It's a slimmed down version of the original Mayfair DC system (2nd edition). All the reviews were really good. Also a good resource for this era of Batman and has a guide to Gotham.
Plus a system to set up random crime for your heroes to address. And a silly little scenario in the back where Joker tries to convict Batman of committing a murder! GASP!
I picked it up on a lark ~5 years ago. I was thoroughly amused by the cumbersome 9 base ability scores, and the fact that you need a table reference to accomplish just about any action. It's been sitting on my shelf as an unused novelty item.
I never played the system, but I got it to mine for ideas. It gave me an example of a game geared to pre-teens to figure out how to play with no adult help. And it was interesting to see how it handled the city and criminals, since that's a thing for doing vigilante games. I was pleased with the purchase, even if I never used its rules.
Beloch Shrike -- it, like most of the systems designed by Greg Gordon, have a tendency to look clunky, but when put in play, actually work pretty darned well. Our group has run both DC Heroes and TORG, and both were pretty smooth at the table and fit the genre well; we haven't tried Earthdawn directly, but I know people who have and quite liked it, saying the same about it -- actually ran well at the table and gave a good heroic fantasy feel.
The table seems like a hassle, but it's really not -- our ref desktop published these little cards that were pretty much index cards held in portrait mode, that had the tables printed on one side and character designs on the other, and that's all you really needed to run with.
Our time with DC Heroes was really fun... The last couple gams we've tried for supers were Icons and Mutants and Masterminds, and I think I'd have preferred DCH over both of them.
Conterpoint -- at the time, our primary game of comparison was HERO, so (a) math didn't scare us at all, and (b) long and detailed combats were a matter of course in our previous experience. Compared to modern games like Icons and M+M, DC Heroes might indeed seem clunkier to a modern eye. My comments were mostly made out of hindsight. 8/
Strange. I paid $5.00 for that book off of ebay 8-9 years ago when I went on a DC Heroes buying binge, and it was brand new when I got it. I've got most of what I want for that game now, just need a few sourcebooks.
(I"m wanting to do a pre-Crisis DC game of some sort).
Where did it all go wrong, Casey? I can’t pinpoint it, but it was already too late when they remade 3:10 to Yuma and took a movie that was mostly two men talking about morality in a hotel room and put in a Gatling gun.
This is my gaming circle minus my ACKS players. I am such an asshole. Since they're in the big city now, the players really wanted to know if there were any magic weapons for sale. ACKS ain't 3e or 4e though. There is exactly one magic weapon for sale. I rolled randomly to see what it was and... ...it's a cursed -2 sword. So I told the players there's a weapons dealer/fence who's looking to get rid of a magic sword he's gotten ahold of...cheap. Only 6,000gp when usually a +1 item would be 10,000gp. So far they are not suspicious. They're going to be so pissed at me. I can barely contain my excitement.
seldom has something from 1989 looked so much like it came from 1979
ReplyDeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteThe production values are not high here. And this copy is well used.
ReplyDeleteMy girl's a huge Batman fan. How is this (besides being low on production values)?
ReplyDeleteIt's the same system as DC Heroes, just with a bat-bent, if that helps at all, Dyson Logos.
ReplyDeleteDyson Logos it's basically DC Heroes with only Batman characters. I think it's great.
ReplyDeleteIt's a slimmed down version of the original Mayfair DC system (2nd edition). All the reviews were really good. Also a good resource for this era of Batman and has a guide to Gotham.
ReplyDeletePlus a system to set up random crime for your heroes to address. And a silly little scenario in the back where Joker tries to convict Batman of committing a murder! GASP!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the random crime generator will be very useful as a reference, Andrew Shields. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteI still have that book in my collection. Your post has encourage me to pull if off the bookshelf once again.
ReplyDeleteWait, people like this book?
ReplyDeleteI picked it up on a lark ~5 years ago. I was thoroughly amused by the cumbersome 9 base ability scores, and the fact that you need a table reference to accomplish just about any action. It's been sitting on my shelf as an unused novelty item.
It takes some getting used to, but I read this system when I was pretty young, so it's a bit ingrained in me.
ReplyDeleteI never played the system, but I got it to mine for ideas. It gave me an example of a game geared to pre-teens to figure out how to play with no adult help. And it was interesting to see how it handled the city and criminals, since that's a thing for doing vigilante games. I was pleased with the purchase, even if I never used its rules.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to give it another flip-through to check out the criminal elements of the book. I don't recall paying much attention to those.
ReplyDeleteBeloch Shrike -- it, like most of the systems designed by Greg Gordon, have a tendency to look clunky, but when put in play, actually work pretty darned well. Our group has run both DC Heroes and TORG, and both were pretty smooth at the table and fit the genre well; we haven't tried Earthdawn directly, but I know people who have and quite liked it, saying the same about it -- actually ran well at the table and gave a good heroic fantasy feel.
ReplyDeleteThe table seems like a hassle, but it's really not -- our ref desktop published these little cards that were pretty much index cards held in portrait mode, that had the tables printed on one side and character designs on the other, and that's all you really needed to run with.
Our time with DC Heroes was really fun... The last couple gams we've tried for supers were Icons and Mutants and Masterminds, and I think I'd have preferred DCH over both of them.
Viktor Haag
ReplyDeleteWow. Maybe I need to take another look at the whole thing.
Conterpoint -- at the time, our primary game of comparison was HERO, so (a) math didn't scare us at all, and (b) long and detailed combats were a matter of course in our previous experience. Compared to modern games like Icons and M+M, DC Heroes might indeed seem clunkier to a modern eye. My comments were mostly made out of hindsight. 8/
ReplyDeleteI have very fond memories of DC Heroes. It was kind of elegant.
ReplyDeleteStrange. I paid $5.00 for that book off of ebay 8-9 years ago when I went on a DC Heroes buying binge, and it was brand new when I got it. I've got most of what I want for that game now, just need a few sourcebooks.
ReplyDelete(I"m wanting to do a pre-Crisis DC game of some sort).