Quick-Bits: Return to Super-Hero RPG News

New Book -- ICONS: The Assembled Edition

There's a new / alternate version of ICONS out called ICONS Assembled, still by the incomparable Steve Kenson, that offers a substantial amount of alternative rules or rules adjustments -- but packaged as a single rulebook.

To my mind, this was kind of like a D&D Cyclopedia of the ICONS ruleset, which really intrigued me at the get go. But from Mr. Kenson's blog, there's a list of all the changes between the original ICONS ruleset and ICONS Assembled:

• Adjectives (from Weak to Supreme) see a bit more use in talking about abilities on the scale.
• Actions characters can perform during their panel are better defined. Supplemental actions are gone; as feedback indicated they were confusing and folks tended not to use them or the associated modifiers. Instead, characters get an Action, a Move, and a number of opportunities to React and Interact.
• The Benchmarks Table from Great Power is included.
• The term “Determination Points” (DP) is used to differentiate the resource players spend from the Determination ability level.
• The default die rolling method is: Effort (Acting Ability + d6) – Difficulty (Opposing Ability/Level + d6) = Outcome. The math is the same, it just equalizes the die-rolling equation so there isn’t a need to “reverse” all the action formulae when its GM characters acting rather than heroes, or vice versa. The original d6-d6 method (along with a couple of others) are optional rules.
• There is a marginal degree of success, allowing for one of seven degrees of outcome: Massive, Major, and Moderate Failure, and Marginal, Moderate, Major, and Massive Success.
  The Combined Effort rules are more broadly applied for “stacking” instances.
  Pyramid Tests (which first appeared in Sidereal Schemes of Dr. Zodiac) are in the Basics chapter, along with all the Pyramid Test modifiers and variations from Team-Up.
• Challenges are consolidated into qualities, and the baseline number of qualities is reduced to three to start. Qualities are activated both to create advantage and to cause trouble for characters.
• The Qualities section has expanded information on creating and learning qualities, removing temporary qualities, and activating qualities through maneuvers and tactics as well as spending Determination Points.
• Determined Effort is replaced by a simpler Improved Effort that is just a flat +2 bonus, dropping the various requirements that no one really used anyway. Focused Effort is folded in the stunt mechanics (substituting one level for another in a test or effect), a Push Ability option is added.
• Trouble caused by activating qualities includes Challenge, Compulsion, Disability, Increased Difficulty, and Lost Panel. I may write at some point about the notion of “Editorial Interference” as trouble, but that concept didn’t make the cut (too meta and, frankly, rooting in comics fan cynicism).
• The Stunts section has expanded to include using superhuman (level 7+) abilities and Master Specialties for stunts, as well as powers.
• The Damage section include options for minions, more lethal damage, lasting injuries, and different damage effects (from the standard Slam, Stun, and Kill effects).
• There are two expanded examples of play, one in the Basics chapter and one in the Taking Action chapter.
• The random Power Type table is tweaked slightly to change the probabilities of generating certain powers (mainly making Movement Powers more common than Mental Powers).
• There is an optional table for randomly rolling Specialties (if you want, otherwise you just choose them as before).
• Powers have generally been brought in-line with the material in Great Power and make more reference to qualities for modifiers. The focus is on the “core” powers, with condensed descriptions, leaving the more detailed descriptions, extra and limit lists, and “reskinned” powers for Great Power to cover.
• Extras and limits from Great Power are included.
• Power descriptions are now all listed in alphabetical order, for easier reference.
• A condensed version of the Devices from Great Power is included, with lots of sample equipment.
• A simple initiative system is included (Coordination test, highest outcome goes first).
• Actions are broken out by different types (Movement, Action, Reaction, Interaction) and more clearly detailed.
• An option for Interludes (narrative based scenes that activate qualities and award DP, which can be saved or spent immediately for insight, retcons, or recovery) is in the Game Mastering chapter.
• Some expanded and cleaned-up Game Master advice.
• A system of Achievements & Changes for character development.
• The villain creation system from Villainomicon is included.
• A slightly updated version of the Universe Creation system from Team-Up is included.
• Nine sample heroes and nine sample villains are included. There is no sample adventure (as I’m not a big fan of sample adventures in the core rulebook itself). I might look at revising the four-page Wages of Sin from the original ICONS book as a free downloadable sample adventure.
• A glossary of terms is included at the end.
• And, of course, the Assembled Edition benefits from new art and new layout by Dan Houser and Daniel Solis, very much in the style of Great Power.

