Characters are defined in terms of Qualities. There are four types of Qualities: Attributes, Skills, Traits, and Powers. All characters have the first three types of traits, only Hyper-Humans have powers.

Qualities are rated from -3 to +9 (or higher) at the start of a campaign. The rating determines the modifier the Quality applies when the Quality is used on a check.

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When attempting to resolve the Success of an Action, roll 2d10 plus any Modifiers and compare against the Difficulty of the task.

Simple checks are made against a Difficulty Target. A guideline to these targets is as follows:
Difficulty Target Description
Easy or Trivial 5 Climb a knotted rope
Average 10 Hear an approaching security guard
Complex or Tough 15 Requires attention to detail, disarm an explosive
Intricate or Challenging 20 Requires sharp concentration, swim against a strong current
Extremely difficult/Formidable 25 Hard for most professionals in the field, break into a secure computer system

Opposed tasks are made against the roll of another character or active force. Whoever (or whatever) gets the higher result wins. If there is a tie, whoever has the highest Modifiers on the roll wins. If the Modifiers are tied, re-roll.

Conflict occurs when the intent of an opposed task is to cause damage (physical, mental, or otherwise) to one another. In this case, one opposed check is used to determine whether or not the Conflict task (Attack) is successful. A second opposed roll (called a Saving Throw) is then made to determine the severity of the damage. A failed Saving Throw can result in lost Ranks, staggering (reduced options in the conflict), and ultimately unconsciousness.

So that’s the basics. Other sections to complete this weekend, if time (and family allow):
* Character Generation
* Conflict
* Sample Characters

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All of the other suggestions are excellent and there are conveniently six of them, so rather than choose, I will select the second game randomly. Rolling a 6, I select “Truth & Justice”, the sixth alternate suggestion to come in. This suggests the name of the game will be “Truth & Mutants & Justice & Masterminds” or some such….

Off the top of my head, Mutants & Masterminds leveraged the d20 system in a new way and introduced a compelling way to reflect damage. On the other hand, Truth & Justice has a Do-It-Yourself aesthetic and it’s own unique way to track stress. I will have to think on this more. But for now, bed!

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In the spirit of my new favorite blog ( http://amalgamage.blogspot.com/ ), I’m going to amalgamize/hybridize two Super Hero RPGs!  And you get two pick which two!

The current voting runs as follows:
Mutants & Masterminds – 2 Votes
the old DC RPG – 1 Vote
ICONS – 1 Vote
BASH! (Ultimate Edition) – 1 Vote
Hero – 1 Vote
Abberrant – 1 Vote

I will take votes until Midnight EST and begin crafting tomorrow.  I will combine the top two vote getters into one system and take a shot at setting, if the source materials provide inspiration.  If there is a tie, I will chose among the tied contenders.

[I will update the scoring in this post as I get more votes throughout the evening.  It is currently just after 5:30 EST, so there is a little more than 6 hours for votes to come in.]

Here is a mostly-complete list of  the games I own in hard copy (I own more in digital form) to provide inspiration in your voting:
the current DC Adventures game
ICONS
Mutants and Masterminds
Champions
the original Marvel RPG
the card-based Marvel RPG
the diceless Marvel RPG
GURPS Supers
Abberrant
Silver Age Sentinels (Stingy Gamers Edition)
With Great Power
Capes
The Batman Role-Playing Game (based on the old DC rules)
Supers Inc.

What I include in the product by Monday will depend largely on the source material, but I imagine at minimum:
The core mechanic
Character generation rules
Some sample characters

I probably won’t be able to provide an exhaustive listing of power descriptions and action examples.  I won’t be providing Game Master advice.  If there are specific sections or details you want included, please include them with your vote and I will take that under consideration.

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Kraken is the brains of Kanga Sue’s gang. She is also the grand-daughter of Submarina, a former aquatic heroine descended from a race of shark people. Her father is a shape-shifting drill sergeant from the Kirbyville militia. She lacks her grand-mother’s aquatic adaptations, but is a throwback to her ancestors’ fierce disposition.

