DC Heroes Role-Playing Game Gets New Reprint from Cryptozoic

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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.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer

Wish them the best of luck, but these nostalgia bait 'remasters' just strike me as lazy.
it really depends. Chaosium's remasters have been painstaking, incorporating errata and vastly improving readability. i thought Goodman Games did a good job on their oversized Metamorphosis Alpha, too. even some of the TSR PODs on drivethru are really impressive -- whoever did the work on converting the Star Frontiers Alpha Dawn and Knight Hawks boxed sets into books clearly cared about presenting them well.
 

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I have fond memories of playing this back in the day. Though, I also vaguely recall that the character generation mechanics weren't as robust as, say Marvel Superheroes. Does anyone remember whether that's a correct assessment or not?
No, 2e and 3e DCH were more robust, but even 1e was more robust in terms of attributes and the inclusion of advantages and drawbacks.
edit: Expanding on attributes:
MSH: Fighting, Agility, Strength, Endurance, Reason, Intuition, Psyche, Popularity (poorly implemented, imo)
DCH (all editions)" Dexterity, Strength, Body, Intelligence, Will, Mind, Influence, Aura, Spirit. Influence and Aura are used to influence others (as is Charisma Skill). I don't recall if 1e had the feat advantage that reflected popularity. However, this did a better job, imo, of allowing bronze age Captain America (as Steve Rogers) to positively impress others including some villains, Kitty Pride to chastise a group of anti-mutant bigots, or Doctor Doom impressing (charming?) Storm- ok, those were Marvel examples.
 
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I have fond memories of playing this back in the day. Though, I also vaguely recall that the character generation mechanics weren't as robust as, say Marvel Superheroes. Does anyone remember whether that's a correct assessment or not?
By the time 3e came out it was almost like champions in how much detail you could get but less migraine inducing. They introduced factor costs to powers that like Champs, never really balanced the issue out as much as it needed. I always kind of felt like with the right group it wasn’t really necessary if they had a good character concept. I think it is superior to FASERIP. I didn’t like its character advancement and generation system.
 



If you only run the game as punch the villain in the face, I agree. However, if you do situations that involve social influence, perception checks, need to break from mental/mystical control, they will be important.

The problem is that unless you focus on it, its almost always better to let someone else in the team do it who is, and may have relevant skills. That's no less true here than in most games. (And of course some characters really aren't that suited for investigation or negotiation in general; its just a thing).
 

The problem is that unless you focus on it, its almost always better to let someone else in the team do it who is, and may have relevant skills. That's no less true here than in most games. (And of course some characters really aren't that suited for investigation or negotiation in general; its just a thing).
When I run, I have no issue periodically targeting a character's "weakness", splitting the group, and, when I ran DC Heroes, spending time on things like subplots (actually, I still do subplots in many rpgs). So, players can't always rely on one person being the social person or investigator.
Even in the comics, where one person might be the "investigator", the other team characters still find themselves on occasion doing investigation, having to rely on their own perception, social skills etc. Plus, in DC terms most heroes are above the "average" person in Will and Aura when comparing official 3e write-ups to benchmarks in DC Heroes 3e and the Who's Who volumes
 

When I run, I have no issue periodically targeting a character's "weakness", splitting the group, and, when I ran DC Heroes, spending time on things like subplots (actually, I still do subplots in many rpgs). So, players can't always rely on one person being the social person or investigator.
Even in the comics, where one person might be the "investigator", the other team characters still find themselves on occasion doing investigation, having to rely on their own perception, social skills etc. Plus, in DC terms most heroes are above the "average" person in Will and Aura when comparing official 3e write-ups to benchmarks in DC Heroes 3e and the Who's Who volumes

The problem is, at least one (and I think both) of those I mentioned are literally useless unless you have a power or skill that applies them; they have no default use (unlike the Acting and Resisting attributes in those triads). Strength has default function; Aura and Will don't. (I'm not 100% sure about Will, but I remember for sure that's true of Aura even though its been decades).
 

The problem is, at least one (and I think both) of those I mentioned are literally useless unless you have a power or skill that applies them; they have no default use (unlike the Acting and Resisting attributes in those triads). Strength has default function; Aura and Will don't. (I'm not 100% sure about Will, but I remember for sure that's true of Aura even though its been decades).
The above is not true. Neither is useless without a skill or power that applies to them. According to the 2e Rules:

Int/Will are used as AV/EV in Perception checks, to solve riddles, or other mental actions where the character is the active party excluding subskills of existing skills or where one's power's APs are being used as the AV/EV.

Int/Will are also used as the AV/EV to break free once under the effects of Broadcast Empath, Control, or an established Telepathic link, and to make Perception check against the Illusion Power.

Infl/Aura are used as AV/EV in Interactions (i.e. Interrogation, Persuasion, Intimidation) . The Charisma skill can be substituted for the AV/EV for these skills, but a Character with a specific specialization (or specializations) would still use Infl/Aura for the other uses.

Will and Aura also have additional uses in Interaction:
Will attributes are compared for a column shift modifier if someone is trying to use the Wear Down interaction maneuver​
Aura attributes are compared for a column shift modifier if someone is trying to use the Charm interaction maneuver where they use their personality to dazzle someone​

Finally, Infl/Aura are the Av/EV to overcome the affect of the Aura of Fear power or to break free from Mystic Freeze. Since the Persuasion subskill of Charisma could be used to talk someone out of the effect of Phobia or Control powers, I would allow someone to use Infl/Aura as the AV/EV to try to do the same since these are normally used for Persuasion attempts.
 
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