Ewen Cluney posted:

you definitely didn't think to have your maid be a chainsaw-wielding cyborg mermaid.

Kai Tave posted:

My favorites are the real early superhero RPGs where you'd randomly roll to determine your powers and so you could wind up with nigh-literal Angel Summoner and BMX Bandit situations. I remember one story about a guy whose only power was Radio Hearing (Technology)...aka he owned a radio.

V&V posted:

MUTANTS
These characters spontaneously developed their super-powers with no apparent outside stimuli. Because they are not always accepted in human society, a roll of 30 or less on percentile dice indicates that they immediately lose one charisma point.

DESIGNED
This character was given his powers by a government or scientific organization and was then let loose upon the world. He still main­tains contact with his benefactors and is expected to come to their aid in crisis situations. However, he is generally allowed to handle his own affairs without supervision by his 'creators.'

SPONSORED
This character is similar to the Designed character except that he is permanently employed by his creators and they maintain a large degree of control over how he uses his powers. There is a 30% chance per month that he will be sent on a mission. If he refuses to go, the refereee must determine the consequences. He is paid $100 per week per experience level he has attained and he may not accept rewards, though he gains no charisma or experience for refusing such rewards for his actions (see 4.3.)

HOMEMADE
This character trained himself secretly and created any devices he has completely on his own. While one of the least powerful char­acters, Homemade characters command great respect if they reach the higher experience levels.

ACCIDENTAL SCIENTIFIC
Accidental Scientific characters have fewer powers than Mutants, but without the possible charisma loss faced by the mutated characters. The types of powers such characters can gain are determined by the type of accident responsible for them.

SUPERNATURAL
These characters studied magical books and forbidden lore in order to master the arts of sorcery. True supernaturals add +2 to their charisma scores due to the aura of fear which surrounds them and the dedication they have demonstrated for their art.


ACCIDENTAL SUPERNATURAL
Such characters have become involved in sorcery through no plan of their own. They have either discovered a magical item of power or have become enchanted by an unknown benefactor, etc. Accidental Supernaturals gain only a +1 charisma bonus, but are not as fanatically dedicated to 'Law' or 'Chaos' as true supernaturals.
Note that the 'chaotic' possibility exists only for non-player characters as all player-characters must abide by the 'comics code.'

CHARISMATIC INVOLVEMENT
These characters contain some sort of (as yet) unidentified characteristic which gives them an automatic and permanent charisma of 17. Their charisma factor cannot change under normal circumstances. The main bonus these characters have is the ability to attach themselves to a vigilante or group of vigilantes and they then act as a form of companion and/or mascot for the vigilantes. High level charismatically involved characters are the kind of people who are hired as secret agents or leaders of secret organizations. They may switch from group to group or from vigilante to vigilante whenever it seems useful. These characters can also train themselves while adventuring, but only up to a maximum factor of 16 in each category of basic characteristics. Like other characters, they must take time off from adventuring to raise their characteristics above sixteen.
Should a charismatically involved character ever find himself in trouble, super-powered individuals of his faction who are in the area must come to his aid. Super-powered groups with such a charismatic character will sustain a one point charisma loss should the char­ismatic character ever be killed or be permanently taken out of action.
Charismatically involved characters have a 5% chance of having one super power.

NONPOWERED ADVENTURER
Such characters do not really have super-powers, but because of the variety of heightened characteristics and skills they can obtain they are often more than a match for many super-powered beings. A player's first character (that character that is the player's self) cannot have this origin type so that players rolling an origin of this type should reroll for origin type on an eight sided die.
Should a player's original character die, he must roll for a new character and this character can be of this origin type. See section 4.7 for a fuller explanation of rolling up new characters.
Nonpowered adventurers have a 3% chance of having come from another time, dimension, or whatever at the Gamemaster's whim. If this is the case, the Gamemaster determines what, if any characteristics the player will have based on being from wherever or whenever he originated.
If the Nonpowered Adventurer is not from somewhere else, there is a 20% chance that he is already employed by the government.
This can be handled in the same fashion as is the case for Sponsored super-being characters.

