Chronicles of Neverwhere: The Hunter

In the last couple hundred years various family lines have become known for their ability to hunt the monsters that lurk in the darkness and have turned "hunting" into a family business. Each new generation is trained in the arts of hunting. 

It is interesting to note that beings known as the Watchers have selected people across the lands to become hunters as well. These ethereal beings select those who the deem worthy and imbue them with the ability of the Hunters. 

The PDF* can be found here. 

 *This was made possible with the input and amazing formatting skills of Vance A. His blog can be found here. I recommend giving it a read.

Regarding Character Death

This has been a topic that has been on my mind for sometime now - especially since discovering old school games and being a believer in the rules light/player agency philosophy.

I know personally when I make a character there is effort put into it in regards to the background and personality traits of said character. Even if it is just a paragraph or two. None of my characters are ever only a soulless collection of numbers and a list equipment. Even if I decide to let my character develop more in play in regards to both personality and background I still jot down a few bullet points. In my experience a lot of players have a similar mindset when creating characters. 

So, when a character dies a pointless death it sucks for the player, can cause angst with the other characters, or send some ripples in the story depending on how meshed the last character was in the plot lines. This is in addition to how a pointless death could drive new players away from the hobby. By a pointless death I mean some thug getting lucky in the alley, a random critical, fall off a two story roof, etc. The list can really go on and on.

Do not get me wrong, I have not problem with character death's when they do something stupid (I recently read a play report about a character in a dungeon running into the unknown parts of a dungeon to get away from some Golems he triggered.....), start a fight with things they should not have, not retreating when they need to, a run of bad luck (the part was climbing a cliff and had rope. The Kobold character was at the very top and slipped - failed the roll, each of the five other characters he passed failed their rolls to catch him, the koboold failed a last grab for the end of the rope, and failed a grab for a bush. Needless to say the Kobold did not survive the sudden stop.), or play through a scenario that is over their head. In these situations, GM's should not pull punches and let the consequences play out when the character pokes the bear.

"It is a perfect organism whose structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. It's a survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality. I won't lie about your chances...but you have my sympathies." - Ash, Science Officer of the Nostromo

With that being said, I still think those well earned or deserved deaths should happen with a purpose. The character should be injure what they are fighting, be able to yell out an important clue to their other party members, advance the situation a tad, or in some way enjoy a decent heroic death - even if it was a stupid death.

The creator of Gamma World has some input on character death as well:

What happens when the character hits 0 hit points and they are suppose to be dead or dying (and you don't want to use RAW)?

I have come across some really great options to give characters a chance to survive as they are laying on the dungeon floor, fading in and out of consciousness, as they watch their fellow party members fight on. There are not in any order;

•  Cavegirl did an amazing post on her blog about playing chess with death. I think this adds a lot of flavor to the situation and the world. Plus, it allows the GM to run death as an NPC with a personality. Ever since reading Terry Pratchett's Color of Magic I have viewed and treat the character of Death with that type of flare. 
• Dungeon World has a Last Breath mechanic that kind of ties into the above option and you could use both together. "When you’re dying you catch a glimpse of what lies beyond the Black Gates of Death’s Kingdom (the GM will describe it). Then roll (just roll, +nothing—yeah, Death doesn’t care how tough or cool you are). On a 10+ you’ve cheated death—you’re in a bad spot but you’re still alive. On a 7–9 Death will offer you a bargain. Take it and stabilize or refuse and pass beyond the Black Gates into whatever fate awaits you. On a miss of 6-, your fate is sealed. You’re marked as Death’s own and you’ll cross the threshold soon. The GM will tell you when."
• There are the various death and dismemberment tables out there. The way the work is, once you hit zero hp you are down and out of the fight. Any damage past that you have to roll on a death and dismemberment table. One of my favorites is the table from The Glog. Though, the one I currently use is this Crittable or "On a Table for Avoiding Death". It is a lot of fun and I just use the simpler option listed in it (roll 1d6 + negative HP damage and consult the table). 
• I was part of a fantasy LARP many moons ago and when a character died they had you draw from a bag that had beads in it. If you drew a white bead you survived but were injured and needed time to recover and all of that jazz. If you drew a black bead, your character died. My memory is a little rusty but I think your first death there were 9 white beads and one black bead. Then with each subsequent death, the white beads were reduced by one but the black beads increased by one so there would always be ten beads in the bag. I like this option as it shows how characters run out of luck or Death runs out of patience. GM's could easily change up the odds and only use 8 or 6 beads to create a higher percentage of death. Though, if I dropped it to 6 beads I don't think I would increase the black beads as a 1 in 6 chance is pretty fair across the board.
• I can't forget to mention the classic all players get -10 or -Constitution before death. This is functional but I find it boring and not very cinematic. 

