Very possibly the hardest game I have reviewed. Capes is different than most other RPGs and requires a different type of play to really enjoy. Once you get that new style down though- its a good deal of fun!
It sounds like, if you roll well, you get to determine how the story goes, and if you roll poorly, you don't...
Which sounds fine, until the High roller gets stumped, and the guy with the bad rolls is just itching to take a hand!
Also, you don't really give much of an impression as to how long the 'Winner' controls the scene for...
A single page?
Then, what, it's another roll-off, this time with the guy who got shafted before maybe having some bonus dice to roll?
Finally, is there any limitation on how much of a scene change the current story teller can make? Could he decide to turn the game into a Vampiric Romance, when everyone else wants to play Superheroes?
Is there any reward for shafting 'your' character, or does this game just lend itself well to those who always want to 'win' when it's their 'turn'?
Perhaps the game covers these things, perhaps it doesn't...
I'm afraid your rule leaves me asking a lot more questions than you've answered!
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I agree with Pete to a certain extent. To me this sounds more like a group storytelling game than an RPG. I'm not particularly against this kind of play, but it does seem a little... well... lacklustre. I would very much like to know HOW a character's super-powers affect the game's system, and also how combat works.
And another thing! Does this mechanic also mean that the player in control of the narration can dictate the actions of characters other than his own? I can see a potential problem brewing there...
Troll-Boy : "Huttah! I win the die rolling, I get to narrate! Ok, The Living Cyst bunches up its huge malformed fist, towering over Mr Diamond like the wrath of God. Mr Diamond, for his part, takes one look at this unholy terror, breaks down and cries like a little baby girl for mercy..."
Mr Diamond : "Hey!!!"
I don't like passing judgement on a game without knowing all the necessary facts but at the moment I'm a little confused as to how a game of Capes differs from a bunch of friends sitting around, rolling dice and telling each other stories about their superheroes.
I'm tempted to answer the questions, but I should probably let the reviewer amplify his review.
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I agree with Vaxalon: the game text covers a lot more ground than this review would make you believe. It's not flawless, but the review doesn't even begin to cover the mechanics in enough depth to help you understand.
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I agree with Pete to a certain extent. To me this sounds more like a group storytelling game than an RPG. I'm not particularly against this kind of play, but it does seem a little... well... lacklustre. I would very much like to know HOW a character's super-powers affect the game's system, and also how combat works.
Combat is resolved the same way as other things are - through a Goal. As for powers, this is a big thing that the reviewer left out - resolution might come down to a "dice rolling contest" but can't just roll a dice because you feel like it, you have to use one of your character's traits to do so. This can be something normal (which you can only use once each scene), or a power (which you can use multiple times in each scene, but you have to "pay back" their usage)
There are no specific restrictions on what each power can do, but that pretty much parallels real comics from what I've seen. (I've seen Marvel pull off: "Aquaman can mind control fish.. but he can also use that power to give a bad guy an seizure by controlling the parts of his brain that are the same as a fish's." :rolleyes: )
Cool review, Praetorian! I feel sorta bad for having given you so much difficulty.
For those in this thread saying "But ... is it like X? Is it like Y?" there's a free lite version of the rules and a flash-based online example of play available at the web-site. I don't think they answer the questions posed here (particularly the ones about authorial excess versus group consensus), but I hope they'll help people feel more confident about asking them, knowing that they are in fact issues that Capes throws into the spotlight.
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Finally, is there any limitation on how much of a scene change the current story teller can make? Could he decide to turn the game into a Vampiric Romance, when everyone else wants to play Superheroes?
What I'm given to understand, given the author's posts on the Forge, is that basically if one player does this, the other players can continue placing Goals according to their agendas, participate in them, and win Inspirations and similar, while the one player who seperated themselves effectively winds up playing a different game.
I've seen Marvel pull off: "Aquaman can mind control fish.. but he can also use that power to give a bad guy an seizure by controlling the parts of his brain that are the same as a fish's."
That was DC.
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Okay, so what's the point?
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