Superhero RPG Reviews
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RPG REVIEW Issue #30, March 2016 ISSN 2206-4907 (Online) Superheroes! Interview with Steve Kenson ¼ Reviews of V&V, Marvel SH, Champions, DC Heroes, Mutants & Masterminds and more! ¼ Angel de Fantasma Short Story ¼ Federal Investigation of Superheroes (FISH) ...United We Stand Campaign Setting ¼ Super Squadron Updates ¼ Verge Designer©s Notes ¼ Superhero NPCs for Marvel and Champions ¼ Freedom Force CRPG ¼ Movie Reviews: Batman v Superman, X-Men Apocalypse 1 RPG REVIEW ISSUE 30 March 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS Administrivia, Editorial, Letters many contributors p2-3 The RPG Review Cooperative many contributors p4 Interview with Steve Kenson with Steve Kenson p5-7 Superhero RPG Reviews by Lev Lafayette p8-22 Angel de Fantasma (Ghost Angel) by Michael Keegan p23-36 Federal Investigation of Super Humans (FISH) by Alex Davis p37 United We Stand: Mutants and Masterminds by Karl Brown p38-42 United We Stand Referee©s Guide by Karl Brown p43-46 Super Squadron Rules Updates by Joe Italiano p47-48 Designing the Multiverse: Designer©s Notes for Verge by Nicholas Moll p49-51 Captain Carrot! by Belinda Lee p52 Dr. Despicable Demonic Destroyer by Colin Clark p53 Freedom Force CRPGs by Andrew Pam p54-56 Movie Review: Batman v Superman by Andrew Moshos p57-60 Moview Review: X-Men Apocalypse by Andrew Moshos p61-63 Next Issue: The Old School Revolution by many people p64 ADMINISTRIVIA RPG Review is a quarterly online magazine which will be available in print version at some stage. All material remains copyright to the authors except for the reprinting as noted in the first sentence. Cover image is Cover an example of Japanese Kamishibai panel for Ogon Batto Takeo Nagamatsu, 1930, arguably the first superhero character. Contact the author for the relevant license that they wish to apply. Various trademarks and images have been used in this magazine of review and criticism. Use of trademarks etc are for fair use and review purposes and are not a challenge to trademarks or copyrights. This includes Villains and Vigilantes, published by Fantasy Games Unlimited, Mutants and Masterminds by Green Ronin, Champions by Hero Games, Marvel SH by TSR. Batman v Superman distributed by Warner Bros, X-Men Apocalypse distributed by 20th Century Fox. Editorial and Letters Faster than a speeding bullet .. yes, it©s another issue of RPG Review as we rapidly play catch-up with our published and actual dates of release. Sticking to a voluntary 64 page journal is not always easy apparently - OK, so we©ve been plagued from the start with getting issues out on time, but we©re in full swing now, and will power along to get Issue 31 out in the near future. This issue has a special dedication to superheroes. As I©ve said in a previous review (DC Heroes) the genre is not entirely my kettle of fish on a personal level, although when I think back on it I have played and run an awful lot of superhero RPG sessions, at least one setting and story having made it into RPG Review in the past (see RPG Reviews issues 4 and 5), although that was in a sense a demigod level fantasy campaign, which I suppose is a type of supers. It was quite recently that fellow RPG Review Coooperative committee member and sometimes editor of this journal informed me about what was particularly enticing about superhero RPGs, and that©s when the penny dropped. It is the sheer scope and scale of characters and situations that the characters find themselves in that the game system must be sufficiently robust in design. Of course he said in less and in better words than I did, but you get the gist. Genre aficiando aside a working superhero game is the ultimate in game system design. Thus in this issue of RPG Review we start with an interview with none other than Steve Kenson, the designer of what 2 RPG REVIEW ISSUE 30 March 2016 has been the most popular superhero RPG of the 21st century, Mutants and Masterminds. Following this is a set of reviews by yours truly; specifically Superhero 2044, Villians and Vigilantes, Marvel Super Heroes, Champions/Hero System, Godsend Agenda, and Mutants and Masterminds. It is a set of reviews that is historical, covers the three most popular superhero RPG systems (at least according to the RPG.net straw poll of 2011; https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?572608-greatest-superhero-rpg-ever-and-why/), and some diverse approaches in design. Following this is a short story by Michael Keegan, an absolute cracker. We occasionally have stories in RPG Review when it strongly suits the topic of the issue, and this one certainly fits that category. This is followed by a short example organisation piece by Alex Davis for Villains and