The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I purchased "Web of Heroes" because I was quite impressed with "Web of Stars," which reviewed on rpg.net as well. I was expecting something with some cheesy, ill-drawn artwork, but a reasonably, if not excellently, well-put together system, with lots of meaty info.

I was disappointed.

First off, it is a sourcebook for use with the "Web Games" game system. I'm still not at all familiar with the "Web Games" system, and don't much care to become so. Maybe the "Web of Heroes" supplement works well with the main rulebook. Somehow, I doubt it.

The book has a similar general appearance to the "Web of Starts" sourcebook, so at least they've kept a sense of consistency for the game line. The inner artwork is substantially better than the "Web of Stars" artwork. Artwork by Mike Mikolajczyk and M Wayne Miller in particular stand out.

However, in a book like this, I'm looking for information. I want to see what the options are for various super-powers, and how the powers are balanced out.

I bought Champions 4th edition, and was a little overwhelmed by the number crunching that was necessary. It doesn't look like there's a whole lot of number-manipulation necessary with this system, but the results become somewhat sparse. I found it particularly frustrating that the range of super-powers was limited to a meager 15 pages of information. Other sections, such as non-terran alien races take up 18 pages. When you consider that the majority of the alien races were lifted directly from the "Web of Stars" sourcebook, you might start to see why I feel like I was taken. There is a very brief list of cities that house super-heroic individuals or teams, but the information is limited--literally--to what teams are where. There's no information on the nature of the city, how the city views them, etc.

The majority of the book is devoted to profiles of pre-made characters. 55 pages covers 27 characters. One or two examples is always a good thing, but I felt more like I was reading someone else's pet heroes. It was kind of like sitting down and mentioning to someone "Oh, I've played 'Vampire: The Masquerade' before" then having to spend the next hour listening to them prattle on about their favorite super-screwed up Malkavian who thinks he's a Taco Bell Chihuahua. Boring.

There is a--again brief--list of paranormal institutions and organizations. Things like the Canadian Paranormal Registry have a lot of potential. Unfortunately, 10 organizations are covered in 4 pages, making each entry little more than a "this organization exists" type of entry. Each entry has no real detail, and consequently is of no real use.

To their credit, the super-power section does have a section dedicated to healing powers, which is something that is usually downplayed in most super-hero games... That, and the building layout maps were top-quality... I might photocopy them and use them in other games, before I try to sell off this sourcebook on ebay...

Overall, this was a very disappointing purchase. I had hoped for better. Didn't get it.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)

Web of Heroes
Author: Keith Bailey Category: game Company/Publisher: Web Games Line: Web Games Page count: 215 ISBN: 1-57872-005-2 SKU: 0005BG Capsule Review by Jason W. Tice on 08/29/99. Genre tags: Modern_day Superhero	I purchased "Web of Heroes" because I was quite impressed with "Web of Stars," which reviewed on rpg.net as well. I was expecting something with some cheesy, ill-drawn artwork, but a reasonably, if not excellently, well-put together system, with lots of meaty info. I was disappointed. First off, it is a sourcebook for use with the "Web Games" game system. I'm still not at all familiar with the "Web Games" system, and don't much care to become so. Maybe the "Web of Heroes" supplement works well with the main rulebook. Somehow, I doubt it. The book has a similar general appearance to the "Web of Starts" sourcebook, so at least they've kept a sense of consistency for the game line. The inner artwork is substantially better than the "Web of Stars" artwork. Artwork by Mike Mikolajczyk and M Wayne Miller in particular stand out. However, in a book like this, I'm looking for information. I want to see what the options are for various super-powers, and how the powers are balanced out. I bought Champions 4th edition, and was a little overwhelmed by the number crunching that was necessary. It doesn't look like there's a whole lot of number-manipulation necessary with this system, but the results become somewhat sparse. I found it particularly frustrating that the range of super-powers was limited to a meager 15 pages of information. Other sections, such as non-terran alien races take up 18 pages. When you consider that the majority of the alien races were lifted directly from the "Web of Stars" sourcebook, you might start to see why I feel like I was taken. There is a very brief list of cities that house super-heroic individuals or teams, but the information is limited--literally--to what teams are where. There's no information on the nature of the city, how the city views them, etc. The majority of the book is devoted to profiles of pre-made characters. 55 pages covers 27 characters. One or two examples is always a good thing, but I felt more like I was reading someone else's pet heroes. It was kind of like sitting down and mentioning to someone "Oh, I've played 'Vampire: The Masquerade' before" then having to spend the next hour listening to them prattle on about their favorite super-screwed up Malkavian who thinks he's a Taco Bell Chihuahua. Boring. There is a--again brief--list of paranormal institutions and organizations. Things like the Canadian Paranormal Registry have a lot of potential. Unfortunately, 10 organizations are covered in 4 pages, making each entry little more than a "this organization exists" type of entry. Each entry has no real detail, and consequently is of no real use. To their credit, the super-power section does have a section dedicated to healing powers, which is something that is usually downplayed in most super-hero games... That, and the building layout maps were top-quality... I might photocopy them and use them in other games, before I try to sell off this sourcebook on ebay... Overall, this was a very disappointing purchase. I had hoped for better. Didn't get it. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)