There are plenty more options out there but I think these stand above the rest (except for the last one). Go crazy but remember death with a purpose and enjoy all of the stupid deaths.

I will leave you with one last piece of advice...

Review: Five Torches Deep

This game recently has gotten a lot of hype and has been on the drivethrurpg best seller list for some time now. What really peaked my interest about this game was two things. The first on being that it uses Dungeons and Dragons 5e as the skeleton that is filled in with the meat of the OSR. The other thing was a discussion I came across regarding Five Torches Deep which discussed its equipment/encumbrance rules and a few other aspects of it. 

As a disclaimer, PDF and physical copies were provided by the author. 

Presentation: Five Torches deep presents in a clean three to two column layout that is adorned with color coded tables and full colored art. Some of the art is full page and spans across two pages. The physical book itself is an odd size as it is put together in a landscape format. The PDF is formatted just as nice and has multiple layout options but Five Torches Deep goes a step further with its digital formatting and officers an additional digital file that is specifically formatted for a smart phone or tablet (which is pretty awesome).

Here is a screen shot from the mobile pdf taken with a smart phone:

Character Creation: I found character creation to be really enjoyable and as you are creating your character you can really start to feel the OSR soul in this game. So, let us follow the bouncy ball...

1. Pick Race (The options are Human, Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling)
2. Roll Abilities (Each race has certain static abilities and certain abilities you roll 3d6 or 2d6+3. The interesting thing here is that class restriction is based on race and if that race ends up with the minimum attributes to enter desired class)
3. Pick Class (The options are Warrior, Thief, Zealot, and Mage)
4. Define or Pick Equipment
5. Decide in Supple (SUP) carried
6. Determine Total Load
7. Pick Spells if Applicable
8. Fill out your Character Sheet

Resolution System: Even though the game has a 5e skeleton, it takes a lot of cues from the OSR movement in terms of simplicity and player agency. The core mechanic is 1d20 + modifiers compared against the actions Difficulty Class (DC). The game states pretty explicitly that the default DC for everything should be of DC of 11 (but may range between 5 and 20). The modifiers that can be added to the d20 roll is the characters proficiency bonus and their ability bonus (each modifier source is added once per roll). Combat is handled in the with the same type of roll but it is vs the targets AC and yes, the Five Torches Deep uses ascending armor. Some other resolution highlights include:

• Skills have been reduced and simplified 
• Proficiency bonus applies within stricter guidelines 
• Magic system has been retooled and flattened with magical mishaps 
• Advantage/Disadvantage
• Slower and Weaker healing/rest
• Equipment can be broken
• Retainers, morale,, and reactions 

The most innovative thing about Five Torches deep is its equipment rules and its encumbrance rules. Players can have a Supply rating and it allows the player to resupply the things they run out of like torches, arrows, etc. It cannot create new items but things the characters would carry in their backpacks. There are also rules of how characters can forage for SUP. All of this is blended in with equipment breaking and needed to be repaired really creates a focus on resource management and how prepared the party is when they go on their adventures.

Another important highlight of the game is there is no dump stats. All stats are important and contribute to various aspects of the character.

• STR: melee attacks and carry capacity
• DEX: ranged attacks, initiative, and AC
• CON: HP and how many hours you can stay awake/travel/fight
• INT: some spells, and how much Supply you can carry.
• WIS: some spells, and perception, morale
• CHA: hirelings, number of magic items, social interaction

Crunch: There really is not a lot of complicated rules or math. The math itself is semi compatible with B/X and 5e. Five Torches Deep has its own monster generator and other GM tools so I campaign can be played and ran with just this book. I think at first glance the Supply rules seem complicated but are actually simple in practice so new players have some issues implementing them effectively. I have spoken to author and he said veteran Five Torches Deep Players actually take zero to little SUP on adventures and just stock up on the gear they need (because SUP takes up encumbrance slots), which allows them to forage for SUP during the adventure as needed. 

One of the more interesting areas where crunch was reduced was in the Races. The races are basically for flavor and aesthetics. They don't have any special abilities and what differences them is their class restrictions and how ability points are determined. I think this is really clever because it stops players from trying to pick the best class/race combo or choose race based on its special abilities. This also opens the door to easy race creation and the GM really does not have to worry about balance or any complicated math.

Another section where the crunch was reduced is in class bloat. There are four classes but at certain levels the classes gain abilities and when they gain these abilities they pick from an archetype to progress in. You get abilities at levels 3 and 7 then at level 9 the proficiency bonus from your Archetype doubles. 

• Warriors can progress as Fighters, Barbarians, and Rangers
• The Thief can progress as Assassins, Rogues, or Bards
• Zealots can progress as Clerics, Druids, or Paladins
• Mages can progress as Sorcerers, Warlocks, or Wizards

Final Thoughts: I have seen a lot of attempts to turn a lot of innovations from 5e into a rules light OSR style game. Some of the more rules light versions out there have done a really good job but Five Torches Deep has taken the middle ground and created something that captures the feel of the OSR with resource management and simple yet elegant resolution mechanics. I think people can really get a lot of miles out of this game and it does what it set out to do very well and very elegantly.

Five Torches Deep does do something that I am not a fan of. In its design to push deadliness it ramped up weapon and monster damage while keeping HP/healing/recovery low. Basic Weapons are d6 (clubs and daggers) and all other weapons range from d8 to d12 where most of them falling into the d10/d12 range. If you do not want to roll for monster damage, they do an average of total hit dice +4. This triple threat approach would seem to end up as a death funnel for early levels.

You can find Five Torches Deep on PDF and Print on Demand here.  The successful Kickstarter campaign can also be reviewed here.

It also has a very clean character sheet and I tend to consider the quality of a games character sheet a big positive or negative.

Ode to Dave Arneson

I know I posted about the first dungeon adventure on Dave Arneson Day and that post was inspired but a lot of talk about Dave and the documentary Secrets of Blackmoor that was being released about that time. This in turned spurned a lot of talk about how Dave Arneson and the twin city gamers played back in the day before we had all these crazy rule books that are thick enough to stop a bullet. The truth is, they adapted some rules from various war games and board games but a lot of it was very narrative based.  For an example of this, someone asked the Secrets of Blackmoor crew about how they handled various things such as hit points and below is the conversation;

David Wesely who is the creator of Braunstein also commented in a recent online conversation about later editions of Dungeons and Dragons and their complexity;

Dave Arneson created his own fantasy setting called Blackmoor. There have been a handful of Blackmoor campaign books that ranged from the original Dungeons and Dragons days to the 3.0 era. Some of the best information can be found online at The Blackmoor Archives. 

Regardless of that quick history lesson, I was very inspired to create a game that would be in the spirit of Dave Arneson and I hope what I have came up with would be something he would be proud of. I decided to call it "Way of the Forgotten Hero". I named this because I view Dave Arneson has the forgotten hero of table top gaming.

Character Creation

1.Write down a name, be creative and clever.

2.Choose a profession. A profession can be anything that is job focused and setting appropriate. Examples are Alchemist, Assassin, Barbarian, Beastmaster, Beggar, Blacksmith, Dancer, Executioner, Farmer, Gladiator, Hunter, Magician, Merchant, Mercenary, Midwife, Minstrel, Noble, Physician, Priest, Sailor, Scribe, Slave, Soldier, Temptress, Thief, and Worker.

3.Write down three different words or phrases, called traits, about your character. Traits should be specific and not overly good. Traits can also include racial distinctions (elf, dwarf, etc.) and possible social affiliations.

4. Write down any equipment you think your character should have with them or that would fit your character concept and 20 gold.

5. Your character has 15 hit points.

Tests

When resolutions are not clear, the referee will call for a test. Players roll 1d12 vs. a Target Number determined by the referee (though this knowledge is usually kept from the players):

Routine: 6+

Challenging: 8+

Heroic: 10+

Legendary: 12+

If any of your traits, profession*, or equipment can help then add +1 per trait, profession, or equipment that helps to the test. If any of your traits, professions, or equipment hinder the situation you suffer a penalty instead.

*Professions cannot be used for direct combat.

Opposed Tests

Opposed tests happen when two sides are trying to achieve different goals but are in direct competition (ex. Arm wrestling). When this happens, both sides make a test a whichever side has the highest result wins. Some situations may require more then one test to accomplish the task.

Combat

The referee calls for initiative and everyone makes a test. The highest result goes first and everyone else follows in a clockwise order from whoever went first.

Characters get two actions per turn. They can move and take one of the following:

• Draw Weapon/Item
• Use Magic 
• Focus (+2 to next attack) 
• Defend (+2 to Defense until the beginning of next turn) 
• Attack (Melee or Ranged)

All opponents that are considered a trained combatant (this includes the player characters) are considered to have a Defense of 6 and everything else has a Defense of 4. To make an attack, the player makes a test vs. the targets defense. If the attack is successful, damage is subtracted from the targets hit points.

If miniatures are used, the player can move their miniature a normal pen length during their move action.

Gear

Some gear provides +1 to rolls. Weapons deal 1d6 points of damage. When two handed weapons are used, the player rolls 2d6 and chooses the highest. Light armor provides 1 point of damage reduction and heavy armor provides 2 points of damage reduction. Shields provide a +1 bonus to defense. Attacks and other damaging effects always deal 1 point of damage regardless of damage reduction from armor or other sources.

Adversaries

Most NPC’s and basic creatures possess 1-6 hit points and deal 1d6 damage. The more powerful the creature the more hit points they will have. Very rare abilities or creatures of unusual size can deal multiple d6’s of damage.

Magic

A character must have a trait related to magic to be able to use magic. Magic users can produce various minor effects, hinder an opponent for 1d6+1 rounds, and shoot bolts of energy that deal 1d6 damage. All uses of magic under duress require a test. On a result of 1, they magic user suffers burnout (cannot use magic) for 1d6 rounds. Each burnout result increased the range of burnout by 1 in the same day, after the 1st burnout result the range becomes 1-2, etc.

Advancement

After each session, the referee awards 1-3 experience points. When 10xp are accumulated they can be spent to gain 1d6 hit points OR an additional trait. If a trait is chosen, it should relate to the growth experienced during the story.

The entire PDF of Way of the Forgotten Hero can be found here for free.

Review: Star Dogs - Player's Handbook

I came across this game by chance and I was immediately drawn to it by the cover alone. When I started to read through it, it did a lot of things I liked.

As a disclaimer, a PDF copy was provided for purposes of review.

Presentation: The cover is vibrant and draws you in with visions of Flash Gordon, Ice Pirates, Star Wars, and so much more. I am also strangely reminded of Emperor Zurg. I am not sure if that was intentional or not but expanding the Buzz Lightyear universe is game worthy.The interior of the book is very well organized and has a clean layout that is mostly single column with a few pages consisting of double columns. There is black and white artwork that is seeded throughout that help conveys the intended tone of the game. The art style changes throughout the book but it makes sense and is not jarring.

Character Creation: Making a player character is done in the usual d20 fashion;

