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
The Fiction Becomes the System for Advancement; Or, Something Needs to be
Heavy
-
In the comments on a recent entry, the subject of rules-lite games and
level advancement came up. It has always been my position that problems
with rules...
3 hours ago
>>As a side note, aren't licensed properties an expensive investment in the RPG field? I thought we were in a shrinking market
ReplyDeleteWe 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)
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDelete