S.U.P.E.R.B.! - Or trying to build a fun and simple Superhero RPG

[redzimmer]

If you are like me, you have pretended to be Batman since you were five. As I grew, I tried again and again to find a Superhero RPG that was easy, immersive, and easy. (I wrote that twice on purpose)

I have had no luck. Palladium daunts me, Marvel's RPG license changes hands far too often, and Masks wants me to buy 50+ books.

So, because I have much more important things to do than try to create a new roleplaying game system, I have decided to create a new Superhero roleplaying game system by myself.


S.U.P.E.R.B.!

Based entirely of me once making a new acronym for Shazam (long story), I came up with the idea of six stats, a simple d20-esque method of resolving any or all issues in a game, and all whole lost of nothing else yet.

So I am just going to periodically dump game system ideas here for your general perusal and evaluation, and maybe one day playtest it as it evolves on the GiTP boards.

With my nascent stats acronym (not at ALL similar for Bethesda's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats) I go forth.

Strong For determining how powerful your heroic muscles (or lack thereof) are. Do you even lift?
Undaunted To see how strong your will is. Are you a weak-willed fool, or a Man Without Fear?
Precise What kind of mind do you have? Are you a living computer, or a semi-functioning limbic beast?
Enduring The measure of resilience of body. Are you made of stone, or do they call you Mr. Glass?
Responsive Physical response time is checked here. Are you quick enough to run between raindrop, or are you a lumbering oaf?
Beautiful This decides the charms you have, be they physical or cerebral. Are you pretty but dumb, or can you charm the pants off the Pope?


And each challenge that faces a S.U.P.E.R.B. Hero can be resolved by polling a number that corresponds to one of those stats.

What you need:

1. A creative mind.
2. A GM who can stretch credibility and suspend disbelief.
3. PCs who are more concerned with fun than fiat.
4. Dice and paper, also pencils.

More as it comes to me.

[redzimmer]

This is an early attempt at creating a simple game system. I will keep it here for future reference.


Character Creation

WORK IN PROGRESS

You have to start somewhere, so I started here.

What you need to determine:

Crunch

Stats

WORK IN PROGRESS

For this, instead of the d20 method 10 being average and 0-20 being better or worse, I've decided to make 1-2 average, and the number beyond as exception, extraordinary, super-human and god-like in their escalation.
You can roll 1d20, 2d10, 5d4 or whatever randomizer to get a 1-20 score. If you have the idea for your character you can input it manually.

S is for Strong

Score	Modifier	Example
1-2	0
3-4	+1
5-6	+2
7-8	+3
9-10	+4
11-12	+5
13-14	+6
15-16	+7
17-18	+8
19-20	+9

U is for Undaunted

Score	Modifier	Example
1-2	0
3-4	+1
5-6	+2
7-8	+3
9-10	+4
11-12	+5
13-14	+6
15-16	+7
17-18	+8
19-20	+9

P is for Precise

Score	Modifier	Example
1-2	0
3-4	+1
5-6	+2
7-8	+3
9-10	+4
11-12	+5
13-14	+6
15-16	+7
17-18	+8
19-20	+9

E is for Enduring

Score	Modifier	Example
1-2	0
3-4	+1
5-6	+2
7-8	+3
9-10	+4
11-12	+5
13-14	+6
15-16	+7
17-18	+8
19-20	+9

R is for Responsive

Score	Modifier	Example
1-2	0
3-4	+1
5-6	+2
7-8	+3
9-10	+4
11-12	+5
13-14	+6
15-16	+7
17-18	+8
19-20	+9

B is for Beautiful

Score	Modifier	Example
1-2	0
3-4	+1
5-6	+2
7-8	+3
9-10	+4
11-12	+5
13-14	+6
15-16	+7
17-18	+8
19-20	+9

Race

There might be more to add, but to keep it simple, start with these:

Human. The most common race of superhero.
Alien. Not from around these parts, either a different planet (i.e. a humanoid from outer space), alternate dimension (i.e. an alternate Earth where dinosaurs evolved into the dominant species), plane of existence (i.e. devils or angels) or anything else not of this earth.
Evolved human. Because you can't say "Mutant" without a big, angry Mouse Lawyer breathing down your neck.
Mutated Animal or Plant. Like an Immature Radioactive Samurai Slug. Or a Swamp Thing. Or a Man-Thing. Oe something.
Augmented Human. Like a cyborg or a brain in a jar.
Sentient Machine. The whole gamut from a living computer to a Robot who wants to be human.
Mythological Being. You're Hades. Or Gilgamesh. Or Glooscap. One of Joseph Campbell's Heroes with a Thousand Faces (also conveniently, Public Domain).

Heroic Archetype (aka class)

This can get bloated quickly, so to keep it simple I've got these basics:

WORK IN PROGRESS

Alien. Your race is also your powers. What's normal to you is amazing to humans. You might be a vanguard for an upcoming invasion, an exile from your homeworld, a curious astronaut, or the LAST OF YOUR KIND. You usually have superhuman abilities, magic, psychic powers, or superior technology.
Tech Hero. Some sort of super suit or gear. Or both. Or perhaps you are a time-traveler, whose suitably-advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Otherwise just a normal squishy human.
Exceptional Individual. Through training, prayers and vitamins, you have achieved the peak of human capabilities. You might be a master martial artist, Super genius, or the World's Greatest Detective.
Augmented Human. The Race is the power again. You might have brain implants that make you a psychic battery, 6 million dollars worth of cybernetics, or a special tonic that makes you really flexible. Or perhaps Someone has placed your brain into the body of an ape. The possibilities are endless.
Magic. Be it a magic spellbook, the robe Jesus wore before being crucified, prayers to an extra-dimensional octopus, or the blood of dragons, you have powers that cannot be measured by science. There is always drawbacks, just to keep it balanced.
Evolved or Augmented Human. You were born with laser eyes. You were exposed to cosmic rays. You fell into a vat of chemicals. You were the prototype of a Super Soldier program. Whatever the source, you are now more than human.
Mutated Animal or Plant. You were a simple sting-ray until pollutants dumped into the ocean turned you into... Ray Stinger! Or so forth.
Artifical Being. You are a desktop OS that became self-aware. Or a servant robot who asked his creator to equip him with an arm cannon to help him defeat his rival's robot masters. Or a million nano-bots with a hivemind. Whatever you are, were built, not born.

Fluff

Origin: What dead planet, chemical accident, amoral experiment, above-average intellect, ancestral sword, recessive gene, or vast wealth made you what you are today?
Motivation: Why are you traipsing about in spandex at midnight? Did your parents get murdered before your eyes? Does the voice in you amulet compel you? Do you have great responsibility?
Personality: Are you a brooding loner, stoic champion of the weak, genius asshat, or peppy mutant hamster?
Morality: Are you a hero, a villain, an anti-villain, an anti-hero? This spectrum would be along the lines of Good, Evil, Lawful Stupid or Selfish Jerkass.

[redzimmer]

Here is the first go at character creation. All due credit to brian 333 and aimlessPolymath:

Spoiler: Introduction

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The intent of this game is to create a very simple set of rules to administer and play a game of comic-book hero fantasy. Since comic book heroes range from ordinary humans to world-devouring super beings, the ruleset must be flexible, but players and administrators alike must keep in mind that weaker heroes face opponents of more or less equivalent power while even superheroes can be challenged.

Thus players should not expect to face Apocalypse unless their character is of equivalent power, and Administrators should not create adventures suitable for Robin for player characters of Superman's stature.

Spoiler: Book 1: Characters

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Player Characters are heroic in some fashion. Perhaps they are ordinary humans with some technology that makes them superior, such as Iron Man or Venom, or perhaps they wield innate super powers, but these characters are special in some way.

Most have some vulnerability, the severity of which tends to scale with their power such as Batman's dependence upon preparation and having what he needs in his utility belt or Superman being paralyzed in the presence of kryptonite.

The same applies to the villains these heroes encounter, though perhaps less so to their henchmen. Players should ultimately expect to face characters which challenge their character, exploit their character's weakness, and manipulate the situation to their advantage, and the player should be ready to do the same.

