The Atomic Links!

As the Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Games fade further and further into obscurity, it is difficult to find resources with which to play them. Whether you like the Original, Classic version or perhaps the Saga variety, not too many people are maintaining sites dedicated to either these days. And this is a sad state of affairs, since despite my issues with some members of the community I still love this pastime.

Thus, I've taken it upon myself to revitalize the Atomic Links, which hasn't really been updated for about half a decade, give or take a month. What you'll find below is a roster of sites dedicated to one or more versions of the super hero games based in the Marvel Universe - or some reasonable fascimile therein. These links should be current and/or at least live as of September 24th, 2014:

It's Alive. It's ALIVE!

(updated within a year, give or take)

Ben Reilly's Marvel RPG Page, if you hadn't guessed, is a web site dedicated to the Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Game. The man has descriptions of most your standard Marvel Heroes, some creepy villains, esoteric equipment, and he's even got a whole bunch of source books available for use in your MSH (Classic) games.

Classic Marvel Forever Dot Com: in its own words, Classic Marvel Forever Dot Com is an almost complete MSH RPG resource. It has any number of character descriptions, both from Marvel and other sources as well, not to mention recent high-quality scans of the original game books, and various house rules. But I would avoid the site's forum, if I were you.

FASERIP Wiki: a newer effort by the creator of one of the original MSH RPG sites from back in the day, the FASERIP Wiki is an attempt to build an online index of... every character, I think. It features additions from all over the Internets, including some entries built here - but don't worry, they weren't lifted without permission or anything. Check it!

Gaming Nerds R Us: the Gaming Nerds have a wide variety of downloads for an array of role playing games both mainstream and obscure. The author even builds original works for the Classic MSH RPG and other games as time permits. The site also features a forum, one which is actually moderated, so head on down and participate, already!

Marvel Champions: dedicated to roleplaying scenarios primarily based in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Champions is a play by post site that utilizes a (modified) version of the MSH RPG rules to resolve actions. They're just now getting started up, but head on over if you're looking for a game and don't have a group handy!

MSH Gamer: a site I tripped over somewhat recently, MSH Gamer is managed by two long-time players of the Classic system, and has produced a bevy of original (read: not stolen from rule books) character descriptions for it, drawing from DC, Image, and Marvel lore. They also feature several house rules with which to customize your game experience, as well!

the MSHAG Library: built by Andrew Essary, the recently revived MSHAG Library houses a considerable amount of original material for, yes, the Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game. There are a bevy of optional rules and clarifications on the official text that any Saga player should find valuable, so go check something out of the Library today!

Marvel Super Heroes - Nth Edition: the author of this site has, like myself, built something of a custom variation on the Classic Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Game. Not quite finished yet (again, like my own), these rules offer a plethora of good ideas for your gaming use. Go get copies of their work today!

Sleeping Dogs Let Lie:

(inactive but still accessible, or recently idled)

4C System: a sort of 'plain label' version of the Classic Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Game, the 4C System is a royalty-free upgrade of the old rules built so people may produce new material for it without risking a lawsuit. And produce new material they have - there's quite a few resources for the 4C System to be found at this free gaming index.

Martyrs and Madmen is a rather slick MSH Adventure Game site that's got info on new powers, oodles of character writeups from all over the Marvel Universe, and even some home-brewed characters. This site isn't updated often these days, but still has a large array of Saga material freely available for your gaming pleasure to this very day.

Marvel Flipside is a site that isn't primarily dedicated to the MSH RPG. It features a blog about Marvel Comics and writing and drawing - stuff I tend to enjoy a lot. Of course, the author also offers up a few MSH RPG modules of his own creation, and they're quite spiffy. A fun read all around, even if it's not updated these days.

RPGamers' Station: I honestly thought this site had vanished, but a recent quest to find active MSH RPG sites turned it up once more, so the Station again graces the Atomic Links. Jemidex has numerous resources for your Classic MSH RPG game, not to mention Dungeons and Dragons, including The Marvel Super Heroes Character Generator. Download it today!

X-Man Al's Marvel Super Heroes Classic RPG Web Source: X-Man Al has whipped up a handy MSH site that has lots of goodies, including a database of powers both official and player-generated, a vast array of Dragonball characters for your gaming amusements, and various character generation rules, guidelines and notions.

More Dead Than Disco:

(moved and archived sites, or inactive over a decade)

the Age of Marvels: a site built by Enertron Matrix, this resource covered characters for use in both the Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game and the Marvel Universe Role Playing Game (the third MSH game). Though it sank along with Geocities when that service was closed by Yahoo!, the fine folks at Oocities have (mostly) salvaged this one. Huzzah?

H.A.V.O.C. Universe: this site is dedicated to a play by electronic mail MSH Role Playing Game set in the so-called H.A.V.O.C. universe, an original campaign of the author's creation. The site features player and non-player character information, as well as some world information, a history, and of course a bevy of rules - including my own, in a .pdf format.

Heroicus Personae: most of the links on this site appear to be broken (or redirect back to itself), but if you go fishing you can find a relatively large archive of DC Comics characters. And these aren't just boilerplate hero entries, no, for you can find variations on DC folk from a variety of variant timelines. You know, the 'multiverse'.

the Marvel-Phile: though Steve Kenson's Marvel Saga materials are no longer at the Marvel-Phile, this new site is a full archive of everything this former writer of the Saga system produced for the online community. There's no telling how long it'll stay up, so grab whatever you can while you can, 'cause who knows when it'll be gone for good.

the Nexus of Realities: yet another site I thought long lost, the Nexus of Realities has been resurrected by Oocities! Nick Evanko's creation is a massive storehouse of character descriptions, many of which I have yet to see on other sites (including a few I'd intended to ultimately cover here). On top of that, he's got some handy maps and character stand-ups to be had!

'Nuther World. This site that has some MSH Classic statistics on it, both 'official' (like a Doctor Strange Handbook) and 'unofficial' (like home-brewed characters). The dude's also got a few custom rule-type things on his page, including the point-system of character generation, so there's definitely stuff to see. So why don't you?

Orion's Constellation: though the site has long since been idled, Orion was one of the original champions of the Marvel Super Heroes Adventure game. He features the skeletons of several notions towards building a 'deluxe' version of the game, along with material for a bevy of additional gaming systems to aid your play.

Screaming Evel's RPG/CCG Shack: so about ten years ago, Screaming Evel notified me on my horrible guest book that he'd built this site, and don't you know it, his entry got lost in all the gobbledygook my high school friends plastered all over it. So in an effort to make up for that, I finally added his RPG/CCG Shack to the Atomic Links. Better late than never?

Tarrentz Marvel RPG Realmz: one of the many, many MSH RPG casualties incurred in the wake of Geocities' closure was Tarrentz's (and, by extension, the Hobgoblin's) Marvel sites. As it turns out, however, much of this site was recovered by the Reocities people, so if you wanted to get your hands on this long-dead material, at least it's still available. Yay Zombie Sites!