The central premise of this game is that, in many forms of storytelling, protagonists have a dual nature. Many times the two facets of the protagonist are in opposition, or in a sense struggling against each other for domination. Often as one gets more powerful, the other one becomes weaker or more useless, or if it is a negative side to the character, more easily succumbed to. The most visible of example in role-playing games are the games created by White Wolf. Every character has a negative facet that balances the positive or useful abilities they have, and the constant conflict between these dual identities is what drives the character. This game seeks to model that duality, in whatever form it may take.
This game was inspired by BattleBall, of all things, as well as Philippe Tromeur's Wurthering Heights RPG. I would also like to thank Jay Turner and Bullpen for inspiration on the Fanboy Status rules in The Justice Club: Issue #2 material; and Ron Edwards and the people at The Forge for their encouragement and feedback.
Any optional items have their heading in purple.
Any copyrighted characters, names, items, or places are used for examples only and are not meant as an attempt at infringement. I will willingly remove any or all such references upon request.
Please email me at phillipfallon@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.
All characters are defined by Duality, Abilities, Knacks, Flaws, and Resource.
Duality is the key part of a character and what reflects the core of the game. Duality is represented by a single die. Duality actually represents two mutually exclusive or conflicting facets or Aspects of a character. One is the positive or primary Aspect, in which the player wants to roll HIGH to succeed. In most cases this Aspect can be thought of as measuring the character's effect on the story being told. The other Aspect is the negative, conflicting, or secondary facet, in which the player wants to roll LOW to succeed. Therefore, as one Aspect increases or becomes more influential or powerful, the other declines, becomes weaker or less influential. The specific nature (and terms used to label) Duality and Aspects will vary according to the type of game being played (see Game Styles). The most important thing to remember for now is that, except for specific exceptions, the SAME die type is used for Duality to cover both Aspects.
As far as which die types are used for the game, that depends upon whatever the Narrator and the players. For the example Game Styles, it is assumed that the standard polyhedral die types that are readily available to most gamers are used (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, and d30). The meaning of each die type and what level of Duality it represents depends on the Game Style.
Abilities are simply what the character is good at, what he knows how to do and what he can accomplish. Abilities are not rated; they are simply listed. The Game Style will usually determine what and how many items can be listed; four to five is usually a good starting point. The Narrator should use best judgment in all cases.
Knacks are things that the character is especially good at or any special advantage he possesses. A Knack allows the player to re-roll the Duality die once per Scene if part of the Scene resolution involves that Knack, and take the better result. Knacks usually apply to the primary Aspect, but in some Game Styles they can apply to the secondary Aspect as well (the player should indicate which Aspect a Knack applies to). Re-rolls for Knacks are cumulative with re-rolls from any other source. The Game Style will determine exactly what is allowable as a Knack; again, the Narrator should judge.
Flaws are in essence the opposite of Knacks- they are disadvantages or complications the character possesses, or things he is particularly bad at. Flaws will force a player to re-roll the Duality die for the Aspect it applies to and take the WORSE result in a Conflict involving the Flaw. A re-roll due to a Flaw is cancelled out by one other positive re-roll. Flaws, as Knacks, are specific to the Game Style.
Resource is a 'spendable asset' that allows the player to obtain advantages within the game for the character. Game Style will determine the term used for Resource, exactly what it represents, what benefits are derived from spending it, and how it is replenished, as well as any other special rules. In general, spending points of Resource allows the following benefits:
It may be necessary in some Game Styles to spend Resource points depending on the nature of what the Resource represents.
To keep track of Resource, the players and Narrator are encouraged to use glass stones, beads, poker chips, or whatever else is handy, though you can always just mark on a piece of paper.
The first thing you need to do is come up with a character sketch, or a brief outline of who your character is, what he is good at, what his drives and motivations are, and so on. This should be approved by the Narrator and fit in with the Game Style. Some Game Styles will offer certain types of characters for you to choose from.
Then, you need to determine the die size for Duality. Some Game Styles will have a fixed die size or sizes to choose from, but sometimes you will be free to choose whatever die size you wish. Please read the specifics of the Game Style you are playing to make sure the Duality level you choose fits your character. Next, look at the character sketch and determine your Abilities. Remember, this is just a brief list of anything your character knows how to do, and is not assigned any sort of rating.
