Stark City Kickstarter?

Zachary The First · August 10, 2012, 10:21:54 PM

Anyone else going in on this one? Seems like a cool project for ICONS, and I'm digging some of the names behind it. Then again, I'm a sucker for a good superhero city setting, too.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1925514456/stark-city-setting-and-city-building-toolkit-for-i

ICONS is a pretty awesome game, one I didn't really get to do enough with the first time around. I have a feeling this might be a great supplement for it.

So, anyone else sign up for the $10/$25/$? level on this one?

The Butcher · August 11, 2012, 06:08:45 PM

Wow, that looks crazy good. I'd pitch in, if I was in the market for a supers setting.

Zachary The First · August 11, 2012, 10:39:11 PM

Most definitely. Supers is one of those genres that seems extremely difficult to get right from an RPG POV. There's only been a handful of supers RPGs I've been comfortable with, and even fewer that have decent supplements written for them. ICONS is definitely in the former category; I sure hope it can be in the latter.

Soylent Green · August 12, 2012, 11:05:06 PM

I fully expect I'll pick this up once it's released but for some reason I just find I'm not very keen on the whole kickstarter concept.

RPGPundit · August 14, 2012, 12:38:20 AM

I don't think I'd have much use for this.

RPGPundit

Silverlion · August 14, 2012, 04:41:43 PM

I wish I had money to put on it. A cool setting might be fun--it might be to silly for me, not sure though.

urbwar · August 14, 2012, 09:21:56 PM

I'm considering pledging. The Improbable Tales KS did pretty well, though not all the adventures have been released yet. Still, the ones that were have all been pretty good, so I'm willing to give this a shot.

Teazia · August 16, 2012, 10:10:44 PM

The thing about supers is it has to have the right tone and not be about leveling. Superheroes don't generally level or increase in power, the point is to stay as static as possible for the longest time.

Icons is pretty cool, but I really hate the art in the core book! I wonder if it could be reworked with golden age art or something. It seems like the main artist has improved in that style, maybe a second printing?

$10 for a setting seems pretty sweet, I'll have to keep my eye on it. Plus it could be used with mostly compatible FASERIP derived games- FASERIP, the old 4 Color, and G-Core.

daniel_ream · August 17, 2012, 12:40:20 AM

I own probably half a dozen superhero city settings. All of them are essentially interchangeable. Given the name behind it, I'm skeptical this product is going to be significantly different from any of the other superhero city settings I own.

For that matter (with the possible exception of Gotham City), I'm hard pressed to think of a city in any mainstream superhero comic book that had any character or unique feel to it such that it would need a sourcebook.

Silverlion · August 17, 2012, 01:52:16 AM

Quote from: daniel_ream;572269For that matter (with the possible exception of Gotham City), I'm hard pressed to think of a city in any mainstream superhero comic book that had any character or unique feel to it such that it would need a sourcebook.

I hope the city I'm "making" for 2E Hearts & Souls will change that a bit. Its set in Texas, and its got its own strangeness, but isn't particularly like any of the others I've seen. Its not really "repainting New York" or something similar. Albeit it has elements of my local hometown its a bit bigger in many ways.

Soylent Green · August 17, 2012, 03:39:53 AM

Quote from: Teazia;572209Icons is pretty cool, but I really hate the art in the core book! I wonder if it could be reworked with golden age art or something. It seems like the main artist has improved in that style, maybe a second printing?
.

You are not alone in hating ICONS' style of art, but personally I really like ICONS artwork, so much so that I've selected pictures from the various ICONS books to use as my screensaver.

It's not technically flawless and often it feels rushed, but it's got personality and some of recurrent characters, the Mighty Saguaro, are just a lot of fun.

Also, I really like the concept of having the same artist do all the artwork across the entire range of the game. I'm not sure why.

daniel_ream · August 17, 2012, 12:29:31 PM

Dan Houser has been getting better by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years, but the decision to go with a Timmverse animation style is a deliberate one and central to the tone of the game. The Timmverse is really the only modern incarnation of the retro-Silver Age tone they're shooting for, so it's not surprising they chose that art style.

My biggest problem with Icons! is the price/value.

Soylent Green · August 17, 2012, 01:21:54 PM

I take it then you failed to pick up ICONS back when the entire line was going for $1. :-)

But I agree the Bruce Timm look is not accidental. As with any system you can play ICONS any way you like, but retro-Silver Age is where it is at its best.

When in my book despite Nolan's Dark Knight and the recent Marvel movies, Timm and co's animated work on Batman and Justice League are still the best screen versions of the superhero genre.

daniel_ream · August 18, 2012, 12:44:24 PM

Quote from: Soylent Green;572481I take it then you failed to pick up ICONS back when the entire line was going for $1. :-)

Oh, no, I have a significant chunk of the line. I just think they're asking too much for what is basically not much more than an alternate dice mechanic for MSH.

Zachary The First · September 21, 2012, 03:06:11 PM

Thought I'd follow up on this, since we've been talking about Kickstarters so much lately. Happily, it did fund, and I like what I've seen from the couple of previews released.

Estimated delivery is January 2013, so hopefully they keep to that.