlen.
Die Spielwelt
Über die Spielwelt muss man nicht viele Worte verlieren. Es ist das Marvel-Universum in seiner ganzen Bandbreite. Ich meine mich zu entsinnen, dass es über 8000 Charaktere gibt, die man verkörpern oder als Antagonisten nutzen kann.
X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers, die Fantastischen Vier – alle sind hier und noch viel mehr, wie z.B. Daredevil.
Ich weiß gar nicht, wo ich anfangen sollte, diese Spielwelt zu beschreiben. Fakt ist aber, dass im Regelwerk keine Weltenbeschreibung beinhaltet ist. Man kann einiges ableiten aus den Hintergründen der verschiedenen Helden als auch des beinhalteten Mini-Events, aber ohne Lektüre der Comics, grafischer Novellen und auch vielleicht das Anschauen der Filme kommt man hier nicht weit.
Ich kann verstehen, dass das Universum von Marvel einfach zu umfangreich ist, um in einem Grundregelwerk abgebildet zu werden. In künftigen Event-Bänden wird jedoch mehr erklärt. Events sind Kampagnen.
Zurzeit liegt mir der Band für die Civil War Kampagne vor, den ich zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt beleuchten werde.
Die Regeln
Eins muss ich vorweg nehmen. In Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game spielt man eigentlich keine selbsterschaffenen Charaktere (auch wenn die Möglichkeit dazu da ist), man spielt fertige Superhelden aus dem Marveluniversum und hat die Möglichkeit, diese zu evolutionieren.
Die nun Folgend beschriebenen Regeln sind stark auf die erzählerische Komponente des Rollenspiels ausgelegt und können nur funktionieren, wenn offen am Tisch gewürfelt wird. Also, Spielleiter aller Herren Länder, kommt hinter Euren Schirmen hervor. Ihr raubt Euch und Euren Spielern sonst viel der Spannung, die wir in diesem Spiel haben. Ich beschreibe nicht alle Regeln, sondern nur einen Ausschnitt. Es wäre sonst zu viel.
Besser und Schlechter wird durch Würfeltypen klassifiziert. Ein D4 ist schlechter als ein D6 als ein D8 und so weiter. Der höchste Würfel ist der D12. Würfel können durch bestimmte Voraussetzungen verbessert oder verschlechtert werden. Das Regelwerk nennt dieses „step up“ oder „step down“. Ein D6, der geupstepped (man verzeihe mir diese Wortkreation) wird, wird zu einem D8. Gewürfelt wird nur, wenn das Ergebnis wirklich zweifelhaft ist, ein Charakter eine Show machen möchte oder es um einen Zusammenstoß mit anderen NSCs und Charakteren geht.
Wie so oft, sind die Regeln und Würfeleinlagen eng an die Werte des Charakters gekoppelt. Am Besten erkläre ich alles an einem Beispiel, weil alles sonst sehr abstrakt wird.
Primär dreht sich alles um Würfelpools. Schauen wir auf den Bogen, sehen wir 4 Poolrelevante Bereiche. Wir haben noch mehr Möglichkeiten, aber dazu weiter unten.
Wenn ein Spieler nun würfelt, baut er sich den Pool nach den Bereichen auf. Ist er alleine? Also affiliation „Solo“ – zack, ein D10 in den Pool. Manche Helden agieren besser alleine, manche besser im Team, manche gar besser zu zweit.
Dann kommt die distinction ins Spiel. Hierbei handelt es sich immer um drei Phrasen, die den Helden beschreiben. Passt eine der distinctions auf die Würfelsituation, kommt ein D8 in den Pool. Ein Spieler kann aber auch entscheiden, dass Ihn seine distinction behindert und nimmt dann einen D4 in den Pool. Das macht Ihn schlechter, bringt aber einen sogenannten Plot Point. Auch darauf komme ich später.
Mit den Power Sets kommen die Kräfte ins Spiel. Auch diese bringen einen Würfel mit, können über die SFX noch Zusatzeffekte mitbringen und haben auch ein Limit. Mit Limits werden Teilkräfte für eine ganze Zeit deaktiviert, dafür werden aber andere mächtiger.
