Re: [BNW] What is the spirit of BNW?

[Theo McGuckin <tsm@jlab.org>]

> 1. What makes Superhero-Roleplaying special? In what regard does it
> differ (in mood and tone) from e.g. modern rpgs (agent or even
> Shadowrun)?

Super-powers. The ability to do something that no one else can (even other
super-heroes, a blaster can't fly, a tough can't run super-fast). I think
it's a loaded question though as BNW was never really billed as a classic
super-hero game. In BNW people generally DON'T run around in skin-tight
outfits, striking poses and fighting for truth, justice and the American
way (they don't exist anymore).
In the campaign I was in we had a bouncer, blaster, tough and telekinetic
and none of us had "costumes" (unless you consider black clothes, a
trench-coat and a black ski-mask a costume). We were actually closer to
shadowrunners or something. We weren't defiants, we basically hired our
services out over several secret web-boards to do jobs. Usually rescue
type jobs actually.

> 2. What can a player do, to represent his role in a fun and
> "Superhero" kind of way?

Be heroic dispite the fact that:
1. Everyone hates you because you had the nerve to survive a near death
experience and actually come out better for it.
2. The gov't wants to lock you up for life our put you into indenterd
servitude.
3. You can never see your family again because it would probably get them
killed, or jailed at least.
4. Your life generally sucks, and the only way you can get any kind of
good feelings to flow through your brain is to either get into drugs or do
whatever you can to try and make the country a better place.

> 3. What can a guide do, to enhance the mood and make BNW special?

Don't try to play it like a super-hero game. Try to play it like an
alternate modern-day game with the addition of super-powers. Look to some
of the lower-powered comic lines like the Punisher and what not. Try to
instill a sense of gritty reality despite the fantasticness of the group's
abilities (striking contrasts are always good to get a point across).

Have the group save some people from a burning building or from a violent
robbery only to have the people they just saved start screaming about
turning in the Defiant-bastards. Have them spend the entire first
adventure running for their lives from DP, not really understanding why,
and not being able to find help anywhere.

Stuff like that.

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> Arne Reuter
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Theo McGuckin - SysAdmin, JLab


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