About The Code | Hero Creation | Game Mechanics | Sample Heroes & Villains The Ability Sequence The Ability Sequence is a simple way of determining success when your hero comes under opposition. To find out how your character stands, determine if their Profession or Advantage is relevant to the task at hand. Ability Sequence (Highest Aptitude to Lower) 1. Character has a relevant Profession and a relevant Advantage. 2. Character has a relevant Profession 3. Character has a relevant Advantage 4. Character has no relevant Profession and no relevant Advantage 5. Character has a Weakness Unopposed Challenges Unless under especially good or bad conditions, assume that characters can accomplish any unopposed action (such as scaling a wall) provided they have the proper equipment, a suitable Profession and/or a relevant Advantage. If the situation calls for a specific Advantage or Professions that is not possessed by the character, then he or she may have to use Motivation to accomplish the task. See the next section for more on Motivation. The Hawk is scaling a fire escape. He's wearing gloves and boots and isn't carrying anything heavy or moving fast. He doesn't have any particular skill at climbing fire escapes but the task is normal enough so that he automatically accomplishes it. If the fire escape was slippery (due to rain) or he needed to scale it quickly (calling his Weakness into play), he might need to use Motivation. Using Motivation Whenever a player uses Motivation, they roll a number of dice between one and their current Motivation score. If uncontested, the player needs to roll at least one 5 to succeed. All dice rolled above 5 are subtracted from the character's Motivation score. Mitch gets to the top of the fire escape and tries to jump from one roof to the other. The GM rules that he can't because of his bum leg - he'll have to use Motivation (but will receive no other penalty because of his Weakness). Mitch decides to spend two points of Motivation and rolls a 6 and a 7. Both are higher than 5, so Mitch easily vaults the gap… Contested Challenges If two characters are opposing one another, the person with the higher aptitude wins unless one of the characters uses Motivation. Characters on the same step of the Ability Sequence must also settle the contest using Motivation. In a contested challenge, where one character is opposing another, Motivation is rolled as normal and the person with the highest roll wins the contest. If the players are tied for the highest number, remove those dice (and subtract them from their owners' Motivation scores) and compare the remaining dice. Continue to do this until all the dice are removed (in which case the result is a stalemate) or there is a clear winner (one character has a higher die roll than the other). After a contested challenge, all "winning" dice (those higher than the highest die of the opposing player) are also subtracted from the winning character's Motivation. If a player loses the contest because they're on a lower step of the Ability Sequence, that player may bid their Motivation to try and make up for their lack of aptitude. The player bids a number of dice up to his Motivation score and attempts to score higher than his or her opponent (per the usual rules). But because they are facing a skilled opponent, the player must bid at least twice the number of points from his Motivation to roll half that amount. The greater the distance on the Ability Sequence between characters, the more Motivation points you have to spend to roll your dice. One step difference costs x2, two steps cost x3, three steps cost x4 and four steps difference costs x5. If facing off against a person without a Motivation score, you can only fail if your highest die roll is a 1. The Hawk is peering over the edge of a rooftop, trying to spot a criminal who has ducked into an alleyway far below. The Hawk is a PI in his daily life and thus his Profession is relevant to the task. The criminal, however, is also a Professional…and he's got the Advantage of Stealth. The Hawk is one step lower on the Ability Sequence and would normally lose the contest. He decides to use his Motivation. The criminal has no motivation, so the Hawk only needs to roll a single die and not roll a 1. But because the criminal is one step up on the Ability Sequence, the Hawk must spend two points to roll that one die (twice the amount he wishes to roll). If the Hawk wanted to roll 4 dice, he'd have to spend eight Motivation points. Regaining Motivation Characters regain Motivation by taking a break from their duties as a superhero. Every day off returns one die of Motivation (up to their maximum). Characters also regain Motivation whenever they accomplish their Objective (see the section on Accomplishing an Objective). Characters who accomplish their Objective despite their Weakness coming into play gain a bonus die to their Motivation roll. Characters who accomplish their Objective and follow their MO also receive a bonus die to their Motivation roll but run the risk of gaining Exposure. If the bonus die rolled is even, they gain a point of Exposure. If it's odd, they don't gain Exposure. Characters increase their Motivation score by spending Reward Points (see the section on Reward Points). Mitch is now down to 1 Motivation point. He ends up catching the criminal and does his "handcuff to the phone booth" thing. Since he has accomplished his Objective and followed his MO, he gets to roll his maximum Motivation (3) and add a bonus die (for a total of 4 dice). If Mitch's Weakness affected him during the session, he'd get an additional bonus die (for a total of 5 dice). Altering Objectives If at any time the player changes their Objective (either the score itself or the Objective's description), their Motivation score will change as well to equal half their Objective. Motivation gained from spending Reward Points is lost. If Mitch were no longer interested in catching criminals and he turned to violence, his Objective would change, as would his Motivation. He would