New to the game - Some questions

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
#1

I may be introducing a Super-Hero campaign to my community soon and I am looking at systems. I ordered the Sentinels book and I’ve watched a number of videos. The system seems very interesting and may be what I am looking for.

Some questions:
Can the system be used for a DC or Marvel setting or does the system really shine when using its own world and mythology?

How easy is it for new players to pick up?

We do use Roll20 as our VTT. There are two different character sheets. One made by the community and an official one. Which is more widely used? Easier?

I would also love any general tips or comments on the strengths of the systems.

Thanks!
Trevor
Rolling With Advantage - YouTube.

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#2

@moderators this should be moved

It can be used for any setting. The book provides lore for Sentinel Comics but it is not necessary.

My impression is that’s it can be easy to pickup but hard to remember all nuances. I haven’t introduced it to new players myself but I have seen people come into game with no prior knowledge and do fine.

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#3

Moved.

(I’m not a Mod, but apparently being a “Regular” gives me the power to move and rename threads.)

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#4

Where is that option as I assume I probably can do similar?

#5

Looks like the Edit pencil icon next to topic title allows it. I didn’t know that either, and I assume you would be able having been here longer than us!

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#6

Thanks. I see it now.

#7

As people said, the game runs pretty smoothly in a DC or Marvel setting, with one minor exception - the nature of the “Power Source” step interacts pretty badly with mutants, and you’d probably want to be broader for mutant characters and tie their power source to the situation in which they manifest and what their powers mean to them, rather than giving all of them the “Genetic” Power Source.

The basics are pretty easy for players to pick up, but as GM you’ll probably want to be keeping an eye on options and making suggestions early on, especially if they aren’t tactically-minded.

Can’t speak to the Roll20.

As a rule, the system handles action scenes (not just combat, any sort of action) and interpersonal superhero drama quite well, but it’s still pretty skeletal on the “investigation and infiltration” front. There’s a sourcebook that’s supposed to address that, but it’s a ways off. There have been a few suggested fan houserules to deal with it.

edit Actually, if you don’t mind wandering to another forum, a group of fans put together conversions for a number of Marvel and DC characters, and later started branching out into other settings.

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#8

Umm…yeah, what they said. Definitely not tied to its setting, I’ve yet to actually run or play a game in the “official” universe.

I guess I’d add that I’ve had good luck with introducing quite a few new players to the game in one-shots or brief (two-three session) story arcs, some of whom went on to start up their own games afterward. If you’re pressed for time handing a finished character sheet to a newbie works better than walking them through the full process, and you can always let them rewrite the character or create a new one from scratch once they get a good handle on the mechanics in a session or three. Game’s got a lot of options but a player really only needs to look at the ones on their sheet and know what the five (well, six, but Recover is a special case) basic actions.

Try to encourage creative uses of Overcomes would be my other piece of advice. It’s kind of a catch-all action to take when a player asks “can I do [this bizarre unexpected thing?]” and it’s important that they learn to use (and justify the die pools for) them regularly.

Safe to assume this is your youtube channel? Are you planning to do a playthrough series when you get up and running? Haven’t seen a good SCRPG one in a while - they’re a favorite for when I’m painting miniatures.

Oh, and welcome aboard.

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#9

Just in general it’s probably a good idea not to get too hung up on the names and fluff of power sources and (to a lesser degree) archetypes. They can pretty much all be reskinned to fit the character concept better, and a tolerant GM (or one who’s trying to recreate a specific published character) might even swap abilities around between them in “impossible” combinations. Thankfully the game isn’t obsessed with balance between PCs so that sort of tweaking probably won’t be detrimental, and if it turns out to be they can always be retconned later.

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#10

I’ll also add that if you want to create specific superheroes from other franchises, you may have a tough time doing so, just using the Constructed method. Lining up the right background, power source, powers, and qualities just isn’t always possible.

#11

Yes I am planning on running an actual play series on my channel. I need to learn the game and teach a few peeps in my community to play.

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