1. Roll 3d6 (adding them together) for the attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. It says that you can rearrange them if you want so they do not have to be in order (stating this in the rules makes me happy). The attributes use the -3 to +3 modifier spread. 
2. Choose a Race. There is a lot of cool options here the imply setting information. You have humans, Synthoids that are vat grown organic beings with an AI consciousness, Androids that are a AI consciousness in an cybernetic body, Robots that are an AI consciousness in a pure metallic body, High Gravver that are beings from high gravity worlds, and Low Gravvers that are beings from low gravity worlds. You also get to check if you are Khybe sensitive (10% chance on a d100. Khybe is like a mystical force that grants the beings who can use it various abilities). 
3. Choose a Class. There are also options here the help convey the setting. You have the Fighter, Rogue, Technician, Delegate, Pilot, Cultist (Oh ya - people that hang on to ancient and illegal religions), and the Khybe Monk (kinda like a Jedi). 
4. Record Skills. Your class determines your starting skill points and the type of skills you have access to. The skill list is nice and compact that covers more of the technical abilities. The skills are Drive Hovercraft, Pilot Spacecraft, Computing, Surgery, Electronics, Mechanics, Robotics, Interstellar Navigation, Religious Knowledge, Law Knowledge, Alien Lifeform Knowledge, Planetary Survival, Space Survival, Underworld Knowledge, and Diplomacy.
5. Optional Boons and Banes. You can choose one Boon if you take one Bane.
6. Starting Credits and equipment. 

Resolution: The game uses an OSR style of the d20 engine. For combat, it is d20 + mods (attack bonuses, attribute bonuses, etc) vs. Armor Class and yes, it uses ascending armor class which makes things run so much quicker and smoother. Armor class starts at 11 (unarmored) to up to Heavy Armor which is 17. Dexterity bonus modifies this. Shields ass +1 AC and then there is energy shields that absorbs x amount of laz shots.

For things outside of combat and saves, it is a d20 roll under your attribute score and you succeed on or under the relevant score. In the rules, if something is really easy you can drop down the die to a d12.

Skills start at level/rank 1 and classes give bonus skills to start out with in additional to all level one characters have 1 skill point they can put in a skill of their choice. All skills are tied to attribute bonuses which they benefit from. To make a skill check, roll a d12 and on or under your current skill level you succeed.

The game also uses the advantage/disadvantage mechanic which if a player makes a roll with advantage they roll 2d20s and choose the result they want and if they roll with disadvantage then they still roll 2d20s but the GM chooses they result. This mechanic replaces having a bunch of negative or positive bonuses to add.

Star Dogs also has a section on cybernetics which have prices and installation rules. During installation there can be minor or major malfunctions. Those tables are a fun read!

Finally, we have ship and vehicle combat. Vehicles have an AC rating, HP, Shield Points, Weapon Points, Passenger Points, Cargo Points, and attributes. Weapon points determine how many weapons in can have installed, Passenger Points determine how many people the ship or vehicle can carry, and Cargo Points represent how many galactic pallets the ship or vehicle can carry. Combat functions just like regular combat but damage is scaled up her down depending if it is ship vs. ship or ship vs. hover craft or ship vs. foot (or people).

Crunch: As far as crunch goes, the level of complexity is your standard OSR far. Low numbers to add, d20 vs. target number, d20 roll under attribute, and x in 12 skill system instead of x in 6. The resolution mechanics all work together really well and ship combat is a breath of fresh air. In a conversation I was having with the author, he stated "I couldn't find a game that had a smooth and streamlined ship combat system, so I decided to make my own." 

One of my favorite things about this game systematically speaking is how it handles different distances. Each scale (foot, hovercraft, and ship) have the Close/Nearby/Far Away but the definitions change depending on scale. For example, lets use Close. For on foot close is defined as standing next to, for in a hovercraft close is defined as about a building away, and for a ship close is defined as in visual range.This is really a breath of fresh air because ship combat and distance is where a lot of sci-fi games turn into calculus. 

Star Dogs also provides a quick one page monster creation engine. 

Final Thoughts: The Star Dogs players handbook clocks in at 25 pages which include the cover, full page art, and table of contents. Everything within these pages hints at a larger then life space opera borderline gonzo setting which is great. Though, what really got me was the premise;

In the far flung future,

in a galaxy that never really existed,

the Grand Empire of Order is locked in eternal

struggle against the Tiamatic Cult of Khybe.

In the midst of this never ending conflict between

law and chaos, 

a group of Star Dogs

(interplanetary ne'er-do-wells)

band together to scam the universe out of

as many credits as possible...

 

 Some other highlights are:

• Roll under system
• x in 12 skill system for very technical focused skills
• beautifully simple ship and vehicle combat

I think the flavor is great and the mechanics are fun and not overly complicated. I can see this easily competing with replacing any type of space opera game on the market today. The most interesting thing about the Star Dogs Player's Guide is that that author stated, "that is was written as a vehicle for the Star Dogs Referee Handbook". The Referee handbook clocks in at 62 pages that are bursting at the seems with system agnostic setting generators for just about everything you can think of. Yes, I will be reviewing that book at a later date.

