#RPGADAY2020 - 14 - Banner

Day 14.

Banner.

Bruce Banner. Archetypal Marvel hero. A genius scientist with a monster inside. Arguably a modern take on Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde.

I love the Marvel films for the MCU, yet I own none of their comic books. My youngest loves Spider-man as a hero, and has the animated series and loves the various films. And yet, I've always been more drawn to DC stories (less so the films).

I've never yet found a superhero game that I've managed to get to the table and have the passion to run. I did Golden Heroes as a kid (and very good it was too) but somehow the urge to carry on running wasn't there and I sold it to my classmate Mark in a transaction on the school bus (so I could by some other game).

I've tried to find a traditional SHRPG  that truly excites me. I bought the Marvel SHRPG just as the game went out of licence, but it's never got out to play. Champions passed me by.

And yet, aren't most RPGs about super-heroes in some way? They may not wear capes. They may not be invincible, but usually, they're much more competent than the other people around. Are they super?

As I bring this to a close, I realise that there actually are two superhero roleplaying games that have caught my imagination. The first is Masks, which Guy Milner introduced me to at Revelation this year. The descent of COVID-19 and lockdown made me forget out this teenage angst-fueled homage to Marvel. 

The second is City of Mist, which manages to press my mythic buttons at the same time. Neo-noir in the style of Netflix Marvel, the game runs well and I enjoyed running it at Revelation. I absolutely loved the Netflix take on Daredevil, Jessica Jones and more, so it's no surprise that I rate this.

I suspect that it says more about me than the genre that the only games that excite me are outliers[1]. They're different and unusual. They aren't traditional super-heroics. 

14 August 2020

[1] Broken Angels and Godlike also spring to mind here.

[Update] Decided to pick up a copy of Masks and then realised it seems to be pretty much out of print. Oh well.