Letztlich haben wir noch die specialties. Dieses sind Ausdrücke des Trainings und der Ausbildung des Helden und bringen auch noch einen Würfel hinzu.
Schaden oder Belastung wird in MHR durch stress ausgedrückt. Dieser Schaden kann physisch, mental oder emotional sein. Optional kann der Schaden auch eine Situation sein, die die Person im Spiel behindert, hier complication genannt. Anders ist hier, dass der Schaden sich nicht negativ auf die eigenen Würfelpols auswirkt, sondern Schaden oder Behinderung des Gegners positiv auf den eigenen Würfelpool. In anderen Worten wird es einem leichter gemacht, wenn der Gegner nicht mehr frei agieren kann.
Dieser stress oder complication Würfel kommt auch in den eigenen Pool.
Hilft einem ein anderer Charakter oder NSC (oder man sich selbst), dann kann dieses einen asset erzeugen. assets sind kurzzeitig wirkende Effekte, die auch Zusatzwürfel geben. Und was passiert mit dem? Auch in den Pool – zack.
Und als ob damit noch nicht der vielen Würfel genüge getan wäre, gibt es noch den stunt. Stunts generieren auch Würfel und sind besondere Anwendungen eigener Fähigkeiten, die nicht standardmäßig verwendet werden würden.
Ein Beispiel: Cyclops verwendet seinen Energiestrahl in geschwächter Variante, um alle Spiegel blind werden zu lassen. Der Strahl wird tausendfach reflektiert und schaltet so alle Spiegelbilder aus, so dass der echte Antagonist gefunden wird und vom letzten Strahl getroffen wird.
All diese Würfel werden nun gewürfelt. Einsen werden beiseitegelegt. Die üblicherweise beiden höchsten Würfel bilden das total. Ein dritter gewürfelter Würfel ist der effect dice. Der Spielleiter, hier watcher genannt, macht das gleiche in ähnlicher Art für seine Charaktere.
Beispiel: Wolverine ist alleine und kämpft gegen Deadpool. Solo – D8. I’m the best there at what i do – D8 Adamantium Claws – D10 Combat Master - D10. Deadpool ist unverletzt, also keine weiteren Würfel, ebenso gibt es keine Helfer und Wolverine hat auch gerade keine Lust auf ungewöhnliche Neuanwendung seiner Kräfte.
D8: 5, D8: 3, D10: 7, D10: 4. Wolverine nimmt die beiden höchsten als total, das sind also 7+5=12. Einen D10 nimmt er als Effektwürfel.
Für das Beispiel hat Deadpool den gleichen Würfelpool und würfelt D18: 4, D8: 4, D10: 6, D10:5. Er nimmt 6+5=11 als total, D8 als Effektwürfel.
Wolverine war bei 12, er bei 11. Wolverine hat also „gewonnen“. Der D10 Effektwürfel verursacht nun genannten stress oder eine complication. Alle künftigen Würfe haben für Wolverine einen D10 mehr im Pool.
stress wird durch weitere verlorene Proben verstärkt. Ist der nächste Effektwürfel vom Würfeltyp her kleiner oder gleich dem vorhandenen Stresswürfel, wird dieser um eine Stufe hochdreht. Aus einem D10 wird also ein D12. Ist er größer als der Stresswürfel, werden die Würfel getauscht. Hat man bereits einen D6 und der nächste ist ein D10, kriegt man den D10. Würde nach D12 nochmal hochgedreht werden, wird der Charakter schachmatt. Aus stress wird dann trauma, welches eine weitaus höhere Genesungszeit und –behandlung braucht.
Plotpoints braucht man u.a. um entweder Kräfte zu aktivieren, einen dritten total dice zu behalten oder einen zweiten effect dice zu wählen. Man bekommt sie, indem man entweder Einsen würfelt oder seine distinction mit einem D4 wählt. Auch andere Möglichkeiten existieren.
Einsen generieren aber auch Würfel in den sogenannten doompool des Watchers. Dieser kann die Würfel in dem Pool benutzen, um die Fähigkeiten seiner Gegenspieler zu aktivieren oder zu verbessern. Würfelt der watcher Einsen, können die Spieler diese als opportunity aktivieren und somit Vorteile für sich selbst schaffen.
