Marvel Supers from TSR

[Ronin84]

Is there anyone out there running this PbP? Is there any interest in playing in a game PbP?

[Ronin84]

IF there is interest in this I would look to run this...

My world would be a mix of Marvel and DC comics....

New York NOT Metropolis

Gotham is in New Jersey

There is an Emerald City in the Pacific Northwest, this really takes the place of Star City for Green Arrow...plus I get to borrow from mutants and masterminds.

Let me know if there is interest...

[Otto Harkaman]

I've gotten ahold of this old game, going to be my Sunday reading today, however not ready to play yet.

[scottenkainen]

If you're talking about the 1984 Marvel Super Heroes game, you will enjoy it immensely. Maybe not perfect for a long campaign, but fantastic for one-shot scenarios.

~Scott "-enkainen" Casper

[krusader74]

Last week I read Marvel Essentials Fantastic Four vol. 1 by Lee and Kirby, collecting issues #1-20 and Annual #1. I had the urge to dig the 1984 MSHRPG out of my basement and play. I remember the Thing narrating the combat section of the Battle Book -- It's Clobberin' Time!

[Otto Harkaman]

Funny its one of those games I didn't give a passing glance to in my youth but now seems very fun and interesting.

[ritt]

Aug 5, 2014 20:12:01 GMT -6 Otto Harkaman said:

Funny its one of those games I didn't give a passing glance to in my youth but now seems very fun and interesting.

Same with me. As a kid in the 80's I hated this game (for odd, fussy, anal, kid-brain reasons) but as a middle-age guy it has a lot of charm. I really regret getting rid of it decades ago.

[Merctime]

Have a look at classicmarvelforever.com for some really awesome TSR marvel goodness, folks... It's worth your time

I haven't read comics since the late 90's, and I'm no fan of marvel's current leadership, but that website is as up-to-date as you need. They've got stats for characters in this age and ages past, houserules, good discussions on the game.

I don't have my set anymore, either. Man, though... I used to LOVE it. There is just something satisfying about taking a swipe at Electro or the Beetle and knocking them high into the air and about 4 city blocks away! And then they crawl out of the rubble and come right back atcha!

If you're looking for realistic stuff, look somewhere other than this game. Guns usually do less than a super-hero punch, and lots of people get turned off by this.

...But if you're looking for realism, why are you playing a comic-book game?

If you check out that site over there, really plumb the forums for the maps that you can download and print. And print them. I can't state enough how much those maps really increase the fun and excitement of these games. I mean, they were included in the boxes for a reason.

Get the PDF's, download/print the maps, give it a whirl... And you will see what I mean!!!

Avengers... ASSEMBLE!!!

[Deleted]

I still have my original copy of the Advanced game. I played the heck out of it in high school but haven't done much with it lately. Maybe it's time to get it out again.

[ritt]

OK, I just scored a copy of this game at a local con auction over the weekend. I'm as happy as a little girl playing in the flowers with her pet unicorn pony. I want to try to run it.

Any advice? Any system quirks or pitfalls to watch out for?

[scottenkainen]

Even though I've got my own game now I still love the 1984 Marvel Super Heroes game. Some caveats, though -

#1) Combat is long and dangerous for low-strength heroes (maybe allow heroes with high Fighting to score critical hits?),
#2) Dodging is weak and doesn't really keep agile heroes safe (I would switch it to reducing color results rather than column shifts),
#3) (as I mentioned above in this thread) The game's strengths play to single combats or short scenarios and not extended campaign play; advancement is extremely slow.

~Scott "-enkainen" Casper

[Parzival]

By the Hoary Hands of Hoggoth
and Aggamotto’s Shining Eyes
I summon the Spirit of Eternity
To make this thread arise!

*Ahem*

I never really got to play this much back when it came out, but I held onto my copy, and now I’m running an active campaign set in Manhattan circa 1985. My two players used the original game’s delightfully wonky character generation system to produce completely original heroes, for whom I’ve been riffing on the New York, New York supplement, expanding it with an entirely unique plot and original villain. It’s been a lot of fun.