Next, choose any Knacks and Flaws for your character. The most important thing to remember is that, for any Knack you choose, you MUST choose one Flaw. There is usually no limit to the number of Knacks your character can have, but each one must be offset by one Flaw.
The final step is to set your Resource. The maximum level will be determined by the Game Style, but most of the time all starting characters will have the same Resource rating.
Another central concept of this game is the Conflict. A Conflict occurs anytime a character has a goal or desires an outcome that conflicts with the goal or desires of someone or something else. To resolve the Conflict, the Narrator determines which Aspect is being challenged, and both the Narrator and the player roll a die. The higher or lower die roll wins the Conflict, depending on the Aspect. Multiple non-player characters and player characters can be involved in a Conflict; the highest/lowest roll determines the winner. Use the order of the rolls if the order of success is important.
Antagonists have their own Duality rating. If the character is struggling against himself, then the Narrator will roll the same die as the character's Duality. For other types of Conflicts, the Narrator should use best judgment, or just default to a median die size if he is not sure (for the 'default' discussed earlier, the median die size is d10).
In the case of a tie, the character is Conflicted. A Conflicted character gets one die size WORSE in the opposite Aspect for the remainder of the scene. If multiple players are involved in a Conflict, any that tie are Conflicted.
Conflicts can be the character against anyone or anything opposing him, whether it is another character, himself, or the world. The most important thing to remember is this- if an action involves no opposition, it is NOT a Conflict and NO dice are rolled. Unopposed actions should either succeed or fail depending on the nature of the character's Abilities and the Narrator's judgment. If there is a disagreement, then a vote should be taken, or MetaDuality should be used.
As far as Abilities are concerned, they are there to give an idea of what a character can do. In certain Game Styles, the Narrator may say that character involved in a Conflict may have a penalty to the die roll (usually a one-level penalty to the die size) if he has no Abilities that apply to the Conflict, or the Narrator may say that the character cannot succeed at the Conflict at all. However, Narrators should be open and flexible with creative solutions to problems; it is extremely rare in most games that a character would have no chance at all in a Conflict.
Some Game Styles allow the player to change the die size for their Duality before the game session begins. This should never be allowed during the game except in extremely unusual circumstances.
A Scene is simply a series of related events and goals occurring in the same location that convey a unified element of a story. A Scene can on occasion span more than one location, however. A Scene can be resolved using one or more Conflicts; these Conflicts can be the main part of the story, or a series of smaller Conflicts in pursuit of a larger goal. The amount of time that a Scene and/or a Conflict represents depends solely upon how the Narrator and players wish to play it- entire battles can be resolved with one Conflict roll; conversely, a verbal exchange can be broken down into a series of Conflict rolls.
Who gets to go first is really unimportant given the level of abstraction of Conflicts, even combat, but if for some reason it does become important, the Narrator can let everyone roll their Duality die and let everyone proceed in order of rolls.
Narration involves a player expressing what actions his character desires to pursue, and what happens based on the Duality roll. Sometimes, of course, this involves what happens when a Conflict is lost. The loser of a Conflict usually suffers some sort of negative consequences; in a combat, the loser is at the mercy of the winner and is probably captured or killed, or at least left to suffer the humiliation of defeat. Failing the roll does not necessarily mean failure to achieve the character's goals, it could mean success at a cost or with additional complications. Often it means an Aspect is lowered / raised by one die size. The players and the Narrator should work together to determine exactly what losing a Conflict entails, but the Narrator has final say (unless voting is allowed, or MetaDuality is being used).
To formalize the process, something can be used to keep up with lost Conflicts (a 'damage track', 'hit points', Valor, or whatever is appropriate); when zero is reached, the character is defeated, humiliated, or dead- basically out of the game. Whether this is permanent or not depends on the nature of the defeats, the Game Style, and so forth. If such a construct is used, the Narrator should choose a suitable value for it for beginning characters, and whether or not it can be increased through Experience. However, for the purposes of dramatic and narrative play, this should not be used.
The Narrator can allow a player to raise / lower Duality by one level or even re-roll as a reward for good dialogue, playing in character, a clever solution to a problem, and the like. This is cumulative with other improvements / re-rolls.
