Crime Fighter RPG, another superheroic roleplaying game for the RPG Lab crowd

Submitted by ErrinF on Thu, 2007-09-06 15:19. Feedback | Playtesting

So it turns out that Jeff Moore's "continually evolved ideas" blog continually evolved some of my ideas! Featured in Jeff's blog was his excellent superhero RPG called 'Supers Brawl' as well as a cool discussion of past superhero RPGs, which inspired me to work on a couple recent ideas I had for some superhero RPGs of my own.

While I started out working on a game called 'Zenith Supers RPG', I instead dug up a very recent idea I had to make a superheroic RPG along similar lines to the Detective Comics featuring Batman, namely that there would be no super powers, just trained individuals with super gadgetry. Originally conceived as a solo RPG e-book I would post at RPG Lab, my new game Crime Fighter RPG instead has become a traditional group RPG which I hope to have a solo variant for in the near future. I'll also finish Zenith Supers at some point most likely near the end of the year.

Crime Fighter RPG is available for download in pdf form via this blog. To go along with the rulebook pdf, there is a character sheet pdf. Additionally, I created a supplemental sourcebook for the game called 'Scofflaws & Scoundrels'. One thing I always liked about the classic superhero RPGs Champions and Villains & Vigilantes was that they put out sourcebooks filled with ready made supervillains... Champions had their Enemies books and V&V had it's Most Wanted books. I feel Scofflaws & Scoundrels serves that purpose perfectly for Crime Fighter RPG, though it does not have as many characters or go into as great detail as the Enemies and Most Wanted sourcebooks did. I have also added The Awful Eight now as well as The Worst Of The Worst, both being additional sourcebooks of ready made villains.

One interesting side note of creating this game was that I could not find any good superheroic clipart to use, but then I lucked out and found the Hero Machine online. For those not familiar with it, the Hero Machine is a program for designing superheroic art, specifically that of 'drawing' superheroic figures. It can be downloaded as well as used online over the internet. Check out the artwork in Crime Fighter RPG (especially in the Scofflaws & Scoundrels supplement) to see just how cool the Hero Machine is. You can then check it out for yourself online by using this link. If you like the Hero Machine program, the current version can be bought online, and it's older version is available for free download as well. Do check it out!

Thanks to the Hero Machine, Jeff Moore, and the RPG Lab crowd for inspiring me to make Crime Fighter RPG over the Labor Day weekend. Please download my new superheroic RPG and give it a try. I'd appreciate any feedback, and am curious to see how this game is received by the RPG Labbers. From watching the evolution of Supers Brawl, I have seen what a tremendous advantage it is to vet newly created games to the people here at RPG Lab. I look forward to hearing how Crime Fighter RPG looks in the eyes of others, and to get constructive feedback as to how to improve the game, or to just leave it as is if that's the general consensus. Enjoy!

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So has anybody got to check out the Hero Machine?

Submitted by ErrinF on Sat, 2007-09-08 13:45.

One thing missing from the conversation thus far is any mention of the Hero Machine. Anybody else get to check it out? You can use it online, which is how I created all the artwork for Crime Fighter RPG and it's sourcebooks. It's quite awesome, and can creat fantasy characters as well as science fiction characters. I would highly recommend putting it to use if you have a RPG that might be right for such artwork.

For those interested, the Hero Machine can be reached via this link. When you get to the page the link leads to, I believe you click on 'check it out today' to use the online Hero Machine. Enjoy!

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

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Enter The Awful Eight

Submitted by ErrinF on Sat, 2007-09-08 12:21.

So I've created and added another sourcebook for Crime Fighter RPG. It's called The Awful Eight, and contains a group of eight super criminals that work together as a group commonly, but can also be encountered individually. There are no Non-Player Crime Fighters in The Awful Eight sourcebook, just Non-Player Criminals. Some of the NPCs have been given Experience Rewards to make them slightly tougher than beginning level Player Crime Fighters. Like Scofflaws & Scoundrels, NPC profiles as well as suggested scenarios are included in The Awful Eight sourcebook.

Though I was going to make another sourcebook of eight NPCFs as a sort of opposite to The Awful Eight, I decided not to, at least for the time being. Since the game is mainly about players creating their own Crime Fighters, I decided it would better not to provide such a sourcebook. The four NPCFs in Scofflaws & Scoundrels seem like enough for the time being. I suppose if there was some interest in me making a sourcebook for a supergroup of eight heroes, I could do that, but for now I am fine with the two sourcebooks as the only source material for the game.

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

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Worst Of The Worst

Submitted by ErrinF on Wed, 2007-09-12 12:18.

I decided that the one final component Crime Fighter RPG needed was a sourcebook of more advanced villains, or, in Crime Fighter RPG lingo, Non-Player Criminals with Experience Rewards. So I made Worst Of The Worst, and was able to use up a little more of the Hero Machine's artistic possibilities to create eight new Non-Player Criminals for the Player Crime Fighters to spar with.

