# A BATMAN RPG Has Just Been Announced



## LuisCarlos17f (Sep 20, 2020)

You can imagine whatever after the events of Death Metal. 

I wish them a great success but, I have said it many times, d20 system is a great challenge for DM about power level when there are firearms and modern tech, and beside that, the superpowers. Munchkin players will want something like a power armour (as the battle suit by Lex Luthor or the batsuit "rookie" by Gordon). And many Batman stories start with investigation as first step to find the criminal.

Do you think the next will the suicide squad or teen young titans?


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## EthanSental (Sep 20, 2020)

I think Luis is on point about d20 and power levels.  If they keep it to Batman and his rogues gallery it’s not as big of an issue but once the justice league and their villains enter the picture it would be difficult to balance that I think.  I’ll be checking this out after starting with Mayfair games Dc heroes and marvel superheroes in the 80s and the various reboots cine then.


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## Imaculata (Sep 20, 2020)

I think any such system needs to have rules in regards to super powers, especially for character creation. I'm very curious what they do with that.


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## ugavine (Sep 20, 2020)

As a DC and Batman fan I'm very interested.
Although I'm not sure D20 is be the best system for this.  I tried DC Adventures and didn't like it.
Then there is Kickstarter.  I don't like it when big name brands use Kickstarter.
And then there is Monolith.  If this is priced anything like the ludicrously over-priced board game they can forget it.


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## LuisCarlos17f (Sep 20, 2020)

I guess the most of batman villains aren't overpowered. We shouldn't worry about that too much.

I have thought about d20 system would need to establish three different pillars. The level of power, the level of knowledge (all learned by PC and keeped in the memory although she was nerfed, or mind loaded into a new body as in Altered Carbon or Eclipse Phase RPG) and level of opulence (when you are like a christmas tree because you have got too many magic item, or expensive gadgets as iron mar power armoured). If an nPC is more powerful thanks "special help", for example weapons, then the challenge rating/XP reward should be higher, like a creature with an added monster template. (I warn Killer-Moth also had got his own vehicles, for example a moth-car). 

* What if this is only a test to know the reaction by the fandom, and later they dare to publish its own DC system? Today Warner also has got some links with Hasbro, and the TTRPG could be used to promote more forgotten pieces of the IPs, for example secondary heroes and villains. 

* Will we see any podcast game-live show? I feel curiosity about the other members of the batfamily and the Gothan City from other parallel worlds, of the negative universe. 

* Do you think this could open a door for a future TTRPG of other DC lines as suicide squad, teen titans, but also Green Arrow, Doom Patrol or Stargirl?


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## Birmy (Sep 20, 2020)

This represents the collision of several of my interests.


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## Weiley31 (Sep 20, 2020)

Now we can all roleplay the return of Gotham City Imposters!


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## TheIdeaOfGood (Sep 20, 2020)

Could be interesting, although I am a die-hard Mutants & Masterminds fan. If the system flows smoothly and allows for minor street-level powers, it would present a nice alternative for street-level games.


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## diceexmachina (Sep 20, 2020)

So, it appears to be based on a French-language derivative of 3.5 d20 called "Chroniques oubliées Contemporain" (roughly "Contemporary Forgotten Chronicles".


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## Stereofm (Sep 20, 2020)

The good thing, if you own the board games already, you have all the miniatures at hand.


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## EternalDungeonMaster (Sep 20, 2020)

This one isn't for me. As others have already said, the d20 system has some serious limitations with regards to this type of gaming. And if you were going to play a d20 superhero TTRPG, you can pretty much cover any type of genre and power level with Mutants & Masterminds.


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## MGibster (Sep 20, 2020)

EternalDungeonMaster said:


> This one isn't for me. As others have already said, the d20 system has some serious limitations with regards to this type of gaming. And if you were going to play a d20 superhero TTRPG, you can pretty much cover any type of genre and power level with Mutants & Masterminds.




To me, a game focused on Batman style street heroics should have some serious limitations.  And while I admit I'm rather out of touch these days when it comes to Batman comics, there's no need to worry about how to fit in a Wonder Woman as we're dealing with villains who are mostly human with the occasional super villain with minor powers thrown in.


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## Gebeji (Sep 20, 2020)

diceexmachina said:


> So, it appears to be based on a French-language derivative of 3.5 d20 called "Chroniques oubliées Contemporain" (roughly "Contemporary Forgotten Chronicles".



