A few months ago,
folks were talking about doing a forum Play-by-Post superhero tabletop rpg.
I will confess to being a rookie when it comes to playing as a tabletop GM, but it's struck me as something I'd really like to do with you guys here since it was mentioned. Before I get to committed to getting started, I wanted to find out who would be interested.
The general jig is: you would design your characters, I would describe the scenario for your characters and you may solve it (or avoid it) in whatever way you see fit. We'll be writing in short prose of a paragraph or two per post. Plots will be very '70s and '80s comics inspired - quite grounded and traditional, though with room for moral or character-driven decisions. I won't stop it from getting silly if people have unusual ideas how to solve problems, but I will also encourage and facilitate decent character development.
I would most likely use
Mutants & Masterminds, with some creative liberties for the sake of smoothness simplification. It should be a simple enough system that uses a single 1d20 roll for most things. When setting up the game, I will make the system nice and clear so you know how to describe your actions. Once your character sheet is set up, I can handle most of the mechanics myself.
If we do set up, I would send character creation information to anyone who is interested by private message. We'll set up your character together. I will also put more game mechanic information on the opening post of the game so that anyone willing to join can feel confident that they know what is going on.
I could also use any advice from folks who have used this, particularly in terms of keeping things balanced between streamlined and mechanically thorough.
I expect a campaign could run for a couple of months at least. I can try and create openings for people to join midway, while also being adaptive if people are unable to commit. I will also add features that prevent one character from solving everything while also ushering things along if other players are committed elsewhere for an extended time.
Edit: On Character Creation
Setting up a Mutants and Masterminds Character can be a bit tough if you've not tried it before. I won't be using all of the features available, and others I will simplify it as much as the game allows. At the start of the game, we'll be creating characters with 120 character points
(CP) to spend. This would be a less-than-average, street-fighting hero with room to improve.
Characters are broken up into:
Abilities What you might think of as Stats. This includes core attributes as well as defensive attributes. Core abilities cost 2 character points. Defensive abilities cost 1.
Skills This is a list of common, non-power related, situational tasks that the character can undertake. This includes things like acrobatics, persuasion and knowledge. There is a set list of skills, from which you pick and choose as appropriate. Every 2 ranks you use for skills cost 1 character point.
Advantages Passive abilities that can help you out in various situations. Think Freedom Force's Attributes. Each rank in an advantage costs 1 character point. The OP of the game itself will include a list of these. They mostly serve to give your character some flavour or flesh out their origin into gameplay, hence the cheapness.
Powers Powers in M&M are a lot like creating powers in Freedom Force. They are made from components called Effects. A power may have multiple effects. Each effect is modified by extras and flaws. When combined, the power will have a certain cost per rank. In addition, you can add free descriptors to powers that give it a bit of personality and variation.
One thing I'm going to do to simplify things is include a character's permanent weaponry or equipment as a Power, in the same way it would be done in Freedom Force. This is mainly for my sanity so that I don't have to consult an equipment database. There is an advantage called 'Equipment', into which you can add consumables such as smoke grenades.The process of setting up a character will be something like:
You'll send me a description of your character and some idea of the powers at their disposal, including the limitations of those powers. I'll do my best to turn those powers into the format for Mutants & Masterminds, along with the cost per rank of the power. You may only end up having three or four powers, but they are versatile.
I'll also include a recommendation for skills and advantages and a blank character sheet with the powers included. You can then assign your 120 character points as you see fit.
Poll