That means Scofflaws & Scoundrels provides beginning level Non-Player Crime Fighters and Non-Player Criminals, The Awful Eight provides a supergroup of NPCs at beginning and intermediate level, and Worst Of The Worst provides NPCs of the intermediate and advanced level. I am quite sure that will be it for now, though I do still intend to make solo variant sourcebooks which include solo adventures for a single Player Crime Fighter. The various solo sourcebooks will be based off the villains in the various sourcebooks I've already made. The normal sourcebooks and solo sourcebooks are used together to create a solo variant for the game which will most likely be in ebook form here at RPG Lab. I may even just make solo adventures rather than solo sourcebooks.

Anyway, if you are into this RPG, check out Worst Of The Worst, now available for download.

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

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A neat, simple mechanic.

Submitted by ravensron on Thu, 2007-09-06 17:18.

A neat, simple mechanic. While I understand how and why all of the characteristics and contingency resolution use are abstract concepts (E.g. "Attack" rather than "Strength" or "Dexterity"), it might make it easier if you added a page or two of examples (perhaps taken from your sourcebook) as to what sorts of characteristics, skills or gadgets might be used for the various concepts (E.g. "Nightvision" is a +1 Range Attack, "Nightvision Goggles" is a +1 Range Attack Augment). By the way, the way you describe the different combat ranges is so much as was described a very strange commercially-published science-fiction rpg called "HOL" which was worth the price of admission just for being funny. I think the idea of "range bands" as well as the basic contingency resolution of "8+ on 2D6 originally came from "Traveller."

Characters have a limited number of Wounds, so I can see why it needs to be relatively difficult for them to get hurt; and that is in keeping with superheroic combat, lots of thunder and property damage and knockback but usually not so much blood. But you've got four distinct rolls for inflicting a Wound and considering there is limited modifications to the dice rolls there's a pretty good chance any given attack fails/is evaded/is resisted/doesn't overcome resilience. Maybe allow more modfications, and/or put the modifications from the 2nd and 4th rolls into the 1st and 3rd. That is, the Attack Roll is modified by defender's Evade modifications, so there is no Evade Roll; similarly the Resistance Roll is modified by the Resilience modifications, so there is no Resilience Roll.

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First blood is important in the Crime Fighter RPG combat system

Submitted by ErrinF on Thu, 2007-09-06 18:04.

It is indeed a challenge to wound a character in Crime Fighter RPG, but that is meant by design. I pondered making Resistance and Resilience into one, but realized that I liked it as is. Even if it makes wounding others more difficult, I think the three stages of avoiding a hit are reasonable... you can evade a hit, you can have a hit bounce off you, or you can take the hit but be able to deal with it. That seemed very apropos to me, so I stuck with it.

To me, what balances the difficulty of wounding others is that you receive a negative modifier to all rolls depending on how many Wounds you have. Once first blood is made, it becomes easier to wound the wounded character even more. Also, clever assignment of Oppose gadgets can weaken an opponent's chances of avoiding a Wound. Overall, my point in the design of Wounds was that super types can take a lot of punishment, and it is only the major blows that count. These are Wounds after all, and not just hit points.

I probably mulled over this aspect of the combat system more than any other aspect in this game. In the end, I decided I like it as is, even if there are indeed four different hoops to jump through to wound somebody in Crime Fighter RPG. I truly believe that wounding somebody in combat in Crime Fighter is not all that improbable, and will crop up during gameplay a lot more than some might suspect.

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

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Fantastic!

Submitted by Jeff Moore on Fri, 2007-09-07 08:25.

This looks Fantastic! It always amazes me how quickly you pull together these massive projects. You have got to be the most prolific game designer submitting things here at RPG-Lab. This is really wonderful stuff!!

Jeff Moore
http://www.1km1kt.net/Jeff-Moore.htm

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Great work...

Submitted by Jeff Moore on Sat, 2007-09-08 22:23.

Character creation is clean, easy and fast... the task resolution is simplicity itself. This game is good.

You need at least a page right up front in the rules that talks about Motifs. This could help get players into the "feel" of the game I think.

I share some previous concerns regarding the 4 rolls to damage some one... I think even just eliminating one... (resist and resilience seem redundant) could help.

Maybe make resilience work something like FATE points... the skill roll only happens after the Hero has fallen in combat and not before ... and it is used as a means to "cheat" death... (just an idea.)

I could see myself playing this so easily... (Oh, and I was rolling in the floor as I read the description of "Mr. 420" ... awesome!!)

Jeff Moore
http://www.1km1kt.net/Jeff-Moore.htm

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We have a good group here at RPG Lab

Submitted by ErrinF on Fri, 2007-09-07 14:36.

It is quite easy for me to churn out these RPGs when I encounter all the cool games and designers here, Jeff, especially some of the many and varied discussions we have about design, mechanics, and other RPG-related talk. The same goes for the 1km1kt crowd, of which many of us are part of too.

