The Code II (replacing the "Superheroes" topic)

[Jared A. Sorensen]

The Code II
http://memento-mori.com/code/code2.html

Please let me know what you guys think. I'm exceptionally happy with the Setting Dials section, even though there's no much to it.

And yes, I'm sure there are inconsistancies and typos as I pretty much did a cut/paste job of The Code I and added the team and powers info.

Whoop!

[sdemory]

At first blush, looks pretty good. I like the team-building mechanic, and the campaign meters look like they'd work nicely to get players thinking about the sort of game they want to play. I definitely want to test-drive this one.
   Now it's time to whip out Insecterotic for those Mojoworld double-sized annuals.

[Joe Murphy (Broin)]

Dammit!

Now if only I had the dials mechanic - even as a metaphor - for the last superhero game I ran that self-destructed.

Excellent, excellent work. Again. Dammit.

Joe.

[sdemory]

Question and observation, and I know I'm being gamist by asking the question:
1) What's the disadvantage to taking an Origin of 10? I don't see what would stop every player from hopping toward that level of Origin, just to guarantee that they could do whatever they wanted.
  I could see using the Origin rating to represent the odds of plot complications hitting a hero or something of that stripe, working as a sort of "wandering incident" generator.

Observation: Zero-level powers are pretty damned cool. One of the most insurmountable problems in superhero gaming is the difficulty in creating one's perfect hero. The zero-level powers allow players to make exactly what they want in a way that's not unbalancing or too much of a cheat.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Origin 10 depletes the team's pool of points anddoesn't give them many Agenda points. PLUS if everyone in a 5-man team has Origin 10, nobody will be able to have/follow their own Objectives.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

I've decided that The Code II isn't really done -- I need to go through it and revise a bunch of stuff, like including a "Trouble" mechanic (which I totally forgot).

Blah.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Just got DK2 (Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns sequel) and damn, it was cool. A dystopian police state without heroes...

Anyway, I think I'm going to overhaul The Code II and call it The Cause.

Hmm...perhaps a series is in order? One for solo heroes, one for teams and...any other ideas?

- J

[sdemory]

    The Cause... I like the sound of that entirely too much. Very nice.
   Now that you've dealt with heroism, maybe you should look at villainy. I don't know that you can go much further with the hero thing (having explored person-as-hero and team-as-agent of change), but exploring why the villain is the villain could serve well. Beyond that, The Code/Cause is what I'd use if I could ever pull together a group for superhero gaming.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Cool.

I also thought of "The Call" as being the third part of the game. Perhaps a special system for creating origins? I dunno. But I do like the villain idea...not sure what to do with it though!

[erithromycin]

S'just a thought, but why not have every player be a superhero team? Now, admittedly, it'd be a little weird, as the biases would likely allow you to create monstrous teams in a body [Kal-el], handy-dandy mixed bags [Fantastic Four], and vast sprawling soap opera casts [X-Men High or whatever the hell it is]. Now, admittedly, there all sorts of issues about multiple characters, and stances and goodness only knows what kind of forge talk, but it might still be good. More to the point, the more superheros in your team the odder things could get. You could rescue yourself from being kidnapped. Or something.

Dammit. There was an image book that got to a title and a half called Superstar, that had a hero whose power was based on donations. I've just remembered that. What about some sort of mechanic to reflect awareness of the superhero? Bats has it damn high, Supes more so, and others really don't. I'm rambling now, so I'll stop.