Spoiler: 1-1: Creating A Hero

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The Administrator builds the adventure, and is therefore responsible for establishing the Power Ranking of the characters. This is important because a challenge for The Hulk would be impossible for Nightwing to defeat in combat. Both characters are heroic, but they fight on vastly different scales.

The Power Ranks are listed below, from weakest to most powerful:
Weakling (Shaggy from Scooby Doo)
Human (Tony Stark from Iron Man)
Extraordinary Human (Robin from Batman)
Hero (Storm from X-Men)
Super Hero (Super Man)

When creating the character both Player and Administrator must keep the Power Ranking in mind. Certain abilities, such as the ability to fly, might be Hero Rank powers. For example, Tony Stark cannot fly without an Iron Man suit, Robin can glide or parachute using his cape, but Storm can fly at will. Players should design their characters with this in mind and collaborate with the Administrator to insure the character ultimately conforms to the established Power Ranking of the adventure.

Spoiler: 1-2: Background or Origin Story

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In this phase of the character creation process the player creates the background for the character, explaining the origin of the character's powers, motivations, and vulnerabilities.The murder of Batman's parents motivated him to become a crime solver, while Superman's birth on Krypton explains his powers and vulnerability to Kryptonite.

Keep in mind that many comic-book heroes have multiple origin stories, such as the several Green Lanterns. Revisions at a later time can simply be retconned and assumed to have always been or they can come as dramatic in character reveals, such as **** Grayson's discovery that his parent's 'accident' was the result of Batman failing to prevent their murder.

Spoiler: 1-3: Define The Powers

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In this phase the player declares the powers of the character in collaboration with the Administrator. Keep in mind that some powers easily scale while others are innately very powerful or very weak. Laser Beam Eyes might scale from laser pointer to orbital bombardment laser, while Flatulent Cloud Emission is subject to airflow and wind direction. Both player and Administrator should be prepared to compromise.

Keep in mind that many super heroes grow in power as they go from adventure to adventure, such as the ever-increasing power of the Iron Man suit, so a power rejected in this phase as too powerful might be 'discovered' as the character grows.

Some examples by Power Ranking:
Weakling = Jubilee from X-Men Cartoon. Weakling powers are mostly comic relief, but occasionally can be quite powerful in their result. Imagine Jubilee touching Iron Man...
Human = The Joker from Batman. Human level powers tend to be ordinary abilities taken to an extreme such as The Joker's diabolical genius.
Extraordinary Human = Green Arrow. Extraordinary powers are beyond typical human capacity, but do not require exotic origins. Green Arrow's precision is augmented with a variety of technologies, but do not require his having been born on Arrowtron.
Hero = Cyclops. Heroic powers are powerful, but very often thematic or limited in versatility. When Cyclops takes off his glasses something explodes, which pretty much limits his usefulness to battlefields. More generic heroic powers may be versatile but less lowerful, such as Mr. Fantastic's elasticity.
Superhero = The Incredible Hulk. Virtually impossible to injure and capable of inflicting massive damage, such beings are only limited by their vulnerabilities, such as The Hulk's need to find a place to rest after his rage abates. (For some reason this always seems to be where it's raining.)

Characters with multiple powers may be too powerful for the Power Ranking of the campaign, and players should expect that the capacity of such powers will be reduced, or that the Administrator will limit the number of powers a character can have. The Swiss Army Knife character should expect to sacrifice power for versatility, but Administrators should consider allowing characters with focused thematic abilities which have limited usefulness to maximize that one power.

Spoiler: 1-4: Define Vulnerabilities

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Comic-book heroes tend to be vulnerable to something, and the more powerful characters have more debilitating vulnerabilities. The Human ranked Indiana Jones hates snakes, but they have no effect other than to squick him out, while Superman, exposed to kryptonite, becomes helpless. Defining the weakness(es) of characters should be thematically linked, such as Batman's dependency on his Utility Belt, and they should scale with the Power Ranking of the character.

Administrators should reward players who devise weaknesses which might plausibly come into play. Achilles having a vulnerability directly related to his greatest power, (minor scratch on his heel kills him, but the rest of his body cannot be pierced,) is an example of linking vulnerability and strength.

Obscure or inconsequential weaknesses should be rejected or modified. Peanut Allergy might be an appropriate vulnerability for a Weakling, but would not serve as a vulnerability for The Hulk, (and would have no thematic link anyway.) A vulnerability which disables a hero in the presence of the Mona Lisa would be difficult to invoke unless the hero only fights Art Thief, who regularly targets The Louvre. In general, the vulnerabilities of characters should be as powerful as their power.

It is expected that the character will attempt to conceal vulnerabilities.

Spoiler: 1-5: Adjudication Of Powers

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In this stage the Administrator is responsible for setting the limits of the character's powers. The primary goal is to help the player's character conform to the adventure's Power Ranking. In this it is important for the Administrator to uphold the spirit of the player's intent, so the player gets, in the end, the character she imagined.

Some powers are easily scaleable such as Laser Beam Eyes. The Administrator coulr rule that Weaklings with Laser Beam Eyes are the equivalent of laser pointers, Humans have Flaslight eyes, Extraordinary Humans could boil water or remove tattoos, Heroes burn holes in things and Super Heroes vaporize whatever they can see. Some powers such as Thunder Punch might have a minimum Power Ranking, such that only Heroes could manifest them.

In this the Administrator is aided by Character Abilities. Abilities define the powers in terms of game mechanics, and are used to determine success or failure of the intended use. In determining the Power Ranking of the acventure, the Administrator must dictate the Power Ranking of each of the six Abilities, from Weakling to Super Hero. Adventures which have higher Power Ranking should allow multiple Heroic or Super Heroic Abilities, while lower Power Ranking adventures would require limits on such abilities. Characters which are extremely focused and self limited by their choice of powers or vulnerabilities should be rewarded with one or two Abilities exceeding the campaign norm, while characters which can do everything should be similarly limited by reducing the highest Power Ranking Abilities.

For Example, suppose Laser Lad has only Laser Vision. The Administrator might reward him by upgrading his Precision Ability to the next higher Power Ranking due to his self-limiting choice of power. Meanwhile, General Girl can do everything every comic-book hero can do. The Administrator would be justified in reducing the Abilities of the highest Power Ranking for this character.

Abilities are not physical attributes, but measures of the character's control of and resistance to Powers. Humans have very poor performance in those areas while Super Heroes have incredible performance. The scale ranges from 1 to 20.

1-2 = Weakling (1d2) equal to a small monkey
3-5 = Human (1d3+2) equal to a normal human
6-9 = Extraordinary Human (1d4+5) equal to the strength of a motor vehicle
10-14 = Hero (1d5+9) equal to the strength of a battleship
15-20 = Super Hero (1d6+14) equal to the strength of a Death Star

Note: Alternative means of deriving Ability Scores will be presented later.

The six Abilities are:
Strength - relative strength of the hero's Powers
Undaunted - ability to resist or exert mental control
Precision - ability to exert fine control in the use of the hero's Powers
Endurance - ability to resist physical injuries or to sustain activities over time
Reflex - ability to react to threats or avoid them
Beauty - ability to manipulate the public's perception of the hero

Note: Further explanation of and the use of Abilities will be discussed in Book 3.

Spoiler: 1-6: Description

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In this phase the character generates not only a physical description of her character, but such things as aliases, secret identities, lairs, friends and family, and other details which turn the character from a set of stats and powers into a character. Obviously, wealth might be an issue for technology dependant characters, and Administrators may impose limits both for reasons of game balance and characterization. A character with a background of a train-hopping hobo won't have wealth, while a normal human with super-powered technologies require a lot simply to maintain their status as heroes.

While this phase is driven by the player, the Administrator should exert her authority to limit the choices players make for their characters. A character with infinite wealth might be an issue for an adventure, but the Administrator might consider tying that wealth to a trust fund which allows the character to maintain a secret laboratory, but not to buy every super-suit on the market.