Built on 43 points, I am leaving Kraken as she is.

Owen “Overload” Lorde
Prowess – 4, Coordination – 5, Strength – 6, Intellect – 3, Awareness – 5, Willpower – 5
Stamina – 11
Powers: Reflection – 5, Elemental Control (Electrical: Attacking, Creating, Shaping) – 6
Specialties – Power – Reflection, Athletics
Qualities: Jock
Challenges: Short-tempered

Overload is nominally the brawn of the group. A mediocre athlete with great desire, he is frustrated by his inability to excel in sports despite his hard work. He entertains Kanga Sue and her gang with his electrical constructs, though when he looses his cool he is incredibly dangerous.

Built of 41 points, I am also leaving Overload as he is.

The PCs will have slight edge, point wise, on Kanga Sue and her gang, but I’m comfortable with this. The kids are unlikely to be master strategists – and I can always enhance their power levels later if they provide interesting opponents, but insufficient challenges.

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One idea would be run a sequel of our old Prime Time Adventures campaign
that focused on a post-Crisis universe where the Marvel and DC universes
were collapsed as well. The main characters were the daughter of the
Flash, the son of Starfire and Nightwing, the heir of Thor, and yet
another new Blue Beetle. They hung out in and around a university
district, fought super villains, and were very relationship driven.
Perfect fodder for Smallville.

But today, I was inspired with a perhaps more accessible idea – “Daily
Bugle” – a campaign focused on the life of Peter Parker, college student,
freelance photographer, and

There are several obvious characters: J. Jonah Jameson and the staff of
the Bugle, Aunt May and Uncle Ben, the Osborn clan, and Mary Jane and/or
Gwen Stacy. Kill off Uncle Ben at the end of the first season – give him
a chance to make “the speech” on-screen.

But inspired by the fast-and-loose continuity of Smallville the show, I’ve
some other ideas.

Introduce the pre-Fantastic Four, sometime between getting their powers
and before the team is formed. (I know, I know, they formed as they got
off the rocket – but play with me.) Set Sue and Johnny as peers of Peter,
with Reed as a grad student or new professor. Ben’s still a super-strong
monster, but tone the special effects down so that he can interact in
public more easily.

Give Peter a “pet” – a freakishly large bulldog who more or less adopts
him – called “Lockjaw”.

Daredevil makes a fine addition to the staff, a blind legal student who
moonlights as a sometime rival hero to Peter. Maybe Luke Cage – just
cause.

What do you think? Who would you add to the mix?

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Jenny “Gehenna” Jones met Kanga Sue while they were both in lock-up for shop lifting. Their shared disrespect for authority made them fast friends. Or at least allies in tormenting those around them. She is the daughter of a powerful psychic and telekinetic and while her powers are fairly limited currently, she shows great potential.

Gehenna originally came in at 51 points, but I trimmed her back to 45.

Benjamin “Vendetta” Detta
Prowess – 6, Coordination – 5, Strength – 6, Intellect – 6, Awareness – 4, Willpower – 7
Stamina – 13
Powers: Affliction – 3, usable at close range; Strike – 5
Specialties: Expert Pilot, Investigation
Qualities: Has a crush on Gehenna
Challenges: Living in his parents’ shadow

Benjamin “Vendetta” Detta is the son of one Kirbyville’s best known fliers but has yet to develop the ability to fly himself. Instead he seems to have developed the toxic powers of one of his ancestors. He can afflict people in his vicinity at will and also use the toxicity to enhance his already formidable punch. He likes causing trouble, but mostly hangs with Kanga Sue’s clique to stay close to Gehenna who he has a crush on.

Vendetta originally came in at 46 points, so I trimmed him back to 45.

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I’ve sketched out 8 archetype templates for the 5 players to choose among. I plan to have the youngest pick first and work up in age from there. That will still leave four templates for the oldest mom to choose among. Seems fair.

I’m planning to have a rival group of super-kids. Over the next several days, I plan to roll them up in advance of the first session, so we can start playing as soon as possible.