In addition to all this, I've seen what appears to be a nice hardcover edition of this book out there. If that's preferable to the digital version of ICONS Assembled available online -- go for it!

New Book -- Supers! Revised Edition

Simon Washbourne created SUPERS!, a few years back. It was a super-hero RPG characterized by simplicity and flexibility in the genre. Since that time, HAZARD Studio obtained publishing rights to the game, and out a SUPERS! Revised Edition (via a successful Kickstarter campaign).

Here's a great interview of the makers / publishers of this RPG.

I'm always curious about new entrants into the RPG market. With all the movies and TV shows available for this genre, no wonder there's such a huge amount of material out there.

Will this be the new introductory genre for the RPG market? Maybe not yet, but it's a contender for second place, I think.

Source Files: LSH #285 - Night Never Falls on Nullport

This was my jumping on point for collecting the Legion of Super-Heroes (LSH). I'd encountered them before, in something known in the Philippines as National Bookstore reprints -- an interesting Philippine artifact that I'll tackle in another post.

I suppose it was time -- I was reading the comics of my classmates, began dabbling in Marvel & DC comics, and this cover jumped out at me.

Now, the Legion wasn't new to me. My Superman / Superboy fandom had brought me to various anthologies, compilations, and trivia books and had prepared me for most of the cast of this book.

However, the ongoing plotlines and the visually arresting cover and contents of this book really hooked me, and sustained my interest for many issues to come. This cover, in particular, promised action and the use of a rarely used superpower (even to this day) among super-heroes, along with some great space opera action (assaulting the bridge of a space ship)!

The story starts with a handful of members from the Legion of Super-Heroes (Shadow Lass, Mon-El, Colossal Boy, Star Boy, and Shrinking Violet), sent to Nullport -- a key spaceship drydock of the United Planets -- to pick up their Legion starcruisers.

After some expository captions, dialogue, and good-natured ribbing between the teammates, there is an accident. A starcruiser undergoing work suddenly begins to topple -- Mon-El manages to save the workers, but Colossal Boy (as seen to the right) misjudges the effect of reduced gravity on Nullport, and is unable to prevent damage to the afflicted ship.

RPG Comments: This is a great little scene, allowing a GM to establish the setting and situation, and the initial goal of the team, while immediately bringing the overall conflict into play right away with a related inciting incident.

In FATE (and FATE-like systems), this would be an incident where Colossal Boy's player gets a FATE point for his failure. In more physics-emulation systems, the low gravity effect would be reflected as a penalty to an attempt, especially during the initial acclimatization period.

MEANWHILE, on Orando:

This cut to Karate Kid and Princess Projectra on Orando -- a world considered incredibly backwater by the United Planets (a sword & sorcery world in a science fiction setting) -- may seem a bit odd.

While it does help to establish for new readers the breadth and variety of worlds in the the United Planets and the overall setting, it really just sets up a plotline that gets resolved in a later issue.

Of additional note is the artwork of Pat Broderick, who seems to be quite fond of this 'stop-motion' effect used to show the sudden collapse of Orando's reigning monarch. He used it several times earlier to depict Colossal Boy shrinking to normal size, Star Boy performing some acrobatics, and Colossal Boy growing to giant-size once more. I also liked much of his panel-to-panel storytelling in this issue.

This was also part of the appeal of the LSH comic book. While one team was doing some thing in one corner of the United Planets, others were doing other things elsewhere, some were back at base, others were back at home -- lots of interesting locations and mostly interesting plot threads, back in the days before decompressed storytelling became popular in comics.

