Capes & Cowls superhero rpg

[hermes]

Phillip,

I think this game has the best core mechanic (the Action Dice/Hero Points and the OC/IC designation) for a supers game I have seen yet. Somebody FINALLY nailed down a good way to easily capture the (core, anyway) FEEL of a comic book. This game says 'Play me!'

  Now there's a review I'd love to take with me to the grave.  Thanks for the praise.  It still needs plenty of work but given the sort of feedback that I have received thus far I think it's well on its way.

Enough with the praise. I hope you don't mind if I give you some feedback and suggestions. These ideas are mostly chrome plating, really, nothing to do with the core mechanics, but you may find them helpful.

  By all means, suggest away!

- Damage mechanic: I like the earlier suggestions of using the number of AD you have lost as a target number for an action check (or whatever you call it). It's binary- you stay conscious as long as you make the roll until you get to whatever level is unconsciousness (was it -6 AD?). The AD system is so simple to read that one extra die roll is not bad at all.

  As soon as I have a chance to check it over I will upload my latest attempt on the damage mechanics.  

- Character Creation options: This doesn't bother me a lot, but it seems that characters are mechanically identical, at least at creation. How about some options?

  The main differences between characters will be in how their powers may be used (ie. although optic blasts and superspeed may provide the same number of dice for the pool they are certainly used in very different ways and will be of benefit in very different situations) and also in their motivations (which, as was earlier suggested, should help to determine when characters get Hero Points).  So the mechanics may be identical but the uses and results should be sufficiently difference.  Having said that, what sort of options did you have in mind?  I'd love to hear any ideas you might be able to come up with.

- Advantages: You could allow something called Signature Moves or whatever you wish.

  I think that's a great idea.  I toyed with having characters list their signature moves but I really like the idea of tying them into the game mechanics somehow.  I'll have to ponder a good way of accomplishing that (taking into account the suggestions that you've already given me to work with).

- Motivation: Motivation is of course what makes the hero tick and why he is a hero. It would not cost anything; everyone has it. It is a two-edged sword- you can invoke it to get a bonus, but the GM will also use it against you (it can be enforced using the OC rule).

  I did envision Motivation as being something of core importance to each character.  I guess I do need to step it up a bit and make sure that the point gets across by incorporating it more solidly into the mechanics.  I certainly agree that any actions taken by a character which might oppose their Motivation (ie. Captain America turning his back on a burning flag) would be OC at best.  Allowing a bonus for actions that are clearly in support of a character's motivation is a good idea and one that I might just have to include.

- Drawbacks: Basically heroes can take Complications, which are built-in plot hooks that enforce the 'super-powered soap opera' aspect. You have to have at least one, and you can get extra ones to get more HP or AD. Complications can be invoked automatically when the player fails a roll.

  Cool.  A lot of your suggestions, not to mention the ones made by others, are the sort of things that I had seen as being a part of the game already, but not tied so closely into the game mechanics.  I saw them as being things that were essentially built-into the genre.  Since the game is tailored to the genre, I suppose it does make perfect sense to write them directly into the rules.

- Negative Hero Points: In addition to the villains getting VP when the heroes use their HP, it may be a good idea to give the villains VP when the hero does something OC, or just acts otherwise un-heroic or stupid.

  I think that giving the villains VP when the heroes do something OC is a splendid idea.  *insert maniacal laugh here*

- Sound effects and dialog: Give the heroes extra HP or an extra AD if the players provide sound effects and cool hero dialog for a scene.

  Interesting idea and one that I hadn't really considered.  I know from my own GMing experience that I like it when my players describe their characters actions in larger-than-life detail.

- Writer's Favor: Maybe there is a way to represent characters that the comic book writer likes more than the other characters beyond the AD (like Grant Morrison writing JLA- it often seemed that Batman was his favorite character). I can't think of how you would either determine Writer's Favor or what it would give the hero, though.

