Blood of Heroes Role-Playing Game

The DC Heroes game engine was revoluntary work, and Blood of Heroes is a worthy inheritor.The game system is a study in elegance. Characters have nine attributes in a two matrix system. The first axis is Physical/Mental/Mystical, while the second is Acting/Effect/Resistance. The definitions aren't completely consistent, but great effort was made to adhere to that design philosophy without sacrificing sense. An average human has 2 AP's (Attribute Points) in each Attribute. Each additional AP represents a doubling, so someone with a 7 Strength is 32x as strong as an average human, while someone with a 3 Dexterity is twice as fast. The rapid increase in ability made it possible to fit Batman, Starfire, and Superman into the same game system without shoehorning. At the human end, things are a bit "chunky" in terms of relative ability, but with the game's fast moving, story-oriented system, you'll hardly notice. Advantages and Drawbacks help define the characters in unique ways. The Power and Skill lists are extensive but terse, and cover every reasonable ability I've been able to imagine.The game's strong points include its fluid Hero Point system that lends drama to those climactic battles with supervillains, a superb super-gadgeteering system (the best I've ever seen), strong adherance to the genre, flexible levels of realism, and extreme versatility. The down points are mainly that it requires a fairly math-savvy GM (or at least a player to help with the math), and character creation is extremely detailed (as intensive as GURPS).The world background provided is quirky, but entertaining. It's not too my taste... but the beauty is of course that you can easily lift the game system and build your own Superworld. I'm contemplating a Wildcards based campaign. There is still plenty of fan support for the DC universe, not to mention current WEG products to help with background material (not to mention that converting from D6/Legend to BoH is a snap).I thought the DC Heroes game was lost to us... It was like unexpectedly seeing an old friend to find the game lurking inside the pages of a small-press supers game with a weird cover. I bought it, and since then have been feverishly making characters. I plan to start up a gaming group as soon as I can settle on a premise... I have so many ideas.If you know the game, buy this. It has all the innovations of DC Heroes 2nd edition plus the BoH Sidekick Sourcebook material. The game is in front, the game world is in back, so don't worry about having to perform surgery to extract the game YOU want to play. And the BoH world has its interesting points; I haven't discarded it yet. If you are unfamiliar to the game... believe me when I say BoH is a true reincarnation of a classic, elegant game. BoH is arguably a contender for the title of Best Overall Superhero RPG.

Physical Appearance and Layout-* Blood of Heroes Special Edition is a large softback with a beautiful if generic cover. The artwork throughout ranges from passable to awful. The layout is tolerable, if somewhat counter-intuitive. The sections are not always laid out as i would have, but, oh well.System-* As the (latest?) version of the old Mayfair Exponential Roleplaying Game System (MEGS), it is a very comprehensive game, capable of handling more powers and situations than any of the previous versions of MEGS that I have read (1st and 2nd Editions). That said, it is 'Old Skool', and clunky; very time-intensive with its choosing powers and ratings, then looking up the 'level'-costs for each, and because this is a self-contained book, there are no easy reference pages, which means one must either photocopy those charts, or constantly turn back to the pertinent pages. This makes for a frustrating character/villain/gadget experience, and frankly, limits its usefulness to me.* I'm not going to explain how the MEGS system works, as any Google-search of Mayfair DC Heroes RPG will turn up a number of useful pages that do a much better job than I feel I can fairly do within this review, and which is beyond the scope of this product's domain.* Does Blood of Heroes Special Edition do a better job than previous editions? Perhaps. From what I gather, it has built upon Mayfair's 3rd Edition, and continued to streamline it, though as noted above, the single book design is not a plus as far as I am concerned.* I'm not certain that this system is especially germane to the contemporary RPG experience when there are other systems available with a more current mindset regarding sleekness of character and game mechanics design available, but it certainly appears as playable as any of the previous editions once the AP charts are in hand.Overall Evaluation-* If one is a MEGS fan, and a completeist for possessing the 'newest' version of a given system/game, then BoH:SE is a must.* I would rather see a new boxed edition produced by another company, and without the awful artwork based on Pulsar Games' in-house campaign, much of which are very dated in their characterisation (stat and background) beside their awful visual depiction.* For the price, I would say that unless one is already a fan of MEGS, or must have an all-in-one RPG (travel with concern of flattened boxes, or loss of fiddly bits, etc.), this could easily be forgotten to the dusts of time. HOWEVER, if one has an interest in comparing Powers and Advantages, etc. this is a very straightforward RPG, and reasonably articulately readable set of rules. It is, in my opinion, a better alternative to the WestEnd Games DC Universe D6-based RPG that came out a few years ago, though, if mated with that system, I believe the synthesis (homebrew rules) would be better than either alone.* If my gaming crew are interested the next time I GM, I may put the idea forward to play this game, but I wouldn't expect them to jump for joy.System-integrity Rating:[*][*][*][*][-]Usefulness:[*][*][*][-][-]Presentation:[*][*][-][-][-]Overall:[*][*][*][-][-]

Updated rules originally used for DC heroes. Best RPG mechanics for dealing with superpowers. A little complicated and you should be at least math-capable to run the game. They lost the DC license/bought the system without the licensing and greatly improved it. The story/charcters in this book are idiotic garbage. Weird and campy at best, nonsensical at worst.If you want to play old DC heroes buy this book!

In the old days, back when we only had the New Kids on the Block as a boy band, and there were only two brands of Star Trek, Classic and New Trek, Mayfair came out with the Mayfair Exponential Gaming System. A sleeker, more streamlined, play-wise, version of the Champions game - though it's easier to build your own Champions character.However, MEGS has far more comprehensive rules for roleplaying, suggestions for awards, and lovely things like hero points for last ditch efforts, and its powers are even more customizable than Champions, if such a thing is possible. The Blood of Heroes adds even more refinements to what weaknesses there were.My only complaint was that they always wrote Superman as impossible to touch, especially when the dude had the Superspeed Power which accounted for his extreme dexterity stunts. Give this game a try. You'll find it's worth it, especially for the exciting new characters.

I should start by stating my bias, as I'm an old school DC Heroes RPG fan, and this is a continuation of that system. As the other reviewer says, it's full of updates, reviewed material, fixes and general ironing out. My ONLY complaint is the sub-par art on the interior (some of it is ok, most is particularly amateur) and the fact that it no longer contains DC licensed characters, but I'm *not* going to deduct a star because the system is so darn SOLID. I've played a few Superhero RPG's in my time (Hero, Champions, Heroes Unlimited, heck, even Superbabes) but this is, in my opinion, the best. Takes a litlle getting used to, but the creation system is a doddle once you get used to the idea of factor costs and AP values, and combat is fast and intuitive (literally anything is possible) once you get the hang of the only two tables (and one mechanic) you need for the game.Just buy it whilst it's still here, there's currently a lawsuit over the rules, so it could disappear any time...Top, top game.

This system is pure genius!Once you get your head around the AV, EV, OV, RV thing (which is very smart by the way) it is one of the cleverest systems I've ever played with.The two charts you use to determine success are so good to use and the character creation is amazing you can create practically anything your wildest imagination can conjure up!There is an old school character builder online from the MEGS - DC roleplay days which with a tweek here and there makes life much easier too.

Fast Delivery. Exactly as stated.

My second book, first version has too much experience :)