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Post by dorkknight23 on Jan 9, 2012 16:01:01 GMT -5
I'm intrigued, and will be looking forward to checking out the finished product in February.
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Post by WildKnight on Jan 9, 2012 16:58:35 GMT -5
Hey Cam, if you could enlighten me a bit... why did the Cortex base rules go with "Life Points" instead of the "Stress" system that some of the other games use? I really feel like the Stress rules bring something really unique to a game.
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Post by roxolid on Jan 10, 2012 11:53:55 GMT -5
I preordered the game anyway (even though I still haven't the faintest clue on how or how well it plays) and that's purely down to your involvement in the various forums Cam - any game designer who takes the time to listen to their customers deserves my dollars (or in this case, proper money - British Pounds). Hopefully the cover will be a bit more striking that the all black thing on Amazon, but even if not, I'm looking forward to it.
Even if I'm still scratching my head...
*shrug*
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Post by cambanks on Jan 10, 2012 12:39:27 GMT -5
Hey Cam, if you could enlighten me a bit... why did the Cortex base rules go with "Life Points" instead of the "Stress" system that some of the other games use? I really feel like the Stress rules bring something really unique to a game. Life Points are prior to us changing the system for new licenses and rebranding it as Cortex Plus. The Cortex System book is no longer the base rule set for our games, but it does use the same set of rules for Supernatural. None of the new Cortex Plus games (Smallville, Leverage, Dragon Brigade, or Marvel) use Life Points. I threw them out when I started being in charge of product development! Cheers, Cam
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Post by WildKnight on Jan 10, 2012 13:00:28 GMT -5
Hey Cam, if you could enlighten me a bit... why did the Cortex base rules go with "Life Points" instead of the "Stress" system that some of the other games use? I really feel like the Stress rules bring something really unique to a game. Life Points are prior to us changing the system for new licenses and rebranding it as Cortex Plus. The Cortex System book is no longer the base rule set for our games, but it does use the same set of rules for Supernatural. None of the new Cortex Plus games (Smallville, Leverage, Dragon Brigade, or Marvel) use Life Points. I threw them out when I started being in charge of product development! Cheers, Cam Ah, well. Well done. Maybe put out a new Cortex generic rulebook, though. Don't know if that would be profitable for you guys, but I'd want one. And a GM Screen!
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Post by andyman on Jan 11, 2012 11:58:06 GMT -5
I just finished reading "The Sellsword" by Cam Banks and enjoyed it.
As for power levels, I hate how Marvel's levels are not mathematically proportional. It really bothers me and makes me like the DC Adventured game because they do make mathematical sense. I know this is nerdy, but so are role-playing games. :-)
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Post by WildKnight on Jan 11, 2012 12:00:25 GMT -5
I just finished reading "The Sellsword" by Cam Banks and enjoyed it. As for power levels, I hate how Marvel's levels are not mathematically proportional. It really bothers me and makes me like the DC Adventured game because they do make mathematical sense. I know this is nerdy, but so are role-playing games. :-) M&M (and most D20 systems) are heavily based on mathematical balance. Cortex is heavily based on building dramatic tension. I like both styles, when well done (and not OVER done, as both can be), but this is why there are multiple games out there. Something for (almost) everyone.
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Post by cambanks on Jan 11, 2012 19:09:53 GMT -5
I took a strong lead from the comics, where mathematical sense doesn't seem to be a priority. Cheers, Cam
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Post by kito on Jan 17, 2012 11:28:39 GMT -5
Mush say having little to no knolage at GMing (only 3 years now) and havinfonly ever used the MURPG in GMing i was less then exsited to hear a new system i had to lurn was coming out. but reading threw all here and talking it over with all my players we have put our money together and preordered a few copies Looking forward to release date. and will have all my Bad comment and worres after we play a few rounds.