Finally, at this point it may be necessary to review the Background of the character to incorporate changes from the original intent to the character as finalized. This is not intended as a retcon, but a clarification based on the ideas which emerged in the creation process.

***

Spoiler: Book 2: Conflict

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Superheroes fight, eventually, and the rules presented here offer a means of quickly resolving attacks and adjudicating defenses. But heroes also attempt many things not directly related to combat, and using the same set of rules to resolve challenges of all kinds eliminates the need for seperate skills, powers, and combat rules.

Keep in mind that this system divides characters by tiers. It must be recognized that Super Heroes are vastly more powerful than Humans. It is intended to keep fights fair between characters of the same tier, but quickly skew the odds toward characters of higher tiers.

Spoiler: 2-1: What Do I Roll Now?

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In this system every challenge uses one of the Ability scores, the Administrator dictating which one is most suitable, and adds to that the result of a single die. Which die is used is determined by the tier of the relevant Ability. (It might be wise to record the die appropriate to each Ability Score for quick reference.)

Weakling tier Abilities add 1d4
Human tier Abilities add 1d6
Extraordinary tier Abilities add 1d8
Hero tier Abilities add 1d10
Superhero tier Abilities add 1d12

Spoiler: 2-2: Uncontested Rolls

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When a character uses a power against an inanimate or unresisting target the Administrator determines the Difficulty of the task. When assigning Difficulty, the Administrator must consider the tier of power the intended target requires.
Weakling tier challenge would be a Difficulty of 4.
Human tier challenge would be Difficulty 7
Extraordinary tier challenges are Difficulty 13
Hero tier challenges are Difficulty 21
Superhero tier challenges are Difficulty 26

These are average for difficult tasks at each tier; the average character of that tier will fail 50% of such attempts. The Administrator must compare the difficulty of the intended tasks by the scale as presented in 1-1, and adjust for the intended Difficulty. As an example, using a Power at Weakling tier is comparable to failing to lift 50 pounds/25 kilo on half of all attempts. At Human level this is closer to 200 pounds/100 kilos. Extraordinary humans pull freight cars. Heroes pull freight trains against their will, and Superheroes hurl them into orbit. Well, 50% of the time, as these are considered to be right at the limits of what an Ability of the appropriate tier can accomplish.

Once the Administrator has declared the Difficulty of the intended task, the player rolls a single die, as discussed in 2-1, and adds the result to the character's relevant Ability Score. If this total equals or exceeds the Difficulty the task suceeds. The consequences of failure are situational. Your character may trip alarms, alert bystanders, or the act may be inconsequential, allowing multiple attempts.

Spoiler: 2-3: Contested Rolls

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When a character uses a power on a character which actively resists the act, the characters each make a roll for theit relevant Ability Score. The higher result succeeds, either shrugging off or deflecting the attack, or succeeding in the stated attempt.

A wise player seeks to maximize the advantage on offense and on defense, and will attempt to utilize the best Ability Score for every task. But in general, Strength-based attacks are contested by Endurance and Precision based attacks are countered by Reflex. Undaunted based attacks are defended using Undaunted, as Beauty similarly counters Beauty.

The Administrator sets the appropriate Attack and Defense in the case of players who disagree. In most cases it is obvious which Abilities are appropriate, but a player may suggest an alternative Ability Score is a more logical choice, and both players and Administrators should give such suggestions as much consideration as they deserve.

Once the relevant Ability Scores are established, the players or the player and the Administrator in the case of NPCs, roll simultaneously. The higher total succeeds, the lower fails.

Spoiler: 2-4: What did I Accomplish?

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Success in an attack or defense dictates that something happened in a way that is favorable to the successful character. Exactly what is subject to the many potential Powers of the characters. When Spider Man succeeds the target gets bound up in webbing, for example, while success for The Hulk indicates something got smashed.

It is important in 1-3: Define The Powers that the Player and Administrator clearly describe the intent of the use of a Power. Does it attack the mind? The body? What happens when an attack succeeds must be considered in the character creation process. Then in 1-5: Adjudication of Powers these effects are detailed in terms of the Game Rules.

For example, Hulk's Power directly harms the opponent physically, while Spidey's webs immobilize the victim.

This narrative result is further reflected in two possible outcomes: Injury and Overwhelm.

Spoiler: 2-5 Injuries

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Unless a Power is stated to have some other effect, the usual result of a successful Attack is an Injury to the Ability Score used to defend against the Attack. If the defender succeeds, that attack has no effect. An Injury temporarily reduces the affected Ability. Accumulating Injuries until the Ability Score reaches zero reduces the effectiveness of the injured Ability Score, so that later rolls use the Injured score, but the character continues to roll the same die no matter the degree of injury.

Some Attacks will always result in Injury to a particular Ability, no matter which Defense the character used. Guns, for example, use Precision to Attack, Reflex to Defend, but inflict Endurance Injuries. This is established in 1-5: Adjudication Of Powers.

A player may also attempt an uncommon use of the character's Powers to gain more favorable Attacks or Defenses, presenting different Abilities to support the effort. The Admin should be prepared to intervene either to allow or disallow such use, but should also be prepared to stand aside and allow players who are in agreement on which Ability Injures which to hash it out. In the case of NPCs, the Administrator should have established the effects of a successful use of a Power, and except for fun or humor, should not innovate on the fly.

Spoiler: 2-6: Overwhelming Injuries

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Some attacks are simply Overwhelming to the victim. When an Attack Roll exceeds the Defense Roll by two times or more, the Attack is considered Overwhelming, and the Defender's relevant Ability Score is temporarily reduced to zero. This most often occurs when characters of different tiers fight, but can also result from injuries.

As an example, The Flash can run through a room filled with Humans and tie them all up. The humans are considered Overwhelmed, with their Reflex Ability temporarily reduced to zero. If The Flash attempted the same against Wonder Woman she would have a much higher Reflex Ability Score, and The Flash would be far lesss likely to succeed in Overwhelming her.

Spoiler: 2-7: Effects of Injuries

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An Injury reduces an Ability Score by one for each Successful Attack, or to zero in the case of Overwhelming Injuries. The Ability Score uses the new value until it is further damaged or until it is restored. (Healing is detailed in Book 3.) Each Ability produces different results when weakened by Injuries. No matter how severe the Injury, a character always rolls the die appropriate to the tier of the relevant Ability, so a Superhero tier Ability always uses a d12 while a Weakling tier Ability always uses a d4, no matter its current temporary value.

Strength = Reduced capability with use of Powers. While some Powers scale, such as physical strength, others may require a minimum Strength Score to use. For example, the Admin may set the minimum Strength required to fly at 7, which is the minimum score for an Extraordinary Power. Dropping below this Strength score would render the character incapable of flight until the Strength Score is restored to 7 or more. This should be Adjudicated in 1-5: Adjudication Of Powers, so the player is aware of such limitations and can act appropriately.

(Optionally, if the character begins play as a novice hero, such limits can be 'discovered' through gameplay, but this does not relieve the Administrator of the obligation to Adjudicate the requirements for use of a particular Power.)

When a character reaches zero Strength, the character may not actively use Powers and is considered Fatigued.

Undaunted = Reduced mental capacity. Attacks which affect the mind or spirit render the character confused and disoriented. As with Strength, some Mental Powers have the ability to easily scale, while others may have minimum requirements to use. Again, 1-5: Adjudication Of Powers should clarify such issues. A character with a Power to cloud minds to avoid being seen might become visible when her Undaunted Ability drops below 5, for example.

When a character reaches zero Undaunted, the character may not actively use mind Powers, and is considered unconscious.

Precision = Reduced control of Powers. Attacks which require aiming or fine control in their use become less efficient. Some Powers may require a minimum degree of Precision to execute. For example, Superman can crush coal to produce diamonds, but this requires a degree of Precision to avoid reducing the coal to carbon vapor. Attempts below that degree of Precision result in something other than diamonds.

When Precision is reduced to zero the character is no longer in control of Powers. If a Power can be used in a brute force method this might have an insignificant impact, but any attempt to exert any control over the use of the Power will fail. Whether this produces a null result or a disaster is highly dependent upon the Power in question and how it is adjudicated.

