Superteam: Team Creation part one January 13, 2009
Posted by boymonster in design.Tags: superteam
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Creating a Super Team
The first thing your group needs to decide is how experienced the team is. There are three experience levels: Rookie, Veteran, and Seasoned. The Teen Titans are a Rookie team to begin with, although they’re now Veterans. The Justice League is definitely a Seasoned super team. More experienced teams tend to have more powerful heroes, although this isn’t always the case. Sometimes they just have more of them, and sometimes they’re just better equipped to handle the bad guys.
| Experience Level | Types | Team Dice | Trait Dice | Trouble Dice | Rookie | 1 each | 8d6 | 3d8/5d6 | 2d4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veteran | 2 each | 12d6 | 2d10/4d8/6d6 | 4d4 |
| Seasoned | 3 each | 16d6 | 1d12/3d10/5d8/7d6 | 6d4 |
Types are specific character archetypes that represent responsibilities and roles within the team structure. When a team member is created, he or she is given at least one type, with more experienced teams having team members that cover more bases. Types aren’t rated by dice; they come as a sort of package of statistics that define what the team member does and how they handle mission elements. When added together, all of a team member’s Types create the team member’s profile.
Team Dice are a pool of dice that represent the integrity of the super team, their support of one another and their ability to marshal their own resources to accomplish great deeds. They don’t belong to any one member of the team, but are assigned as needed on each mission. Team Dice are always six-sided dice.
Trait Dice are assigned to individual team members and represent the special abilities, talents, and qualities possessed by those team members. Trait Dice come in various die sizes, with larger dice representing more raw power or effect. For instance, Wonder Girl of the Teen Titans is assigned 2d8 and 1d6 Trait Dice, which the group writes down as Strength of Atlas 1d8, Flight of Hermes 1d6, and Lasso of Truth 1d8. Traits may increase or change during play, and some Types provide additional built-in Traits. Team members may also acquire extra Trait Dice in exchange for adding Trouble Dice.
Trouble Dice represent the areas in which the team is vulnerable or weak. This includes mascots, loved ones, legal connections, and other aspects which, while useful and able to be called upon if needed, are also potential areas in which the team can be attacked, manipulated, or otherwise harmed. A super team with Connections to the United Nations 2d4 may bring in its UN connections but is also vulnerable to influence from the UN, meaning it doesn’t have the independence or autonomy it might like to have. Likewise, a super team with Connections to the Criminal Underground might be able to pull in informants or listen to the word on the street, but this could backfire and make them wanted by the authorities or even branded as criminals themselves.
I spent a little time fiddling with those numbers in the table. Initially, I was going to have all Trait Dice be d8, but I really liked how Dogs (and In a Wicked Age, for that matter) use variable die sizes for things like that.
Quite accidentally, but perhaps for the best, the number of Trait Dice is equal to the number of Team Dice. The difference is that Team Dice are all six-siders.
It’s no accident however that Trait Dice, Team Dice, and Trouble Dice all start with T.
Are villains and environmental/socio-political events going to be rated by “Threat Dice?”
That’s a good idea, actually! Initially I was going to have each mission rated by Trouble, with the Trouble a group generates being added in as it’s used or activated. But I like the idea of Threat Dice with Trouble acting as an additional factor against the super team.
Trouble is supposed to be helpful, but only in a minor way (hence it’s all in d4s). Whenever it’s used, though, it generates Trouble that can hinder or be exploited by the opposition later. The classic example is a sidekick, who seems to be helping out a lot until he’s kidnapped and the heroes have to work around that in order to save the sidekick. If they don’t resolve the Trouble, they don’t get to use it later on themselves.
In a way, it’s a bunch of dice passed back and forth between the players and the GM. You have to resolve your Trouble in order to have it available again.
I like that mechanic, it really stresses the importance of implementing subplots. It encourages roleplaying, by quantifying the Trouble “construct” as a roll-playing element.
Hiya Cam.
I’d like to add some comments, as I’m a person who loves Batman/Superman Best of Both Worlds fights, and I’m a fan of the Incredibles, Young Justice, and Teen Titans and Justice League.
I like what you have so far, but I was thinking of things like Tag-Team fights. Remember Incredibles, where Violet and Dash combine their powers to be that fast rolling ball of protection?
I might also recommend an anime called Full Metal Alchemist. There’s a nice combo where Armstrong can launch a charged piece of rock and Mustang can super heat the rock into explosive shrapnel.
There’s one Young Justice comic, where Robin, Superboy and Impulse are fighting a gaseous creature. Robin directed Impulse to run fast, creating a wind vortex that funneled the creature into a contain held by Superboy.
If there was a specific mechanic that handles and even promotes the players (and villians) to pull group combos like that, I think you’d have something other game systems lack.
Weldon
Sounds like a good use of Team Dice.
Yes, this is part of what Team Dice are for. However, certain Traits will lend themselves well into using Team Dice to coordinate attacks and use of powers, such as Fearless Leader or Team Player.
I really do want to cover all of the necessary bases so that the game will serve to properly reflect what super teams do in the comics and on cartoons. Working together (and having the players come up with how they do that) is essential.