I've been working on my OmniSphere setting lately, focusing first on Earth Delta: A World of Broken Heroes, my superhero setting, which is part of what led me to create the Shape-Shifting magic action that I posted about earlier. I have rough write-ups of a few superhero archetypes, but I am unsure about them. My copy of the book is taking an eternity to arrive, so I am basically working on nothing more than my knowledge of the Star Wars rpg and what I have learned here on the forums. I was hoping to get some feedback on these archetypes, what is good, what needs to be changed, etc.

Notes: I based the Flight ability off of the jetpack in the EotE book, and Quick Movement is a talent I created specifically for super-fast characters. There is also Improved and Supreme Quick Movement. Improved adds an additional maneuver each turn (total of 3), but the third one still requires taking strain. It also increases flying Speed to 4. Supreme Quick Movement allows you to take 1 strain to make a Move maneuver go double the range bands moved. It also increases flying Speed to 5. I was also pretty much guessing on the starting xp for each archetype.

Flyers:

· Characteristics:

o Brawn: 2, Agility: 2, Intellect: 2, Cunning: 2, Willpower: 2, Presence: 2

· Wound Threshold: 10 + Brawn

· Strain Threshold: 10 + Willpower

· Starting Experience: 80 xp

· Special Abilities:

o 1 rank in Piloting

o Flight: Ignores terrain when making Move maneuvers, when in the air, can act as a Silhouette 1, Speed 2, Handling 0, System Strain Threshold 3 vehicle (utilizes Piloting skill)

Speedsters:

· Characteristics:

o Brawn: 1, Agility: 3, Intellect: 3, Cunning: 1, Willpower: 2, Presence: 2

· Wound Threshold: 9 + Brawn

· Strain Threshold: 12 + Willpower

· Starting Experience: 75 xp

· Special Abilities:

o 1 rank in Coordination

o Hard to Hit: Increase the difficulty of all incoming combat checks by 1

o Quick Movement talent (Can use two free maneuvers a round, if a flyer, increases speed to 3)

Bruisers:

· Characteristics:

o Brawn: 3, Agility: 2, Intellect: 1, Cunning: 2, Willpower: 2, Presence: 2

· Wound Threshold: 12 + Brawn

· Strain Threshold: 9 + Willpower

· Starting Experience: 85 xp

· Special Abilities:

o 1 rank in Brawl

o 1 rank in Feral Strength & Enduring talents

Looking good so far. I am hoping to have time this weekend to work on my Supers conversion to this system

You could use Coordination instead of Piloting for the flying stuff but the rest seems really good

What is your thought-process behind Intellect 3 and Cunning 1 on Speedsters? I don't really understand that choice. I have trouble seeing any characteristic at 1 for speedsters, honestly.

In my opinion, Fliers are more the type for 1 Brawn, 3 Agility.

Just now, Doctor Xerox said:

What is your thought-process behind Intellect 3 and Cunning 1 on Speedsters? I don't really understand that choice. I have trouble seeing any characteristic at 1 for speedsters, honestly.

In my opinion, Fliers are more the type for 1 Brawn, 3 Agility.

The reducing of Cunning is more for balance than anything else. Higher Intellect is because speedsters think at a much faster rate than other people, and higher Agility is because, well, Agility is about both speed and reflexes, and no one has better speed and reflexes than speedsters. The less Brawn makes sense with the Fragile Speedster trope in fiction.

Also, in superhero settings, flying heroes are often super strong as well, so giving flyers less Brawn wouldn’t make sense for a superhero setting. (Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Thor, etc)

I like what you have. You should also include:

Mastermind (Intellect)

Trickster (Cunning)

Mentalist (Willpower)

The Face (Presence)

9 minutes ago, GM Hooly said:

I like what you have. You should also include:

Mastermind (Intellect)

Trickster (Cunning)

Mentalist (Willpower)

The Face (Presence)

Good ideas! Any additional input you could give for each of these?

29 minutes ago, Johan Marek Phoenix Knight said:

The reducing of Cunning is more for balance than anything else. Higher Intellect is because speedsters think at a much faster rate than other people, and higher Agility is because, well, Agility is about both speed and reflexes, and no one has better speed and reflexes than speedsters. The less Brawn makes sense with the Fragile Speedster trope in fiction.

Also, in superhero settings, flying heroes are often super strong as well, so giving flyers less Brawn wouldn’t make sense for a superhero setting. (Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Thor, etc)

I get it now. I don't think all speedsters think at a higher rate, though it is common. Additionally, Cunning is the characteristic for quick-thinking and has more skills that make sense with a boost for faster thought-process imo.

There are also flying heroes who are physically weak blaster-types.

I'm wondering if flight itself shouldn't just be a separate, purchasable ability, since it doesn't say much about the character's other characteristics and I can think of all types of heroes that fly.

22 minutes ago, Doctor Xerox said:

I get it now. I don't think all speedsters think at a higher rate, though it is common

It highly depends on if there are multiple versions of the speedster. The Flash in the CW series is a bumbling idiot, like all of their lead characters in their DC properties. However, the Flash in the comics is a quick thinker.

Same goes for even different movie iterations of characters. Quicksilver in Avengers, not a smart thinker really. Quicksilver in X-Men, yeah he's fairly intelligent and comes up with some unique ways of solving problems.

It think you hit the nail on the head there GG. You could make 10 different Speedsters and still not cover every one of them. The best you can do is either designing the one your player wants to play or designing a modular system where the players choose the components to their Superhero.

As an example of a modular system you could have a series of steps to building the character archetype:

1. A series Characteristic blocks that each comes with a an xp pool to spend, no abilities or skill ranks tied to any of them.

2.Choose a super power from a list. The power modifies the xp pool as well as granting Skill ranks and the actual power.

3. Choose your supper characteristics as is suggested in the Superhero section of the core.

4. Finally you get to spend xp as normal with character creation.

So an archetype could be “The Strong one” with 3/2/2/2/2/1 and 100xp

Then a Super Power could be “Super Strength” that lets you lift objects Silhouette equal to half your strength and throw them. Up your strength can simply be lifted. Gain 1 rank of Athletics and reduce xp by 20

2 hours ago, GM Hooly said:

I like what you have. You should also include:

Mastermind (Intellect)

Trickster (Cunning)

Mentalist (Willpower)

The Face (Presence)

I like it, although some of the terms have a super villain vibe to them. Not a bad thing though.

1 hour ago, Richardbuxton said:

It think you hit the nail on the head there GG. You could make 10 different Speedsters and still not cover every one of them. The best you can do is either designing the one your player wants to play or designing a modular system where the players choose the components to their Superhero.

As an example of a modular system you could have a series of steps to building the character archetype:

1. A series Characteristic blocks that each comes with a an xp pool to spend, no abilities or skill ranks tied to any of them.

2.Choose a super power from a list. The power modifies the xp pool as well as granting Skill ranks and the actual power.

3. Choose your supper characteristics as is suggested in the Superhero section of the core.

4. Finally you get to spend xp as normal with character creation.

So an archetype could be “The Strong one” with 3/2/2/2/2/1 and 100xp

Then a Super Power could be “Super Strength” that lets you lift objects Silhouette equal to half your strength and throw them. Up your strength can simply be lifted. Gain 1 rank of Athletics and reduce xp by 20

This "pick components" idea is something I've toyed with. While it would make characters more "powerful" than those in other settings, for Superheroes it feels like it would be fine. Maybe instead of choosing one power, you have a variety that all cost XP. A player could go all in on powers and select a bunch, but their Characteristics would be painfully average, or they could only have a power or two but have improved stats.

2 minutes ago, Cyvaris said:

This "pick components" idea is something I've toyed with. While it would make characters more "powerful" than those in other settings, for Superheroes it feels like it would be fine. Maybe instead of choosing one power, you have a variety that all cost XP. A player could go all in on powers and select a bunch, but their Characteristics would be painfully average, or they could only have a power or two but have improved stats.

That’s a cool idea, what if they where Talents? Flight could be a ranked Talent, or have an Improved and Supreme version.

11 minutes ago, Richardbuxton said:

That’s a cool idea, what if they where Talents? Flight could be a ranked Talent, or have an Improved and Supreme version.

The problem with them being Talents is you can them grab them after character creation. I like at least some super powers locked to creation, mostly because that better evokes how supers function. Most superheroes don't gain new powers randomly (okay...it's all over the place, but you get my point). That said, a talent that let's you increase your base powers might work well. You'd either have to write ranks for every Super Power or have a generic "remove setback/add boost" etc sort of Talent.

