Super Hero rpg: checking interest

[Walking Dad]

Alright, I'm interested and always like testing new systems. I also agree with fireinthedust's post.

Mmm, tough call...

Tropes: many classic tropes, whether done campy or serious: monkeys, giant brains, monkeys with giant brains, death rays, super science, armies of expendable henchmen, rival villain gang (evil opposites, or versions of classic villains/heroes), "The City"; Hero HQ is a must, secret identities, and everyone has to have a costume and hero identity. Cliches done proudly, unabashedly, though a twist for fun is good.

Tone: campy veneer with serious undertones/edge? I'm okay with "The Incredibles", or "Young Justice", "Justice League/Unlimited", "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes", as great examples of what would be cool.

Setting: Super science, and based on the real world, though cities can be called by different names if desired.

Method: I'm a grown man and very supportive of GMs, so please don't run a rail road. I can take blunt "this is the mission", but I want to know that the outcome of my actions is determined for me; I've had GMs power trip like that and it erodes good will and fun.

Themes: "All for one and one for all", "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts", "not might *is* right, but might *for* right".

Slight changes: Not to much super science in the setting for normal people. I don't see much of this in most settings (or are you speaking about trick arrows and utility belts?)
I like the goons having guns firing bullets, not laser.

Question, will The Heart of Superheroes Unleashed be everything I need for the rules for the start?

 

[tunafish]

all due respect, saying no to "super-science" is adversarial. Comics is heavy super-science & powers. I hate to see players get discouraged because a GM has reservations about a common comics trope.

Then, that same GM limits the expression of player powers. You end up playing what the GM wants instead of what you really wanted to. It's Anti-Gamism. No?

Freedom is the ultimate power & it demands responsibility, which the GM enforces.

 

[Jemal]

Tunafish, you are exceptionally condescending and egotistical, not to mention flat out wrong about most of what you've said. I don't believe you are/were teasing or joking about any of this and most of your posts have been insultingly self centered and small minded. I can't see myself ever enjoying a game with your need to rule over the other players and even the GM's desires.
And your last post in walking dads thread was flat out bigotry, for which I eagerly hope you get ejected from these forums.

 

[fireinthedust]

Tunafish, you are exceptionally condescending and egotistical, not to mention flat out wrong about most of what you've said. I don't believe you are/were teasing or joking about any of this and most of your posts have been insultingly self centered and small minded. I can't see myself ever enjoying a game with your need to rule over the other players and even the GM's desires.
And your last post in walking dads thread was flat out bigotry, for which I eagerly hope you get ejected from these forums.

Wait, Ejected in 18 posts? Pfft, LINK PLEASE! I gotta see me this post! (brb)

 

[fireinthedust]

Oooooh, so not true: J'Onn J'onnz is straight, he was married to "M'yri'ah" before he came to Earth, had a child then, too. Also he's awesome, though some of his Martian abilities are a bit unnecessary (he's be fine with shapeshift, strength, density control, flight and telepathy; the comics have so many add-ons like Martian Vision, etc.).

Technology: Mmm, I think it depends on which goons. If we're fighting street hoodlums, yeah pistols is fine; mabsters should have tommy guns, nazis their machine guns; but if we're fighting aliens I'd expect blasters. Maybe some will have tranq darts, like for Venture Bros' the Monarch!

I'm thinking of a character who's a super scientist, wearing a tech suit, and possibly because either his body is crippled, or his body is fluid (similar to Mr Fantastic) and it keeps it humanoid, or he's some kind of disembodied energy form and the suit lets him channel that (into the energy to power the suit); or else he'd be sort of a good guy version of Dr. Doom, who can do both science and magic, or science and psychic powers (astral plane, telepathy, etc.).

That or, honestly, I was going to go for a fluid-bodied shapeshifter with telepathy, and telekinesis keeping him in various forms... kind of like martian manhunter (who I think is great)

 

[Walking Dad]

MM has a daughter and had an affair with a female white Saturnian... the scary thing is that MM is my favorite superhero, but I don't think I mentioned it in any thread connected to my NE game threads ...
A Marvel half Skrull/Kree (Hulkling) and a Skrull (Xavin) were interested in persons of the same gender. Maybe he was just confused

Goons of mad scientists and aliens should have unusual weapons. I completely agree. But I dislike to have a complete alternate world where every scientific issue in the world is resolved by the settings Mr Fantastic between his adventures. Not every citizen needs to own a flying car and a time machine

 

[Thondor]

Oh noes, no Deadpool/Punisher-esque heroes?

