Batman Role-Playing Game

The Batman Role-Playing Game is a role-playing game published by Mayfair Games in 1989.

Description

The Batman Role-Playing Game is a superhero system, a version of the second edition DC Heroes rules abbreviated for novice players and focusing on Batman and Gotham City.^[1] In addition to game rules and game-mastering advice, it includes statistics for Batman and all his friends and enemies, and a description and map of Gotham City.^[1] There are two scenarios: an introductory solo and a full scenario for a group of players featuring the Joker.^[1]

Publication history

The Batman Role-Playing Game was designed by Jack A. Barker, Greg Gorden, and Ray Winninger, and was published by Mayfair Games in 1989 as a 192-page book.^[1] The game, a simplified version of DC Heroes, was released in 1989 to coincide with the Batman film.^[2] The second edition of the DC Heroes rules, published in 1989, incorporated material from the Batman Role-Playing Game and the Superman Sourcebook. These materials also included rules for advantages, drawbacks, and gadgetry.^[3]

Reception

Paul Mason reviewed Batman Role-Playing Game for Games International magazine, and gave it 3 stars out of 5, and wrote that "it's not the perfect medium to simulate the better Batman comics, but it has potential".^[4]

Ken Cliffe reviewed The Batman Role-Playing Game for White Wolf #20, rating it 4 out of 5 overall, and wrote that "although there is no desperate need for the Batman RPG, the game still finds a niche in the game industry. I recommend it to all Batfans, whether you own DC Heroes [or] not".^[5]

In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, game critic Rick Swan liked the game, saying, "Batman is both a nice introduction to role-playing and a competent simulation of the Caped Crusader's adventures." But although Swan gave this game a rating of 3 out of 4, he noted that Batman was essentially a stripped down DC Heroes game, and suggested "I can't think of a single reason anyone shouldn't skip this and go directly to DC Heroes, with the exception of collectors who need to own every last product with a bat emblem on it."^[6]

Reviews

• Casus Belli #54^[7]

References

1. Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 44. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
2. Roberta E. Pearson and William Uricchio. The Many lives of the Batman: critical approaches to a superhero and his media. Routledge: London, 1991. ISBN 0-85170-276-7, (p.58).
3. Allen Varney, "The State of the Art in Superheroics, Part 2", Dragon Magazine, January 1991.
4. Mason, Paul (August 1989). "Roll Call". Games International (8): 43–44.
5. Cliffe, Ken (April–May 1990). "Superhero Game Reviews". White Wolf Magazine. No. 20. p. 16.
6. Swan, Rick (1990). The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games. New York: St. Martin’s Press. pp. 36–37.
7. "Casus Belli #054". 1989.