Do-Gooders and Doombringers

A Hero isCreated as a Character in a Roleplaying Game!

Your hero in D&D (nice acronym, eh?) will be represented by:
EDGE: A measurement not only of the heros experience and
resourcefulness, but of their importance as a central fictional character
in the comic-book universe that they inhabit.
HERO POINTS: Your character starts every game with a number of
these equal to their Edge x 3.
ASPECTS: 6 words/phrases that describe the powers, skills, talents, or
equipment that can aid your hero in the fight against crime.
DETAILS: Positive, Negative, or Neutral bits of information related to
your characters background, present ties or affiliations and so forth.
Yes, this is where Superman would list the Daily Planet and Lois Lane,
as well as his weakness to Kryptonite.
Ratings
When assigning Edge to a character, keep this general benchmark in
mind:
Edge Rating
1
Novice Hero
2
Amateur Hero
3
Seasoned Hero
4
Experienced Hero
5
Veteran Hero
6
Legendary Hero
7
Mythic Hero
Your Narrator will have an idea about what Edge Ratings are
appropriate for the game, possibly balanced against how much power
you also want to give the character.

Aspect Ratings follow this general benchmark:

Aspect Rating
1
Peak Human
2
Enhanced Human
3
Low Superhuman
4
Superhuman
5
High Superhuman
6
Very High Superhuman
7
Unearthly Superhuman
8
Mega Superhuman
9
Supreme Superhuman
10 Ultimate
So, what do those Ratings mean?
Okay, comic-book folk, check the table below, showing what a
character could lug around if they had a rating in Super Strength, for
example:
Super Strength Aspect Rating
1
Piano
2
Car
3
Truck
4
Bus
5
Sherman Tank
6
Sauroposeidon
http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/herbivorousdinosaurs/p/sauroposei
don.htm
7
Airliner
8
Cruise Ship
9
Starcruiser
10 You Name It, Buddy
Speed might go something like this:
Speed Aspect Rating
1
Cheetah
2
Car
3
Cycle
4
Racing Vehicle
5
Airliner
6
Jet Fighter
7
Space Shuttle
8
Starfighter
9
Starcruiser

10

Gone, Man, Gone

Those are merely guidelines, but they do provide a general idea of the
scale on which 4-Color superhero comics tend to operate.
For each of your Aspects, assign a rating from 1 to 9. If your Narrator
allows you take a 10, then either he just wants to take it easy that
night, or he is tricking you into something that everyone in your game
world will soon regret deeply.
Since 6 Aspects is the standard, one way to go about this would be to
assign a total of 12 points to Aspects, with none being below 1 (duh),
and none being above 6 (hey, if you want to shine in one area, go
ahead, but be wary of leaning on one Aspect too hard).
Other ways of dealing out the Aspect points are perfectly fine, as long
as your Narrator is cool with it and you are not a power hungry scenestealing jerk.
NOTE:
It is perfectly possible to play the game without using such strictly
defined Aspects or Ratings.
The game really comes down to the Narrator understanding your
characters abilities and telling you hard a proposed action will be for
your character to attempt.
The only required ability is Edge, as that determines your starting Hero
Points, and maybe some other things, too. The Damage, Drama, and
Doom Cards are also required. Youll read about those soon.
If you are fine with playing in this more abstract manner, simply
describe your character any way you like, as long as your Narrator is
cool with it.
That being said, lets check out some ways to write up an example
character!

Slingshot is a brand new, street-level hero with borderline superhuman

aim, and access to trick sling pellets.
Here is his detailed character write-up:
Slingshot (Colin Masters)
Edge: 1
Starting Hero Points: 3
Aspects
Slingshot 3, Trick Pellets 4, Aim 2, Parkour 1, Martial Arts 1, Slingbike 1
Details
Heir to Family Business Fortune
Jessica McMillan, inventor of his gadgets and totally-not-a-love-interestgeez
Lariette, fellow noobie hero, kind of got some chemistry going on
Love triangle of denial!
Secret ID
Commissioner McMillan, Chief of HCPD, (maybe) ally
Motivated by parents death as bystanders in explosion caused by
supervillain
Limited Trick Pellet Ammo
Damage
1
1
2
2
3
3
Drama
1
1
2
2
3
3
Doom
1
2
3
See, his Aspects add up to 12 and everything!
For a less detailed character sheet, Slingshots Aspects could be
replaced by a Section called Details that reads like: Slingshot has
uncanny aim, and is even more accurate with his favorite weapon,
after which his codename was chosen. He has access to many Trick
Pellets that deliver various effects. The trick pellets are invented by
his partner Jess. Colin is an expert at parkour, martial arts, and he is a
very skilled motorcyclist.
But wait, whats all that about Damage, Drama, and Doom?

Glad you asked

Damage, Drama, and Doom!

