The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Marvel Superheroes

Review by Hywel Phillips.

TSR/WotC have finally revised their superhero game, based on the Mavel universe. It bears no relation to the previous game (thankfully) but does bear a strong resemblance to the SAGA Dragonlance rules (again thankfully). As well as the rules, you get a sourcebook with a lot of stats from the Marvel Universe which is useful as a source of inspiration even if you don't ever use them.

It has already displaced Champions from my sessions forever, and I'll try to explain why.

Brief Rules Synopsis

Characters are described by a set of stats and powers, all rated on a 1-30 scale, with only the most superheroic of superheroes having anything above 20. The stats are Strength, Agility, Willpower and Intellect. The powers are deliberately broad and, unlike most superhero games, define the "nature" of the power rather than its specific game effects. For example, there is a power called Air Control that gives your character control over the element of air. Anything you can think of that such a power should let you do, you can try to do.

Action resolution is based on a deck of (non-collectable) cards rather than dice. All tasks are assigned a difficulty by the GM, based on the innate difficulty of the task (easy/difficult/superhuman/etc) and the stat or power of anyone who is resisting you. Each player holds a hand of cards for his hero (more experienced heroes get bigger hands) and must try to beat the difficulty number by adding the value of the applicable stat or power to a card played from his hand. The player isn't told the exact number he's shooting for, so he can't munchkin it- if he wants his hero to do well, he's got to burn a good card.

This system has many nice features. It enables players to have a certain amount of control over their character's luck- if the action is ultra important you blow your highest card. An extra dimension comes from trump cards- if the card you play is of the correct suit for the action you're attempting, you get to turn over the top card of the deck and add it to your score. So players have to make decisions which affect their character's luck - do I play it safe with the seven, or do I risk the two trump?

In the SAGA Dragonlance game, we found that low cards tended to accumulate in players' hands in combat, which we decided was a built-in fatigue method. Superheros don't really get tired of course, so a nice touch in the Marvel system is that experienced heroes can play cards below a certain value AS WELL AS their normal card, thus getting rid of all the low cards and boosting their chance of success as well.

Wounds are represented by reducing the number of cards you hold.

Bad luck is represented by Doom cards, which the GM collects as they are played and gets to use to reflect bad luck and villains trying hard by playing them in opposition to the players.

It's all very quick, very fluid and feels right. As a Champions GM I was delighted to find that we could get through two or three big fights in a single session with MSH- with Champions it would have taken a whole session without doubt.

Stunts and Limits

So, you may be asking, if you've just got a set of generic powers, how do you decide what your individual hero can do with his air control? Limitations are what prevents you doing certain things with your power (eg your energy blast might not work on anyone with red hair). You just define these at character generation time and you may get a bonus to your power score if you're lucky on a turn of a card.

What about the positive things that you character can use his powers for? The answer is stunts. A stunt is defined as a more-difficult-than-normal use of a power, and can include emulating other powers- although not the stunts of that power. For example, Flight is a stunt of Air Control. So is using winds to move heavy objects, or creating whirlwinds to throw your opponents around.

The first time you try a new stunt, it will be pretty difficult. After you practice it a few times the difficulty drops and you've acquired the stunt. Your character will typically start with only a couple of stunts but acquires more, either in play or by spending improvement points and training "off-screen". There are a list of common stunts for all the powers and you are encouraged to make up your own.

I love this way of dealing with powers. It means that players are always thinking of new ways to apply their powers, without constantly worrying about points and effects:

Champions: "I make a cushion of air to act like a hovercraft and carry the child to safety" - sorry, you just bought an energy blast for your air control whirlwinds, and you can't use energy blast to do that. You needed to have telekinesis. You should have bought it as a multipower, with both fixed slots so you can only do one at once. That would have cost you an extra 17 points though... (etc.)

MSH: "I make a cushion of air to act like a hovercraft and carry the child to safety" - Pretty tough, you've never tried that before, better make it good!

Major Pros

It's quick to play. Really quick.

It's fun.

It encourages you to come up with new power stunts IN PLAY and lets you do them based on your main power, rather than requiring a dozen multipower slots and an elemental control a la Champions.

Powerful but sensible NPCs can be desribed with about a dozen numbers, with NO NUMBER CRUNCHING AT ALL (c.f. Champions, which probably requires more like 60 numbers and a spreadsheet). GM prep time is consequently reduced to under an hour for a full session's play- probably a factor of four better than Champions used to be.

Major Cons

Compared with Champions, the level of detail is much lower. If you're bothered about this, you'll probably find it a problem.

There aren't different attacks for kick, punch, haymaker, etc. and as a result cimbat can degenerate into "I hit him again" if there's a bit of an imagination shortfall around the table.

The card system may not appeal to everyone.

There are a few broken bits- the return on your investment for power limitations is a bit too random (we fixed it by giving you 0 points for negative cards, 1 for neutral and card value for positive).

The duration rules are a bit broken as well- heroes hit by a paralysis can be out of action for the whole fight if the cards fall badly, which gets frustrating for the player. Our solution is to restrict what you can do in a round to a comic panel's worth, making sure we get through the rounds quickly enough to be sure of a positive card before too long.