Some Game Styles will allow Teaming Up. The characters must choose a team leader; this would usually be the one with the best Aspect, but doesn't have to be. For every two characters participating in a conflict, the team leader's die size is improved by one, to a maximum of 2 levels (or the highest/lowest die size). This usually only applies to the higher Aspect, but can apply to both.
Duality (and Aspects separately) can go higher or lower due to several reasons (bonuses to rolls, Teaming Up, the Game Style may allow the player to change it), but Duality or Aspects can NEVER go above the highest die size or below the lowest die size due to any of these reasons. In some Game Styles, Duality or Aspects can go above or below these limits; however, the character is no longer playable (at this point the character is dead, insane, or some other terrible fate has befallen him).
Duality is not overly concerned with character advancement as such. However, players may feel somewhat cheated if their characters do not advance in power and ability. After every few games, a player can discuss changes with the Narrator that he wishes to make to his character and the Narrator should decide whether or not the change is justified. The following changes are possible:
It is up to the Narrator whether or not to allow raising or lowering one Aspect without affecting the other. Some Game Styles alter or disallow some of these changes being made, such as allowing Duality changing freely without affecting the Aspects separately. Most of the time the secondary Aspect cannot be improved or altered through Experience. Dropping Flaws is not to be taken lightly and should always occur only after major events and sacrifices on the part of the character. It is up to the Narrator whether or not new Knacks can be added without taking an additional Flaw.
If a more formal structure is desired, the Narrator can award Experience Points after each adventure. One point should be given to each player, with an extra point or two for exceptional role-playing, clever solutions to problems, personal sacrifices, and the like. An Experience Point cost can then be assigned to each possible change:
| Item | Experience Point Cost |
|---|---|
| Adding a new Knack | 10 |
| Dropping a Flaw | 20 / die size |
| Raising or lowering Aspect | 10 / die size |
| Adding to Abilities | 2 - 3 / new item |
| Increasing Resource | 5 / point |
| Increasing ability to suffer lost Conflicts | 5 / point |
For some Game Styles that allow the players to freely choose their Duality, as well as allow the Aspects to be split, please note that the number of die sizes gained through experience for raising or lowering Aspects applies to the maximum difference allowed between the two. For example, a player has spent experience on raising / lowering his Aspects three times. When choosing a Duality that can be split, he could choose (for instance) a high Aspect of d20 and a low Aspect of d8 (assuming the default die sizes are being used).
MultiDuality is simply when a Protagonist has more than one Duality rating. If a Game Style uses MultiDuality, it will be explained under the Duality entry for that Game Style. MultiDuality and their Aspects are usually completely independent of each other as far as the fluctuation of their Aspects and/or die size.
MetaDuality is a metagaming statistic and is strictly optional. It represents the duality of influence that THE PLAYERS AND THE NARRATOR possess. It will mean different things for different Game Styles, but it is used for disagreements among the players and the Narrator. Such conflicts are resolved the same as Conflicts within the game- high / low roll wins the conflict. Determining whether or not something applies to the high or low Aspect is ITSELF resolved using the high Aspect. The Teaming Up rules are optional. Of course, if there is no disagreement, then no MetaDuality roll is needed.
It is up to the Narrator and the players whether or not Knacks and Flaws or Resource can be applied to MetaDuality, or whether it can be improved through Experience. If so, then these are completely separate from the character's Knacks and Flaws / Resource, and any Experience earned is kept track of separately.
Here are some guidelines for running Duality using different genres or styles of play. Each Style has the name, the basic premise, and the details of how the rules apply to it. Game Styles which state that Aspects cannot be split do not refer to temporary splits (such as due to being Conflicted). Many are adaptations of existing games- a familiarity with the game being represented is assumed.