re-evaluate his Objective score and his Motivation would change to fit this new score. Any extra Motivation points gained through Reward Points would be lost. Accomplishing an Objective Whenever characters accomplish their Objectives, they have a chance of receiving Reward Points. To do this, roll all of your Motivation dice and gain a number of Reward Points equal your Objective score for every die that is equal to or greater than your Objective score. Also, regain one point of Motivation (up to your maximum) for every die that is equal to or greater than your Objective score. Mitch rolls his 4 dice (needing to match or beat his Objective score of 6) and scores three successes. He also gets back all of his Motivation (3 points) for a job well done. Reward Points Reward Points are an abstract way of measuring your effectiveness in the community. Reward Points are used in the following way: Spending 25 Reward Points enable you to solve a minor problem in the community. A "minor problem" is something that affects a small area (like a park or a certain street). Doing so increases your Exposure and Popularity by 1 point. Spending 50 Reward Points enable you to solve some general problem in the community. Doing so increases your Exposure and Popularity by 2 points. Spending 100 Reward Points enables to you solve a major problem in the community. Doing so increases your Exposure and Popularity by 3 points. You can also spend your Reward Points to increase your Motivation score. Spending 25 points allows you to roll one die. If the roll is even, your maximum Motivation score goes up by one. If the roll is odd, you gain nothing. When a problem is solved, the solution is rarely permanent. Regular upkeep (by you or others) may be necessary. Critical problems (such as AIDS, child welfare, and organized crime) cannot be stamped out using Reward Points. These problems are too large and their roots too many to be solved by any one person. Mitch's three successes net him 18 Reward Points (3 successes x an Objective of 6). The GM judges that cleaning up the petty crime in the area will cost 25 Reward Points (for a minor problem)…Mitch is almost there. If he was trying to get rid of the more violent offenders, Mitch would need at least 50 Reward Points. Dealing with Exposure At the end of each session, roll a number of dice equal to each character's Exposure score. Add a die if the character followed his MO during the session. If any die is even, they gain an Exposure point. If the result is odd, nothing is gained. Characters with public identities gain 2 Exposure points if the any of the dice are even. If no Exposure has been gained at all during the session, the character's Exposure score drops by 1 point. For each Exposure point above 1, one detail is revealed to the public-at-large. You don't have to follow this progression, but it's a good way to figure out what the public knows about your character. Exposure 0: The character's existence is not even known Exposure 1: The character's existence is known but no details have been revealed Exposure 2: The character's physical description Exposure 3: The character's code name Exposure 4: The character's Modus Operandi Exposure 5: The character's Objective Exposure 6: The character's Advantage Exposure 7: The character's Weakness Exposure 8: The character's Profession Exposure 9: The character's Motivation Exposure 10: The character's Secret-Identity You can purposefully lower your Exposure by reducing your Popularity by 1 point (in which your Exposure also drops by 1 point). However, once a piece of information is revealed, it cannot be "unrevealed." If you take the session off from your exploits, you do not roll at all and may reduce your Exposure by 1. If you purposefully reveal any of your traits to someone and that person blabs, you'll automatically gain an Exposure point for each detail revealed. Mitch has an Exposure rating of 4 and adds a die because of that whole phone-booth thing. He rolls five dice and scores a whole bunch of evens. Damn. His Exposure jumps to 5. The cops get a sketch from the perp's description that matches some other eyewitness accounts (revealing Mitch's Appearance). Dealing with Popularity Popularity is used to gauge public opinion of the character. Popular superheroes are well liked and given more leeway when undertaking their duties. Unpopular heroes are harassed by the police, disliked by the public and suffer attacks by the media. The Ability Sequence is not used when judging reactions. If the character has to deal with the public-at-large, the media or the authorities, they must roll one ten-sided die and score equal to or under their Popularity. Characters with a Popularity score of 10 always have a favorable reaction unless they face extreme personality conflicts (i.e.: a city councilman has vowed to crush the hero). Characters with a Popularity of 0 always have an unfavorable reaction. Characters can augment their Popularity roll by spending Motivation (gaining them additional dice to roll), but only if their Profession or Advantage can offer some kind of assistance to them. Motivation spent to augment a Popularity roll is always lost, regardless of the roll's outcome. While patrolling, Mitch (in his costume) comes across a cop walking her beat. The police respect the Hawk, but only up to a point. If Mitch approaches her, he'll need to roll a 4 or lower on one die. Because Mitch is an ex-cop, he can use Motivation dice to roll multiple dice, looking for a 4 or under. Gaining Popularity Whenever the character accomplishes their Objective or spends Reward Points to solve a community problem in the course of a session, roll a number of dice equal to the character's Popularity score. If any evens are rolled, one point is added to their Popularity. If no evens are rolled, nothing is gained. Characters who are violent or secretive lose one point of Popularity if they roll no even dice. Mitch's Popularity is 3 so he rolls three dice. He scores one even so his Popularity increases by one (making it a 4).