Capes, superhero role-playing

Prior to my urge to run Harry Potter, the game I was most interested in playing was Capes. I'd recently picked it up after reading a few posts about it and digesting Capes Lite. The lite version was a bit hard to completely figure out, it's almost more of a "how to teach Capes to new players" guide for people who already know how to play, but after reading all the way through it then starting over it made alot more sense.

Things that I like about Capes:

• No GM required!
• Character creation a snap! well... a click and lock!
• Very little prep required, perfect for a quick pick-up game.

The click and lock system seems pretty innovative, and it's an attraction because everyone likes fiddling with stuff. Different combos can give you a basic character similar to several iconic heroes. Superman could be Godling + (Angsty) Nice Guy (or Inhuman, or Simple Soul), Batman could be Hunter + Guild-Ridden. You can create characters via a freeform method as well, or mix and match. Why would you need these click and locks to create your character? Well... you create several characters, often at a whim based on what you think the scene could use. You might snap two click & locks together to get a villian of the week to oppose the other players, or you might decide you want to bring a reporter mentioned in a previous scene to the forefront for a little bit. Everyone works together to create the scene, mostly by adding to it through your actions and by creating goals for the scene. The rules are pretty simple, but there can be alot of strategy involved if you want to maximize your story control (which is done through earned meta-currency: Story Tokens, Inspirations, and Debt).

I'm still looking forward to a chance to try it out, I think it would be alot of fun.