And we thought CARDS were strange!!!

[silverlion]

admin said:

Wanna post what you have on the "new" Marvel system, Tim? =)

You may want to check the "Other Superhero Games" forum for that

[Trakx]

admin said:

OH...

And I'll tell you all the Castle Doom story this weekend. Right now I'm just popping on while I scarf down some food before bed.

Curse you, Richaaaaaaards! Er, I mean, Tommyyyyyyyy!

I'm a huge Doctor Doom fan and now I have to wait through a "To be continued..."!

[madtitan]

I have the stones system and really like it. It is something different and was very much a resource based game. I ran an online game based off the Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 video game but it slowed down and due to lack of interest or what not I ended up closing it down. But it was great for a time and I would run it again. It is too bad they did not finish up the last two books that were to come out for it but for what is there it gives a nice jump of point. Granted I played Marvel SuperHeroes Classic from day one and have every version that was released before TSR closed up shop.

[madtitan]

Well there are a bunch of guys who have been working diligently on a Spiderman's Guide to New York fan book. It is really good and looks like the official books. They have it in sections/pdf's but some great work here nonetheless. Check it out here:

ozbot.typepad.com/spideyguide/

[madtitan]

I am having the though of continuing my Marvel vs. Capcom 2 game using this system on the PBMB section of the boards. If I was to are there any interested in being a part of it? I know Tommy use to play in it so he could (time being a factor) could take up the gauntlet once again as Ryu, Destroyer would come back as The Hulk and I can invite one of my key players back to the boards here. If there is any interest let me know?

[oninowon]

Hi, I have all three books that came out for MURPG and ran an adventure using an old V&V module. I got three friends to try it out.

Like Marvel SAGA, it is a rules light system. From what I have read of SAGA, MURPG seems to be even lighter in comparison.

Everyone really enjoyed chargen. It is point based with each ability, action, and modifiers costing x stones. Some powers (grouped into Actions) are more broadly defined and therefore story driven. Majority of the powers are versatile meaning that one firestarter's ability to control fire is different from another firestarter. This is possible through the purchase of options and limitations. If there isn't a power that fits your vision then it is very easy to make up a new power.

The rules center on the Action Resolution System (ARS). Basically your character has finite number of stones to use each round (Panel). You decide how much stones to put into a certain action. The GM assigns a difficulty and resistance. Depending on the situation and how well the player describes his character's action, the GM may choose to add a modifier either to the resistance or the action of the player. In combat, if player A has more stones in his attack than Player B has in his defense, Player B is hit and takes the apropriate number of damage. If it is any other type of action, Player A has to first meet the Difficulty of doing such an action and then must place enough stones in the action to overcome the Resistance of doing such an action.

There are only 2 charts to help the GM in assigning these numbers. One is the Difficulty and Resistance Chart and the other is the Situation Modifier List. Both charts give a rough outline of what numbers to use in a situation.

My players really enjoyed the ARS system. Combat was exciting because they had total control over how hard they wanted to attack and/or how much of an effort they wanted to place towards defense. Because it has a resource management aspect to it, the players had to worry about next round. Combat has a very strategic feel to it (like classic Marvel) and yet it is still fast and furious (like SAGA).

I would say MURPG is more story driven than either Marvel Classic or SAGA. The rules are light enough that the group can concentrate on the story being unfolded. Like SAGA, the rules fade to the background and even goes further because it actively encourages roleplay through situation modifiers and lines of XP. The more specific a player describes the action, the more detail the GM has in describing what happens.

The use of stones will seem very awkward to work with in the beginning. In fact it took me several read throughs of the chargen to understand the use of stones in it and a couple read throughs to understand the ARS system. In actual play though, it didn't take long for the players to understand the concept of stones and moved stones (we used tribeads to represent stones) around their character action display (CAD) like a pro.