After a summer hiatus, we’re getting back into things, and I’ve got to come up with some workable villainous plots for them to foil. My earlier plot line came to an end with the villain disappearing into the DarkForce Dimension. He’ll certainly return, but now I’ve got to come up with new plots and foes. The published adventures rely too much on the players using Marvel’s established heroes, so the balance of these won’t work for me. (It also doesn’t help that somehow both my players managed to roll really louse FASE stats, and don’t have much in the way of armor. The game is also lacking some decent healing rules; I’ve fudged by deciding that actual medical treatment increases the rate of healing (makes sense to me.)

Anybody have some good suggestions for bad guy criminal plots?
My two heroes consist of an altered human whose powers are based on DarkForce manipulation, and the other a high-tech wonder who has built wrist bands that can create and control fire. Unfortunately, neither are impressive human specimens for combat, and have very low Health numbers.
So I need foes who inflict low damage, but are still challenging.

[chicagowiz]

I've been wanting to play MSH/FASERIP for a long, long time. I get to do some occasionally at conventions, but would very much enjoy a PbP game. Where do I sign up?!

[Parzival]

I’d be interested as well.

My current group is, alas, closed, and functions live video via Discord. Plus, I’m very inexperienced as a MSH game-master. I’m very much “winging it.” I’d love to experience the game through another GM’s perspective.

[oldskolgmr]

I'm in a game via Discord (audio) and Foundry (VTT), we're looking for more players. DM me and let me know your time zones and Saturday availability. I'll put interested players in touch with My GM.

EXCELCIOR! 

[chicagowiz]

Sept 16, 2023 18:19:59 GMT -6 oldskolgmr said:

I'm in a game via Discord (audio) and Foundry (VTT), we're looking for more players. DM me and let me know your time zones and Saturday availability. I'll put interested players in touch with My GM.

EXCELCIOR! 

For the moment, my only Saturday availability is early, before 11am US/Central. Thanks!

[oldskolgmr]

Douh! We usually start at 11 am CST! I'll talk to my GM about it though.

[chicagowiz]

Sept 17, 2023 19:10:32 GMT -6 oldskolgmr said:

Douh! We usually start at 11 am CST! I'll talk to my GM about it though.

Can you share what your campaign is like/about? Is it deep in Marvel lore, or more homebrew/open?

[oldskolgmr]

Sure! We do the whole New York setting for our game. The GM has been and is a big Marvel buff, I read a lot from the early 80's to about the mid-90's. I've been a sporadic Marvel reader since.
The other players have read very little to no Marvel comics. Similarly, the GM has played a lot of MSH, and I played some in the late 80's (I have never read the whole Advanced Set though), and the other two player had never played TSR MSH.

We randomly rolled our characters using the TSR MSH Advanced Players book, but all of our encounters are from the Marvel universe. When we generated our PC's the idea was to be less than or equal to Spiderman in power (so we couldn't have ranks higher than Amazing). The GM includes guest heroes and news about other heroes sometimes.
Lately, we've heard about an event in the Spiderman series, and we're fighting Vampires with Blade. We've dealt with A.I.M., an Electric villian (whose name escapes me), and maybe Kraven (I missed a few sessions). No cool artifacts yet (Darkhold, Cosmic Cube, Infinity Stones, etc.).

Our sessions are partially generated by Chat GPT, the GM uses a deck of cards and rolls for random events or decisions sometimes.

[chicagowiz]

> The other players have read very little to no Marvel comics.

I read them way long ago when younger, so I would fall into that category.

[Punkrabbitt]

Sept 18, 2023 10:41:52 GMT -6 oldskolgmr said:

I read a lot from the early 80's to about the mid-90's. I've been a sporadic Marvel reader since.

Why, you've just described me!

[Parzival]

Latest quote from my players: “We’re got three villains, two of us, and bunch of screaming teenage mutants who are sadly neither ninjas or turtles!”

[oldskolgmr]

Oct 9, 2023 21:35:18 GMT -6 Parzival said:

Latest quote from my players: “We’re got three villains, two of us, and bunch of screaming teenage mutants who are sadly neither ninjas or turtles!”

LOL, that sound like fun times! 