Exactly, so, to paraphrase B5 "it's d20, but not from d20"  I've been checking this out the last couple of months on a Comicbook & Supers MeWe group, and i'm reposting here my attempts to explain the system so you have a better idea what it'll look like and hopefully answers questions/concerns people have about it (and btw, the KS is scheduled for March 2021)

"_For those interested, i've read the rules for the french game which will be the basis for the new Batman Gotham City Chronicles rpg and i'll sum it up: 

Character creation 6 stats like DnD (max 21) with Perception replacing Wisdom, mainly used to get a modifier to your rolls (+5 max) 1 Trait, either from Action list (Acrobat, Brawler, Huge...) or Reason list (Expert, Nerd, Rich...) 1 Profile (Job) from either Action (Bodyguard, Pilot, Criminal...), Adventure (Spy, Thief, Reporter...) or Reason (Artist, Writer, Scientist...) that will define your hit dice (d10, d8, d6), starting Paths and basic HTH and Ranged attack bonus as well as more luck for adventurers and more abilities for Thinkers (Reason) 2 rank 1 abilities from your available Paths (Firearms, Investigation, Corporation...), which are feat-like, each having 5 levels of abilities (Firearms has Aim, Nice shot, Precise Hit, Fast Hit (L) and Sniper) 
Levelling up means +1 to either HTH or Range attacks (max +6), +your HD on even levels, +your CON bonus on odd levels up to level 10, +2 ability points (rank 1-2 abilities cost 1 pt, rank 3-5 cost 2 pts each) 
Rules Tests are d20 + stat bonus vs difficulty (easy 5, diificult 15, almost impossible 25) with critical and fumble possible. Using a Luck point gives you +10 on that roll 
Combat starts in initiative order (based on Dex) and you can do either 1 limited action (L class abilities), 1 Move and 1 Attack or 2 Moves (some action are free) rolling against your target's DEF (10+Dex bonus+other bonus) as the difficulty. Damage rolls can explode (reroll if you get the maximum on the dice) 

The preview adventure, King of Gotham, is three short interlinked stories, introduce five new (WIP) game specific Paths (Masked Vigilante, Sensei, Gadgeteer, Crime Genius and Elasticity) as well as stats for Batman (lvl 20), Vicky Vale (lvl 3), Mr Freeze (lvl 12), Joker (lvl 15), Black mask (lvl 13), Clayface (lvl 14) and some minor thugs, as well as their "equipment" Hope this helps give you a better idea of what's coming, i'm also keeping an eye on this as it progresses "

Q - How will do characters of different levels work together? Are there special abilities and/or gear like grapple guns and Batmobile?

"Well, since levels only give you more hit pts, attack bonuses and access to your Path abilities, which shouldn't overlap too much between PCs, then working together should only be a question of letting the best character for the job at hand do it while the others help out with the roll (there are also rules for this). It's also a Gotham City Rpg, so, no Superman here (in the preview adventure, only Mr Freeze and Clayface have +8 bonus to STR and respectively 33 and 78 HP, while Batman has 82 and Joker 50)
There are gears and stuff (Freeze cryogun does 3d6 dmg, his armor add +6 to his DEF, Joker hand buzzer does 1d8 dmg and force a CON roll vs difficulty 10 to avoid being stunned next trn, Batsy grappling gun add +15 to climbing tests and allow air movement on 30m while explosive batarangs do 1d6 dmg to a 2m squared area and the Batmobile gives +4 STR, +5 DEX, has 40 HP, DEF 18 and comes equipped with radar, missiles, machineguns, alarm system and autodestruct )
And just so you know, the batplane's missiles do 4d10 dmg "

Q - Does the Freeze cryogun have a freeze feature at all? What are Path Abilities like? Are Goons/Mooks/Minions level 1-ish? I ask because it feels like a batarang should be able to take out a Mook. How much does a Batman punch do?

"The cryogun and armor gives him access to the Path of Frost, which has the following abilities:
Rnk 1 Fridge (reduce cold damage taken by 5 and if you hit a target it's slowed to 1 action/trn from the cold)
Rnk 2 Icy Zone (L - covers 5m radius where everyone uses 1d12 for their rolls instead of 1d20 unless they can make a CON 15 test or get out of the zone)
Rnk 3 Hail storm (L - inflict 3d6 dmg to everyone within 10m)
Rnk 4 Ice Dart (L - 3d6 dmg and slowed as rnk 1, on a critical encased in ice block for 1d6 trns)
Rnk 5 Ice Armor (L - +5 DEF, -10 fire dmg reduction, immune to cold dmg for 1d6 trns, targets are slowed for 2 trns on HTH attacks)
As for Mooks, the Pulp rules state that any NPC one quarter the lvl of a PC is considered minor (ordinary people usually have 4-6 HP anyway) and can be taken out on a critical, and for 1 Luck Point on that critical, you can even lay down 1d6 of them 
Oh, and Batsy does 1d10+4 dmg in HTH "_


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## ugavine (Sep 20, 2020)

Stereofm said:


> The good thing, if you own the board games already, you have all the miniatures at hand.




I play Heroclix, so plenty I have of figures


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## Black Glove (Sep 20, 2020)

Waow @Gebeji , where exactly did you find all those explanations ? 

Thank you for posting them anyway.


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## Gebeji (Sep 20, 2020)

Black Glove said:


> Waow @Gebeji , where exactly did you find all those explanations ?
> 
> Thank you for posting them anyway.