When a hero fails at a task, usually of a combat or athletics related
sort, they might take a point (or more) of Damage. A point of Damage
is also handed out for every 1 that a player rolls, even if the player
re-rolls that 1
A starting hero has two cards for recording Damage, and each card has
3 open spaces.
When one cards spaces are filled, the Narrator will have the hero
suffer some sort of setback, possibly taking them out of the scene for a
turn, etc.
When all of the cards are filled up, the hero is out of that scene, period.
The actual Damage, and the reason for the hero being out of the
scene can vary, of course, but this is the general idea.
Keep in mind, Damage is generally erased after every scene, unless
the Narrator decides that you have been really seriously messed up.
If a hero does not want to take Damage (and who does?), they have
two options:
1) Pay a Hero Point, and invite some Drama into their lives
2) Dont pay a Hero Point, and flirt with the forces of Doom!
Paying a Hero Point simply moves that point of Damage to a space one
of your Drama cards.
NOTE: If you re-roll a Miss result of 2, or 3, and get another Miss
(even a 1), you do not incur another point of damage. However, if
you roll a 6 on that re-roll, your point of Damage can be moved to
your Drama Card for free, or eliminated altogether for the cost of 1
Hero Point. If that re-roll is another Miss and you keep it, the original
point of Damage remains. Re-Rolling a 1, however, could earn you
another point of Damage, as the original point of Damage from the 1
remains to be dealt with no matter what. Keep in mind that only
original roll of 1 counts as a 1 for the purposes of this special
Damage rule.
When one Drama card is filled, the Narrator makes a note of it, and
gets free rein to add a dramatic twist to your characters life. You do
not get any Hero Points for this, as you asked for this Drama yourself.

Your Drama cards do not refresh after every scene. At best, they will
be restored to empty after every session, or maybe after the end of
the current adventure, depending on how much of a pain the Narrator
wants to be.
If you dont want to (or cant) pay a Hero Point, you may move a point
of Damage to your Doom Card if you wish.
Once the Doom Card is filled, the Narrator makes note of it, and smiles
an evil, evil smile.
Doom Cards are not refreshed until the Narrator uses it against you. It
could be next sessionit could be next year. Againit depends.
What can the Narrator do with that full Doom Card? Well, just about
anything, and it will be bad.
Dont worry, theres another way to fill your Doom Card, and its a lot
more fun than just dodging Damage points.
Before you take an action, or even after you roll the dice, you can
declare that you are Laughing in the Face of Doom (or whatever, but
this is the coolest way to do it), and you will instantly succeed at
whatever action you are taking. No Hero Points required, either.
You will not only succeed, but you will succeed as well as
(un)reasonably possible.
Everyone at the table can help narrate why you caught such a break
(more on this sort of thing later when we break down how Hero Points
work).
Pulling off one of these amazing moves, of course, fills in a spot on
your Doom Card.
And now: how to do stuff.
Taking Action!
When your hero wants to take an Action, the Narrator will tell you how
many Successes you need to roll on 6-sided dice to pull it off.
If its something you could pretty much count on your hero doing now
sweat, then no dice rolling is needed. Superman does not need to roll
to helpe the fire department put out a building. Like, not at all. Hes
freaking Superman.

A general guideline would involve comparing an Aspect Rating to

another Aspect Rating, or to an equivalent Difficulty Number.
If the Aspect Ratings are equal, then the hero needs 1 Success.
The hero needs one more success for each point that the opposition is
higher.
For Example: If Slingshot is trying to make a trick shot with his
Slingshot (3) Aspect, and the Narrator thinks that the shots difficulty is
about a 3, then our hero needs to only roll one Success to make the
shot.
If Slingshot had to fight a ninja hand to hand using his Martial Arts (1),
and the Ninja used Ninjutsu (3), then Sling would need 2 Successes to
land a punch or to avoid a foot in the face.
A Success is anything above a 3 on the roll of a 6-sided die.
If your hero rolls only one die, they just roll it and see what happens.
Each die beyond the first can only be rolled if the player pays a Hero
Point.
So, when trying to fight that Ninja, Sling would at least have to roll 2
dice, and cough up a Hero Point for the chance to do so. If he wanted
to be safe(r), he could roll 3 dice and pay 2 Hero Points. He could also
take a Doom point and just succeed brilliantly, if he had any spots left
on his Doom Card.
Hero Points may also be spent to re-roll dice that come up as Misses
(3 or under). (See the NOTE in the Damage, Drama, and Doom!
Section for more on re-rolls)
Narrators can always simply choose how many successes they think a
player needs to roll using their own judgment rather comparing Aspect
Ratings and so forth. (Especially if your game is not using Aspect
Ratings)
Meanwhile, how about Slingshot and all those Hero Points hes
spending? Read on:

