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View Full Version : Using Marvel Super Heroes (TSR) outside of the Marvel Universe



Water_Bear
2012-09-24, 02:30 PM
Yeah, so I recently discovered this fascinating old superhero RPG from the 80s (thanks Spoony!) and after reading through the core rules I'm thinking about running a Superhero game using it. It seems a lot simpler and more "comic-book-y" than the Hero System and DC Heroes, but still has a good range of options. BUT... I'm not really interested in the Marvel Universe as a setting; I'd rather run a game in the DCU or pre-Flashpoint Wildstorm.

If anyone on the Playground has played this game, are there any pitfalls I need to avoid in particular or rules quirks I'm overlooking when switching settings? General tips on using this system would also be nice.

Lapak
2012-09-24, 03:03 PM
Yeah, so I recently discovered this fascinating old superhero RPG from the 80s (thanks Spoony!) and after reading through the core rules I'm thinking about running a Superhero game using it. It seems a lot simpler and more "comic-book-y" than the Hero System and DC Heroes, but still has a good range of options. BUT... I'm not really interested in the Marvel Universe as a setting; I'd rather run a game in the DCU or pre-Flashpoint Wildstorm.

If anyone on the Playground has played this game, are there any pitfalls I need to avoid in particular or rules quirks I'm overlooking when switching settings? General tips on using this system would also be nice.It's been years and years since I've played it, but one thing I remember is that you have to be pretty careful with villain construction or selection; there are a couple of powers that make a straight-up fight pretty much unwinnable if they are more than a level or so above the best offensive power in the PC team. Like, don't throw an enemy with Unearthly Armor (or whatever the power is that gets taken off the top of all incoming damage) against a party that tops out at Incredible attack powers.

Unless, of course, you intend for them to have to think around the bad guy like Daredevil going up against the Juggernaut. My point is just that it's relatively easy to set up a situation that's an accidental TPK if the party intends on going in swinging because a few of the combat powers are game-winners if they are out of balance with the other side's strengths.

Re'ozul
2012-09-24, 03:43 PM
Yeah, the high ranks can be overwhelming very easily. Depending on what people have rolled I'd keep it the highest at incredible/amazing until everyone has figured out how things work.
If you are playing in person, print out roll comparison rules and the big color chart for everyone. In my first game with the system we barely got through the introductory fight, that took 2 hours due to constant checking of that.
I wouldn't go for random character creation at first, due to the problems spoony mentioned. Its very easy to get a character who is pretty weak. It gets a bit more balanced with ultimate power as you get a bigger baseline of how many powers you can have. Though of course that has the inherent problem of someone being insanely lucky and ending up with 7 powers at remarkable or higher.

Joe the Rat
2012-09-25, 11:40 AM
Power levels seem to sit best at the "above the street" level - where the characters are basically human plus a fair bit. Spider-Man and (most of) the X-Men fit well. Setting up some pre-gens, or giving people an array of scores to play with will keep it fairly sane (When everyone else is Captain Amazing, playing Typical Man really isn't all that fun).

ridiculous power levels (e.g. Kryptionian) don't come out at ridiculous, which does leave things a bit more playable from top to bottom - but high end characters will under-perform compared to their comic incarnations. And that's okay. On the other side, it can be long odds, but having normal stats does not make you unplayable - just a lot harder to score exceptional results.

High resistances can really drag things down without some specific skills or GM fiats (One of the Martial Arts classes lets you slam and stun regardless of armor or Endurance, IIRC). Some types of characters take a little work to model well (They tend to be stingy with skills and skill benefits: Represent being highly skilled with your stats (Reason and Fighting in particular), saving Talents for "specialties." You can effectively KO someone without taking their Health to 0. Conversely, making this a vulnerability (can be slammed/stunned without taking damage) is one way to get those nigh-invulnerable yet able to be knocked silly characters, without invoking crazy-high regeneration. Spoon.

Health can be weird. The extremely agile (and halfway decent fighter) with normal Strength and Endurance can be physically tougher than a clumsy Brick (though the brick should have Body Armor). Your wizard could end up very squishy. Because of how the Ranks work, Low ranks in Body Armor have more and more marginal benefits against higher Rank attacks, and at high (Shift class) Ranks, anything strong enough to get through your defenses will automatically floor you. True Invulnerability (from the Ultimate Powers book) can be fun - it reduces damage by the number of ranks in the power (example: at Typical(6) Rank (3 ranks), you'll still take Feeble(2) damage from a Good(10) attack, but that Unearthly(100) attack only does Incredible(40) damage - compared to body armor, where a Typical rank reduces the Good attack to 4points of health, and the Unearthly attack to only 94...). Moderate level TI is a better way to model characters that are insanely tough, rather than using high Body Armor.

Actually, if you can, pick up the UPB, it might help you model specific characters with the example powers, and cuts down on the number of one-off powers you might need to dream up.

With hit rolls using attributes, you should encourage (or introduce) Talents related to power accuracy, similar to how you have weapon talents. Another route is the Ultimate Skill type power. This lets you keep not-super-agile shooters competitive. (And this is where I'm fuzzy - I'm pretty sure you used the Attribute Ranks, not the Power ranks for your roll to hit. Too many house rules.)

Powers can represent unique toys, or Stunts with other powers. Given the steep Karma costs for advancement, power stunts are the fastest way to grow characters.

Vehicles are a little wonky (but not as bad as Champions) - but most characters aren't vehicle-based, so you should be okay.

When in doubt, it's a Yellow FEAT.

Zubrowka74
2012-09-26, 08:40 AM
Are you guys talking about the old FASERIP Marvel Superheroes ? Man, I had this game, loved it. I feel old now.