rigney@uokvax.UUCP (11/21/83)
#R:lanl-a:-378800:uokvax:2400016:000:1669 uokvax!rigney Nov 18 18:13:00 1983 I own and have played Superhero 2044, Supergame, Villians & Vigilantes (BOTH editions, the second is much better), and none of these even begin to compare with Champions. I've heard of or played nearly every other SHRPG on the market, and these are even less of a match. The only SHRPG anywhere near Champions is Chaosium's Superworld, which I've heard good things about but have yet to read. Personally, I can recommend Champions without reservations. It simulates the comic book atmosphere very well, and roleplaying characters in it is very easy and natural. Making up characters, which is a chore in some complex systems, is a real pleasure in Champions. There is no randomness (dice-rolling) in character creation, yet there are so many powers, skills, and attributes that no two characters need be the same. At the same time character creation is simple in concept. No endless lists of tables and charts, as in C&S or Ysgarth. In fact, I frequently design characters without even having the rule book with me, and can even run the game without the rulebook, since the combat and other systems are very easy to remember and use. As well, the character sheets have a place for a sketch of the character, which adds immensely to the fun. And for those unable to draw (I'm one), they have character outlines (8 different) which allow even the most inept artists (such as myself) to produce pleasing costumes. If you have any other questions I'd be glad to answer them, and if anyone out there would like to talk about Superworld I'd be interested in hearing about it. Carl ..!ctvax!uokvax!rigney
rigney@uokvax.UUCP (11/25/83)
#R:lanl-a:-378800:uokvax:2400018:000:1625 uokvax!rigney Nov 23 05:44:00 1983 Champions tends to have a very low combat-time to real-time ratio; on the other hand, as in the comics, many battles are over very quickly. In concrete terms, our average battles are 30 seconds in game time, with the shortest unit of action being the second, and with 3-4 players running 2 characters, and me running 4-12 villians, can take 4 hours to complete, with never a dull moment. We are quite experienced, but the game moved along just as fast with minimal experience, as the combat system is *very* easy to learn and use. Time required to create characters is largely a function of how complicated and clearcut the character is - I've spent hours on a single charcter; I've also produced a character in under 5 minutes when inspiration struck. Certain types of characters can slow the game if they require a great deal of book-keeping to reflect their fluctuating state; of course, you can just avoid these (admittedly pathological) cases. With one character per player play would go much faster, since there would be less shuffling of personality and mind-set; but we like having two characters each so if one gets knocked out of the fight the player needn't sit out. And we like Battle Royals, so we tend to draw out fights anyway to savor the utter annihilation of our worthless adversaries - uh, sorry about that, I got carried away. After seeing Champions played for 5 minutes I ran right out and bought a copy, I still feel that way about it. But Superworld sounds just as good. If you do buy Champions, and would like to trade characters, let me know - I'm always interested in other people's heroes.