Hero Points and You

Hero Points can be used in a number of ways:
1) Moving Damage points to a heros Drama card
2) Rolling extra dice to attempt Actions that require multiple
Successes
3) Re-rolling Misses
4) Altering the Story itself
5) Anything else the Narrator feels like
The first three options are described in previous sections above. As for
the 4th:
Altering the story is something that the Narrator sets the price for.
Small alterations may cost 1 HP, or even be free. Larger changes will
carry pretty steep prices.
Players can earn extra Hero Points in a number of ways:
1) Every 6 Rolled when attempting an Action = 1 Bonus Hero
Point
2) Performing notably heroic actions
3) Performing notably foolish actions that nevertheless are genre
appropriate
4) Having the Narrator Invoke one of your less convenient
Details during the game (this does not include the use of a
Doom Card).
5) Any other dang reason that the Narrator feels like
When a player uses a Hero Point, they must explain why their hero has
achieved this task that would otherwise have seemed beyond their
capabilities.
For example, Slingshots player spends the HP, rolls 4 Dice, spends to
re-roll 1 Miss, and gets the 4 (!) Successes that he needed to pilot his
Slingbike down an icy, winding Cliffside road to avoid the pursuit of an
armed helicopter (exciting, isnt it?).
To explain this unlikely occurrence, the player declares that Slingshot
had just fitted his bike with new, experimental snow tires just before
this mission. The Narrator decides to let this slide (or not slide, as the
case may be).
Also, in general, a hero should not be able to pull off a task that
requires more than 4 Successes, and even those should not be allowed
very often. Its superhero comics and all, but use your best judgment,
etc.

But enough about heroes and all their spotlight-hogging shenanigans!

What about the bad guys?

Villainous Ways
Villains only need to be written up in as much detail as the Narrator
needs.
Mostly, each villain will just need a Damage Card, and a good idea of
their capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses.
Villainous Damage Cards can be written up in many ways, depending
on how a Narrator wants to run a particular scene.
If the villain is quite powerful, but not overly invested in the scene, that
villain might a single 4-space Damage Card, or even two 2-space
Cards.
A powerful villain that is ready for the big throw down could have
multiple Damage Cards, with 3 or more spaces on each.
Each time a Card is filled, the Narrator can decide that a different type
of setback has befallen the villain. When all Cards are filled, the villain
is either defeated or flees the scene, leaving with or without whatever
it was they came for. If you want a defeated villain to leave with
whatever they came for, though, be sure to still give the players
something, like a clue that the frustrated villain left behind, for their
efforts.
Also, an entire villain team might share one collection of Damage
Cards, with the results of the Cards being filled having different effects
on the entire team.
The possibilities are endless. You could have a villain leave the scene
before their Damage Card is filled, if thats what serves the story best.
(Perhaps a player spends Hero Points to summon the authorities, etc.)

Advanced Options
Leveling Up
Generally, superheroes dont Level Up, or so it is often said.
However, Superman went from leaping tall buildings to flying across
the universe without so much as a bubble helmet.
There are many ways to introduce a sense of progress to the game,
even without handing out ever-increasing super-powers.
One such way is to reward higher Edge Ratings.
Yes, those are already rewarded in starting Hero Points, but this might
work from your game, too:
Edge Rating
1-2
3-4
5-6
7

Cards
2 Damage,
2 Damage,
3 Damage,
3 Damage,

2
3
3
3

Drama,
Drama,
Drama,
Drama,

1
1
1
2

Doom
Doom
Doom
Doom

Using this system, more experienced (or more fictionally important

heroes) become even more resourceful and harder to put down. An
Edge 7 hero with 2 Doom Cards to fill could even keep pushing his luck
while the Narrator has a Doom Card to play on him!
You could, of course, also decide to hand out bonus Aspect points, if
you feel a character has earned an increase in ability or power.
Non-Combat Aspects
In general, most players are going to describe their Aspects in terms of
what their hero can do in combat.
Thats perfectly fine, as the focus of most superhero comics is on the
action and adventure elements of the costumed life.
For the most part, the non-combat elements of the game (and of the
heros life) are intended to be role-played, not diced out.
However, some players may want to quantify their heros other
Aspects without costing their hero a slot of the important
Aspects.
If this is the case in your game, try something like this:

Aspect Categories:
Divide a Heros Aspects into categories, like Powers, Skills,
Weapons, and Advantages.
Advantages could be things like Filthy Rich, Friends in the
Government, Extremely Attractive, or Persuasive.
Just find the level of detail that your players want that doesnt bog your
game down too much.
Solo Heroes
Heroes tend to hold up better against the bad guys in their own solo
title than they do in the team books.
To reflect this, the Narrator could give an extra Damage, Drama, or
Doom Card to a solo player. This shouldnt be done every time a group
of players splits up, but when you only have one Narrator and one
Player at the session.