Daher ist es so wichtig, offen und für alle einsichtig zu würfeln. Sterben kann man in MHR eher selten, wenn nicht gar nicht.
Das ist nun nur ein Ausschnitt der Regeln, der aber zeigt, worum es geht. Um den direkten Vergleich zweier Würfelpools, der Würfeltypen und die Interaktion zwischen SL und Spieler. Es geht fast immer um Aktion und Reaktion, das Vergleichen der Ergebnisse zweier Würfelpools.
Ich schrieb weiter oben, dass das System stark auf den erzählerischen Part ausgerichtet ist. Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, dass der Eindruck nun etwas geschmälert wurde durch den Exkurs in das Regelsystem, muss aber anmerken, dass so ziemlich jeder Spielbericht, den ich bislang las, davon spricht, dass die Regeln schnell und flüssig laufen, vor allem eben, weil man die ganze Zeit alle Werte vor Augen hat, sieht, wie groß der doompool ist, was der eigene und die anderen Charaktere können. Ein kleiner Selbsttest hat das bestätigt.
Ein Wort noch zur Initiative in Kämpfen. Sie wird nicht gewürfelt, die Spieler entscheiden, wer anfängt. Es gibt ein paar Hinweise, woran man es festmachen kann, aber das war es auch schon. Als SL kann ich jedoch entscheiden, die Spieler zu unterbrechen und selbst zu agieren, in dem ich Würfel aus dem doompool verwende.
Mich begeistert vor allem, dass hier zu einer sehr großen Lizenz Regeln gewählt wurden, die eher dem Indie-Sektor zuzuschreiben sind und wie nahtlos es ineinander greift. Auch wenn MHR zum Cortex+ Regelset gehört, muss man wissen, dass Margaret Weis Productions Ltd dieses Regelset auf jede der Publikationen anpasst, um das gewählte Setting optimal zu unterstützen. Eine Kenntnis der anderen Cortex+ Systeme hilft nicht bei MHR. Man muss sich ggf. neu einlesen.
Charaktererschaffung
Wie bereits geschrieben, existiert eine Charaktererschaffung nur im beschränkten Maß. In dem beiliegendem MHR Random Data File Generator wird der interessierte Leser durch eine Reihe von Tabellen geleitet, auf die es zu würfeln gilt. Aus den Ergebnissen resultieren dann obig beschriebene Kernwerte des Charakters.
Im Regelwerk selbst sind die verschiedenen Fähigkeiten sehr gut beschrieben, auch was mit Ihnen möglich ist und in welchem Umfang der Charakter mit der Spielwelt dadurch interagieren kann. Auf diesem mehrseitigen Passus erfährt der Leser wertvolle Informationen, welche Möglichkeiten der Charakter hat.
MHR ist eindeutig darauf ausgelegt, mit den bekannten Marvelhelden zu spielen und sie ins Abenteuer zu führen. Eine Charaktererschaffung ist möglich, birgt aber das Risiko in sich, das erwünschte Spielgefühl eintreten zu lassen.
Einer der Foki des Systems ist eindeutig das Ansprechen der großen Comicfan-Bewegung in den USA und das Animieren derselben, Rollenspiele auszutesten und zu spielen. Daher ist dieser Ansatz unter dem, was das Regelwerk möchte, vollkommen legitim.
Und mal ehrlich – welcher Comicfreund hat sich nicht schon mal gewünscht, so manches Ereignis hautnah mitzuerleben?
Spielbarkeit aus Spielleitersicht
Wie ich bereits schrieb, sind die Regeln teils mehrfach gut beschrieben und das Regelwerk glänzt durch Querverweise, die die erste Arbeit des SL, das Einlesen, deutlich vereinfachen.
Die Methoden und Möglichkeiten, die einem als watcher gegeben werden, sind dramaturgisch gut durchdacht und bieten einige Chancen, das Spiel wirklich aufregend und intensiv zu halten. Ein Spielleiter hat zum Beispiel die Möglichkeit, ganze Szenen dramaturgisch enden zu lassen. Für einen solchen Abbruch jedoch werden Spieler mit Erfahrungspunkten entlohnt.
Die Offenheit, mit der ein SL hier agiert, dadurch, dass er unter anderem auch offen würfelt, sind Kernpunkte des Spiels.
