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Post by WildKnight on Jan 2, 2012 10:06:49 GMT -5
The Cap datafile itself is lacking, IMO (but then I am, as everyone knows, a Cap fanboy), BUT... it shows some things I'm excited about, in terms of potential.
I don't know if I could convince my group to play this over Mutants & Masterminds, but I'll definitely be interested in trying it out.
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Post by andyman on Jan 6, 2012 23:58:54 GMT -5
The limited stat range looks interesting. I'm guessing this is what Strength looks like:
d4 - Below Normal Strength d6 - Normal Strength d8 - Enhanced Strength d10 - Superhuman Strength d12 - Godlike Strength
With these ratings, I think many characters will has similar core stats. Will Spider-Man and Thing both have d10 Superhuman Strength?
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Post by cambanks on Jan 8, 2012 7:23:05 GMT -5
The limited stat range looks interesting. I'm guessing this is what Strength looks like: d4 - Below Normal Strength d6 - Normal Strength d8 - Enhanced Strength d10 - Superhuman Strength d12 - Godlike Strength With these ratings, I think many characters will has similar core stats. Will Spider-Man and Thing both have d10 Superhuman Strength? There's actually no d4 or d6 level for Strength, as it's technically "Strength as a power" when it's included in a power set. Enhanced, Superhuman, and Godlike are the only super-strength levels in the game. We've included Spidey and Luke Cage in the d10 band, and Thing gets to be in the low end of Godlike together with Colossus, Wonder Man, and She-Hulk. Cheers, Cam
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Post by cambanks on Jan 8, 2012 7:24:17 GMT -5
The Cap datafile itself is lacking, IMO (but then I am, as everyone knows, a Cap fanboy), BUT... it shows some things I'm excited about, in terms of potential. I don't know if I could convince my group to play this over Mutants & Masterminds, but I'll definitely be interested in trying it out. Thanks for the comments, Wildknight! How is the Captain America datafile lacking, in your estimation? Curious as to how much you'd expect. Cheers, Cam
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Post by andyman on Jan 8, 2012 13:56:58 GMT -5
The limited stat range looks interesting. I'm guessing this is what Strength looks like: d4 - Below Normal Strength d6 - Normal Strength d8 - Enhanced Strength d10 - Superhuman Strength d12 - Godlike Strength With these ratings, I think many characters will has similar core stats. Will Spider-Man and Thing both have d10 Superhuman Strength? There's actually no d4 or d6 level for Strength, as it's technically "Strength as a power" when it's included in a power set. Enhanced, Superhuman, and Godlike are the only super-strength levels in the game. We've included Spidey and Luke Cage in the d10 band, and Thing gets to be in the low end of Godlike together with Colossus, Wonder Man, and She-Hulk. Cheers, Cam Is the difference between the ranks defined by weight? For example is Enhanced Strength from 500 lbs to 2.5 tons, Superhuman up to 25 tons and Godlike up to 250 tons?
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Post by WildKnight on Jan 8, 2012 18:43:34 GMT -5
Does Cortex have any kind of GM screens out, for any of their games?
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Post by cambanks on Jan 9, 2012 1:48:04 GMT -5
Is the difference between the ranks defined by weight? For example is Enhanced Strength from 500 lbs to 2.5 tons, Superhuman up to 25 tons and Godlike up to 250 tons? Sort of. We generally follow Marvel's attribution. If they reference somebody having enhanced reflexes or enhanced strength, that's what we use. General guidelines for what you can expect to do with Enhanced, Superhuman, or Godlike levels of Strength (and other stat-like powers) is included. Cheers, Cam
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Post by cambanks on Jan 9, 2012 1:49:21 GMT -5
Does Cortex have any kind of GM screens out, for any of their games? None of the Cortex Plus games (Smallville, Leverage, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, Dragon Brigade) has a screen, not do they need them. We're putting together some player and Watcher cheat sheets which you can keep at the table, but you don't need to hide your dice rolls. Cheers, Cam
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Post by WildKnight on Jan 9, 2012 7:11:48 GMT -5
Wow, I have a strong philisophical disagreement with you good folks over at MWP, apparently. As a player, I hate GMs rolling publicly, and as a GM, I would sooner shave my legs than roll in front of the players.
