Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set

Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set

Cover of Marvel Superheroes: Advanced Set
Publisher(s) TSR
System(s) Marvel Super Heroes

Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set is a role-playing game supplement published by TSR in 1986 for the Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game.

Contents

Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set is a more complex version of the Basic rules that can, however, stand alone. The "Universal Table" is till included, but it is more elaborate, allowing for a greater variety of results. Character creation includes detailed powers revised into 10 categories (Movement, Mental Powers, Energy Control, etc.). Combat is considerably more complex than in the Basic rules and includes magic and magical powers. Also includes numerous weapons and vehicles, more campaign info, 45 heroes, 28 villains, 9 "entities," character cards, and cardstock miniatures.[1]

The set provides a new character generation system in which attributes can now take any value, and rank is determined by the range into which the score falls. The FEAT and combat systems have been expanded to give more types of action and better definitions of what characters can do and the results of doing it.[2] Resourced are now an attribute rather than a pool of points to be spent, and each power also has a rating to determine how strong it is an allow power FEATs. Negative popularity is now official. Area movement has been kept, but there is an alternative "ranged movement" system as well. There are some comprehensive tables detailing stats for weapons and vehicles and some rules for building an HQ. The Universal Table has been expanded at the upper end to include extremely powerful beings.[2] All of the rules of the game are in the Players' Book, while the Judges' Book contains statistics for all the major Marvel characters re-done for the new system.[2] The set comes with soft plastic dice and a wax crayon, card character sheets for the Marvel characters and card figures, and a map of New York.[2]

Publication history

Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set was written by Jeff Grubb, with art by Jeff Butler, and was published by TSR, Inc., in 1986 as a boxed set containing a 96-page book, a 64-page book, a cardstock booklet, a color map, and dice.[1]

Reception

Pete Tamlyn reviewed Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set for White Dwarf #84.[2] Tamlyn wonders "Who needs an MSH Advanced Set when you've got an MSH Basic Set?" and notes that this set "is 'Advanced' because the rules are much more complex (though not necessarily more difficult to use, of which more later), but the balance and nature of the game was changed far more radically by Realms of Magic than by anything in MSH Advanced."[2] On the updated character generation system, he comments that "MSH Advanced does the job properly", stating that because attributes can now take any value, the "main advantage of this is to allow characters to progress in lots of small steps rather than a few big ones, something I think most players prefer".[2] He noted that a "character's chance of performing special tricks with his powers is dependant on how many times the comics have shown him doing it. If that's not asking for arguments with players, I don't know what is."[2] Regarding the rules, Tamlyn states: "Jeff Grubb has done a pretty slick job, both in expanding the system without over-complicating it [...] and in explaining it all in an entertaining manner."[2] He also presents an argument for whether players truly need the set: "In his introduction, Jeff Grubb says that the first set is for newcomers whereas MSH Advanced is for people who know how to roleplay. Dingoes' kidneys. Very young kids will be happy with the original MSH rules because they move fast and are uncomplicated. As they get older, they will indeed need all of the advice, assistance and guidelines in the Advanced set to help them learn how to run roleplaying games. Once they know how they can throw the rules away again."[2] He is critical of the set's complexity: "TSR seem to believe in simple, improvisational games for kids and complex, rule-heavy ones for adults. In line with this, the MSH Advanced Judges' Book is little more than a monster manual [...] It looks like we've got another generation of rules lawyers in the making."[2] He continues: "Whether you need MSH Advanced depends on how you like to run your games. If you're starting out, provided it is not your first roleplaying game, I'd go for the Advanced game but be prepared to treat a lot of what it says as guidelines only."[2]

Shannon Appelcline commented that the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set helped to offset any complaints from roleplayers about the original game's simplicity.[3]:16

Reviews

References

  1. 1 2 Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 52. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Tamlyn, Pete (December 1986). "Open Box". White Dwarf (Games Workshop) (84): 2.
  3. ↑ Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702- 58-7.
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