Zur Arbeit des SL gehört natürlich auch das Ausarbeiten einer Kampagne, hier event genannt. Selbstverständlich empfiehlt es sich, diese events an Marvelereignissen zu orientieren. Und so ist auch im Grundregelwerk ein Mini-Event beinhaltet, der sich um einen Gefängnisausbruch aus dem Raft dreht und sich an die Handlung aus New Avengers 1-6 anlehnt.
events teilen sich in acts auf. Das sind quasi umfassende Szenen und Kapitel. Acts wiederum teilen sich in scenes auf, wobei unterschieden wird zwischen action scenes und transition scenes. Während erste aktionistisch getriebene Szenen sind (nicht unbedingt kampflastig), sind zweitere Interaktions- und Nachforschungszenen.
Noch feingliedriger ist das panel. Hierbei handelt es sich um genau einen Moment der umfassenden Szene. Der Begriff rührt daher, dass dieser Moment in einem Comicbild aufgefangen werden kann.
Die genannte inkludierte Minikampagne ist überraschend wenig linear und bietet viele Möglichkeiten zum Ende zu kommen. Das nötigste ist beschrieben und ist gut genug, um direkt mit nur wenig Vorarbeit übernommen zu werden.
Eine Besonderheit muss ich der Spielbarkeit aus Spielersicht vorwegnehmen, denn sie bestimmt auch den Alltag des watcher. Charaktere haben milestones. Das sind quasi persönliche Entwicklungsziele, auf die Spieler selbstgewählt hinzu arbeiten können. Die Spieler teilen üblicherweise dem watcher mit, welche sie erreichen möchten und dieser kann entsprechende Situationen schaffen, so er möchte.
Parallel dazu gibt es auch milestones für Events. Nun kann man argumentieren, dass man den Spielern diese nicht mitteilen sollte, weil Ihnen sonst die Überraschung genommen wird, was alles passieren kann. Der Umkehrschluss ist der Fall. In der Tat muss der watcher den Spielern sogar diese milestones erklären und aufzeigen und die Spieler können selbst entscheiden, welchen Weg sie gehen. Das ähnelt einer Mischung der SL Technik des foreshadowing und dem Ansehen eines Kinotrailers.
Spielbarkeit aus Spielersicht
Was gibt es hier viel mehr zu sagen, außer, dass es sich einfach gut anfühlt, einen Marvel-Charakter zu führen? Andererseits ist auch genau das ein Manko, denn wenn auch eigene Charaktere erschaffbar sind, tritt einfach nicht das erwünschte Spielgefühl ein.
Wobei – was unterscheidet es eigentlich vom Spielgefühl her, wenn man auf einem Con einen vorgenerierten Charakter spielt oder in MHR einen vorgenerierten Superhelden spielt? Ich finde eigentlich nicht viel. Außer, dass man durch Filme und Comics ein deutlich besseres Bild des eigenen Charakters bereits verinnerlicht hat.
Die Regeln wirken nur im ersten Moment komplex, verselbstständigen sich aber schnell. Beachtenswert ist die Spieler-(Erzähl)-Macht, die das Regelwerk ihnen gibt und damit für den einen oder anderen neu, weil so oftmals nicht in klassischen Systemen beinhaltet ist.
Durch die Kenntnis der milestones des Charakters wie auch des events ist der Spieler ein Stück weit der Immersion enthoben, ist aber gleichzeitig nah am Geschehen und kann als Spieler den Charakter entsprechend lenken zur Erfüllung der milestones.
Eine besondere Rolle spielen noch die unlockables. Hierbei handelt es sich um freizuspielende Inhalte im Rahmen des events. Das kann ein Charakter sein (auf den dann ein Spieler wechselt) oder z.B. eine Technologie, die dann wiederum als Eventressource dienen kann. Das erinnert mich etwas an Achievements aus einschlägigen MMORPGs, ist aber weitaus mehr, denn es ist nicht nur eine Medaille, was man tolles geschafft hat, sondern es erweitert die Möglichkeiten der Spieler ungemein.
