Glad you like Supers & Brawlers, Jeff. I had fun making it, feel it came out real cool, and have always enjoyed your games, so it was truly my pleasure.
Some interesting things I noticed about Supers & Brawlers after the fact...
For one, there is the Bounceback versus Bounce Back thing. During my vacation, I had time to fully peruse Supers-Brawl and 'playtest' how the created characters in Supers & Brawlers fit in (I had no dice handy, so the playtesting was more of comparing odds and such... a 'read only' playtest, if you will). The first thing I noticed was that I had forgotten that you had provided sample characters, and that there was one named Bounce Back (two words) with stretching powers. I had made a S&B character named Bounceback (one word) that was a conceptual rehash of an old Champions villain I use to have called Rebound with a heightened healing metabolism. I guess the Bounceback name came to me subliminally via the earlier reading of your Bounce Back character. I suppose both characters exist in the world of Supers-Brawl, and are probably rivals.
I also had some mixed feelings on how relatively weak my beginning level characters were. Most all Powers in Supers-Brawl come with a cost at the start. I don't mean a cost in points, but in limitations. Activated and Boost Powers only work 1/6th of the time for a new character, and Sustained Powers often lead to exhaustion. At first, I didn't like how much the odds are stacked against new characters, that their Powers should be much more reliable if they are truly Powers. But then I kind of liked the amateur superbeings having to earn the mastery of their Powers over the course of brawls, and that winners and losers gained from a brawl, thereby creating a constant evolution that allows for much more reliable use of Powers. It also creates a campaign feel even if being played as a miniatures combat game.
One thing I did wonder about the reliability factor, though, is that of the Initiative Boost. It is a consistent +2 to Initiative with a 1 in 6 chance of being +4 to Initiative for a new character. I realize that this is because Initiative does not have to deal with 2d6 odds like the other Boosts do, but it still seems to be incongruent with other Boosts. Perhaps the rationale is that Initiative is not as important as the other Values used in Supers-Brawl, but I think it kind of is equal to all other factors/Values. In my opinion, Initiative Boost should be a +2 only if the 1 in 6 is rolled, and that there should be no +4 or consistent +2. Initiative Boost would then have to be mastered like any other Boost Power to reap it's reward... which is +2 using d6 scale, whereas most other Boost Powers are +2 using 2d6 scale. I hope that makes sense.
As for a worldbook, that does sound like an interesting proposal, but what would it entail exactly? I kind of like how the Supers & Brawlers have not been assigned as heroes or villains, but I suppose they could be given more detailed roles if I were to make a worldbook that was more tailored to the RPG side of Supers-Brawl rather then it's miniatures game version. I could perhaps include scenarios/adventures as well. Then again, S&B might work well as is in it's amorphous state. I guess it kind of depends on what you are aiming for.
Back from vacation
Glad you like Supers & Brawlers, Jeff. I had fun making it, feel it came out real cool, and have always enjoyed your games, so it was truly my pleasure.
Some interesting things I noticed about Supers & Brawlers after the fact...
For one, there is the Bounceback versus Bounce Back thing. During my vacation, I had time to fully peruse Supers-Brawl and 'playtest' how the created characters in Supers & Brawlers fit in (I had no dice handy, so the playtesting was more of comparing odds and such... a 'read only' playtest, if you will). The first thing I noticed was that I had forgotten that you had provided sample characters, and that there was one named Bounce Back (two words) with stretching powers. I had made a S&B character named Bounceback (one word) that was a conceptual rehash of an old Champions villain I use to have called Rebound with a heightened healing metabolism. I guess the Bounceback name came to me subliminally via the earlier reading of your Bounce Back character. I suppose both characters exist in the world of Supers-Brawl, and are probably rivals.
I also had some mixed feelings on how relatively weak my beginning level characters were. Most all Powers in Supers-Brawl come with a cost at the start. I don't mean a cost in points, but in limitations. Activated and Boost Powers only work 1/6th of the time for a new character, and Sustained Powers often lead to exhaustion. At first, I didn't like how much the odds are stacked against new characters, that their Powers should be much more reliable if they are truly Powers. But then I kind of liked the amateur superbeings having to earn the mastery of their Powers over the course of brawls, and that winners and losers gained from a brawl, thereby creating a constant evolution that allows for much more reliable use of Powers. It also creates a campaign feel even if being played as a miniatures combat game.
One thing I did wonder about the reliability factor, though, is that of the Initiative Boost. It is a consistent +2 to Initiative with a 1 in 6 chance of being +4 to Initiative for a new character. I realize that this is because Initiative does not have to deal with 2d6 odds like the other Boosts do, but it still seems to be incongruent with other Boosts. Perhaps the rationale is that Initiative is not as important as the other Values used in Supers-Brawl, but I think it kind of is equal to all other factors/Values. In my opinion, Initiative Boost should be a +2 only if the 1 in 6 is rolled, and that there should be no +4 or consistent +2. Initiative Boost would then have to be mastered like any other Boost Power to reap it's reward... which is +2 using d6 scale, whereas most other Boost Powers are +2 using 2d6 scale. I hope that makes sense.
As for a worldbook, that does sound like an interesting proposal, but what would it entail exactly? I kind of like how the Supers & Brawlers have not been assigned as heroes or villains, but I suppose they could be given more detailed roles if I were to make a worldbook that was more tailored to the RPG side of Supers-Brawl rather then it's miniatures game version. I could perhaps include scenarios/adventures as well. Then again, S&B might work well as is in it's amorphous state. I guess it kind of depends on what you are aiming for.
Peace, Errin : )
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