[Capes] Setting and Situation

[Yokiboy]

Hello,

I'm on my first read-through of Capes, and have a question. Does the game come with a setting or the tools to create one, I can't find this addressed in the book? Second, does the game cover coming up with a good starting situation? I can't find that either.

The closest thing I find to Setting and Situation is the Comics Code, but it doesn't quite cover what I'm after.

TTFN,

Yoki

[TonyLB]

Does the game come with a setting or the tools to create one, I can't find this addressed in the book? Second, does the game cover coming up with a good starting situation? I can't find that either.

It does not provide either of those things.  About the closest it comes it talking about how to build a network of Exemplar relationships, which tends (in my experience) to be a way to populate the world.  But making a gritty, crime-ridden city vs. a paragon of utopian ideals?  Nah.  There's nothin' there.

[Yokiboy]

Thanks for confirming this. I think the Extended Rules for Things, Phenomena, Locations and Situations could be used very well while coming up with a setting and situation for playing Capes. Creating the games setting and situation should definitely include designing a couple of inanimate characters.

Capes intrigues me very much, but I've had a hard time reading it. Everytime I give it another try it gets me very excited to give it a go though. Hopefully running the demo will help me grok it, and get my gaming group interested in it.

TTFN,

Yoki

[James_Nostack]

Hi Yoki, in my experience Capes is a lot more fun if you spend 30 minutes brainstorming the type of setting/situation you have in mind. 

If you're familiar with Marvel Comics, almost all of their magazines in the early 1960's are really just "__________ with superpowers & costumes."  Like, the early Spider-Man comics are teen romance comics with powers; the Fantastic Four is a science-fiction story with powers; Thor is a fantasy series with powers.  This understanding of genre can be a big help, because in Capes there's no way for the players to say "Nope, what you just narrated is stupid and didn't happen."  Coming to an agreement on tone, style, and setting isn't required, but I have found that it will help the game run smoothly.

[Yokiboy]

That makes sense James, it is what I usually do with my game group when playing games without an explicit setting and/or situation.

I've been a Marvel fan since I was a little boy in the mid to late 70s. I think my biggest hurdle in getting Capes on the gaming table is my friends indifference for superhero comics.

TTFN,

Yoki