Auch in diesen Bereich gehört die mögliche Charakterentwicklung. Natürlich, auch diese ist eingebaut und wird durch Erfahrungspunkte gesteuert. Wer gelesen hat, dass es sich um vorgenerierte Charaktere handelt, braucht keine Sorgen zu haben, dass die Werte sich nie ändern werden. Erfahrungspunkte gewinnt man durch das Erreichen der milestones.
Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis
Ich kann mich hier nur auf das pdf-Bundle beziehen, welches mir vorliegt. Allein der Umfang (s.o.) aus vielen verschiedenen Dokumenten, alle liebevoll designed und vollgestopft mit gut verständlichen Inhalten recht fertigt den Preis mehr als nur gerade eben.
Artwork, Aufbereitung der Texte und Spielbarkeit des gesamten Systems ist subjektiv eingeschätzt unter den Spielen, die ich bislang lesen durfte, in den Top 5. Und das alles für unter 10 USD? Wer Superhelden mag, Rollenspiele mag und einem alternativen Ansatz nicht abgeneigt ist, kann hier einfach nichts falsch machen.
Fazit
Ich könnte noch viel mehr schreiben, würde aber dann vollständig den Umfang dieser Rezension sprengen.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game hat mich selbst überrascht, da ich das Konzept, einen existenten Superhelden durch existente Marvel Geschichten zu führen, als äußerst linear, railroadig und langweilig erwartet habe.
Was ich aber nach zweifacher Lektüre nun vom System verstanden habe, offenbar ein actiongetriebenes und mitreißendes Rollenspiel der etwas anderen Art. Mit Cortex+ hatte ich bislang noch keine Erfahrungen und finde sehr gut, was im Fall von MHR daraus gemacht wurde.
Natürlich bewegt man sich entlang einer gewissen linearen Führung, wenn es darum geht, Marvelevents nach- oder auch mitzuerleben, aber auch nicht linearer als in anderen Rollenspielabenteuern. Eine Sandbox bekomme ich hier natürlich nicht, aber das will das Spiel auch nicht.
Ich finde durch die Bank gut, was ich hier auf dem Schirm habe und freue mich, den Eventband Civil War zu lesen. Vor kurzem nun erschien auch der nächste Band 50 States Initiative.
Ganz offen hoffe ich auch eine Spielrunde dazu im Freundeskreis und wenn ich es selbst leiten muss. Das ist einfach cool und genau auf Marvel Action zugeschnitten. Und auch wenn es schon tausendfach im Zusammenhang mit diesem Spiel gesagt wurde: Avengers Assemble!
Bonus/Downloadcontent
Unsere Bewertung
Erscheinungsbild 5v5
Todschick mit Unmengen von Marvel Artwork, gut aufbereitete Texte
Spielwelt 3v5
Keine Spielweltbeschreibung beinhaltet, man muss Marvel kennen. Lediglich Hinweise bei den Charakteren und dem Mini-Event geben Hinweise
Regeln 4v5
Auf den ersten Blick komplex und stark interaktiv, dann doch ziemlich flüssig
Charaktererschaffung Nicht gewertet
Auch wenn eine Charaktererschaffung beinhaltet ist, spielt man vorgenerierte Charaktere
Spielbarkeit aus Spielleitersicht 4v5
Viele Möglichkeiten zum Aufbau von cineastischen Abenteuern, Marvelkenntnis jedoch nötig. Etliche dramaturgische Steuerungsmöglichkeiten
Spielbarkeit aus Spielersicht 4v5
Sehr viel Erzählmacht beim Spieler, „In“ dem Charakter sein und Ihn doch gezielt auf vorher bekannte Ziele lenken
Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis 5v5
Unter 10 USD für ein extrem gutes, wenn auch ungewöhnliches Regelwerk
Gesamt 4v5
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When I first encountered Dungeons and Dragons, I was a big fan of Marvel Comics. With each new attempt, I have hoped for a system that would allow me to run a game in the world that coloured my youth. On one level, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying from Margaret Weis Productions supplies that.
The rules are fairly clear and cover the aspects needed to play here. This is not a rules-heavy game, by any means, so folks can be up and playing as soon as the Watcher has read them through. In most games, the Watcher would be the GM, but MWP continues their cute idea from Smallville of tying that job to an aspect of the background. Conflicts are settled with a system of roll vs. counter-roll, with ties going to the defender, as in Risk. If there is no obvious opponent, as in the hero trying to break down a door or leap from rooftop to rooftop, the Watcher can either let the attempt succeed or roll with the Doom Pool.
