SUPERGLOG, or Of Mutants and Magic

 DESIGN NOTES:

• I was thinking about what made superhero stories so compelling, and I found that what was interesting was not the intense battles and superpowers, but how relationships and humanity flourish around those set pieces, and the moral battles that occur. In character creation, I wanted to put in the seeds for ideologies and relationships that can be explored through play.

• GLoG and cosmic-power superheroes don’t mix well. I want to implicitly reign in the power level so that the heroes are always assumed to be in well over their heads- sort of OSR superherodom in a way, insomuch as the heroes win is not by punching things hard, but with their wits and the tools at their disposal

• One of the things about superhero dramas that are so compelling is the moment of fortune reversal, that crux instant where the hero suddenly finds a pool of strength or remembers some bit of preparation that suddenly turns the tide in their favor. I wanted to represent the hero’s abilities to find fortune’s favor. The Doctor Who Roleplaying Game contains the Story Points mechanic, which almost exactly describes what I want, so I’ll be stealing it virtually wholesale.

• I’m gonna make as much as possible modular, so that the players and DM can customize what they want for their visions of these larger than life characters.

• And, of course, I want to restructure and rename stats and such to instill that superhero flavor into the mechanics.

Without further ado…

OF MUTANTS AND MAGIC: A superpowered GLoGhack

STATS

Roll 3d6 down the line, then switch two of your choice. A 10 is a standard average, and a 14 is peak human ability, so a 15 or above is particularly remarkable or superheroic. Roll equal to your stat or under to succeed, perhaps with advantage, disadvantage or a penalty or bonus (applied to the stat, never the die roll).

STA: Stamina. What you can endure.

POW: Power. How much force you can exert.

AGL: Agility. How quickly you can act.

SUP: Supernatural. Your control over your Powers.

INT: Intellect. How keenly your mind works.

PER: Personality. How charismatic you are.

POWERS

Choose three discrete Powers, or three ways to use one Power. Talk to your DM about anything remarkable, but the ability to create gadgets, shapeshifting, flight, super speed, laser vision, and any number of others would all be applicable Powers.

CORE

Your Core is a sentence that describes the heart of your superheroic personality. What defines your identity? It could be “pacifistic vigilante who fights crime as revenge for their dead parents”, “sheltered billionaire disillusioned by terrorist kidnapping”, “innocent kid thrust into responsibility after a freak accident”, or whatever might be appropriate.

Whenever your Core would hinder your course of action or suggests you make an inefficient choice, you gain a Hero Point. Whenever you act counter to your Core, you lose a Hero Point.

RELATIONSHIPS

Choose three living people who are significant to you. One must be particularly significant to your superheroic identity, and another must be significant to your mundane identity. A max of one might be another PC.

You gain a Hero Point every time you save one of these people from danger or assist them in a long-term, meaningful way. You lose a Hero Point every time they are hurt because of your actions (or lack thereof), or if a mundane relationship finds out about your secret identity. If one ever permanently dies, you lose all the Hero Points you have.

EQUIPMENT

You have whatever’s reasonable. Spend a Hero Point to have something that’s unreasonable.

HERO POINTS

• You start with Hero Points equal to your SUP.

• Spend a Hero Point to roll again with advantage.

• Spend a Hero Point to get a valuable clue or insight.

• Spend a Hero Point to use a Power in a strenuous or unusual way.

• Spend a Hero Point to happen to have some advantage.

• Spend a Hero Point to stave off death for a scene.

• Spend 2 Hero Points to return from the brink of death when you so please.

• Gain a Hero Point to voluntarily accept a complication.

• Gain a Hero Point when you hinder yourself in accordance with your Core.

• Gain a Hero Point when you save or assist one of your relationships.

• Lose a Hero Point when you act in opposition to your Core.

• Lose a Hero Point when one of your relationships is put in danger because of you.

• Lose a Hero Point if your secret identity is uncovered.

• Lose all your Hero Points when a relationship dies.

• Refresh your Hero Points between storylines.

