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.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The new Marvel game wasn't released in pdf for that reason but yeah the horse ran off with that one.

Once cheap scanners existed, the chance any physical product would not exist in pirated digital form turned almost entirely on its popularity. This is hilariously visible in the D&D5e sphere, where such things came into being within literally hours of the physical books being available.

 

[teitan]

They have actually been saying in the comments that there may not be a retail run beyond those retailers who back the Kickstarter...

But they are also saying that if it goes well they will have a better chance at doing new stuff. It’s all dependent on how it goes.

 

[JEB]

It’s certainly been known for the legal wording of these long-term IPs* to be such that PDFs technically fall under the computer game license rather than a table-top game license. That has hampered PDFs of things like the Star Wars RPGs over the years.

I was keen to pick up 1e for nostalgia but given the cost for delivery to the UK I am thinking twice. Having looked at the secondary market there doesn’t seem to be a cheaper way of getting what I want but I didn’t buy from there, either,

*IP licenses originally written before PDFs were a thing.

May be true now, but it wasn't always: Marvel Heroic was available in PDF, for example.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Huh, no Ambush Bug module?

 

[teitan]

May be true now, but it wasn't always: Marvel Heroic was available in PDF, for example.

Yeah that is Marvel. WB has more control over DC than Disney does Marvel and tighter contracts. Disney is pretty hands off with Marvel. WB has exercised tight reins on DC going back to the 70s. Everything has a high standard compared to the contemporary products of the time periods, even the RPG. Just not with live action movies, it's almost like they can only get Batman right when they are controlling it. I am stupid excited for Superman 2025 though.

 

[teitan]

Huh, no Ambush Bug module?

Probably a stretch goal since it is not a high demand item like the various sourcebooks which were also standard reference in house at DC for a long time.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

it is not a high demand item

How dare you?

 

[EthanSental]

Looking at Morrus’ other post about kickstarters and there first day being about 1/3 of the eventual total….that lands this one around 550k if it follows that same trend he’s seeing.

 

[Parmandur]

Looking at Morrus’ other post about kickstarters and there first day being about 1/3 of the eventual total….that lands this one around 550k if it follows that same trend he’s seeing.

That would be the general trend, but there is some significant room for variavikity particularly given the properties involved. 215k as of today, still 4 weeks to go. Backer-Tracker has a pretty wide band of poasivle end points, as high as $1.4 Million:

 

[Mr.X]

I was VERY excited for this. At first I was mad I would have to repurchase the 15 modules I have to get the rest. Honestly…I think the math still works out in my favor over going to eBay. I’m not sure how much crossover there is between comics omnibus and deluxe hardcover collectors with rpg people but having someone from DC collected editions is huge. They have done a way better job than Marvel with quality control and high quality reproductions. I don’t see the complaints about price, besides non-US shipping. $630 for over 50 books and counting and 2 box sets it’s pretty amazing deal in 2024. The fact that this project even exists blows my mind. The only issues I have are that the slipcases feature modern art that doesn’t fit the era of the books, including characters that aren’t even in the books, and that they said they never even looked at trying to find any unreleased material to finally publish such as who’s who 4.