Sunday Afternoon Game Report - DC Heroes RPG, Session 0 LSH
As noted in yesterday's blog entry, the Sunday players have agreed to play in a (possible campaign) game of the DC Heroes RPG, set against the Legion of Super-Heroes background and history about a year-and-a-half before the Crisis on Infinite Earths. I know that Tammy agreed to play this game as she’s quite looking forward to playing in the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game campaign that I’ll run once I’ve got the rulebook and all, but at least she seemed somewhat...eager for the game. This isn’t surprising since we’ve not played since December or early January due to her work situation (which seems to have resolved itself).
For those who don’t know, the DC Heroes RPG was first published by Mayfair Games in 1985, and is the super-hero roleplaying game set against the DC Comics universe(s) of the time. The Second Edition of the game, published in a boxed set, came out in 1989, and the Third Edition of the game was published in 1993. Also called the Mayfair Exponential Game System (or MEGS, for short), the DC Heroes RPG uses a logarithmic scale for character Attribute Points (APs for short). For example, a value of 3 APs is double the value of 2 APs. The scale allows characters of wildly different power levels to co-exist in the game; thus Superman has a Strength of 25 APs while Jimmy Olsen has a Strength of 2 APs. Anyway...
Given the fact that the game is long out of print, its long history and the various editions of the game, I have decided to use a variant of the 2nd Edition and 3rd Edition of the DC Heroes RPG for the game to be run. I started off by going through the basics about the game mechanics of the DC Heroes RPG, showing the players the lists of Powers, Skills, Bonuses, Limitations, and all the other goodies that go with the game, and explained how Factor Costs work (since the players had a bit of an issue with them last session). I then talked to the players about the Legion of Super-Heroes, discussing the basics of the Legion history, the members of the Legion, some of their better known exploits to the point in 2983 AD where the campaign is based, a bit about the universe of the 30th Century, and then answered any questions the players had about everything and anything they had on their minds. And then we moved on to character creation itself.
Character generation in the DC Heroes RPG is a relatively straightforward, somewhat easy to get through process, but it does require a modicum of thought about one’s character, and the making of choices. As well as some math... That said, half the fun of the character generation system for DC Heroes is going through the various steps and coming up with a character concept and style of character the player really likes and wants to play.
Since the campaign I was going to run is set against the background of the Legion of Super-Heroes and will be taking place at the Legion Academy just before the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, the players had to think in terms of younger characters with moderate power levels in order to qualify for Legion Academy placement. The characters that the Sunday afternoon players created for the DC Heroes RPG are an interesting, somewhat eclectic mix, to say the least. Here's what the Sunday afternoon players have got.
*****
SteveR - He had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to create, with a character that was into plants. Steve created the character of Salin Varr, the grandson of Tallia Varr, the High Seedseer of Chloro IV. Taking the name Chloro Lad, he has the powers of Plant Control and Plant Growth, and is something of a calm individual.
Tammy - She had a concept based on a series of urban fantasy books she’s been reading, and created the character of Shaniya Mallorca, a native of Talok VIII with darkness powers not related to those of Legionnaire Shadow Lass. Calling herself Umbra Lass, she has the powers of Darkness, Snare, Teleportation and Ultra Vision, and was working towards being a detective on her homeworld when she was accepted into the Legion Academy.
GM/NPC - The players needed an NPC who was somewhat physical in his or her powers, and has a modicum of attack abilities. I didn’t have time to create the NPC during this character creation session, as there was too much to explain to both Tammy and SteveR in terms of their two characters, but I had an idea for a character, and jotted down a few notes. :)
*****
Overall, the players came up with an interesting group of characters that have a lot of potential in certain situations, but none of them have a set of powers that could be considered good for situations that could require offensive powers. The players told me afterwards that they had a good time creating the characters, but had to get "creative" with the process (notably juggling the Factor Costs). While this group of player characters don’t really know each other that well, they have one thing in common (which I shall not mention here!). Once more, while they didn't struggle with any of the game elements per sé, I could see that SteveR had a bit of difficulty with the math at times, notably due to having to figure out what Limitations and Drawbacks to take to counter all the Powers and Skills he wanted to take. Overall, the players quite liked the character generation system for the DC Heroes RPG, and are now looking forward to the next session when they start their Legion Academy game campaign next week.