For instance, Crime Fighter RPG was a simple concept I thought of about a month ago. I wrote it down on a piece of paper with just a rough picture of 7 combat skills, 7 detective skills, and gadgets that could aid or obstruct the use of said skills. But I never developed it further, and in fact lost the piece of paper I wrote it down on.

Then you posted your game Supers Brawl along with it's accompanying blog here. Besides the superb quality of Supers Brawl (of which I was semi-familiar with anyway thanks to your earlier version of it in your excellent four-in-one Brawl game), there was a discussion about superhero RPGs, and I got to reminisce about some of my favorite ones: Champions and Villains & Vigilantes. That gave me the inspiration to make a simple superhero RPG myself, and I knew I had a couple ideas on the backburner anyway. First I tried making my game Zenith Supers but then I realized I wanted that to be a little more massive than originally intended, so then I decided to give the Crime Fighter concept a try. What really got the ball rolling was finding the Hero Machine program. Being able to make such cool clipart really moved things forward at a rapid pace. Making the sourcebook while making the rulebook helped a lot too. I actually don't consider Crime Fighter RPG to be all that massive, but I suppose it is a pretty good size for a game made in a few day's span. Being prolific is easy with the right inspiration.

Thanks for the compliments, Jeff, and I truly hope you enjoy Crime Fighter. If you get a chance to give any feedback after reading it and/or playtesting it, that would be cool.

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

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I love Batman!

Submitted by Relentless96 on Fri, 2007-09-07 20:47.

I was always a fan of super heroes that were really normal people. Batman, Punisher, The Phantom, these were some of my favourites. Of course, you have the insight to do a RPG for exactly this kind of genre!

I have held back on my comments so far as I was trying to digest how your game works before commenting. What I like about your game is the use of one standard roll that has a average probability. This is affected by a simple +1, +2, -1, or -2, depending on characters Skills or Gadgets. I think this is great, as it gives a level playing field of probability, which gives the game a balanced feel.

The best thing you did was the expansion with sample heroes and villians. This sort of material can help establish a "feel" for your game. I was already caught up in it by the time I hit the villians, so it was a great move.

I think this is a perfect counterweight to Jeff Moores Super Brawl, as it covers the entire spectrum of comics! This is a great piece of work, you should be very pleased with it!

http://www.1km1kt.net/Aaron-White.htm

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I am very pleased with this game

Submitted by ErrinF on Sat, 2007-09-08 12:34.

It ended up accomplishing exactly what I wanted in a superhero detective game, and then some. Thanks to the inspiration here and thanks to the Hero Machine, I was able to make a very cool RPG and have a great time doing it.

Glad you liked the Scofflaws & Scoundrels sourcebook, and I have just added a new sourcebook called The Awful Eight. Both sourcebooks compliment the game beautifully, and I really like the villains and heroes I ended up making via the Hero Machine. With both sourcebooks, I have been able to give examples of a wide array of ways to design a character for Crime Fighter RPG. I'm pretty sure it has all it needs for now, though I do intend to make a solo variant down the road. Right now, I think I need to step back from the game and see what happens.

I agree that my new superhero RPG compliments Jeff's new superhero RPG quite well. I didn't quite intend it, but it is interesting how his covers an all-out super brawl, while mine has brawling but is more about a detective-type of superhero. Funny how things work out, as the 'counterweight' effect was never intended.

Anyway, thanks for the compliments. I should point out one thing, though... +3 and -3 are a factor in Crime Fighter RPG, not just +2, +1, -1, and -2. You probably already knew this, but I just wanted to clarify in case you thought the "can't go above +3 or below -3" rule included +3 or -3 as being prohibited. It is +4 or -4 (and beyond) that are prohibited. Thought I'd mention that before signing off.

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

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He's my hero too

Submitted by ravensron on Fri, 2007-09-07 10:55.

But then you all are so amazing.

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The feeling's mutual

Submitted by ErrinF on Fri, 2007-09-07 14:54.

Thanks, Ron. I always appreciate your input on my games. You consistently give me feedback that is along the same lines of how I would view my own games. It's quite helpful to get constructive criticism that confirms some of the decisions I have made while making a certain game.

I've actually been thinking about some of your other points concerning Crime Fighter, such as perhaps providing a list of what type of weapons/items might be represented by what type of gadgets. I've thought about it and decided that I like to have the sourcebook have indirect examples of such a list. I would prefer not to have a straightforward list, as I want the Crime Master and Player Crime Fighters to do their own defining when they play the game. What I have decided to do is put forth another sourcebook or two. They will not go into direct detail of what gadgets equate to what weapons, but will be like Scofflaws & Scoundrels in that they will be short and sweet examples of gadgetry and skills being combined to represent weapon/item use. In order to keep the clipart a certain size in these sourcebooks, I have to keep the profiles pretty short. I am working on a sourcebook now called The Awful Eight, which will be about a group of eight Non-Player Criminals, then I'll probably make a sourcebook about eight Non-Player Crime Fighters. Once the sourcebooks are done (doubt it will take long thanks to the Hero Machine), I'll put out a solo adventure or two that can be used in conjunction with certain sourcebooks.

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

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