RPG Comments: You may consider this as an approach for troupe-style play in a supers RPG. This scene could've been run by a different GM, using all the same players + the GM for the main storyline, allowing everyone a chance to play and a chance to run. I believe some similar ideas were broached in the ICONS Team-Up sourcebook.

Back on Nullport: I really enjoyed this one-off alien with an interesting personality who was in charge of running Nullport. H'hrnath, a horse-headed creature with hands, hooves, and tentacles, with a very strong concern over costs and profit.

It really drove home the alien, far-future setting of the LSH, in a pretty matter-of-fact way.

RPG Comments: This scene shows a way that a GM can establish an interesting-- but not that insurmountable -- obstacle, to PC investigations. H'hrnath is a foil, a person of authority who isn't necessarily a power-mad control freak, but has legitimate reasons not to let well-meaning, unknown quantities (the Legionnaires) investigate supposed sabotage taking place at Nullport.

It's also a great opportunity to drop clues or setting-building exposition in a non-boring way (through a colorful, opinionated character), letting the PCs pick up on any interesting tidbits that may catch their attention.

With the Legionnaires finally allowed to investigate, after another 'accident' on Nullport, the heroes get to use their powers to investigate (it's not all about combat, folks!) and get to the causes of the sabotage once and for all.

Mon-El gets to use his microscopic vision to keep track of Violet's progress in the circuitry. While there are communication devices, it's nice to have this kind of investigative teamwork between super-powered individuals. Especially with Mon-El being the heavy hitter that he is, normally trading blows with the toughest creatures in the galaxy.

Shrinking Violet discovers, after some exploration of the circuitry, the source of the remote controlled accidents on Nullport, and vaporizes it -- presumably with some handy equipment from the local authorities.

But this is a temporary solution to a specific problem. Having identified that the culprits must be the Khunds, and that Nullport is a target due to its strategic importance to the military capability of the United Planets on this border, the Legionnaires struggle to come up with a way to prevent this type of thing (or something worse) from happening in the short to medium term.

Star Boy -- at home with a costume sporting a plunging neckline (Legionnaires don't care about your 21st Century fashion sense!) -- carefully explores their options, finally coming to the conclusion that there must be a nearby base or ship controlling the devices that they can knock out of commission.

RPG  Comments: This is where the comic book for me really shifted away from mere superheroics, into a sort of space opera procedural with superpowers. And it really reminds me of players sitting around, strategizing about how to resolve a situation with finality -- beyond merely barreling through obstacle after obstacle.

And a good thing he does, too.

Because, like any good Klingo -- Khunds, the espionage / sabotage team near Nullport has just decided to launch an all out attack. And that team is located on the flagship of a fleet of Khund ships!

What a Khundish thing to do -- death for failure, even if it's your son. Very brutal (and wasteful) warrior culture that is unlike anything we've ever seen before in Science Fiction (ahem). They also clearly disdain hiding from their opponents, as evidenced by the bright red and yellow military uniforms, and the green hue of their flagship. Ah, what the heck, they're great villains.

The look of the Khunds changes after this issue, by the way, when Keith Giffen takes over as artist for the Legion of Super-Heroes.

This was a great little bit for me, Mon-El using his superstrength to hurl a giant-sized Colossal Boy at the Khund flagship. Colossal Boy wreaking havoc from inside the ship. And Mon-El and Star Boy generally disabling the various ships of the fleet with their respective powers.

How'd Mon-El find the fleet? Telescopic vision, man! Yeah, in a procedural type of show or comic, folks with the powers of Superman are pretty handy to have around, even if you discount the sheer firepower at their disposal. It just goes to show that, sometimes, non-combat abilities are just as useful as combat abilities.

Speaking of non-combat abilities, Shadow Lass uses hers on a pretty large scale -- enveloping the entirety of Nullport in shadow stuff! This will allow the Legionnaires to essentially move Nullport to a different location while the Khund fleet is otherwise preoccupied. It's not a permanent solution, but it'll buy some time, we assume, for the United Planets to ready a better plan to defend this oh-so-vulnerable drydock.