[Parzival]

Oct 10, 2023 6:38:05 GMT -6 oldskolgmr said:

Oct 9, 2023 21:35:18 GMT -6 Parzival said:

Latest quote from my players: “We’re got three villains, two of us, and bunch of screaming teenage mutants who are sadly neither ninjas or turtles!”

LOL, that sound like fun times! 

It’s been a blast. The superhero duo are often neither super or successfully heroic, getting laid out or having to hightail it from most of their fights. But in a way, it’s followed the classic comic book story pattern— encounter new villain, get pantsed by said villain, retreat, rethink, figure out what’s going on, then show up with a clever plan to defeat said villain. Rinse and repeat.

Always entertaining for me. A lot of times I’m just winging it, which is not my usual style. But it’s worked so far…

— Howard

[oldskolgmr]

Our group got knocked around by A.I.M. Agents! Just Agents! It was a bit comical, but tons of fun!

Good gaming to you!

--Mike

[Parzival]

It’s been a bit of a problem that both heroes rolled really, really, poorly in char-gen for their Fighting, Strength, and Endurance— three of the key components for health. Neither has a max Health above double digits!
And neither have any armor, although I’ve hinted very strongly at ways they could acquire it; they just haven’t picked up on it. (One’s a High Tech Wonder with Amazing Reason— quite capable of building an armored suit. The other can manipulate DarkForce, which, BtB, can be formed into solid objects, and so could function as a shield. Alas, neither player has considered these possibilities.)

So they’re a little too easy to beat up for standard Marvel villains… or even just punks with guns. Or hubcaps. One got in a fight with a standard goon who tossed hubcaps like Cap’s shield (New York, New York supplement “minor crime” scenario). Should have been able to take the guy out using DarkForce, but instead got knocked silly by aluminum frisbees off a classic Ford Mustang… It was hilarious, though! And now “Captain Hubcap Man” is a quasi-legit hench-villain they’ve run into a couple of times.

[oldskolgmr]

Oct 11, 2023 19:58:22 GMT -6 Parzival said:

It’s been a bit of a problem that both heroes rolled really, really, poorly in char-gen for their Fighting, Strength, and Endurance— three of the key components for health. Neither has a max Health above double digits!
And neither have any armor, although I’ve hinted very strongly at ways they could acquire it; they just haven’t picked up on it. (One’s a High Tech Wonder with Amazing Reason— quite capable of building an armored suit. The other can manipulate DarkForce, which, BtB, can be formed into solid objects, and so could function as a shield. Alas, neither player has considered these possibilities.)

So they’re a little too easy to beat up for standard Marvel villains… or even just punks with guns. Or hubcaps. One got in a fight with a standard goon who tossed hubcaps like Cap’s shield (New York, New York supplement “minor crime” scenario). Should have been able to take the guy out using DarkForce, but instead got knocked silly by aluminum frisbees off a classic Ford Mustang… It was hilarious, though! And now “Captain Hubcap Man” is a quasi-legit hench-villain they’ve run into a couple of times.

...And this wackiness is why I love MSH/FASERIP!   
The most ridiculous things can and do happen! I'm glad FASERIP is still in print, it really shows some of the wonderful aspects of Comics I loved as a kid (as an adult it reminds me not to take myself too seriously)!

[Parzival]

Latest campaign developments: While appearing as their “normal life” alter egos as chaperones for a museum trip by some charity school in Westchester (ahem), our intrepid heroes(?) walked into the middle of a museum heist— and promptly got clobbered (this is really becoming a thing…). But now they’re on the trail of a crazy lady with pet venomous snakes, phantom “people” who appear out of nowhere and hug you unconscious, a guy called “Cobra” who can squeeze his body through almost any hole into any space, and somebody who can instantly teleport the other two in and out of any room. (Why, yes, it’s the Serpent Squad, but they don’t know that…yet.)

Last night began the investigation of the crime, and its strange links to Roxxon Energy Corporation (where one of my heroes works, and the other is the son of the CEO!), and its now defunct (and scandalous) subsidiary, Brand Corporation— the nefarious remnants of which they’ve already had to combat.

