House Rules

What's Here

27 optional rules and expansions curated by the Classic Marvel Forever community over 25+ years. Most Advanced Set tables use at least some of these to refine the canonical TSR ruleset.

Each rule below is reproduced from classicmarvelforever.com for offline / authenticated reference. Original authors credited within each rule's text.

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Advancement

by Jason Cutcher**

F.A.S.E.R.I.P Stat Increase

The primary abilities can only be increased in increments of 5 points. The cost for each increase is 1000 karma points, and a post explaining what your character has been doing in their personal time to explain the jump. For characters that have ability scores not divisible by 5, 200 karma points must be spent for each point increase to get to a multiple of before further advancement continues. Explanations for increase can be as simple as an increased regimen of training as the She Hulk did when she joined the Fantastic Four (she used the Things old weights and was able to boost her strength to his level)or as complex as an alien abduction/experimentation unleashing untapped mutagenic factors.

Power Rank Increase: Again, Powers will be increased in increments of 5. The cost of each increase is 2000 karma points, plus a post explaining the increase in power potential. An increase above Unearthly is subject to my approval and a limitation.

Resource Increase

Resource level can be raised in increments of 5, costing 500 karma points per increase. The Judge will set up a way to explain increased revenue with suggestions from the player. Keep in mind that a good idea in the Marvel Multiverse isn't always guaranteed to win big bucks, and any advance to a new resource level is subject to GM approval.

Popularity

Many avenues exist for increasing Popularity of a character. The easiest is to write posts wherein the character is seen doing good deeds and charity. Karma may not be spent to increase Popularity, rather popularity can be used to increase karma by using hero status to help the misfortunate. Keep in mind that popularity can be lost easily as well. Being framed for a crime you did not commit is always a popular example. A different kind of Popularity is the kind one hold with their established contacts, this pop rank is often higher than actual popularity and can be further increased by spending 500 karma, and roleplaying with the GM (GM as the contact), or by writing a post in which relations are somehow improved. Actions performed by a character that are contrary to the interests of contacts can adversely effect the relation despite spent karma.

Talents

This is basically the same as the book. A talent learned from an NPC (non player character under the GM's control) will cost 1000 karma. A talent learned from a PC (player character) will cost 2000. The difference is that learning from a NPC gets the character interacting with the Marvel Universe around them and promotes greater gameplay and new possibilities for adventure. The Player is encouraged to announce they are attempting to learn the talent well in advance of spending karma and to roleplay time spent practicing the skill.

New Powers

Additional Powers cost 4000 karma plus 1000 for every increment of 5. All powers are subject to GM approval and will require a post and roleplaying to develop and explain. Use of limitations can be used to waive some of the power cost, judged on a case by case basis.

Contacts

New contacts can be added without spending karma by lengthy roleplay and posting of stories, however the process can be sped up by spending 500 karma and naming a contact.

Alternate Ranks

Below is a list of additional, alternate ability ranks. Should you decide to utilise these ranking you will also need to download the following:

• Universal Table
• Speed Chart

by Greg Kerner

Augmentation

The process of developing super-powered agents and soldiers has been a desire of many organizations since World War II, but most experiments of this type have ended in disaster. The Power Broker's augmentation process is the most recent and most successful of these processes.

Dr. Karl Malus was used to develop the process. Funded by grants from secret illegal operations within the U.S. Government and by outside aid by groups such as the UCWF, Malus made several prototypes of his equipment before arriving at his present design.

The augmentation process modifies the subjects Strength, Agility and Endurance, increasing each to various degrees according to their normal metabolism. Given normal human test subjects, the success rate is 50% - failure indicates disaster. Using the Augmentation Process Results Table, roll separately for each ability. Such enhancements will always have the minimum value listed, and never be greater than the maximum listed rank. If using the advanced set rules, the new rank will always be at the lowest possible number for that rank.

Health is adjusted to the new levels. Failure for normal humans is on a roll of 01-50. This usually results in a gross mutation of the body, and the reduction of abilities as follows:

• Psyche is reduced by as many ranks as Strength is increased.
• Intuition is reduced by as many ranks as Agility is increased.
• Reason is reduced by as many ranks as Endurance is increased.

Reduction of any ability down to Feeble leaves the subject a mindless brute. Player characters become NPC's controlled by the Judge.

Malus disposed of his failures by putting them in the sewars beneath Los Angeles. A large number of them still live there, though some were rescued by the Shroud and his criminal Night Shift. Typical stats for such creatures follow:

Typical successful augments have the following stats:

There may be literally hundreds of augmented individuals in the world at present, and as many failures in the sewars below Los Angeles.

Malus' augmentation was apparently a three-stage process. Captain America underwent the the first part briefly, and Ms. Marvel underwent the first and second stages.

First Stage: Initial Augmentation

The subject's cells and bombarded and enhanced. At this point, success is determined. Success grants the level rolled on the Augmentation Results Table for 1-100 hours. Failure results in the immediate effects listed above which are permanent.

Second Stage: Fixing the Augmentation

For beneficial augmentations, this makes the change permanent.

Third Stage: Addiction

Used in connection with the wrestler-augmentation program for the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, the target subject is injected with a highly addictive durg, which the Power Broker provides to keep a close rein on his workers. It is possible to break the hold of the drug. Demolition Man and the other wrestlers did so after the Power Broker's initial plans were exposed by Ms. Marvel and the Thing.

The above effects are noted only for normal humans, and the effects on mutants and mutated humans are as yet not fully investigated. Captain America was enhanced by the process temporarily, but did not choose to finish the process.

As a rule of thumb, use the following randomly determined rates for determining success or failure of the augmentation process on unusual subjects:

Mutated Humans

(including those already augmented by the process): 52-70% chance of failure (50 + 2D10)

Mutants

10-60% chance of failure

Aliens

1-100% chance of failure per species

Judges may use augmented thugs for their own adventures, but keep in mind that heroes will have a tendency to seek out those who create such individuals. The Power Broker, who is in reality a criminal named Curtiss Jackson, is currently free on bond and awaiting trial, but is still in the business of augmenting humans.

Augmentation Process Results Table

Roll for Agility, Strength, and Endurance

Human Maximums

Below is a table outlining a human's maximum potential.

Just roll 1d100 to determine your normal human's FASERIP scores within maximum limits.

Power Pool

When this limitation is taken on a character's power(s), he may raise it by an amount of CS allowed by the game Judge, who must determine just how much more difficult the limitation makes the new hero's life, right?

At any rate, each time the power(s) that fall under this limitation are used, they subtract an amount of points equal to their power rank from their power pool.

A character's power pool can take many forms. Some are a bit more difficult to play around than others. The five forms of power pool are listed here:

1. Health Score: The character's power pool is directly tied to his Health score; use of the power drains away like amount of Health points. The damage is only temporary, but if the character runs out of health, he still has to make an Endurance FEAT (green) or begin losing Endurance ranks.
2. Health Score: This one functions as per number one, above, except that the power cannot kill you; falling to zero health due to using the limited power won't kill a body; the temporary damage must be kept track of separately, since it is similar to stunning damage.
3. Power Score: The character's power pool is a sum of energy on tap, determined by mathematical formula. To find this sum of energy, apply the following math to each power rank falling under the limitation, and add the results together to find the total power pool. Essentially, take the power rank number, and add all the successive rank numbers before it on the Universal Table to that number. This will be the power pool. For example, say this limitation is used on a power of Amazing (50) rank. To begin, start with the number 50. Now, add to this all the rank numbers of all the ranks before Amazing to get the result. In this case, the sum would be: 50 + 40 + 30 + 20 + 10 + 6 + 4 = 162.
4. When the character depletes the pool to the point that he can't use his power(s) at full strength, he can either wait for his power to regenerate (see below), or use the power at a decreased rank; the rank will fall within the rank indicated by the remaining amount of the pool. Depleting the power pool to zero, however, isn't a good idea. This will knock the character unconscious for 1d10 turns. No other adverse effect will befall him, though.
5. Same as above, but instead of falling unconscious when running out of power, the character's power will dip into his health points to function. The same dangers apply to this form of power pool as does those that plague number 1, above.
6. Same as above, but instead of falling unconscious when running out of power, the character's power will dip into his health points to function. Furthermore, the loss of health due to this power isn't so deadly; it acts as is describes in number 2, above.

As one can see, the power pool generation methods grow increasingly less deadly. That is where the column shifts for limitations come in:

• 3CS on primary power, 2CS on secondary powers under limitation.
• 2CS on primary power, 2CS on secondary powers under limitation.
• 2CS on primary power, 1CS on secondary powers under limitation.
• 1CS on primary power, 1CS on secondary powers under limitation.
• 1CS on power. Allowing multiple powers on this form of the limitation isn't recommended, to curb munchkin-type players.

by Firebomb

Resource Points

For those that like the simplistic resources in the advanced game, here is an additional chart that outlines exactly how much spare cash is available per resource rank.

If, however, you like the more detailed resource point system, which differs from the basic set, and adds a bit more depth to money in Marvel than the standard ranks, here are the Resource Points....

Resources is a fancy name for petty cash. It isn't just money, though. It is the ability to get money or valuable equipment through many channels. It measures personal wealth and the influence of the hero with wealthy organizations. For example, Captain America is not rich but the Living Legend of WWII has connections with S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and half of the U.S. Government. Captain America usually gets what he needs.

Like other abilities, Resources has a rank and a rank number. The resource table shows the number of resource points available per week based on Resource rank. This is after all the normal expenses have been taken care of (buying food, paying rent and electricity). The Maximum column shows the maximum number of resource points the hero can accumulate at one time from borrowing resources (getting a loan) etc.

Resources

Heroes spend resources when they buy or borrow something. Borrowing costs one-half as much as buying, but if the hero fails to return an item in good shape, he must pay to repair or replace it.

Vehicles and Travel

Buildings And Housing

The Housing Costs Chart below gives guidelines for the resource points needed to rent or buy a dwelling in an average sized town. You can vary the costs for example it would be more expensive to live in New York city than a small town deep in Nebraska.

Rent (Per Month)

Buy

* Not including the cost of utilities or maintenance for this size dwelling, which equals an additional 10% of the rent per month.

** Not including the cost of utilities, insurance, and upkeep for this type of dwelling, which equals an additional 1% of the total cost per month.

*** Time for construction equals 1 month per room. When constructed, the cost for utilities, insurance, and upkeep equals that of a normal dwelling of equal size and type.

Other Costs

Use these costs as a guide if players buy items that aren't listed. One resource point equals anywhere from 50 to 75 dollars. Heroes working in a super group, like the Avengers, can use their own resources (can you believe they're paid $1000 a week just to be Avengers? And I turned down their offer?!) or draw from the group's resources.

Resource Option

A hero can raise his Resource rank by saving pennies from week to week. If a hero manages to keep his Resources at the maximum for three weeks in a row, then spends Karma equal to his Resources rank number, his Resource rank goes to the next level. You'll notice he can't rise above Amazing, because Amazing has no maximum. On the other hand, if a hero spends everything he gets for three weeks in a row, his rating goes down to the next lower level. (He does have to spend Karma for that!)

Building Things with RPs

According to Reed Richards, there are five kinds of inventions:

• Vehicles
• Robots
• Weapons
• Armored Suits
• Special Devices

These categories can be combined to make just about anything. A tank, for example, is just a weapon mounted on a vehicle. Everything can be broken down into pieces that fall into these five areas.

Before a player invents something, the inventor must define the object in terms of what it can do and how it will do it. Vehicles, robots, weapons, and armored suits have abilities defined with ranks. Special devices are handled differently, so we'll deal with those later.

Vehicles are machines that roll, crawl, walk, swim, or fly around, usually for the purpose of carrying something else: people, weapons, or cargo. A vehicle needs three ability ranks: Body, Control and Speed.

Any machine that is in charge of itself is a robot. It may be a normal, walking humanoid robot, a smart vehicle, or even an intelligent weapon. Any machine with a Reason rank is a robot; its other abilities define what it can do.

Weapons are designed to damage, hurt or destroy people or objects. A weapon needs ranks for Range and Damage. Range doesn't correspond neatly to rank numbers (see table below). Range Ranks when assigning a Range to a weapon.

Range Ranks

Armored suits range from simple outfits like flak jackets and biological warfare suits to powered battle armors like those worn by Iron Man, Scorpion, and Porcupine. An armored suit must have a body armor rank. It can have Fighting, Agility, Strength, Endurance, Reason, Intuition, or Psyche ranks, too, if needed. If a suit has one or more of those abilities, the hero wearing the suit uses the suit's ability instead of his own. That's why armored suits are popular: they let anybody stomp around with Incredible Fighting ability and Monstrous Strength.

Special Devices don't fit any of these categories because they don't have ranked abilities. Astral cameras, Negative Zone navigators, and mutant locators are three examples. These will be covered later after we get through the basics.

The Invention Process

The first step in inventing anything is figuring out what it's supposed to do. Once that question is answered, the rest is easy.

First, decide what type of invention this is. Is it a vehicle, a weapon or an armored suit? Will it need a robot brain?

Next, list all of the invention's abilities and assign a rank to each. Consider these abilities, carefully, and think about everything this machine will do. If it's a vehicle, it needs Body, Speed, and Control ranks. If the vehicle has arms to pick up things, it also needs Strength.

Don't go overboard assigning high ranks to abilities, because ranks must be paid for. Anybody can design the best force field generator in the world, but it would take a lot of money to build. The cost of an item in resource points is the sum of all its ability rank numbers multiplied by 10, plus any modifiers for its size: (See table below):

Size Modifiers

Its easy to see that inventions with lots of abilities, or a few really good abilities, are more expensive than smaller, simpler inventions.

Inventing and building an item takes as many hours as its cost in resources point: a gun that costs 200 resource points takes 200 hours to make. If more than one person works on the device, divide the number of hours by the number of people working to find the overall time. A gun that takes me 200 hours to make would take only 50 hours if three people helped me.

If any of the invention's abilities has a rank higher than the inventor's Reason rank, the Judge makes a Reason FEAT roll for the hero, shifting one column to the left for every rank of difference between the invention's highest rank and the hero's Reason. The Judge doesn't tell the player what the result was. If the FEAT succeeded, the invention was put together right and works fine. If the FEAT failed, something is wrong with the invention, but the fault won't show up until the first time the invention is really used (that means "used for real" as in combat).

An inventor worried about mistakes can double-check his work. Double-checking takes a number of hours equal to the highest rank number in the invention (40 hours for special devices). The Judge makes another secret Reason FEAT roll for the hero. If the FEAT succeeds, the hero knows whether anything is wrong. If nothing was wrong, he's sure the device is OK. If the FEAT fails, he's also sure the devices is OK, even if something actually is wrong.

If a double-check locates a problem, repairs take one-half as long as the original construction and cost one-half as much.

Kit Bashing: If the inventor doesn't have enough time or money to build something properly, he can make a one-shot, throw-away version out of spare parts very quickly and cheaply. Throw-away inventions can be used only once, in one fight or on one brief trip, and then are blown up, broken down, or burned out.

If a throw-away item costs more resource points than the inventor has on hand, he can make up the difference with Karma points on a one-for-one basis.

A throw-away item can be cobbled together in a number of rounds equal to the item's cost. Double-checking takes an additional four rounds. When any one-shot item is built, the Judge makes a secret Reason check for the hero, shifting one column to the left for each level the invention's highest rank is above the hero's Reason rank.

Before we look at some examples, there's one more very important note: a hero can't spend Karma to guarantee that those secret Reason FEAT rolls succeeded! The only way to guarantee success is to double-check, and double-check, and double-check, again. It takes time, but if your life depends on a piece of machinery, it's worth it. Now we get to do examples. This is the fun part!

First let's do a vehicle. Vehicles aren't my meat and potatoes, but some people couldn't live without them. Anyway, how about a big, spider shaped thing with a dome where the driver sits and four legs to move around on? Sounds pretty far out, eh? Here's how easily we can put it together:

This thing's got to be fairly tough, but I want lots of glass in the cockpit so I can see what's going on. I'll make the Body Excellent, like a heavy truck. It doesn't need to be very fast. I'll give it Poor Speed: it can keep up with a tank. It doesn't move very fast, this bug-machine doesn't need very good controls, either. I think Typical Controls will be adequate.

Here's what we've got:

The number in the cost column equal the rank numbers x 10. The size modifier is added at the end. Building this crate will cost somebody 400 resource points and take 400 hours of work. If I could afford it, I could build it without having to pass the secret Reason FEAT roll because none of the vehicle's ranks are higher than my Excellent Reason.

Weapons are even simpler, because they have only two abilities: Range and Damage. Blasters are real common in Marvel comics, so let's build one. I'll give it Excellent Range (5 areas) and Remarkable Damage (30 points).

This blaster is more expensive and takes longer to build than the vehicle. And I have to worry about that secret Reason FEAT, because the blaster's Remarkable Damage is higher than my Excellent Reason. I think I'll keep my trusty web-shooters.

If I wanted to mount this blaster on my nifty bug-machine, the whole arrangement would cost 950 resource points, take 950 hours to finish, and I'd have to pass one secret Reason FEAT to put the blaster together.

Now let's make a robot. Robots are a lot of fun, but they can be awfully expensive. This guy will be a sentry robot, put together like a person with arms, legs, a torso, and a head. I want him to do all the things a person could do, but he really doesn't need Intuition or Psyche. He needs Reason, though because that's what makes him a robot. And he needs Fighting, Agility, Strength, and Endurance, because he will move and fight like a person.

This guy's a real good fighter, but he's not too bright. A robot needs Reason, but he doesn't need a lot. The trouble with a stupid robot is that it's easy to confuse. If something happens that the robot isn't programmed to handle, it makes a Reason FEAT roll. Success means the robot figures something out and keeps working. Failure means the robot doesn't know what to do. It might ignore the situation, shut itself off, or even go berserk and start attacking everything in sight. The Judge decides exactly what happens.

Robots can have Intuition and Psyche. The Vision, after all, is a robot android, actually, but there's no real difference. A robot with Intuition could be very useful as a watchdog. A robot with Psyche has a will of its own, and may be hard for its creator to control.

How about a different kind of robot? Remember, the only requirement for a robot is that it has Reason. If a machine has Reason, it's a robot. If it's a robot, it has Reason. So, you ask, can a vehicle be a robot? Of course it can! Here's how:

Let's say I want to make my bug-machine into a robot that stacks cars in a junkyard. I need to make two changes in my basic design: add arms so it can pick up cars, and add a robot brain (Reason rank) so it doesn't need a driver.

