Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watmath.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!jagardner
From: jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: Super Hero Role Playing Games
Message-ID: <1436@watmath.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 28-Feb-86 16:59:02 EST
Article-I.D.: watmath.1436
Posted: Fri Feb 28 16:59:02 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Mar-86 03:57:58 EST
References: <9319@ritcv.UUCP> <1157@watmath.UUCP> <206@ulowell.UUCP> <2560@genat.UUCP> <9396@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Reply-To: jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner)
Distribution: na
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 56

In article <9396@ucla-cs.ARPA> cs111olg@ucla-cs.UUCP (Oleg Kiselev (the student incarnation)) writes:
>Champions and Golden Age of Champions are compatible with Justice, Inc.
>and Danger International (a 30's cops and robbers and James Bond-type
>games respectively). Hero Games claims ALL their games are compatible
>includins Fantasy Hero. Anybody tried to mix fantasy with SF and SH?
>Any comments?

Yes, they are compatible and yes, we have tried it.  The real trick
is that superheroes really are grossly more impressive than normals,
even normals who know magic.  In terms of the Hero Games system, your
average superhero starts at about 250 points while Justice Inc.,
Fantasy Hero, and Danger International characters start at about 100
points.  JI, FH, and DI characters have a bit of an edge, because they
get conventional weapons free, but superheroes are usually twice as
fast, a minimum of eight times as strong (on average), and equipped
with fancy powers like built-in energy blasts or flight or the ability
to turn desolid.  Every superhero worth his/her salt has some way of
laughing off direct gunfire (either being dextrous enough to avoid
it or tough enough to take it).  Of course, this is not true of anyone
with a claim of being normal.  Sure, Danger International lets you
buy bulletproof vests, but they're bulky and obvious under most
circumstances; they slow you down, and they encourage head shots.

Given this reality, the GM must be very careful in mixing normal
player characters with superheroes.  In any fight where a superhero
works up a sweat, a normal is in real trouble (unless equipped with
Champions style force fields or armour).  In any fight that a normal
can handle, a superhero can clean up with one hand behind his cape.
This means that the GM has to figure out (a) how to equalize the
fight, or (b) how to run separate fights, one for supers and one
for normals.  This takes a certain amount of ingenuity...not to
set up the situation, but to make sure that both the supers and
the normals voluntarily go where they're supposed to.  What kind of
normal character would willingly leave the protection of a superhero
when he knows there are nasties around?  And if it is obvious they
have to split up, why not split up into groups that have some supers
and some normals?

Of course, fighting isn't everything, and if the scenario can be run
without combat, the situation is more balanced.  Normal characters
tend to have more skills than supers, so they are better investigators.
They also fit in better with everyday people, they have fewer
psychological or physical quirks, and they're better adjusted socially.
Sure, they may not be able to see through walls or break through doors,
but they can usually sneak around the corner quietly or pick the lock.
A group of really good players can work very well together.  For those
who can play more than one character at once, giving everyone a super
and normal can be useful.

On the whole, however, a more homogeneous party works better in the
long run.  We've had fun with mixing genres once in a while, but I
don't think it would work for extended periods.  Has anyone out
there tried it?

			Jim Gardner, University of Waterloo