MI-13: Campaign Primer

Welcome to my "MI-13" SuperSystem 4 RPG Campaign! Before we get started, I'd like to go over a few things in terms of background and theme, just so we're all on the same page. Roleplaying is a collaborative story telling experience, and as a GM, I tend to focus on the narrative and characters of the game rather than hard and fast numbers. Characters grow and change in response to what they experience, not numbers or dots on a character sheet. Good roleplaying will be rewarded and story always triumphs rules.


Now on to theme and setting: 

This is England. The thing about England in comics is that it's always a bit more... English. Everyone eats tea and crumpets, there is no BBC 3 and Doctor Who is still worth watching. Keep in mind when creating your character that they come from and/or live in the UK and how this may affect their personality and outlook. You don't, however, have to play a character like Beefeater, Captain Midlands or Robin Hood to fit the theme. 

This is also the Marvel Cinematic Universe [MCU], not Logan or Batman V Superman or 90s Image comics; keep it light. Yes, none of the Avengers seem adverse to killing in the MCU, but none really slaughter enemies wholesale for the fun of it or get their kicks from hurting people. Yes, characters have trauma and emotional baggage, but no one locks themselves in a room and cranks The Cure. Aim for the game to be more like Ant-Man rather than Spawn. 

As SuperSystem has no inherent morality mechanic, we'll be using a variation on the "Fate Dice" system in the rulebook. Fate Dice form a party pool that can be used to boost rolls, gain an advantage in battle, temporarily buff a power or get a re-roll. You do heroic things, work well as a team or roleplay well, the team gets more dice to use. You act like jerks, fight all the time or keep quoting Abridged series instead of thinking up something to say, I take the dice away. If you don't get the reference, watch more films. 

It would be a big lie to say that all powers are equal in SuperSystem. Yes, Burrowing is cool, but you're always going to get more use out of Super Toughness. You need to be aware that some characters are simply going to have more utility than others and that's ok. Trust me, I've run a perfectly balanced Superhero RPG, it sucked and everyone got bored quickly. If a power isn't really working for you in combat, think about how it works and what you can do with it; there may be something your character can do to help other than punch things.  

Conflict is good, it drives story, but do try and have the team get along for the most part, ok? Remember how much fun the party scene was in Avengers: Age of Ultron? Or how cool the teamwork moments of the big fights are? I will reward cool little team-up moments and characters developing genuine rapport, they make for a good game.