The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Heads up, dogooders!!! It's time to knock some heads together in classic DC stylings now that DC Universe from WEG/Yeti has finally been released! But, what with the recent deluge of super-rpgs on the market( Marvel Saga, Brave New World, Aberrant and soon Champions 5th), how does this game stack up to the competition?

I bought the boxed edition of the DC Universe rules, which contains the main rulebook, a narrators screen and guidebook, and six special Hero Dice. All the components of the box can be purchased seperately, but you definitely get the better deal cash-wise with the box-set, as well as a great poster of the game's cover by comic legend Joe DeVito. I do recommend picking up some extra Hero dice, especially if you plan on using heavy hitting heroes like Superman in your game.

How does DC Universe work?? Actually, very well. The game's system is a revamped version of WEG's classic D6 system that many gamers will recognize immediately from the Star Wars rpg. Each of the character's stats{Reflexes, Coordination, Physique, Knowledge, Perception and Presence) is defined by the number of dice the player gets to throw to beat an assinged difficulty for an action that uses that attribute. How this differs from the Star Wars mechanic is in the dice used and how they are added up. The Hero Dice included are five red and yellow six-siders with four Superman symbols and two portraits of Darkseid on each. Also included is a black six-sider with only three Superman symbols, one Darkseid, one Batman Symbol and one Joker symbol which is used as the wild die. To determine success, you throw the required number of dice, with just one of them being the wild die. Then you just count up the number of Superman symbols showing to gain the number of succusses needed to exceed the difficulty number. If the wild die shows a Batman symbol, then the action is a critical success and the player gets to reroll the wild die and add it to the total, rolling again if they get another Batman, and so on. If the die shows a Joker symbol, then that die counts as a failure and the GM may either remove another success from the total or add an interesting complication to make life interesting for the hero. This symbol based approach to dice makes the game move much faster than counting pips on regular dice and a little more comic-booky as well. The game can be played with regular six-siders, however.

Speaking of comic booky, this game is the best presented comic based game I have ever seen. The game book itself is printed on comic book style newsprint and is done in classic four color with the artwork lifted directly out of DC comic covers and story-art, as well as some illustrations done specifically for the game by DC artists. These touches really set the tone and give the game a classic feel. My only beef with the nature of the book is the durability of newsprint for an RPG rulebook. How will newsprint stand up to the horrors inflicted upon it by the standard hurried flipping-through-for-the-rule mannuever of most gamers, not to mention coffee, cola and pencilings??? Only time will tell.

DC Universe contains a great number of skills and powers to choose from, all using the same basic die mechanic to use them. There are also enough Advantages and Limitations to make certian all characters can be as unique as the Champions player in you desires. The power levels involved can make building a character a little harder than in Star Wars, especially when you have 75 dice to distribute amongst attributes, skills, advantages and powers rather than just 24, but the average gamer will have no problem getting up and running. Combat is fast and furious, with little number crunching and lots of special manuvers and optional rules to make things more interesting if desired.

Background,of course is of optimal importance and all of the major cities and planets in the DC continuity well represented, as well as the major players, including most of the Justice League and cult favorites such as Starman and Hitman and most of the main villains like the Joker, Darkseid and Lex Luthor.

Here is where I have another minor complaint. The Hero writeups are in teeny-tiny print and not printed our character sheet style like the example PC'c included in the set are. Why not give the characters the players are more likely to use a better presentation than the characters they will never use?? Also, some of the write-ups seem to have a poor grasp of the characters themselves. Green Lantern's ring is given the lone power of Energy Manipulation, which, when you read the description for the power, really doesn't seem to cover what Green Lantern can do with his ring as well as either a generic version of the Elemental Manipulation power does (which has a really great image of Green Lantern printed right next to it's description) or the Magic Manipulation power which at the power levels that Kyle is described at, only requires the caster to imagine what effect they want and doesn't involve gestures or incantations. I ran a test encounter where GL needs to stop a tidal wave (lifted right out of a battle involving Polaris and the Ray). Both of these powers as described handled the situation easily, with GL creating a giant green Poseiden with trident and crown to stand in the way of the great wave and save the coast of Japan. But Energy Manipulation seemed to only give the option of blasting the wave with a beam with the hope that the force of the beam would stop the wave. Effective, but not what Kyle would have done.