Cars weigh a few tons, so the arms need Incredible Strength. Stacking cars doesn't take much intelligence, so I'll just give it Feeble Reason. The redesigned bug machine/car stacker looks like this:

This is a significant change from the original design. It's important to remember that because this machine has Strength, it can pick things up and even grapple heroes. With its Feeble Reason it probably wouldn't think of attacking someone. On the other hand, if it somehow starts thinking that a hero is a car and has to be stacked, it isn't smart enough to realize it's making a mistake!

Nobody has said anything about super-powers yet, but yes, even super powers can be built into an invention. Powers like flying, growth, electrical control - in fact, any super power, with a little discretion from the Judge can be built into a device by assigning a rank to the power. Some of those powers are pretty weird for machines, which leads us directly to:

Special Devices!

Special devices are items that don't have ability ranks, or whose cost and complexity isn't accurately described by an ability rank. For example, an invisibility field generator that a hero can wear on his belt shouldn't be cheap or easy to build, but someone who builds an invisibility field generator might give it an invisibility rank of Feeble. This generator would be cheap and easy to build according to its rank; but that doesn't make sense, because it would take a lot of scientific know-how to make anything invisible.

The inventor must define exactly what the special device does. The player then assigns ranks to whatever abilities the invention has. (Remember, he'll have to pay for these ranks, just like any other invention).

Now the Judge takes over. Look at what the invention does, and look at the Reason power rank. Choose the Reason rank that most closely matches the complexity of the invention. If the item is an extension or a new application of current technology, it could be Remarkably or Incredibly complex. If it goes beyond current knowledge, developing new or alien technology, its complexity should be Amazing, Monstrous or even Unearthly. If it pushes into the CL1000 area it pretty much can't be done. The hero will have to pay the cost for this rank, too, just as if it were an ability rank he wanted the device to have. (That's 10 times the rank number, remember?).

Next, roll both dice, add the numbers together, and multiply the sum by 10. This is a random cost/time factor that comes from working on strange new devices. (You guess it! He has to pay this, too.) Finally, add the cost for the device's abilities (the rank numbers of all its abilities times 10), the complexity cost (complexity rank times 10), and the random cost/time factor. The hero must pay this amount in resource points to build the item.

Another of my handy-dandy examples will help clarify this. Everybody wants a teleporter. Teleportation's power rank number equals the number of areas an object can teleport across. I want my teleporter to have a Remarkable range so it needs a Remarkable teleporting rank.

Checking the Reason rank, I see that someone with Amazing Reason can develop ideas beyond the realm of normal science. That sounds like the level of smarts needed to design a teleporter. Rolling two dice for my random factor, I get a 4 and an 8. Here's what I end up with:

There it is. I'd have to make a Reason FEAT roll, shifted three columns to the left (the Poor column). It's not easy but it can be done.

Alien Technology

The average man lives in a secure little world, and by and large dismisses any notions about UFO's, aliens, and advanced technologies. I hate to shatter the illusion, but Earth lies at an interstellar crossroads, and many advanced races have visited this mudball we call home: the Skrull, the Kree, the Dire Wraiths, and the Shi'ar.

During their adventures, heroes may run into advanced human and alien technology. If the fate of the world hangs in the balance, someone will try to use a machine he doesn't understand.

Figuring out a piece of alien technology takes a Reason FEAT roll. If the result is a green, the hero understands the item well enough to use it, but can't fix or even reload it. Whenever he makes a FEAT roll depending on the device, he must shift one column to the left on the Universal Table.

If the result of the Reason FEAT is yellow or red, the hero understand the item well enough to use it without any column shifts. If the result is white, the hero has no idea what the device is. He can start punching buttons and hope nothing blows up.

A Reason FEAT roll isn't needed to figure out simple alien devices. Even complex alien devices can be figured out with lots of time and a good lab. The FEAT roll is needed only when time is short and the device is complicated.

Superspeed

by Jonathan M. Perry & Mark Hughey

Super Speed

A sort of combination of Hyper-Speed and Hyper-Running, the Super speedster is a class of speedster above the normal class of parahuman that can merely run fast or have quickened reflexes. A speedster with Super speed lives in a sort of speeded up reality from the one everyone else does. Air provides almost no resistance. Fast objects to the normal eye are sluggish to them. Most often, these characters have touched what is known in the DC Universe as the Speed Force, the energy that provides the power for all known Super speedsters.

Notes for Super Speedsters

This power does not merely confer quick movement, but also allows a character to perform tasks at a greatly reduced time rate. The power rank number is treated as a multiplier to show how much more quickly a task can be accomplished (as per Hyper-Speed in the UPB; however, no +2CS cannot be applied as a limitation for having a body that is not prepared for the rigors of living a Super speed lifestyle, as having the Super speed power suggests that the character is, in fact, adapted. If the character is not adapted, the character is either dead or can only attain a Feeble rank without special equipment).

Super speed costs 3 slots to attain. In addition, a player can—during character creation—opt to spend any number of slots to buy power stunts for the power, provided that the power rank of Super speed meets the requirement for the power stunt. Power stunts are listed further down.

Movement

Characters with super speed move at a base movement equivalent to their power rank on the Space Movement table on the ground, as shown below. They can move up to nine areas per round in water. Even Super speedsters who have the power stunt of running across water can move only at a rate of 9 areas per round maximum when immersed in water, as opposed to running across it.

Any Super speedsters with a power rank of Typical or above have an aura that surrounds them and protects them from excess heat and friction when they move; this aura seems to be a by-product of the Speed Force which empowers them, and can slightly blunt physical attacks, as well as the effects of windburn and friction-heat. In game terms, Super speedsters are afforded Excellent protection vs. Physical Attacks, and Incredible vs. Heat and Friction, due to the aura that the Speed Force provides them.

Combat Actions

Super speedsters are also capable of a great many actions a combat round. This ranges from snatching weapons from the criminal element to performing machinegun type blows against various targets. The numbers of actions the character may take before receiving negatives for multiple actions are as follows:

Super Speed rank can be used for extra attack attempts but is different in the following way. Feeble, Poor, Typical, Good and Excellent need to roll a red to get two attacks. Remarkable, Incredible, Amazing and Monstrous, need to roll a yellow for two, and a Red for three. Unearthly, Shift-X, Shift-Y, and Shift-Z need to roll a green for two, and a yellow for three. Class 1000+ needs only to roll a green for three.

The Limitation of the Super Speedster

A Super speedster is after all a living breathing being, and like any living breathing being becoming winded becomes a factor. Any Speedster can run at half speed and not worry about becoming winded, much like a marathon runner going for a pleasant two-mile jog. When running at full speed, energy reserves start becoming an issue. A speedster may run at above half their normal speeds up to full speed for as many combat rounds equal to their Endurance rank. To push beyond that limit requires Endurance feats.

Example: The Happy go-lucky and attentiveness challenged Impulse has an Endurance rank of Incredible and a Super Speed rank of Shift-X. He can run at 40,000 miles an hour for most of the day and just be mildly tired. When he pushes past that limit, say, 40,001 that's when he starts eating up time on his endurance. He can run at 40,001+ speeds for 40 turns, or 4 minutes of time. After reaching turn 41, he needs to make a green endurance FEAT to continue on for ten more rounds. To push beyond that, he needs a Yellow endurance FEAT for the next five rounds. To push beyond that, he needs to roll a Red endurance FEAT for every two rounds more he wants to push himself. Once a failure in the endurance FEAT occurs, the Speedster becomes to fatigued to continue on at any level of super speed. They need to bloody well rest up, for a minimum of twenty-four hours, despite any hyper healing. No Super Speed Power stunts may be attempted during this rest period.

Feeling the Burn

Super Speedsters have one more remarkable trick that they can pull over regular parahuman runners. If they truly push themselves, they can run at +2CS higher than their rank. But such ability does have its drawbacks. The character must roll and Endurance FEAT every 3 rounds or pass out. Once they awaken, they must follow the penalties listed above for tiring themselves out. Of course this assuming, that in their passing out, they don't smash into anything at such high velocities, and become the longest skid mark that was once alive.

Perils of Speed

If for any reason a speedster reaches Class 3000 speeds, they feel the calling of the Speed Force. Big Deal you say? Guess again. The Speed force is the nirvana for any Speedster, where most past speedsters; once they shuffle on, join. Upon reaching Class 3000 speed, the character is faced with a perilous choice, enter nirvana or turn away from heaven. Joining the Speed Force effectively ends the character's play in the game, so we're assuming you'll resist. Here's a list of things you can do to accomplish this:

Make a Psyche Feat Roll of at least Incredible intensity. This basically means, that the character blinked in the face of God, got the willies, or for that matter, didn't think their time on Earth, or whatever planet your playing on, was over.

• If the Speedster has a loved one, as in someone they are totally gone for, would die for, they receive a +3CS to their psyche for this FEAT (love is a powerful thing).
• If the Speedster is on a world-threatening mission when he brushes the barrier, they are allowed a +2CS to their Psyche for the FEAT roll.
• If the Speedster is part of a Telepathic Team Link, the other characters can help him fight off the urge to join with the speed force. (Mainly because the speedster is a powerful member of the team, and they don't want to get their asses kicked). For this occurrence, the Speedster gets +1CS for every friend in the team link that urges him away from his eternal reward.
• Another Speedster can push them away break their momentum. However, there is a 40% chance this will result in the pushed Speedster being thrust forward in time 6d10 years in the future. (Imagine, coming out of the speed force SIXTY YEARS IN YOUR OWN FUTURE! Hope your playing a solo game, otherwise your GM is gonna be pissed). Example: Savitar and Max Mercury. Read the " Dead Heat TPB", trust us.

Breaking Grapples

Speedsters can use their power rank -1CS to break grapples instead of their strength. Slippery little devils, ain't they?

Catching Attempts

Speedsters can use the Super Speed rank as well, with no penalty, though to catch bullets, you must have an Incredible rank or higher. Catching bullets is always a green FEAT no matter what the rank, catching multiple bullets may result in needing a Yellow or Red, and each bullet caught takes one action to perform. It is the GM's choices whether you need to roll a FEAT roll for each bullet, or for just bullets shot from different attackers.

A Speedster that has ranks of Amazing or above gain the power stunt of Invisibility by moving extremely fast. Those trying to spot the speeding speedsters must make a Red Intuition FEAT to notice them, unless they have a power that would ordinarily catch such things, such as Combat Sense, Chi Awareness, Life form detection, Omni directional vision, or Infravision due to the heat the speedster puts off.

Power Stunts

• Create Cyclones:
These tornadoes will inflict power rank damage or Good blunt, whichever is lower, or Power Rank intensity Stun/Slam attacks. The Speedster must specify which effect they are going for when using this in combat.

• Water Running:
Once the speedster accomplishes this power stunt they will have the ability to move so fast over water, that they barely break the surface tension. They may run at regular speeds above the water. Remarkable ranked or lower may not attempt this stunt.

• Wall Running:
With every 100 feet of approach, the speedster may run vertically for 500 feet.

• Vibrate Through Solid Objects:
This allows the character to vibrate through materials less than their power rank. However, characters that run at Class 1000 speeds or faster cause such objects to explode, inflicting material strength edged damage to all in one area.

• Cushion of Air:
By spinning their arms or legs rapidly, Speedsters can create a cushion of air of power rank; this power is the equivalent to levitation.

• Extend Aura:
What kind of whimp stunt is this you ask? Well what good would it do for your character to run over Feeble speeds with a passenger, only to wind up giving them no chance to breathe and burn their skin off their bodies? This power stunt can only be used to protect one passenger.

• Lending Speed:
Through manipulation of kinetic energy, the speedster is capable of imparting momentum to the object or individual with a successful touch. The object or individual will suddenly accelerate in the direction already being traveled (or the attacking speedster's choice if the object or individual was stationary at the time of the touch), with an increase to their movement equal to the rank of momentum the speedster chooses to impart (up to the speedster's power rank). If the speedster is in motion at the time of this attack, he will decrease his speed by the rank he imparts to the object or individual touched. Common uses of this stunt are to send foes suddenly crashing into nearby obstacles or other victims at high speed (as Charging attacks), or to instantly accelerate small items to ballistic speeds like a railgun-style attack (possible armor-piercing or armor-ignoring effect vs. purely physical protection due to velocity).

• Stealing Speed:
(Must have a rank equal to or greater than Shift-Y): The speedster through manipulation kinetic energy may decrease any objects velocity by stealing speed from it. This means any moving object, from butterflies to supersonic jets. This power does work on other Speedsters. Characters with Shift Y-Z power rank can steal up to half the target's velocity per round. Characters with Class 1000 power rank can steal up to 3/4 of the target's velocity per round. Characters with Class 3000 power rank can stop a target cold. The speedster however, must be moving alongside the target in order to perform this stunt. Slowing them or even bringing them to a sudden stop (if draining their momentum to Shift-0). At the Judge's discretion, targets may resist with an Endurance feat or the effective rank of their current momentum. Sudden stops may require an Endurance feat to avoid possible Stun or Kill results due to whiplash.

• Spectrum Shifting:
Speedsters with ranks above Unearthly can run so quickly as to cause light to begin to slow, and experience Red Shift. Which will allow them to view the lower spectrum of light that is normally invisible to the unaided human eye.

• Invisibility:
For those with Incredible or less power rank, they can purchase this power stunt. However, those with Feeble to Good can be seen on a Green intuition, and those with Excellent to Incredible can be noticed with a yellow Intuition.

• Shockwave:
Speedsters, who have learned the Vibratory power stunt, can also learn the ability to rapidly create shockwaves through most materials with Power Rank damage intensity.

• Costume Storage:
(Amazing rank or higher only) Speedsters can actually gain the power stunt to hide their costume in a confined space, such as a ring, by whipping up a super speed whirlwind to compress the costume into the confined space. Or, you can just skip this power stunt and wear your uniform under normal clothes like Superman does.

Various Combat Rules

The Turn

Each turn is six seconds long. As such, there is a limited amount of time available in which a character can act. The Players' Book, p. 19, tries to give some guidance as to what a character can do in a single turn, but the rules there seem a bit cumbersome.

There are three types of actions: Automatic, movement, and dice. An automatic action is one that does not require a FEAT roll. It is the opposite of a dice action, which does require a FEAT roll. A movement action is obviously moving from point A to point B. A character is allowed one automatic action, one movement action, and one dice action per turn.

If the character is attempting multiple actions using the rules above (see Simultaneous Actions or Targets), all of the attempted actions constitute the character's one dice action for the turn (even if the actions do not require a FEAT roll).

The character's movement action can occur either before or after her dice action for the round. A character cannot normally, therefore, move into range, attack, and then duck back out of sight all in a single turn.

If the character forgoes her dice and/or her movement actions for the turn, she can perform additional automatic actions. This way, a character can perform up to three automatic actions in a single turn. Automatic actions include such things as such things as opening doors, activating a defensive power such as Force Field, standing up after being knocked down, picking up something off the floor, and so on. Some adjudication is necessary. For example, picking up a dropped weapon while villains are firing is not necessarily an automatic action.

Variable Damage

The first green box on each column of the universal table is now counted as a graze. A graze is a successful hit, but it only does half of its normal damage. The second green box on each column of the universal table is now a light hit. It is a successful hit, but damage is only 75% of what is normally scored.

A Yellow result on the universal table has all of its regular effect. A Red result on the universal table has all of its regular effects and does an extra 3d6 points of damage. A roll of 100 does an extra 3d10 points of damage. You may spend Karma to get a 100, this is the same as spending Karma for a Green, Yellow, or Red result.

Damage Type - Piercing

An attack can now be classified as a piercing attack. This kind of attack drops an opponents Body Armor or Force Field score is at -20 points versus this kind of attack. If a piercing attack can pierce both body armor and force field but this must be specified in the description of the power.

Dodging and Attacking

A character may dodge and attack in the same provided that he makes a FEAT roll of Incredible Intensity vs. Agility and a FEAT roll of Remarkable Intensity vs. Fighting. These rolls are made in the Pre-Action phase of combat. The character may only make one attack that round and is at -2CS to hit. If the Agility or Fighting roll fails the character can not dodge that round and can only make one attack at -3CS.

Agile Characters

Characters with high agilities are harder to hit than other characters. Use the following column shifts for all attackers as long as the hero or villian with high agility is not suprised.

Roll With the Blow

This maneuver allows characters a last ditch defense against one attack directed against the character. Roll with Blow can be used against Force, Blunt, and Thrown Blunt attacks. It concentrates on moving with the force of the attack to lessen the damage caused. A successful FEAT roll (Fighting vs. Fighting or Agility vs. Agility, which ever is appropriate) is required and if successsful, the intensity of the attack and the color of the result are reduced by an amount determined by the color of the success.

This helps simulate the battles where Spiderman can survive a hit from the Hulk. Also a favorite tactic of Captain America

Critical Attack

What happens if a character's best attack is Excellent and her foe's defenses are Remarkable or better? Ordinarily, the character would be incapable of hurting her foe. The character could go for a bulls-eye and hope for some special effect, but this isn't always clearly possible.

Anyone can use (just about) any attack power to go for a critical hit. For every -2CS the character voluntarily applies to the FEAT (before the dice are rolled), she gains a +1CS to damage. The maximum penalty is -6CS for a maximum bonus of +3CS to damage.

Critical Blow

This is an attempt to direct an attack at a weak point in the target's defences. Critical Blows are more difficult to do successfully, but when they succeed, they do a lot more damage than the character's normal attack. In hand-to hand combat, a Critical Blow can be used to simulate kicks, elbow jabs, haymakers, or any other attack that has a significantly smaller chance for success but a higher damage potential. When a player decides that his character is attempting a Critical Blow, he recieves a -2CS on his Fighting or Agility. If the attack succeeds, he does +1CS damage. Critical Blows can be used in conjuction with any sort of attack.

Devastating Blow

This is an all-out attempt to overwhelm the target's defences. Essentially, The Devastating Blow is a more powerful version of the Critical Blow. Devastating Blows increase the attacker's damage by +2CS, but decreases his Fighting or Agility by -4CS. Devastating Blows can be used in conjunction with any attack.

Sweep Attack

A sweep attack, popular with bricks, uses a long implement, such as a telephone pole, to sweep through an area. Sweep attacks enjoy a +1CS bonus to FEAT rolls.