With that being said, I do wish there was a list of all kinds of cybernetics - especially after so much thought and detail was put into the various minor and major malfunction tables. I also think that the HP levels are really low for PCs and Vehicles/Ships and can limit the more space faring heroics and epic space chases or battles. 

• You can find the PDF here.
• The Physical Copy is here.

Oh, and you can say what you want about Tarkin, but he did reduce Alderaan's unemployment to zero.

Chronicles of Neverwhere: Graduation Night

The torchlight flickers off the bare chests of the graduates from the Crimson Company. These graduates are led blind folded and bare footed down narrow passages into the deep underground where their only sense of direction is the rope they are holding on to that connects them with the person in front of them and the person behind them. They are all eventually led down into a large carved out chamber where tall stone doors stand.

Each graduate is led through these doors one at a time and as they step through the doors they close with an audible bang. Then, as they are guided by the arm deeper into this secured chamber, they are met by a sharp object pressed against their chest over their heart that pierces the flesh. Then the graduate is led around the chamber and forced to recite various things from his training as the blood freely flows.

After what seems like hours the graduate is led to the altar against the north wall of the chamber and the blindfold is removed. As the graduates eyes adjust to the candlelight they see before them an dark wood altar with a skull, arrows, a small leather bound book that has a nautical compass embossed on it, some antlers, a bowl of what appears to be salt, and a crimson cloak. The graduate soon realizes someone is standing next to them dressed in traveling gear and draped in a crimson cloak. The person looks at them with a mask covered face, grabs a handful of slat and pushes against the graduates wound in the chest and it a deep voice they hear, "repeat after me" and the oath begins...

"Night gathers, and now my duty begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no partner, hold no lands, have no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher in the woods. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Crimson Company, for this night and all the nights to come."

After the oath ends, the masked person picks up the cloak on the alter and holds it to the graduates wound. The graduate feels a strong cold sensation before the cloak is removed and draped over their shoulders. As the graduate looks down to inspect their wound, the realize it is completely healed and the only evidence of it every existing is a crescent shaped tattoo like scar.

The graduate is then led into a different chamber where the commanders of the three different divisions of the Crimson Company make their selections from the fresh members and the appropriate symbol appears on the back of their cloak. This is where the wait for their colleagues to go through the same initiation they did before they all are led up a winding spiral staircase to a dinner hall for a feast and a night of merriment.

Review: Supercrew

In the Supers genre of games, there is a lot to choose from and to me most of the games out there fall short in either capturing the soul of the genre or in the mechanics. I have ran and played in a lot of different supers games in my time and for awhile I lost my drive for supers games until I stumbled across The Supercrew. This is one of those games that flies under the radar because it is independently published, written, and drawn by Tobias Radsater who lives in Sweden.

Presentation: The entire game is designed and presented as a 30 page comic. As you read through the comic book you are take through a one shot premise, character creation, the system, and all of the how to do x, y, and z's. The one shot premise is highly entertaining because all of the characters start out as going to a Dungeons and Dragons session and during the game they receive notice of impending danger and then proceed to make separate excuses to leave the game. This naturally leaves the game masters head spinning. The art is simple yet it fits the genre and the style really well - it is very four color.

Character Creation: Character creation happens in of two ways per true super hero game fashion. You can roll for your abilities and define them randomly or you can make up whatever abilities you want to design your superhero. You choose or roll for three abilities and decide which one will have a Rank of 3, a Rank of 2, and a Rank of 1. To help focus your decisions, you are given a table that includes (you use it to random roll as well) attribute, super power, attack, equipment, control, and skill. In addition to this, you get to define three tricks that help make your hero more unique and they can be used once per adventure. Each trick is attached to an ability and has a different effect that changes the die roll. Another neat little quark to this game is that the character sheet has space for you to draw your heroes costume and it is part of the process.