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Post by angel on Jan 18, 2012 18:41:38 GMT -5
With such a narrow range between the weakest (Aunt May) and the Strongest (Hulk) what's to stop Aunt May beating Hulk in an arm wrestling contest if she has a great roll and Hulk gets a lousy (or at least lower) roll? I can't see that happening in the comics, ever, unless of course Aunt May gets the Captain Universe powers (which has probably happened at some point or other). Clearly I haven't seen this system in action, but to me it'd make more sense to have the strongest guys guaranteed at least a minimum amount for their limitless strength or whatever power it is they are testing. Instead of 1d12, use 3d4 (though I'm still struggling to see how characters are different from one another when there's essentially only 5 power levels in the game). It can work - the BASH supers game has stats from 1 to 5, with 5 being around 'unearthly' level and 1 being a normal person (with 0 being lower than an average person)... it just.. I dunno. Leaves me scratching my head, unless there's a karma system the players use to bring up their rolls, which kind of starts to make sense then. Any plans to have a play example sheet or 1-2 page 'primer' to look at? I guess we'll have to wait till the game is out (next month?) but right now I'm wondering how it can work. I've seen the -to be expected - fanboy mouth foaming of the playtesters saying it's the best thing ever, and they are entitled to their opinion, but I'm not writing it off, just... baffled for now, I guess First off, welcome to 2012, everyone. Rox, I agree with an play example idea. a lot of confusion and apprehension is popping up within the MU faithful here, and understandably so. Look, i'm not interesting in bashing your product Cam, but i'm very skeptical right now with the presentation of your product. Too many mechanics that are leaving me banging my head at the moment: the possible blanding of data files, the rolling of results rolling in front of players to advance abilities, elimination of standard attributes (and with that, the possible elimination of possibilities suchs as equipment generation, really bland combat rules.) I'm trying really hard to temper my opinion over this, but with every read i make here or at RPG.net..my concerns increases. -A
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Post by angel on Jan 18, 2012 18:49:17 GMT -5
I took a strong lead from the comics, where mathematical sense doesn't seem to be a priority. Cheers, Cam that's cool, but you know what made the original Marvel supers popular, or why there's a loyal fanbase of the marvel adventures system? the fact that there were flexibility with the numbers, to be able to compare Original characters with the "best of the best" of the marvel universe. The option of Combat in the comics form (and such tactics such as groundstrikes, shockwaves, and knockback), the versatility of archtypes in teams. thats what attracted me to those systems. -A
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Post by roxolid on Jan 18, 2012 20:02:59 GMT -5
As far as I can tell, with the Cortex + system you have a situation, pick a bunch of attributes (and the dice for them) roll and pick the best two dice. Compare against a target number of an opposing dice roll for success. Damage should be the difference between the two,
I think.
Cam might set me straight if he posts in, but I think that's what the cortex system is based on. Pick a pool of dice, pick two, compare vs opposing total.
Sounds fast, but I still have the feeling a lot of characters are going to look awfully similar. We'll have to see.
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Post by cambanks on Jan 19, 2012 1:37:47 GMT -5
You're close, roxolid. You gather your dice together, roll them, and choose two of the dice to add together to be your total, and a third to be your effect die. The number on the effect die doesn't matter. Your effect might be a complication applied against the target (like Entangled d10) or stress (physical, emotional, or mental), or an asset for your allies (Fastball Special d8). The game is very flexible, transcends strict "attack and roll damage" approaches, and when you bring in special effects from your power sets or stunts, resources, and assets from other team members it makes big comic book battles fluid and easy to run.
If you're used to the narrative power of MURPG and the easy-to-create characters of MSH, you should find a lot to like in MHR.
Cheers, Cam
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Post by WildKnight on Jan 19, 2012 7:34:34 GMT -5
The game is very flexible, transcends strict "attack and roll damage" approaches, and when you bring in special effects from your power sets or stunts, resources, and assets from other team members it makes big comic book battles fluid and easy to run. This is really what the vast majority of super hero RPGs, ever, have failed to capture. I have to admit to being skeptical about Marvel Heroic accomplishing it, but you have to admit, the price for the core rules is right for finding out
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Post by roxolid on Jan 19, 2012 15:13:16 GMT -5
And having the game designer come onto the board to answer silly questions is another bonus Just get the character creation rules right. They are far more important than whether obscure villain X or rarely seen hero Y gets their stats into the book, in my opinion. The original MSH game had 'em tacked on, but we didn't care. As soon as it was announced and reviewed I was a foaming mouthed slip of a lad pestering the game shop to when they'd get it in. Back when White Dwarf wasn't a catalogue, and Dragon vied with Imagine as my go to read on RPGs... Any plans for a dedicated game forum, or is there somewhere already? It'll go a long way to keeping the game supported and played, in my opinion.
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