This article originally appeared in d20 Weekly
Godlike: Superhero Roleplaying in a World on Fire, 1936-1946
Published by Hobgoblynn Press
Produced by Pagan Publishing
Written by Dennis Detwiller & Greg Stolze
354-page hardbound book; $39.95
The release of Godlike marks not only the completion of the quartet of World War II-themed RPGs announced for 2001 -- the 60th anniversary of America's entry into the war -- but also the advent of the very first RPG from Pagan Publishing. Pagan is best known for their superb range of Call of Cthulhu campaign books; devotees of Chaosium's classic RPG have come to expect something special with each new Pagan book. So just on reputation alone, can we expect that something special in Godlike?
Of the first three World War II RPGs, only GURPS World War II took a straight view of the history. The other two combined the history with another genre -- World War II and mecha in DP9's Gear Krieg, and pulp horror with World War II in Pinnacle's d20 setting and supplement Weird War II: Blood on the Rhine. With Godlike, the combination of genres is that of superheroes with World War II. Previous takes on this genre combination -- All This and World War II for TSR's original Marvel Superheroes, Glory Days for Brave New World, and the JSA Sourcebook for DC Universe have tended towards the four-color style. Not so with Godlike. All characters are normal people first, and potential heroes second. In Godlike, characters may be blessed with extraordinary abilities, but a . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: March 8, 2002
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