Conclusion

Although I have a few quibbles with the system (and the font used for the book is horrid) I really liked the feel of MSH in play. It succeeded in capturing the feel of the comics far better than the others I have tried. It's also a lot quicker to prepare and quicker to play. All in all, a winner.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Marvel Superheroes
Author: TSR Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Line: MSH Playtest Review by Hywel Phillips on 09/28/99. Genre tags: Superhero	Marvel Superheroes Review by Hywel Phillips. TSR/WotC have finally revised their superhero game, based on the Mavel universe. It bears no relation to the previous game (thankfully) but does bear a strong resemblance to the SAGA Dragonlance rules (again thankfully). As well as the rules, you get a sourcebook with a lot of stats from the Marvel Universe which is useful as a source of inspiration even if you don't ever use them. It has already displaced Champions from my sessions forever, and I'll try to explain why. Brief Rules Synopsis Characters are described by a set of stats and powers, all rated on a 1-30 scale, with only the most superheroic of superheroes having anything above 20. The stats are Strength, Agility, Willpower and Intellect. The powers are deliberately broad and, unlike most superhero games, define the "nature" of the power rather than its specific game effects. For example, there is a power called Air Control that gives your character control over the element of air. Anything you can think of that such a power should let you do, you can try to do. Action resolution is based on a deck of (non-collectable) cards rather than dice. All tasks are assigned a difficulty by the GM, based on the innate difficulty of the task (easy/difficult/superhuman/etc) and the stat or power of anyone who is resisting you. Each player holds a hand of cards for his hero (more experienced heroes get bigger hands) and must try to beat the difficulty number by adding the value of the applicable stat or power to a card played from his hand. The player isn't told the exact number he's shooting for, so he can't munchkin it- if he wants his hero to do well, he's got to burn a good card. This system has many nice features. It enables players to have a certain amount of control over their character's luck- if the action is ultra important you blow your highest card. An extra dimension comes from trump cards- if the card you play is of the correct suit for the action you're attempting, you get to turn over the top card of the deck and add it to your score. So players have to make decisions which affect their character's luck - do I play it safe with the seven, or do I risk the two trump? In the SAGA Dragonlance game, we found that low cards tended to accumulate in players' hands in combat, which we decided was a built-in fatigue method. Superheros don't really get tired of course, so a nice touch in the Marvel system is that experienced heroes can play cards below a certain value AS WELL AS their normal card, thus getting rid of all the low cards and boosting their chance of success as well. Wounds are represented by reducing the number of cards you hold. Bad luck is represented by Doom cards, which the GM collects as they are played and gets to use to reflect bad luck and villains trying hard by playing them in opposition to the players. It's all very quick, very fluid and feels right. As a Champions GM I was delighted to find that we could get through two or three big fights in a single session with MSH- with Champions it would have taken a whole session without doubt. Stunts and Limits So, you may be asking, if you've just got a set of generic powers, how do you decide what your individual hero can do with his air control? Limitations are what prevents you doing certain things with your power (eg your energy blast might not work on anyone with red hair). You just define these at character generation time and you may get a bonus to your power score if you're lucky on a turn of a card. What about the positive things that you character can use his powers for? The answer is stunts. A stunt is defined as a more-difficult-than-normal use of a power, and can include emulating other powers- although not the stunts of that power. For example, Flight is a stunt of Air Control. So is using winds to move heavy objects, or creating whirlwinds to throw your opponents around. The first time you try a new stunt, it will be pretty difficult. After you practice it a few times the difficulty drops and you've acquired the stunt. Your character will typically start with only a couple of stunts but acquires more, either in play or by spending improvement points and training "off-screen". There are a list of common stunts for all the powers and you are encouraged to make up your own. I love this way of dealing with powers. It means that players are always thinking of new ways to apply their powers, without constantly worrying about points and effects: Champions: "I make a cushion of air to act like a hovercraft and carry the child to safety" - sorry, you just bought an energy blast for your air control whirlwinds, and you can't use energy blast to do that. You needed to have telekinesis. You should have bought it as a multipower, with both fixed slots so you can only do one at once. That would have cost you an extra 17 points though... (etc.) MSH: "I make a cushion of air to act like a hovercraft and carry the child to safety" - Pretty tough, you've never tried that before, better make it good! Major Pros It's quick to play. Really quick. It's fun. It encourages you to come up with new power stunts IN PLAY and lets you do them based on your main power, rather than requiring a dozen multipower slots and an elemental control a la Champions. Powerful but sensible NPCs can be desribed with about a dozen numbers, with NO NUMBER CRUNCHING AT ALL (c.f. Champions, which probably requires more like 60 numbers and a spreadsheet). GM prep time is consequently reduced to under an hour for a full session's play- probably a factor of four better than Champions used to be. Major Cons Compared with Champions, the level of detail is much lower. If you're bothered about this, you'll probably find it a problem. There aren't different attacks for kick, punch, haymaker, etc. and as a result cimbat can degenerate into "I hit him again" if there's a bit of an imagination shortfall around the table. The card system may not appeal to everyone. There are a few broken bits- the return on your investment for power limitations is a bit too random (we fixed it by giving you 0 points for negative cards, 1 for neutral and card value for positive). The duration rules are a bit broken as well- heroes hit by a paralysis can be out of action for the whole fight if the cards fall badly, which gets frustrating for the player. Our solution is to restrict what you can do in a round to a comic panel's worth, making sure we get through the rounds quickly enough to be sure of a positive card before too long. Conclusion Although I have a few quibbles with the system (and the font used for the book is horrid) I really liked the feel of MSH in play. It succeeded in capturing the feel of the comics far better than the others I have tried. It's also a lot quicker to prepare and quicker to play. All in all, a winner. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)