I’m pretty much winging this, but they keep providing me with ways to do it (and they don’t even realize it). Plus, they’ve now decided to invent our first ever “original tech” for the game— a lunar rock tracer! (Actually, it’s a molecular chemical trace detector— a “chemsniffer”— for which one of the players came up with a could-have-been-straight-from-a-comic-book rationale on how it could work. It was such good pseudo-science BS that I had to rule it would work!

They’re having a blast, and I am too.

Normally, I try to have adventures well detailed beforehand, but for this one, I’m going with the flow… which seems to me to work out better for MSH anyway.

[oldskolgmr]

Keep up the Play reports Parzival ! They are fun reading! From my time as a GM (Back in the day) I seem to recall "riffing" on what the players talked about (but I haven't done more than a 1 to 1 game in 10+ years).
I really liked the way you opted to allow a Pseudo-science explanation to work, very comic book! 

[Parzival]

Picking the campaign back up tonight after Christmas break (hopefully— I’ve only heard from one player).

Introducing our heroes:
Hero Name: “Anonymous” (seriously. Briefly toyed with “Dark Wind,” but that got dropped.)
Secret Identity: Jun Liu (often mistakenly called “John Lou” or “John Lee” by New Yorkers, because New York, 1985)
Employed by Roxxon Corporation as an executive helicopter pilot.
Basic powers: Has Incredible control of Air— uses this to create winds or alter current winds, though not as a direct attack (as a pilot, he can also use this power to improve the flying characteristics of his craft). Typical DarkForce Generation/Control, and DarkForce Energy “Missile” attack (Excellent damage). Uses the DarkForce to create an instant “costume” completely obscuring his identity when called up. Has used the DarkForce to block light, make a box to hide something in, and even create a key to open a lock (very lucky roll on that one). Is plagued by dreams of the helicopter accident which gave him his powers, where he hears the voices of three Roxxon scientists who disappeared in the accident, pleading for rescue.

Hero Name: Themis (named after the Greek goddess/Titaness of justice and social/familial order; I think this may be intended as ironic.)
Secret Identity: Alexander “Sasha” Jones IV
Wealthy dilettante, only son of Alexander Jones III., CEO of Roxxon Corporation. Famous for getting into minor scandals which revolve around embarrassing (if actually out of context) photos appearing on the interior gossip pages of The Daily Bugle… so not really all that famous. Can’t stand Peter Parker, who took some of those photographs— actually, shots of Spidey in full superhero action with Sasha somehow in the background. “Two photos for the price of one, that’s smart publishing.”— J. Jonah Jameson.
Sasha is in fact a gifted inventor, a born engineer. He has crafted wrist gauntlets that provide him with Amazing control of fire. The gauntlets can generate fire to a limited degree. He can cause fires to increase or decrease in temperature (even snuff them out), and do proximity damage to an Amazing level (not a missile attack). He can even create a wall of fire which can act as Amazing Armor, though it blocks line of sight. While physically unimposing (A:Poor S:Poor), Themis is an expert marksman and a martial artist due to his father’s attempts to “toughen him up.”
Though Sasha lives with his father, the two have a strained relationship. Sasha sees his father as cold and distance and uninterested in him. His father sees Alexander (he almost never calls him ‘Sasha’) as directionless and hedonistic. The tabloid photos don’t help. But the relationship seems to be undergoing a thaw, to Sasha’s
surprise.
Sasha maintains a laboratory and workshop in an abandoned Brand Corporation warehouse on the East River side of Manhattan. The warehouse is owned by Roxxon, but was closed off when their subsidiary Brand was dismantled for various illegal actions by its executives.

While fairly powerful, both heroes are very weak in combat— Health 88 and 24 (!) respectively. However, both do have ways of creating some protection, and Sasha has the resources (Excellent) and Reason (Amazing) to create some much needed armor (which I’ve hinted at). Jun Liu could even use his Air control for short personal flights/jumps (maybe even flight, using DarkForce to create “wings”) and the DarkForce for some armor protection (Typical is at least something!), but neither has quite taken the hints I’ve dropped. Granted, they haven’t been big hints.

Tonight they’ll probably be testing their “moon rock detector”— the most uniquely focused and largely useless detection device ever made, I suspect. We’ll see what happens…