Sorry if I missed, but I'll suggest anyway, check the templates / archetypes from Mutants & Masterminds, it's a nice array of options to use as a base i'll list here for who want to know:

• Battlesuit
• Construct
• Crime Fighter
• Energy Controller
• Gadgeteer
• Martial Artist
• Mimic
• Mystic
• Paragon
• Powerhouse
• Psychic
• Shapeshifter
• Speerster
• Warrior
• Weapon Master

And idk... I'd create these archetypes as classes and use the species as species (sorry if i changing the names, idk why Genesys name species as archetypes. I'm always use archetypes to describe classes...).

11 minutes ago, Cyvaris said:

The problem with them being Talents is you can them grab them after character creation. I like at least some super powers locked to creation, mostly because that better evokes how supers function. Most superheroes don't gain new powers randomly (okay...it's all over the place, but you get my point). That said, a talent that let's you increase your base powers might work well. You'd either have to write ranks for every Super Power or have a generic "remove setback/add boost" etc sort of Talent.

It's easier to create a special rule to difficult to obtain a new skill tree, imo.

16 minutes ago, Bellyon said:

Sorry if I missed, but I'll suggest anyway, check the templates / archetypes from Mutants & Masterminds, it's a nice array of options to use as a base i'll list here for who want to know:

• Battlesuit
• Construct
• Crime Fighter
• Energy Controller
• Gadgeteer
• Martial Artist
• Mimic
• Mystic
• Paragon
• Powerhouse
• Psychic
• Shapeshifter
• Speerster
• Warrior
• Weapon Master

This is what you should have for Careers.

So Magic Skills are normally limited to learning at character creation, they must be tied to your . What if each Super Hero has a unique Skill or two? You may have a Skill called Flight that is used any time a check is made for flying.

Then any exceptional ability is made using the Spell Structure and tied to that unique Skill. These Super Abilities are not a free for all as Magic normally is, rather you only get one or two. Otherwise Talents can be created to enhance represent these abilities, representing the growth of that super hero.

21 minutes ago, GM Hooly said:

This is what you should have for Careers.

Yes, it is my idea, i just switch the names sometimes. Would be better to recomend some stats and skills for each career and create talents that use these main stats / skils.

The archetypes should be specific species or a generic thing like:

• Mutant
• Droid
• Alien
• Human

etc.

13 minutes ago, Bellyon said:

Yes, it is my idea, i just switch the names sometimes. Would be better to recomend some stats and skills for each career and create talents that use these main stats / skils.

The archetypes should be specific species or a generic thing like:

• Mutant
• Droid
• Alien
• Human

etc.

I think I'd go with an origin, like you have here, an archetype such as Strong Guy, Brainiac, etc, and then a super career.

Also, not a bad idea to have a separate, more mundane career for the character's secret identity.

On 12/6/2017 at 3:22 PM, Johan Marek Phoenix Knight said:

Flyers:

· Characteristics:

o Brawn: 2, Agility: 2, Intellect: 2, Cunning: 2, Willpower: 2, Presence: 2

· Wound Threshold: 10 + Brawn

· Strain Threshold: 10 + Willpower

· Starting Experience: 80 xp

· Special Abilities:

o 1 rank in Piloting

o Flight: Ignores terrain when making Move maneuvers, when in the air, can act as a Silhouette 1, Speed 2, Handling 0, System Strain Threshold 3 vehicle (utilizes Piloting skill)

Athletics would be a better skill, since Pilot is specifically for vehicles, and you're not one.

Also, basing flight off of the jetpack from EotE isn't a good idea, since it's more powerful than the one provided on page 156. Flyers just get the ability to fly (see page 100), no vehicular stats given. If you reduce flight to just what is given in the book and not make the character a vehicle, I'd change the starting XP to 85.

Keep in mind that flight in Genesys means you can spend one manoeuvre to move between short and long range. That's quite the speed boost over walking, and doesn't need to use the vehicle rules. Which have, to be fair, changed quite a bit from EotE.

Quote

Speedsters:

· Characteristics:

o Brawn: 1, Agility: 3, Intellect: 3, Cunning: 1, Willpower: 2, Presence: 2

· Wound Threshold: 9 + Brawn

· Strain Threshold: 12 + Willpower

· Starting Experience: 75 xp

· Special Abilities:

o 1 rank in Coordination

o Hard to Hit: Increase the difficulty of all incoming combat checks by 1

o Quick Movement talent (Can use two free maneuvers a round, if a flyer, increases speed to 3)

Hard to hit is super powerful. Like, brokenly so. It's a free Story Point expenditure for each attack . And with your characteristics, strain, and other abilities, I calculate that it should only be 65 or 70 XP, depending on the price of Quick Movement (15XP for the ST, net 10XP for characteristics and either 5–10 XP for Quick Movement).