Endurance = Reduced capacity to withstand physical attacks. Attacks which directly impact the body or Aura Of Power affect Endurance, and reduced Endurance results in less capacity to deflect or shrug off physical attacks.

When Injuries temporarily reduce the character's Endurance to zero, the character is incapable of any physical action more demanding than crawling under cover or writhing in pain.

Reflex = Reduced capacity to anticipate and avoid attacks. Attacks which can be dodged become more difficult to avoid as the Reflex Ability is reduced. Attempting but failing to dodge such an attack affects the Reflex Ability. An example of this is the cumulative effect of being entangled in Spider Man's webbing.

When Injuries temporarily reduce the character's Reflex Ability to zero, the character is immobilized.

Beauty = Reduced capability of gaining aid from the public. Sometimes the best way to beat a hero is to defame or humiliate the hero. Attacks which affect the credibility or popularity of a character may temporarily reduce Beauty, and thus weaken the character's standing in the society.

Characters reduced to zero Beauty are treated as untrustworthy, their every utterance treated as lies, their motives always attributed to malicious intent by the general public. Police and/or military forces will be given capture or kill orders regarding such characters, and they will be considered wanted criminals.

Spoiler: 2-8: Life Below Zero

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When an Ability is temporarily reduced to zero, the fight may not be over. Even at zero, the defender continues to be entitled to the roll of the relevant die for the affected ability, even though attacks using that ability are no longer allowed. However, Injuries cannot reduce Abilities, even temporarily, below zero. In such cases the most logical ability which is above zero is affected. This may result in the affected character being quickly Overwhelmed due to her lack of anything to add to the die roll used to resist the attack.

Absent any logical 'next' Ability to affect, Strength is typically affected. For example, Ghost Rider, in confronting a character with his own evil, reduces the character to an Undaunted score of zero. Should he continue his attack beyond rendering the character unconscious, the character's Strength is the next most logical Ability to be affected, thus reducing or eliminating her ability to lash out with a Power in an unconscious attack.

When a character reaches zero in any three abilities the character is comatose and can no longer act either offensively or defesively. Even Beauty, which some players will argue has no physical effect, takes a psychic toll on the character, reducing her will to continue resisting.

Spoiler: 2-9: The Rule Of Logic And Fun

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In order to present a simple, flexible ruleset for resolving conflict, it is necessary to avoid complex situational rules or the creation of combat tables with exceptions and multiple bonuses which are situationally applied. Using the system as presented will allow fast and easy calculations of Difficulties and Challenges, but there are inevitably going to be situations which seem to defy the rules.

Rather than construct additional rules to cover the exceptions, the Rule Of Logic should seek a solution within the ruleset to quickly resolve the issue. If it is an issue which re-occurs then consideration might be given to introducing a house rule to cover the situation. However, the Rule Of Fun should be applied to allow things which have entertainment value or to eliminate things which produce arguments or confusion. Between the extremes there is a vast middle ground, and players and Administrators should seek that middle ground to quickly resolve issues which arise to which no exact rule applies.

Spoiler: 2-10: The Combat Round

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During a Combat Round, the character with the highest Reflex Ability goes first, and may take an action or hold actions until the character chooses to act. Tied Reflex Scores allow rolling a challenge, (Reflex vs. Reflex.) If the die roll also results in a tie, the characters act simultaneously, and both apply Injuries at the same time, at the end of their actions.

Thereafter, each character is entitled to an action taken in the order their respective Reflex Ability Score dictates.

A character whose action is to hold acting may choose to act at the end of a round, or may continue to hold into the following round, thereby gaining the advantage of interrupting the round at will to take the held action when desired. Some Powers maybe linked to hold actions, such as Goku's use of his Spirit Bomb Power, which requires many rounds to fully power up.

If two characters choose to simultaneously declare their held actions, a Reflex Challenge resolves the issue of who goes first. Of course, the winner of the challenge may choose to go second, and may continue to hold her action until then. As above, identical results on the reflex roll indicate that both characters act simultaneously, and any injuries are inflicted simultaneously at the end of the action.

Once every character has had an opportunity to act and all related issues are resolved, the next round may begin. Exactly what a character can do in a round is largely dictated by the character's Power and the tier of its relevant Ability. Using 'Super Speed' as an example, a character with Weakling tier Ability is likely to go last every round. A Human would be able to fire a gun once. An Extraordinary Human tier Ability might disarm a shooter before he can fire the weapon. A Hero might be able to remove the bullets from the gun before it is fired, and a Superhero is likely able to remove all the bullets from everyone's gun in a single action.

When creating the character, part of 1-5: Adjudication Of Powers is to describe the extent of what can be done in a single action.

***

[redzimmer]

Placeholder for subsequent game mechanics

[aimlessPolymath]

Powers, and Types of Challenges

What would daunt a hero like Green Arrow would not even register as a threat for Thor.

Given that Hawkeye and Thor are in the Avengers together, I'm very interested in hearing how you handle this.

[redzimmer]

Given that Hawkeye and Thor are in the Avengers together, I'm very interested in hearing how you handle this.

It’s a struggle to word correctly. More to come.

[XionUnborn01]

Given that Hawkeye and Thor are in the Avengers together, I'm very interested in hearing how you handle this.

Pretty easy. You don't see Hawkeye trying to go toe to toe with it Ultron because he wouldn't have a chance. Hawkeye handles surveillance, scouting, overwatch, and smaller threats like individual goons. Thor punches big guys.

[redzimmer]

Pretty easy. You don't see Hawkeye trying to go toe to toe with it Ultron because he wouldn't have a chance. Hawkeye handles surveillance, scouting, overwatch, and smaller threats like individual goons. Thor punches big guys.

And infiltration is not the Hulk’s specialty.

[brian 333]

Your stats run from 1-20. What stats do normal humans have?

Suppose my hero is Joe Average who works at the Comic Book Store. What would his stats be? (His power is knowing all the powers and weaknesses of the other heroes. His weapon is The Endless Versus Argument with which he can immobilize friend and foe alike.)

[redzimmer]

Pondering that myself. Either 1-2 is the base human, or 10 the average and plus/minus that up to 1 or 19.

Contradicts what I’ve said already of course. It will resolve with time I’m sure.

[brian 333]

Suggestion:

0 = unmeasureable or insignicant value, such as capuchin monkey strength or heavy metal rocker intelligence
1 = very low value such as canine intelligence or blue whale dexterity
2 = low value such as teenager wisdom or geriatric constitution
3 = below average human
4 = average human
5 = above average human
6 = high value such as gorilla strength or cirque de solil performer dexterity

8 = supercomputer intelligence or automobile strength

10 = tractor strength

15 = battleship strength

20 = dropkicks planets

The idea is to create a curve tbat allows a lot of gradation at low levels with larger and larger jumps at the upper end of the scale.

[redzimmer]

Suggestion:

0 = unmeasureable or insignicant value, such as capuchin monkey strength or heavy metal rocker intelligence
1 = very low value such as canine intelligence or blue whale dexterity
2 = low value such as teenager wisdom or geriatric constitution
3 = below average human
4 = average human
5 = above average human
6 = high value such as gorilla strength or cirque de solil performer dexterity

8 = supercomputer intelligence or automobile strength

10 = tractor strength

15 = battleship strength

20 = dropkicks planets

The idea is to create a curve tbat allows a lot of gradation at low levels with larger and larger jumps at the upper end of the scale.

Yes, just the sort of thing I am looking for. Thank you. In my zeal to make things simple I tend to complicate things.

[jqavins]

Your lists of races and archetypes have a lot of overlap. I suggest eliminating the races list, as any time a character's race matters it's covered by the archeype.

Also, you wrote "Archetype (aka class)" but it's really not class. It's origin of powers, where class is about a character's role in a party or world. Sure, those are related, like in the case of a D&D character who's role is to use divine magic and who gets that ability from divine sources. But they're really not the same thing. D&D fighters and rougues, for example would both fall under Exceptional Individual. Archetype is a good starting point in making a character, but it isn't class.