Tonight’s Character – Kanga Sue
Prowess – 6, Coordination – 4, Strength – 4, Intellect – 5, Awareness – 4, Willpower – 3
Stamina – 7
Powers: Leaping – 7; Animal Control (Mammals) – 8
Specialties: Sleight of Hand, Leadership
Qualities: Leader of the Pack
Challenges: Kleptomania

Kanga Sue is the leader of the rival gang of students to the heroes. She is smart enough to excel in her classes and even is a favorite of many teachers, but is ill-tempered She combines her leaping powers with her natural combat skills for unique fighting style.

Kanga Sue comes in at 43 points, a little bit shy of the PC templates at 45 points each. After all, she has four more allies yet to be defined.

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Officially a non-group, though funded by Ducke, the Legion grew in membership over the years. Some of the more notable members include:

R.J. Ducke – shape-shifter trapped in duck-man form, financier of the Legion
Cosmic Mariner – a prince of his home planet and master of the cosmic forces; founder
Lightning Hulk – as a boy, was stranded on a mysterious planet, when attempting to coax lightning beasts into recharging his shuttle, he instead was attacked; super-charged by their electrical powers, the angrier he gets, the more powerful he gets; founder
Doctor Saturn – blonde psychic from the moons Saturn, possesses the Eye of Titan, further enhancing her powers; founder
Tripli-Cat – female felinoid with ability to split herself into three duplicates
Phantom Valkyrie – a warrior princess with the ability to become insubstantial
Super Surfer – drawn from the past, and inspirational to the Legion; transformed by Galactiac in exchange for saving his home planet Kryn Lann from destruction; he later betrayed Galactiac to become a defender of life
Chameleon Knight – long lost son of R. J. Ducke, shape-shifter warrior; wields a mystic sword once owned by his accursed ancestor
Moon Violet – mistress of alien marital arts with ability to control her size from less than an inch to hundreds of feet tall
Ultra Guardian – a former rival of the Super Surfer from his original time, but trapped in stasis until the 25th century where he becomes a powerful ally of the Legion
Moon Eater Lad – plagued by multiple personalities, he has the ability to consume nearly any form of matter
Element Slayer – possesses the ability to duplicate any element and dedicated to the destruction of all forms of evil
Lightning Wasp – sister of the Lightning Hulk; originally her powers matched her brother’s, but an accident transformed her powers so that she now can shrink and fly instead

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This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hampton Hotels. All opinions are 100% mine.

Many of you are con-goers. Gaming cons, role-playing cons, sci fi cons. And unless you are lucky enough to have them in your own city, you are constantly looking for a place to stay. Now in most cases, the ‘best’ place to stay is on-site, but when that is full or cost-prohibitive, what are your options?

Well, this summer, the Hampton hotel chain is offering a great way to visit with friends or go to a con on them. They are holding the Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes which offers as 100 first prizes a weekend stay at any Hampton Hotel for the winner and three friends. This weekend stay is a DAILY give away. Sounds like a great way to visit a con to me – even if it’s a hike to the convention center, the price is right.

But it is the grand prize that really has my attention: Rent an ENTIRE HOTEL for a weekend (100 rooms for 2 nights). That sounds like an opportunity for an impromptu convention of your very own (or maybe a large family reunion) to me!

I encourage you to enter the Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes for your chance to win! It’s easy to enter – you just need your name and contact information. There are Hamptons nearly everywhere, so surely you can find a con to attend with the lodging on Hampton’s bill. And if you win the grand prize, you can host a mini-con anywhere you choose!

Personally, if I were to win a weekend visit, I would use it as an excuse to take the family to Georgia to visit with friends and take in Dragon Con or maybe Raleigh, NC to visit friends and take in Trinoc*con. If I were to win the Grand Prize, I would definitely find a central location a host a gathering for 100 my closest friends and their families! The hardest part would be to settle on a city. I’m thinking something picturesque but relatively isolated. Any suggestions??

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