Lol, you're welcome, i'm simply french-speaking and i also own the french game system it'll be based-on


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## LongTimeLurker (Sep 21, 2020)

this could be very, very interesting. but the d20 system? seriously? i think that this would be awesome, d20 is my favorite ruleset. but as has been mentioned early and often in this thread, the power fluctuations in d20 make integrating street level supers (batman) with god level supers (superman, wonder woman) problematic at best. a system based on 5e seems much more logical, i haven't played as much 5e as  3.5e/d20 but 5e seems much more toned down with not as many fiddly, abusable parts. it just sort of 'feels right' for the batman.

i've heard good things about mutants and masterminds but have never played that system or even read a source book. i'm sure they had some kind of meta-system that let the GM define the power level beforehand and let the players design roughly the same power level of characters. maybe they can add a similar system to this game, if they really are going to be using d20.

i really, really hope that this game is good. i really, really hope that it is actually d20!!


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## imagineGod (Sep 21, 2020)

But why d20 instead of a dice system more power level resilient and scalable for the superhero genre.


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## univoxs (Sep 21, 2020)

imagineGod said:


> But why d20 instead of a dice system more power level resilient and scalable for the superhero genre.




I agree. D20 and super heroes are square peg round hole to me.


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## Dungeonosophy (Sep 21, 2020)

Added it to...
*The world's most complete directory of tabletop RPG depictions of fictive worlds which originated in other media*

*That makes for eight DC rpgs so far.*


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## Skywalker (Sep 21, 2020)

I don't really see a Batman RPG as being a superhero RPG. Its much more a cinematic action RPG IMO and d20 is pretty much a cinematic action RPG at its base. As such, I am more hopefully that it will be a good fit, especially given the scope and tone shown in the Batman: Gotham City Chronicles. However, I am also cautious as I have seen so many D20 adaptations go wrong.


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## Emirikol Prime (Sep 21, 2020)

Who are these creators in terms of past work?  Why would we trust them and how did they get this license?


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## Morrus (Sep 21, 2020)

Emirikol Prime said:


> Who are these creators in terms of past work?  Why would we trust them and how did they get this license?



It's a French boardgame company which already has the license and already produced a successful_ Batman _boardgame which made $4.5M on Kickstarter. They also produced a _Conan_ boardgame. 





As to how they got that license in the first place, I imagine like most companies they reached out to the IP holder, set up a pitch meeting, made a proposal, agreed on terms, and worked out an agreement.

The rulebook designer is François Verstraete, who I'm not familiar with.


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## imagineGod (Sep 21, 2020)

Posted in the wrong thread. Sorry.


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## imagineGod (Sep 21, 2020)

Morrus said:


> It's a French boardgame company which already has the license and already produced a successful_ Batman _boardgame which made $4.5M on Kickstarter. They also produced a _Conan_ boardgame.
> 
> View attachment 126514
> 
> ...



Their Conan role playing game was basically just encounters that were rolled into the 2d20 game engine from Modiphius and published in the sourcebook below:









						Conan: The Monolith Sourcebook - PDF
					

A Red Tide to Kush, a complete RPG board game campaign with ten new scenarios, Shadows from Gulsaggah, a complete roleplaying adventure campaign, Rules for solo and cooperative play, Guidelines for using Conan tiles and roleplaying resources and more.




					www.modiphius.net


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## Ghal Maraz (Sep 21, 2020)

I would contend the fact that the game was just announced. 

There's this Facebook post () going back to May, 13, that suggests otherwise.


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## Morrus (Sep 21, 2020)

Ghal Maraz said:


> I would contend the fact that the game was just announced.
> 
> There's this Facebook post () going back to May, 13, that suggests otherwise.



Well I guess they announced it again!


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## Von Ether (Sep 21, 2020)

DC Heroes: Batman has been a d20 PC/NPC already.


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## Wrathamon (Sep 21, 2020)

Mutants & Masterminds was d20 based so it is possible to make a superhero system on that foundation. They could also just be using the old d20 ogl instead of the 5e because its a bit more forgiving.


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## Morrus (Sep 21, 2020)

Wrathamon said:


> Mutants & Masterminds was d20 based so it is possible to make a superhero system on that foundation. They could also just be using the old d20 ogl instead of the 5e because its a bit more forgiving.



There's only one OGL.

In terms of systems, it sounds like -- from a post up above -- that it's their own customized d20 system.


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## ART! (Sep 21, 2020)

Well, this is intriguing and unexpected. I'm always interested in a new supers game, so although I'm not like a big Bat-fan per se, I will keep an eye on this.

"A fully adapted D20 System Rulebook" could mean a lot of things - especially if this is a translation from French. "Fully adapted" suggests a heavily tweaked and adjusted version of the system, so it could be quite different but still recognizable. I'm not sure what if any restrictions there are on how much 5E can be altered and still be called a 5E product. [EDIT] Okay, it's not 5E, but their own system that's already a version from 3.X, adjusted further for Batman. Huh. Cool!

Anyway, I'm kind of excited!