FIGHTS

You have Health equal to your STA. Take away HEALTH when you suffer from attacks- roll POW to hit (perhaps AGL or SUP if appropriate), STA to resist. Most attacks with fists do d2, with mundane weapons do a d4, with firearms do a d6, and with magical/supernatural weapons do a d8.

When your Health reaches 0, you die unless you spend a Hero Point to keep yourself alive for a scene. If your body is not recovered by the end of it, you die, unless you spend a Hero Point to stay alive, and another Hero Point to pop back alive or reappear in the story in a moment of your choosing.

You go back to full Health in between storylines. You heal d6 Health every time you get quick medical assistance or a break to rest, or d12 if you get professional medical help or multiple days of rest.

DM NOTES

All the rolls can be player-facing, so you don’t need to prep monsters or mechanics past maybe a few notes on penalties or advantage/disadvantage. Keep your prep centered on the cinematics- what larger-than-life villain has cooked up a crackpot scheme? What strange new environment will the heroes have to fight their way through? How do the hero’s relationships tangle into the plots and threaten to tear their lives apart?

The core of the game is the exchange of Hero Points. Generally speaking, be harsh about draining their points early in the adventure so the final fights are climactic and motivated by the hero’s Cores. It’s that dynamic interplay there of communal story-building spurred on by the heroes and not the DM’s prep that really makes a game into a superhero story. That, and spandex.

If you have a DM screen, put the Hero Point list on it. That’s really all you need.

SAMPLE HEROES:

Brian Waid//Mothman

STA: 13

POW: 12

AGL: 11

SUP: 6

INT: 14

PER: 13

POWERS: Bazillionare, Utility Belt, Stealth

RELATIONSHIPS: Alf, the clueless butler

Lightie, the plucky sidekick

Sandra, the nosy reporter crush

HEALTH: 13/13

HERO POINTS: 6

Walter Weird//Professor Weird

STA: 9

POW: 8

AGL: 12

SUP: 17

INT: 15

PER: 10

POWERS: Sorcery (Teleportation, Energy Whip, Foresight)

RELATIONSHIPS: Anne, the mentoring dean

Grandmaster, the arcane pedagogue

Tan, the playful rival

HEALTH: 9/9

HERO POINTS: 17

There’s a lot of room to expand and refine, but I want to see what people think about this core, because I’m relatively uninitiated in the superhero canon. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Thanks, and happy gaming.

CARTILAGE, a lite MARROW hack

 CARTILAGE, an ultra-lite MARROW hack with a fun new character creation system to steal and a light chassis intended for chucking in new mechanics. This one is just for fun, especially to experiment with the character creation system. This game is designed to be super deadly, so for your first adventure, making 2 or 3 characters is a good idea, and even then, be at your smartest. The world is dangerous here.

STATS: STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA. 2d4+1 down the line.

VIGOR: Roll a d6 for your starting Vigor. Your starting Luck is 7 minus your Vigor.

OCCUPATION: Check the matrix below. Grants equipment and abilities.

ROLLING: If the outcome is unknown, roll a d20 equal to or under the relevant stat to succeed. Roll twice and take the better result (ADVANTAGE) if it deals with your occupation. Spend a point of Luck to reroll, but you must take that result.

FIGHTING: If you hit a creature with a weapon (STR for melee, DEX for ranged), they take d6 Vigor. If you hit them with a Spell, they take d8 Vigor. When a monster tries to hit you, roll DEX to dodge or CON to wither it.

MONSTERS: A small monster deals d4 Vigor, a normal monster does d6, a powerful monster does a d8, and legendary monsters can do a d10 or more. Roll twice the Vigor they deal for their own Vigor. Only named monsters get Luck to spend on players. Special abilities and strange immunities abound- most monsters are puzzles to be solved, not fodder to be killed.

DYING: If you ever drop below 0 Vigor, roll twice and take the worse result ALL the time. The next time you would lose Vigor, you instead die.