Quote

Bruisers:

Characteristics:

Brawn: 3, Agility: 2, Intellect: 1, Cunning: 2, Willpower: 2, Presence: 2

Wound Threshold: 12 + Brawn

Strain Threshold: 9 + Willpower

Starting Experience: 85 xp

Special Abilities:

1 rank in Brawl

1 rank in Feral Strength & Enduring talents

First of all, I would highly recommend to not give ranks in talents, especially ones that don't exist in the game (:p). It really messes with the talent pyramid; just give your archetype an ability that mimics said talent and don't call it a talent.

In any case, the starting XP should only be 80, not 85. Enduring is a rank 4 talent, and thus costs 20XP, WT increase and ST decrease cancel out. Feral strength should be changed to +1 unarmed damage and crit 3 (see claws on page 193).

Here are some suggested options:

Powers are treated like skills with a base difficulty of Simple unless it’s a ranged attack in which case it would be based on range.

Each power comes ready equipped with a couple of stunts which increase the difficulty by one or more.

Talents provide additional options (or stunts) for powers, with special effects powered by Advantages.

I started developing a superhero RPG some years ago, borrowing a good many ideas - Inspirations, Influence, and so on - from my eight years in Paragon City from the MMORPG City of Heroes . Maybe I'll have to open up that file and see how much of it can be ported to Genesys.

While I was working on designing the game engine, I was also playing around with logos and names. "Excelsior!" is the one that stuck. The only issue was whether there would be a cease and desist from Stan Lee. *chuckles*

When I was writing Excelsior! , I had Origins, which were divided like so:

• Unenhanced - Heroes who use their wits, human ingenuity, and invention.
  • Tech/Gadgets - Heroes who make use of gadgets, power suits, or advanced weapons.
  • Trained - Heroes who have received intense training in a particular (usually martial) skill.
  • Natural - Heroes who rely on quick wits and their natural strength and ability, normal humans with the willpower to do amazing things.
• Birthright - Heroes for whom power is inherent by virtue of who they are.
  • Outsider Birthright - Heroes whose power is derived from their outsider heritage; angels, demons, fairies, aliens, anything not from here (wherever here might be).
  • Magical Birthright - Heroes with a magical gift from birth. Seventh son of a seventh son. Firstborn of a wizarding family. Direct descendant of Merlin.
  • Evolutionary Birthright (Mutation) - Heroes whose powers stem from the evolution of their species; genetic anomalies of their kind.
• Changed - Heroes who were once just human, but have become something greater!
  • Changed by Bestowed Gift - Heroes who have been granted power by some sort of gift. An alien artifact, a mighty sword, a powerful ring, even ascension.
  • Changed by Power - Heroes who have been exposed to some great source of power - the Well of Souls, an alien device of unknown origin - and were changed by it.
  • Changed by Accident/Experiment - Heroes whose powers come from some fringe science experiment, or an arcane ritual gone awry.
• Artificial - Heroes who have been made. Or at least partially.
  • Cybernetic Enhancement - Heroes who may not be completely artificial, but still require their enhancements to live and to do their good works.
  • Technological Construct - Heroes who are synthetic lifeforms and artificial intelligences. Androids, robots, and the like.
  • Magical Construct - Heroes brought to life by magic, such as golems and homunculae.
• Incarnate - Heroes whose power comes from their very being as the avatar of some tremendous force.
  • Incarnation of a Deity - Heroes who are, or once were, gods, demigods, and other eternal beings.
  • Incarnation of a Place - Heroes representing the combined psyche of a given place, such as the protector of a city, the ghost of an ancient burial site; a being representing a specific place.
  • Incarnation of an Ideal - A hero who is the manifestation of a specific concept, such as hope, peace, or justice.

There's no reason something like that couldn't serve as the basis for archetypes for Supers in Genesys…

1 hour ago, c__beck said:

First of all, I would highly recommend to not give ranks in talents, especially ones that don't exist in the game (:p). It really messes with the talent pyramid;

That’s a good point. A way around it would be to make powers a separate mechanic from traits, but function like traits for cost, pyramid, and so on. That would keep the utility of making them traits, but you could limit what can be taken after character creation and it keeps powers and "mundane" traits in separate pyramids.