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Superpowers game?

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 11:13
Jay103
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Does anyone know of some games that are along the lines of fights between super-powered beings? Like, I'm Superman and you're Batman and we have some sort of combat scenario? Obviously doesn't have to be DC-branded. I'm just looking for some games where you have a set of characters you can play and their powers differ significantly..

Obviously I'm trying to work up a new game design that's sort of like that :)

I'm thinking about some sort of game mat for each character type, so they could all be significantly different, or otherwise just two higher-quality game mats with blank spaces and you put cards there that vary for each character type...

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 11:44
#1
let-off studios
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A Couple Suggestions

Not sure if you're seeking a miniatures game format, but these most-commonly come to mind when you mention dueling superheroes. Well, beyond superhero RPGs, I guess.

  • HeroScape (I played this a lot in my late 20s and early 30's and found it to be just the right mix for me. It may be hard to find the components nowadays.)
  • Hero Clix
  • Mordheim
    • (squad-based combat in a Warhammer universe)
  • Tannhauser (underrated alt-WW2 skirmish game)
  • King of Tokyo/New York (depending on how streamlined a game you want)
  • Sentinels of the Multiverse (for a co-op format)
  • Smash City (I've not played this but I saw it on the shelf just yesterday at a FLGS and it came to mind now)

Hope these are useful. :)

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 13:28
#2
apeloverage
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I think more or less any

I think more or less any fantasy or science-fiction themed game about combat would be useful.

The mechanics of a spaceship with a cloaking device are probably more or less transferable to an invisible superhero.

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 13:29
#3
questccg
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You could also check out ...

Upper Deck's Vs. System: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vs._System

This is all about "superheroes" and special abilities on cards too. The cards released were from both Marvel and DC universes.

There is a Nintendo DS game made in 2007 for the Vs. System.

You can also Google: "Marvel Trading Card Game" which only had Marvel Origins up to the Avengers.

If you want the ROM send me a PM with an e-mail and I can send the ZIP. You could also download a DS emulator to try out the game (from "EmuParadise").

Just let me know.

Note #1: If you want some card examples only, Google "vs system cards" and choose the Images Tab. That will give you a plethora of cards from the game. Just be aware that cards on DeviantArt and such are Fan-created cards and NOT real!

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 14:07
#4
Jay103
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I knew I was posting this in

I knew I was posting this in the right place :)

To clarify a little more, I'm thinking about one character dueling another character, and maybe Superman can fly, run quickly, use heat vision, and be super-strong, while Batman has high agility, a batarang, stun grenades, and body armor, while Aquaman can, um, talk to fish. Like that :)

There might or might not be a 2D terrain map you're fighting in.. I haven't got that far.

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 15:19
#5
let-off studios
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Epic PvP

That being the case, I also suggest you have a look at Epic PvP:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/168770/epic-pvp-fantasy

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 15:55
#6
questccg
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I agree with you 100%

let-off studios wrote:
That being the case, I also suggest you have a look at Epic PvP...

I agree Epic is another good choice. A bit less complicated than the Vs. System. I have a copy of this game too...

Here you can go to this page to download/read the rules:

https://www.epiccardgame.com/rules/

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 16:23
#7
Jay103
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Epic looks more like the game

Epic looks more like the game I posted my ruleset for the other day :) It has a deck of characters you play.. not really one vs. one where you're managing multiple very different powers against each other, no?

Anyway, thanks for all the pointers.. I haven't read up on everything yet, but I'm getting there :)

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 18:56
#8
let-off studios
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Epic PvP, not Smash-Up

Jay103 wrote:
Epic looks more like the game I posted my ruleset for the other day :) It has a deck of characters you play.. not really one vs. one where you're managing multiple very different powers against each other, no?
Each player chooses one race and one class (Dwarf-Fighter, Gnome-Ranger, etc.) and they square off. So you manage one avatar, but the composition is comprised of two small, very different decks. In this way, no opponent will be identical to the combination you choose, and each fight will be variably different. I never played the 4-player/2vs2 variant, so I can't speak authoritatively to that, but I assume it's the same.

