What's New Issue #0 - Power Levels - Hordes and Strikeforces
Probably the biggest addition to Simple Superheroes since the kickstarter last year was the expansion to support multiple power levels.
While this gets mentioned briefly in the new Heart of Simple Superheroes (free download here), it just touches on it. Here are the 4 power tiers:
Vigilante
This is the standard power tier for Simple Superheroes unless otherwise indicate, its safe to say that the text is referring to this power tier. These heroes have some concern about about a group of thugs waving around guns.
They can still do awesome things like lift a car or walk through a wall, but it may take the highest ranked Talent to do so reliably. Vigilante tier physics is the most like our own.
Empowered
This is a "classic" kind of power tier for superheroes. Top ranked Talents can let you lift pretty much anything on the road, and travel faster than the speed of sound.
They still need to be concerned about a swat team, or similar criminal opposition.
Planetary
Planetary heroes can cause massive damage to a city in only a few minutes -- usually meaning that they need to be alert in order to prevent Villains from doing this. At this tier you could run around the world in an hour, or throw something into low orbit.
They only really need to worry about specially armed "Strike Forces" and "Hordes" of opponents. A single policeman with a gun is no threat.
Comic-book physics apply.
Cosmic
This is when we get into characters who can destroy planets, rewrite reality, and play with the fundamental forces of the universe. Physics as we know it no longer applies.
So what changes?
The rules remain very similar, the major difference is in how the mechanics relate to normal people. The game has special rules for Hordes and Strike Forces to challenge your Planetary and Cosmic heroes. Which I'll elaborate more on in another post.
Note that I make a point to differentiate Power Tier, and Scale of Action. You could have a Vigilante team of heroes operating on in stories that take place on the Galactic Scale, just like you could have Planetary or Cosmic heroes in a story at the Street/neighborhood level.
The text discusses 4 Scales of Action: Street, Regional, Global, and Galactic.
More Heroes & Villains
The text has 9 completely new heroes and villains (three from our backers!). Three of these new characters are written to illustrate the Planetary power tier, and 2 to illustrate the Cosmic tier. There is also a section discussing using characters at different power tiers.
This brings us to a total of 35 full Heroes and Villains to draw upon to fill your game with fun. That doesn't even include two sets of minor heroes: a trio of brothers Blast, Block and Bolt who love to pull heist; and the Hierophants of the Hedge, mystical villains know as Arcanist, Firedagger and Nightsky.
We also have 2 example Strike Forces and 3 example Hordes. Plenty of fodder to challenge players for a long time; and inspire and guide your own creations.
The text now has better support for magic, as it now has several example characters that have magic as a central theme.
I'll probably elaborate on Hordes and Strike Forces more in a follow-up post, but feel free to chime in with any questions or comments you have on any of the above.
While this gets mentioned briefly in the new Heart of Simple Superheroes (free download here), it just touches on it. Here are the 4 power tiers:
Vigilante
This is the standard power tier for Simple Superheroes unless otherwise indicate, its safe to say that the text is referring to this power tier. These heroes have some concern about about a group of thugs waving around guns.
They can still do awesome things like lift a car or walk through a wall, but it may take the highest ranked Talent to do so reliably. Vigilante tier physics is the most like our own.
Empowered
This is a "classic" kind of power tier for superheroes. Top ranked Talents can let you lift pretty much anything on the road, and travel faster than the speed of sound.
They still need to be concerned about a swat team, or similar criminal opposition.
Planetary
Planetary heroes can cause massive damage to a city in only a few minutes -- usually meaning that they need to be alert in order to prevent Villains from doing this. At this tier you could run around the world in an hour, or throw something into low orbit.
They only really need to worry about specially armed "Strike Forces" and "Hordes" of opponents. A single policeman with a gun is no threat.
Comic-book physics apply.
Cosmic
This is when we get into characters who can destroy planets, rewrite reality, and play with the fundamental forces of the universe. Physics as we know it no longer applies.
So what changes?
The rules remain very similar, the major difference is in how the mechanics relate to normal people. The game has special rules for Hordes and Strike Forces to challenge your Planetary and Cosmic heroes. Which I'll elaborate more on in another post.
Note that I make a point to differentiate Power Tier, and Scale of Action. You could have a Vigilante team of heroes operating on in stories that take place on the Galactic Scale, just like you could have Planetary or Cosmic heroes in a story at the Street/neighborhood level.
The text discusses 4 Scales of Action: Street, Regional, Global, and Galactic.
More Heroes & Villains
The text has 9 completely new heroes and villains (three from our backers!). Three of these new characters are written to illustrate the Planetary power tier, and 2 to illustrate the Cosmic tier. There is also a section discussing using characters at different power tiers.
This brings us to a total of 35 full Heroes and Villains to draw upon to fill your game with fun. That doesn't even include two sets of minor heroes: a trio of brothers Blast, Block and Bolt who love to pull heist; and the Hierophants of the Hedge, mystical villains know as Arcanist, Firedagger and Nightsky.
We also have 2 example Strike Forces and 3 example Hordes. Plenty of fodder to challenge players for a long time; and inspire and guide your own creations.
The text now has better support for magic, as it now has several example characters that have magic as a central theme.
I'll probably elaborate on Hordes and Strike Forces more in a follow-up post, but feel free to chime in with any questions or comments you have on any of the above.