Golden Heroes (1984)

Originally designed for the Marvel universe, Golden Heroes is the superhero RPG published by Games Workshop when TSR got the Marvel license. GW published the basic game with a uniquely British feel, two subsequent adventures as supplements, and supporting material in White Dwarf (the house magazine), a GM Screen and a range of GW figures, but eventually let the product lapse. Fan support sustained interest on the internet, and the original designer now publishes GH online as Squadron UK in PDF format.

Golden Heroes emphasises story-telling over dice rolling, a popular move in 80s RPG design. Character creation is random, with the player having to provide a satisfactory origin story to justify the super-powers rolled. Anything that doesn't fit is lost. Giving the players fewer or more power rolls creates ranges of power levels, from light one-power mutants to uberheroes.

In particular, combat is handled in Frames, giving a very strong comic book feel not found in comparable superhero games. After initiative, the character can spend some of their 4 Frames in combat, then the opponent spends their 4 Frames, then the character finishes off their Frames. You can pull Frames from the next round to dodge, which creates frantic combat but allows heroes to escape the odds against them. Mega-villains can be given 5 or 6 Frames, which balances a team of heroes very well.

The core game comes in the same box as all Games Workshop product of the 80s, with a 56pg softback Players Book and a 84pg softback Supervisors Book for the GM. The art was by noted UK artist working for 2000 AD, such as Brian Bolland and Alan Davis, and the covers were styled like comics, with mock CCA badge and mock bar-codes. Being forced to remove all Marvel content turned the product into a very British feel, grounded in a more realistic, less fantastic setting.

The books contain all you need to play the game, character creation, combat, a good range of super-powers (with some inconsistancy), including psi and magic powers, and some campaign materials with an opening adventure.

Re-Published as Squadron UK.

Codename: Spandex is a simulacrum/retroclone of Golden Heroes.