So D&D was my first RPG, and for quite a while, the only one I was aware of. Growing up in the midwestern USA, I didn't have much access to game or comic shops. Mostly I had to rely on trips to the mall and places like Walden Books, KB Toy and Hobby, etc. to get my Dungeons and Dragons fix. They had a limited selection, but hey, it was better than nothing. When I got into middle school, things expanded a little bit in terms of my awareness of other games and my contact with fellow gamers. Perhaps my second RPG that I came in contact with was Palladium's Robotech RPG. I really loved that game, but that is for another post. This is all about my love at first sight with perhaps my favorite RPG of all, the TSR Marvel Superheroes RPG (lovingly referred to as the FASERIP system for its attribute scores).
I am a HUGE comic book fan and naturally, a game about superheroes was right up my alley. As I mentioned, getting access to new game material was pretty difficult for me. At the time I was in a fairly rural town outside a US Airforce installation. Several of the kids at my middle school were military brats and had access to the base exchange. Military personnel often are big gamers and comic book fans, so some of my friends who had access to the BX picked up the Marvel Superheroes game. It was love at first sight for me. I was totally the target audience for this game and knew I had to have a copy. At the time, I had no access to the BX as my mother was single at the time (though she would soon marry a military officer). My grandfather, a retired WWII vet, however, did have access and they would often visit the BX when they came to visit. I accompanied them on one such visit with the sole intention of picking up this game. I had saved my allowance (I think the boxed set was right around $12 or so). That was just over two weeks allowance for me at the time. Which meant that I had to forgo a few weeks of comics or other things. However, it was definitely worth it.
It was packed with all the stuff a kid needed to get started playing. All you needed dice-wise were two ten sided dice. The game mechanics were pretty simple and everything was resolved with a percentile dice role and cross referencing an attribute score on the universal table. It was fast, easy to grasp, and just a heck of a lot of fun. It was pretty well laid out and the graphic design was outstanding for an RPG product of that era. I still find it to be pretty awesome as it has a lot of art from classic Marvel bullpen artists such as John Romita. It gave you the option of playing a Marvel character, or even better (to my mind) creating your own hero. And boy did I. I had several Trapper Keeper binders worth of heroes, their bases, weapons, vehicles, etc. I wish I still had that stuff, but sadly it is lost to the mists of time. I played that game for many years (I did move over to the Advanced system though when it came out a few years later).
Anyway, the Basic and Advanced systems still stand out in my mind as some of the most fun RPG sessions I've ever had. Granted for the most part, we'd use it almost like professional wrestling, having heroes and villains square off. Or to see who would win in a fight, Thor or the Hulk. Not very high concept stuff, but a hell of a lot of fun none the less. Here is a look at the boxed set and some of the content. In future posts I'll get into the supplements for the game and the Advanced set. They still carry a lot of weight for me. There is even an open source version of the game that I am just now getting around to making my own game material for, 4C and $c Extended. I'll get into that more in other posts. Until then, happy gaming!