While it is possible to use other characters, either adapted from the comics or created from whole cloth, the main attraction in this game is the opportunity to play fan favourrites like Spidey, Cap and Wolverine, and the sourcebook supplies more than enough choices: Avengers, X-men, Fantastic Four and more. The Breakout adventure included in this book includes game writeups on a variety of villains as well as giving the players a chance to rework a published story.
Physically, the book is well-presented and lavishly illustrated. It manages to put all the players need into a mere 264 pages including covers.
That being said, the simplicity of the game and the tendency to recycle published stories as adventures ( Breakout, Civil War) present weaknesses for the experienced, serious roleplayer. The Marvel readers who provide the core demographic for this game have probably already read these "Events," which provide copious spoilers.
For new or casual gamers, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is a great buy. For those who seek a real challenging game, keep looking.
PK
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What I liked:
It has a good action/dice system. Mechanically, I feel this game is very solid. That, and I noticed Jeff Grubb in the forward and Matt Forbeck's name in the design credits. Forbeck is one of my absolute favorite writers/game designers.
The book delivers exactly what it says in the blurb on the back cover (page 2 of the pdf) with one exception. You get an awesome set of rules. The rules cover most situations in the Marvel Universe. You get a really great adventure! The Event system seems like it's going to work very well in the future if this first round is any example. It has a really outstanding set of datafiles. The character coverage is superb for the characters that were included.
Here's the exception: "When dozens of villains are sprung from the maximum-maximum security prison known as the Raft, who's going to stop them? You are." This statement was featured prominently in much of the advertising I've seen for this book as well as on the back cover. One of the first things I expected to see in this book was a large section entitled "Character Creation." I was very disappointed when I didn't see it.
I've played several superhero rpg's over the years. The absolute top of my list, the first rpg I ever played, TSR's old Marvel Superheroes RPG. The Advanced Set and The Ultimate Powers Book are still to this day, 28 years later, one of my favorite parts of my gaming collection. I was so very excited when I saw this new incarnation of Marvel, being led by a TSR alum. I expected to see more creativity encouraged in this book.
Now, back in the original Marvel RPG days, when you picked up a module, you had the option of playing a pre-existing Marvel character included with the module or you could play one you made yourself. Yeah, it's cool to play Cap, Wolvie, Thing, Spidey or even the Hulk, but what made Marvel, and makes most rpg's special, is playing a character you created yourself. I'm concerned for the success of this book and this product line because I think players are more in their comfort zone with a character they came up with on their own. There are a lot of other games out there from other companies that don't have the advantage of a rich, fully (overly) developed universe, setting, and pre-existing characters. I don't feel the new Marvel encourages me to make a character of my own.
The only other drawback I see to this game, and it's minor, is the lack of pregenerated characters. I realize the characters given are for the event. We are told other events will have other characters. A superhero rpg lives and dies by the characters. Again, with Marvel, the advantage is a gigantic catalog of pre-existing heroes and villains with rich story lines and backgrounds already written.
In the future, I'd like to see stats for the Incredible Hulk, the Mighty Thor, and Hawkeye. The villain stats I'd like to see comprise a much, much larger list. I don't know if I have the patience to wait five or six events down the road to have stats for Dr Doom, Magneto, Red Skull or Ultron.
I'd also like to see a slight escalation of power levels. They've done a great job carrying the more "human" characters like Cap and Spidey. The system seems really well-suited to them I noticed it seems like the designers are carefully avoiding things with really huge power levels, which is maybe why Thor hasn't made an appearance yet. I'll be curious to see how something scary-huge like Galactus is handled.
The best thing this game line could do in the future is put out two books- one with Hero Datafiles and one with Villain Datafiles. That, or I'm hoping the "Advanced Rules," since this is listed as the Basic set, will start with character creation and focus on player-generated heroes, with the old Marvel iconic characters available on the side. Maybe they'll even pave the way for a book that details powers, sfx and an increased power level in sort of an "Ultimate" way.
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