Here are some examples of characters:

Captain America

 ABILITIES

1: Absolute Peak of Human Physical Ability

2: Vibranium Shield

3: Inspirational Leadership

TRICKS

Reroll (Inspirational leadership):  Patriotism
Change roll to '5' (Vibranium shield): Throw shield
Effect 2 (Vibranium shield): Defend others

Rorshach

 ABILITIES

1:Gas Powered Grappling Gun

2: Street Fighter "The city is afraid of me"

3:Detective "Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows."

TRICKS

Reroll Gas Powered Grappling Gun):  Unexpected Action "Tactically brilliant and unpredictable"
Change roll to '5' (Detective): Gain Information "Give me the smallest finger on a mans hand. I'll produce information."
Effect 2 (Street Fighter):Everything is a Weapon - in the story he uses a toilet bowl, a fork, cooking fat, and a cigarette as weapons.

Resolution: The mechanics are straight forward. For each rank you roll that number of six sided dice and each result of a 4, 5, or 6 counts as a success which is called an effect. 6's explode and are re-rolled to add additional effect. Though, there is a caveat to using your Rank 3 ability and that is it costs an hero point to use. Players earn hero points by using their Rank 1 abilities. This creates an interesting type of meta currency that does not hold over to future sessions. A hero can also get a once per session anecdote bonus when the recall something from a previous story.  Heroes can team up to give the lead hero an extra dice to roll for an task.

Certain challenges of a static nature have an effect rating which acts like a difficulty class and you need to meet or exceed that effect rating. Sometimes these can be extended challenges while other times you have one shot. 

Combat runs just as smooth. Everyone chooses an ability and rolls for Effect, each character acting in order of Effect (ties act at the same time). If you are attacked, you can respond with a reflex defense or a powerful defense. A reflex defense only gives you one die, but if you use a powerful defense you lose your attack (and you can't powerful defend if you already attacked this round). Effects are subtracted and the result is applied to Toughness (this game's version of hit points; all heroes have 3, villains can have more). When you get to zero Toughness, you are knocked out (nobody ever dies in Supercrew like usual four color fashion). You can treat obstacles as either simple difficulties to equal with Effect, or as full-blown opponents with Toughness, abilities, and Tricks (the rule book has a great example of the Supercrew "fighting" a building fire). 

It is very important to remember that this is a narrative focused game and with that, here is some sage advice:

•  "...you don't have to roll any dice to use your abilities. Instead you roll the dice when you want to achieve something with an ability."
• "A lot of the game is about the narration, rather than tricks and abilities being hard and fast. You roll for effects and *then* get to decide how that effect was achieved. So if you have what seem to be non-combat skills, maybe you're using them to represent that you've researched your opponent in advance, or you're inspiring another character who has sneaked in a quick shot. It's not a rigid fight-sequence game like some others, and rewards imaginative narration."
• Social and other situations determined by the narration. 

Crunch: None to speak of. 

Final Thoughts: I have had the chance to run this and play in a few times and it is a lot of fun as a one shot and as a campaign. I think Supercrew has two really strong points. The first one being is that players roll their dice first, act in the order of effect, and then describe their actions. The second strong point being is it really forces the players to think creatively because due to the lite mechanics (and per design) abilities are not meant to have single uses. You can do whatever you can come up with when using your abilities and invent new ways to defend, attack, save a kitten, or even talk to the girl at Starbucks. The sky is the limit for your narration. Honestly, if as a GM you need the players to roll the dice in a social situation then decide of the character would be good at it (2 dice) or bad at it (1 dice) taking into consideration their background and the situation itself (alternatively, make dice allocations on role play effort and creativity). 

I think this game has so much potential but is not well known or overlooked because it is seen as one shot fodder. This game has gotten me out of my superhero slump and I want to run or play in a supers game again.

You can find it here;

PDF at LULU

Sadly, the POD is no longer available but I just printed it out at Staples. 

Additional Resources:

• The Fortress of Solid Rules (a fansite that has not been updated in a long time though there is some great information on it. The post about sustained campaigns being one of my favorites)
• House Rules
• Male Character Sheet
• Female Character Sheet
• Blank Character Sheet
• Deluxe Character Sheet with House Rules
• The Supercrew Papers  (Lots of stats for various characters, etc.)