The ''Batman Role-Playing Game'' is a role-playing game published by

Mayfair Games Mayfair Games was an American publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games that also licensed Euro-style board games to publish them in English. The company licensed worldwide English-language publishing rights to ''The Settlers of Catan'' ser ...

in 1989.

Description

The ''Batman Role-Playing Game'' is a superhero system, a version of the second edition ''

DC Heroes ''DC Heroes'' is an out-of-print superhero role-playing game set in the DC Universe and published by Mayfair Games. Other than sharing the same licensed setting, ''DC Heroes'' is unrelated to the West End Games ''DC Universe'' or the more recent ...

'' rules abbreviated for novice players and focusing on

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

and

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, the cit ...

. In addition to game rules and game-mastering advice, it includes statistics for Batman and all his friends and enemies, and a description and map of Gotham City. There are two scenarios: an introductory solo and a full scenario for a group of players featuring the Joker.

Publication history

The ''Batman Role-Playing Game'' was designed by Jack A. Barker,

Greg Gorden Greg Gorden is an American game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Greg Gorden has worked for several gaming companies: * For Victory Games he participated, during the early 1980s, in the design of the ''James Bond ...

, and

Ray Winninger Ray Winninger is a game designer who has worked on a number of roleplaying games, including the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. He is the former Executive Producer for the Wizards of the Coast ''Dungeons & Dragons'' studio. Care ...

, and was published by

in 1989 as a 192-page book. The game, a simplified version of ''

'', was released in 1989 to coincide with the ''

'' film. The second edition of the ''DC Heroes'' rules, published in 1989, incorporated material from the ''Batman Role-Playing Game'' and the ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

Sourcebook''. These materials also included rules for advantages, drawbacks, and gadgetry.

Allen Varney Allen Varney (born 1958) is an American writer and game designer. Varney has produced numerous books, role-playing game supplements, technical manuals, articles, reviews, columns, and stories, as well as the fantasy novel ''Cast of Fate'' ( TSR, ...

"The State of the Art in Superheroics, Part 2"
''

Dragon Magazine Dragon Magazine may refer to: * ''Dragon'' (magazine), an American magazine for ''Dungeons & Dragons'' players * ''Dragon Magazine'' (Fujimi Shobo), a Japanese light novel magazine {{disambig ...

'', January 1991.

Reception

Paul Mason reviewed ''Batman Role-Playing Game'' for ''

Games International ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 19 ...

'' magazine, and gave it 3 stars out of 5, and wrote that "it's not the perfect medium to simulate the better Batman comics, but it has potential". Ken Cliffe reviewed ''The Batman Role-Playing Game'' for ''

White Wolf A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf. It may also refer to: Organizations * White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band * White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA * ...

'' #20, rating it 4 out of 5 overall, and wrote that "although there is no desperate need for the Batman RPG, the game still finds a niche in the game industry. I recommend it to all Batfans, whether you own DC Heroes rnot". In his 1990 book ''

The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote '' The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pr ...

'', game critic

Rick Swan Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pre ...

liked the game, saying, "''Batman'' is both a nice introduction to role-playing and a competent simulation of the Caped Crusader's adventures." But although Swan gave this game a rating of 3 out of 4, he noted that ''Batman'' was essentially a stripped down ''

'' game, and suggested "I can't think of a single reason anyone shouldn't skip this and go directly to ''DC Heroes'', with the exception of collectors who need to own every last product with a bat emblem on it."

Reviews

* ''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

'' #54https://archive.org/details/casus-belli-054/page/n35/mode/2up

References

{{Reflist Batman in other media DC Comics role-playing games DC Heroes Mayfair Games games Role-playing games introduced in 1989