Comic Book Super-Hero Game

[Judd]

I dream of:

A comic book game written in comic book format, 24 pages and a whole game.  The  supplements would be found in new issues.

The system would entail the group getting together in order to decide what kind of comic book or publishing world they wanted to create together.  Before a game the group would decide which comic in the publishing company's multiverse the game was set in.

Rules for changing writers and artists would be included.

Writers and artists could be as much of the characters as the characters in the books.

Rules for what happens when a character is optioned into a movie or a cartoon.  Games run with the same characters but with different origin stories or maybe just bad dialogue.

A fetal idea inspired by Cartoon Action Hour.

[James V. West]

I've seen several people talk about doing a comic book based rpg. Has anyone actually finished one? I only ask because I think these are great ideas and I'd like to check one out.

This idea is pretty cool too. It reminds me just a bit of Kayfabe in the fact that you're not only dealing with the fictional characters, but their creators and renderers as well.

http://www.randomordercreations.com/tqb.html">The Questing Beast aslo has just a tiny pinch of this going on with the whole player-as-bard concept--but it is totally underexplored and so I actively shove out of sight in the rules.

It's always been a plan of mine to create a game in comic book format, so I'd love to see one done that way. This sounds like a killer idea. Do you have a rough draft of the rules yet?

[Henry Fitch]

You bastards. I had that exact same idea. About the format, that is. Getting pretty close to the front of my "to write up" list, planned to use modified Over the Edge mechanics and include lots of narrative gaming advice, and be cool. The idea was to release it in comic-book-sized parts, and then collect as a TPB.

(Just kidding about the bastards. You guys are cool.)

[Sidhain]

It's not like it's a new idea.

I've seen it time and time again--but strangely few gamers want to actually play out those artifices.

I know my own superhero game was/may still yet mention that as a playstyle--but new idea it is not.

[Henry Fitch]

First, I was being hyperbolic. And facetious.

Second, I don't mean the writer/character thing, which I frankly think is a pretty bad idea (only reason I haven't bought HKAT). I meant the part about publishing in comic book format, which I continue to think is brilliant.

[James V. West]

Second, I don't mean the writer/character thing, which I frankly think is a pretty bad idea (only reason I haven't bought HKAT). I meant the part about publishing in comic book format, which I continue to think is brilliant.

Why do you feel like its a bad idea? I'm just curious. I think its a great idea. I like the idea of a game messing around with the very concept of "roles"--layering them, if you will.

Sidhain: Cite us a bunch of examples of games like this. I'd really like to check them out.

[Henry Fitch]

Well, mostly it's just because I can't imagine it making the game more fun for me. I imagine playing superheroes or martial artists, and then I imagine playing people drawing superheroes or actors playing martial artists, and the second parts just seem distracting without really adding anything.

Another factor is that, although we may not admit it, a lot of people roleplay largely because they like to imagine doing lots of things - beating up bad guys, running on walls - that they can't or wouldn't want to do in real life. Imagining onesself as an artist or an actor... eh.

Then again, similar ideas seem pretty cool in Wyrd and Questing Beast. So maybe it's just a matter of genre.

[Le Joueur]

If I remember correctly there have been 'role-playing games published in comic book format' since as soon as the fantasy heartbreakers (see Ron's article) rolled out following the translations in Japan.  The Japanese culture is much more accepting of comic book format everything.  You can get teaching manuals for pretty much anything in comic book format there.  I've seen a couple of translated pages from role-playing games in some anime magazine I got last year.

Since then we've planned on putting core book #12 (contains giant robots and video game style - Street Kombat - in one book) of Scattershot in exactly that format.  Our challenge was to take advantage of the 'a picture is worth a thousand words' thing instead of it just being a really, really lite version (all the text in word balloons and dialogue boxes) with lots and lots of art.

Fang Langford

[Andrew Martin]

It's not like it's a new idea.

I've seen it time and time again--but strangely few gamers want to actually play out those artifices.

I know my own superhero game was/may still yet mention that as a playstyle--but new idea it is not.

