Superhero Team Up Issue No. 1

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Tonight I trotted out Prowlers & Paragons for my kids to run them through a quick introductory session.  It worked out well, although the dice were all over the place.  Mac played Kroxigor, a monstrous reptile-man while Macy played Menagerie, a shape-shifter.

Kroxigor (illustration from Arkhamverse)
Kroxigor was one of the passengers on TransGlobal flight 246 which was attacked by the mysterious chemical gas.  Menagerie was actually a dog in the hold of the plane, now able to turn into a human.  Another passenger, a petty criminal, also gained powers which he used to burgle the nightclub where Kroxigor (prior to his transformation) was working as a bouncer.  In trying to stop the burglar, Kroxigor turned into his reptilian form and with Menagerie's help managed to recover the money, even though the burglar escaped using his elongating powers.

art by Phil Cho
Need answers about what has happened, Krox and Menagerie seek out Dr. Tom Gilcrest, the scientist who investigated the initial attack and a employee of Equinox Labs.  While meeting Dr. Gilcrest, the lab is attacked by Kesarex, a mysterious supervillain who intimated that he was not from Earth.  As the two heroes battled Kesarex's Shadow Warriors, Kesarex downloaded data from the lab's computers regarding the flight's passengers and teleported away.

Kesarex, illustration by Phil Cho
The game was such a huge hit that Mac immediately wanted to know when I would be running the game with the group.



Comments

  1. Adam DicksteinDecember 31, 2015 at 6:49 AM

    "Mac immediately wanted to know when I would be running the game with the group."

    Well there is no better gage, or form of praise than that. :)

    I've read through the game book, and while a nice little system, it doesn't really stand out as doing anything special I can't already do with another Supers game.

    What makes it work for you? Why this and not another?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WQRobbDecember 31, 2015 at 7:26 AM

      P&P isn't the most innovative supers RPG on the planet, but it seems to hit a good balance for me and addresses a couple of issues I have with some other RPG's while keeping what I like.

      It's low crunch without become completely abstract.
      There's Resolve, which is basically Determination from ICONS, so there's a point to Flaws other than just providing more points at PC construction.
      There's PC balance.
      There's a rules mechanic that allows a group of medium-powered PC's to overcome a uber-powered solo villain, much like in Silver Age Sentinels.
      The basic rules are free.
      It's a supers game, and at the end of the day if I want to run a supers campaign (and who doesn't?) I needed to pick a system and run with it. It feels a bit like MHR, which I liked, while resolving a lot of the problems I had with MHR.

      Delete
    2. WQRobbDecember 31, 2015 at 7:31 AM

      The thing that made me really happy, though, was how my two players embraced the tropes of the genre. Mac roleplayed out the shock and dismay of Kroxigor's transformation right out of the Ben Grimm playbook. Macy is playing Menagerie as the Outsider, someone with only a vague notion of human culture and interaction. I just hope that I can continue to keep the vibe where I would like it to be.

      Delete

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