For that matter, so am I! :)
For those who don’t know, the DC Heroes RPG was first published by Mayfair Games in 1985, and is the super-hero roleplaying game set against the DC Comics universe(s) of the time. The Second Edition of the game, published in a boxed set, came out in 1989, and the Third Edition of the game was published in 1993. Also called the Mayfair Exponential Game System (or MEGS, for short), the DC Heroes RPG uses a logarithmic scale for character Attribute Points (APs for short). For example, a value of 3 APs is double the value of 2 APs. The scale allows characters of wildly different power levels to co-exist in the game; thus Superman has a Strength of 25 APs while Jimmy Olsen has a Strength of 2 APs. Anyway...
Given the fact that the game is long out of print, its long history and the various editions of the game, I have decided to use a variant of the 2nd Edition and 3rd Edition of the DC Heroes RPG for the game to be run. I started off by going through the basics about the game mechanics of the DC Heroes RPG, showing the players the lists of Powers, Skills, Bonuses, Limitations, and all the other goodies that go with the game, and explained how Factor Costs work (since the players had a bit of an issue with them last session). I then talked to the players about the Legion of Super-Heroes, discussing the basics of the Legion history, the members of the Legion, some of their better known exploits to the point in 2983 AD where the campaign is based, a bit about the universe of the 30th Century, and then answered any questions the players had about everything and anything they had on their minds. And then we moved on to character creation itself.
Character generation in the DC Heroes RPG is a relatively straightforward, somewhat easy to get through process, but it does require a modicum of thought about one’s character, and the making of choices. As well as some math... That said, half the fun of the character generation system for DC Heroes is going through the various steps and coming up with a character concept and style of character the player really likes and wants to play.
Since the campaign I was going to run is set against the background of the Legion of Super-Heroes and will be taking place at the Legion Academy just before the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, the players had to think in terms of younger characters with moderate power levels in order to qualify for Legion Academy placement. The characters that the Sunday afternoon players created for the DC Heroes RPG are an interesting, somewhat eclectic mix, to say the least. Here's what the Sunday afternoon players have got.
*****
SteveR - He had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to create, with a character that was into plants. Steve created the character of Salin Varr, the grandson of Tallia Varr, the High Seedseer of Chloro IV. Taking the name Chloro Lad, he has the powers of Plant Control and Plant Growth, and is something of a calm individual.
Tammy - She had a concept based on a series of urban fantasy books she’s been reading, and created the character of Shaniya Mallorca, a native of Talok VIII with darkness powers not related to those of Legionnaire Shadow Lass. Calling herself Umbra Lass, she has the powers of Darkness, Snare, Teleportation and Ultra Vision, and was working towards being a detective on her homeworld when she was accepted into the Legion Academy.
GM/NPC - The players needed an NPC who was somewhat physical in his or her powers, and has a modicum of attack abilities. I didn’t have time to create the NPC during this character creation session, as there was too much to explain to both Tammy and SteveR in terms of their two characters, but I had an idea for a character, and jotted down a few notes. :)
*****
Overall, the players came up with an interesting group of characters that have a lot of potential in certain situations, but none of them have a set of powers that could be considered good for situations that could require offensive powers. The players told me afterwards that they had a good time creating the characters, but had to get "creative" with the process (notably juggling the Factor Costs). While this group of player characters don’t really know each other that well, they have one thing in common (which I shall not mention here!). Once more, while they didn't struggle with any of the game elements per sé, I could see that SteveR had a bit of difficulty with the math at times, notably due to having to figure out what Limitations and Drawbacks to take to counter all the Powers and Skills he wanted to take. Overall, the players quite liked the character generation system for the DC Heroes RPG, and are now looking forward to the next session when they start their Legion Academy game campaign next week.
For that matter, so am I! :)