Flailing Attack

This is the opposite of a Critical Blow. It is a slow, deliberate attack that places a higher emphasis on landing a blow, than upon inflicting damage. The attacker's Fighting or Agility stat is increased by +1CS, while his damage is decreased by -2CS. In hand-to-hand combat, a Flailing Attack might represent a flurry of quick, less powerful blows. The Flailing Attack may be used with any sort of attack.

Grappling

Grappling attacks seem impractical, since it requires a yellow FEAT to get any sort of result. This paragraph changes that. A green FEAT is a partial hold. A yellow FEAT is a full hold. A red FEAT is a full hold plus the option to immediately inflict damage or throw the opponent. To clarify, a normal full hold does not inflict damage or permit a throw the turn it is applied.

Pressing the Attack

This is a special action usable each turn only by the character who wins initiative for the turn. While pressing the attack, the character concentrates more on offense than defense. She enjoys a +1CS to her FEAT rolls, but her foes also enjoy the same bonus against her.

Laying Back

This is a special action usable each turn only by the character who wins initiative for the turn. While laying back, the character concentrates more on defense than offense. She imposes a -1CS penalty against her foe's chance to attack, but suffers a -1CS penalty to her own attacks for that turn.

Grappling

Okay, how many times have we seen Longshot or Nightcralwler dodge the Juggernaut's grappling attempts; Similiar examples include the Hulk attacking Daredevil or Captain America. The big brute is not going to succeed without getting very lucky. Unfortunately in the classic Marvel game, grappling is based on using Stregnth to succeed which gives the brute way too much of an advantage. I suggest requiring an intitial grappling attempt to be made using a Fighting Feat Roll. If the inital fighting feat succeeds, the hold is maintained using by using strength. On a successful grab a charcacter may attempt to:

1. Squeeze: Apply damage
2. Perform a hold
3. Perform a takeaway
4. Throw the opponent

Dive for Cover

This defensive maneuver can get a character out of the way of an explosion or other area of effect attack. Like most defensive maneuvers, the character must declare her intention to dive for cover before the incoming attack is resolved.

To dive for cover, the character picks a location no more than one half the distance away that she could normally move in a turn. For example, if the character can fly four areas per turn, she can dive for cover out to two areas away. The character then makes an Agility FEAT with a -1CS penalty for each additional area after the first she dives. If successful, the character arrives in the desired area before the explosion or area of effect attack occurs. If the FEAT fails, she is caught in mid-air at her starting point.

Pulling a Punch

as per rules, but -1CS to hit since the character needs to be careful about not excerting their full stregnth.

Rolling with a Punch

Rolling with a punch is a defensive maneuver usable against most attacks that inflict physical damage. It is unique among defensive maneuvers because it can be performed after being hit, assuming the character has a dice action available. Characters capable of multiple Fighting or Agility FEATs can reserve one action for rolling with a punch, but the total CS penalty is calculated as if the full number of actions were being taken, even if this defensive move is never performed. Rolling with a punch is either a Fighting or Agility FEAT (player's choice) performed in the Blocking column. The CS result from that column is applied to the ability score used for rolling with a punch. The modified ability score counts as Body Armor against the attack.

Life and Death, the Soak Rule

by Stormangel

When a character takes a hit, he may make an Endurance Feat to try and soak up some or all of the damage. First, compare the attack's damage to the hero's Endurance to determine the color result neccessary to soak. If damage is less than Endurance by more than one Rank, our hero only needs a green feat. If the damage is one less, equal to, or one more than the hero's Endurance, go for yellow. And if the damage is more than one higher, our hero better pray for a red.

Secondly, compare the result of the damage dealer to the hero's Endurance to find out how much damage can be soaked. A green feat means up to the entire Endurance rank can be used to soak damage. A yellow means up to half the Endurance rank can be soaked and red means only a fourth.

Thirdly, comes the price to pay for soaking. You see Endurance cannot replace Body Armor. If you soak more than 10 points, our hero needs to make a red Endurance Feat or temporarily lose an Endurance Rank. If you take more than 30 points, make a red endurance feat or lose 3 ranks, or a yellow feat and only lose two. If you take 50 or more, just lose three ranks temporarily (no roll). Loss of Endurance is 6 hours minus one hour for every 10 points in initial Endurance (half an hour min.) and doesn't affect Health. Recovery turns hours into minutes.

This system simulates tough heroes even without Body Armor taking hits. It tires them a lot sometimes, but they take hits that would cripple a normal man. Heroes include Cap America, Batman, Punisher, Wolvie, and Daredevil.

Expanded Number of Combat Actions

by Redman II

Following the logical progression of the Intensities for Combat Actions in the standard rules (i.e., 2 combat actions per round is a Remarkable intensity FEAT, 3 per round is Amazing intensity FEAT), here is an expanded table with a potential number of actions per round as follows:

• Attempting 2 combat actions per round is an Remarkable Intesity FEAT
• Attempting 3 combat actions per round is a Amazing Intensity FEAT
• Attempting 4 combat actions per round is an Unearthly Intesity FEAT
• Attempting 5 combat actions per round is a Shift-Y Intensity FEAT

The normal rules are followed regarding the CS penalty for multiple actions per round, as well as the penalty for failing the Multiple Actions FEAT.

Multiple Evading/Blocking Attempts

by Redman II

A character able to make multiple attacks per round may also Evade or Block more than once. When the character declares his intent to make multiple attacks for the round, he may declare if he wants to use one or more of those attacks to Evade or Block. The normal CS penalty for multiple actions applies, and the success or failure of Evade/Block attempts is handled as per normal.

Mental Attacks

by Redman II

Mental attacks are resolved in the following manner. The attacker utilizes his Psyche rank to determine the success of the attack according to the following:

Mental Health

by Redman II

Mental Health is used for resolving things suchas the ever-popular telepathic assault, etc. A character's Mental Health is determined according to the following formula: Add together the Standard Rank Numbers for all ranks up to and including the character's Psyche Rank. Example: An Excellent Psyche Rank provides a Mental Health total of 42 (2 + 4 + 6 + 10 + 20 = 42)

If Mental Health is reduced to 0, the character must make a Psyche FEAT as if the attack form were Edged (using the Endurance Loss column as a guideline), or else he begins losing Psyche ranks and subsequently dying. This can be halted, either by telepathic powers or by the use of an appropriate Talent for treating mental ailments (Judge's determination as to which Talents qualify)

Edged Weapons vs Body Armor

by Redman II

When an edged weapon is used against an opponent with Body Armor/Body Resistance, compare the weapon's Material Strength against the foe's Body Armor/Body Resistance rank and make a FEAT roll (there are no Automatic FEATS with this rule, but Impossible FEATS do apply here). If the FEAT roll is successful, the weapon manages to cut through the opponent's Body Armor/Resistance, and inflicts full damage to the foe. Note: If using an edged weapon against a foe with Body Armor or Body Resistance of higher rank than the weapon's Material Strength, then the rules for potentially breaking weapons apply.

Example: Wolverine vs. Hulk. Wolverine's Adamantium claws (Class 1000 Material Strength) can easily cut through the Hulk's hide (Monstrous Body Resistance), requiring only a Green FEAT (a White result indicates that Wolvie didn't get a good enough strike to cut through) to allow him to inflict normal damage upon the Hulk.

Dodging, Damage Reduction

by Redman II

Under normal rules, a successful Dodge maneuver can apply -2CS, -4CS, or -6CS to the opponent's attack roll. With this house rule, the -2CS, -4CS or -6CS modifiers from a successful Dodge can also be used to reduce the damage taken from the attack. This reflects various degrees of glancing strikes.

Stunning/Subdual Damage

by Redman II

As an option, you can elect to inflict stunning/subdual damage. This is primarily applicable to Blunt and Force attacks, but the Judge may decide that certain other powers may qualify, if such powers can potentially generate a stunning type of attack (the first that immediately comes to mind would be Electrical Generation).

This stunning/subdual damage will not kill an opponent (not by itself anyway). When a character suffers stunning/subdual damage, he loses Health points as usual, but it's not all "real" damage.

The total amount of accumulated stunning/subdual damage is kept track of separately from regular damage, so players will know what damage is real and what isn't (unless the Judge prefers to keep track of this himself). The point to this is that, when a character drops to 0 Health as a result of stunning/subdual damage, he falls unconscious as per normal rules, but he doesn't have to worry about making Endurance FEATs to avoid losing Endurance ranks and dying. Health lost to stunning/subdual damage is recovered as per standard rules for Health recovery.

Note: If damage from a regular attack is what pushes the character to 0 Health, then he must follow the normal rules for Endurance FEATS to avoid dying.

Charging With Weapons

by Redman II

In the event of a character using a weapon as part of their Charging maneuver, such as Captain America leaping headlong into an opponent with his shield held up before him, the attack roll is handled as per the usual rules regarding Charge attacks, but the damage is handled as if the character were making a normal melee attack, save that momentum bonuses to damage that normally apply to Charge attacks apply here as well.

Charge Through or Charge By

The procedure for a charging attack is unchanged except for the information about the attacker possibly being damaged (Player's Book, p. 27). Instead, the attacker suffers damage equal to the target's physical defense rank or material strength, plus the variable damage from speed, divided by two. Her own defenses apply against this damage as normal (round up).

The charge by is an option best used by character's with low defenses. Instead of charging through a foe, a character can charge past a foe and stick out an arm, leg, tail, wing, et cetera. This inflicts damage equal to one-half the character's Endurance or Body Armor (whichever is higher), plus the standard bonus for speed. The character herself suffers damage equal to the target's physical defense rank or material strength, plus the variable damage from speed, divided by four (round up).

For example, Bullethead charges into Ironside. Bullethead went through 10 areas, and has an Endurance of Amazing. He inflicts 70 points of damage on Ironside. Ironside has Remarkable Body Armor. Bullethead in turn suffers 25 points of damage from the collision (30 for Body Armor + 20 for speed, divided by two). Fortunately, Bullethead also has Remarkable Body Armor, and is unharmed.

Bullethead's partner, Blindside, races toward Ironside and hits him with a charge by. Blindside ran through 6 areas and has an Incredible Endurance. He inflicts 32 points of damage (one-half his Endurance plus the speed bonus). In turn, he suffers 11 points of damage from hitting Ironside (30 for Body Armor + 12 for speed, divided by four). Unfortunately, Blindside has no defense against this damage and begins to rethink his battle plan.

Color Shift Penalties

by Redman II

In the event that a character has accumulated enough Column Shift penalties to an action that would effectively reduce the column used for success to below Shift-0, then further CS penalties are instead applied as Color Shift Penalties, reducing the Color Result that the character achieves (Red results are treated as Yellow, Yellow is treated as Green, etc.). This applies to a maximum of a -2 Color Shift, which would reduce a Red result to a Green.

Example: A character with Good Agility has managed to accumulate a total of -6CS in penalties to his ranged attack (due to distance, target speed, etc.). Since the Columns only go to Shift-0, and thus only take into account 4CS of his penalties, the additional 2CS in penalties are applied as -2 Color Shift Penalties. As such, if he rolls a Yellow FEAT (or less), the Color Shift Penalty reduces this to a White result (a Miss). If he achieves a Red Result, the Color Shift Penalty reduces this to a Green Result (a normal Hit).

Note: If using the Blue Results as Fumbles option, then Color Shift
Penalties do NOT increase the chance of a Fumble. Only a natural roll within the Blue
Result range is a Fumble.

Combat: Attack Rolls

by Redman II

The attack roll is modified based on the two opponent's comparative Fighting ability.

Compare the two foes' Fighting abilities in order to get a modifier to the attack roll. The character with the higher Fighting gets a bonus to his attack rolls equal to the difference between the two characters' Fighting ranks. Likewise, the lesser-ranked opponent suffers a penalty to his attack rolls equal to the difference.

Example: Captain America, with Amazing Fighting, is slugging it out with a random ninja with Excellent Fighting. When Cap attacks, he gets a +30 bonus to his rolls on the Amazing column. The ninja likewise suffers a -30 to his rolls on the Excellent column.

Cover and Concealment

A target may not be entirely visible because it is partially hidden behind an object, such as a bush or a car. Soft objects, such as bushes, provide concealment. Hard objects, such as cars, provide cover. It is more difficult to hit a target that is behind concealment or cover.

The CS penalty applies to the attacker's FEAT roll. If the FEAT fails, but the die roll was not less than 15, the object providing the concealment or cover is hit instead. Depending on the attack, this may destroy the object. If applicable, the target behind the object is protected by the material rank of the object.

Combat Tactics

When my gaming group started playing the MARVEL SUPER HEROES game back in high school, we were all still gaming rookies. As my game mastering and the players’ skills improved over the next several months, I wanted to introduce a sense of strategy and tactics into the group's battles. I tried to have my villains use intelligent tactics whenever appropriate in an effort to show the heroes the benefits that having a sound battle plan can produce. And, after their heroes got their heads handed to them once or twice, the players caught on.

This article will help you develop an understanding of some basic tactics that you can use to help your heroes win more of their battles against the forces of evil and villainy everywhere. Heroes are sorted into various categories with titles borrowed mostly from the military, with each having certain offensive and defensive strengths. Although I'll be using MARVEL SUPER HEROES characters and game terms as examples, the categories describe heroes in general, and the tactics should apply equally well to any superhero RPG.

Combat Categories

Infantry:

This category of heroes is made up of ground-based (no flying, gliding, etc.) heroes who have few or no true super powers and whose main tactic is to close with the enemy and engage in melee. In the MARVEL UNIVERSE, this category is represented by the likes of Captain America, Black Knight, Mockingbird, Black Panther, Wolverine, and Daredevil. Their styles and weapons are irrelevant, as all of these heroes do the majority of their fighting in close quarters with the enemy. Other powers or abilities that heroic infantry might possess are: martial arts, weapons, or acrobatic skills; injury-resistant or enhanced senses; or the ability to make multiple attacks per combat round.

Offensive Tactics:

Like its military namesake, heroic infantry is the best force around at taking and holding ground. When attacking foes, infantry's success or failure often determines the ultimate success or failure of the combat. To insure success, infantry needs support from other types of heroes and should develop some alternatives to the all-too-common frontal assault. Attacking your foes from their flanks or rear is a great way to confuse and distract them. Forcing your foes to react to two or more groups of heroes, coming from different directions, often causes those foes to split up their own forces in order to deal with the threats. Just be aware that dividing your forces for a flanking attempt will also weaken your group as a whole, especially if you are discovered before you are ready to attack. If you doubt that heroic infantry can do much damage in a flanking maneuver, consider what would happen if the Daredevil, Captain America, and Wolverineattacked your heroes from behind.

Defensive Tactics:

Since infantry seldom has true powers, it often cannot withstand an all-out attack by super-powered foes. It is often best, when under this kind of attack, for the infantry to find cover and wait for the other heroes to give it an opening to turn the tide. If no such help is available, the infantry should stay together and make the enemy come to it. Prepare an ambush or some confining trap. Play "cat and mouse" with the many times. The Dodging and Evading tactics from the MARVEL SUPER HEROES Advanced Set Player's Book can also be effective defensive tactics.

Speedsters:

In super-hero games, this term refers to characters with super speed or other heightened ground movement powers. In the MARVEL UNIVERSE, some notable speedsters are Quicksilver, Makkari, Super Sabre, and the Whizzer. Any hero qualifies who possesses a power that allows him to cover larger than normal ground distances in a round (such as lightning speed or leaping) or allows him to make multiple attacks per round. Note that not all GMs allow speedster characters to make multiple attacks merely because they possess super speed; they must also possess an "extra attacks" power. Characters like this may also have a high agility, endurance, or an injury resistance power (body armor, etc.). The most common tactic used by these heroes is to simply close with the enemy and enter melee.

Offensive Tactics:

A hero of this type often does have multiple attacks, and this can be used to even the odds if the heroes are outnumbered. This is achieved by distributing the hero's multiple attacks among several targets within the hero's movement range. This gets more enemies involved in melee, preventing the other heroes from being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. A tactic for these heroes who do not possess multiple attacks, but who do possess a high endurance or some form of body armor, is the charge. High speed means a lot of momentum and a lot of damage to anyone who absorbs that momentum with his body. You can also use these characters to foil enemies' plans by getting behind their lines, committing sabotage, etc. How can the evil scientist fire his atomic mutagen splurge-gun at your heroes if your speedster hero can race to the wall and unplug it before the scientist can start the firing sequence? Or imagine Maximus trying to escape from Quicksilver by running through an open doorway, only to have Quicksilver run to the door, close it, and lock it just as Maximus barrels headlong into it.

Defensive Tactics:

Many of the previous tactics work well in a defensive situation, too. The ability to attack multiple foes can be very important, slowing or even stopping an enemy advance. This tactic can also be used to help cover any retreat the heroes need to make. These heroes' high movement rates also allow them to harass foes, making them the ultimate hit-and-run artists. The ability to move so quickly also makes these heroes excellent choices for running diversions or feints. Foes have to pay attention to heroes who can literally run circles around them.

Airborne:

This type of hero possesses some means of flight that also represents his primary super-power, outside of possible super-strength. The Sub-Mariner, Wonder Man, Namorita and Nova of the New Warriors, and both the original Angel and Ms. Marvel fall into this category. The most common combat tactic of these heroes is to fly to the enemy and engage foe, and use teamwork to pick off enemies one at a time. These them in melee. Airborne heroes might have all are tactics that Wolverine has used quite successfully other powers or abilities that supplement their flight capabilities.

Combat FEATs

Combat:

Combat is all armed, unarmed, ranged attacks.

* This column shift damage method is based on one of Firebomb's House Rules, modified slightly.

Grab:

Directed at a weapon, Object, Item, etc.

Grapple:

Directed at opponents, Living targets, Animated Targets, etc.

Evasion - Dodge:

This is the most important defensive action.

Block - Parry:

Catching:

Targeting

Courtesy of The Judges Mind

The human body can be a fragile thing, whith some parts being sensitive than others. This dissection table can explain why that is important. While many aliens, mutants and the like are not really human you can use this chart to map various weak points in bi-pedal lifeforms.

These weaknesses can be incorporated into your game for characters to use as elective targets. On a successful BULLSEYE FEAT roll or better you can opt to include the "Points of Weakness" chart. The judge should refer to the possible outcomes of the injury, and choose the one that best suits the story. This chart can also be used to give additional detail to fumbles (BLUE FEAT results) in which one team member accidentally injures another.

When a player character sustains a serious injury, the judge can roll a d20 to see where they get hit! Then take a look at what the effect is. The player may have to roll an Endurance FEAT.