I always loved team stories like this, where everyone has a chance to shine -- or at least perform one critical action relevant to the resolution of the plot.

As a kid, I didn't think that much about Shady's rather racy attire. Super-heroines all had pretty tight outfits, like many of their male counterparts. In Legion of Super-Heroes comics, I was more perturbed by Cosmic Boy's famous black bustier outfit. But that all changed when I grew into my teens, of course.

Star Boy increases the mass of Nullport to allow it to generate its own gravity! Wasn't sure about the science of this, but gleefully accepted this as a kid because of how superheroic teamwork resolved a key problem in the story. And it wasn't even combat related! By this time, of course, they'd incapacitated the Khund fleet and had turned their attentions to fixing the Nullport problem.

And what a solution by Pre-Crisis Mon-El! Moving the entire drydock to a different location using flight and strength alone.

Again, a non-combat use of superpowers.

For their efforts, the Legionnaires get a fantastic reward.

The miserly H'hrnath gives them five Mark 494 starcruisers for the price of one + a trade in on their old ship!

The Legionnaires muse about him and his heart of gold, talk about their patron R.J. Brande, and generally establish threads for future stories.

But on Orando, all is not well. The King has died, and Projectra stands to inherit the throne of Orando!

RPG Comments: This would make a great resolution to a well-played adventure. A generous reward, a friendly (but perhaps not so generous in the future) ally on a drydock, and some brownie points with the United Planets for resolving a stick situation. Something to keep in mind for any future adventures!

CharGen: Brother Behemoth -- Horned Prince of Animals

Here's the last post on the creation of my ICONS character. I think I'll try a few more offline before I think about running an online play-by-post game of this. It's an interesting system. Here we go:

BROTHER BEHEMOTH

ABILITIES

Prowess - Ideal Maximum Human (6)
Coordination - Above Average Human (4)
Strength - Superhuman (8)
Intellect - Exceptional Human (5)
Awareness - Above Average Human (4)
Willpower - Ideal Maximum Human (6)

POWERS

Control - Telekinesis (2)
Mental - Animal Control (6)
Defensive - Invulnerability (6)
Offensive - Aura (1)

This is as far as I got in the prior posts; I had to come up with a character concept and background to fit what I rolled up, and here's a more refined, slightly modified version of my character background:

Adam Silangan had an obsession with occult matters. Unlike the other intensely driven members of the mytical community, he didn't seek riches or power or immortality -- he merely wanted to understand the true nature of the world. Thus, he became right-hand man to a powerful sorceror seeking the horn of the mythical Behemoth, the legendary beast mentioned in the Book of Enoch, rumored to be slumbering in the lands near Eden.

It was he who found the entrance to Behemoth's lair, it was he who discovered the horn for his master, but was accidentally cut by its razorsharp tip. Annointed by blood, the horn transformed Adam Silangan into one of the Brothers Behemoth, blessed by a fraction of the monstrous creature's power and charged with protecting the lair's secrets until the Seals have been broken.

As Champion of Behemoth, Adam Silangan is blessed with incredible power (Strength) and toughness (Invulnerability). His skin bristles with thorny spines (Aura), and he is granted dominion over animals (Animal Control). He is also granted dominion over two ghostly monkeys, who invisibly perform his will (Telekinesis).

And now, to finish off the the character creation with the last remaining steps:

SPECIALTIES


I rolled up three specialties, and I finally chose these:

• Occult --> his passion for the occult grants him substantial familarity with its subject matter
• Investigation --> his occult knowledge came from research, reading, and interrogating the knowledgable
• Stealth --> he became quite skilled at sneaking about in his line of work

STAMINA [14] --> based on the sum of his Strength and Willpower, Brother Behmoth's pretty tough.

DETERMINATION [1] --> but with his super-strength and multiple powers, his starting Determination is at the minimum. He'll need to continuously tap his Qualities and Challenges in-game to be able to spend more.

So that qualities shall we give him?