There are problems with MURPG. I should mention that one of the combat example in the core book is flawed but there is a "fixed" version in www.murpg.proboards19.com/ . Even with the 3 books, it still feels that the rules are not fully developed. It left a lot to the GM to interpret. It may just be it being a rules light system. Also, it was my very first exposure to a rules light system and not to mention a diceless system too. I'm more comfortable with a rules medium system (ala d20) but due to work and family I've begun to gravitate more towards rules light. Since the members here are comfortable with a rules light system, this may not be such a big problem with you. The other problem was the issue of balance. I understand that superhero RPGs are inheritly unbalanced. I made a mistake of lending one of my friends the core book. After a little over a week, he wanted to change his character which turned out to be extremely powerful. Basically, he found a way to be superman without his weakness but in robotic form (turns out robot heroes have certain abilities and powers at half cost). I found out later that he was the type who didn't care for a conceptualized hero and instead was more interested in making the most powerful character he could make.

Despite it's flaws, two of my friends had fun playing superheroes using MURPG. The other player seemed to enjoy it too until I started to place limits. The players and I found the MURPG system flexible enough to make any type of superhero. Combat didn't take up a lot of time and found the tactical decisions added to the fun. I was worried about handling multiple villains but the book's suggested shortcut really helped me keep track of all the villains that were involved in the fight. ARS made it very easy and fast to resolve actions. My friends really enjoyed just having to be immersed in the story and not break the mood with a roll of a die. The resolution system seemed to be seemlessly part of the story (ie..."how much effort do you want to put into the action you just described?").

You may also think that a lack of randomness to be bad but the idea of "put enough effort and you'll succeed" fits well within the superhero concept and this system does that well.

I hope you and your friend get the chance to play MURPG.

[oninowon]

Canadian Sasquatch,

I would be interested. I too have every Marvel Classic books. I wished I had all the Marvel SAGA books too. I was able to pick up the core book and Reed Richards Guide at a bargin bin at my FLGS.

[madtitan]

The central game mechanic is the allocation of energy/effort, in the form of "red stones". These stones, initially equal in number to the character's "Energy Reserve" statistic are allocated to powers, attacks, and defenses by the players and GM. Allocated stones are then compared to determine success or failure at tasks.

Task Resolution
Opposed tasks are handled by comparing how many red stones each character has allocated to the struggle, with the character who has put in more winning. The degree of success is determined by how many more stones the winner put in.

Normal tasks have both a Difficulty Level and a Resistance. The Difficulty Level determines the minimum value one must have in a relevant trait to have any chance of success at all. If the character's trait meets or exceeds the Difficulty Level, then the player may allocate red stones of effort to the task; the number needed to succeed is the Resistance. For some tasks, the Resistance must be overcome in a single action; for others, it may be overcome in a series of actions. The latter type usually applies where a task can be accomplished over some time -- e.g., safecracking, solving a puzzle, or other such tasks.


Recovery
At the end of each turn, characters lose the red stones they expended during the turn. They then "regenerate" red stones, regaining a number depending on their Health or Intelligence, possibly modified by special powers. They cannot regenerate to a number of stones greater than their starting level, and regeneration rates are typically small compared to a character's Energy Reserve.


Combat
Combat tasks are resolved using the basic task resolution system. Red stones are allocated to each character's powers, attacks, and defense (note that there is a single defense pool). Stones are then compared; defense stones count against all attacks for the turn, so the same stones may be used multiple times for defense. Some powers give bonuses to defense, but some attacks can ignore some defensive powers. If the attacker has a higher attack than the defense total, then the defender loses a number of Health equal to the attacker's excess stones (above those needed to get past the defense total). (Note, though, that some powers will make a defender lose double or triple the excess.) When Health reaches zero, a character is stunned and can no longer regenerate red stones. Further attacks have the possibility to cause a coma or kill the character.

In an effort to emulate comic book conventions, the game allows players to choose not to lose Health from an attack, but to instead have their character be "knocked out" for a time.


Time
MURG used an abstract, flexible system of turns called "panels" and "pages". Thus, a single "page" could represent a few seconds of combat, or hours or days of building a device or searching a city.

I think I really liked how it feels like a comic book and dunno once you understand the system and play it a few times it is rather slick and is meant for more of a storytelling/comic style game and being rather rules lite to allow for this. I think this game ranks up there with Marvel Classics for me. Still need to get my hands on a copy of the SAGA system.