EXTRATERRESTRIAL
This character came from another planet and any powers he has are natural to his race. As with Nonpowered Adventurers, a player's first character cannot be of extraterrestrial origin. If such an origin is rolled, players are to reroll with eight sided dice.
Naturally, a character can be rolled with this origin type if the original character of a player has been killed.
The Gamemaster must determine whether or not the Extraterrestrial character maintains any contact with his planet or his race of origin.


The number of powers each character has are determined by their origin types, as are the types of powers characters will obtain.

pre:

Origin Type			Number of Powers Obtained	Roll on List
Mutant					1-6 				F
Designed				1-4				A
Sponsored				1-4				A
Homemade				1-4				B
Accidental Scientific			1-3				C		
Supernatural				1-6				D
Accidental Supernatural			1-4				E
Charismatic Involvement		5% Chance of 1				F
Nonpowered Adventurer			2-5				G
Extraterrestrial			1-6				F
Roll a die to find the number of powers. Then roll for each power on the appropriate list on the following pages. 
Should the same power be rolled more than once, roll again to find the correct number of different powers.

There are 7 Tables labeled A-G.

occamsnailfile posted:

Also that some of the entries are for lowered attributes, and some origins just straight up get 30-50% more powers than others, potentially.

Slimnoid posted:

Is there any system with superheroes as a main point that's not mechanically broken and super-crunchy?

Slimnoid posted:

Is there any system with superheroes as a main point that's not mechanically broken and super-crunchy?

Leperflesh posted:

PDQ Truth & Justice. PDQ is lightweight and not at all crunchy, and I've not found T&J to be broken.

e. wait, did you mean "is not mechanically broken and is not super crunchy" or "is not mechanically broken, but is super crunchy"

Falstaff posted:

Masks is pretty good for that sort of thing, though it's 1) a PbtA game that's 2) hyper-focused on Teen Titans-style super teams and 3) published by Magpie Games which some people take issue with*. Any one of those could be a dealbreaker for you, but if not it's a very solid game.


* I actually include myself among this number.

SageNytell posted:

What's the issue with Magpie Games?

occamsnailfile posted:

I love how your mutant power can be "Special Vehicle." Turbo Teen, go!

Also that some of the entries are for lowered attributes, and some origins just straight up get 30-50% more powers than others, potentially.

gradenko_2000 posted:

The head (?) of Magpie sold another employee down the river (metaphorically) to defend serial harasser Zak S on the internet.

Emy posted:

One of the co-founders. He used the official company news blog, otherwise dedicated to the sort of "we've launched a game", "the year in review", or "look at how these fans are engaging with our product" stuff you would expect, to call out a dude for telling Zak to go gently caress himself on G+. (I believe Zak tagged said dude and did his thing where he demands that people explain their +1s first, but that lonely callout screencap is the only thing that survived of the conversation.)

This big ol' post on the official Magpie blog buys wholeheartedly into the narrative that people hate Zak because of some eternal storygames vs. OSR feud, rather than accept that it might be because people have had the misfortune of interacting with him. It's a shame the post doesn't support anything else wholeheartedly, instead opting for a tone policing "I'm not defending zak, but let's all be nice" stance.

Leperflesh posted:

PDQ Truth & Justice. PDQ is lightweight and not at all crunchy, and I've not found T&J to be broken.

Leperflesh posted:

PDQ Truth & Justice. PDQ is lightweight and not at all crunchy, and I've not found T&J to be broken.

Halloween Jack posted:

Rob Kuntz wants $24 for a 72-page book about Dave Arneson.

Robert J. Kuntz, I guess? posted:

This extensively researched work reveals:

That the design dimension qualities of Arneson’s systems structure are still in their embryonic stages due to his original concept being redacted for a less robust system, and by the very company which was catapulted from a basement concern to a near 1 million dollar business almost “overnight” while at first championing it.

Alien Rope Burn posted:

Halloween Jack posted:

In Earth language, "Dave Arneson's ideas were never fully developed, because they were dumbed-down and commercialized by the publisher. TSR sold out so they could become a company big enough to have full-time employees."

Rob Kuntz is still bitter that D&D became a product line. In his mind, only stupid, uncreative "eager dependents" would ever want to buy published adventure modules, campaign settings, and rulesets with good layout and editing. Roleplaying was better when the rules were confusing and inaccessible to people who weren't already part of a wargaming scene, and setting didn't exist beyond what was vaguely implied by the rules.