QUALITIES

• Champion of Behemoth --> allows him to tap into his rights and responsibilities as a chose of this mythical, apocalyptic creature
• Connections: the Mystical Underworld --> he's considered a denizen, if not a player, in the Mystical society of Earth
• Identity: Finder of Lost Knowledge --> before that, he was a well-known go-to guy for the masterminds and mystics after key items that would enhance their mystical knowledge, status, or power.
• Motivation: To safeguard the Seals of Creation --> as Champion of Behemoth, he was privvy to a vision of the terrible end that will befall the world if the Seals are broken; his mercenary heart was forever changed by that vision and he struggles with all his might to stop it from ever happening.

What difficulties can he expect?

CHALLENGES

• Enemy: Beloved of Leviathan --> he has a rival, his other number, a female champion of Leviathan, mystical beast of the sea. Occasionally, she is sent to bedevil his quests, and to thwart his intrusions into the many occult secrets hidden on islands or beneath the surface of the seas.
• Enemy: The Inheritors of Eden --> the sponsors of the expedition that granted him power are quite keen to regain the horn from him, but have learned the hard way that directly opposing the Champion of Behemoth is difficult; they plot and scheme to trap him, weaken him, and kill him for its power.
• Personal: The Call of the Wild --> An intellectually-inclined man, he struggles to rein in the powerful animal instincts that suddenly tug at his being.
• Personal: The Lure of Forbidden Knowledge --> Still inquisitive at heart, he is sometimes tempted to embark on personal expeditions into great occult dangers just to learn more.

That's it! Interesting character creation process; I'd forgotten how much fun rolling up a supers character was.

My inspirations for this character are Swamp Thing / Man-Thing, these monstrous creatures who are forever running into supernatural creatures that they have fight; Hellboy, the World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator (because he tends to survive every encounter, despite not being especially bright -- it's a matter of the sheer weight of experience); and the infamous Demon Entrigan / Jason Blood tandem.

CharGen: Same Hero in ICONS -- the concept!

Remember this?

Prowess - Ideal Maximum Human (6)
Coordination - Above Average Human (4)
Strength - Superhuman (8)
Intellect - Exceptional Human (5)
Awareness - Above Average Human (4)
Willpower - Ideal Maximum Human (6)

Number of Powers: 4

Control - Telekinesis (2)
Mental - Animal Control (6)
Defensive - Invulnerability (4)
Offensive - Aura (1)

Specialties: 3

Well, I have my concept here: I have a man, probably a hunter or a security guard to an evil or amoral archaeologist, who accidentally gains the favor of the mythical Behemoth mentioned in the Book of Enoch and found in the lands near Eden. Behemoth, lord of the creatures of the land, rival to Leviathan, lady of the creatures of the sea, both imprisoned until the end times!

Marked by Behemoth, Adam Silangan gains incredible power (Strength) and toughness (Invulnerability). His skin bristles with thorny spines (Aura), and he is granted dominion over land mammals (Animal Control). He is also granted dominion over two ghostly monkeys, who invisibly perform his will (Telekinesis).


Since I randomly rolled up his origin, I got the transformed origin which means I get to up the level of something by 2. I think I'll pick the Invulnerability to go up to 6, in order to match the mythical level of toughness associated with the Behemoth.


Next: Rounding Out the Character

CharGen: A Hero in ICONS

Pencils to Jim Lee's ICONS. No relation.

Decided to try out randomly rolling up a super-hero in the ICONS RPG. It's a rules light system with some infusion of FATE rules.

Here's what I came up with:

Prowess - Ideal Maximum Human (6)
Coordination - Above Average Human (4)
Strength - Superhuman (8)
Intellect - Exceptional Human (5)
Awareness - Above Average Human (4)
Willpower  - Ideal Maximum Human (6)


Number of Powers: 4


Control - Telekinesis (2)
Mental - Animal Control (6)
Defensive - Invulnerability (4)
Offensive - Aura (1)


Specialties: 3


He could be your classic tough guy with the Invulnerability and the Superhuman Strength, but then he has Animal Control really high up there, and some low-level Telekinesis, plus a really low level damage aura. Gotta think up a concept to match the powers before I go further.