RESTING: A good night’s rest, requiring security, warmth, and nutrition (sufficient food and water), regains d6 Vigor.

LEVELING UP: Roll a d6 and add it to your Vigor, gain a point of Luck, and gain an ability relevant to a tribulation you faced (for example, if you survived the inside of Mt. Inferno, you’re immune to fire).

OCCUPATION MATRIX (standard fantasy style):

	1	2	3	4	5	6
S T R	FARMER Start with a pitchfork, a bag of magic seeds, and the ability to talk to plants	THUG Start with a cudgel, 5s of blood money, and the ability to automatically hit with attacks if you’re ganging up against a lone target	LABORER Start with worker’s tools, 5s of working comp, and the ability to do repetitive tasks without tiring	ATHLETE Start with a silver medal, the admiration of the hoi polloi, and the ability to automatically succeed on one STR roll a day	GUARD Start with a badge of the watch, a shitty spear, and the ability to secure audience with any upright military organization	PUGILIST Start with sweat-soaked boxing wraps, a selfish, wealthy patron, and the ability to use your bare fists like magical weapons
D E X	URCHIN Start with a pet mouse, a favor from the Beggar King, and the ability to never get lost	PICKPOCKET Start with a stolen set of lockpicks, a nondescript disguise, and the ability to choose to instead steal something on a successful attack	ACROBAT Start with a glitzy circus costume, a ten-foot vaulting pole, and the ability to bend in any way and climb horizontal walls	DUELIST Start with a training sword, the approval of your mentor, and the ability to attack twice with your signature weapon in a turn	MARKSMAN Start with a shoddy ranged weapon, a training dummy, and an immunity to visual impairment	ASSASSIN Start with oil as black as night, a contract signed in blood, and the ability to turn invisible for a minute once a day
C O N	LEPER Start with a terrible disease, a dog eared and pus-coated book of scripture, and immunity to diseases and poisons other than the one you’re currently plagued by	BEGGAR Start with an empty wooden bowl, the protection of the Beggar King, and the ability to listen to what the walls say	FISHER Start with a fishing rod, interminable patience, and the ability to talk to water-dwelling creatures	REFUGEE Start with a small rucksack of essentials, a family that misses you dearly, and the ability to speak with some type of object	VETERAN Start with a worn weapon, flashbacks to the Great War, and the ability to add 2 to damage you deal	TRAPPER Start with a rusty animal trap, a long coil of rope, and the ability to smell fear and distinguish predator from prey
I N T	ACADEMIC Start with a book of theory, 3 bright young students, and the ability to automatically know anything there is to know about your specialization	CRAFTER Start with a well-used set of tools, 5s from your last commission, and the ability to make one simple item per day with an hour of work	SCIENTIST Start with portable lab equipment, a vial of potent acid and indicator fluid, and the ability to identify a weakness of one creature you can see per day	ARCHITECT Start with an intricate compass, a grand vision, and the ability to discern the weakest point in a structure with an hour of inspection	APPRENTICE Start with a book of arcane theory, a fresh diploma from the Academy, and 3 Spells you can cast by taking d4 Vigor	CONDUIT Start with vibrant and unusually colored hair, eyes, or skin, a small familiar, and one powerful Spell you can cast by reducing your max Vigor by 1
W I S	MEDIC Start with a bag of salves and bandages, a dog-eared book of herbs, and the ability to heal 1 Vigor on your turn	SAGE Start with psychedelic herbs, a golden dreamcatcher, and the ability to invoke an idol that looks like an ethereal animal of your choice once each day for an hour	ARTIST Start with a half-finished magnum opus, a token of a lost love, and the ability to craft unerring forgeries	PRIEST Start with a book of practically memorized mantras, the accoutrements of worship, and the ability to beseech your god once a day.	PSYCHIC Start with a worn medallion from your grandma, a cracked crystal ball, and the ability to ask the freshly dead 3 questions	DETECTIVE Start with a magnifying glass, the admiration and jealousy of local law enforcement, and the ability to smell secrets
C H A	NOBLE Start with 10s, epicurean tastes, and the ability to call upon your family for favors any time, knowing they’ll expect services in return	MERCHANT Start with a small cart with a sickly horse, 5s, and the ability to procure objects related to the wares you sell at will, or, if improbable, know where to get them	CHARLATAN Start with the ball and cups, an unsavory connection to the underground, and the ability to make someone unflinchingly believe one lie you say per day	MUSICIAN Start with a well-loved instrument, a half-finished opera, and the ability to play a song that automatically induces an emotion of your choice once a day	POLITICIAN Start with opulent clothes, a winning smile, and the ability to spread nasty rumors like wildfire with an hour in a tavern	MESSIAH Start with the false benediction of a made-up god, a flimsy reputation built on lies, and the ability to placate a crowd as long as you’re proselytizing them