| Style | Paranoid-ya (Adventures in Beta Complex) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Premise | Stay alert. Trust no one. Keep your laser handy. The Computer is your friend. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duality | Starts at d4. Cannot be freely changed. Aspects are never split. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aspects | Clearance / Treason. Clearance is each Citizen's rank in Beta Complex and determines his Troubleshooter abilities and general knowledge allowed by The Computer. Treason is checked whenever a Citizen uses his Secret Society contacts or mutation, or does anything that could be taken as treasonous by The Computer or other Troubleshooters (Good luck, Citizen). The Computer will decide when a Citizen is to be promoted to a higher Clearance- but the higher your Clearance, the more likely The Computer will perceive you as a threat and find you a traitor. Treason always increases with Clearance... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Abilities | Based on Troubleshooter vocation / Secret Society membership / mutation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resource | Clones. Always 6; can never be improved. Each time a Citizen dies, spend one Resource to activate a Clone. The new Clone will have the same Duality and Abilities (The Computer never forgets, Citizen). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Knacks / Flaws | None (it is all a toss of the die, Citizen). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teaming Up | No (you are on your own, Citizen). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Special Rules | The best die type should always be used for The Computer.
Failing a Clearance roll is bad (it usually means something malfunctions and explodes/disintegrates/burns up/falls apart, which is invariably fatal to a Troubleshooter). Failing a Treason roll is worse (please report to the nearest Termination Booth, Citizen). |
| Style | Vampyre: The Subterfuge |
|---|---|
| Premise | What if you could live forever and have nearly unlimited power at the cost of your very soul? |
| Duality | Chosen at creation. Cannot be freely changed. Aspects can be split. |
| Aspects | Generation / Humanity. Generation is how far a vampire is removed from Cain and indicates how powerful it is and its general standing in vampire society and
politics. d6 is a Neonate; vampires near
Antediluvian level are d30. Humans use d4.
Humanity measures how much of the vampire's original soul is left. Humanity cannot be altered through Experience. Frequent Humanity checks should be made, especially when a vampire feeds more than necessary or commits acts of unusual brutality or depravity. If one of these checks is failed, then the Vampire's Humanity Aspect goes up by one level. When a vampire's Humanity goes above d30, it has succumbed to The Beast (and is no longer playable as a character). If Conflicted forces a vampire's Humanity temporarily above d30, it will eventually recover from its frenzied state. Lost Humanity should be nearly impossible to recover. |
| Abilities | Appropriate to the vampire's Clan and Disciplines known, and the skills it had in life. |
| Resource | Blood Pool. Starts at 10 (cruel Narrators can make the players roll a
d10). Vampires can spend a Blood point to boost their Generation die roll by one die size for a Scene, or spend two and get a re-roll, on any rolls involving Disciplines.
Vampires MUST spend one Blood Point per Scene, or two per day at most, unless in sleep. Blood Pool is only replenished by feeding on blood (the rate and amount is up to the Narrator). |
| Knacks / Flaws | Knacks should be mostly Discipline-based, or based on any perks of the vampire's social standing. Flaws are as appropriate. |
| Teaming Up | Yes, for Generation only |
| Special Rules | None |
| Style | Playground Break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Premise | School's Out! (At least for a while...). Time to play with your imaginary friend, build castles in the sky, and fight the Shadows- but first, you have to deal with teachers, bullies, and schoolwork. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duality | Chosen at creation. Cannot be altered except through Experience. Aspects cannot be split. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aspects | Grade / Imagination. Grade is the kid's school grade. Imagination is what it sounds like. Grade is used for mundane stuff like schoolwork, sports, interacting with adults, and for Conflicts involving other Kids where position or influence is important, like getting a lunchroom seat or fighting a bully trying to take your lunch money. Imagination is used for playtime and for creating and interacting with Shadows- Shadows are magical beings, things, and creatures that you can only see and interact with if you believe hard enough. Some are good, some are evil; some are created, some already exist, spawned from some past child's worst nightmares or fondest daydreams. As you get older, you believe less and less, until one day you can no longer see them... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Abilities | Whatever a Kid of that type can do. Players should choose a stereotypical type of Kid, like the Bully, the Brain, the Class Clown, the Popular Kid, the Teacher's Pet, the Kid Good At Sports, the Kid Who Eats a Lot, the Shy Dreamer, and so on. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resource | Kid Power. Starts at 3. A Kid can spend one point of Kid Power to re-roll the die. A Kid can spend two points to make ANOTHER Kid re-roll HIS die and take the LOWER result. The other Kid cannot be above d12. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Knacks / Flaws | Kids can get one Knack for free without having to take a balancing Flaw (it's hard enough being a Kid!). They should be appropriate for the type of Kid. Examples: the Brain- Know-it-all (knowledge-type stuff); the Bully- Beating Up Other Kids and Taking Their Lunch Money; the Teacher's Pet- Weaseling Out of Trouble With Adults. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teaming Up | No (Ever tried to get more than two Kids to work together on ANYTHING?) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Special Rules |
Most adventures for Playground Break should occur on the playground and be 'one-shots'; that is, unconnected adventures (except for the same Kids, and continuing rivalries with other Kids and the same Adults in charge). |
| Style | Crazy Cartoons! |
|---|---|
| Premise | Animated Antics and Merry Mayhem! |
| Duality | Starts at d12. Cannot be changed except under special circumstances (see below). Aspects are NEVER split. |
| Aspects | Zany / Mundane. All Toons start out with a d12 in Zany / Mundane. Play should be a rapid-fire series of silly situations, loony sight gags, and random cartoonish violence (Conflicts calling for Zany rolls). If a player hesitates more than a few seconds in declaring what his Toon will do for a Scene, or he has his Toon do something boring or un-Zany, he must roll Mundane against a d8 (the median die for this Style). If the roll fails, his Duality drops by one level- in effect, the Toon's Zany decreases, but Mundane improves (the less Zany a Toon is, the more boring and ordinary he is expected to be). This reduction is permanent and can only be removed by spending Ink (see below). When a Toon's Duality goes below d4, the Toon is Erased and removed from play. |
| Abilities | None listed (Toons can do whatever they want!) |
| Resource | Ink. All Toons get 2 Ink to start with. A point of Ink can be spent to restore lost Zany, or to boost zany from d12 to d20 for the WHOLE CARTOON! Ink is not replenished and can only be 'refilled' through Experience (each point of Ink costs 5, same as usual, but nothing else can be purchased with Experience). No Toon can ever have more than 4 Ink at one time. |
| Knacks / Flaws | Appropriate for Toons, of course. Examples include: Martian Disintegrator Ray, Acme Catalog (the Toon can get whatever gadget or item he needs just by mail-ordering it), Fast-Talk; Easily Fooled, Always Lies, Bad Cartoon Luck, Enemy (Toon must re-roll against his / her / its natural enemy, such as Mice / Cats, Wascally Wabbits / Hunters). |
| Teaming Up | Up to 2 Toons can work together to increase their Zany by one level. Toons that are natural enemies cannot Team Up. |
| Special Rules | Boggled and Falling Down- A Toon that loses a Zany Conflict is Boggled and participates in the rest of the Scene at -1
Zany. If a player rolls a 1 for a Zany Conflict, the Toon Falls Down and cannot participate for the rest of the Scene.
Toons are never Conflicted by tied rolls. |
| Style | Battle Electric Storm Mecha! |
|---|---|
| Premise | It is the far future. Aliens have invaded the solar system and killed off or incapacitated almost all of the adults with radiation viruses. The only ones who can save humanity are you and your friends- the Battle Electric Storm Mecha team! That is, if adolescent angst doesn't get to you first... |
| Duality | Multi-Duality is used (the first one is your character; the other one is the Mecha he pilots). Both are chosen at creation, but cannot be freely changed. Aspects can be split. Only d4 - d12 are used for Duality. |
| Aspects | Pilot / Angst. Pilot is how good a
Mecha pilot a character is (ALL Battle Electric Storm Mecha! characters can pilot
Mecha!). Pilot is used for any sort of actions involving piloting
Mecha, as well as being stylish, partying, looking cool, being smart, etc.
Pilot is also used to repair damaged Mecha, but the character must have an appropriate Knack.
Angst is typical teenage problems like homework, relationships, life choices, and so on.
The better a hotshot pilot you are, the more you are called to battle and the worse your life is (no time for your girlfriend / boyfriend, schoolwork,
worrying about getting killed, ...)
