Should You Play Sentinel Comics the Roleplaying Game? (Sentinels of the Multiverse RPG)?

[@HowItsPlayed]

Official Website: greaterthangames.com/product-category/scrpg/ Drivethru RPG: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341539/Sentinel-Comics-The-Roleplaying-Game-Core-Rulebook

[@wesleyjudson599]

I have played the Sentinels RPG for over a year now, and I can say its one of the best RPGs out there. It does somewhat depend on what sort of playstyle you prefer: 1.) It is more crunchy than it may initially seem, but its not as crunchy as something like Mutants and Masterminds or Pathfinder. 2.) The GM tends to be on the player's side, but it could be played to be more antagonistic, with cruel twists when the heroes fail to stop the bad things from happening. 3.) Player characters never really die without the player's consent, so if you are looking for a darkest dungeon/meat-grinder feeling, you need to modify the rules to make it work. To summarize, it allows for a lot of different playstyles, but if you want something with lots of crunchy mechanics, want something where its very Players vs GM, or want something where the PCs die often, you may want to look elsewhere. That said, I feel like it CAN do each of these to some extent, and is flexible enough to be enjoy by a wide range of people. Hence being one of the better RPGs.

[@HowItsPlayed]

Thanks for this great summary!

[@richmcgee434]

It's probably worth noting that the game is mechanically independent from the included setting. You can easily play in your own homebrew world, outright steal one from another RPG like M&M or Champions or Masks, or use a published comic line like Marvel or DC as your setting. The rules are versatile enough to port character concepts in pretty easily, and the different mechanics can give a fresh feel to familiar settings. For ex, you can use the SCRPG to play a much lighter, less crunchy version of the Champions universe (and boy, beating up VIPER minions is a lot quicker here) or use Mask's Halcyon City for a game with a bit more mechanical crunch and less of a narrow focus on the teen-hero-coming-of-age theme. I'd also contend that (like so many reviews of this game) you're mistaken about a lack of character growth. The SCRPG actually has three forms of it. The retcons and tweaks that you mentioned change your character without greatly amplifying their overall abilities (although they're often used to achieve better team synergies and just plain improved efficiency). The hero points you earn each session and use in the next one offer considerable short-term bonuses, and add quite a bit of flavor when using the "alternate rewards" options on page 248-249. And the "collections" you earn every ~6 sessions are the game's version of levelling up. They offer a slew of once/session options going forward that dramatically increase the power of your hero, either by maximizing dice, ignoring twists (which lets you use abilities from higher in the GYRO tier early, among other things), and making narrative changes by adding elements to the scene. They don't seem amazing at first, but once you accumulate even three or four your hero is much more consistently capable and has loads of options that a new hero lacks. Your capabilities don't grow as fast as (say) a D&D character going from 1st to 2nd level, but they do improve. The impact of collections will eventually lead to the GM having to bump up scene difficulties to compensate - or encourage players to consider putting their uber-heroes in semi-retirement and try something new, with the powerhouses coming out to play for big events where their full power is needed. The highest collection total I've heard of was an average of 12 per hero (representing over a year and half of fairly steady play with the same heroes) and the GM in that game has had to modify his prep work considerably to allow for their massively improved capabilities.

[@muigokublack6487]

This is what I was looking for because I want to do one set in the Amalgam Comics universe (for those not in the know it's peak 90s where for a bit both Marvel and DC merged together creating merged heroes and villains (Wolverine and Batman = Dark Claw, Joker and Sabertooth = Hyena)

[@richmcgee434]

@@muigokublack6487 The game engine would work fine for the Amalgam setting and characters IMO.

[@muigokublack6487]

@@richmcgee434 I'd hope so, I have a bit of fondness for that era of comics of even JLA/Avengers. We don't see alot of Marvel/DC crossovers anymore unlike in the 80s and 90s where they were pretty common. New Teen Titans/Uncanny X-Men, Spider-Man/Batman, Fantastic Four/Superman, etc. The last crossover we got was JLA/Avengers and another idea of mine was "What If The Two Universes Stayed Merged Together?" Coast City next to New York City, Stark Industries having business competition from both Wyane Enterprises and Lexcorp, etc. Just all sorts of stuff cause the the Big Two aren't doing one anytime soon unless that so-called "Secret Crisis" happens.

[@richmcgee434]

@@muigokublack6487 The state of the industry is such that the Big Two are reduced to feuding bitterly over the scraps of a shrinking fandom. I doubt they'll ever co-operate with each other the way they did with Amalgam again, and even they wanted to internally the larger corporate entities that ultimately control them would likely nix it on the advice of their legal departments. Too complicated working out who owns the rights to what. Kind of a miracle it happened as much as it did back in the day.