If your character has sustained a permanent injury, the judge must decide by simple choice or by rolling a d20 where the injury is and what the effect is. Undoubtedly it will reduce your character's abilities.

Dissection Table

Click on the image or see below

20 areas have been identified. By rolling either d20 or d100 (divided by 5) you can consult the following body map. The victim is required to make an Endurance FEAT against the intensity of the impact to avoid the effects listed here. Damage to some target areas may have additional effects.

1. Cranium - Victim automatically looses initiative next round, and makes Endurance FEAT as though impact intensity was +3CS | Blue | Endurance -1CS per round until medical attention received | | --- | --- | | White | Endurance -1 point per round until medical attention is received | | Green | Stunned for 1-10 rounds | | Yellow | Stunned for 1 round | | Red | No Effect |
2. Eye - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT(edged attacks treated as though +2CS) | Blue | Blinded and requires medical attention for sight to be restored. | | --- | --- | | White | Blinded 1-10 rounds | | Green | Blinded 1 round | | Yellow | Loose initiative next round | | Red | No Effect |
3. Jaw - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT (blunt attacks treated as though impact intensity was +1CS) | Blue | Grandslam, stunned for 1-10 rounds | | --- | --- | | White | Grandslam | | Green | 1 area | | Yellow | Stagger | | Red | No Effect |
4. Neck - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT as though impact intensity was +2CS | Blue | Major artery ruptured, Endurance -1CS per round until medical attention received | | --- | --- | | White | Major blood loss requiring treatment, loosing 1 point of Endurance per round until medical attention received | | Green | Stagger, loose initiative next round | | Yellow | No Effect | | Red | No Effect |
5. Spine - Treat all attacks at though edged attacks and at +1CS. | Blue | Paralysis until medical attention recieved | | --- | --- | | White | All FEATs -1CS until medical attention recieved | | Green | Stagger, loose initiative next round | | Yellow | No Effect | | Red | No Effect |
6. Shoulder/Chest - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Heart damage, check for kill | | --- | --- | | White | Victim's strength and Endurance -1CS for 1-10 rounds | | Green | No Effect | | Yellow | No Effect | | Red | No Effect |
7. Shoulder Joint - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Dislocation, arm useless until put back | | --- | --- | | White | Drop any items carried, strength -1CS for 1-10 rounds | | Green | No Effect | | Yellow | No Effect | | Red | No Effect |
8. Abdomen - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Major organ damage, loose 1 point of Endurance per round until medical treatment received | | --- | --- | | White | Endurance -2CS until medical treatment received | | Green | Endurance -1CS until medical treatment received | | Yellow | No Effect | | Red | No Effect |
9. Ribs - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Broken ribs cause internal bleeding loose 1 point of Endurance per round until medical treatment received | | --- | --- | | White | Broken ribs reduce Strength and Endurance by -2CS | | Green | Bruised ribs reduce Strength and Endurance by -1CS | | Yellow | Stagger | | Red | No Effect |
10. Upper Arm - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Drop any items carried, Strength -1CS | | --- | --- | | White | Drop any items carried, Strength -1CS for 1-10 rounds | | Green | No Effect | | Yellow | No Effect | | Red | No Effect |
11. Forearm - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Drop any items carried, Agility -1CS | | --- | --- | | White | Drop any items carried, Agility -1CS for 1-10 rounds | | Green | No Effect | | Yellow | No Effect | | Red | No Effect |
12. Wrist - Check Endurance FEAT as though impact intensity was +2CS: | Blue | Wrist broken, drop any items carried, Agility -3CS | | --- | --- | | White | Wrist sprained, drop any items carried, Agility -2CS | | Green | Drop any items carried, Agility -2CS for 1-10 rounds | | Yellow | Drop any items carried, Agility -1CS for 1-10 rounds | | Red | Drop any items carried |
13. Fingers - Check Endurance FEAT as though impact intensity was +3CS: | Blue | finger broken, drop any items carried, agility -1CS | | --- | --- | | White | finger sprained, drop any items carried, agility -1CS for 1-10 rounds | | Green | drop any items carried | | Yellow | Drop any items carried, Agility -1CS for 1-10 rounds | | Red | No Effect |
14. Thumb - Check Endurance FEAT as though intensity was +2CS: | Blue | Thumb broken, drop any items carried, Agility and Fighting -2CS | | --- | --- | | White | Thumb dislocated, drop any items carried, Agility and Fighting -1CS | | Green | Thumb bruised, drop any items carried, Agility and Fighting -1CS for 1-10 rounds | | Yellow | Drop any items | | Red | No Effect |
15. Hip - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Dislocation, grandslam, unable to walk until relocated | | --- | --- | | White | Grandslam, unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | Green | Grandslam | | Yellow | 1 area | | Red | Stagger |
16. Thigh - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Muscle pulled Strength -1CS, grandslam, unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | --- | --- | | White | Grandslam, unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | Green | Grandslam | | Yellow | 1 area | | Red | Stagger |
17. Knee - Check Endurance FEAT as though impact intensity was +2CS. | Blue | Dislocation, unable to walk until relocated | | --- | --- | | White | Grandslam, unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | Green | Grandslam | | Yellow | 1 area | | Red | Stagger |
18. Shin/Calf - victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Grandslam, unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | --- | --- | | White | Grandslam, unable to run for 1 rounds | | Green | Grandslam | | Yellow | 1 area | | Red | Stagger |
19. Ankle - Check Endurance FEAT as though impact intensity was +3CS: | Blue | Tendon damage, agility -3CS and unable to run until medical attention received | | --- | --- | | White | Agility -3CS and unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | Green | Agility -2CS and unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | Yellow | Agility -1CS and unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | Red | Unable to run for 1-10 rounds |
20. Foot - Victim makes an Endurance FEAT | Blue | Grandslam, Agility -1CS and unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | --- | --- | | White | Grandslam, unable to run for 1-10 rounds | | Green | Grandslam, unable to run for 1 round | | Yellow | 1 area, unable to run for 1 round | | Red | Stagger, unable to run for 1 round |

Crippling and Bone Breaking

by Sean McGinity**

Orignally this article was presented at " Zan's Super Home ". Since the move to heroplay.com, it seems the article has been lost. Rather than lose such a nice article, we have reproduced it here for all.

In order to accomplish this, the attacking character's calculated Damage must be equal to or greater than one half of the target's TOTAL Health. This is not cumulative, and cannot be combined between several characters under a combined attack. The target must make an Endurance FEAT. Failure indicates the break or cripple has occurred. Success means the character was lucky, and the worst case is soreness. Crippling or bone breaking damage means that a large amount of Damage was inflicted on one part of someone's body, and that part of the body was unable to handle that much stress, and broke.

Regardless of whether a bone was broken, or a muscle torn, or whatever, the result is the same. That part of the body is now temporarily crippled and of little or no use. Special casts may be constructed to allow the character movement, but that part of the body is still suffering a penalty regardless. And that part of the body is much more susceptible to damage again until totally healed.

Any body part broken or crippled must be tended to by someone that has an associated Talent, such as First Aid or Medicine, or be permanently incapacitated. Once the body part has been set (whether in a cast, a sling, or something of that nature) healing takes place. The length of time for recovery is a standard 50 days. This is modified for higher Endurances as follows.

Subtract the actual Endurance Rank number from the 50 to determine number of days with the broken limb.

Example: Spider-Man is struck by a Force Blast from Megaton, which causes, after calculation, 80 points exactly. This is just enough to potentially break a bone on Spider-Man. Spidey rolls an Endurance FEAT roll and fails. He has broken a bone. Thing comes in and lends a hand and defeats Megaton. Since Spidey has an Endurance of 40, it will take 10 days for his broken bone to mend (50 - 40 = 10).

High Level Endurances: Those with higher Endurances heal broken bones much faster, to the point of someone with an Endurance of 50 or better heals within a matter of minutes or hours. Apply this rule to only those characters with an Endurance of 50 or better. Whatever Damage was taken to break the bone (100 points, 200 points, etc...) is what is needed to heal the bone.

Example: Thor, with a Health of 320 must take 160 points of Damage on one attack in one round to potentially break the bone. A giant magic serpent strikes Thor for a calculated 200 points of Damage. Thor makes an Endurance Feat roll and fails the roll. He has suffered a broken bone. Thor has an Endurance of 100, which is far better than 50. He will mend his broken bone once this initial loss of 200 is healed. Thor heals 100 points as recovery 10 rounds after combat, and an additional 100 points 24 hours later. His bone is mended. It took 24 hours and 10 rounds later.

How do you determine which bone was broken? Well, if the character making the attack stated "I was working on his arm," or "I kicked him in the chest," it's fairly obvious, however the Judge may decide to randomly roll for the point of impact. Why? Certain injuries are worse than others.

Roll for Body part on the above table then roll below for the appropriate sub-body part.

Serious Injury

Courtesy of The Judges Mind

If your player suffers a BLUE result on a FEAT and suffers a serious injury, and you are feeling wicked, get them to roll on this table.

Then the judge either choses which part of the hero was injured (if it seems obvious) or rolls on the Targetting Table to see what part was affected. And remember, a permanent injury is not an excuse to make a new character... just ask one-eyed Nick Fury, blind Daredevil, or wheelchair bound Professor Xavier.

Urban Warfare

Super melee combat in the city

While it is easy to get caught up in the thrill and chaos of melee combat, there is always the very real and very serious risk of harming innocents or destroying public and private property. A misplaced energy blast can have your hero paying of a huge debt, falling debris on the head of one person can land a hero in the very same jail as the arch nemesis they put there last week. That Ultra mega max energy beam that cuts through Adamantium like butter is probably the absolute worst thing he could use in a city.

Fighting in an urban setting requires skill and care, not brute firepower. When engaging in combat with super powered foes in a densely populated city, there are always going to be innocent bystanders; walls don't always stop bullets, energy blasts or even bodies, and when things fall off buildings, there is a good chance those things are going to hit someone down below.

Remember, negligent homicide is a serious crime, a smashed window on a high rise building can cause a shard of glass to kill someone down on the street below. Picking up a car and throwing it at your enemy... that's as good as Car Theft (larceny) and Assault with intent to maim or murder, plus destroying private property and then there's disturbing the peace and littering! So think twice before throwing that car at your enemy.. do you think they have insurance, or that it covers super hero damage?

Energy Expulsion Ricochet:

Character shoots and misses badly, the blast may bounce off an object and hit a bystander! In an Urban setting, a BLUE FEAT roll on the universal table may result in an unfortunate incident. The GM should consider the odds of the shot heading toward a bystander and rolling a percentile (taking into account the proximity, location and number of bystanders, the odds should always be less than 60%), if the result is yes, then the player must roll to hit again, no bonuses and -1CS to the roll, the object the shot ricochets off takes power rank -2CS damage, and the bystander takes power rank -3CS damage less damage than the full blast..

Flying Objects/Debris:

Same strike chances as the Ricochet blast, but multiple chunks of masonry or similar will have a much higher chance of hitting a bystander.

Hurled/falling Objects and People:

Chances of hitting bystanders with large, hurled objects and thrown people can happen, with some deadly results.

Diseases and Poisons

Diseases

1. Anthrax: Incredible intensity; inhaled or injury; -1CS to Endurance after a two day incubation period; an additional -2CS to Endurance the following day if a second Incredible Endurance FEAT is failed. Note: if the patient fails a third Incredible Endurance test, one of the lost Endurance ranks is lost permanently.
2. Small Pox: Remarkable intensity; inhaled or contact; -1CS to Strength and Endurance ranks after a 5 day incubation period; an additional -1CS to Strength and Endurance ranks the following day if a second Remarkable Endurance FEAT is failed.
3. Pneumonia: Good intensity; inhaled; -1CS to Strength rank after a three day incubation period; an additional -2CS to Strength and a -2CS to Endurance ranks the following day if a second Good Endurance FEAT is failed.
4. Hantavirus: Excellent intensity; injury; -1CS to Strength after a one day incubation period; an additional -1CS to Strength and a -1CS to Endurance ranks the following day if a second Excellent Endurance FEAT is failed. Note: if the patient fails a third EX Endurance test, one each of the lost Strength and Endurance ranks is lost permanently.
5. Necrotizing Faciitis: Excellent intensity; Contact; -1CS to Endurance after a four day incubation period; an additional -2CS to Endurance the following day if a second Excellent Endurance FEAT is failed. Note: if the patient fails a third Excellent Endurance test, one of the lost Endurance ranks is lost permanently.
6. West Nile Virus: Good intensity; injury; -1CS to Fighting, Agility and Endurance ranks after a three day incubation period; an additional -1CS to Fighting, Agility and Endurance ranks the following day if a second Good Endurance FEAT is failed. Note: if the patient fails a third Good Endurance test, one of the lost Endurance ranks is lost permanently.
7. Salmonellosis: Excellent intensity; ingestion; -1CS to Fighting, Agility and Strength ranks after a one day incubation period; an additional -1CS to Fighting, Agility and Strength ranks the following day if a second Excellent Endurance FEAT is failed.

Poisions

1. Arsenic: Remarkable intensity; ingested; -2CS to Strength; -3CS to Endurance ten rounds later if a second Remarkable Endurance FEAT is failed.
2. Atropine: Excellent intensity; injury; -2CS to Fighting and Agility; -2CS to Strength ten rounds later if a second Excellent Endurance FEAT is failed.
3. Belladonna: Amazing intensity; injury; -2CS to Strength; an additional -4CS to Strength 10 rounds later if a second Amazing Endurance FEAT is failed.
4. Blue Vitriol: Good intensity; injury; -1CS to Endurance; an additional -1CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Good Endurance FEAT is failed.
5. Blue-ringed Octopus Venom: Remarkable intensity; injury; -2CS to Endurance; an additional -2CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Remarkable Endurance FEAT is failed.
6. Chloral Hydrate: Amazing intensity; ingested; -2CS to Fighting and Agility; 10 rounds later a second Amazing Endurance FEAT must be passed, or else the victim is knocked unconscious for 1d3 (1d10/3) hours.
7. Chloroform (vapor): Incredible intensity; inhaled; Unconsciousness for 1d3 (1d10/3) hours.
8. Curare: Amazing intensity; injury; -3CS to Fighting and Agility; -3CS to Intuition and Psyche 10 rounds later if a second Amazing Endurance FEAT is failed.
9. Cyanide: Incredible intensity; injury; -2CS to Endurance; an additional -4CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Incredible Endurance FEAT is failed. Victims of cyanide poisoning have a breath odor of bitter almonds and froth at the mouth, and their skin takes on a blue hue.
10. Cyanogen: Amazing intensity; inhaled; -2CS to Fighting and Agility; -3CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Amazing Endurance FEAT is failed.
11. DDT: Incredible intensity; inhaled; -1CS to Strength; an additional -2CS to Strength 10 rounds later if a second Remarkable Endurance FEAT is failed.
12. Knockout Gas: Amazing intensity; inhaled; -2CS to Fighting and Agility; 10 rounds later a second Good Endurance FEAT must be passed, or else the victim is knocked unconscious for 1d3 (1d10/3) hours. Knockout gas can be encountered with varying intensities.
13. Lead Arsenate (gas): Good intensity; inhaled; -1CS to Strength; -2CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Good Endurance FEAT is failed.
14. Lead Arsenate (solid): Good intensity; ingested; -1CS to Endurance; -2CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Good Endurance FEAT is failed.
15. Mustard Gas: Incredible intensity; inhaled; -2CS to Endurance; -3CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Incredible Endurance FEAT is failed. It also has corrosive effects on the skin, eyes and exposed mucus membranes; Good corrosive damage to exposed skin, and temporary blindness for 1-10 days if an Endurance feat is failed. These non-inhalation effects can be negated by simple protection (e.g. heavy clothing and goggles).
16. Paris Green (gas): Excellent intensity; inhaled; -1CS to Endurance; -2CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Good Endurance FEAT is failed.
17. Paris Green (solid): Excellent intensity; ingested; -2CS to Endurance; -2CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Excellent Endurance FEAT is failed.
18. Puffer Fish Poison: Excellent intensity; injury; -2CS to Strength; 10 rounds later a second Good Endurance FEAT must be passed, or else the victim is paralyzed for 10d10 rounds.
19. Rattlesnake Venom: Good intensity; injury; -2CS to Endurance; -2CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Good Endurance FEAT is failed.
20. Sarin Nerve Gas: Amazing intensity; inhaled; -2CS to Endurance; -3CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Amazing Endurance FEAT is failed.
21. Scorpion/Tarantula Venom: Good intensity; injury; -1CS to Strength; an additional -1CS to Strength 10 rounds later if a second Good Endurance FEAT is failed.
22. Strychnine: Amazing intensity; injury; -1CS to Fighting and Agilty; -3CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Amazing Endurance FEAT is failed.
23. Tear Gas: Remarkable intensity; inhaled; Blindness for 1d10 rounds. Tear Gas may be encountered with varying intensities.
24. VX Nerve Gas: Monstrous intensity when inhaled; Amazing intensity on contact; -2CS to Endurance; an additional -4CS to Endurance 10 rounds later if a second Monstrous Endurance FEAT is failed.

by Dr. Archeville

Drugs and Alcohol

Hard Drugs

In the Marvel Super Heroes game, a hard drug is defined as any addictive drug that is hazardous to the user's mental and physical health. Such drugs often block the awareness of pain, so that they have the short-term effect of raising Endurance one rank (to a maximum of Excellent) for 2d10 rounds. After that time, Endurance is lowered one rank from the original score for 24 hours. During this period, drugs also lower Reason and Intuition by -2CS ranks each (to a minimum of Feeble).

Regular, uncontrolled abuse of drugs can lead to addiction. The Judge may call for a Psyche FEAT roll at the end of any week in which a character has used drugs more than twice. Shift down -1CS for every week of continued use. A successful Psyche FEAT means that the character is still in control of his drug use. Failure means the character is hooked on the drug and craves more of it.

Drug addiction can be an ugly thing. The user needs daily doses of his drug, failure resulting in a -1CS rank loss of Endurance and Intuition per day without the drug, to a minimum of Feeble. In NPCs, the character will become violent if denied his fix. The only way to break the habit is going cold turkey (see below).

Alcohol

Alcohol is called 'courage in a bottle', and this is the effect in the game. Raise Fighting +1CS rank for a character who has been drinking. However, lower the Agility and Intuition of drinking characters (including super-heroes) -2CS ranks, to a minimum of Poor.

Alcohol also has a nasty aftereffect, the hangover. Make a Yellow Endurance FEAT (or Red, at the Judge's option) or suffer from a -1CS in all actions the next morning. Another drink will allow a second FEAT roll. This opens the door to...

Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol abuse, which is as deadly as drug abuse. NPCs can be determined by the judge to be alcoholic or not. Player characters use a similar method to that given for drugs. If a character is drinking alcohol more than three times a week, make a Psyche FEAT. Effects of success and failure are as for drugs, with the a -1CS rank loss of Endurance (and resulting Health) if kept from drinking. Endurance cannot drop below Feeble.

Cold Turkey

This is the popular name for deliberately going without something - in this case, drugs - in order to break a habit. The addicted character stops taking the drug to which he is addicted and 'guts it out'. He will suffer the effects of not using the drug (loss of Endurance by -1CS rank), but at the end of each day he makes a Psyche FEAT roll. Success indicates the loss of Endurance stops there; failure indicates that the Endurance loss continues into the next day with another Psyche FEAT roll at the end, combined with an overwhelming desire for the drug. If two Psyche rolls in a row fail, the character will become violent and will continue losing Endurance ranks. Roll for each day until a full week of not using the drug or alcohol has passed. The character can be considered 'clean' at the week's end.

Going cold turkey purges the body of its poisons, as does a hit from one of Dagger's light-missiles. Being hit by one of her missiles has the same effect as going cold turkey, but involves a great risk to the person affected (see the description of Dagger given above).

A character who has kicked the habit has a good chance of backsliding even after he has stopped using drugs or alcohol. Each week the 'clean' character makes a Psyche FEAT roll. One failure indicates some backsliding, while two in a row indicates a return to the addicted stage, with all the penalties of the original state. The Judge may modify the FEAT roll according to the immediate situation (business pressure, personal loss, or seeking help). Karma may be added to any of these rolls.

Karma and Drugs

Drug use and drug abuse are illegal in most states. Heroes will lose -40 Karma points for dealing in hard drugs, -40 points for using hard drugs themselves, and all Karma if someone's death results from these actions. Alcohol is slightly more acceptable; heroes lose -5 Karma points for every alcoholic drink taken or -30 points for each night of drunkenness. Friends of an alcoholic or drug abuser lose 5-20 Karma points for not helping a friend in need. Villains suffer a similar loss as heroes, but receive a +10 Karma bonus for selling drugs, only if they follow up with another sale within a week. The super-criminal Kingpin (TM) will not traffic in drugs, because they are a deadly habit for villains as well as heroes.

A final note

The above rules are simplified for use in the game, and are optional. These rules were developed especially for this article, since drugs are a central part of Cloak and Dagger's background. To exclude reference to drug and alcohol abuse would be to exclude some of the realism of the Marvel Universe from which these two super heroes came.

Fear

“ We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt

Fear is defined as "a justified fright of a known external cause for worry." It is a normal response to an external threat, and usually produces disturbances manifested in the sufferer's action, and bodily changes. These disturbances are felt by the person and visible to others. Humans three different reactions to fear: we may muster up courage and fight the source of danger; we may feel terrified and flee frantically to escape; or we may become immobilized, motionless and mute.

Some things to remember about fear:

• Fear is different from one person to another (sometimes leading to phobias), and if not properly handled, could lead to social problems. Someone in the grip of fear might lose consciousness of mind and might perform stupid and/or dangerous acts.
• Terror refers to a pronounced state of fear, where someone becomes overwhelmed with a sense of immediate danger.
• Paranoia is a term to describe a psychosis of fear, related to perception of being persecuted. This perception often causes people to change their normal behaviour in radical ways. After some time, their behaviour may become extremely compulsive.

Fear may be trigged by internal or external events, conditions, or situations that signal danger. The threat may be physical or psychological. Fear may also be triggered by the presence of something threatening or the absence of something that provides safety and security. Below is a random table to determine a fear response.

Long Term Effects of Prolonged Trauma

If the character is experiencing at least five of the following indicators, then he may be developing long term trauma:

• Intrusive recollection of the event while awake.
• Recurrent dreams of the event.
• Distress as a result of any reminder of the event.
• Attempts at avoiding any thought or feeling about the event, or avoiding activities that remind him of the event.
• Diminished interest in meaningful activities.
• Detachment from others.
• Sense of impending doom.
• Difficulty sleeping.
• Irritability or increased anger.
• Concentration and attention disorders.
• Paranoia
• Increased response upon being startled.
• Depression
• Sexual dysfunction.
• Guilt
• Obsession
• Addiction (substance abuse).

Campaign Use

Long term trauma is probably best used in a campaign where a particularly long and difficult battle has occurred, specifically one in which the character was severely beaten or people the character knew died gruesomely.

At the very least, this kind of trauma would make a character a little twitchy. At worst, it could make the character incredibly difficult to be around.

There is also a disorder that certain professions such as doctors, nurses and soldiers acquire after working in difficult environments (such as the emergency room or in wartime). This disorder makes the victim need that kind of stimulation again. People with this disorder are unable to find any excitement in anything that isn't as fast and furious as whatever they used to do (ER, wartime work, other kinds of adrenalin-rush occupations).

Immortality

Actual Ages of Immortal or Long-Lived Superbeings

Apparent Ages of Long-Lived or Immortal Superbeings

Life Expectancies of Long-Lived Superbeings

After effects For Loss of Longevity/Immortality

What happens to an immortal or long-lived character if that power is removed or negated? Roll 1d100 for the answer.

Resurrection

What happens if you die?

The rule books are a little hypocritical regarding this. The "official" rules say that when your character dies, he is dead and you will need another one if you wish to play again. The rules also has a nice little introduction saying that you are playing in the Marvel Universe. Anyone else see the inconsistency there? If not, I'll make it easier: MARVEL UNIVERSE = DEAD? SINCE WHEN? This chart is to be used after your Endurance reaches Shift-0 rank.

Appearance

by Lady Arakne and Matt Thompso *n*

Randomly-rolled characters begin the game with an Appearance of Typical, followed by a roll on the ability modifier table. Mutants reduce this by -1CS, because of that unsightly third eye (note that the randomness still allows for a good-looking mutant, there's just not as many). The Judge may allow players to set a specific stat if the player can come up with a good enough reason, and modelled characters can have their Appearance stat set by the player (subject to the Judge's approval, of course)

New characters should also be allowed to trade in powers, talents, and contacts for additional Appearance ranks (allow one rank per trade-in)

Appearance does figure in to Popularity, which is covered later in this supplement.

Using the Appearance Stat

Characters can use their appearance to influence members of the opposite gender (this may work differently for some alien species'). If a character is talking to somebody who does not know them, they may use their appearance stat in the place of their popularity (The Judge may even state that they *have* to use their appearance stat instead, especially if their appearance is lower than their popularity stat)

Of course, if you are known to be a world-dominating villain, or a hero who has saved thousands of lives, it doesn't really matter what you look like, as people know you by reputation. Typically, anyone with a popularity of larger than 20 (or -20) can't use their appearance in place of popularity. However, they may be able to gain a +1CS to a popularity roll given a successful appearance FEAT first.

The Judge may also rule that the appearance stat can be used for other things. Getting a date for Tony Starks party could be considered an appearance FEAT. Of course, if plain old Jane Smith (app Typical, popularity 4/60) slips into her costumed identity of Avenger Girl first, she may be able to use a popularity FEAT for the same thing, and will probably make front page news in the local scandal sheet the next day, too.

Johnny Crandall, the Crimson Cartographer, stops dead in his tracks while trying to escape the villain's hideout. Ahead of him is the exit, but it's guarded by two Amazonian warriors. Realising he's hopelessly outclassed if things turn agressive, he slips into the shadows and changes into his secret ID. Putting on his best smile, he approaches the ladies "Hey, I'm really sorry about this, but I have absolutely no idea where I am - I thought this was some kind of bookstore.... Say, are you two girls doing anything tonight?" The Judge may even allow him a red FEAT roll to get past unhindered. If he doesn't turn up for dinner, though, he's likely to be the subject of a manhunt the next day. If he does turn up, he'd better have his escape route well planned after the two finish fighting over him....

Modifers to Appearance

The appearance stat represents how the character appears to members of their own race. The Judge should make relevant modifiers when a character tries to use their appearance stat to influence members of alien races. For similar races, there may be no modifier, but in the case of a Skrull talking to a human, anything from -2CS to -4CS could be applied.

If a character spends a good hour or so making themselves look presentable, they may be able to gain a +1CS to appearance for a short while. Any other measures taken to improve appearance may be allowed by the Judge (plastic surgery?)

Improving Appearance Permanently

Apart from the aforementioned plastic surgery, there is no easy way to improve one's appearance stat. It can't be done by spending Karma, however much you've managed to save. The Judge may decide under certain circumstances that appearance is actually reduced (having your face plunged into a bucket of acid is a good example of this).

Callings

I have used these to add instant morals to NPC's and even to help the novice hero game player. For those of use that have played Dungeons & Dragons (thats pretty much everybody), consider the following "Callings" like alignment.

Quirks

by Firebomb

Quirks are things that a player can use to customize a new character. It is a completely optional system; a player can use quirks to customize a character, but he doesn't have to.

The way the system works is quite simple: Each positive (good) quirk a player wants costs them one point. Each negative (bad) quirk a player takes gives him one point. The system is balanced, as the character must have a point balance of zero by the time he is done.

Instead of taking one positive and one negative quirk, the player has the option of taking only one, in exchange for some previously rolled perks already gained. In other words, he can sell contacts, talents, or even powers to gain more points, as follows:

Now, this chart works both ways. A character could take two positive quirks and pay them off by sacrificing one talent. Or, the character can burden himself with three negative quirks, in order to gain him/herself another power.

Players can take as many quirks as they desire, within reason.

Also, some quirks have more than one level; in other words, multiple levels of the quirk can be taken, which have a much greater effect in play. These quirks are marked with an asterisk (*).

Further, some quirks are quite powerful, in either a helpful or harmful way; these are usually worth two quirk points. These quirks are marked with an exclamation point (!).

Physical Quirks (positive)

• Acceleration Tolerance: Characters with this quirk are able to handle rapid changes in acceleration. In essence, this allows a character to accelerate at one additional area per turn, without harm to themselves (their clothing / equipment may be another story...).
• Adrenal Surge: This quirk allows the character to have minor control over his adrenal gland, able to bolster the production of adrenaline if necessary. In game terms, this allows said character to bolster his Strength by +1CS for 1d10 turns a day.
• A mbidexterity: A character with ambidexterity can use items in either hand, without penalty (I recommend a character normally be at -2CS if using an item in his 'off' hand). This can come in handy in all sorts of situations.
• Fighting Logistics: This character has a naturally tactical mind. In combat, after the character fights another for 1d10 rounds (not turns), he can acquire a +1CS to all Fighting FEATs concerning said opponent. This plus will last until this foe undergoes radical changes...
• Gravity Tolerance: Characters with this quirk have added resistance to gravitic effects, such as heavy gravity worlds, or even the crushing effect produced by the gravity manipulation power. The added gravity may immobilize the character, but it will cause less damage. Basically, the character makes Endurance FEATs required when subject to extreme gravity changes at +2CS. Furthermore, any damage caused by heavy gravity will be reduced by 2CS. It may immobilize the character, but it will inflict less damage per turn.
• Hardiness: This character is much more durable than most of equivalent body type. What hardiness will do for you is give one 20% more health points than his F, A, S, and E rank numbers could provide. This quirk costs two quirk points to acquire.!
• High Pain Threshold: The character with a high pain threshold can resist Stun results rolled against him, and any minuses that result from powers and attacks that are quite painful, at +2CS to his Endurance rank.
• Learned Resistance: This quirk represents intensive training by a character to acquire some small form of immunity to some form of harmful substance or energy. Each level taken bolsters Endurance FEAT rolls used to resist the named phenomena (drugs, poison, etc...) by +1CS. *
• Natural Talent: This character has a natural disposition towards some skill or another. When using said skill, the character has a +1CS to any FEAT roll required by its usage, in addition to any normal plusses provided by the talent. This quirk can be applied multiple times... *
• Omnidexterity: Similar to ambidexterity, omnidexterity allows a character to use all of his extremities as well as he could his normal action limb. If this is physically improbable (firing guns effectively with feet, per se), there is still a -1CS applied to the action. This quirk costs a player two quirk points. Though expensive, it can come in handy, especially if the character has more than one set of arms, legs, tentacles, etc...
• Rank Increase: Using this quirk, a player can raise any physical ability score or power rank by +1CS during character generation. This is a very powerful quirk, and should cost the player two quirk points, as it can be easily abused.!*
• Rapid Healing: Those characters with rapid healing will recover lost hit points as if their Endurance rank was +4CS higher than it actually is. This can come in handy if the character is in a high damage environment, such as a super hero team...
• Sensory Increase: The character with an increased sensory range can make Intuition FEAT rolls concerning that sense at a +1CS. This can apply to any of the 'normal' five senses (hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste), or any super human sensory power the character has.
• Strong bones: This quirk enhances a character's bone structure by +1CS for each level taken. The standard human skeleton is considered to be a Typical (6) material strength object. This quirk is more potent than it sounds. For instance, Strong bones can reduce damage inflicted by blunt attacks. Blunt attacks that are equal to or less than the material strength of the strong bones are reduced in damage by a number of column shifts equal to the number of levels in this quirk. Nifty, eh? *
• Sturdiness (NH): Characters with sturdiness are allowed to calculate their Negative Health score as if their Endurance rank was +1CS. This will result in a much higher Negative Health score, especially if the character already has a high Endurance rank.

Mental Quirks (positive)

• 3-D Sense: The 3-D sense quirk is indicative of the ability to think in 3-D, as opposed to the normal 2-D that folks normally resort to. The character with this mental quirk isn't ever at a disadvantage against foes simply based on their position relative to him/herself.
• Alertness: This quirk demonstrates a preternatural awareness of one's surroundings. Characters with this quirk are rarely surprised by others, even when confronted by trained sneaky-folk or any stealth technology. Furthermore, the alert character is a terminally light sleeper; it is almost impossible to sneak up on them, even if they are asleep! If the alert character passes a yellow Intuition FEAT when asleep, he will wake up automatically if someone tries to get him...
• Cyber-immunity: Should the character ever receive cybernetic implants, his Psyche will be considered to be +2CS for the purpose of determining how well the character mentally handles the alterations his body has undergone.
• Fortitude: C haracters with fortitude are allowed to calculate their Mental Health score as if their Psyche rank was +1CS. This will result in a much higher Mental Health score, especially if the character already has a high Psyche rank
• High Stress Capacity: This quirk shows that the character knows how to keep his cool, even in the face of great danger or frustrating circumstances. The character has a +2CS when attempting to maintain a cool demeanor in the face of adversity.
• Karmic Shell: This mental quirk allows a character to have 20% more Karma than the sum of his R, I, and P rank numbers would normally indicate. This is a powerful mental quirk, and costs the player 2 quirk points to buy.! Note - this assumes that the Judge is using a certain optional rule that I myself do. Basically, this allows the characters to start out with an initial sum of Karma each adventure, a sum equal to the sum of their R, I, and P rank numbers, at the beginning of each game. It does stretch the rules a bit, sure, but the players didn't mind all that much. They invariably ended up using it up right away, as the game evolved into a high-level game after a few years, and things got sort of... hectic. If you don't use this, just ignore this quirk.
• Magical Potential: A character with this quirk has great potential. In other words, he's got magical ability, should he choose to develop it to any extent. He might not choose to, mind you, but he may be looked upon in a favorable manner by any mage looking for an apprentice. If the character is (or tries to become) a sorcerer, this quirk has the benefit of making any spells cast by the character act as if they were +1CS in rank; the spells aren't actually higher in rank, it's just that factors such as range, etc..., are treated as such.
• Mechanical Aptitude: The mechanical adept is a techno-whiz, one of the know-it-all electronics gurus that apparently grow on trees in the comics. Characters with this quirk can build, use, and repair high tech devices as if their Reason was +2CS in rank.
• Psionic Potential: A character with this quirk has great potential. In other words, his mind is primed for schooling in the disciplines of psionic power. He may never use this potential, but if he does, he'll have some benefits. One benefit of this quirk is an easy out; if the character wants to buy additional powers at a later date, he can do so without excessive risk to his person. He always had potential, after all, and it only took so long for his 'latent' powers to emerge. But that's not all.
• Quick Learning: The character is a quick learner. In game terms, he can acquire new talents at half the normal rate, and at 75% of the original cost. This also applies to powers that are learned talent-equivalents, such as magic spells...
• Rank Increase: By spending two quirk points, a player can enhance the rank of any one mental ability or power rank by +1CS. S/he can do this as many times as s/he chooses, but this can get awfully expensive, awfully quick...!*
• Sanity: While this sounds like something we all should normally have, in full strength, this mental quirk instead denotes the character's ability to hold his mind together in the face of sanity bending phenomena; Psyche FEATs required to maintain sanity are made at a +2CS.
• S tatic: Bordering on psionic ability, this quirk demonstrates a character's ability to... deflect psionic assaults aimed in his general vicinity. Any attempt to affect the mind of the character or anyone in a 10' radius must be made at a -1CS.

