Hi, I’m new. I was directed here from the reddits.
I am looking for feedback for a custom hack that I am writing to play with a few coworkers who are very new to roleplaying games.
I am currently calling the hack Gotham World. Essentially I’m looking to make a vaguely “realistic” Superhero setting, akin to Watchmen or certain iterations of Batman. In order to not use any kind of magic, it’s somewhat Steampunk in nature, but hopefully in an interesting and not gross way. Of course I’ve left the setting itself rather vague, in typical DW style, but a few of the moves reference technology levels in a way that is possibly avoidable.
Rules – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zq0xdHj6u9UtHHGOQnbpUmNwOgbUEsExzsBe2m8i7bE/edit?usp=sharing
Classes – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yNReaHh53qTKzeyALOOjhLV1414uUYz8ZrjnZ2QOc5M/edit?usp=sharing
TLDR on rule changes:
– Simplified attributes to not have both a number and a modifier.
– Created “Advanced Moves” that anyone can take, essentially extracting common “Cross-Class” moves to a global list.
– Replaced Alignment with Drive.
– Changed and possibly bollocked up HP / Damage.
– Removed Bonds, but I may end up putting them back in.
Anyway, yes, I’d love some feedback! Either on the documents themselves or here would be totally fine. I will admit that I haven’t done any playtesting yet. Once I get these things more “finalized”, I’ll be making actual PDF playbooks and sharing them happily.
What you have looks pretty good for a first draft.
I’m not sure if I would start with Dungeon World for a supers hack, though. Other Powered by the Apocalypse RPGs like Worlds In Peril or even Monster Of The Week might be a better starting point for a “Watchmen” type game.
To be fair, Worlds in Peril might be the hack you need.
Tim Jensen – Thanks! I did actually look at Worlds in Peril, but I had two problems with it. It seemed more intended for a superheroes game, which makes perfect sense, but isn’t quite what I was going for. I want less superpowers and more slightly-above-average-people-with-gadgets.
It also leaves a lot vague with the powers themselves, which is great, but since my players are all new, I didn’t want to embark down that road quite yet.
I haven’t looked at Monster of the Week but I’ll check that one out, too!
Not sure where I last saw them linked, but you might also try Enemy Action (spy thriller) or The Sprawl (cyberpunk but not shadowrun)
As baselines for your game.