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## Morrus (Sep 21, 2020)

ART! said:


> I'm not sure what if any restrictions there are on how much 5E can be altered and still be called a 5E product.




None whatsoever. Nobody owns the term '5E'. I can invent a new frying pan and call it a 5E frying pan.

(Well, other than angry customers who might feel misled).


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## C-Moon (Sep 21, 2020)

Very excited to see more about this


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## LuisCarlos17f (Sep 21, 2020)

Batman is superheroe but level street vigilante, without powers as superstrenght to break walls or throwing cars.

Sometime I have imagine an optional rule as "paths", like the backgrounds of 5th Ed but with levels or ranks. The character wouldn't be more powerful, no more hit-points or bonus to attack or save check, but unlock ranks for storytelling effects as searching clues, crafting gadgets or magic item, learned more languages or contacts with people to ask favours. These ranks couldn't be unlocked spending XPs but a different reward, I give this the name "storytelling points", for actions as find a solution by means of social skills .


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## Philippe Tromeur1 (Sep 21, 2020)

Here's the (WIP) Batman from the "Roi de Gotham" adventure
(the French preview adventure that was published a few months ago)

*Bruce Wayne aka Batman, vigilante level 20*
*Feature:* thoughtful
STR 18 / +4, CON 18 / +4, DEX 20 / +5*, INT 22 / +6, PER 18 / +4*, CHA 18 / +4
HP 82, luck 6
melee +10, range +9, DEF 19 (Batman) / 15 (Bruce Wayne), INIT 20
DM bare hands 1D10 +4
*Paths and capacities :*

Masked vigilante rank 5: alone against all, appearing out of nowhere, bodyguard, at the last moment, last chance
Sensei rank 5: the art of combat, iron hands, parade of projectiles, rain of blows, purity of body and mind
Infiltration rank 5: code breaker, bluff, on guard, low profile, superhuman discretion
Investigation rank 5: analytical mind, expertise (detective), quick research, eidetic memory, infallible flair
Wealth rank 5: standard of living, influence, luxury vehicle, relationships, down-to-earth
Danger rank 1: not even afraid
*Equipment :*

Bulletproof suit : DEF +4 (no DEX malus) RD 5
Batarangs : range 10 m ; DM 1D4+5
Explosive batarangs : range : 10 m on an area of effect of 2 m² ; DM 1d6
Grapple gun: +15 bonus on climbing tests (FOR) and moving in the air over a distance of about 30 m.
Bolas: range: 10 m; immobilizes the target if the ATD is successful. The target can perform a FOR test or of DEX diff. 10 to be free (limited action)
Blinding grenades: range: 20 m on a 5 m² effect area; characters in the effect area must succeed a test of CON diff. 15 or be blinded for 2 turns
Smoke grenades: range 50 m on an area of effect of 10 m²; releases a cloud of opaque smoke inflicting a malus of -5 to PER tests (inside the effect area or across) and giving a +5 bonus to stealth (DEX) tests (inside the effect area or across).
Tear gas grenades: see rulebook
Beacons: must be placed on a character or vehicle (melee vs. target defense or melee + stealth roll, DEX opposite to the target's PER). The beacon then appears on the Batmobile's radar and has a range of 15 km approximately.
Flashlight

*Batmobile*
STR +4, AGI +5
DEF 18, HP 40, RD 15

Radar: +10 in observation and localization tests
4 anti-tank missiles
2 heavy machine guns
Alarm system (hook diff. 25)
Self-destruction system (DM 6D6 in a 50 m² area; DEX diff. 15 test to dodge)

*Bat-Plane*
AGI +10
DEF 18, HP 30, RD 5

4 air-to-air missiles DM 4D10
4 ground-to-air missiles DM 4D10
1 gun DM 4D8
Note : the asterisks after "DEX 20 / +5*" "PER 18 / +4*" mean that rolls involving those attributes have advantage (that is, roll two d20, keep the better one)

As you can see, all skills/powers/spells/whatever are abilities earned thanks to 5-level "Paths".
IIRC, PC's earn 2 ranks per level, except 4th and 5th ranks cost cost double, as do advanced paths.

Here are two of the Batman's paths (WIP, they are new ones not to be found in Chroniques Oubliées - Contemporain rulebook)

*Path of the Masked Vigilante*
1. Alone against all : When the character fights alone against several opponents or when his team is outnumbered (at least double), he earns a +2 bonus to his defense per rank acquired in this path.
2. Appearing out of nowhere: The character benefits from an INIT bonus of +1 per rank acquired in this path, in the first round of the fight, provided he passes a stealth test beforehand.
3. Bodyguard: Once per combat, if he has not yet acted in this round, the character can receive an attack aimed at another character. He must declare the action before the Game Master makes the attack roll. The attack takes place as if the character had been targeted.
4. At the last moment...: once per battle, if an attack should inflict DMs on the character, the character can spend a luck point to cancel the attack.
5. Last chance: once per game, if the character is unconscious or at 0 HP, he can get up for 2 rounds during which he will act normally before falling unconscious again at the end of the second round.

