Mayfair’s DC Heroes

 

The Mayfair Exponential Game System or MEGS is a rules system developed for role-playing games. The name was what fans called the game system for DC Heroes, which was later used for Underground (1993). It is noteworthy for its use of an exponential system for measuring nearly everything in the game. This system makes it possible to have both cosmically-powered characters and ordinary human characters meaningfully interact within the same universe. For example, in DC Heroes, the first game to use MEGS, Superman’s strength is several orders of magnitude more than Batman’s. With the MEGS system, however, this large difference in strength is scaled down. So, while Superman would still have a clear advantage in a brawl, Batman is at least able to hold out for a while, mirroring how superhero combat often operates in comic books. 
 
While the game is long out of print you can still find the books being sold online via amazon and ebay. 
 
My suggestion would be to pick up the Batman The Roleplaying as its rather cheap and its considered 1.5e of the game. It will give you a great idea of how the game plays, giving you all the rules in one book to play for under $10.
 
There was never any legal PDFs of the game, so if you see them or find them, you download them at your own risk. Though I don’t think Mayfair or DC Comics will come after you for download the books to print and play in your local group. Again, download at your own risk.
 
There was 4 editions (5 if you count Batman RPG) of this game, MEGS did 3 of them and then another company did the 4th, when they obtained the license, but the game was renamed “Blood of Heroes“, which you can also buy rather cheaply on Amazon or Ebay if you want a feel for how the game looks through the eyes of another company.
 
Me personally? I am purist, I stick with MEGS only and ignore Blood of Heroes for my own person reasons, BUT if you enjoy BoH more that’s awesome, play on!
 
 
Here are some resources that are keeping the game alive, this of course is not the list to end all lists, just some of the placed I enjoy reading:
 
  1.  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHfroCDsMXeEMDUIEO3MRisR8YOAWs3Yq – My youtube video series exploring the game
  2. http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/show/the-hero-points-podcast/ – Want to listen on the go, check out this awesome podcast for exploring the game.
  3. https://www.facebook.com/groups/MEGSDCHEROES/ – Join up with this facebook group and chat away with fellow fans of the game!
  4. http://dcheroesdb.blogspot.com/ – Thee best site on the net for character writeups that stays true to the MEGS rules systems only.
  5. https://megsarrowverse.blogspot.com/ – If you enjoy theCW DCTV shows, check out this website for some Arrow write ups. 
  6. http://writeups.org – a website dedicated to various character writeups over the years, from 1e to blood of heroes, along with new rules.
  7. https://gothamdatabase.blogspot.com – a website dedicated to only using the Batman Roleplaying game rules. Custom rules, powers and more.
 
 
 
 
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