The Breeder Bombs
Murderworld
and Cat's Paw:
Marvel Super Heroes Modules

Game Review

Reviewed by Mike Dawson


Written by Jeff Grubb
TSR, Inc. P.O. Box 756, Lake Geneva, WI 53147
Released: 1984
Catalog No. 6851, 6855, and 6857
Price: $6.00 each
Complexity: Beginner
Solitaire Suitability: None
**, **, and ** 1/2

The Breeder Bombs, Murderworld, and Cat's Paw are three of the earliest supplemental releases for TSR's Marvel Super Heroes. All come shrink wrapped in a loose color cover backprinted with the stats of the featured super hero team and contain a 16-page multi-chapter scenario. The scenarios are aimed at the young gamer and feature a great deal of combat action and offer little in the way of roleplaying, aside from the shallow and mechanics- mandated character acting urged by the Marvel Super Heroes' karma system.

The scenarios follow a standard format that will grow very familiar to referees who use many of Marvel Super Heroes' support products. Each scenario begins with the characters involved in everyday activities for the superheroes, and progresses into combat as unforeseen events, persons, or situations suddenly interfere.

A first chapter situation leads directly into the next chapter situation in a ringthroughthenose fashion that makes sure the characters will not lose the steel chain of the plot. If the players prove to be inept at running the heroes, a handy plot device is waiting around the corner, ready to pull the heroes' fat out of the fire and advance the plot to the next chapter.

Breeder Bombs is the first Marvel Super Heroes scenario released, and features Marvel's extremely popular X-Men as protagonists. Here one of the most difficult to resolve problems of Marvel Super Heroes scenarios comes up. While published scenarios are necessarily static and derived from a setting from past issues of their respective comics, the comics themselves are (thankfully) fluid and changing things. Breeder Bombs presents XMen that no longer exist in the comics since several of the characters have undergone major power or personality changes since the publication of Breeder Bombs.

Other scenarios have this same problem. Cat's Paw features Alpha Flight and includes Sasquatch as an integral member of the team. Snowbird has supposedly retired, but is also included. These problems will have to be resolved by the referee who chooses to run these Marvel Super Heroes scenarios in a campaign that tries to stay abreast of developments in Marvel comics. No suggestions about handling the problem are given by the authors or editors.

The Murderworld scenarios involve the Fantastic Four. An interview turns into an attempt by aliens to infiltrate the headquarters of the Fantastic Four. As this starts, a partially activated robot attacks the upper stories just in time to keep Reed Richards from completely finishing an important project. Laver after layer of improbability is loaded onto the plot until even the credibility of a comic reader is strained The plots of all three are primarily a series of excuses for slugfests. Murderworld is the biggest offender in this regard, and Cat's Paw is the least offensive.

The size of the individual scenarios and their lack of replay suitability raise some questions about the value gained for your six dollars. These scenarios play very fast, and a smart group of characters who don't waste much time role-playing can zip right through the whole booklet in an evening. Similar products for other systems contain more information for the same amount of money.

Aside from the Murderworld scenario, which is mostly full of threats significantly less powerful than the heroes, the scenarios are balanced well against the strengths of the characters.

Cat's Paw even seems to be a bit balanced against the members of Alpha Flight, who are bound to have a tough fight unless they are very clever.

The Breeder Bombs and Murderworld scenarios resemble Marvel comics as written by unimaginative comic writers unable to deal with levels of emotional conflict or plots of more intricacy than "I'm tough and I am gonna paste some heroes." The situations all seem contrived, and worse, they seem mostly inappropriate for the heroes faced by them.

Cat's Paw is not quite so bad. Aside from the poorly planned first chapter where Alpha Flight encounters a ghost and villains all in the same house, the action is pretty close to the kind of event expected in an Alpha Flight comic. Of the three, Cat's Paw also has the most opportunities for roleplaying. The synthetic Hulks do seem a little strange, however.

Younger players who have had good experiences with other Marvel Super Heroes scenarios or who play an actionoriented game will probably enjoy these three products. Marvel Super Heroes players who prefer a more intricate game with many opportunities for role-playing will be better off designing their own adventures. if you run a system other than Marvel Super Heroes, these scenarios hold nothing of interest for you.

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© Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy.
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