*Path of the Sensei*
1. The art of combat: At the beginning of each round of fighting, the character chooses DEF or melee. At the end of the round, he earns a +1 bonus per rank gained in this path to his melee or DEF against contact attacks.
2. Iron hand: The character's bare-handed melee inflict 1D6 DM (plus STR Mod), 1D8 from rank 3 acquired in this path, then 1D10 to rank 5 acquired in this path.
3. Projectile parry: Once per turn, and if he is able to see his attacker, the character can try to parry a slow projectile (knife, shuriken, etc.) or seize it in flight. The action is successful thanks to a DEX test (bonus of +1 per rank acquired in this path) whose difficulty is equal to the range score reached per attacker (all bonuses and MOD included).
4. Rain of blows: Instead of performing his classic attack, the character can choose to carry on a single target a number of melee attacks equal to the number of ranks acquired in this path. Attack rolls are then made with a D12 ; each successful melee attack inflicts DMs reduced by half, rounded down.
5. Purity of mind and body: The character permanently acquires +2 in two of the following characteristics: STR, DEX, CON or CHA.

(translated bt DeepL and superrficially edited, sorry for the style)


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## Doctor Futurity (Sep 21, 2020)

This made my day, I have been wishing there was a Batman RPG (contemporary and on the market) for a while now. And I am a D20 system fan in all its incarnations, so count me in.


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## Birmy (Sep 21, 2020)

Morrus said:


> None whatsoever. Nobody owns the term '5E'. I can invent a new frying pan and call it a 5E frying pan.




Oh, great, and I suppose you'll be setting that frying pan in the _Forgettable_ Realms! Why can't we get more cookware set in Greyhawk?


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## Stormonu (Sep 21, 2020)

Birmy said:


> Oh, great, and I suppose you'll be setting that frying pan in the _Forgettable_ Realms! Why can't we get more cookware set in Greyhawk?



You mean Boccob's Pan of Griddling?

I'm still waiting for my Dark Son superhero/post-apoc fantasy crossover!


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## LuisCarlos17f (Sep 21, 2020)

Could we play with the vigilante class from Pathfinder? (it is in the SRD).

The new about an upcoming Batman RPG was published time ago, but now it is about the future Kickstarter.

* I wonder about WotC publishing a second d20 system to be genre universal. Master & Mutaminds was never compatible with D&D, and never it was the intention.

* I guess this game shouldn't worry too much about to show lore, but to remake forgotten characters, but more about crunch. Because if I want to know more about the background, I only need to read the fandom wiki, and here I can find a lot of source of inspiration.


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## Morrus (Sep 21, 2020)

LuisCarlos17f said:


> I wonder about WotC publishing a second d20 system to be genre universal.



Yes, we know you do.


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## Von Ether (Sep 22, 2020)

LuisCarlos17f said:


> Could we play with the vigilante class from Pathfinder? (it is in the SRD).
> 
> The new about an upcoming Batman RPG was published time ago, but now it is about the future Kickstarter.
> 
> ...




Why wait for WotC? 








						Amazing Adventures 5E - Troll Lord Games | 5th Edition | DriveThruRPG.com
					

Amazing Adventures 5E - Infinite worlds of adventure await! Amazing Adventures is the modern multi-genre RPG that lets you take your game to any




					www.drivethrurpg.com
				






Philippe Tromeur1 said:


> Here's the (WIP) Batman from the "Roi de Gotham" adventure
> (the French preview adventure that was published a few months ago)
> *Bruce Wayne aka Batman, vigilante level 20*




I'm still willing to see what the final product looks like, for example, this maybe maxed out version of Batman among many in the book that you could use as a PC/NPC. 

But overall, the trend I see when superheroes are stated out at the top tier that they are (pun intended) over the top. Many such builds try to include every power a super has had over half a century of "continuity" and legion of writers trying to escape the corners they wrote themselves into along with some fan wish fulfillment. 

One should pick the era and the version a hero they want to emulate. Batman's been reinterpreted so many times, there's plenty of versions to pick from.


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## Sunsword (Sep 22, 2020)

Morrus said:


> None whatsoever. Nobody owns the term '5E'. I can invent a new frying pan and call it a 5E frying pan.
> 
> (Well, other than angry customers who might feel misled).




There is no better frying pan than the 2E frying pan. Fight me!


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## Sunsword (Sep 22, 2020)

Gebeji said:


> Exactly, so, to paraphrase B5 "it's d20, but not from d20"  I've been checking this out the last couple of months on a Comicbook & Supers MeWe group, and i'm reposting here my attempts to explain the system so you have a better idea what it'll look like and hopefully answers questions/concerns people have about it (and btw, the KS is scheduled for March 2021)
> 
> <Snip>
> Could you post a link to the MeWe group?
> ...


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## Stacie GmrGrl (Sep 22, 2020)

I'm sold. I'll use this game for source material. I don't care the dice system. 