Speed / Firepower. The faster a Mecha is (moving, dodging, etc.) the lighter it's firepower, and vice versa. |
| Abilities | Any that are appropriate to teenagers who can pilot large robots... |
| Resource | Luck. Luck can be used for re-rolls as usual. One point can be spent to raise or lower Pilot / Angst by one die size for an entire scene (maximum of one), or repair one level of damage to a Mecha during battle (maximum of once per battle). Luck can also represent contacts or favors for things like requisitioning a different style of Mecha. |
| Knacks / Flaws | Knacks for Pilot can be anything that applies to being a hotshot pilot, like Evasive Maneuvers, Dead Aim,
Ladies' Man, Sex Kitten, etc. Another Knack is Mecha Tech- ONLY characters with this Knack can repair damaged
Mecha or make modifications. Flaws apply to Angst- use your imagination...
Knacks for Mecha can apply to either Speed or Firepower, to represent thicker armor, special weapons, jump jets, etc. Flaws apply to either and are design limitations or glitches with the Mecha like Trouble with Rough Terrain, Erratic Fire Control, or Chink in the Armor. |
| Teaming Up | Yes. Only a Mecha's Firepower can be improved. Pilot Aspect is used when Teaming Up for anything outside of the cockpit. |
| Special Rules |
There are basically four types of Mecha-
There are three different types of foes:
Mecha Combat is a series of Conflict rolls using the die size for the type of
Mecha being piloted. Battles are divided into rounds.
If a Mecha takes damage, either Speed is lowered or Firepower is raised by one level, pilot's choice.
When a Mecha's Speed reaches zero, it can Fire but not Dodge or Retreat.
If its Firepower reaches zero, it can Dodge or Retreat but not Fire.
Damage must be repaired by a Pilot with Mecha Tech Knack (if the Narrator wants to make it a Conflict, just use one die level
per 'hit' for the difficulty). A Mecha reduced to zero Speed AND Firepower is totally destroyed.
The pilot must make an Angst Conflict or be killed (in a dramatically appropriate way, of course).
Damage levels raise the d8 rolled against when trying to convert a Storm Mecha's battle mode. |
| Style | The Justice Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Premise | Powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, but with great power comes great responsibility. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duality | Chosen at creation. Can be freely raised / lowered one level any time before a game, but not during (superheroes fluctuate in power level depending on who the writer is). Aspects can be split. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aspects | Power / Karma. Power represents a Superhero's superpowers, intellect, gadgets, and crime fighting know-how- any abilities he uses to fight crime and save the world. Karma represents lucky breaks, improbable occurrences, or Narrator hints when the player is stumped or when things are darkest for the hero or he is facing overwhelming odds. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Abilities | What type of Powers the superhero has and what he is generally capable of (also known as Power Stunts). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resource | Heroism. Starts at 5. Players can spend one point of Heroism to raise / lower either Aspect for one Scene, or two to get a re-roll. Heroism replenishes at the beginning of every game. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Knacks / Flaws | Any applicable to superheroes, such as Popularity, Dumb Luck, Technological / Scientific Genius, Leadership; Bad Reputation, Guilt, Unlucky, Vulnerable to some substance (like Kryptonite) and so
forth. Dumb Luck and Unlucky are not under the player's control- the Narrator will tell the player when to re-roll.
In addition, every Hero MUST choose a Knack to represent his Drive- this is why he became a superhero in the first place, and continues to put on a funny costume and fight crime. It should be something like Obsessed With Bringing Criminals To Justice, Protect The Innocent, Uphold The Law, Unwanted Powers, and so forth. This special Knack is balanced with an appropriate Flaw, usually the Drive itself- for example, a superhero Obsessed With Justice would be willing to do anything to bring in a criminal, even break the law himself; a superhero with Unwanted Powers is probably monstrous or deformed in some way and shunned or feared by normal people. Otherwise, the Flaw can be a Nemesis- this is a supervillain that is the antithesis of what the hero is and all he stands for. The hero must take the lower of two rolls for the first roll in any Scene involving the Nemesis. |
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| Teaming Up | Yes, for Power only. Superheroes must be within one Power level of each other to Team Up. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Special Rules | A Superhero can attempt something he has never done before with his Powers (adding a new Ability or Power Stunt) by attempting a Power roll against a d10. If this roll is successful, the Superhero can make it permanent by spending one less Experience. If the player wishes, he can roll against a d20. If this roll succeeds, the Power Stunt can be added for free. If it fails, then the player must wait at least one issue to try again. |
| Style | The Justice Club: Issue #2 |
|---|---|
| Special Rules | This Game Style is the same as The Justice Club, with the following additions.