It's closer to Smash Up in this regard, though not a commander-directing-a-fighting-force kind of game. Unlike Smash Up, Epic PvP is a single combatant trying to defeat a single combatant - just victory, not control points.

(...Plus, it was co-designed by a friend of mine. :) )

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 19:06
#9
questccg
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I thought you were talking about White Wizard Games...

Oops. Wrong game! @Jason check-out Epic by White Wizard Games. It has all kinds of Heroes with abilities and four (4) distinct classes.

@Stephen: I didn't realize that YOUR "Epic: PvP" was different from White Wizard Game's "Epic: Card Game".

Anyway for @Jason, I have "Epic: Card Game" (WWG). It's I believe over 100 cards (for two player duels). It's closer to the Arena game as you suggested it. But still there are four (4) unique classes and abilities too. So you may see an Gameplay Arc/style which is different between the four (4) classes.

I already provided the rulebook link... So if you feel this is TOO SIMILAR to your Arena game... Maybe so. Cheers!

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 20:01
#10
Jay103
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Lol thanks I'll check out the

Lol thanks I'll check out the correct reference :)

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Thu, 10/10/2019 - 22:19
#11
apeloverage
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There's also

I've never played it, but Rumble has, at the very least, a lot of ideas for powers.

https://kevan.org/rumble.cgi

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Fri, 10/11/2019 - 07:29
#12
wob
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two super hero games i would

two super hero games i would recommend are
the marvel legendary series (but thats less of a player vs player) and the dice masters series (my nephew really likes this one. each character has its own dice and powers )

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Fri, 10/11/2019 - 22:54
#13
Jay103
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Thanks everyone. I didn’t

Thanks everyone. I didn’t really find anything in the range I was looking for, which is probably good :)

This game is more along the lines of making a tabletop version of Mortal Kombat..

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Sat, 10/12/2019 - 05:08
#14
Tim Edwards
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Unmatched.

Unmatched.

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Sat, 10/12/2019 - 10:12
#15
Jay103
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Nice one, thanks. That's the

Nice one, thanks. That's the idea I'm going for.

I'm probably NOT posting the full thing here any time soon, but I think I can pull off a tactical one-on-one combat game without a deck of cards to draw from.. There will be dice rolls, though :)

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Sat, 10/12/2019 - 10:46
#16
evansmind244
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Great Idea

Jay, the Mortal Combat style game is great. I've said this before but that is an important market right now. Look at all the pixelated games coming back in, and look at the AWESOME roll-and-move I just created!!! I think you're onto something. My Era are the parents right now.
-I see interest in the Navy SEAL vs Army Ranger style one-on-one fight stuff. They had a show on Discovery about that.
-Also Grizzly Bear vs Lion etc.....
-President Trump vs Putin
Anyway there is a lot of directions you could go with that. You could even do Fruit vs Vegetables etc...

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Mon, 10/14/2019 - 13:45
#17
Jay103
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evansmind244 wrote:Jay, the

evansmind244 wrote:
Jay, the Mortal Combat style game is great. I've said this before but that is an important market right now. Look at all the pixelated games coming back in, and look at the AWESOME roll-and-move I just created!!! I think you're onto something. My Era are the parents right now.

Heh, it's not a roll-and-move :). It just gets its randomness from dice and not from card draws.

If anyone likes magical martial arts stories (like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", or Dragon Ball Z, etc.), I highly recommend the Cradle series on Kindle, which is occasionally completely free. Seven Books, starting with these three: https://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Foundation-Collected-Book-ebook/dp/B076G8D...

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Wed, 10/16/2019 - 09:24
#18
Jay103
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Topic shift

As part of this, I'm looking for an elegant yet practical way to handle tracking the distance between the two opponents.

Movement will be only in one dimension (along a line between the two combatants), in 5-foot increments (or I could do 1 meter if I want to make the math look easier, or hell I could probably make up a unit of measurement which is equal to five feet if I need more distance)

I haven't quite resolved the issue of what happens if a player just runs backwards fast. How far can they go?