Personal / Social Quirks (positive)

• Ally: This Quirk states that somewhere in the character's past, he has cultivated an ally. More than a mere Contact, this ally is a true friend of the character, and will go out of his way to help out when necessary. He'll even risk great harm for his buddy...
• Assistant: Essentially a side kick, the assistant helps the character out when necessary. He might be a behind the scenes assistant, like a techie or butler, or a more hands-on aide, such as a partner in crime (so to speak) who assists in battle.
• Attractiveness: The character is attractive. Particularly attractive, in fact. For each level he takes in this quirk, he has a effective Popularity boost of +1CS, when dealing with folks that would tend to find him or her attractive. *
• Benefactor: Often, characters will find themselves with financial backing of some sort or another, a backing which isn't necessarily their own. This benefactor sympathizes with the character's cause, throwing money (and sometimes, stuff) his way, in order to help the Cause.
• Cash Flow: This simply means that the character has a higher Resources rank than he originally rolled. He has some sort of money making machine in the corporate world that rolls in the bucks, with little maintenance necessary (especially if an Assistant runs it). *
• Charmed: This quirk is like luckiness, below, in that it alters die rolls for the better. Fortunately for the friends of the charmed character, this improvement affects their die rolls, instead. The character to benefit from this help must be determined randomly, after the originally charmed fellow has his tenth die roll affected.
• Fame: The character is well-known to the public, so much so that he is famous. He regularly appears in the newspapers, as well as magazines and the tabloids. This has the effect of raising this character's Popularity by 1CS for each level taken, either in a positive or negative manner. *
• Fan Club: Often, but not always accompanying Fame, the Fan Club represents the oodles of fan boys and girls that follows the career of the character. The character's popularity is usually treated as being +3CS to members of his fan club, +4 if he gives them autographs...
• Likeability: If anything else, this character has charisma. When interacting with others, the character receives NPC reactions that are one place more favorable, unless they are already counted as hostile (per the Using Popularity rules on page 17 of the Player's Handbook).*
• Luckiness: Things just seem to go this character’s way. All the time. This is because every tenth time he rolls the dice, the roll is altered. The higher die will sit in the tens place, and the lower die will sit in the ones place.
• Reputation: The character has a good rep in his community. This grants him an effective +1CS to reaction rolls based on his Popularity, concerning folks that know of him. The only problem is that this rep can backfire, especially if the character acts counter to said reputation. *

Physical Quirks (negative)

• Acceleration Intolerance: Characters with this quirk find that they cannot pick up speed as quickly as others with similar ability. The character accelerates at one area per turn less than his Endurance indicates, with a minimum acceleration rate of 1/2 area per turn.
• Albinoism: While this may look cool, albinism is a quirk that does have it's disadvantages. While no damage will occur, the character is nonetheless uncomfortable when exposed to direct sunlight, and will have a -1CS penalty applied to all his actions until out of the sun.
• Allergy: A character with an allergy resists certain attacks or substances at a -1CS, or if he has no intrinsic resistance, takes +1CS from certain attacks or substances, for each level s/he has in this quirk. Choose your poison. *
• Colorblind: In real life, this is simply the loss of one's ability to distinguish one color from another, as in red-green color blindness, for instance. In game terms, however, the character simply sees things in black and white (unless the player wants to do his homework).
• Dwarfism: This does not refer to the axe-wielding dwarves of lore. In reality, this describes a condition where the character is disproportionately short. This is disadvantageous mostly in that the character must have all gear and clothing custom made.
• Epilepsy: Characters with this quirk are subject to random fits of uncontrollable shaking, usually at the most inopportune times. Most of the time, this can be dealt with, but in a superhuman firefight, this condition can be downright deadly! In game terms, the character will feel the shaking coming on, and can resist the fit if he makes a red Endurance AND Psyche FEAT roll; failure indicates a seizure that will continue for 1d10 turns, during which time all actions will have a -4CS penalty applied to them.
• Feebleness: Characters with feebleness must calculate their Negative Health score as if their Endurance rank was -1CS. This will result in a much lower Negative Health score, especially if the character already has a high Endurance rank.
• Gigantism: A character with this quirk is not merely tall; rather, he is disproportionately tall. This can be all sorts of annoying, as any clothing and gear will need to be custom tailored to the character. Never mind that most places aren't built for exceptionally tall people.
• Gravity Intolerance: Unfortunate characters with this quirk have lesser resistance to gravitic effects, such as zero g states, and heavy gravity worlds. This translates into a -2CS to all Endurance FEATs called for by changing gravity situations.
• Lameness: This quirk indicates that one of the character's parts is operating at less than premium condition. This can apply to any extremity or organ, the exact penalty depending on exactly what part has been lamed.
• Low Pain Threshold: Characters with a low pain threshold are more likely to buckle under physical duress. This translates into a -2CS to Psyche or Endurance FEATs that require resistance to pain, such as that inflicted by torturers, or artificially induced neural stimulation...
• Missing Parts: Put bluntly, the character is missing some body part or another. This can be a sensory instrument, extremity, or internal organ. As is the case with lameness, the specific detriment to a character with missing parts must be determined on a case by case basis.
• Rank Decrease: When a player takes this quirk for a character, one of his physical ability or power ranks are reduced by 1CS. This is a potent negative quirk, and by taking it, a player can gain two quirk points.!*
• Educed Healing: Characters with this quirk find that they heal at a much lesser rate than is normal; they recover lost health points as if their Endurance rank was -4CS. This has a minimum healing rate of Feeble rank, however.
• Ensory Decrease: This quirk describes a lessening of one of the character's senses. For each level taken against one sense, it will function at -2CS effectiveness. If enough levels are taken on this quirk, it can completely nullify the sense. *
• W eak bones: Characters with this quirk have a weakened skeletal structure. Normally, human bones are of Typical material strength, but this character's bones are only of Poor material strength. This has a dangerous effect on a character. First, he will take an additional 20% damage from Blunt attacks, as his body is less able to resist such damage inflicted upon it. Since this is quite debilitating in combat, this quirk is worth two points to the character who takes it.
• Weakness: The unfortunate character that has this dangerous quirk finds that he has 20% less Health points than his F, A, S, and E rank numbers would normally indicate. This is a rather painful quirk, and is worth two quirk points to the player that takes it.!

Mental Quirks (negative)

• Absent-minded: The character with this quirk is, as described, absentminded. He has a tendency to forget names, schedules, appointments, etc..., at the most inopportune times. If necessary, the absent-minded character must make Reason FEATs to remember things at -2CS.
• Action Addict: The action addict finds himself bored if not doing anything not 'exciting'. If not fighting or doing something that isn't tedious in nature, he'll start fidgeting uncontrollably, complaining about how bored he is, and eventually wander off in search of action. In other words, if caught in a boring, apparently useless situation, the action addict must make a Psyche FEAT roll at a -1CS, or start fidgeting and such. If this continues for an extended period of time, he must pass another FEAT roll at -3CS, or wander off in search of fun...
• Allergy: A character with a mental allergy resists any sort of mental power or attack as if his Psyche rank was -1CS, for each level taken with this quirk. This allergy applies to all sorts of mental attacks, such as mind control, psionic assaults, emotion control, etc... *
• Attitude: This character has a bad attitude. It permeates everything he says, and everything he does. Most importantly, it colors others' perceptions of him. In order to act 'nice', this character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at a -1CS, lest he be his normal self... *
• Bloodlust: The rare and dangerous character with this quirk is truly a dangerous foe, as he lives for battle and the hurting of others, to the point of killing, even. In combat, the character with this quirk must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -2CS, or succumb to his/her bloodlust. This is a bad turn of affairs. While in a bloodlust, the character does have an effective +1CS to his Fighting rank, but the perks end there. If he fells an opponent in combat, the character will have an overwhelming urge to kill him. Unless the character can pass another Psyche FEAT roll, this time at a -4CS, he will do his best to kill his enemy. If anyone interferes with his goal, that person will suddenly find himself subject to the character's homicidal rage as well. A blood lust will last for the duration of any battle, plus 1d10 additional turns. A character can terminate an active blood frenzy by making a red Psyche FEAT roll, and spending all of his Karma. If it gets to this point, he's probably is about to lose it all, anyway...
• Bluntness: The character with this quirk doesn't see the need to mince words, or simply isn't aware that what he's saying is rather... direct. In game play, the character must pass a Reason FEAT roll at -1CS to prevent himself from saying the first things that pop into his head. *
• Bully: Characters with the bully quirk find great pleasure in putting people in their place, especially those that can be easily pushed around. A bully must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at a -1CS to resist the urge to cow those weaker than himself, if he chooses not to. *
• Combat Paralysis: This quirk causes a character to freeze in battle; he isn't scared, necessarily, he just becomes confused in a firefight, especially a superhuman one. In battle, the character must make a Psyche FEAT roll at a -1CS to act, each turn there is conflict. *
• Compulsiveness: The compulsive character has a habit, usually bad, that he finds himself doing all the time. Chewing nails, twiddling thumbs, and so on. To stop himself from subconsciously fiddling around, the character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at a -1CS. *
• Cowardice: Danger is not this character's middle name. Thanks to this quirk, he finds himself fleeing from danger at all times, real or imagined. To persevere in the face of danger, the character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at a -1CS. *
• Cyber-neurosis: Characters with this quirk are especially susceptible to mental illnesses brought on by the implantation of cybernetic devices in their bodies. For the purposes of resisting such maladies, this character's Psyche rank is considered to be -2CS less than normal.
• Delusions: This character lives in a world all his own. He sees things and he hears things. He talks to stuff that isn't there. Sometimes, it talks back. To ignore the influences of his own damaged mind (should he want to), the character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS. *
• Dyslexia: The character with this quirk finds it difficult to get a handle on new things, typically finding new information a big jumble in his head. When studying new facts, the character's Reason score is effectively -2CS. That's not all, however. Another added detriment to the character is the time and Karma point cost to purchase new talents. Learning new skills takes twice as long for this character, and the talents learned cost 50 % more to purchase.
• Fanaticism: The true fanatic believes in a cause, philosophy, or political body to extreme end. He does all he can to support his pet cause and more, often going beyond the bounds of legality to do so. This is what makes them so dangerous. In game terms, the fanatic character overwhelmingly believes that his cause is righteous above all others. If presented with an opportunity to further the cause, or if said cause is insulted, the fanatic must make a Psyche FEAT roll at -2CS to prevent himself from acting. Of course, a real fanatic wouldn't bother, and would just act, anyway. *
• Greed: This character is greed-y. He hoards his wealth and property with almost paranoid fervor, and goes out of his way to rapidly acquire as much wealth as possible. If presented with an opportunity to gain great wealth, the character is at -1CS to resist the urge to get it. *
• Gullibility: A gullible character is truly clueless in nature, believing that people are mostly honest, good folks. Shows why they're called naive. To disbelieve something being fed to him by unscrupulous types, the character must pass a Reason FEAT roll at -1CS. *
• Honesty: The character is honest. Normally, this is a good thing, but is counted as a negative quirk as it prevents the character from lying, if necessary. In order to tell a lie, or even stretch the truth, the honest character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS. *
• Impulsiveness: An impulsive character is one that consistently jumps the gun, doing thing right as they occur to them. To resist the urge to act on a whim, the character must make a Reason FEAT roll at -1CS, the failure of which indicates that he goes with his 'bad self'. *
• Inept: The inept character is one that tends to bumble even the most simple of tasks. Everything he does seems to be marked by abject failure, for no apparent reason. To really do anything right, the inept must make a Reason FEAT roll at -1CS to succeed. *
• Insanity: The character is mad. Stark. Raving. Mad. Worse than the delusional type, this person lives in an entirely different reality, perceiving things as his warped mind presents to him, and acting accordingly.! This unpredictable quirk isn't recommended for players to take, as it is exceptionally difficult to role-play an insane superhero. I've seen people try. Ouch. At any rate, since this is such a... powerful quirk, it is worth two quirk points.
• Insomnia: This quirk prevents one from sleeping effectively. In order to get a decent amount of sleep, the character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -2CS to calm himself enough to sleep. If this fails, the character will get little or no sleep, with dire effect. For one thing, he'll be drowsy all day. This has a tendency to lower all FEAT rolls by -1CS for the duration of that day, reflecting the lack of energy and focus caused by not getting enough rest...
• Jealousy: This character tends to covet the things that belongs to others, and secretly maligns them since he doesn't have the goods. If he is determined to be jealous of somebody's stuff, the character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS to prevent himself from revealing some sort of spite. *
• Karma Deficiency: This mental quirk lessens the amount of Karma a character would normally have, as is determined by the sum of his R, I, and P rank numbers, by twenty percent. This is a powerful mental quirk, and taking it gives the player 2 quirk points.! Note - this assumes that the Judge is using a certain optional rule that I myself do. Basically, this allows the characters to start out with an initial sum of Karma each adventure, a sum equal to the sum of their R, I, and P rank numbers, at the beginning of each game. If you don't use it, ignore this quirk. It makes things that much easier in the long run...:)
• Laziness: Lazy characters are difficult to motivate. They don't like getting up in the morning, going to work, or doing anything in particular. Motivating himself requires he pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS, the failure of which indicates that he blows off his current task. *
• Mania: These quirks are mild forms of insanity. They basically revolve around a character obsessively repeating one specific form of behavior, over and over and over... For a character to resist his obsessive urges, he must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS. Like most other mental quirks, manias can be taken at more than one level, which can make these especially dangerous to the character. Of course, this makes them so much more fun to play... Here are several 'common' forms of mania: *
  - Kleptomania: The character compulsively steals things. He may not realize what he has done until the shop alarms go off...
  - Megalomania: The character believes that he is some sort of supreme being. Complete disregard for personal safety...
  - Monomania: More than compulsion, the character repeats one single action, ad infinitum...
  - Nymphomania: Well, um, yeah. The character continually needs... It. If you don't know what It is, I'm not going to tell you.
  - Pyromania: The character loves fire. Loves setting it, loves watching it burn. Woo!
• Multiple Personality: Characters with this quirk aren't alone in their head; in other words, they are of two, if not more, distinct personalities. For each level taken on this quirk, the character will have an additional personality. Each of these personalities will have its own R, I, and P scores, and it should be different from the other(s), or else why bother. Furthermore, the personalities won't necessarily get along with one another; in fact they may be at cross purposes... *
• Pacifism: Characters with this quirk do not believe in fighting, for any reason. In order for them to defy this innate belief (should they find the need to, say, fight for their lives), they must make a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS in order to act violently. *
• Paranoia: Paranoid characters truly believe that everyone is out to get them. Usually this isn't the case, but the character can become a real basket case if he gets caught in some conspiracy or another. In the long run, this can become especially annoying for the character's pals. In game play, this normally won't affect the relationship between the paranoid character and his close pals, unless they do something overtly suspicious. If they do, he must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS to retain his trust of his allies. On the other hand, paranoid characters absolutely distrust those that they do not know intimately. Changing this usually requires a Herculean feat of friendship. In order to even give others the benefit of the doubt, the character must pass the same roll indicated above. *
• Personal Code: The character with this quirk lives solely by a personal code of conduct, disregarding the laws of society unless they happen to coincide with his own. In order to disregard this code, the character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at a -1CS. *
• Phobia: This quirk indicated that the character has an irrational fear of some thing or another. It can be fire, technology, spiders, or whatever. In order to face his fear without cowering in abject fear, the character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -2CS. *
• Pushover: A character with this quirk must calculate his Mental Health (MH) score as if his Psyche rank was -1CS. This will result in a much lower Mental Health score, especially if the character has a rather high Psyche rank.
• Rank Decrease: By taking this mental quirk, the character will lower one of his mental ability or power ranks by -1CS. This is a powerful quirk, and as such, it will earn the player two quirk points, not just one.!
• Rudeness: Similar to the bluntness quirk, the rude character tends to be insulting to others. Unlike bluntness, however, it's fully intentional. In order to rein in his 'bad self' and be nice to others, the character must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS. *
• Shyness: S hy characters have a hard time speaking up, for some reason or another. Fear of embarrassment, sometimes, or just fear of ridicule. If the character must speak in public, or voice a strong opinion, he must first pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS. *
• Stubbornness: This character is stubborn. He is always Right, and everybody else is Wrong. Period. Should he wish to capitulate for some reason, he must first pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -1CS. But why bother anyway; after all, he was right in the first place... *
• Temper: This character has a light fuse. Just about anything can set him off. And once mad, he tends to stay that way. In order to resist his mean urges, this character must make a Psyche FEAT at -1CS to be 'nice' again. He has the same penalty when trying not to lose his temper in the first place... *
• Vow: Not just a mere promise, this quirk denotes a solemn oath a character lives by. Perhaps to complete a task, or to obtain vengeance. If forced to go for a lengthy time without attempting to complete the vow, the character will begin to get antsy (per Action Addict). Furthermore, if the character finds some means of completing the vow, or someone acts to the detriment of his completing his vow, the character must pass a Psyche FEAT at -2CS to resist acting. This, of course, assumes he doesn't want to act...

Personal / Social Quirks (negative)

• Alien Customs: This doesn't necessarily represent alien mores and such, it simply states that the character has a different culture than that which is active where he has decided to make his home. This is only a negative quirk because it makes interacting with others... difficult. For each level the character takes in this quirk, his culture is that much less compatible with his chosen home. The character will have an effective -2CS to his Popularity, concerning anyone that finds his culture contemptuous. Again, this doesn't effect everyone... *
• Bigotry: This unpleasant trait represents the tendency of a character to look down upon some group of people for some arbitrary reason or another. The character must make a Psyche FEAT at -1CS for each level taken, or inadvertently make this dislike known. This is, of course, if the character wishes to hide this dislike at all. If present, the unliked party can usually tell, and will react accordingly. The offended party will react as if the character had -3CS Popularity, and will shift down one NPC reaction step. Multiple levels of this negative quirk can be taken, though this is not recommended, as it will undoubtedly cause conflicts with the offended party. In fact, this quirk is probably only a good idea for NPCs, as (being Evil already) they don't mind offending all that much... *
• Dependent: This quirk represents a relative or ward of some sort that the character must care for. The dependent will usually wind up draining the character's time and resources, and will invariably get him / her / itself into trouble.
• Disgusting Personal Habits: The character does something that he has no qualms about, but others find disgusting. Perhaps he picks his nose, chews his toe nails, or wears spandex when he really shouldn't... Regardless, each level taken reduces his effective Popularity by 1CS. *
• Enemy: T he character has an enemy. This isn't merely an opponent who the hero opposed on one occasion. This is one hard-boiled jerk bent on extinguishing the character's life. The source of this enmity ought to be heavily tied to the character's origin. By taking this quirk at only one level, the character gains a foe that is in all aspects his equal. By taking multiple levels of enemy, he either a) acquires another enemy of similar stature, or b) still has one enemy, but said foe is increasingly more powerful... *
• Illiteracy: The character cannot read or write. In a medieval setting, this isn't such a bad thing, but nowadays, this can really suck. Of course, this is a 'curable' quirk, and the character can get rid of it with lots of work (merely buying the reading Talent isn't enough...).
• Jinxed: This quirk is like Unluckiness, below, in that it alters die rolls for the worse. Unfortunately for the jinxed character, the affected die rolls are those of his compatriots, each chosen at random for a dose of bad luck... After one character falls victim to this, another must be randomly chosen to receive bad luck on his tenth roll. Fun, eh?
• Loner: Characters with this quirk hate other people in general, and hate being around others even more. For each level they take of this negative quirk, they must make a Psyche FEAT at a -1CS in crowded situations, the failure of which indicates that they leave immediately. *
• Nerd: This character just doesn't get it. He don't understand why he isn't cool, and most likely, doesn't care. This type of person is usually concerned with other things than how to dance, music, or even good fashion sense. And it shows. Nerds have a -2CS reaction adjustment towards anyone that don't like nerds (the 'cool' people). They're used to this, and tend to get even with society on their own terms. CPAs and IRS agents are brimming with Nerds...
• Repugnant Personality: This character just grates on the nerves. He is possibly gruff, loud, boisterous, opinionated, or some combination of the above. Each level of this quirk grants the character a -1CS to his effective Popularity, demonstrating just how annoying he is... *
• Snob: The bane of nerds everywhere, snobs tend to look down on everyone save for their special little clique. This tends to get them praise from their circle of friends, but everyone else reacts towards snobs as if their Popularity (which they cherish over above all else) was -2CS.
• Social Dependent: Characters with this quirk rely upon others to feel comfortable, to socialize with, and even to make up their minds for them. For each level taken, the socially dependent character will be paralyzed by indecision if denied access to a group of peers. This is represented by forcing the character to make a Psyche FEAT roll, at -1CS for every level taken of this quirk, whenever the character tries to do something definite by himself. If this FEAT fails, the character will waffle about and do nothing unless absolutely necessary. *
• Unattractiveness: An unattractive character receives a -1CS reaction adjustment concerning others that might, if circumstances had been different, decided to find the character attractive. This column shift is cumulative for each level taken. *
• Unluckiness: Characters with this quirk just seem to have it bad. Real bad. This is because every tenth time they roll the dice, the roll is altered. The lower die will sit in the tens place, and the higher die will sit in the ones place.
• Weirdness Magnet: Folks with this quirk tend to eke through existence on the high end of the probability curve. Strange things tend to happen around them, and even stranger things happen to them. Smart people that recognize a w-magnet for what he is tend to keep their distance. Freak accidents, strange phenomena, and absolutely kooky people tend to cross paths with the character, with improbable frequency. Unfortunately, this happens to those in this character's immediate vicinity, as well, which can lead to tension if the w-magnet is in a super-team. Unless the team is into that sort of thing. It's easy to be a super hero team when all the weirdness continually blows your way; often, you don't even have to leave home! If anything else, this definitely makes life a whole lot more interesting...