In the following discussion, the term
'issue' refers to a series of related games, much like an issue of a real comic book.
MetaDuality is used- it represents Editor / Writer. Editor is the high Aspect and represents any major changes to the 'comic book' plot or story as a whole; Writer is any minor changes to the comic book plot or the player's character. Writer changes include changes in a Superhero's supporting cast, plot twists, changes in appearance, costume, personality, Powers (including adding Power Stunts), Karma, and/or adjusting hero Duality up or down. Editor changes are major story arcs, 'retconning' or 'reboots' (retroactive continuity, or altering what has been previously established as history and fact in the comic book; a reboot is a re-launch of a title starting from the beginning, usually the heroes' origins). As before, if there is no disagreement about a change, then no roll is needed. The Narrator gets a d20; the other players get a d6. Editor / Writer Duality can be freely adjusted up or down by one level before play begins by anyone. Apply Knacks / Flaws, Resource, and/or Experience as you see fit. Any changes occur next issue and cannot be altered for at least one issue. Major changes can involve mapping out the future direction of the comic book and involve a planning session between the Narrator (Editor) and all the players (the Writers). This lends a 'Marvel Bullpen' feel to the comic book aspect of the game. Fanboy Support Fanboy Support is another MetaDuality that can be added (thus making it a MultiMetaDuality...).. The high Comic Aspect represents the popularity among fans of the comic book itself; the low Hero Aspect represents the fan support of each superhero. This will start out at the median die size (usually d10); it will almost certainly become split (as the high Aspect will be the same for each hero, and can change independently of the hero's fan support). ANY TIME a change is to be made, a Editor / Writer check must be made against the Comic / Hero Fanboy Support (comic fans are notoriously fickle and somewhat resistant to change). Hero Fanboy Support checks should be made at the end of the game session. The Narrator makes Comic Fanboy Support checks after the changes are agreed upon. If this check fails, Fanboy Support worsens by one level. Alternately, the person responsible for the change (if it was not the Narrator) can make their Editor / Writer Aspect one die size worse (the Editor boxes the Writer's ears for such a stupid stunt). UNDOING a failed change will give a bonus of one die size to the Editor / Writer roll (that is, if you are restoring the comic / superhero to the way they were before the change). If a specific hero's Fanboy Support goes above d30, he is in danger of being written out of the comic. If the comic itself has its Fanboy Support drop below d4, the comic is in danger of being cancelled. Only a major publicity stunt (major change in the hero, a 'special issue' of the comic, and the like) will save the day. The Fanboy Support will hover at this level for at least one issue, during which time NO changes can be made to the hero / comic. In any case, Fanboy Support will improve one level for every three successful Fanboy Status checks (the plans are pleased with the direction the hero / comic is taking). There is one benefit to Fanboy Support. Once per issue, a player can use the Hero Fanboy Support in place of Karma for one Conflict (for his hero only). Also, once per issue, EACH player can use the Comic Fanboy Support in place of Power for one Conflict. Icon Status A superhero who reaches d4 Fanboy Support (at any time) can be considered to be an Iconic Character. An Iconic Character has attained a level of fame comparable to the most famous superheroes. An Iconic Character has the following benefits:
If a hero's Fanboy Support drops below d6, the hero has lost Iconic Character status. To completely qualify for Iconic Character status, the player must give the superhero a nickname. The player can either choose the Marvel route and add a prefix (The Amazing Spiderman, The Invincible Iron Man) or the DC route and come up with a secondary name (Batman is also The Caped Crusader; Superman is The Man of Steel). The Comic Book itself can attain World's Greatest Comic status when its Fanboy Support reaches d30. It is very similar to Iconic Character status:
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| Style | War of the Gods |
|---|---|
| Premise | You are a divine being, with thousands of mortal worshippers whose faith you harvest for your omnipotent powers. Unfortunately, this isn't a monotheistic universe... |
| Duality | Chosen at creation (pardon the pun).
