This is the original 1984 Marvel Super Heroes: The Heroic Role-Playing Game box set, created under license by TSR. Jeff Grubb designed the system. I have a lot of nostalgia for this game which probably clouds my judgment of it, so be warned.

The game is pretty straightforward, using percentile dice and the Universal Table to resolve conflict. The Universal Table works a bit like the resistance table in Call of Cthulhu, cross-referencing skill value and die roll to get a result. Karma points, sort of the game’s equivalent to experience points, could be used to modify failed rolls. It is a quick system in terms of resolution and it scales nicely for the various levels of super powers.

Is it too simple? Maybe. While it scales well, power differentials can be tricky. But it matches the bombastic pace of the comics. And since the intention was for players to take the roles of existing Marvel characters, there isn’t a robust character creation system (I mean, why make a faux-Wolvering when you can just, you know, play Wolverine) or the in-depth rules needed to support custom characters. That probably means it lacks the crunch of other super hero games, but whatever. Sometimes it is nice to be free of all that (super hero games I think naturally tend toward points buy systems, which require a lot of math on the back end).

Another fun thing: the game was obsessed with bits. This box has little cardboard character tokens for (kind of required) use on the big, extremely detailed maps (with characters in costume on one side and in street clothes on the other). Later boxes had little fold-up standees. Hard not to love that.

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Panel Four is a work by a Renaissance master.

SCREAMING

oh i’m loving this already

as compensation all NSFW blogs will get an extra hour in the ball pit 

Sumela Monastery in Turkey, founded in the year 386 by two Athenian priests

OH NO LMAOO

What kind of fucking job TEXTS you about an interview?

Still my favorite story from the Lord of the Rings set: Viggo Mortensen bonded so much with the horse he rode in the movies that after filming was over he bought it from its owner. If that doesn’t warm your heart I don’t know what could.

don’t forget that he also bought arwen’s horse for her stunt rider when she couldn’t afford it awww

#also don’t forget that for the rohirrim they put a call out for locals #bring a horse show us you can ride it and get a part in the battle scenes #and one women went out roped a wild horse and rode for a few days to set #and got to be a rider of rohan

also sort of relevant viggo also bought the horse that costarred with him in the movie hidalgo and subsequently took the horse (tj) with him to the red carpet premier. 

Also most of the Riders of Rohan are actually women because when they put out that call mostly women showed up with their horses and the costume team just stuck beards on them.

if this isn’t the best post i don’t

So you’re saying the entire Rohan army could have killed the Witch-King of Angmar.

Witch King: No living man can kill me!

several thousand riders of Rohan: *rip their fake beards off*

Witch King: Oh fuck…

*screeches* We aRE NO MEN

I was curious and yeah… Viggo actually did that!