80s Style Masters of the Universe/Thundercats/Visionaries Game...
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This isn't so much about a game in development as much as just talking about if such a game could even exist today. The new She-Ra cartoon is out and, if nothing else, it has brought the MotU line back into the spotlight. Now, this isn't a thread to discuss whether or not anyone thinks the new show is good so, please, let us avoid those types of replies. Instead I'm curious about whether or not a game set in the MotU(or an extended) universe would work today.
I grew up on MotU, Thundercats, Visionaries, Thundarr, and those types of fantasy cartoons and I've always hated that there wasn't a game that emulated those series in some way. We had MOTU-MUX back in the day but it never really got off the ground. I play a bit of TT using Fate Accelerated in a Masters of the Universe setting and it works wonderfully. There's also Cartoon Action Hour but I'm not as big a fan of that, to be honest.
Could a game set solely in one universe world? A Masters of the Universe MUX set in Eternia and Etheria(connected by portals)? The setting is open enough to connect to other worlds as well (Third Earth and Prysmos for example) and I think you could mix these characters pretty easily. Or would it fundamentally amount to a total waste of time and effort?
Anyway, I've always longed for more games based on 80's properties. It seems only Transformers ever really got a fair shake in the MUing world. With She-Ra suddenly in the spotlight, I just wondered if now would be a good time to "strike while the iron is hot".
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I have given considerable thought to a MotU game. I think it could work well with a very simple system, both in terms of stats/contested rolls and for ease of picking up/resigning characters from a +roster.
For me, one of the biggest things would be facilitating this ease of access. Some players may want to stick with their characters for a long time. If so, awesome. Others may want to do shorter-term TP "tenures" or even just a handful of scenes. (After all, this is just the prose version of playing with action figures or imagining new cartoon episodes.)
If others were interested in constructing a game with this philosophy in mind, I would be more than happy to help make it happen.
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My TT group uses Fate Accelerated modified a bit by Masters of Umdaar and we can make new characters in 5-10 minutes and be playing immediately after. I think it'd work fantastically for a MUX.
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@zombiegenesis Masters of Umdaar would work great, I agree. I also have all the Cartoon Action Hour stuff from a DTRPG sale a while ago, but it's definitely much more complicated.
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Is play about recreating the writing style and resolutions, or something else?
If the former, you don't need any system.
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I've noticed Netflix bringing back a bunch of 80's cartoons. I'm okay with this. I've considered FATE (probably Accelerated) to run an 80's galactic cartoons, like Thundercats, Silverhawks, etc. I love the mix of fantasy with sci-fi.
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Cartoon Action Hour RPG works great for this genre of games. It is built to run like an 80s cartoon.
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I remember BESM (Big Eyes, Small Mouth) worked pretty well when it came to cartoony powers (What with the system being based on 'generic' anime creations). It had a three-stat mechanic that was oddly similar to the way WoD does spirit stats - three main stats, and a few derived from averages or sums of various combinations of those main stats.
It was fairly simplistic but tended to flow pretty well - which is probably better for a game based on cartoon fantasy than something overly complex.
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@killer-klown I would never describe BESM as simplistic. There are power variables and such; you could have three characters take the power Force Fields, and every last one have a variant that is unlike each other, with only the base concept of the power being the same. For example: Force Fields that only protect other people, Force Fields that only work while stationary, force fields that work only at range, Bigger area of protection Force Fields, etc. That's one of the simple ones, Special Attacks and Weapon Attacks get complex as well by adding special abilities. Then Alternate Forms etc. It can get insanely complex. Third Edition even introduces the concept of Power Sets. etc. It is a great system I love, but it has more crunch than a certain Cap'n we all know from breakfast.
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Yea, as someone running a high-powered BESM game RL right now, BESM is far from simple. If you don't have system mastery, you'll be far far behind the curve.
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@bobotron Wow! I didn't realize people still played BESM!
No trees were destroyed in the sending of this message, however, a significant number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
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@kumakun
LOL. My group plays all kinds of stuff. I'm running a game focused around high school aged exorcists and their deals with yokai, very much inspired by Ushio and Tora and Shaman King.Back on topic though, something less crunchy and easy to make a character would be best. I helped out with the old He-MUX way back in the day and we had a very simplified version of the common TF combat style code. Something like Cortex, or maybe a less lethal (can you do a non-lethal version of) FS3 might work.