All the superhero systems I know about are classless.

[redzimmer]

Your lists of races and archetypes have a lot of overlap. I suggest eliminating the races list, as any time a character's race matters it's covered by the archeype.

Also, you wrote "Archetype (aka class)" but it's really not class. It's origin of powers, where class is about a character's role in a party or world. Sure, those are related, like in the case of a D&D character who's role is to use divine magic and who gets that ability from divine sources. But they're really not the same thing. D&D fighters and rougues, for example would both fall under Exceptional Individual. Archetype is a good starting point in making a character, but it isn't class.

All the superhero systems I know about are classless.

And it’s getting awfully close to ripping off Heroes Unlimted as well. I need to put a lot more work into it.

[brian 333]

Lets go back a moment to the 'simple' idea. If what we want is simplicity, the character creation process should not involve exhaustive lists of enumerated powers, but instead be a flowchart of ideas.

Example Only!

Step 1: Backstory

Where does your guy come from? What are her goals? Who are her friends, or why doesn't she have any? Batman's parents provided his motives, Superman's distant origin explains his strength, (red suns or kryptonite? I'm still not sure...)

Brenda Tucker seemed like an ordinary girl until she went on a Kamp Kidz adventure, a weekend spent with nature and other kids. Nearby, a farmer who had gambled his family farm away, in an act of defiance to the casino who was evicting him in order to sell the property, burned down the house, barn, and farm equipment, and ignited a forest fire that ravaged the region, including the Kamp Kidz campground.

What could have proved tragic sparked a new hero into action! The children huddled helplessly as the fire trapped them, burning closer. A chance spark landed on Brenda and began to burn. Desperate, she stopped, dropped, and rolled, but the blaze only intensified!

Then Brenda realized, though engulfed in flames, she felt no pain. In fact, she could make the flames obey her! Her screaming friends reminded her of their danger, and she knew that she could help. With an act of will she commanded the flames to go out, and every last coal and ember within her sight was instantly extinguished, leaving her unharmed but wearing badly burned clothing.

Her ability to create, control, and extinguish flames has grown, but frightened the children around her. She learned to keep the secret, (mostly,) and moving to a new school a few times allowed her to form friendships. Of course, her original name is known, so she habitually uses aliases. She also wears non-flammable underwear to avoid repeating the embarrassment of her first experience.

Step 2: Define the powers

In this step the power(s) of the superhero is listed. Is she strong? Can she lift like an olympian? Can she lift a car? A train? A battleship? Set the limits of the character's power.

Brenda has discovered that she can control any flame she can see, and direct it to grow or extinguish with or without fuel. She can extinguish any flame within a mile of so even if she cannot see it, but she has never tried to see how much she can ignite.

Brenda can ignite flames from matchstick size up by will, such as the time she (accidentally) set Tommy Gardner's pants on fire when he was making goo-goo eyes at Suzie Bright.

Brenda can engulf herself in flames, and in this condition she can fly, but cannot achieve supersonic speeds without extinguishing her flames.

Step 3: Define Weaknesses

Is the character harmed by a particular item, like kryptonite? Is she a normal mortal without her suit of armor? Does she require someparticular element to use her power, such as Gambit's playing cards?

Brenda cannot control flames when she is wet. Throwing water on her while she is burning won't get her wet, but doing so before she ignites will prevent her from ignighting or controlling fire. (She never sweats, for some reason.) Immersion in water will extinguish her flames if she is engulfed at the time.

Otherwise she is an average to strong human, (she works out four days a week and does yoga.) She can burn up bullets before they strike her if she knows they are being fired, but if doing something else or simply doesn't see the gun, she can be shot, flames or not.

Step 4: Adjudicate powers

In this step the game master uses the rules to establish game parameters. Since the ruleset doesn't exist yet, I'll use D&D concepts in my example.

Brenda cannot use her powers in an unlimited fashion. She is restricted by power and frequency of use. In this case, I choose the sorcerer spells per day chart to determine how often and for how long she may control flames.

0 Level is 1 HP of fire damage or control about the same as a kitchen match for five minutes.
Level 1 is 1d4 / ten minutes. (Small butane torch)
Level 2 is 1d8 / twenty minutes (Campfire)
Level 3 is 2-4 d8 / forty minutes (Bonfire) This is the level at which she can self-immolate and fly
Level 4 is house fire / an hour and a half
Level 5 is a small warehouse or large appartment building / 3 hours
Level 6 is a large warehouse or small factory / 6 hours
Level 7 is a gasoline storage tank / 12 hours
Level 8 is a small chemical plant / a day
Level 9 is a 1 mile radius / permanent.

Extinguishing flames is far easier for her, but leaves her exhausted and unable to control fire until she has rested if she extinguishes fires too large for her ability. Treat Extinguish as one level lower than igniting fires of similar size.

While controlling fire she can create shapes and images limited only by her imagination, but undirected fires simply burn as the fuel and area allow.

Step 5: Description

In this step define appearance, costumery, aliases, and other information relevant to your hero's daily life.

Brenda Tucker is known to be the hero called Blaze by the media due to her much publicized origin story. Therefore, in daily life she has used several secret identities, the current one being Ember Burns, an Arson Investigator for City Mutual Insurance Company.

Her best friend is Sarah Swensen, a forensic crime scene investigator for City Police Department. Sarah knows her secret, but protects herself and her friend by keeping it. They share an appartment in The City which has a rooftop entrance Blaze can use to come and go annonymously.

Ember favors a black wig with bangs, black rimmed glasses, and careful application of makeup to conceal her nose and cheek freckles and her trademark short, touseled, orange hair which defies combing. She wears red short-shorts and halter top with matching booties beneath her street clothes in case she has to immolate herself, ruining her street clothes. These items are made of non-combustible material. When wearing open toe shoes the soft booties can be carried in her handbag.

Step 6: Begin Play


Note that this system allows the character creation process to be driven by the player as opposed to the rolling of dice. You may want more control as DM, making the creation process acollaboration, or you may be fine with the ability to adjudicate the powers in Step 4. You might want more random power generation, in which case you limit players to powers found on your tables. But the idea presented here is to allow the player to imagine the character first, then build it according to the rules you establish.

[redzimmer]

I really appreciate the feedback and input.

Working together, a viable PbP heroes game can become a reality.

[aimlessPolymath]

Ooh, I really like that method of character generation.

If I could build on it a bit:
-I like the use of the SUPERB stats, or some variation, in determining how effective powers are, rather than necessarily a uses/day thing. Not all heroes have super strength, so not all of them really care about using Strength in their statline. Instead, perhaps Strength is how powerful the fire blasts are, Precise is how carefully they can be aimed to perform complex tasks (like a wall of fire to prevent escape, for example), Responsive is how easily they can be used to defend or attack (i.e. switching from one use to the other)... either Undaunted or Enduring is how much the ability can be used in some fashion, while the other is toughness? And maybe Beautiful represents how easily it inspires- whether someone reacts to the fire with "oh god I'm going to burn" or "thank god the heroes are here"? A sort of PR stat, which represents the difference between "stopping the bad guys" and "saving the day".

Rather than defining a strict spells/day system, repeated use of a power likely damages an ability score. If your power is to unleash the darkness hidden inside you, repeatedly using it will damage your Precision and/or Responsive, with a rate determined by your Enduring(?) score. Most people will lose Strength. Someone with a power that hurts themselves will lose Undaunted, and possibly Responsive if the damage makes it harder to use.

So:

Laser Beam Dude is fighting Telekinesis Lad, and shoots a laser beam at him. TK Lad attempts to deflect the laser beam with his floating rocks, so he rolls a Responsive check to begin defending. If he succeeds, he can check his Strength against LB Dude's Strength to stop him. If he fails, he takes it right to the gut, and rolls Undaunted vs. Strength to take it.

Once he defends, he rolls Responsive to try to successfully go on the attack, attempting to shift the ground under LB Dude's feet- a Precise check.