Vigilantes, which has a couple of clever puns included. After that there is two articles by Karl Brown for a Mutants and Masterminds campaign, United We Stand, where the narrative tension should be fairly evident in the title. Australia was also home of a superhero game and supplements which attracted some attention in its day, Super Squadron. We have a short piece from its author, Joe Italiano who tells us he©s is working on a second edition - after some thirty years from the first! Also from an Australian perspective and from the RPG Review Cooperative itself is the designer©s notes for Verge by Nic Moll, which has a couple of unique features worth looking at. Way back in the early 1990s there was an RPG club in Perth, the Murdoch Alternative Reality Society, and they were rather fond of superhero games, or at least they especially were in 1992. Long hidden away in that club©s annual are two NPCs which became the stuff of legend - Dr. Destroyer, who turned many Champions assumptions around, and Captain Carrot, a Marvel SH character with a notorious cuteness attack. We thank Colin Clark and Belinda Lee respectively for allows these characters of legend a new life. Wrapping up the issue is our non-TTRPG reviews, starting off with Andrew Pam©s review of the Freedom Force superhero computer RPGs. Andrew, I believe, will be taking up a more regular writing role with RPG Review on computer games and this is a very welcome first piece. Finally we have long-standing and ever vigilant Andrew Moshos, telling us what material is currently the silver screen in the superhero genre; specifically Batman v Superman and X-Men Apocalypse. Taking a very different tack the next issue of RPG Review will be dedicated to the "Old School Revolution", where budding designers around the world have taken an approach that is both nostalgic and investigative of RPGs that were simpler and more direct than many of the more expressive newer games. There is also something coming out very soon which was long considered an item of humour. So gentle reader, if you have an old school review, scenario, or NPC, or design that you wish to publish, do let us know and let us know quickly because we intend to get it out very quickly. Until then.. Everyone, be a hero! Lev Lafayette, [email protected] 3 RPG REVIEW ISSUE 30 March 2016 RPG Review Cooperative News Although it is a relatively short time since the last RPG Review journal, the Cooperative has been very busy in implementing its objectives. We©ve continued with our monthly newsletter, Crux Australi, and our monthly movie nights for those based where our Association is founded (Melbourne, Australia). We continue to operate our Github for design, operate an online store for members to sell their surplus gaming items, and advertise existing game sessions organised by members. Our members library has grown with several benefactors now making generous donations. As mentioned in the last newsletter we have also engaged in our advocacy role of promoting an Open Game License for 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons and most recently we took on the opinions of our members and associates in raising the question of whether a new version of Watership Down should be produced with less violence (a related side association with RPGs being Bunnies and Burrows). Last issue, as we went to the press (in the virtual sense) we has applied for the RPG Review journal to receive an International Standard Serial Number from the National Library of Australia - this was granted extremely quickly, probably something to do with having already been in existence for six years or so. Quite clearly we are running a serial and its not going away in a hurry! Furthermore however, in the past week the RPG Review Cooperative has undertaken a bulk purchase of International Standard Book Numbers, which will allow members to purchase these standard classifiers are a heavily discounted rate and have their material published in the name of the Cooperative. This will include the superhero game, Verge, the third edition of Swordbearer entitled Spirit and Sword, the well-playtested Gulliver©s Trading Company, The Eclipse Phase Companion, and The Laundry Down Under. The most remarkable aspect of this young Cooperative is how quickly we have developed. When the Association was formed last year it established its modest goals. It has, after a mere six months in existence, achieved every single one of the tasks that it set itself at that meeting. We have our membership base, we have our online store, our library, we©ve transferred the domain ownership and the journal ownership to the Cooperative, we have our ISSNs and ISBNs and we©ve engaged in our advocacy. What is next? Well that©s a challenge for the committee.