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Post by roxolid on Jan 9, 2012 7:23:47 GMT -5
The problem I see with too few groupings like this (essentially as I read it, you have 'very strong', 'superhuman strong' and 'very strong superhuman' - and that's it) is that a whole bunch of characters will look extremely similar - Thing, Wonder Man, Hulk, She Hulk, Rhino, Abomination (although I gather he's dead - not that it'll stay that way of course...), Red Hulk, Hercules, Colossus and a pile of other 'Brick/Tanks' will more or less have the same stats, save for a different Background, Picture and name change. Saves on page count I suppose... "For any super strong Marvel brick type character, take a look at the template on page 15 and write their name in the blank space" Heh, I'm sure it's not quite like that but with such a narrow range it's easy to see comparisons being drawn with the DC Heroes/MEGs system which was criticised for characters at the lower end of the power scale looking very similar. I'll be scouring about for a review methinks, but I'll take a punt on the core book at least - the pricing for the game makes it a no brainer (meaning it's a decent price, at just over £10 in real money )
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Post by roxolid on Jan 9, 2012 7:28:34 GMT -5
Wow, I have a strong philisophical disagreement with you good folks over at MWP, apparently. As a player, I hate GMs rolling publicly, and as a GM, I would sooner shave my legs than roll in front of the players. I have a strong philisophical disagreement with you shaving your legs to prove a point - it conjures all sorts of unpleasant images in my head! And I completely agree with you - rolling dice in front of the players surrenders a valuable gaming tool - GM decision - in favour of a completely random element that might ruin the game. As a long time GM for D&D (years on the same campaign with the same bunch) I was known as a 'player killer' though if my group were being honest, they might be able to count, what, about a dozen character deaths, in all the years we played? That wasn't down to player power or making them essentially immortal, but I'd rather doctor a dice roll and leave a character near death than have one roll wipe them out, leaving them with no decision on whether to run, surrender, or shave their legs in front of the monster to distract it.
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Post by cambanks on Jan 9, 2012 11:42:29 GMT -5
The Marvel Heroic Roleplaying system is based on Cortex Plus, which practically requires the Watcher to roll dice in front of the players. The players need to see the results, especially any dice that come up 1, which they can use to activate some of their own abilities or effects. And because the Watcher has the doom pool to use, that initial roll isn't necessarily the final outcome. In other words, there's nothing to hide.
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Post by roxolid on Jan 9, 2012 13:44:45 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
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Post by cambanks on Jan 9, 2012 15:37:06 GMT -5
Aunt May vs. Hulk = Hulk wins. Unless Aunt May is a player hero, which is not what she is. If she does, Aunt May might browbeat Hulk into submission and stress him out. But it's unlikely.
If it can happen in the comics, it can happen with this game. If it can't, it can't. Hopefully, more previews this month for you to look over!
Cheers, Cam
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Post by WildKnight on Jan 9, 2012 15:40:52 GMT -5
Aunt May vs. Hulk = Hulk wins. Unless Aunt May is a player hero, which is not what she is. If she does, Aunt May might browbeat Hulk into submission and stress him out. But it's unlikely. What he's saying here, if you've never tried a Cortex game (which I recommend... but get a GM screen anyway) is that in this game there are multiple ways to skin a cat. The game is solidly based in "drama" which means that Spider-Man's banter could actually help him beat opponents in a very real way sometimes. Er, assuming it's something along the lines of the Smallville version of the rules, in terms of how one "gets hurt" (which I'm thinking it is, since Cam mentioned "Stressed Out")
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