I'm constantly surprised how people think that d20 can't do something like this when we have games like d20 Modern, Silver Age Sentinels d20 and Star Wars d20/Saga (as just a few examples).


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## Emirikol Prime (Sep 22, 2020)

Morrus said:


> It's a French boardgame company which already has the license and already produced a successful_ Batman _boardgame which made $4.5M on Kickstarter. They also produced a _Conan_ boardgame.
> 
> View attachment 126514
> 
> ...



Unfortunately none of that gives me RPG hope.


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## Philippe Tromeur1 (Sep 22, 2020)

Morrus said:


> The rulebook designer is François Verstraete, who I'm not familiar with.



Neither was I, until I listened to a very long interview of the guy here :  (in French)

In fact, I know the guy (though I didn't know his family name), he worked for years in various RPG stores in Paris.
He's also worked for years for various magazines about miniature games, RPG's, movies, and other geeky stuff.

Though he's not a big name in French RPG's, the guy is quite experienced in writing and RPG's. He'll be working on a popular, long-lived and well-playtested system (Chroniques Oubliées has been around since 2009). The system is being tweaked to Batman gaming, they've already been working on it for months.

FV was not some random guy picked up to write the Batman RPG alone, he's the main sponsor of the project since the beginning (according to the interview above), and he's leading an experienced team including specialists of RPG's (Olivier Caïra, Nicolas Teixier, Mahyar Shakeri) and comics (Xavier Fournier, author of some excellent books about comics), closely working with Urban Comics (the company that publishes hundreds of DC comic books those days).


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## Gebeji (Sep 22, 2020)

Here's for the MeWe group (it's a general comics/supers, not specifically for the Batman rpg) MeWe: The best chat & group app with privacy you trust.
and yes to all your questions, up to the maximum stated (at least in the original game, that might change for the Batman rpg)


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## LuisCarlos17f (Sep 22, 2020)

What about Bird of Prey? Should any characters be "nerfed" to can be adapted into TTRPG?

A d20 set in the current age is possible, but a d20 Modern with the right power level and totally compatible with the medieval fantasy version is a different matter.

This is not only the RPG, the superheroes aren't easy to be adapted into games, because these need a right balance between failure and success, power and weakness. Lots os videogames characters are as superheroes, but they can't become easily in anything as a Mary Sue/Gary Stu. Injustice: gods among us and the sequels show us if we want character with different level of power, then we have to choose between the gameplay or the loyalty to the original background. 

* Now I am thinking about Monolith Edition is a too young French company for a project so special. Are they ready for a RPG? 

* _When the RPG of Prodigious: the adventures of Ladybug and Cat-Noir? _


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## Sunsword (Sep 23, 2020)

Stacie GmrGrl said:


> I'm sold. I'll use this game for source material. I don't care the dice system.
> 
> I'm constantly surprised how people think that d20 can't do something like this when we have games like d20 Modern, Silver Age Sentinels d20 and Star Wars d20/Saga (as just a few examples).




I think it comes down to assumptions and expectations. I think Classes can reinforce the Supers genre in a lot ways.


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## Jd Smith1 (Sep 26, 2020)

What happens when all the players want to be Batman?


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## LuisCarlos17f (Sep 26, 2020)

The question should be "what happens when all the players want to be Bruce Wayne"? A Batman 2 is possible, for example Terry McGinnis, or Damian Wayne in an alternate future. Jean Paul Valley (Azrael) was Batman for a time. Or different members of the same group can be Batman to cover the secret identity. 

Or a mini "civil-war" like the new Supermen after of the original Kal-el by Doomday.


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## Morrus (Sep 26, 2020)

Jd Smith1 said:


> What happens when all the players want to be Batman?



I guess the same thing as when all Star Wars players want to be Luke Skywalker and all Judge Dredd RPG players want to be Judge Dredd and all Adventures in Middle Earth players want to be Gandalf — nothing. I would expect that you create your own characters, as is traditional.


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## Jd Smith1 (Sep 26, 2020)

Morrus said:


> I guess the same thing as when all Star Wars players want to be Luke Skywalker and all Judge Dredd RPG players want to be Judge Dredd and all Adventures in Middle Earth players want to be Gandalf — nothing. I would expect that you create your own characters, as is traditional.




Seems to defeat the purpose in using settings like Batman or Star Wars. Who gets stuck playing a non-Jedi, or a non-Batman in Gotham City? 

Judge Dredd RPG expects the players to be Judges, so no problem there.


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## Morrus (Sep 26, 2020)

Jd Smith1 said:


> Seems to defeat the purpose in using settings like Batman or Star Wars. Who gets stuck playing a non-Jedi, or a non-Batman in Gotham City?



I mean, licensed RPGs have been around for 40 years. Thousands of them. I promise you, it’s not a problem!


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## hawkeyefan (Sep 26, 2020)

Jd Smith1 said:


> What happens when all the players want to be Batman?




You let one be Nightwing, one be Batwoman, one be Batgirl, one be Robin, one be Batwing, one be Huntress, one be Red Hood, one be Knight, one be Squire.....how many players you got? Pretty sure there’s a Batman for each of them....