Aspects can never be split, but Experience can be spent to allow raising or lowering the Duality before each game (one level per each amount spent). |
| Aspects | Wrath / Benevolence. Wrath is your righteous anger, where you punish non-believers and smite other Gods with your lightning bolts (or whatever). Wrath is used for any active Conflict or one which must be overcome by force and power, violence, or anger. Benevolence shows that you are a kind and loving God. Benevolence is use for any passive Conflict or one which must be overcome by peace, love, or negotiation / flattery. |
| Abilities | None, really, you can do whatever you wish- you are a God, after all... |
| Resource | Faith. Each point of Faith represents the belief of 10,000 worshippers. Each God starts with 1 Faith for each die size he has in his Duality (for example, a God with a d10 starts with 10 Faith). Faith is not spent as per the usual rules, or increased the normal way through Experience (see Special Rules). |
| Knacks / Flaws | Knack is your Realm- you have to be the God of something.
Whether the Knack applies to Wrath or Benevolence depends on exactly what it is.
Flaw is your Hubris- you must have one flaw in your Godly character, much as the Greek Gods. You can take more than one Realm, but you must take an accompanying Hubris as usual. |
| Teaming Up | No. Your omnipotence is accompanied by your Godly egotism. Gods can get together and conspire against other Gods, they just can't combine their powers. |
| Special Rules |
There are a fixed number of mortals in the world to serve as Worshippers.
Most of them already worship one of the existing Gods (the total of which is determined by the combined Faith of all the Gods playing).
Faith is what gives Gods their power (expressed as Wrath). Gods will gain and lose Faith throughout the game through various means.
If a God gains or loses Faith, his Wrath will become the highest die size greater than the number of current Faith points (but Benevolence will stay
as it was). For example, a God has a d12, and thus starts with 12 Faith.
He loses 1 Faith, so he has 11 Faith left. He still uses a d12.
However, if he loses 2 more, dropping to 9 Faith, he will only use a d10 for Wrath (but still use a d12
for Benevolence). When a God drops to zero Faith, he can no longer
act and starts to fade away as no one believes in him anymore.
There are a few atheists, though. The Narrator should take 10% of this total and make them a pool of non-worshipping mortals (who are up for grabs by all Gods, of course). Gods affect each other primarily through manipulating their worshippers, but they can take direct action against each other as well (this is harder, though). Spreading the Faith- A God can attempt to convert some of the atheists. To do this, you can roll Wrath or Benevolence to convert 1 atheist unit to Faith against a d10. However, failure comes with a price. If the Wrath roll fails, then the atheist unit is lost AS WELL AS 1 Faith (due to the floods/volcanic eruptions/whatnot you were scaring them with getting out of control). If the Benevolence roll fails, the atheist unit joins one of the OTHER Gods which the Narrator chooses randomly (you awoke their belief in a supreme being, they just didn't like what YOUR priests were preaching). Proselytizing- Roll your Benevolence against the other God's. If you win, you get one of his Faith points by converting his worshippers. Holy War- Roll your Wrath against the other God's. If you win, he LOSES one Faith. However, if YOU lose, YOU lose one Faith. Messiah- You can lower your Benevolence by one die size for the entire game (without affecting Wrath), but you must convert 1 Faith to atheists in doing so (the followers who crucified the messiah are cast out). Smite- You can directly attack a God to reduce his Wrath. You must beat him twice in a Wrath contest to do so, if you win both, then he must lower his Wrath by one die size for an entire Scene. Guile- Outdoing another God by trickery or flattery. You must beat the other God twice in a Benevolence contest- if you win, the loser must increase his Benevolence by one die size for an entire Scene. Contest of the Gods- Any God who wishes to can compete, but at least two Gods must agree before a Contest of the Gods can be
held. All Gods must wager Faith points, as many as they wish. The one who called the contest determines what type of
contest it is, and the Narrator will determine whether Wrath or Benevolence are used.
The winner takes all Faith. War of the Gods would probably best be played as a 'one-shot' or a short series of games.
The endgame is to be the God with the most Faith after a certain time, or just to be the last God standing.
You could even play the game without a Narrator, using Wrath/Benevolence as a sort of MetaDuality to settle rules disputes. |