This example has a few too many rolls for each step of combat for my taste, to be honest, so it could probably do with some paring down. Perhaps some aspects are static adjustments rather than rolls- Responsiveness acts as a static reduction/bonus to rolls, and Undaunted is just HP. Alternatively, parrying with Responsiveness lets you directly reduce incoming damage by an amount based on your Strength.
Either way, we have
Str: How powerful is the power?
Und: How much damage can you take?
Pre: How versatile is the power?
End: How much can you use the power?
Rsp: How easy is the power to use?
Beaut: How much is the power public-friendly?

[brian 333]

Ooh, I really like that method of character generation.

If I could build on it a bit:
-I like the use of the SUPERB stats, or some variation, in determining how effective powers are, rather than necessarily a uses/day thing. Not all heroes have super strength, so not all of them really care about using Strength in their statline. Instead, perhaps Strength is how powerful the fire blasts are, Precise is how carefully they can be aimed to perform complex tasks (like a wall of fire to prevent escape, for example), Responsive is how easily they can be used to defend or attack (i.e. switching from one use to the other)... either Undaunted or Enduring is how much the ability can be used in some fashion, while the other is toughness? And maybe Beautiful represents how easily it inspires- whether someone reacts to the fire with "oh god I'm going to burn" or "thank god the heroes are here"? A sort of PR stat, which represents the difference between "stopping the bad guys" and "saving the day".

Rather than defining a strict spells/day system, repeated use of a power likely damages an ability score. If your power is to unleash the darkness hidden inside you, repeatedly using it will damage your Precision and/or Responsive, with a rate determined by your Enduring(?) score. Most people will lose Strength. Someone with a power that hurts themselves will lose Undaunted, and possibly Responsive if the damage makes it harder to use.

So:

Laser Beam Dude is fighting Telekinesis Lad, and shoots a laser beam at him. TK Lad attempts to deflect the laser beam with his floating rocks, so he rolls a Responsive check to begin defending. If he succeeds, he can check his Strength against LB Dude's Strength to stop him. If he fails, he takes it right to the gut, and rolls Undaunted vs. Strength to take it.

Once he defends, he rolls Responsive to try to successfully go on the attack, attempting to shift the ground under LB Dude's feet- a Precise check.

This example has a few too many rolls for each step of combat for my taste, to be honest, so it could probably do with some paring down. Perhaps some aspects are static adjustments rather than rolls- Responsiveness acts as a static reduction/bonus to rolls, and Undaunted is just HP. Alternatively, parrying with Responsiveness lets you directly reduce incoming damage by an amount based on your Strength.
Either way, we have
Str: How powerful is the power?
Und: How much damage can you take?
Pre: How versatile is the power?
End: How much can you use the power?
Rsp: How easy is the power to use?
Beaut: How much is the power public-friendly?

I agree the system you propose is better than the spells/day idea I used. I was simply attempting to use something familiar as a baseline while offering an example of the DM deciding how to incorporate the player's imagined power into the ruleset. Plus, you know, I was thinking of the Superb acronym as just physical attributes as opposed to being directly related to the power.

I think your suggestion should be the baseline for defining powers.

Question: does a character improve with experience? Or will the system be Exp free?

[redzimmer]

Pros and cons with exp.

On one hand it would be useful to have the hero/whatever improve as they adventure.

On the other hand, what would improve with the levels? More powers? More influence/infamy?

A typical comic hero is rather status quo in their powers and abilities. Batman is alway brooding, Spider-Man doesn’t have a venomous bite, but they do gain more personal experience. Usually.

I also pondered what if different types of archetypes were governed by one letter of the acronym.

S for the flying brick and HulkThings,
U for psychics or focused martial-artist types,
P for high-tech, mad scientist, or masters of arcane arts types,
E for blobs, power men, intangible women, and regenerative sorts,
R for the very fast and arachnid-inclined,
B for those who use their wits more than their book-learning, like lanterns, creatures from fifth dimensions, ambushing bugs, jokesters and the like.

[brian 333]

So, using the scale I devised and the SUPERB stats, I will attempt to Step 4 my example character:

Strong = 4 (she is physically fit but not exceptional.)
Undaunted = 14 (properly motivated she could lay waste to a city.)
Precise = 16 (she can control her power down to the limits of her sight.)
Enduring = 4 (she is no more robust than an ordinary physically fit human.)
Responsive = 5 (she is very agile and alert, but not extraordinarily so.)
Beautiful = 4 (she is healthy as opposed to pretty, but never relies upon her looks or charm.)

[redzimmer]

I like the 5 being a baseline for exceptional normal human capabilities. An all-fives being someone like Maria Hill or Sgt. Rock.

[aimlessPolymath]

Under my stat designations, some or all of the stats would be allowed to improve with time, depending on the genre of the game. In particular, Responsiveness and Precision are most likely to improve with time, as they sort of represent the character's learned skill (Responsiveness) with the power, and their creativity and planning (Precise).

Actual power output improvements (Strength or Endurance) are really a matter of the power source of the character- perhaps the Iron Man expy can spend XP to level up his power source, for example.

Of note is that this sort of improvement happens, essentially, when it can be narratively justified from a comic-book perspective- a montage where the kung-fu fighter trains under a waterfall in order to increase his hit points, for example, shouldn't happen more than once per story arc, because any more than that would bore the readers (probably?).

Maybe The Incredible Bulk doesn't get to unlock Super Hulk Level II, but maybe they go get therapy and learn meditation, letting them control their power more easily. Maybe Arachnid Lad goes on a wiki-dive to learn about the properties of spiders, letting him draw more usefully from his totem animal.

Maybe the team just takes some time to think up tactics.

Hm.
A thought.
Comic book characters shouldn't really improve when they're already winning, because win-more isn't what they're about. Really, that kind of improvement should come in reaction to failure or need- perhaps they lose to the Big Bad the first round, but they regroup, prepare, and win the next time around.
Maybe experience is only gained through failure?

Alternatively, perhaps improvements are only temporary once gained, because The Status Quo Is God.

[brian 333]

Proposal:

At the end of a game session the Administrator of the game picks crucial moments in the session to offer each player a chance to improve one ability. The crucial moment must be one that threatened the life of the hero or someone she loved. The ability that is selected for improvement is chosen by the player and approved by the Administrator based on the character's description of the character's response to the crisis.

In the case of Blaze, in her latest adventure she was shot and barely able to make it back to her base where her friend was able to extract the bullet and bandage her. During her convalescence she determined that getting shot again was something for which she had to prepare. The player describes her efforts to overcome her trauma in one of the following ways:

Strong: doesn't apply, she can't punch a bullet.

Undaunted: she practices pumping up her body heat past the vaporization temperature of copper so that jacketed bullets that touch her vaporize before they can damage her.

Precise: she practices taking out mulitple bullets in flight, possibly by creating a shield of flames between the shooter and herself.

Enduring: she vigorously trains to toughen her body.

Responsive: she vigorously trains to dodge and make herself a difficult target.

Beauty: doesn't apply, she can't charm a bullet with a dimple and a wink.

The player could have chosen any of half a hundred other options, but in the end he must choose one to present to the Administrator, who will then determine the difficulty of overcoming the challenge.

Primary Ability is the most important ability to the character's power. In the case of Blaze her Primary Ability is her Precision, but a character may have more than one or she may have no Primary abilities.

Secondary Abilitiy is the ability which supports the character's power but does not define it. While Undaunted sets the limits of the power of Blaze, it doesn't detefmine how effectively she can use it. Again, more or fewer abilities may be classed as secondary.

Tertiary Ability is an ability which in some way enhances the power or its use without being required. Blaze has no tertiary abilities.

Exceptional Abilities are abilities beyond mortal ranges, but not in the range of heroic abilities, such as Robin/Nightwing's legendary agility, (Responsiveness)

Human Ability is an ability which does not relate to the power, and in that respect is indistinguishable from the average human. Blaze has Strong, Enduring, Responsive, and Beautiful as her Human Abilities.

Weakness: when an ability is selected as a weakness, such as Hulk's Precision, it cannot be improved, though it could potentially be masked or enhanced mechanically, such as by giving a strength-enhancing exoskeleton to Myoptica, the Human Encyclopedia.