[@muigokublack6487]

@@richmcgee434 I know and it honestly sucks because the only ones who lose out here are the fans of both. Cause I remember reading Fantastic Four/Superman and it was really wholesome that Franklin was a fan of Supes. Still that's why I bought Sentinel Comics so I can could in my own little way, keep that alive. Either Amalgam Comics or a "What If" to the end of JLA/Avengers where it becomes like the end of Marvel vs Capcom Infinite. The two realities are now one and life has to adapt to that. Honestly, the chances of Spider-Man crossing over with Spawn are higher than Batman.

[@VexxarAlHara]

Thanks for the video! I've always been curious about the Sentinel Comics RPG, since Sentinels of the Multiverse is one of my top favorite card games of all time. The RPG seems pretty interesting!

[@HowItsPlayed]

Sentinels of the Multiverse is in my Top 5 of all time!

[@VexxarAlHara]

@@HowItsPlayed Same! Haha

[@ciCCapROSTi]

Only played one session so far, but I feel the game works fine for what it aims to model. Not for those who want detailed mechanics for abilities or character progression.

[@dalekreject7324]

It's very narrative driven, and character creation is so much fun. The setting and theme can be just about anything you want. The mechanics are great, simple and elegant in their own way. My group loved making the characters and having to build the backstory in such a great way. Even if you have no idea what to play (like I did) I built an incredibly cool character with a cool backstory. If you're looking for a superhero RPG, give it a look.

[@Tampahop]

Disclaimer: I run a local game shop. I picked up my copy from DriveThruRPG. I do that with games I wouldn't ordinarily stock on the shelves of my store, and DriveThruRPG is a great store to buy from if you can't find a local game store carrying your game. I have yet to run or play in a game, but I have done some character creation and it seems solid. I ran a Champions campaign for three years and love that system. It is, for better or worse, highly detailed, but it took a lot of time to prepare for and play. I have played most of the superhero rpgs out there and not been too impressed. I'd like to try one of the Fate Core superhero rpgs or Absolute Power. The worst of the lot were ones where you created your character with random rolls. One of those led to my creation of the Fabulous Flapjack, a hero whose sole ability was weighing 800 pounds. I claimed he fought by falling over on people and crushing them... not particularly super-heroic. I really enjoyed making characters with Sentinels. It uses a combination of random rolls and player choices that gave me coherent characters yet surprising me with options I hadn't thought about. For example, I was creating a Doc Savage like pulp hero when one of my archetype choices came up with form-changer. My character still has that pulp feel, but now can change his face when he needs to blend into a crowd, although he has to ditch his signature pith helmet. 😁

[@rmcdudmk212]

While I still prefer Mutants and Masterminds 3e I had a lot of fun playing Sententials the couple of games I've been in. Super cool game. 👍

[@Skeloric]

The biggest draw is that the system really creates complete characters - while there is a sort of progression in it, making a Batman or a Superman with the rules is really building a fully realized character at peak ability. The "Zero to Hero" process in many RPGs just doesn't do most superhero comics well. ... That said, trying to do a year by year progression such as Batman Year One or Batman Year Two and seeing Batman grow into the mantle is really not a Sentinel Comics sort of thing. Building your dream team of heroes - or their analogues - and just having adventures is how the game really plays at its strongest. And, allowing for a degree of resetting to divest of gathered advantages allows for the classic 1960s to 1970s comic book experience. Changing up the four word phrase of character creation seems to be the way to "grow and change" for me. But I mostly crank out characters rather than play. I love that character creation is almost its own game seperate from playing the character.

[@MemphiStig]

Very interesting. Lots of great ideas. I'm from the old school, so my fave hero rpg was always TSR's Marvel, tho I didn't get to play it much. This does look like fun tho. Easy to set up, strong mechanics, lots of opportunity for mayhem and glory.

[@Skeloric]

There is that randomness such as in the TSR system which could be somewhat fun if the rolls went well. This feels more aimed at exactly how TSR might have eventually done it. Even the color coded ranking feels an homage.

[@pizza725]

Hmm. Interesting, but definitely doesn't sound like it's for me. I appreciate the work you did, saved me a purchase!

[@blazinlatino89]

Do u know if this is still an active product for them? Like are they working on expansions or tokens or minis to support this or is the one book going to be it?

[@richmcgee434]

They released the Guise Book a little while ago (essentially the "how to run a humorous campaign inspired by Deadpool, Howard the Duck, etc" supplement) and have a Rook City book in the works (so street level, gritty "noir" style game ideas) but they are far behind schedule on support per the kickstarter. The game is live, but not releasing at all quickly and the fan base is getting pretty fed up with it. That said, it really is a one-book RPG. You don't need anything else to play it, and the supplements are more genre guideline stuff and more official character stats than any kind of crunchy rules expansion. Probably the most demanded item is more adventures module type stuff, but I don't know when we'll see any of those. I play strictly my own homebrew setting so they'd be pretty irrelevant for me anyway. It certainly couldn't hurt to have some out there, although the core book does a pretty good job of providing GM's with "how to build a session/story" on its own.