Saturday, May 26, 2012

D&D/Marvel Super Heroes

The idea came up on my Facebook profile recently, could you run a D&D campaign using the Marvel Super Heroes (1984) rules?  I've begun a project that may not amount to anything, but I wanted to see if I could find a middle ground between the MSH rules and the 1st ed. AD&D rules.  Below is a rough draft of what the character creation rules might be in this mash-up.

Ability Scores:  Roll 1d20+1d12 for each score.  Keep that number as the value of that score for determining health and karma, but for the universal table determine each score’s column as follows –
2.  Feeble
3-4. Poor
5-7. Typical
8-15. Good
16-25. Excellent
27+  Remarkable

D&D Equivalents:
Fighting
Feeble    Non-combatant
Poor    1st level Magic-User
Typical    Most 1st level PCs
Good    1-2nd level Fighters
Excellent 3-4th level Fighters
Remarkable 5-6th level Fighters

Agility
Feeble    DEX 3-4
Poor    DEX 5-7
Typical    DEX 8-10
Good    DEX 11-15
Excellent DEX 16-17
Remarkable DEX 18-19

Strength
Feeble    STR 3-6
Poor    STR 7-12
Typical     STR 13-18
Good    STR 18/01-75
Excellent STR 18/76-99
Remarkable STR 18/00-19

Endurance
Feeble    Giant centipede
Poor    Giant rat
Typical    Human
Good    Orc
Excellent Gnoll
Remarkable Ogre

Resources:  Roll 1d20+1d12 and keep this roll to determine Resources rank.  Multiple this number by 10 for starting gp.  Resource rank helps determine the eligibility of an item as follows –
Up to 5 gp.  Feeble
5-10 gp.  Poor
11-20 gp.  Typical
21-50 gp.  Good
51-100 gp.  Excellent
101-500 gp.  Remarkable

Popularity:  Roll 1d8 for starting Popularity, but otherwise treating as above scores in terms of treating it both as numerical value and for assigning column value.

Powers:  Every character gets to start with 1-4 powers, determined by a random 1d4 roll.  Roll 1d20+1d12 for score of each power and treat as ability scores above.

First Level Powers
Fighter Powers (cannot be combined with Magic-User Powers):
Archery (double attacks at range)
Body Armor     (Leather = Feeble
 Leather & shield = Poor
Chain = Typical
Chain & shield = Good
Platemail = Excellent
Platemail & shield = Remarkable
Martial Weapons (+1 CS damage, can get kill results)*

*Fighter Powers are the exception to the 1-3 powers limit, as the other powers can be purchased using Resources and gp at any time

Magic-User Powers (cannot be combined with Fighter Powers): 
Leaping
Wall-Crawling
Fire Control
Light Control
Growth
Shrinking
Detect Magic
Hold Portals
Read Anything
Protection from Evil (-2 CS to be hit)
Mind Control (1 person only)
Induce Sleep (opposed Psyche FEAT rolls vs. up to 16 targets)**

Magic-User Powers, once used, cannot be used again for 10 minutes

Cleric Powers (cannot be combined with Thief Powers):
Undead Turning    (Skeletons = Psyche opposed FEAT vs. Poor
        Zombies = Typical
        Ghouls = Good
        Wights = Excellent
        Wraiths = Remarkable
        Mummies = Incredible)

Thieves Powers (cannot be combined with Cleric Powers):
Open Locks
Find/Remove Traps
Hear Noise
Move Silently
Pick Pockets
Hide in Shadows
Climb Walls
Backstab (requires surprise or Move Silently first, then +4 CS to hit and double damage)

Dwarf Powers:
Resistance to Poison
Infravision
Stonework Awareness

Elf Powers:
Combine Fighter and Magic-User Powers

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