Probably not. To have a character like this in the group you'd want some group consensus that this would be ok. That sort of consensus is pretty hard to get. Characters like these can be extremely frustrating for players who want to be one of the "good guys."
It also makes it harder for GM's to make villains as the "villain" has too be even worse than you . . . Sometimes the 'noble' villain can be fun.

Alright, I'm interested and always like testing new systems. I also agree with fireinthedust's post.

Slight changes: Not to much super science in the setting for normal people. I don't see much of this in most settings (or are you speaking about trick arrows and utility belts?)
I like the goons having guns firing bullets, not laser.

I am happy to limit 'super-science' to heroes, villains and a few 'special' minions. Which might include a government agents or two and a prison facility.

Question, will The Heart of Superheroes Unleashed be everything I need for the rules for the start?

While I would encourage you to pick up the 'presale PDF' from RPGorbit, I am not going to assume that players have access to the full rulebook.

 

[Thondor]

Just a quick note to say that I am thinking of gearing this towards 'City-level' heroes.

So flying characters probably can't fly across the entire city in a few seconds. If you think Spider-man and the kind of foes he fights that's probably appropriate. You can have some pretty wacky powers but there are limitations (and it may take your highest ranking talents to pull off).

Two questions I want some potential player input on:

1) Time-period - I'm getting a bit of a golden-age/silver-age vibe so far, which I think would fit well with 1950's. But I am open to other thoughts.

2) How long have there been people with Super-powers? Are the heroes of the 'first generation' or have there been many heroes before them?

 

[Jemal]

1) You can still have a good 4-color comic setting in the present, and it seems easier to immerse in a more familiar setting.
That having been said, i do love the alternate-history genre, so that could be a thought too.. Maybe a post-world war setting where things changed drastically because of super-involvement in the war?

2) I'm fond of either 1st/2nd gen, especially if we were to try the post-war suggestion I just made.


Setting wise I'm very much in agreement with the general-good-guys theme, I'd rather play the snarky goodness of spiderman rather than the boy-scout superman or 'dark' batman.

And as far as character concepts, I had a 'video game' based character I wouldn't mind adapting to this if I can figure out how to do it justice.
Alternately, I've been thinking of playing a fairly straight-forward 'Telekinetic superman' too.

 

[fireinthedust]

Okay I've got mine figured out.

Doctor Nexus: He's a mad scientist who wears a suit of power armor, which also keeps his body in a "coherence field" so it's in human form rather than a "morphic" form that can get, well, out of control if he's in it for too long. His suit flies, has force fields, sensor systems, tools so he can do all manner of repairs, strength, and can reform the limbs into whatever he needs (including giant blasters, tools, etc.). He's a mega-genius, helped also because the material his body is now composed of is quasi-silicone (so it's basically like a morphic computer chip, when he's "coherent"). He's got cloning pods, genetically-crafted flying monkies that run his lair, err, "crime-fighting headquarters", robot sentinals, a computer named "hal", all deep in the ground beneath his gothic mansion on a mountainside where lightning flashes are present even when the rest of the city has calm weather... Oddly he's decided to join the hero league/team; this may be the same reason he wears the suit: a structure to keep him from turning into some kind of monster, even if he's still, erm, eccentric.

I see him as this world's version of Mr. Fantastic/Iron Man, mixed with Edna Mole from the Incredibles.


Setting: I like the idea of "fifties-isms" in the setting, even if we're around now (if for nothing else then the pop culture references). I had this great setting for a web comic I was going to do just as my hands got reeeeeally bad tendonitis. It's modern, but strong "fifties-isms", or at least sixties-isms and 70s-isms.

If my hands feel up to it, I'll see if I can ease out some basic drawings of this guy. I didn't get much chance to draw the setting, but it's all in my head.