Thoughts of KS and Marvel

The Kickstarter campaign is just about 3 days from the end, and we're nearing 250% of the funding goal, which is awesome. As we near the end, I'm reflecting a bit on some fundamental things about my aesthetic and approach, and how/why I am where I am.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to reconnect with some college friends and play the Marvel Multiverse RPG once a week. We're meeting again tonight, and I'll keep playing Skye Stalwart as adapted to a rank 2 hero in that game world. The game did a pretty good job of allowing me to play Skye as she is - her basic abilities are all about where I see them, and she's pretty capable. She lifted a car. She was able to knock out several bank robbers in a round. She can fly pretty quickly from one point to another. 

But... she's got a list of things she can do. When she attacks, she can use a few different very specific tactics that have very specific mechanical benefits and requirements. If and when she gets more powerful, she will unlock some new tactics and abilities that will give her more options. However, if I decide I want her to do something that isn't clearly delineated by one of those things - and they are pretty solid, so there are good strategic options each round - it is murky to me. Maybe it's not as murky as it feels right now.

Now, I'm only a session in, and I've only read the briefest selection of rules, but I can tell you how it feels to play. It feels like a game. Which it is. That's reasonable; it is a game that feels like a game and works like a game should work. It's a good game. Maybe it's a great game (I have no idea). But it is, first and foremost, a game set in the Marvel Universe. 

When I play Stalwart, I don't feel like I'm playing a game. I feel like I'm in a comic. Sometimes, I kind of forget that it's a game, because I don't have to look anything up and I just think of something I want to try and then roll the die for that thing (because there are only five options, it's pretty obvious most of the time which of the dice I should use), and then see if it worked, and how well. And then I keep going, moving through the comic. I don't pause to read about my strategic options and deliberate over whether to activate my 'haymaker' or 'hail of blows' or 'shock and awe' or whatever other title I decide to give this particular mechanical nuance. I just decide to do something cool - maybe something I've never thought of before - and just go for it.

The last few weeks have shown me, that out of everything about Stalwart as a game, I'm most proud of how intuitive it is, and how well it gets out of the way of the comic book story. I'm grateful that the Kickstarter has allowed me to share it with so many people.