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Jul. 5th, 2009
Stranger design decisions
Jul. 5th, 2009 07:14 pmBob Dushat just gave me his copy of Reality Storm, the official crossover module between Champions and Silver Age Sentinels, and it contained some supremely odd design decisions. The premise of the module is that the two big bad guys of the game system's default universes (Kruzritter and Dr. Destroyer) both find a way to reach the citadel in the time stream that is supposed to maintain the safety of the multiverse. Not trusting each other, they nonetheless decide to work together to use the citadel's power to conquer their respective universes. This is the framework for what is essentially a team up between the example hero teams of the two game systems.
All well and good - there have been enough of these sorts of things for a nice array of tropes to play with. Could be fun. However, the designers didn't set this up so that the players are playing either the Champions or the Guard (or both, or some selections from either team). I can understand this, I guess - people would rather play their own heroes over the ones in the rulebook. But they also don't have your hero team replace either the Champions or the Guard in the plotline. You would think this would be a no brainer: if you're running a Champions game then your heroes are the ones who team up with the Guard; if it's a SAS game they get to defend their reality alongside the Champions.
Nope. Instead both of the major super teams vanish and your heroes are suddely picking up the pieces, having to fight their universe's Big Bad plus the other universe's Big Bad in order to save both universes and rescue the captured heroes. I give them props for not having your job be rescuing the major NPC Heroes so they can save the day, but the module is still "The JLA and Justice Leage team up so that the Teen Titans can save them". Not exactly what one expects from this sort of crossover story. Your PCs aren't teaming up with _anyone_ from the parallel universe!
In another oddity, the plot has Kruzritter and Dr. Destroyer lay betrayal traps for each other primed for the exact same moment, so fi the PC just wait the villains will take each other out, leaving just their henchmen. While this does have an interesting 1970's Marvel Super Villain Team Up vibe to it, the whole thing is a little anticlimactic for a supers game.
I just don't understand what motivated these design decisions, when there was a pretty clear other way.
All well and good - there have been enough of these sorts of things for a nice array of tropes to play with. Could be fun. However, the designers didn't set this up so that the players are playing either the Champions or the Guard (or both, or some selections from either team). I can understand this, I guess - people would rather play their own heroes over the ones in the rulebook. But they also don't have your hero team replace either the Champions or the Guard in the plotline. You would think this would be a no brainer: if you're running a Champions game then your heroes are the ones who team up with the Guard; if it's a SAS game they get to defend their reality alongside the Champions.
Nope. Instead both of the major super teams vanish and your heroes are suddely picking up the pieces, having to fight their universe's Big Bad plus the other universe's Big Bad in order to save both universes and rescue the captured heroes. I give them props for not having your job be rescuing the major NPC Heroes so they can save the day, but the module is still "The JLA and Justice Leage team up so that the Teen Titans can save them". Not exactly what one expects from this sort of crossover story. Your PCs aren't teaming up with _anyone_ from the parallel universe!
In another oddity, the plot has Kruzritter and Dr. Destroyer lay betrayal traps for each other primed for the exact same moment, so fi the PC just wait the villains will take each other out, leaving just their henchmen. While this does have an interesting 1970's Marvel Super Villain Team Up vibe to it, the whole thing is a little anticlimactic for a supers game.
I just don't understand what motivated these design decisions, when there was a pretty clear other way.