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## MGibster (Sep 26, 2020)

Jd Smith1 said:


> Seems to defeat the purpose in using settings like Batman or Star Wars. Who gets stuck playing a non-Jedi, or a non-Batman in Gotham City?
> 
> Judge Dredd RPG expects the players to be Judges, so no problem there.




I'm pretty sure the Batman RPG expects the players to be costumed superheroes in the same vein as Nightwing, Huntress, Robin, or Spoiler.  No problem there either.  I have never run a Star Wars game where anyone wanted to be Luke Skywalker or one where everyone wanted to be a Jedi.  Theoretically it could happen I guess but I haven't seen it yet.


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## Jd Smith1 (Sep 27, 2020)

MGibster said:


> I'm pretty sure the Batman RPG expects the players to be costumed superheroes in the same vein as Nightwing, Huntress, Robin, or Spoiler.  No problem there either.  I have never run a Star Wars game where anyone wanted to be Luke Skywalker or one where everyone wanted to be a Jedi.  Theoretically it could happen I guess but I haven't seen it yet.




I don't run supers games, but every time I've polled for a Star Wars game I'm facing five players who want to be Jedi.


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## MGibster (Sep 27, 2020)

Jd Smith1 said:


> I don't run supers games, but every time I've polled for a Star Wars game I'm facing five players who want to be Jedi.




Which was certainly possible even back when West End Games was making Star Wars.


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## Jd Smith1 (Sep 27, 2020)

MGibster said:


> Which was certainly possible even back when West End Games was making Star Wars.




Possible, but not IMO a valid party concept. 

But we digress.


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## Morrus (Sep 27, 2020)

Jd Smith1 said:


> I don't run supers games, but every time I've polled for a Star Wars game I'm facing five players who want to be Jedi.



Did they all want to play Luke Skywalker specifically? The equivalent to ‘everybody wants to be Batman’ isn’t ‘everybody wants to be a Jedi’ it’s ‘everybody wants to be Luke’. Jedi is just a category like superhero or wizard.


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## Jd Smith1 (Sep 27, 2020)

Morrus said:


> Did they all want to play Luke Skywalker specifically? The equivalent to ‘everybody wants to be Batman’ isn’t ‘everybody wants to be a Jedi’ it’s ‘everybody wants to be Luke’. Jedi is just a category like superhero or wizard.




It varied. The issue has come up numerous times over the last 35 years.


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## Morrus (Sep 27, 2020)

Jd Smith1 said:


> It varied. The issue has come up numerous times over the last 35 years.



Weird.


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## Jd Smith1 (Sep 27, 2020)

Morrus said:


> Weird.




Strange things happen when the greatest GM of all time sits down with the best players in the hobby.


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## Skywalker (Sep 27, 2020)

Jd Smith1 said:


> What happens when all the players want to be Batman?



 Though I whole heartedly agree with Morrus generally, as there have been multiple versions of Batman (15 People Who Have Been Batman (Besides Bruce Wayne)) you could run a story with everyone as Batman if that's what people wanted. I seem to recall that they did a story arc recently which featured all the various Robins.


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## ART! (Sep 28, 2020)

What to do when everyone wants to play Batman? 

Get less-childish players?


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## hawkeyefan (Sep 28, 2020)

I mean.....even if the plethora of non-powered street vigilantes in the DCU was not enough to satisfy these demanding players, then you could always lean into their concept.....




Who knows? You may actually end up with an all time great campaign.


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## Stereofm (Oct 5, 2020)

Bring on the Batmans from alternate universes. problem solved


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## Gebeji (Sep 19, 2021)

Update on the game here


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## EthanSental (Sep 19, 2021)

A year later…any estimated release date been posted for it yet?


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## Gebeji (Sep 19, 2021)

EthanSental said:


> A year later…any estimated release date been posted for it yet?



Nothing more precise than "a few more months at most"


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## MGibster (Sep 19, 2021)

Jd Smith1 said:


> Seems to defeat the purpose in using settings like Batman or Star Wars. Who gets stuck playing a non-Jedi, or a non-Batman in Gotham City?



I don't think it defeats the purpose at all.  I've played many, many Star Wars campaigns, and although I've almost always had players who wanted to be force users, I've never had someone specifically want to play Luke Skywalker.  And there are plenty of players who don't want to be Jedi.  They want to be someone like Han Solo, Chewbacca, or even Princess Leia (before she could use the Force).  And when I used to play TSR's old Marvel game, for the most part we all made our own characters only rarely playing heroes like Iron Man, Spider-Man, or Wolverine.  The fun with these games is being able to play in the setting.  I'm sure some people will want to be Batman or Nightwing, but I think most people will want to make their own characters.

Edit:  My apologies.  I see now I was replying to a post that's a year old.


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## Garthanos (Sep 19, 2021)

A Gordon ie "the non-corrupt cop in a corrupt force centered game" would be so dramatically different than one centering on vigilantes.


