Batman Role-Playing Game
The Batman Role-Playing Game is a role-playing game published by Mayfair Games in 1989.
Description
[edit | edit source]The Batman Role-Playing Game is a superhero system, a version of the second edition DC Heroes rules abbreviated for novice players and focusing on Batman and Gotham City.[1] In addition to game rules and game-mastering advice, it includes statistics for Batman and all his friends and enemies, and a description and map of Gotham City.[1] There are two scenarios: an introductory solo and a full scenario for a group of players featuring the Joker.[1]
Publication history
[edit | edit source]The Batman Role-Playing Game was designed by Jack A. Barker, Greg Gorden, and Ray Winninger, and was published by Mayfair Games in 1989 as a 192-page book.[1] The game, a simplified version of DC Heroes, was released in 1989 to coincide with the Batman film.[2] The second edition of the DC Heroes rules, published in 1989, incorporated material from the Batman Role-Playing Game and the Superman Sourcebook. These materials also included rules for advantages, drawbacks, and gadgetry.[3]
Reception
[edit | edit source]Paul Mason reviewed Batman Role-Playing Game for Games International magazine, and gave it 3 stars out of 5, and wrote that "it's not the perfect medium to simulate the better Batman comics, but it has potential".[4]
Ken Cliffe reviewed The Batman Role-Playing Game for White Wolf #20, rating it 4 out of 5 overall, and wrote that "although there is no desperate need for the Batman RPG, the game still finds a niche in the game industry. I recommend it to all Batfans, whether you own DC Heroes [or] not".[5]
In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, game critic Rick Swan liked the game, saying, "Batman is both a nice introduction to role-playing and a competent simulation of the Caped Crusader's adventures." But although Swan gave this game a rating of 3 out of 4, he noted that Batman was essentially a stripped down DC Heroes game, and suggested "I can't think of a single reason anyone shouldn't skip this and go directly to DC Heroes, with the exception of collectors who need to own every last product with a bat emblem on it."[6]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c d Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Roberta E. Pearson and William Uricchio. The Many lives of the Batman: critical approaches to a superhero and his media. Routledge: London, 1991. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., (p.58).
- ^ Allen Varney, "The State of the Art in Superheroics, Part 2", Dragon Magazine, January 1991.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).