In each case a 2 die roll equalling or exceeding the character's current value must be achieved.
Primary Abilities roll 2d10
Secondary Abilities roll 2d8
Tertiary Abilities roll 2d6
Exceptional Abilities roll 2d4
Human Abilities roll 2d3

You can see that this tends toward average rolls, allowing young heroes to quickly develop powers through experience but as the character begins to peak, improvement in the ability becomes increasingly difficult.

In the case of Blaze, Precision is the focus of her training. As a child she lacked control, but quickly advanced to her current level. She has room for improvement, perhaps by getting some goggles that have telescopic or microscopic imaging which increases the distance and detail at which she may manipulate fire. In any case, it will require stressful situations requiring her to push her limits before she has a chance to improve again.

On the other hand, her Responsive stat is very high for a human, indicating that she has been in many situations where reflexes and quick thinking has made a difference. Without some new power or gear she is within one point of achieving the maximum score that ability will ever reach. With the average of 2d3 being 3.5, it may be that many rolls are required before she hits that upper limit, or she may max it out on the next roll.

[redzimmer]

There should be implied secondary powers, absolutely.

And the proposal is good. You can gain increase inability or a secondary based on what actually you have experienced.

Like the Fallout perks system only it’s more decided through your actions instead your immediate choice.

[brian 333]

There should be implied secondary powers, absolutely.

And the proposal is good. You can gain increase inability or a secondary based on what actually you have experienced.

Like the follow perks system only it’s more decided through your actions instead your immediate choice.

There certainly is room for improvement in the idea. After reading it back I realized that the proposal has built in limits on power growth. For example, I said equal or exceed the number when rolling the dice, which would mean:

Human Abilities cap at 7
Extraordinary Abilities cap at 9
Tertiary Abilities cap at 13
Secondary abilities cap at 17
Primary abilities cap at 21

The sentence should be rewritten to exclude the 'equal' part, dropping those caps by one point so that the upper human limit is six.

My proposed system also limits the possibility of improving an ability's category, so that Blaze will never be able to increase her firepower beyond that of a battleship even though she may eventually achieve the ability to overheat a single molecule or to burn her name on the face of Pluto without leaving Earth. It may be desireable to incorporate some means of bumping an ability up to the next category, allowing Blaze to eventually gain the power to set Mars on fire. (Right now she's permanently limited to small cities.)

Bumping categories should be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities which the Administrator carefully adjudicates. It should be the result of dedicated determination and extreme motivation on the part of the character. For example:

A meteor fell to Earth with an alien life form on it. The life form attaches to organic matter and after acclimatization begins to consume the matter, growing in an exponential fashion. Blaze can burn out the organism, but it has spread to multiple cities which are now covered in globs of goo which are many square miles in diameter. Desperate, she lands in the center of an infected city and exerts her force of will beyond all her current abilities, blasting the city to ash, along with the alien life form. One down, six to go!

Prior to creating this episode the Administrator decided to offer Blaze the chance to bump her Secondary Ability to a second Primary ability, noting that her reluctance to use her power on a large scale was what relegated it to secondary status. With the motive of saving the planet and given targets large enough to tax her capacity without endangering innocent bystanders, she is finally free to unleash the raw power which was always there.

P.S. Feel free to use Blaze as an example in your posts. She's obviously a ripoff of Johnny Storm anyway, although tweaked somewhat to be more versatile but less poweful.

[aimlessPolymath]

@redzimmer,

Do you have any thoughts on the alternate system I proposed for assigning ability scores? I can drop it and work within your system if you like, but I think there are some major advantages to it.

The issue I had with your stat system (and, relatedly, with lots of other superhero systems), is that for any given score, 50% of heroes won't care about the score at all. In particular, Strength is something that a lot of heroes won't care about at all- if their powers don't improve it, it's going to be human-normal for them for the majority of their career (see: Psychic types, agility-focused heroes, blaster types, elementalists in general). In a minimally complex system, it shouldn't be in their character sheet at all. In the case of Blaze, she only really has two "real" scores- rather than a statline of

S: 4
U: 14
P: 16
E: 4
R: 5
B: 4

she's really just "Human, but U:14 and P: 16".

My alternate scores are meant to adjust this by making the meaning of the scores vary depending on the specific superpowers; Strength could represent a character's level of superstrength, but it can also mean the strength of their beam blasts, the power of their waterbending, and so on. This means, among other things, that there are no dump stats in the system. A decision to give up on an ability (say, Precision) means an actual weakness in a power (it's not good at doing more than brute-force blasts), which means that characters (in particular, villains) have weaknesses that can be exploited (make the most direct use ineffective, and they can't adapt).

Rather than defining archetypes by investment in a stat, they get defined by the power, and then redefined and specialized by the statline.

A superstrong character with lots of Strength but little Precision is very different from one with lots of Precision but little Strength; the first can't do much more than swing their fist, but smashes anything in his way; the second is no more than twice human-normal, but uses it to enhance his jumping and climbing ability, use a baseball and bat to fire high-speed projectiles, wrestle and apply leverage with greater skill, etc.

It also gives a bit more room for players of different skill; if a player isn't great at coming up with creative uses of their power, they can choose not to invest much in Precision.

[redzimmer]

I m open to all ideas. So far all I have is an acronym and a burning desire to have an easy PBP superhero game.

I welcome all ideas and frankly if this takes off without me, all the better.

I tend to get overly detail-oriented and burn out before the task is completed.

@redzimmer,

Do you have any thoughts on the alternate system I proposed for assigning ability scores? I can drop it and work within your system if you like, but I think there are some major advantages to it.

The issue I had with your stat system (and, relatedly, with lots of other superhero systems), is that for any given score, 50% of heroes won't care about the score at all. In particular, Strength is something that a lot of heroes won't care about at all- if their powers don't improve it, it's going to be human-normal for them for the majority of their career (see: Psychic types, agility-focused heroes, blaster types, elementalists in general). In a minimally complex system, it shouldn't be in their character sheet at all. In the case of Blaze, she only really has two "real" scores- rather than a statline of

S: 4
U: 14
P: 16
E: 4
R: 5
B: 4

she's really just "Human, but U:14 and P: 16".

My alternate scores are meant to adjust this by making the meaning of the scores vary depending on the specific superpowers; Strength could represent a character's level of superstrength, but it can also mean the strength of their beam blasts, the power of their waterbending, and so on. This means, among other things, that there are no dump stats in the system. A decision to give up on an ability (say, Precision) means an actual weakness in a power (it's not good at doing more than brute-force blasts), which means that characters (in particular, villains) have weaknesses that can be exploited (make the most direct use ineffective, and they can't adapt).

Rather than defining archetypes by investment in a stat, they get defined by the power, and then redefined and specialized by the statline.

A superstrong character with lots of Strength but little Precision is very different from one with lots of Precision but little Strength; the first can't do much more than swing their fist, but smashes anything in his way; the second is no more than twice human-normal, but uses it to enhance his jumping and climbing ability, use a baseball and bat to fire high-speed projectiles, wrestle and apply leverage with greater skill, etc.

It also gives a bit more room for players of different skill; if a player isn't great at coming up with creative uses of their power, they can choose not to invest much in Precision.

[aimlessPolymath]

Alright.

I'm going to try to propose the broad strokes of a system, then.

System is d20 based.
Rather than using half the stat as the bonus, conservation of detail - your bonus is equal to the relevant score.

Character sheets are backstory + fluff-esque stuff + a list of Powers.
(Undaunted is hard to measure, so I'm keeping it out for now. Also, I might reformat the acronym a bit)
A Power is formatted as follows
Skill: Renamed version of Precision.
U: Not present until I work it out.
Power: Renamed version of Strength.
E: Endurance, as in my example
R: Responsiveness, as in my example.
B: Beauty, as in my example.
A set of power mods (ex. -2 Strength but +1 Skill/Responsiveness during the day)
A stat or set of stats that the ability costs.
A description of how the power works, and its limits.
You have X points to allocate total, between Powers (for which each value must be 1 at minimum), mods, and Skills (noncombat stuff) at chargen.

