Tenkar's Tavern: Does Margaret Weis Games Produce an RPG That Isn't Licensed?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Does Margaret Weis Games Produce an RPG That Isn't Licensed?

The Marvel Super Heroes RPG launched today from Margaret Weis Games and it got me thinking - does this company put anything that isn't licensed? And how did they get a Marvel Supers when they also have Smallville?

Supernatural is based off the TV series if I'm not wrong, Leverage is based on a movie and they used to have Serenity (Firefly).

Is the Cortex system any good? I really don't hear much, if anything, about it.

As a side note, aren't licensed properties an expensive investment in the RPG field? I thought we were in a shrinking market

3 comments:

JimLotFPFebruary 21, 2012 at 3:24 PM
>>As a side note, aren't licensed properties an expensive investment in the RPG field? I thought we were in a shrinking market

We might be in a shrinking market, but there's still a ton of money moving around it. MWP isn't going broke with their licensed deals, and neither is Cubicle 7 (with Lord of the Rings and Dr Who, hardly small fry).

Small-time indie publishers (which MWP is not) can still move books in the thousands, and the bigger players in the tens of thousands. (not too many hitting six figure sales figures I would imagine though)
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MetalmanFebruary 21, 2012 at 3:42 PM
From what I've seen of their games, MWP is super great at making RPGs that perfectly emulate the feel of their licensed properties. I've read smallville back and forth (never played it though) and it's tailor made to create a drama-rich teen soap opera with super powered beings. The Battlestar Galactica quickstart looked good for this too.
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HiggipediaFebruary 21, 2012 at 5:50 PM
I found it interesting that the Smallville RPG is licensed to a different company than the DC Adventures RPG. Warner Brothers clearly doesn't consider Smallville a "comic book" property, despite its origins.
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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Does Margaret Weis Games Produce an RPG That Isn't Licensed?

3 comments:

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