Have you seen the new quick start rules for Valiant Universe RPG? I have. They made me reminisce on some of my early RPG days. In high school we role-played like it was our life. I can’t tell you how much D&D we played. We also played Marvel Super Heroes, Rifts, and even a little bit of DC mingled its way in. We had countless night where we would sneak out of our respective houses and meet up to play in a tent. Yes, I said a tent. Which didn’t do so well in the winter, but we managed to find a barn. There wasn’t any heat at first but we made it work.
I was and I still am very fond of the Marvel Super Heroes Game. It was the first RPG that expanded my vision of what RPG’s could encompass. The game also had a unique flair to it with karma and and power shifts. Valiant is going to be a game that does that same exact thing. Catalyst has introduced some very unique concepts that might just influence the future of story telling games. Two of these are the cue system and the introduction of a lead narrator, at least I have never seen it before.
The Cue system in a nutshell is this; character definition. On each character sheet there is a series of sentences that depict the characters personality. Some of these reflect the hidden identity of the character while others display attitude of the hero, and some exemplify the approach taken in combat. Basically, they are a guideline to influence the players decision making while attempting to stay in character.
