Heroes Unlimited

Superhero RPG

Review by Mike Dawson

Designed by Kevin Siembieda
Palladium Books 5669 Cosper Ave., Detroit, MI 48210
Relleased: 1984
Catalog No 500
Price: $14.95
Complexity: Beginner/Intermediate
Solitaire Suitability: None

Heroes Unlimited is a random generation superhero role-playing game based on a vaguely D&D oriented combat system with a percentile skills system added. The system is contained in a single 155-page book that includes sections titled "How to Play," "Creating Characters," "Character Skills," "Robotics," "Bionics," a beginning scenario, a Gamesmaster (GM) section, a character sheet, and an index. The book comes with a heavy paper stock cover that has been plasticized for durability The cover art is by Steranko and represents the games highest achievement. Interior illustrations are by the writer and show good quality, though there are reprints from various Palladium Weapons books and Mechanoid Invasion books.

Heroes Unlimited is an ill-thought attempt to secure a piece of the rapidly expanding superhero role-playing game (RPG) market. It is poorly edited and shows little evidence of having been playtested for balance. The text contains editorial comments from the author, and the system is very strongly built around his puzzling notions of what a superhero RPG world should he like.

One example of the game's confusion of the comic world and the real world is its recommendations that the player-characters (PCs) not gain a costume. "Those fancy costumes shouldn't (sic) just be handed to the new character. Let 'em (sic) figure out how to get one or put one together." The game goes on to describe the "Gorilla Suit Option" which suggests that the PC go to a costume store and put together a set of togs; the "Do- It-Yourself Option" of picking up crude stuff at army-navy stores; and finally "Professional Tailoring" for those with money and the willingness to risk their secret identity. This section is on the last page of the book, after the index.

The editorial style of the game, combined with crucial rules sections that are either missing, glossed over, or confusing, makes Heroes Unlimited a game only for the completist collector The game is only enjoyable in that it is amusing to see what kind of randomly generated Super Monster or Super Wimp Character can be created with the many tables provided by the game. Alternately, one can make choices in the character creation stage that exploit balance problems in the system and provide a bit of fun; however, this is fun only because of the silly nature of the character generation system and does not really tempt the player to "run" his character. A player does not have to use the random generation method to produce his character, but it is strongly urged by the author of Heroes Unlimited..

For the above reasons, the game has a negligible replay value. True beginners to role- playing would probably get so discouraged by the poorly organized rules systems that they would never quite be able to begin, much less to play a second time. It is very easy to get discouraged by a game that has a section titled "How to Play," when indeed the section does not tell you how to play. The section does define a few words used in common gaming lingo, tells you what kind of dice and other equipment will be necessary, devotes seven lines to the subject of character creation, but it does not tell a complete beginner how to play Heroes Unlimited. The glossary section of "How to Play" even uses the standard method of explaining die rolls (the 1D6 or 3D8 method currently becoming the industry standard), but the rest of the book uses the older die spread method, 1-6 or 3-24.

Discouragement would also come because the rules are insufficient to run the game. The largest omission is lack of a movement system. Characters are given a rating in miles per hour (MPH) for all their characters types of movement, but no mention is made of how this movement works in a tactical situation like combat. No rules are given for how fast a character can accelerate and decelerate.

In one case where the player needs to use a formula to figure out how many "inner strength points" his psionic character has, the text reads 'A personal base LST is his Mental Endurance X two plus the roll of a 20-sided die added to the base I.S.P." Aside from the awkward and unclear writing in this example, the game has a larger flaw. Since the author chose to write out the formula instead of using mathematical expressions, the player is forced to decide for himself just exactly how the formula is supposed to work. There are two possibilities, yielding very different results, even if the random die roll is the same. For example, one way of interpreting the formula is (M.E.X) +1D20. It can also be read as M.E. X (2 + 1D20). No examples of how the formula should work are given anywhere.

The next rules problem is that there are no examples given of how the player creates a character, or how any of the specific rules work in actual play. The practice of giving examples for rules has become widespread throughout the gaming industry; Heroes Unlimited would have benefited from their use.

Indeed, the players of this system are left to figure out such basic things as how many times to roll on the Super Power Table. No indication of how many super powers a character may have is given anywhere in the rules, but some diligent detective work will reveal that the most likely answer is that only one roll is allowed. How would you like a character whose only power is radar or flight? It isn't much when placed against someone who has rolled one of the Control Elemental Forces powers.

The luck of the dice determines the toughness of your character. The truly lucky players roll up a character who is a 11 psionic." When this happens the player gets to pick his powers and can build a truly wild fighting machine. If you havQ a psionic character, make sure you take Telekinesis JK) instead of Levitation. TK does everything that Levitation does and much more; again illustrating the poor level of game balance and playtesting.

In the Heroes Unlimited system, the author has eliminated the need for an innovative approach to balancing super powers by making the luck of the dice do the choosing for the player.

The largest problem in Heroes Unlimited is absolutely basic. it does not simulate the four-color world of comic books. It appears that the author has confused reality with superheroes, and this is the bane of any comic simulation game.

It can be argued that the author did not set out to design a system that allowed the player control over the design of the character, but this decision flaws the whole game system as a simulation of the comic world, something that the Heroes Unlimited system is supposed to be.

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© Copyright 1999 by Dana Lombardy.
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