Anyway, the most obvious and best thing would be a 200' (40 unit) strip of squares, each big enough to hold a meeple or mini or whatever. Not more than 1" each, certainly.

Now, that has two obvious flaws. One, it's not going to fit on a table, especially if the players have a layout in front of them that's around 10" deep. Maybe it would fit if it was next to those layouts instead of between.. okay, it would probably have to be restricted to 30" of total length but it might fit, even though I think having the actual character representations "off to the side" isn't ideal.

[]--[] vs.

[] []
------

The second flaw is that I can't fit that in a box. Even if I make a bifold board out of it, that's at best 20" of total length. Now, maybe 20" works.. If I made the squares 3/4", I could fit about 25 squares in that, and then backstop it with a "wall" on either end. Could be enough.

I don't really want to use anything weak for this, like a paper strip, because I'd rather it didn't get damaged or torn being folded and unfolded over time.

The easy way out would be a counter of some sort that just said "current distance" and updated that way, but that's not at all visceral and I think it would set the wrong tone.

Anyway, has anyone seen a game that uses something like this? I imagine I could make a 20" x 2" bifold board, but I've never seen one.

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Wed, 10/16/2019 - 18:35
#19
questccg
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I have an idea for you!

Instead of "Measuring" 30" wide, why don't you use like one of those temperature gauges? You know the ones that SLIDE VERTICALLY from the bottom and have a SLIT in the Left and Right with two RIVETs...

All you need it for is to TRACK 2 players, right?

Player 1 on the LEFT and Player 2 on the RIGHT. The values would go from -100' to +100'...

Let me work on a picture to illustrate what I mean.

But it's basically a PLAYER's AID that is like a "rectangle" the shape of a Jumbo Card on TGC. Wait for me to design the picture and you can understand what I mean.

Here's what I mean:

Note #1: If you want to easily compute the distance between the two (2) players... You make Player #1's values go from +100 to -100 (the opposite of Player #2 which is -100 to +100). Then all you do is ADD the two numbers to get the distance between BOTH players.

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Wed, 10/16/2019 - 19:29
#20
questccg
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You might also be able to use a 2 DIALs

One dial for each player and divided into the same number of increments that you desire. I just thought of the Celsius/Fahrenheit converter first... But TGC has DIALS which you can have done easier than the rectangular converter...

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Wed, 10/16/2019 - 22:13
#21
Jay103
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Thanks.. I really think I

Thanks.. I really think I need to make it more visual, though, since most of the game is tactics rather than.. artwork :)

Feeling pretty good if I can get that 20x2 board to work, actually.

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Thu, 10/17/2019 - 11:15
#22
FrankM
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Advantage of the board

One advantage of the board is that you can make alternate boards as an expansion pack or similar. The basic board is basically flat ground, others might include irregular spots with cover from ranged attacks, or have a two- to six-wide gap in the middle (river, space between two urban rooftops, etc.), or obstacles/bystanders that need to be avoided, or any other ideas you might have.

But like any game with the possibility of an expansion pack, the basic game needs to function and be fun on its own.

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Thu, 10/17/2019 - 11:33
#23
Jay103
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Yeah, that's a good point.

Yeah, that's a good point. Even a 1D board can have stuff on it.

I think the 20x2 board would work very well from a gameplay standpoint.. I'm a little worried it would add a dollar to the manufacturing cost, but I can ask that question easily :)

I think I have the whole framework basically down, except for small rule details and fleshing out all the powers and stuff available. And then balancing :)

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Thu, 10/17/2019 - 12:02
#24
FrankM
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Come to think of it

Come to think of it, you might prefer to have little counters to put on the basic board rather than printing specific expansion boards. Counters would be a little more set-up, but more flexible.

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Thu, 10/17/2019 - 12:22
#25
Jay103
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FrankM wrote:Come to think of

FrankM wrote:
Come to think of it, you might prefer to have little counters to put on the basic board rather than printing specific expansion boards. Counters would be a little more set-up, but more flexible.

Like an oil slick token or whatever? Yeah, that would be my preference. My Heroes & Treasure game does that.

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