Still, even with the few flaws that the game contains, this is a superhero game that has been well worth the wait forced upon us by the recent reorganisation of WEG. With it's great dice mechanic, flexible character creation system and attention to detail in the DC Universe, this is a game that clobbers one of my favorite systems, Marvel Saga, and offers itself as a serious superpowered contender to the age-old king of the mountian, Champions. If you are either a big fan of comic-book rpgs or DC comics or comics in general, you really owe it to yourself to pick up this game. It is, in a word, super.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

DC Universe
Author: Fred Jandt & Nikola Vrtis Category: game Company/Publisher: West End Games/ Yeti Line: DC Universe Cost: 35.00 Page count: 253 pp ISBN: 874316286 SKU: WEG/Yeti 52003 Capsule Review by Steve Zieser on 12/13/99. Genre tags: Superhero	Heads up, dogooders!!! It's time to knock some heads together in classic DC stylings now that DC Universe from WEG/Yeti has finally been released! But, what with the recent deluge of super-rpgs on the market( Marvel Saga, Brave New World, Aberrant and soon Champions 5th), how does this game stack up to the competition? I bought the boxed edition of the DC Universe rules, which contains the main rulebook, a narrators screen and guidebook, and six special Hero Dice. All the components of the box can be purchased seperately, but you definitely get the better deal cash-wise with the box-set, as well as a great poster of the game's cover by comic legend Joe DeVito. I do recommend picking up some extra Hero dice, especially if you plan on using heavy hitting heroes like Superman in your game. How does DC Universe work?? Actually, very well. The game's system is a revamped version of WEG's classic D6 system that many gamers will recognize immediately from the Star Wars rpg. Each of the character's stats{Reflexes, Coordination, Physique, Knowledge, Perception and Presence) is defined by the number of dice the player gets to throw to beat an assinged difficulty for an action that uses that attribute. How this differs from the Star Wars mechanic is in the dice used and how they are added up. The Hero Dice included are five red and yellow six-siders with four Superman symbols and two portraits of Darkseid on each. Also included is a black six-sider with only three Superman symbols, one Darkseid, one Batman Symbol and one Joker symbol which is used as the wild die. To determine success, you throw the required number of dice, with just one of them being the wild die. Then you just count up the number of Superman symbols showing to gain the number of succusses needed to exceed the difficulty number. If the wild die shows a Batman symbol, then the action is a critical success and the player gets to reroll the wild die and add it to the total, rolling again if they get another Batman, and so on. If the die shows a Joker symbol, then that die counts as a failure and the GM may either remove another success from the total or add an interesting complication to make life interesting for the hero. This symbol based approach to dice makes the game move much faster than counting pips on regular dice and a little more comic-booky as well. The game can be played with regular six-siders, however. Speaking of comic booky, this game is the best presented comic based game I have ever seen. The game book itself is printed on comic book style newsprint and is done in classic four color with the artwork lifted directly out of DC comic covers and story-art, as well as some illustrations done specifically for the game by DC artists. These touches really set the tone and give the game a classic feel. My only beef with the nature of the book is the durability of newsprint for an RPG rulebook. How will newsprint stand up to the horrors inflicted upon it by the standard hurried flipping-through-for-the-rule mannuever of most gamers, not to mention coffee, cola and pencilings??? Only time will tell. DC Universe contains a great number of skills and powers to choose from, all using the same basic die mechanic to use them. There are also enough Advantages and Limitations to make certian all characters can be as unique as the Champions player in you desires. The power levels involved can make building a character a little harder than in Star Wars, especially when you have 75 dice to distribute amongst attributes, skills, advantages and powers rather than just 24, but the average gamer will have no problem getting up and running. Combat is fast and furious, with little number crunching and lots of special manuvers and optional rules to make things more interesting if desired. Background,of course is of optimal importance and all of the major cities and planets in the DC continuity well represented, as well as the major players, including most of the Justice League and cult favorites such as Starman and Hitman and most of the main villains like the Joker, Darkseid and Lex Luthor. Here is where I have another minor complaint. The Hero writeups are in teeny-tiny print and not printed our character sheet style like the example PC'c included in the set are. Why not give the characters the players are more likely to use a better presentation than the characters they will never use?? Also, some of the write-ups seem to have a poor grasp of the characters themselves. Green Lantern's ring is given the lone power of Energy Manipulation, which, when you read the description for the power, really doesn't seem to cover what Green Lantern can do with his ring as well as either a generic version of the Elemental Manipulation power does (which has a really great image of Green Lantern printed right next to it's description) or the Magic Manipulation power which at the power levels that Kyle is described at, only requires the caster to imagine what effect they want and doesn't involve gestures or incantations. I ran a test encounter where GL needs to stop a tidal wave (lifted right out of a battle involving Polaris and the Ray). Both of these powers as described handled the situation easily, with GL creating a giant green Poseiden with trident and crown to stand in the way of the great wave and save the coast of Japan. But Energy Manipulation seemed to only give the option of blasting the wave with a beam with the hope that the force of the beam would stop the wave. Effective, but not what Kyle would have done. Still, even with the few flaws that the game contains, this is a superhero game that has been well worth the wait forced upon us by the recent reorganisation of WEG. With it's great dice mechanic, flexible character creation system and attention to detail in the DC Universe, this is a game that clobbers one of my favorite systems, Marvel Saga, and offers itself as a serious superpowered contender to the age-old king of the mountian, Champions. If you are either a big fan of comic-book rpgs or DC comics or comics in general, you really owe it to yourself to pick up this game. It is, in a word, super. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)