This game reminds me of marvel (old game)

[Jaif]

One of the major features of the marvel system was the one-size-fits-all mechanic: the FEAT table.  Along with a consistant rating system for all abilities, this core mechanic made it very easy for the GM and players to resolve some complex situations and thus deal more with the game than the system.

The more I play with HQ, the more I find this to be the case as well.  Everything has the same rating system, the core mechanics are essentially two-sizes-fits-all (simple or extended), and so as a GM once I grasp the basic system and the few rules attached to it, I can resolve a suprising number of situations in a satisfyingly consistent manner, and do so quickly.

-Jeff

P.S. The above may not mean anything to most, but I regard Marvel as one of the finest RPGs ever made.  I ran it with players who cared absolutely nothing for comic books, thinking them silly and childish, yet they had a blast an "felt like heroes".  That statement, btw, came out of their mouths, not mine.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Jeff,

Big 100% agreement on every bit of your post.

Best,
Ron

[Mike Holmes]

the core mechanics are essentially two-sizes-fits-all (simple or extended),

And when you discover that Simple Contests are pretty much extended contests where you agree to bet everything on the first roll, it's really just one size with an option for a shortcut for resolutions that seem to be appropriate for it. If the methods were substantively different, I'd be against it, but in fact they're so similar as to complement each other.

Mike

[Valamir]

Is the Revised Marvel RPG from TSR circa 1991 as good / the same, or did they ruin it with the revision?

[Michael S. Miller]

Is the Revised Marvel RPG from TSR circa 1991 as good / the same, or did they ruin it with the revision?

I'm not sure which one you mean, Ralph. The MSH Basic Set (yellow box) has (c) 1984 on the cover. The MSH Advanced Set (blue box) has (c) 1986 on the cover. The SAGA system that TSR later (smaller, thicker blue box) released has (c) 1998 on the cover. I don't know of any other core rulebooks (apart from the recent Marvel Universe RPG, from Marvel, not WotC).

[Valamir]

Thanks Mike.  I was aware of those (and roughly the dates) but they're really hard to find.  What I can find is this one on Ebay, which is touted as a "New Revised" Basic set (still in a yellow box) with a 1991 date on it.

I don't know whether this is basically the same as the original with some errata fixed and a "new" label slapped on it.  Or whether it is a reworking (potentially an inferior one) of the original.

Off topic for the thread, for which I apologize, but I was hoping to find out before putting a bid in.  MSH is one of the few early influential games from my youth which I haven't managed to acquire yet.

[Deacon Blues]

Valamir, that one is a simpler and broader version of the original MSH rules that TSR published.  That's the first version of the game that I owned, and I found it plenty suitable.  The 1986 has more detailed rules in some aspects (I forget which), but nothing whose absence you'd lament at first.

[Valamir]

Thanks Deacon.  I just threw up a bid for the 1991 basic and 1992 advanced rules.  Unfortuneately the auction expires while i'm away (who in their right mind schedules an auction to end the week after christmas?) so hopefully I won't get out bid.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

It would be nice if the discussion could return to a comparison of HeroQuest and Marvel Super Heroes. As I said, I agree with Jeff's points, and I think it's very important to acknowledge that certain goals and principles of play represented by HeroQuest are not brand-new, but rather a re-discovery of stuff we really ought to think about.

Best,
Ron

[Scripty]

You know, I hadn't thought of it this way. Pitching HeroQuest as a return to the principles of the FASERIP system (or even a modern update) would be a much easier "sell" to gamers in this area.

There are certainly similarities both in approach and feel, IMO. Thanks for pointing this out, Jaif. Great observation.