Wednesday, April 25, 2012

V is for Villains & Vigilantes

***********Just for the sake of clarity - the theme for my A to Z postings is gaming in the 1980's with my friends.*************

Villains & Vigilantes
















Villains & Vigilantes 2nd edition is a game of several firsts for me:

  • V&V was my first non A/D&D rpg purchase.
  • V&V was the first supers rpg that I ever bought.
  • V&V was the first game I bought at a convention.  It was Conjuration I in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  My uncle David - the one who passed down his A/D&D stuff to me - took me with him.
  • V&V was the first rpg we played that had a continuing campaign with recurring characters and an evolving time; EVERY game of V&V we played was somehow connected together through characters, organizations, or some other connection.
There were other supers games that were played by our group over the years but none of them had the staying power of V&V.  Marvel caught quite a bit of play but not nearly to the level of V&V.  Marvel did not really pick up until the Advanced set was released.  Heroes Unlimited was played a little bit but the class and level system did not match our expectations of the genre.  DC Heroes looked interesting but was a little beyond our young minds at the moment.  Champions offered excruciating detail and options but often felt like work instead of play.  GURPS Supers just really never got out of the gate because most of the group did not want to mess with "all those GURPS books".  V&V was our go to supers game.  I still have my battered copy of the second editon rule book.  V&V is now back in the hands of Jeff Dee and Jack Herman and they have released version 2.1 of the rules.  I know that V&V 3rd edition is being developed now and I wonder if 2.1 is worth snagging or if I should just wait for 3rd edition?

6 comments:

  1. The 2.1 rules aren't that different from the 2nd ed rulebook - a few rule minor changes here and there, some typos fixed, and new artwork throughout the book.

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    1. Good information to have. It might not be a requirement to get 2.1 but I think I will just to complete the collection.

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  2. never heard of v & v but I think I would enjoy it:)
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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  3. V&V was the first supers game our group played. And of all them, it still feels the most "old school" to me. The others in my group quickly abandoned V&V for Champions. They were all enamored of the of hit/stun points system, as well as rolling fistfuls of d6s. Give me a d20 "to hit" any day. We did briefly abandon both temporarily for MSH. We were all reading the Marvel comics at the time and we ended up playing the pre-gen characters and scenarios for that reason. Looking back, I still love various elements of each game (old-school feel of V&V, stun/hit system of Champs, simplicity of Marvel), but if I were to run a supers campaign right now, it would definitely be V&V.

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    Replies
    1. I agree with your sentiments about running a supers game now and using V&V. It just seemed to emphasize fun better than most other supers games.

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