• Occupation matrix… gonzo fantasy style? Modern style? Old west style? Doctor Who style? Any number of possibilities afford themselves to this method

• You could port it into most any game

• 5e: instead of Vigor, do HD class (d6, d8...), replaces background

• ICRPG: Highest stat vs. highest EFFORT bonus

• MARROW: Just roll a d6? Nothing really compatible to Vigor

• Ancestry? Complex combat? Adventure structure? Classes? Crunchier resting/TURNS? Inventory slots? Mental slots? All sorts of things to add

GLoGtober is coming (I have a cool Cthulhu adventure coming down the pipe for day 14, and day 15 is so big it's still in the works), but in the meantime, have this new GLoGhack/character creation system. Next thing I'll want to do is an ICRPG version. Probably for Ghost Mountain, because westerns are cool. Thanks for reading, and I hope I inspired you in some capacity- I really think I've caught something cool with this hack.

Phlox's Triumphant Tri-Stat Challenge

I’m gonna go to Phlox’s wondrous tri-stat system generator and hit the button a bunch of times at random, then make a quick system from the top result.

NEW TESTAMENT, FREEDOM, VICI

Oh man, this is gonna be fun.

NEW TESTAMENT: Rhetoric, amiability, stealth, religious and medical lore

FREEDOM: Individual expression, art, skill, resisting

VICI: Fighting, joining the masses, rallying allies, menacing

The Empire has lived for a cosmic century. Their mines shatter virgin planets to oblivion, seeking MITHRIL. The Pontifex rules the Empire, keeping the genetically engineered masses down with rapturous drug-scripture. A messiah has risen on a backwater rim planet. The Empire thinks they are dangerous. The Empire sees all, has almighty power. Why are they afraid?

You are the resistance elite. All hail the Messiah.

To make a character, put 9 points among your stats. Roll under your stat on a d6 to succeed on rolls concerning it (so max 6, min 1). Your possessions include one weapon, one contraband item that expresses your individuality, a name you are afraid of speaking, and a shit-ton of weird-ass drugs.

When you fail an NT roll, mark a point of Frustration. The Messiah frowns on you- is this your mission? Remove Frustration upon reaffirming your faith, often with the help of opiates. If your Frustration exceeds 10, you rebuke the Cause, joining the Empire’s intoxicated slave armies.

When you fail a FR roll, mark a point of Collectivism. Your genes rebel against you, compelling you to join the herd. Remove Collectivism upon creating a work of art. Doing so on Empire technology is a bonus. If your Collectivism exceeds 10, you become a Husk, reverting to a tabula rasa state and following any order you are given by anyone, unable to speak.

When you fail a VC roll, mark a point of Wrath. You yearn to bash in skulls, be they the skulls of the Empire or even your allies under the Messiah’s Cause. Remove a point of Wrath by washing blood off your hands and popping a sedative. If your Wrath ever exceeds 10, your bloodlust cannot be satiated, and the Empire turns you into one of its JUGGERNAUTS.

When you destroy a chunk of MITHRIL, increase a stat of your choice by 1.

Fight until the Pontifex falls. Or you do. It’s all the same, in the end.