comic books role-playing superheroes

ACQUIRED: DC Adventures RPG – Hero’s Handbook

I bought the new DC ADVENTURES: Hero’s Handbook RPG from Green Ronin Publishing!

DC Adventures Hero's Handbook Super-Hero Roleplaying in the DC Universe

Here is the description of the book from the Green Ronin online store:

Join the never-ending battle for truth and justice in the world’s greatest super-hero universe, using the world’s greatest super-hero roleplaying game! The DC ADVENTURES Hero’s Handbook is a complete super-hero RPG, based on the award-winning Mutants & Masterminds system. Take on the roles of legendary DC heroes like Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman, or create your own! Get started right away with a wide selection of hero archetypes, or build from scratch using a comprehensive creation system. The Hero’s Handbook provides everything you need for hours of adventure in the DC Universe, including all the rules of the game, an overview of the original comic- book setting, and details on major heroes and villains, complete with game information. It’s all presented in gorgeous full-color, with art by some of DC’s most famous illustrators. Experience super-hero adventure in the world that defined the genre: Become a hero of legend with the DC ADVENTURES Hero’s Handbook!

This is a really gorgeous book!  It’s 280 full-color pages packed with information and beautiful illustrations culled from years of DC comics.  For me this book is a melding of two great worlds – DC Comics and Mutants & Masterminds.  I’ve been an avid reader of DC Comics for over 25 years, and I roleplayed using the Mutants & Masterminds system for about three years and really enjoyed it.

I’ve only scratched the surface of this book, but I’m loving it!  Under the character statistics, I stumbled across something that gives me hope for DC.  The superheroes profiled are in their “iconic” form.  For example, Batman is the Bruce Wayne version because that is the “iconic” version of the character.   Well, Robin is presented as Tim Drake!  That gives me hope that DC is planning to eventually return Tim Drake to the Robin role.  This has been bothering me since Tim became Red Robin.  Tim Drake is the best Robin there ever was!  Give him back his name and costume, please!

/rant

Order your own copy from your local comic book shop!  If you want further information, check out the DC Adventures site over at mutantsandmasterminds.com.  Now I can’t wait for the next book, DC ADVENTURES Heroes & Villains, Vol. I.

6 thoughts on “ACQUIRED: DC Adventures RPG – Hero’s Handbook

  1. I gotta agree with Chocotaco. Dick Grayson is the quintessential Robin. I do really, really like Tim Drake, especially over Jason Todd and Damian Wayne, but Dick is the best Robin (Panties and Booties aside).

  2. To me Dick is his own person. He’s not Batman’s sidekick and hasn’t been in a LONG time. Dick makes a great Nightwing and a good Batman. Thinking about Dick when he was Robin, I’ve always felt he was at his best in the New Teen Titans – when he was away from Batman. At that point, he was more his own person. He was more Dick Grayson in a costume, rather than Batman’s sidekick.

    Tim makes a great sidekick and partner for Batman. He’s serious, he gets Batman, and understands his role. While I enjoy Tim’s own adventures, he works even better when he’s with Batman.

    The best sidekick for Batman is Tim Drake as Robin.

    So speaks Shag. =P

  3. Shag, I think we are mostly on the same page. Let me say I am a Dick Grayson fan from the first time I heard Burt ward spewing Holy “Fill in the blank” Batman. In fact I was more a fan of Robin than Batman back in those days. As I got older, I liked that Dick grew up and took on the Nightwing persona and I do agree that he should go back to being Robin. My problem is that the good folks at DC never really seemed to know how to fit him in to their universe. His own series had its ups and downs, his run with the Outsiders wasn’t spectacular and I never read the Titans because of the lackluster Judd Winnick.
    I do agree Tim was a wonderful replacement for Dick and I love how their relationship has become so brotherly over the years. I also agree that Tim becoming a hero named after a burger franchise isn’t great and I dislike Damien (even more than Jason Todd, maybe they’ll kill him off with a 1-800 number too). All in all, outside of continuity, when I hear some one talking Batman and Robin, my first thought goes to Bruce and Dick and animated handshake at the end of the opening sequence of the 1966 opener.
    But hey, that’s just me. Anyway, keep up the great job with your blog. It makes my day so much better having something fun to distract me from work.

  4. Jason Todd was a great Robin, check the Doug Moench stories from the early to mid-’80s.

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