Pulp Alley & Superheroes - Updated 17/02/17

[nozza_uk]

Always in two minds about whether it's this board or the Superheroes board. I recently rediscovered my Batman Heroclix figures and thought about using them outside of Heroclix. Briefly looked at the Batman game, but my skirmish game of choice is Pulp Alley.

My question is how can Pulp Alley handle superheroes, in particular Batman?

It seems to be fairly straight forward to create a league for Batman & Robin. There's the Duo league perk and the Utility Belt gear. But it's a question of how to represent Batman with 3 abilities? Is 3 enough? I did think of applying the Fantasy & Sci-Fi Optional Kit (Add +1d to one Combat skill and +1d to one Action skill. In addition, add one extra starting ability or one free weapon kit) which seems to be a big help. However, I guess this would apply to all participating leagues?

Would the Joker be better off being defined as a Terror? How would Superman or Supergirl be defined? I guess The Flash could use Speedy to represent his speed?

BTW, I'm not knocking Pulp Alley, just looking for some guidance and inspiration in using some neglected figures  

[YPU]

I have a knock off batman and robin I use in Pulp alley (black mamba and kid viper) There are a lot of versions of batman, but the big advantage is that nearly all his powers come from gear. Bastion of science should help you get the right gear for each game. Batman and robin, when you come down to it, really are just a couple of very capable guys with nice toys.

I think the best way to run something like this would be to scale everything back a bit. Any average person should be a follower at best. Other characters can only take abilities if they REALY have something going for them on that front, like you mention flash having speedy.

I feel like supes should be a terror all on his own.

[FramFramson]

I think any really high-powered superhero or supervillain wold be a Terror.

[Wolf Girl]

One way we have done this in the past is to level-up the characters as part of league creation. Simply decide what level of Reputation you want them to have, and give them a bunch of extra starting XP points to spend. Basically, a fully experience Batman could start with 7 abilities! And then maybe give him a Reputation of Legendary (175 Rep) and all the benefit that come with that and he is ready to take on a Terror! 

[blacksoilbill]

My boys and I had one go at superheroes: https://preacherbyday.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Superhero

We had a couple of terrors on the table, right down to a couple of allies for lesser heroes. If we'd had any 'normal' people on the table, an ally would have felt a bit underpowered as a hero. Still, I agree with YPU - any 'normals' I'd run as followers.

We did find plenty of abilities that work very nicely for heroes. I reckon I'd go the Joker as a leader, but definitely a terror for Superman and the like.

We thought the game worked well. The one thing we l felt was missing was some kind of knockback rule: it's easy for the big boppers to get locked down in a combat that no one is going to win in a hurry. I was toying with something like: for every hit you land on your opponent above the first, they are driven back x inches.  Haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

[d phipps]

... The one thing we l felt was missing was some kind of knockback rule: it's easy for the big boppers to get locked down in a combat that no one is going to win in a hurry. I was toying with something like: for every hit you land on your opponent above the first, they are driven back x inches.  Haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

For some fun superhero style knockbacks, we have used this optional rule ---

Knockback -- If you clearly win a fight, you may have the opportunity to throw the enemy back.
1. If you want to knock the enemy back you must discard a Fortune card with an X value equal to the number of hits you delivered.
2. You may choose the direction and the distance equals the number of hits.
3. If a character is thrown into another character or barrier, draw a random peril - if the character is not already down.

This gives you a chance for more knockbacks while preventing it from getting too crazy! 

HAVE FUN

[blacksoilbill]

That does sound good Dave!

[nozza_uk]

Thanks for all the hints and tips.

I've had a stab at creating Batman & Robin.

The Dynamic Duo
Duo (4) - Your Sidekick starts with one additional ability and a Health of d10. Other than the Leader and one Sidekick, all remaining slots can only be used to select Perks and Associates. This roster can never include Followers, Allies, or Gangs.

Jack of all Trades (1) - Before the start of each scenario, you may spend one (only one) Gear, Contact, Backup, or Tip to select a temporary level 1 ability for your Leader. This ability lasts for the duration of the upcoming scenario.
 
Associate (1)
Got the Goods — You gain +1 Gear point. You may save this point or use it now.
Supplies — Before the start of this scenario, you may select a level 1 ability for your Leader.




The +1 gear from "Got the Goods" can then be used to acquire the "Utility Belt" (if required).