  You may have lost me a bit on this last point (lost as in confused).  Are you assuming for this idea that the game would be set in an existing comic book world or possibly even timeline (ie. trying to play the Frank Miller era Daredevil)?  Just from the name, writer's favor, it seems to make me think that it would be something unbalancing which generally wouldn't go over too well in most gaming groups.  Then again, I'm probably interpreting what you said entirely wrong so please set me straight.  LOL  

  Thanks again for the kind words and the list of cool ideas.  Everyone has given my lots of interesting material to work with and I will hopefully be able to incorporate a great deal of it into the game (not because I feel compelled to but rather because I would really like to. . . there has been a bunch of good ideas thrown my way).

Glenn

[hermes]

Ron,

  Thanks for the leads.  I will be sifting through them momentarily.  I have a couple of other game ideas that I am working on bit-by-bit so not only might they help with Capes & Cowls but possibly with some of my other ideas as well.  Much appreciated.

Glenn

Hi Glenn,
Did some thread-searching for you. Regarding the principles underlying so-called "initiative" and related stuff, check out:
The four steps of action (fundamental)
What is IIEC?
Disruptive and/or stupid IIEE question
Two little dice, so much time
On the time of narration (very technical)
Best,
Ron

[hermes]

Hi, all.  I have done a small update of Capes & Cowls and uploaded it to the same links as before.  To save you the trouble of looking, use either of these. . .

http://www.geocities.com/winterknights/

http://winterknights.tripod.com/candc.htm

Most of the text (still in rough form) is unchanged.  The main areas that are new or modified include a brief Introduction, Damage, and World Creation.  I actually removed the Settings Dials, mostly because I feel bad about using Jared's material, and instead re-wrote World Creation so that it worked like Team and Hero Creation (ie. a series of questions).

So were these changes an improvement or am I heading for the depths of black abyss. . . ?  

Glenn

[Phillip]

Glad you liked the ideas; I was inspired to work on my own supers RPG (yeah, right- EVERYBODY has their own RPG nowadays...).  By Writer's Favor I meant that it could be a rotating role passes to the player with the most 'best roleplaying' bonuses but is sometimes more evenly distributed to avoid favoritism.  After seeing your comments, I realize the concept embodies favoratism, which doesn't work in group RPGs, so it should probably be scrapped as an idea.

[Phillip]

Cool.  A lot of your suggestions, not to mention the ones made by others, are the sort of things that I had seen as being a part of the game already, but not tied so closely into the game mechanics.  I saw them as being things that were essentially built-into the genre.  Since the game is tailored to the genre, I suppose it does make perfect sense to write them directly into the rules.

That sort of thing spelled out and listed as a part of the mechanics serves two purposes- it serves to reinforce the genre and give the game the feel of a comic, as well as provide a source of new ideas.  Most players will be familiar with the genre and not need such things as part of the core mechanic, but there are some of us who don't read comics all the time and need a gentle reminder of genre tropes.

[Phillip]

hermes,
Something else that occured to me.  Perhaps you should clarify how ADs are split up.  The example you give is (paraphrased) "Spidey may use all 10 ADs to save his poor Aunt May from falling".  But what else in that instance would Spiderman split his ADs on?  If it is in the heat of combat, it is a little more clear, but what about non-combat (isolated) challenges the heroes face?  One way to do this is specify splitting the ADs among (for lack of better terms) Active and Contingency actions.  In combat, the split could be main opponent vs. suprise/unexpected attacks (or, attack vs. dodge, if you wish); in a series of related challenges (a "scene") it could be the main objective vs. unexpected occurences / secondary objectives.  Changing the split can be per round in combat, or more fixed- you could assess a penalty for moving AD (say, it costs 2 Active AD to add 1 Contingency AD, or assess a HP cost).  The Contingency AD could also be used as backup in case of failure or unexpected consequences.  Frex, HeroMan has to disarm a bomb.  He has 8 AD.  He allocates 5 AD to the disarm attempt (Active) and keeps 3 in reserve (Contingency).  If he disarms the bomb, no problem.  If he fails, he has 3 AD to get out of the way real quick...  Going back to the falling Aunt May example, Spidey may not want to commit 10AD, because Doc Ock may be lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike at a vulnerable moment...  In fact, this allows for another Signature Move from the previous discussion- Spidey could have Spider Sense as a Signature Move, which lets him shift one or two AD from Active to Contingency with no penalty.