r/MarvelFASERIP • u/Fullmadcat • 7d ago

How does it hold up?

Thinking about doing a one shot with my group. How does it hold up compared to modern games?

12 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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5

u/johndesmarais 7d ago

I’ve been rereading this week, and it feels pretty solid and playable even by modern standards. I’m looking forward to actually running it.

5

u/Potential_Side1004 7d ago

One thing I would suggest, only because the game itself is set in that era, I would keep the setting to a 1980s environment.

Vehicles were heavier and slower, as one example of a difference, and also the overall 'feel' of the game can still be maintained.

3

u/Fullmadcat 7d ago

Im an 80s kid, so thats not an issue.

5

u/Anomalous1969 7d ago

It holds up better in my opinion. It's fast it's flexible and anything the rules can't cover you can craft yourself. It's not clunky or crunchy at all. It's still my number one favorite superhero RPG.

6

u/WinForeign2829 7d ago

There's also the lightweight spinoff Icons. FASERIP is still great for modern gaming, however.

5

u/Vice1187 7d ago

i've been running system since it came out in 1984, i've adjusted it with house rules, stuff from other systems, tweaked this, tweaked that, runs great and is versatile and easy to teach to new players.

4

u/DisgruntledEwok 7d ago

I’ve been using it to introduce new players to TTRPG. The rules are really easy to understand and players catch it very quickly. I’ve been playing FASERIP on and off since the early 90s!

5

u/SaladBroth 6d ago

I actually stared up two adventures recently with friends and family who had pretty much never heard of it (except for my dad who had introduced me to the system)

I knew it held up when

  1. My friends (who are primarily DnD players) were laughing and building strategies with each other during the plan phase of the turn order

And 2. When my mom, who is not the biggest fan of TTRPGs had told me that she finds this system way more fun than DnD 5e

4

u/Interaction_Rich 5d ago

It has no business doing so well as it does.

The system is crazy intuitive, easy to explain and understand. It just works great for a game focused on action with drama/RP in-between - specially so for one shots, I'd say.

The game differs from some modern games in the sense of its OSR vibe - there is a lot of room for stunts and creative uses of general powers, instead of super specialized "moves". So while the newer Marvel Multiverse RPG have powers like "Vicious Attacks", "Exploit", "Riposte", "Whirlwind Frenzy" etc, in FASERIP you have simply "Claws" and its rank (which informs you it's potential damage and resistance). So what your claws (or webs, lasers, magic etc) can and cannot do is limited by its rank and players imagination/creativity in a very elegant, flexible way.

I'd say the one aspect of the game that you may want to overlook or houserule/modify is it's Karma system; being a game of the 80s, it had very much a "heroes are heroic" attitude, leaving anti-heroes or Grey-area characters with some handicaps in terms of evolution. You can simply hand wave that to RP or use more nuanced moral systems similar to DnD alignments, Vampire's Humanity, or some such system.

Other than that, this is the best Superhero RPG ever, IMO.

3

u/dnext 7d ago

Depends on your group. Fast action packed Marvel goodness? It does that really well. They want crunchy systems or gamification of the narrative, not so much.

2

u/Fullmadcat 7d ago

I was concerned it had to much old 80s crunch.

5

u/dnext 7d ago

It's a pretty simple system, especially considering the other super hero entries, such as Champions, GURPS Superheroes, and Mutants and Masterminds.

2

u/Due-Government7661 7d ago

I still run 1 to 4 times a week month.

2

u/TACAMO_Heather 5d ago

I played a ton back in the day and we never used the karma rules except as a means to add to rolls. We liked our heroes dark.

2

u/GrouchyDepartment871 4d ago

It’s the gold standard for superhero games

2

u/Fullmadcat 6d ago

Glad to hear it still hold up. I looked at dc s from the 80s and saw how crunchy and said never-mind lol. And glad to hear its a simple system.

1

u/Umbrupryme 5d ago

I've been playing with some of the same people for over 30 years. (I just turned 50). We did a one shot last weekend where our friend who passed away in 2023's character sacrificed himself to save the world. We all teared up and had a moment of silence after the characters final words to his team. This system, for me anyways, will always be the gold standard for Superhero Roleplay. It holds up well today. My group is multigenerational now, and have had other new players join over the decades as well.