Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, slice by slice

[Tim Gray]

I think, really, that all the Cortex+ games, whilst absolutely fantastic games, could have done with a second 'readability pass' in the layout/editing.

Almost everything could do with that.

[Bountyhunter]

I think, really, that all the Cortex+ games, whilst absolutely fantastic games, could have done with a second 'readability pass' in the layout/editing.

Almost everything could do with that.

Trust me (+1 Plot point for Manipulative please), Smallville really, really, really is a product the Editor should be ashamed to have their name attached to. Seroiusly. Trust me (another +1 Plot point for Manipulative please) on this. I mean this is a rulebook which, as the SFX powers for Time Control, has a number of options:

Would you like;

The ability to perform multiple actions in a single turn as your SFX for Time Control?

Or would you like, for the same cost, to be able to stop time for 10 subjective minutes?

Both, apparently, are equal in SFX weighting.

Still not as silly as the wording on Manipulative though. Trust me on that.

[Baz King]

What's a 'subjective' minute? Is that one from the characters pov?

[kaemaril]

What's a 'subjective' minute? Is that one from the characters pov?

IIRC, pretty much, yes. Time doesn't really "stop" so much as you're hyper-accelerated so you can get ten minutes worth of stuff done in what is, to everyone else, barely a blink of the eye.

But don't quote me on that

[ian_orourke]

IIRC, pretty much, yes. Time doesn't really "stop" so much as you're hyper-accelerated so you can get ten minutes worth of stuff done in what is, to everyone else, barely a blink of the eye.

But don't quote me on that

Actually, that's probably correct..and quite interesting. It gets around all the issues (which we conveniently ignore anyway) of time stopping....but who for? The answer is it doesn't stop for anyone really (from their point of view).

[ian_orourke]

With Smaillville, I don't think the editing issue is present so much in the 'cost' of powers - as it's not a system that tries to put accurate measures on the 'worth' of powers.

It's more in how the book is structure and how rules are distributed throughout the text. You always get the feeling there is a larger, holistic whole that might be a thing of beauty that they are just making it difficult to get to

Play it a few times and it comes out in the wash..with a few wrinkles still present.

[Baz King]

The publishers have just released a fully fleshed out example of play:

http://www.margaretweis.com/images/stor ... ofplay.pdf

Go through this with the rules open beside you and it's a great tutorial. 9 pages that really should have been in the basic set.

[kaemaril]

The publishers have just released a fully fleshed out example of play:

http://www.margaretweis.com/images/stor ... ofplay.pdf

Go through this with the rules open beside you and it's a great tutorial. 9 pages that really should have been in the basic set.

Yes, it's pretty nifty. Including it in the book, or maybe including it in the pdf as they did with the summary sheets, would have been nice.

[Kaiserjez]

It is now included in the pdf set - the files have been updated.

[Baz King]

It is now included in the pdf set - the files have been updated.

That's a good move. Something not easily done with books!

[apn]

It's a shame they couldn't also include a print friendly version as well. Those blue borders really give the page a wet through and wrinkled feel, and make the book an inch deep... I ended up printing in greyscale, and in sections, which reminds me I need to finish hardback binding it...

[ian_orourke]

Pity they didn't extend the actual play example through other types of scene. To see how the game operates out of straight up super fights.

[Al]

Pity they didn't extend the actual play example through other types of scene. To see how the game operates out of straight up super fights.

Again, and I don't suggest for a moment that you are incorrect, though an observation which applies to an awful lot of RPGs. I suspect its a case of the player not seeing enough of the game. The authors and playtesters (and editors?) will have got to the publishing end point after lots of play and tinkering so know how the rules and play work by the time it goes to print. It's blinking hard to empathise with a position of ignorance.

[GuyMilner]

Heads up... they've just posted a random hero ("datafile") generator.

http://www.margaretweis.com/images/stories/bonus_content/mhr_randomdatafiles.pdf

I realise that not all of you will have the irrational love for random superhero generators that I have, but honestly, this has just made me about 300% more likely to run this game.

[Neil Smith]

Ran the game again at MKRPG on Tuesday, again using the sample Breakout scenario. The experience was very similar to Concrete Cow. The action scenes allowed for some free-wheeling high jinks, and the Asset/Stress/Complication system gave good mechanical support for the cool narration. On the down side, it was a bit slow, with people explicitly building their pool each time (albeit with good narration to go along with it).

I cut the fight short so we could move on to the investigation bit. Following on from the burning house example, I gave "The Mystery" a stress capacity. That allowed people to roll against the Doom Pool to uncover who was behind the breakout. When The Mystery became stressed out, they had the answers. James Mullen had flashbacks to how Danger Patrol handles this, and everything else.

Summary: action scenes were fun, but with a long handling time. Non-action activity needs hacking into being a pseudo-action scene for the mechanics to work. On the one hand, it might get samey after a while. On the other, it quickly allows you to give investigation and inter-personal actions mechanical weight.