"Human Normal" is a power everyone has, which has all values 3 (the default). This power is stuff anyone can do, even a normal human. It costs Strength.

Taking turns:
Highest Responsiveness goes first, unless someone else has surprise.

On your turn, you can do all of the following:
Take a non-attack action, possibly enabled by your Power. If you need to use your power for this, a Skill roll may be needed. Responsiveness may be affected.
Attack or Interact. If you don't, you can Interrupt later without penalty.


An Attack is as follows:
Roll your Power against their Power or Skill (at their option), which they use to defend. Your degree of success is the amount of damage they take (may not be appropriate?).

An Interaction is as follows:
Describe what you're doing to someone. Roll your Skill against their Skill. If you succeed, reduce the most effected score they possess by 3 until they deal with what you did (blow away the smokescreen, break the net they're caught in, etc). If they really fail, like by 5 or more, reduce it by 5 instead, and it's harder to deal with(?)

Interrupt: This is an enhanced Defend action. Add any number, up to your Responsiveness, to your defense roll (for anything). Subtract that number from your rolls on your next turn. (Note: would like Responsiveness to reduce this somehow). Alternatively, you can generally disrupt someone else's action- roll Power or Skill vs. Responsiveness to apply a -4 penalty to a single roll, but lose your next combat action as a penalty.
Do this once per turn.

When you use a power to take an action, mark a tick. When you reach a number of ticks equal to the Endurance for that power, clear them, and reduce the stat the power costs by 3.

Thoughts:
Not sure on the role of Beauty in this system. It might be better served if the acronym were S.U.P.E.R., and let PR stuff be a noncombat skill.
Not sure that Undaunted is really a power-specific thing. Maybe characters only have one power? Then it would work better. Might make more sense, though some really versatile characters are harder to build.
The role of Responsiveness isn't great here. I like having it as a limiter to how much you can attack and defend at the same time, but I'm not happy with the implementation. Maybe it's the thing you roll to defend against Interactions (work out what they're doing and avoid it)?
So Attack is Power v. Power or Skill(maybe?), Interact is Skill vs. Responsiveness, and Interrupt is Responsiveness vs. the roll they're using, as an alternate defense(?)... And then on a failed Interrupt, you take a penalty on your next turn to attack back because you're overwhelmed...
Nearly there, I think.

Noncombat skills:
A skill is simultaneously a Power and a noncombat skill. When used in combat, it's added to your Human Normal's Skill for specific uses. Out of combat, use it like a normal d20 skill check.

[brian 333]

How powerful is my hero?

Extrapolating from the Abilities, I come up with some ideas to feed the imagination.

Weaklings: these beings have one or more Abilities which are below human normal without compensating higher powers. For example, Jubilee from the X-men cartoon. Her power was a handicap, and she had no compensatory higher abilities.

Humans: these characters have no major flaws but no special abilities either.

Exceptional Humans: these characters have one or more Exceptional Abilities, and minor powers.

Extraordinary Humans: these characters may have one or more ability of Tertiary power, and may have simple powers.

Heroes: with one or more abilities at Secondary power level, the hero may have complex or multiple powers.

Superheroes: with one or more abilities at Primary power levels, these are the ultimate powerhouses.


How to decide:

An Administrator may decide the power level of her campaign and set the level of power by fiat in step 4. This method gives all players more or less equal power levels.

Randomized results may offer greater variety, but the character should have completed Step 1 prior to determining power levels. Thus, the player has an idea of what order she wishes to try her luck. Each roll is a percentile roll, and should be made in the order the player determines to be from most important ability to least important.

First roll:
81-100 = Primary Ability
61-80 = Secondary Ability
41-60 = Tertiary Ability
21-40 = Extraordinary Ability
1-20 = Exceptional Ability

Second roll: (If no Primary power gained, add +10 to die roll.)
91-100 = Primary Ability
71-90 = Secondary Ability
51-70 = Tertiary Ability
31-50 = Extraordinary Ability
11-30 = Exceptional Ability
1-10 = Human Ability

Third Roll: (If no Primary Ability rollled, add +20 to die roll, if no Secondary Ability rolled add +10.)
96-100 = Primary Ability
86-95 = Secondary Ability
66-85 = Tertiary Ability
46-65 = Extraordinary Ability
26-45 = Exceptional Ability
6-25 = Human Ability
1-5 = Weakness

Fourth Roll: (If no Primary Ability rolled add +30 to the die roll, if no Secondary Ability rolled add +20, if no tertiary ability rolled add +10.)
99-100 = Primary Ability
94-98 = Secondary Ability
84-93 = Tertiary Ability
64-83 = Extraordinary Ability
44-63 = Exceptional Ability
11-43 = Human Ability
1-10 = Weakness

Fifth Roll: (If no Primary Ability rolled add +40 to the roll, if no Secondary Ability rolled add +30, if no Tertiary Ability rolled, add +20, if no Exceptional Ability rolled add +10, if a Weakness has been rolled add +5)
100 = Primary Ability
98-99 = Secondary Ability
93-97 = Tertiary Ability
73-92 = Extraordinary Ability
53-72 = Exceptional Ability
16-52 = Human Ability
1-15 = Weakness

Sixth Roll (If no Primary Ability rolled add +50 to the roll, if no Secondary Ability rolled add +40, If no Tertiary Ability rolled add +30, if no Extraordinary Ability rolled add +20, if no Exceptional Ability rolled add +10, if two Weaknesses have been rolled add+10, if one Weakness has been rolled add +5 )
100 = Primary Ability
99 = Secondary Ability
94-98 = Tertiary Ability
74-93 = Extraordinary Ability
54-73 = Exceptional Ability
21-53 = Human Ability
1-20 = Weakness

No more than one modifier per roll is allowed. Thus if a player has not rolled either a Primary or Secondary Ability by the Third Roll she may choose to add +20 or +10, but not both. This system is skewed towards assuring multiple higher Ability Scores. It should be viewed as a brainstorm concept intended for tweaking.

Now the question arises about final power levels. Again, Administrator Fiat may apply, or the following might serve for random beginning scores:

Primary Abilities roll 2d10 for starting scores
Secondary Abilities roll 2d8
Tertiary Abilities roll 2d6
Extraordinary Abilities roll 2d4
Exceptional abilities roll 2d3
Human Abilities roll 2d3
Weaknesses roll 1d3

If the character has no Primary Abilities the player may choose to improve one Weakness to Human Ability level. A character without weaknesses loses any benefit for having no Primary Abilities.
If a character has no Primary or Secondary Abilities, the player may also add +1 to any roll. This must be declared before the roll, and if it results in a score exceeding the power level of that Ability the Ability is bumped up to the next higher power level.
If a character has no Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary Abilities, she may choose to also add another +1, (+2 total,) to a power level roll or mai instead add the +1 to another Ability when rolling its power level.

The Ability Scores thus derived are the starting stats of the character, with most having room for improvement in the early game, which becomes more difficult as the character begins to approach maximum.

As an example of an alternate idea, suppose the Ability begins at the top of the next lower power level and a single die roll determines the final score, so a Primary Ability score would be derived from 15+1d5, a Secondary from 12+1d4, a Tertiary from 8+1d4, etc.

[aimlessPolymath]

That's a little too much RNG for my taste. I feel that the decision to have one or more weaknesses should be under the players' control, and that lacking a choice otherwise, players should be equal in power.

An alternate proposal for random stat generation:

You start with 10 points in each of your stats.
Roll 4d6
For each roll, subtract 3 from each stat designated by the first set of rolls, and add 3 to each stat designated by the second set of rolls.
1: Skill
2: Undaunted
3: Power
4: Endurance
5: Responsiveness
6: Beauty

So my example generation for Blaze generates as follows:
+3 to Undaunted, Power, Undaunted(again), and Beauty
-3 to Endurance, Undaunted, Endurance(again), and Beauty
Net:
+3 Undaunted
-6 Endurance
+3 Power

So she won't stay down, and she has a lot of power to dish out- but she runs out of power very quickly, relative to other heroes.

Alternatively, players can distribute points as they like.