DC Heroes Role-Playing Game Gets New Reprint from Cryptozoic

Cryptozoic Entertainment is reprinting the classic DC Heroes Role-Playing Game to celebrate the RPG's 40th anniversary. A Kickstarter pre-launch page for the new "archival edition" of DC Heroes went live earlier this week, with Cryptozoic promising a "faithful reissue" of the original game line with upgrades and exclusive dice. From the looks of a promo image for the new project, it appears that the line will be published in a single volume.

DC Heroes was originally designed by Greg Gorden and published by Mayfair Games. The game uses a 2d10 system to resolve checks, with players consulting a table to determine the success or failure of checks. Additionally, the game's attribute point system was logarithmic in nature to allow for the game to handle the immense range of powers within the DC Universe. Three editions of the game was published between 1985 and 1993, with the game incorporating various contemporaneous comics events such as Crisis on Infinite Earths and Death of Superman.

No launch date for the Kickstarter has been announced. A full description of the project can be seen below:

DC Heroes is an innovative and award-winning role-playing game that was first published in 1985. It allows you and your friends to take on the roles of iconic Super Heroes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg, or to create heroes of your own. The object of the game is to create brand-new stories pitting these heroes against The Joker, Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Sinestro, or any of the hundreds of other villains who threaten the DC Universe!

Over eight years of product releases, DC Heroes produced dozens of adventures and sourcebooks, many featuring contributions from some of DC’s finest writers and artists of the 1980s—Jack Kirby, Alan Moore, Denny O’Neil, George Perez, John Byrne, and many others. Thousands of gamers and comics fans are still playing DC Heroes even though it’s been unavailable for decades.

To celebrate DCH’s 40th anniversary, we’re reprinting the line in definitive archival editions. Whether you’ve never experienced DCH before or you’re a long-time fan looking to plug the holes in your collection, we’ve got you covered.

 

[Von Ether]

Huh. I enjoyed that version and was planning a Apokolips invasion long before it became the go-to for all of the animated shows. I lived out the in middle of nowhere, though, so I was unaware if the comics themselves had done it as a big cross-over event already (they probably did.) But it seemed a natural to me.

Green Ronin did a version too in 2010 or so?

 

[JEB]

Very cool. I wonder if it will include all three editions, or if they're going to focus on just one of them.

 

[JEB]

Green Ronin did a version too in 2010 or so?

Green Ronin did DC Adventures, which was a reskinned version of their Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition rules. Though M&M 3e definitely seemed to take some inspiration from DC Heroes, in certain changes from M&M 2e.

 

[dbm]

From the looks of a promo image for the new project, it appears that the line will be published in a single volume.

That looks like the original box set to me.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

This is cool and all, and depending on what's included I might pick it up, but I wish this was a 4th Edition announcement...

 

[Skywalker]

That looks like the original box set to me.

Both 1st and 2nd edition box sets are getting reprinted from the FAQ.

 

[Dire Bare]

I wonder how the Mayfair DC Heroes game compares to the two other licensed DC games, West End's DC Universe and Green Ronin's DC Adventures (based on the Mutants & Masterminds game).

I own digital copies of DC Adventures, but not the other two. Never played any of them . . .

 

[Dire Bare]

I've been digging on the internet about the different DC RPGs over the years and . . . I find it amusing that each time Mayfair, West End, or Green Ronin published a version of the game, DC rebooted their comics universe making the setting of the game "obsolete".

I do think the next inevitable DC licensed RPG should avoid trying to replicate the current state of the comics, and give you tools to create your own version of the DC Universe. Future proof the game in a way, cause comic universe reboots seem to come a lot faster and furiousier than they used to . . .

 

[Von Ether]

I've been digging on the internet about the different DC RPGs over the years and . . . I find it amusing that each time Mayfair, West End, or Green Ronin published a version of the game, DC rebooted their comics universe making the setting of the game "obsolete".

I do think the next inevitable DC licensed RPG should avoid trying to replicate the current state of the comics, and give you tools to create your own version of the DC Universe. Future proof the game in a way, cause comic universe reboots seem to come a lot faster and furiousier than they used to . . .

Or something adjacent like setting up a big event within the RPG. Essentially its own "crossover" event.