Secret ID

Super heroes with secret identities are often extraordinarily careless. Flimsy covers that wouldn't last five minutes in the real world are expected to stand up to the scrutiny of hostile and friendly intelligence agencies, the media, police, friends, relatives, co-workers, employers, and other heroes-no matter what.

We all know that the world isn't like that. The technology of identification is highly developed and uses dozens of forensic and investigative techniques. It's virtually impossible to do anything without leaving evidence: fingerprints, photographs, saliva, skin particles, hair, blood, etc. And these aren't the only ways we affect our surroundings. Modern society runs on records, and anyone who seems to behave abnormally risks attracting the attention of tax agencies, the police, and a variety of other authorities. It's difficult enough for anyone to drop out of sight in our own world, but in a super-powered world, most agencies could call on the help of their own super-agents with a range of unusual talents that could easily track down almost any hero or villain. Add the scrutiny of the press to these factors, and it seems unlikely that a real-world super hero could stay hidden for long. Having said this, it should be remembered that comic-book heroes are usually able to survive such scrutiny even if their disguises are nothing more than changes in hair styles or the wearing (or removal) of glasses or tiny masks.

It's sometimes difficult to understand why super heroes bother with secret identities, which often seem more trouble than they're worth. But the main reason for their use is to give heroes (and villains) a private life that isn't continually interrupted by the press and assassination attempts. For the Advanced MARVEL SUPER HEROES game, activities in one's secret identity are important in restoring and maintaining Karma; this becomes almost impossible if the character can't maintain a normal private life.

This article presents a rating system for a new ability score, Secrecy, intended for use as a rough guide to the security of heroes and villains. Check if there is any major change at the end of each adventure; if the final rating falls below Typical, the hero may be due for some problems.

All aspects of the rating system are heavily biased toward heroes; only the most careless will suddenly learn that The Daily Bugle has published their secret identities, or find hit men waiting in their apartments after a hard day of crimefighting. This system has been tailored for compatibility with the Advanced MARVEL SUPER HEROES game, but it can easily be adapted to any other game.

To calculate the Secrecy rating, the hero must be assessed for each of the following factors: Disguise, Precautions, Confidants, Profile (Secret), Profile (Super), Concealment, and Karma. When all factors are assessed, add the points for each factor and divide by seven to get the final Secrecy rating.

Some of the heroes and villains mentioned below do not currently maintain secret identities; Secrecy ratings instead reflect an earlier period of the character's career or a potential rating. A few examples have been left blank, where no character seemed to fit the circumstances described. For the purposes of this article, anything said about the secret identities of heroes also applies to villains.

Disguise

Does the hero wear gloves, a mask, or any other disguise? Does the character change shape or size? These factors can make identification easy or almost impossible. The ratings suggested below are only guidelines and should be modified for unusual cases. Under most circumstance, a disguise should never be better than Monstrous in effect.

Acting talents: If the character is skilled as an actor or similar performer, and he uses the skill to enhance his disguise, this may cause a shift of 1-3 columns on his rating, as follows:

• Occasional amateur actor/performer: +1CS
• Professional performer (but not an actor): +2CS
• Professional actor: +3CS; This assumes that the character automatically uses his skill to change his voice and posture as a super hero.

Precautions

Does the character try to avoid any connection between his secret and super identity, or are the two closely associated by common friends and interests? For example, Peter Parker has an uncanny knack of finding Spider-Man in action; how long will it be before someone puts two and two together? Under most circumstances, this rating should not exceed Incredible.

Confidants

Does anyone know the hero's secret identity? Even the most reliable friend might be unable to resist dropping a few hints, or might be tortured or brainwashed to reveal the information. This category also includes any enemies who might know an identity but have not yet broadcast it.

Profile (Secret)

Is the secret identity a newsworthy figure or a total nonentity? Newsworthy figures are more likely to be noticed if they make revealing slips, and they are often under the surveillance of police, intelligence agencies, criminals, news reporters, etc.

Profile (Super)

Is the super-character well known or a total nonentity? Prominent heroes are more likely to be monitored by intelligence agencies, the police, and supervillains. This rating is often related to the hero's Popularity, but there should not be a direct relationship. A hero dropping from 50 to 0 in Popularity because of a particularly stupid mistake would become more famous, not less!

Concealment

How many of this hero's last few missions have involved no slips or mistakes threatening his identity (e.g., ripped masks, fingerprints embedded in girders, etc.)? Since the status of characters changes constantly in the comics, there are no examples in this section.

Karma

If a hero has Karma, he tends to be lucky. The fates are on his side, the Force is with him, and coincidences and accidents are resolved in his favor. If he lacks Karma, he won't be saved by lucky accidents, and someone with the CIA or KGB might decide to start looking at those old files on him and analyzing them for clues. If enemies know his secret identity, Karma may bring about a situation that prevents them revealing the information.

Effects of Secrecy

Judges are advised to avoid publicizing secret identities unnecessarily, even if the PCs are extremely careless. Any factor that might reduce the effect of mistakes should be taken into account. Remember that it is rare for a hero's alias to be revealed in the comics. Unless it is essential to the plot, most super hero RPGs should reflect this philosophy.

Vigilantes

Here are a few house rules that have developed over the years by shad0hawke

1. Vigilante Rule:

The MSH has strict limit on Killing and Karma loss. Unavoidably, you inevitably get those characters who fit the role of the vigilante, and to whom killing the opponent is either unavoidable or part of this grim character. So, how does one avoid losing Karma?

You implement the Vigilante rule. If a character comes into the game, you discern that character's background and type. If he/she qualifies, and the game tone and setting permit, you let them play out. The mechanics break down like this:

• No Karma loss for Vigilantes who kill, but additional Karma gain for vigilante's who are convinced to let the criminal live. Usually the additional amount is a RP bonus, for if a character is a vigilante in the role like the Punisher, they will be sorely tempted to end the culprit's life. Therefore, by not killing, they would earn additional Karma.
• Popularity lowers by -10. It is possible for heroes to have negative popularity, a good example is Spider-Man. Vigilante characters suffer for their ability to kill without karma loss, for they are often viewed by a majority of society as no better than the criminals they hunt. The popularity issue is also restricted to the following:
  • Vigilante's are not allowed to have popularity above +15. Even if the Vigilante manages to save the president, until he decides to reform his methods, he is still hunted. Initially, the vigilante will have a negative popularity, due the fact they will be seen as "Nut-cases with guns".

These examples of Vigilantes in question are again focused more to the Punisher type of character. The trade-off is balanced, and usually, if the vigilante character is well-developed, then they will wish to seek to put aside their more violent methods. This is not easy, nor should the GM allow the player to "Get away from it". The cost to absolve the vigilante rule is 1000 karma. Once the character reforms, they cannot take up the role of judge, jury, and executioner again, unless storyline and plot permit, and always with the approval of the GM. If they do kill again, they suffer same penalties as regular four-color heroes.

2. Karma use:

A problem with long-time players has been the stockpile of Karma. In my case as an example, after playing with the same group for six years, we had a player who had been saving his karma like crazy. In every game, he would spend like a maniac, and therefore Monty Hall. I came up with this house rule after suggestions from another GM, and I found it to work rather well:

• After a player saves over 900 karma, they need to declare to the GM what they are planning to spend their karma on. Whether it be to buy new powers or what have you, they must prepare and present their character to be examined.
• Any left-over Karma should either be spent into a Karma pool, or can be saved, but there are spending limits. In order to balance the game, a player can enter any session with his/her initial RIP amount of karma, and spend as they will. After they have expended their initial RIP amount, they may not spend karma out of the saved pool.
• A player can only spend out of the karma pool of the team if the team agrees with it. To keep the pool managed, any time a player spends karma out of the pool for personal attacks/defenses/ect, they will have to repay one and one-half times the amount back into the pool. This ultimately keeps the karma pool stocked, and deters constant spending out of the pool.
• A player cannot spend over 40 points per action. This prevents a number of players using karma to achieve red results around every bend. The exceptions to the rule are in the following cases: For truly heroic actions, for actions that are quite epic, and actions that will preserve the character's life.
• Actions that are downright villainous, IE using Karma to gain kill results or property damage will actually cause Karma penalties. A GM can disallow players from using Karma in this way, but the message will be lost. I have found that if a player is intent on doing such actions, they need to learn the results from such. First and foremost, Karma penalties are doubled. If there are witness in the game to the hero killing a villain/bystander/ect., the entire team looses popularity. Second, the Karma loss to the character is all, and they will have to pay twice the amount of their RIP into the team's Karma pool. It detracts from players abusing their Karma in said manner.
• Karma Checks: In some cases, older players that are near to purchas- ing upgrades have found it a long drawn out purpose. In one case, I offered a ability to get the Experience beforehand, much like credit. The hero is given the Karma needed for a upgrade/Power/ect. ahead of time, to which they must devote their karma to repaying, plus 250 points to the team pool. Any single player can do this once, and only once. That way, the players can achieve their goals, and still build up team pools.
• Team Pool use: I have found that in my particular case, the team has spent resources alone to garner items. The team would them go out, and have such items as their transport or jet destroyed, and simply pay out to have a new one. To cut down on frivolous actions like this, I have added a Karma tag to base repair, Items, transports, ect. Since doing so, they have not been as careless In character with their items. It also allows players to improve their bases and such, as well as equipment.

3. Stats definitions:

A problem I have run into for some time is the criticism of MSH to other hero games based on the fact Marvel is a simple game system to operate. So often, I have found that the game system itself seems to be a bit lopsided in definitions of ability. Furthermore, if you look at the mechanics, they state clearly what each of the primary stats are, and are capable of doing. In the specific case of Strength, I have found the need to address the situation with players.

Strength

Perhaps Strength is the most difficult to properly maintain. Once you reach Unearthly, you can press up to 100 tons, but then later it says that the next level, Shift-X, is about 150-200 tons. This seems wrong, and moreover, you tend to have the more powerful bricks look a bit weak if the weight amount was correct. Two cases in point: The Hulk during secret wars was pressing nearly 100,000 tons of rock, from the Mountain Molecule Man dropped on the heroes. In game terms, this is nearly impossible, for the Hulk would have to display CL1000 strength. Even if you take into account the adrenaline surge, it still would not be possible, for during that time, The hulk was still possessed by the mind of Dr Banner. So, how do you explain it? Another example is the Squadron Supreme hero Hyperion. Hyperion has Unearthly Strength, but if he is an exact copy of another comic Company's Super-Dude, then you are saying that the character in question could only lift with some difficulty 100 tons? That just doesn't fit.

Therefore, we set up this way of working it:

• If you notice the stats as they build upwards, it seems to go in five to ten increments times the old ration, and this number continues to go up. By the time you reach amazing, you can press 50 tons, and by Monstrous, up to 75. Well, to mark off from Unearthly to Shifts, you should apply this.
• Unearthly can go from 75-100 with ease, 100-300 with a FEAT. Shift-X should then be over 1000 tons, for it would be 10 x the number of previous stat. Shift-Y should be 15 x the previous, ect. This way, the stats are a bit more rated to portray actuality of comics. furthermore, it would allow critics a bit of a query, for it would be essentially doing the same thing easily that other systems do with some difficulty.

The Vigilante or Special Agent: Gaining and losing Karma

During character generation a player can decide to play a vigilante (like the Punisher) or some kind of special agent (like Wolverine was). Generally these characters considered are karma low characters. This has some effects on the character, most notably in the Karma awards and penalties.

The Following are example Vigilante Supplements:

Ninja

The ninja vigilante is always in disguise. It is assumed that a ninja would always maintain a zero presence. Ninjas are always apart of a Special Agency, Society or Clan. Furthermore ninjas always begins with 0 popularity. Ninjas however gain 1 weapon or fighting skill. Negative Popularity (anything below 0 popularity) can result in the PC being considered an evil ninja and wanted by the authorities. The Popularity is awarded three ways.

• By achieving their objective with zero presence and leaving a symbol of their identity (i.e. "Black Blade Society was here"). Zero Presence means zero presence (very difficult to achieve). If nobody sees the ninja the award is 4pts of Popularity.
• By achieving their objective, and leaving a symbol of their identity (i.e. Black Blade Society was here). The award is 2pts of Popularity. Killing people results in receiving negative popularity -2pts. Ninja generally stall their victims and keep their objective in high priority.
• By achieving their objective. The award is 1pts of Popularity.

Ninja Assassin

The Ninja assassin vigilante is always in disguise. It is assumed that a ninja would always maintain a zero presence. These Ninjas can be independent, apart of a Special Agency, Society or Clan. Furthermore he always begins with 0 popularity. He does however gain 1 weapon or fighting skill. Negative Popularity is what they live for and ninja assassins are wanted by the authorities. Their Popularity has the unique ability to make people fearful of them. So they receive a natural emotion control of FEAR a -3CS of their Popularity automatically. The Popularity is awarded three ways.

• By achieving their objective with zero presence and leaving a symbol of their identity (i.e. "Black Blade Society was here"). Zero Presence means zero presence (very difficult to achieve). If nobody sees the ninja the award is -4pts of Popularity. Note: mind wipes are considered zero presence.
• By achieving their objective with zero presence, leaving no witnesses and leaving a symbol of their identity (i.e. Black Blade Society was here.). Zero Presence means zero presence. The award is -3pts of Popularity
• By achieving their objective. The award is -1pts of Popularity.

Secret Agent/Underground

First the character must give up one of his power slots. Furthermore he always begins with 0 popularity. He does however gain 1 weapon or fighting skill. The character gains popularity only very slowly. He gains 1 point of popularity when beating costumed or organized criminals in public, but only if he doesn't kill them. The Karma table below shows the award and penalties. The number before the slash is for the vigilante and the number behind it for the S.A

Other Vigilante

This is generated as any other character in the UPB or Marvel Generator. Furthermore he always begins with 5 popularity. The character gains popularity only very slowly. He gains 1 point of popularity when beating costumed or organized criminals in public, but only if he doesn't kill them. The Karma table below shows the award and penalties.

* This karma award depends on the agency the S.A. is working for. It is assumed to be a government, if it is another agency replace this by crimes against this agency.

Death

In addition to defeating a character, additional karma points may be awarded for wasting a villain. Vigilante's believe in removing the element crime entirely and should rewarded for their belief and sincerity.

** This is for criminals that are guilty of small crimes. Or opposed agents. They are not worthy of death.

*** This is for criminals guilty of Murder, Drugs distributing and other such crimes. This is also in addition to the normal awards for defeating an opponent. Other awards stay mostly the same. When part of a karma pool with characters that are not also Vigilantes or S.A. the karma pool is still subject to the normal penalties.

Maiming

Contrary to popular belief, vigilantes don't always believe in killing their enemy. They believe in lateral justice (eye for an eye theory)

For example, Pyromaniac dude is always setting fires. A vigilante might set Pyromaniac Dude's hand on fire as pay back retribution for his crimes and then string him up for the authorities. This is considered maiming a person. This is considered private justice but reflex badly in the public's eye and by the authorities. In addition to defeating a character, additional karma points may be awarded for maiming a villain. But no popularity can be gained. This gives the vigilante the person gratification that justice was administered but is considered uncool by the public. Note: anything more than two maiming is considered torture.

Note: This is not for criminals that are guilty of small crimes. Or opposed agents. They should not be maimed. That is considered Torture (see Torture)

Torture

Torture on the other is a different story entirely. This is excessive cutting off body part for pleasure or for Karma. Torture is not welcome by good guys or vigilantes. Judges please don't let your Player get away with this crap. Vigilante who try to play the stupid tough guy torture stuff should be punished immediately. People with no powers, Injured, or who surrender should not be torture. If the PC is playing in character, it will not make a difference in the case. He will be considered a Karma low character. (Wolverine and Punisher are karma low character.)

** This is for criminals that are guilty of small crimes. Or opposed agents.

*** This is for criminals guilty of Murder, Drugs distributing and other such crimes. This is also in addition to the normal awards for defeating an opponent. Other awards stay mostly the same. When part of a karma pool with characters that are not also Vigilantes or S.A. the karma pool is still subject to the normal penalties.

With Great Power

Originally printed in Polyhedron #72by Dale A. Donovan (unless otherwise noted) (Marvel Super Heroes).

Campaign Construction

Now it's time to address building a super hero campaign from scratch Starting with this column, we'll cover the elements needed for a successful campaign.

The most important aspect of any role playing campaign is the player character in the MARVEL SUPER HEROES game, you can play either pregenerated Marvel Heroes or you can create your own using the character generation systems in the rules.

