[joshua neff]

Originally Posted by WillyPete

First, M&M doesn't always give Claire the same veto power that a GM has...
A GM has the power he does, because he's the one that does all the prepatory work, and who catches all the flack if the game doesn't go well!

Is that any actual rule of Mutants & Masterminds? "The GM has the power because s/he does all of the prep work and catches all of the flack is the game doesn't go well"? So...the other players do no prep at all? None? Making PCs isn't prep work? And if the game doesn't go well, it's really all the fault of the GM? The other players have absolutely no responsiblity for the game going well?

Originally Posted by WillyPete

Next, M&M does what it does IN CHARACTER...

Um...so? I mean, seriously, why is that important?

And is that even true? Feats, for example, are all "in character"?

Originally Posted by WillyPete

There is NO rule in M&M that says that you have to do things a particular way because one Player has taken narrative control!

Is there any rule in M&M that says that a player has to do something (or can't do something) a certain way because the one player--the GM--says so? Say, for example, that one player--the GM--introduces Jenny Chalice, Ace Reporter, and another player, playing Dr. Twilight, says, "Hey, I've just decided, she's Doc's girlfriend. Totally in love with him." Can the GM veto this, exerting narrative control, or does it have to stand?

Originally Posted by WillyPete

Third, unless Claire has given Chief Mannelli Superpowers, or at least some very considerable Skills, the two Superbeings can decide to go ahead and thwart the Villain, right over the Police Chief's objections, and suffer the consequences!
OR, they can take the Chief's objections to heart, realize that the Downtown area is a poor choice for their battle, and follow the Villain back to his lair, and ambush him there!
OR, they can make a Skill Roll of their own, to convince the Police Chief of the foolishness of his ways...
There's option upon option that you can turn to...
I don't see such options in Capes!

Have you read the free "Capes Light" download? Have you tried playing it yet?

Having played what are generally considered "traditional" superhero RPGs (Champions, Villains & Vigilantes, Marvel Super-Hero Role-Playing) and having played Capes, it seems to me that Capes is very different from the way most RPGs play--and yet, it really isn't different at all.

In Champions, V&V, M&M, and so on, each player has one character, except the GM, who plays everyone else. And the GM is decreed to have the ultimate authority over how the rules are adjudicated and how the flow of the story goes. That's not, however, the only way for RPGs to be played. It's the default only by tradition, not by any sort of logic or natural law. There are plenty of other ways for RPGs to be played, and Capes is another way.

But, I don't think a character having superpowers or not, or how powerful a character's stats are, is really what any superhero--or any RPG--is really, really about in terms of rules. Not at the most basic level. The fundamental rule of RPGs is this: who gets to say what and when, and who has the authority to make it stick.

So, if in one game, the basic rule is: any player can say what happens, whenever, but one player--the GM--has final authority over whether it happens or not...well, that's one way to do it. It's not necessarily the best way or the worst way, but it's one way. (Personally, I'm not overly fond of that way, but everyone has different tastes, and that's cool.) If the basic rule is: each player has ultimate authority, but it depends on whose turn it is as to who has the authority when...that's another way. (You may not dig that way, which is fine. It doesn't seem any weirder to me than the "GM way.")

Originally Posted by WillyPete

Yeah, you can "get them next time", and make the other Player's character decide to dress up in a tutu, or whatever...
but this kind of 'tit-for-tat' behavior is exactly what I want to avoid!
It's a bit like saying, "Well, if you don't support my attack in Diplomacy this turn, then I'm going to go all out to bankrupt you next time we play Monopoly, even if it means I lose!"

Again, maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see what...

I dunno. Maybe Capes just isn't your thing. No biggie. Or maybe if you tried the Light version, you might like it. But if you think it can't work the way it does, reality says otherwise. Real people have played this game and had fun doing it. It works. It may work differently than Mutants & Masterminds, but it works. In my opinion, it works at least as well. (Actually, in my opinion, it works better, because Capes feels more like playing superheroes when I was 8 years old than Champions, V&V, Marvel or any other "traditional" superhero RPG.)