One of these games is Panels: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/9229/supes/index.html where it's encouraged to describe the action as if it were drawn in a comic book.

[Jonathan Walton]

This makes me think of something like a 4 or 5-person collaborative storytelling system:

The Writer: describes basic events that will take place, "Captain America smacks the Red Skull!"

The Penciller: describes how it happens, "Captain America dives towards the Red Skull with his fist outstretched, connecting with the Skull's jawbone and breaking it off!"

The Inker/Colorist: adds detail and specifics, "The bone splinters, with bits of it go flying everywhere!  Cap's face shows a noble determination, and his red, white, and blue costume shines patriotically in the sun!"

The Letterer: adds dialogue, words, and sound-effects, "WHAMMO!  CRUNCH!  'Arggghh!' yells the Red Skull.  'Take THAT you dispicable monster!' yells Cap!"

Now, just how you'd work something like that into a honest-to-goodness superhero game is not clear to me right now.  Would the players take turns having the various roles?  It seems like this kind of thing would work better for a superhero-flavored Universalis-style system, and not really a fully-immersive game with individual PCs.  Still, if you COULD get the two to gel together, that would be really cool.

Later.
Jonathan

[Sidhain]

First, I was being hyperbolic. And facetious.

Second, I don't mean the writer/character thing, which I frankly think is a pretty bad idea (only reason I haven't bought HKAT). I meant the part about publishing in comic book format, which I continue to think is brilliant.

Oh well I was actually here to discuss their ideas and see how they'd implement it or like to see it implemented rather than demean it, pardons for stepping on your backhand.

[Sidhain]

This makes me think of something like a 4 or 5-person collaborative storytelling system:

The Writer: describes basic events that will take place, "Captain America smacks the Red Skull!"

The Penciller: describes how it happens, "Captain America dives towards the Red Skull with his fist outstretched, connecting with the Skull's jawbone and breaking it off!"

The Inker/Colorist: adds detail and specifics, "The bone splinters, with bits of it go flying everywhere!  Cap's face shows a noble determination, and his red, white, and blue costume shines patriotically in the sun!"

The Letterer: adds dialogue, words, and sound-effects, "WHAMMO!  CRUNCH!  'Arggghh!' yells the Red Skull.  'Take THAT you dispicable monster!' yells Cap!"

  Well I guess for me I'm more interested in role-playing people in the /comic book world/ not role-playing the people /creating the comic book/--as a part of the first I wouldn't mind/can accept some of the latter but I don't know if many superhero fans want that level of 4th wall penetration on a regular basis.

 I do think it can be handled for creating the game "setup" in the beginning, and for actual "advancement" of the character---sort of rather than having a character gain XP/learn new skills in comics they tend to develop new powers, get new costumes and otherwise get a makeover.

 We'll have to see how it works in play though.

Yes I'm aware of Panels, as well as Cyndi's 4 Colors which IIRC had popularity of the title/character rules.

[Sidhain]

If I remember correctly there have been 'role-playing games published in comic book format'
Fang Langford

    Supermegatopia was done this way wasn't it? In remember it being mentioned, that they were planning on doing it and having only rules for those characters/play elements found in the comic book "story". (I'd only hear of supermegatopia briefly before, and went and looked--Furry Superheroes with somewhat well "T&A" themes (I don't think the word "mature" fits anything that it tends to be slapped on so I'm not quite sure what to use--more "what teenagers think is "mature" kinda of thing)


 I know TSR attempted to do some "solo" Saga based comic issues as giveaways/introductory kits for their Saga game--Wolverine vs Brood Queen, and such in order to try and boost their sales of SAGA.

[Judd]

I don't picture the game as the players taking the roles of comic book writers and artists, literally drawing and writing comics or role-playing a writer going into the office and talking to his editor.

I did think that before the game started the group would make certain editorial decisions and that would entail how the game worked and changed the rules.

I have not the foggiest idea or clue (yet) as to what these rules would be but it is a dream of a fetus of a dream of an idea.  I posted it here to sound it out with y'all and just get some good feedback.