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## Jd Smith1 (Sep 20, 2021)

MGibster said:


> I don't think it defeats the purpose at all.  I've played many, many Star Wars campaigns, and although I've almost always had players who wanted to be force users, I've never had someone specifically want to play Luke Skywalker.  And there are plenty of players who don't want to be Jedi.  They want to be someone like Han Solo, Chewbacca, or even Princess Leia (before she could use the Force).  And when I used to play TSR's old Marvel game, for the most part we all made our own characters only rarely playing heroes like Iron Man, Spider-Man, or Wolverine.  The fun with these games is being able to play in the setting.  I'm sure some people will want to be Batman or Nightwing, but I think most people will want to make their own characters.
> 
> Edit:  My apologies.  I see now I was replying to a post that's a year old.



Funny thing was, I never suggested Luke, only Jedi.


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## MGibster (Sep 20, 2021)

Jd Smith1 said:


> Funny thing was, I never suggested Luke, only Jedi.



Sometimes my mind just likes to make things up!


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## Garthanos (Sep 20, 2021)

Jd Smith1 said:


> Funny thing was, I never suggested Luke, only Jedi.



A bunch of different Jedi ... various alien races and focused gifts to provide variation. There were video games that did that relatively well even but the online one they had to massively gatekeep being a jedi


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## Jd Smith1 (Sep 20, 2021)

MGibster said:


> Sometimes my mind just likes to make things up!



I think it is just simple association. Luke is, after all, a cultural icon. Despite being a whiny bugger much of the time..


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## Greg K (Sep 20, 2021)

Philippe Tromeur1 said:


> Here's the (WIP) Batman from the "Roi de Gotham" adventure
> (the French preview adventure that was published a few months ago)
> 
> *Bruce Wayne aka Batman, vigilante level 20*
> ...



I love super rpgs and DC comics including Batman, but based on the above, I am already out. I already see many of the same mechanical issues that plagued every class/level based D&D influenced supers systems including Heroes Unlimited and the d20 supers system Foundation: A World in Black & White.


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## Greg K (Sep 20, 2021)

Stacie GmrGrl said:


> I'm constantly surprised how people think that d20 can't do something like this when we have games like d20 Modern, Silver Age Sentinels d20 and Star Wars d20/Saga (as just a few examples).



I am familiar with Silver Age Sentinels d20, a d20 Modern supers game (by a designer whose other d20M work I respect and still recommend), and the d20 Star Wars games.  All of them were, in my opinion, terrible for recreating licensed media/characters.


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## Morrus (Sep 20, 2021)

Greg K said:


> I am familiar with Silver Age Sentinels d20, a d20 Modern supers game (by a designer whose other d20M work I respect and still recommend), and the d20 Star Wars games.  All of them were, in my opinion, terrible for recreating licensed media/characters.



I can't speak for the first two, but Star Wars Saga was excellent.


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## ART! (Sep 20, 2021)

Looking at the character sheet, Characteristics and Secondary Characteristics are pretty straightforward concepts, as are Traits, Disadvantages, Weapons, and Attacks.

The 2 sets of opposite Ethics is interesting, and I kind of hope it has other effects than just a alignment-like descriptor.

The only thing that leaves me really curious are the numbered "Initial Way" and "Way" entry blanks - I have no idea what's going on there, and I'm intrigued...


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## Gebeji (Sep 21, 2021)

ART! said:


> The only thing that leaves me really curious are the numbered "Initial Way" and "Way" entry blanks - I have no idea what's going on there, and I'm intrigued...



If you look at Philippe Tromeur's post on page 2 of this thread, you'll see that the Batman writeup has "paths" with ranks and associated abilities listed (some described near the end), those are the "ways". You choose one at creation (initial) and more as you "level up"


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## Jaeger (Sep 21, 2021)

univoxs said:


> I agree. D20 and super heroes are square peg round hole to me.




Really?

High level D&D has been 'Medieval Fantasy Superheroes' for a while now.




Greg K said:


> I love super rpgs and DC comics including Batman, but based on the above, I am already out. *I already see many of the same mechanical issues that plagued every class/level based D&D influenced supers systems* including Heroes Unlimited and the d20 supers system Foundation: A World in Black & White.




If that's true wouldn't D&D also have similar scaling and math issues at high levels?

Oh, Wait.

Never mind, nothing to see here, moving along now...


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## LuisCarlos17f (Sep 21, 2021)

The fun fact is the superheroes franchises to survive will have to be rebooted and redesigned to can be adapted into videogames, with a balance between success and failure, power and vulneravility. And this means some characters will have to be nerfed in the name of the gameplay. Then Superman will can not move buildings.


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## aramis erak (Sep 21, 2021)

Jaeger said:


> Really?
> 
> High level D&D has been 'Medieval Fantasy Superheroes' for a while now.



More like from the start... the "Normal Man" concept, and Hero and Superhero as level titles...
But that doesn't mean it's a good fit to modern 4-color nor cinematic supers.


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