Ahhh... It was called FASERIP and it is an acronym for the basic attributes behind the Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Game! This game came out in the eighties and was supported until the TSR crash in the early nineties. It was a game ahead of its time and had some great ideas that pushed the envelope of the time. Games back then were complicated and full of tables and numbers that did nothing but slow down the games.
In a world of rules heavy volumes with tomes of overwhelming info... Marvel Supers was a breath of fresh air. You could create characters in under an hour and the rules were comprehensive and light at the same time. You could go to the store, pick up the box set and be playing that evening. Best of all was the fact that it was the Marvel Universe.
After TSR crashed, a few loyal fans kept the fan fires burning. Chief among the sites were CLASSIC MARVEL and MARVELRPG. Not seeking any profit for their endeavors, these carriers of the Marvel Torch kept their game on the internet and free to the fans. These sites not only kept the game available but in some cases produced new content to update the game they loved.
"But didn't you already post about this...?"
Yep. But...you can consider this an update.
With the world of comics taking a nose dive in the late nineties, only recently have they started to gain in popularity again. Is it the war? Is it the fact that people feel besieged on all sides? Whatever the case, this has been good for Comic book RPG's. Hero, GURPS, Mutants and Masterminds, and Blood and Vigilance are but a few names of games that have been in the spotlight as of late. Whatever the reason, these games bring the hope and heroism of comics to the RPG community.
Phil Reed of Ronin Arts is looking to bring FASERIP back into the spotlight. Although there are more complex games out there to run, FASERIP is great for quick games that are light on the rules and heavy on the fun. By re-creating the rules in an Open Content format would allow publishers to create adventures and support material for it. This wouldn't allow the Marvel content to be touched but the new material would be 100% compatible with the actual rules and stuff published back in the day.
So why am I even writing about this? I helped to fund the project that Mr. Reed is working on. Although not as much as some others donated, my contribution added to the total to get Ronin Arts on the job. When everything is said and done, we will have a system the others can publish for and thus re-launching a system that has been out of the spotlight back into it. Possible art jobs on the horizon... Maybe. Fun on the horizon... Definitely.
The only down side to this is that the Marvel comics content that made this game so attractive initially is untouchable. But on the up side... Anyone who wants to play in Stan Lee's world only needs to go to their local comic shop...
Regards,
Walt
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