Planning a New V&V / Mighty Protectors Campaign : Sometimes New Does Not Equal Better

I still haven't made up my mind yet, but ....

A little while ago P.Michael created a character for Might Protectors. This was back when the idea of starting a campaign first germinating in my mind. I think the character was based on an old City of Heroes character of his.her name is Lady Psyche.

Well, in order to properly compare and contrast Villains & Vigilantes 2.x and Mighty Protectors. I spent time last night writing up the V&V version using our old method (well with a few amendments drawn from Might Protectors).. Let me show you!

First the Mighty Protectors version 

And Now for the Villains & Vigilantes 2,x Version .

Now I'm well aware that the Mighty Protectors sheet is very colorful and distracting, and perhaps has more visual appeal except for one thing. The teeny tiny illustration up in the right hand corner. You might say it's not THAT small, but it really is, especially when your used to an illustration 3-4 times bigger, like on the Villains & Vigilantes sheet. 

Both P.Michael and I agree that superheroes are the product of a visual medium. Marshal McLuhan's dictum that "the medium is the message" certainly seems to apply to superhero rpgs, So for me, the visuals of the character are very Important, thus the bigger the character illustration the better.

and I like the way that I can present the Information on the V&V sheet in a more narrative way. It lets me add details about the character and their powers that there just isn't room to do on the MP sheet, at least not in the same way.

If you read over the sheets, I know, I know "Too Long Didn't Read", but really, if you were to look at them, not the numerical stats stuff, but the descriptive text for the powers and such, I think you'll see what I mean. The V&V version just seem more like an entry out of the old "Handbook of the Marvel Universe" or DC's Who's Who Books. All the game information is there but its coated in a layer of yummy fluff that doesn't get in the way, yet alternatively expands on the characters powers and perhaps mindset in a useful way. and the corresponding sections of the Mighty Protectors sheet feel dry and clinical in comparison.

I think this is what keeps drawing me back to V&V, and makes it hard to embrace Mighty Protectors. Now mind you, I'm well aware that the way I do a character in Villains & Vigilantes is not the way most people do it, its just the way I've found that has traditionally worked for me. But it's one that I haven't yet found a way to replicate satisfactorily in Mighty Protectors ... Yet. 

Thanks for again for reading !

Erik a.k.a Midnight