What I’ve Been Playing Lately
Lately, I’ve been playing a lot of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying by Cam Banks and Margaret Weis Productions. I’m running a twice-monthly, Friday-night MHR game set during the American Revolution. I run a “World without Heroes” mini-campaign for several of my 5th-grade students as an on-campus extracurricular activity. Also, I’ve run MHR one-on-one for my son Christopher.
MHR is an interesting game system. The presentation of the rules in the basic book (linked above) seems a bit disorganized to me, but the disparate pieces start to come together in actual play (which is always the best way to learn a game). The system focuses on narrative elements to determine how actions are resolved. The system is incredibly versatile, and there are oodles of reviews out there for those interested.
For those interested, here are several different MHR datafiles, most of them for the Watcher:
Batroc’s Brigade: My version of Batroc’s Brigade includes Batroc the Leaper (of course), Porcupine, and Whirlwind. My son Christopher’s hero Kanik faced the Brigade in a solo adventure. Of the three, only Batroc proved to be anything approaching a real threat. Porcupine and Whirlwind were more of a nuisance factor. In hindsight, I dropped Batroc to Combat Expert, and changed his Savate Prowess SFX to permitting stepping up or doubling Combat Expert. These changes aren’t reflected in the linked PDF.
The Cricket: At school where I teach, I facilitate Ludi Fabularum, a story game club. The Cricket is one of the heroes run by one of the 5th graders who participate in the club.
Deadly Nightshade: My son’s MHR hero Kanik found out the hard way that an acquaintance is really a super-villain.
The Enforcers: Here’s my version of the original Enforcers, including the Big Man, Fancy Dan, Montana, and the Ox.
Fafnir the Dragon: Thor’s city-smashing villain is ready for action. Use with care.
The League of Terror: I put together a horror-themed group of villains that includes Black Talon, the Grim Reaper, Nekra, the Swarm, and Death-Stalker.
Mister Hyde: I retooled Marvel’s Mister Hyde for use against Kanik. The soon-to-be-run adventure will also include the full unveiling of Deadly Nightshade.
The Ratcatcher: Way back when I introduced Christopher to Mutants & Masterminds, he made up his own hero called Kanik, who faced the Ratcatcher in his first adventure. The Ratcatcher eluded capture that time. When we converted Kanik to MHR, we had to bring the Ratcatcher back for a rematch. Kanik narrowly defeated the villain, who now sits in custody, nursing a new grudge.
The Sinister Six and the Octobots: For the aforementioned story game club at my school, we’re playing MHR. The characters are all rookies in a world without heroes. New York City has been conquered by the Sinister Six, which includes Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, the Vulture, and Mysterio.