Detailed below is a "purchasing" system inspired by the other two major super hero role-playing games on the market, DC Heroes by Mayfair Games and Champions by Hero Games.

Using my system, the Character Point (CP) System, players can built their ideal heroes within limits set by the Game Master. This system is flexible, so GMs should be wary of canny players who seek to take advantage of that flexibility.

Character Point System

The MARVEL SUPER HEROES Advanced Set Players' Book, page 5, details the steps players should follow to create their own heroes. It is reproduced with minor modifications below:

• Create an origin
• Determine primary abilities (FASERIP)
• Determine secondary abilities (Health, Karma, etc.)
• Ascertain special abilities (powers, talents, and contacts)
• Fill in the blanks (hero and character names, background, etc.)

The Players' Book suggests you start with an origin for your hero. However, I recommend you decide which type of hero your PC will be (altered human, mutant, etc.), then create the origin. Be sure to note all the special aspects of each type of character except which column of the "Generating Primary Abilities" table the hero's abilities will be rolled on. You will not be using dice to determine your hero's abilities.

Do not feel compelled to fully detail your hero at this point. Save that for the "Fill in the Blanks" stage.

Determine Primary Abilities

Each player will now be given a number of Character Points (CPs). This number is determined by the Game Master and can range from 200 to 600 CPs or more. Let's say your GM gives you 300 CPs to build your hero. You would now "buy" your primary abilities (FASERIP) by spending CPs.

Purchase primary ability scores on a point-for-point basis. So if you want your character to possess Amazing (50) Strength, subtract 50 CPs from your point total. Do this for all seven primary abilities.

You can purchase ability scores other than the normal rank number in each rank (For example, you could buy Amazing (46) Strength instead of Amazing (50) and save four CPs to use later.) Just remember any skimping like this will be reflected in your final Health and Karma scores.

Don't be too extravagant with your spending here, as your CPs will also be used to purchase your Resources level, powers, talents, and contacts. I don't recommend spending more than about half of your CPs at this stage.

Determine secondary abilities

Total up your Health and Karma points. Add those two figures together and they should equal the number of CPs you've spent so far. This is a good way to check your math.

Now buy your hero's Resources rank by spending two CPs for every point of Resources. (If you want Excellent (20) Resources, it would cost you 40 CPs.)

A player does not buy and cannot modify his hero's Popularity score, as it is a function of the hero's origin and the public's perception of the hero.

Determine Special Abilities

Since each special ability (powers, talents, and contacts) is purchased slightly differently, each is discussed separately.

Powers

Each hero now buys powers and their ranks. All powers, except those with stars, cost 10 CPs each, and starred powers cost 20 CPs. Purchasing powers gives the hero the ability to buy ranks in those powers. Ranks for powers without stars are purchased on a point-for-point basis, as with the primary abilities. (If you wanted to buy the Flight power, it would cost 10 CPs. You can now buy a power rank for that power. Let's say you wanted to fly at Excellent (20) speed, it would cost you 20 more CPs. So buying the Flight power and an Excellent (20) rank cost you a total of 30 CPs.) Starred powers, because they are more powerful or more rare, each cost 20 CPs, as noted above, and their ranks are bought at a rate of two CPs for each rank number.

You purchase both powers and ranks so that five powers, each at Good (10) ranks will be more expensive than one power at Amazing rank. The hero with five powers is much more versatile, and he should pay for that.

Limitations:

Page 9 of the Players' Book gives a list of possible limitations for powers. Players can buy one limitation per hero to gain more CPs. Use the maximums listed at the top of each list of limitations on page 9. This determines the number of CPs gained from taking a limitation. For example, taking the limitation "Power can only be used three times/day" from the list "Maximum of Excellent" for your Flight power would gain you an additional 20 CPs, as it is an Excellent rank limitation.
Points gained through limitations are the normal rank numbers for that rank only. All normal rules regarding limitations apply. Subtract all CPs spent on powers and ranks, and add any CPs from limitations to figure your hero's new point total.

Talents:

All skills listed under the Weapon, Fighting, and Mystical or Mental Skills tables, and all starred talents cost 10 CPs each. All other skills cost 5 CPs each (buying Chemist costs 5 CPs, while the Medicine or the Guns skill would cost 10 CPs each). Subtract all CPs spent here to get your hero's new CP total.

Contacts:

Unless the GM specifies otherwise, each contact costs 5 CPs. Don't detail each contact now, as contacts often work best when chosen during an adventure with the GM's O.K.

Fill in the blanks and there, you're done. If you have any CPs left over, it's up to the GM what you can do with them. I suggest simply adding them to your hero's Karma points. Beginning heroes often don't have much Karma to spend on their first adventures. Don't forget to modify your hero as per the origin you picked for him earlier, and round out your hero with his heroic and character names, background, job, costume, how he gained his powers, why he risks his life as a hero, etc.

Character Advancement

All normal game rules on character advancement apply. Character Points are used only during a hero's creation and do not apply to the character's future advancement. For example, you cannot pay 10 CPs for a power and not buy a rank for it during the hero's creation.

GM-Imposed Limits

Test this system by creating several characters. You'll realize then, if you haven't already, that the system is flexible and can be abused unless the GM lays down some guidelines. The GM could impose spending limits on primary abilities (no FASERIP scores above Amazing, for example), powers (such as no more than four total), power ranks (no power ranks above Incredible, power limitations (one limitation only, no limitation ranks above Incredible), and even the number of talents and contacts.

Breaking down Marvel characters by using this system can give GMs a good idea on what limits to place on character generation for their campaigns. Using the characters listed in the Advanced Set Judge's Book, for example, Invisible Woman, Marvel Gir l, and Wasp each add up to about 300 CPs. Spider-Man, Thing, and Vindicator (Heather Hudson) each add up to between 450 and 500 CPs. Magneto adds up to almost 700 CPs.

Discuss with your players the kind of campaign you want to have and then experiment with different point totals before deciding how many CPs to give your players. For Avengers style campaigns, I'd suggest 300-350 CPs per hero. For low-powered, gritty, "realistic," or pulp campaigns, I'd give out about 200 CPs. If you want to play a high-powered or cosmic campaign, I recommend handing out at least 500 CPs.

This system also allows GMs to built customized villains. By tailoring the number of CPs each villain is built with, a GM can gain a good handle on how well the villain should perform against the heroes. (For example, three 500 - CP miscreants, 1500 CPs total, should do pretty well against five 300 CP heroes, despite being outnumbered.)

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Gadgetry

Pages 65 to 70 of the Player's Book lay out the basic rules for building things. To be honest, they're not very good rules. The following system should work much better.

Prerequisite

In order for a character to be able to design or modify gadgets, she must have the Gadgetry talent. Other talents, such Engineering, various scientific skills, and Repair/Tinkering are also helpful, but not necessary. All column shifts granted by relevant skills are cumulative.

Step One: Determining Basic Concepts

Ability Scores

All gadgets have at least one ability score: Material Strength. Depending on the nature of the gadget, it may have other ability scores as well. For example, a crane would have Strength. A computer would have Reason. The gadgeteer determines what ability scores the gadget has and sets the rank of each according to her own specifications.

Powers and Talents

A gadget can also have powers and talents appropriate to its function. A car, for example, would have a power rank for land speed. A gun would have a power rank to determine its damage and range. A computer could be programmed with information about biology. In all of these cases, the gadgeteer determines at what rank the power or talent functions. This is the one instance for a talent actually has a rank instead of granting a column shift bonus.

Takeable or Not

The gadget can also either be taken away in combat with a Grabbing attempt, or it cannot be taken away in combat. This affects the total cost of the gadget. Gadgets that can be taken away in combat have their basic cost doubled. Those that cannot be taken away in combat have their basic cost quadrupled.

Extended Gadgetry Example, Part 1

Gizmotron is working on two new gadgets. The first is a jet pack. Gizmotron decides to make it out of steel, granting a Material Strength of Remarkable (30). Furthermore, he want to fly at about 150 miles per round, which would be Excellent (20) power rank Flight. Finally, the jet pack cannot be taken away in combat.

Gizmotron is also designing a new pistol. He is making it out of high strength plastics, for a Material Strength of Good (10). Not wanting an ordinary pistol, he decides this new firearm will have Incredible (40) Sonic Control powers. Finally, the pistol can be taken away in combat.

Step Two: Determine Karma Cost of a Gadget

The gadgeteer pays for the ability scores and power ranks of the gadget with Karma. The basic cost is determined as explained under Character Creation above. Bonuses and limitations affect the basic cost as normal. In no case, however, can limitations reduce a gadget’s basic cost below the value of its highest ranked ability score, power, or talent.

Gadgets that can be taken away in combat have their basic cost doubled. Those that cannot be taken away in combat have their basic cost quadrupled.

The total cost represents the amount of Karma that must be spent in order to begin construction. It is not necessary that the gadgeteer herself spend this Karma. Other characters can contribute Karma towards gadget construction.

Extended Gadgetry Example, Part 2

Gizmotron’s jet pack has a Material Strength of 30 and Flight of 20. The basic cost is 60 Karma points (30 for Material Strength and 30 for Flight). The total cost is 240 Karma points.

The pistol has a Material Strength of 10 and Sonic Control of 40. The basic cost is 60 points (10 for Material Strength and 50 for Sonic Control). Since the gun can be taken in combat, it’s total cost is 120 Karma points.

Finally, Gizmotron has Engineering talent. He has spent two weeks and 10 Karma points on detailed schematics for his gadgets. This will pay off later, giving him a +1CS on all FEATs involving purchasing parts and building the gadget.

Step Three: Purchase Parts

Next, before actual work can begin, the character must buy the parts needed. This requires a Resource FEAT versus gadget cost intensity. The gadget cost intensity is equal to the gadget’s highest ranked ability score, power, or talent, plus 5 for each additional ability score, power, or talent.

If the gadget cost is higher than the character’s Resource rank, she cannot afford the gadget. Fortunately, the character has some options. She can get a business partner, whose Resource rank must be within column shift of her own. The purchase can then be attempted at the higher resource rank +1CS. If this is not good enough, she can try to get a bank loan (p. 19, Player’s Book). Finally, if the character has good enough contacts or a Rich Family/Friend, someone else might foot the bill entirely, assuming the contact’s own Resource rank is sufficient. In any case, Karma can be spent to improve chances of success, as normal.

If the Resource FEAT fails, all is not lost. The character can try again in one week (p. 18, Player’s Book).

Extended Gadgetry Example, Part 3

The highest rank of Gizmotron’s jet pack is Remarkable. It has one other rank (for Flight), which adjusts cost to Remarkable (35).

The highest rank of the pistol is Incredible. It too has one other rank (for Material Strength), which raises cost to Incredible (45).

Gizmotron’s Resource rank is Excellent, modified by +1CS for taking time to draw up plans using his Engineering talent. He can afford the jet pack, but will have to make a yellow FEAT to swing the purchase. He cannot, however, afford the pistol. Fortunately, Gizmotron has high level contacts in the Army. He approaches his contacts and convinces them to use their Monstrous Resources to fund the development of the pistol.

Financing resolved, Gizmotron goes shopping. He makes his own FEAT roll by spending Karma, costing him an additional 15 Karma over and above what has already been spent. The Army comes through with their end of the deal as well.

Step Four: Building the Gadget

So far, the character has designed the gadget, paid the total cost in Karma, and made the relevant Resource FEAT. Now it is time to actually get started building the gadget. Material Strength is always the first facet built of any gadget. Installation requires a Reason FEAT against an intensity equal to the rank of the facet currently being installed. This Reason FEAT occurs at the end of the time needed for that facet (see below). If the FEAT fails, the character can start over again, but there is a special 10 Karma point failure fee that must be paid before work can continue. There are also three areas to pay attention to here.

Time

Each separate power, talent, and ability score takes on hour per point of rank to install. This time can be divided up in whatever way is desired.

Laboratory

A gadgeteer needs a lab in which to work. All labs have a Research rank (see Laboratory advantage above). The maximum rank for any gadget ability score, power, or talent is equal to the Research rank of the laboratory in which the work is being performed.

Multiple Gadgeteers

If there is more than one gadgeteer working on a project, there are two options available. First, the gadgeteers may split up the different tasks, thus cutting down on the time involved in construction. Second, the gadgeteers may work together on installing the same ability. This is only effective if the gadgeteer’s Reason ranks are within one column shift of each other. If this is the case, the construction FEAT is resolved using the higher Reason rank +1CS.

Extended Gadgetry Example, Part 4

Gizmotron has an Incredible lab, so he doesn’t have to worry about facilities. His Reason is Remarkable, modified by +1CS for using Engineering to draw up plans ahead of time. He decides to work on the jet pack first. He starts working on the main body, which has a Material Strength of Remarkable. After 30 hours of labor spread out over four days, Gizmotron makes a Reason FEAT against Remarkable intensity and succeeds. Next, he must install the Flight power. Another 20 hours go by, and Gizmotron makes a second Reason FEAT against Excellent intensity. He succeeds at this as well. After one week (for the plans), 50 hours of work, and 260 Karma points (240 for jet pack, 5 for plans, and 15 for Resource FEAT), the jet pack is complete.

Now Gizmotron is ready to build his pistol. Again, he starts with the main body, working for 10 hours. He easily makes the Reason FEAT afterward. The Sonic Control of Incredible will be hard part. Even with his Reason at +1CS, he still needs a yellow FEAT. Rather than risk wasting 40 hours, Gizmotron spends Karma (25 points) and succeeds after working an entire week. The Sonic Control pistol cost Gizmotron one week (for the plans), 50 hours of work, and 150 Karma points (120 for pistol, 5 plans, and 25 for Reason FEAT).

Modifying an Existing Gadget

A gadgeteer can add or raise an ability of an existing gadget. Steps one through three above are handled as normal. Reason FEATs during the building phase suffer a -2CS penalty because the character is attempting to modify the gadget to do something it wasn’t originally designed to do.

Repairing or Rebuilding Gadgets

A damaged gadget can be repaired either in the field or in a laboratory. If done in the field, all Reason FEAT rolls are made with a -2CS. If done in a lab, the lab’s Research rank limits its usefulness. Repairs on gadgets ranked higher than the lab are done as if in the field.

Each facet of the gadget that must be repaired requires a Reason roll against an intensity equal to that facet’s rank. It takes only one turn for each attempt. Karma may be spent as normal.

If a character wishes (or is forced) to rebuild a gadget, steps 1, 3, and 4 above all occur as normal, except for time, which is halved. Step 2 is different if the character still has the plans made using Engineering for the original gadget. In this case, Karma costs are one-half the original total cost. In plans do not exist or are not available, the total cost for step two is unchanged.

Omni-Gadgets

An omni-gadget is a gizmo whose exact function is not defined until the gizmo is actually used. A character with omni-gadgets on hand always seems to have just the right piece of equipment for the current situation. Engineering can be used to draw up plans for an omni-gadget.

All omni-gadgets have two ranks: Material Strength and Power. Both are purchased as normal for a gadget. Power has a base cost of 10 to get Shift-0, just as a standard super power. The basic cost of an omni-gadget is determined just like step 2 above, but the basic cost is always doubled to calculate total cost.

The Reason FEAT to install the omni-gadget’s Power rank is modified according to how versatile the omni-gadget is. Column shift penalties are cumulative.

An omni-gadget only works for a number of turns equal to its Power rank. After this, the omni-gadget’s Power rank breaks and must be repaired. When activated, the character divides the omni-gadget’s Power rank between whatever abilities it can mimic that are desired.

Omni-Gadget Example

Gizmotron also wants an omni-gadget. He decides it will have a Material Strength of Excellent and a Power rank of Remarkable. This yields a base cost of 60 (20 for Material Strength and 40 for Power), multiplied by two, for a total cost of 120 Karma.

Gizmotron succeeds in the Remarkable (35) intensity Resource FEAT to buy the parts needed. He then gets to work. Since he wants the omni-gadget to be able to mimic only powers, his Reason is reduced -2CS, but he gains a +1CS by following his plans (which also cost another 5 Karma). He succeeds in both Reason FEAT rolls and his new omni-gadget is complete.

Later, the evil Snow Queen encases Gizmotron in a block of solid ice. Fortunately for our hero, he had the foresight to build a defrost unit into his belt. Gizmotron activates the omni-gadget, deciding that it will have Remarkable heat blast powers. The ice melts and Gizmotron is free! The omni-gadget will function for a total of 30 turns as an Energy (Heat) Blast projector before its circuits overheat and the device burns out.

Magical Gadgets

In general, everything described above applies to that character with the Magic power who has Gadgetry defined as the ability to make magical items. There are only two differences. First, instead of Reason FEATs, the mage needs to make Psyche FEATs. Second, normal Engineering talent is useless. The same bonuses can be acquired using the Occult Design talent instead.

Creating New Life

Using the power Lifeform Creation or its equivalent power or spell:

• The power rank is the limit that the new life can achieve. Think of this as the creators Bank Account from which the new life draws from.
• The highest rank that can be given to a creation is the creators reason rank plus any talents he has. (Biology and Genetics for normal creations. Engineering, Computers, Electronics and Repair/Tinkering for mechanical creations. Chemistry, Geology and Archaeology for mineral creations. Chemistry and Physics for Gaseous and any other non-corporeal creations.)
• All F.A.S.E.R.I.P stats costs whatever the stat rank is, Amazing fighting = 50 points.
• The ability to have each power costs one point.
• A new power costs an additional amount equal to the desired power rank times the number of slots that they take. (True Invulnerability takes two slots, Body Armor takes only one. True Invulnerability @ Amazing = 100 points, Body Armor @ Amazing = 50 points.)
• Talents that the lifeform can have are limited to the talents of the creator. Each talent costs 100 times the number of slots that they need. (Weapon Specialist costs 200 points while Sharp weapons cost 100.)
• Magical abilities can only be given to a lifeform if the creator has magical abilities himself, or has the talents Mystic Origin, Occult lore, Demonologist, Zoologist of Magic or Chronicler of Magic. Magical abilities are the same as powers in terms of cost but each power costs an additional two instead of one.
• The base Popularity is 0. The base Resources is anything the creator wishes to give it. (Subtracting from the creator’s own)
• The creation will be awake and a full 'adult' in 18 years divided by the creation Rank. See chart below.

For the creation roll itself:

There is no minimum time that the child (the creation) will stay with its creator (or parent). This is the same as with any other child. although creations usually stay with their creators for at least one year after maturation unless the creator has the leadership talent (indefinitely) or mind control.