Re: [[BNW] Brave New World site]

[Phillip Bernstein <GSZalonef@netscape.net>]

David Fryer <badsign_98@yahoo.com> wrote:
>I have been working on a website which would develop
>the Brave New World game for Marvel Super-Heroes.

I have kept out of this discussion as it came up in the past, but since this
idea keeps coming up, I am gonna toss my hat into the ring.

I normally love the idea of swapping settings from game to game (these days I
am spending ALOT of time messing with Big Eyes Small Mouth), but this one
disturbs me.  It has been pointed out before -- BMW is not a four color comic
book.  MSH is SPECIFICALLY designed to play a 4 color comic book setting, so
there are some real incompatabilities in the mechanics.  The largest one, in
my opinion, is the fundamental limiting of power improvement in BNW.  MSH has
a good mechanic for increasing powers, and experienced Marvel players will be
unhappy with this mechanics removal from the system.  Additionally, many of
the power levels that have been proposed for this system conversion are a
little on the high side.  This issue needs some additional research, but
examining the power of Omega Flight and/or the Great Lake Avengers (there have
been several posts about using these 2 groups in BNW) can provide some base
levels for this project.

My biggest concern is the potential loss of feel caused by switching the
setting between the two systems.  This is a subtle issue, and it is difficult
to explain.  It is the difference between Call of Cthulhu and Chill.  CoC is a
game about horror, and horror is a genre of VICTIMS.  The fundamental truth of
CoC  is that the investigators cannot make a true difference in the game
setting.  They may delay the various entities plans (and gain the remainder of
their life free of the entities' influence), but in the end, all of humanity
is truly insignificant on the cosmic scale.  Chill, on the other hand, looks
like a horror game, but it is a hero game.  The players are given abilities
that place them on par with their avdersaries.  I have seen several attempts
to convert the CoC universe over to the Chill Rules, and the bottom line is
that the FEEL of the game didn't transfer.  This resulted in the quick demise
of these campaigns.  I fear that the same will happen with the BNW setting
with the MSH rules.

I am not saying that such a conversion would not be interesting, and even fun.
 But much of what makes BNW so good is the unique feel it has.  Anything that
might lessen this feel will also lessen the impact and power of BNW.

Zalonef

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