MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS DevLog #2
Mechanics for a kitchen-sink PVP superhero RPG
Here’s how you roll dice in MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS.
Core Mechanics - Avoiding Power Levels
I set out to avoid trying to quantify superhero power levels because it’s a futile effort and I’m lazy. So, we’re lifting a concept from In a Wicked Age and using character drives instead of straightforward stats or attributes. So we’re going to integrate and tweak the original six Forms, and we’re going to try and quantify why super-powered people might do what they do:
MOTIVATIONS - What a character may fight for. For Myself and For Others are lifted from In a Wicked Age, and For Duty was added to partially buff character statblocks, but also because superhero media often involves belief systems - truth, justice, the American way, etc.
For Duty - For when a character acts out of obligation to some kind of belief or ideal which isn’t attached to something concrete. Consider Peacemaker, so dedicate to ‘peace’ that he’ll kill for it.
For Myself - For when a character does something out of self-interest or personal reasons. The MCU version of Scarlet Witch, or Booster Gold from DC would have high ratings in “For Myself.”
For Others - Classic altruism, someone who fights for the sake of others. Superman, Spider-man, those sorts of people.
APPROACHES - How a character might achieve their ends. Covertly and Directly are, once again, lifted from In a Wicked Age, and I added Methodically to represent precision and the like. I’m not entirely satisfied with the term “Methodically,” so it’s liable to change in future drafts.
Covertly - Used when a character acts with subterfuge or in a roundabout way. When Nightcrawler bamfs around or Martian Manhunter shapeshifts his way into a senate confirmation hearing.
Directly - When a character takes overt action against another. When Batman cracks a guy on the jaw, or when Cyclops blasts a hole in a building with his optic not-a-laser-beams.
Methodically - When a character acts with precision or in a thoughtful way. Again, I’m not entirely sure on whether this one fits in and it does seem to have a fair amount of overlap with the others. Something like Bullseye or Taskmaster. This might shift into something like ‘Roundabout,’ though I’d like it to stick with the ‘-ly’ form.
METHODS - The style of tools a character may use. These are entirely created for this system, as there are only six forms from In a Wicked Age. I’m particularly proud of these because they feel like they cover their own ground, and they all start with F.
With Finesse - Dexterity and agility, or mastery over movement or fine motor skills. Black Panther or Samurai Jack would have high With Finesse.
With Focus - Quick thinking or brainy actions. Mister Terrific and Doctor Doom (maybe) would use With Focus a lot.
With Force - Brute strength or calculated pressure. This doesn’t necessarily mean big and strong, it just means the character can leverage their powers well. Think Wolverine or Black Adam.
Mechanically, each of the nine Forms is assigned a die type at character creation (d4 through d12). During a fight, whenever a character takes an action, they choose the two most appropriate Forms for that action and roll them together. The outcome is based on the highest individual result of that roll.
Ooh, Big Punch
When a PC in MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS goes to stop another from doing something, the dice come out. I call it the, ONYFDYA Rule, which stands for “Oh, no you fucking don’t, you asshole.” The acronym is lifted from In a Wicked Age, but it feels like a good baseline for when conflict begins.
Everyone involved in the conflict does these things, in this order:
Describes what they do, assuming they go first in the conflict.
Decides which two Approaches fit that action most appropriately.
Roll those two dice and keep the highest individual roll.
So, Longpunch is going to try and take the resurrection formula from the table. Bone Dome, who created the serum in the first place, says, “Oh, no you fucking don’t, you asshole,” and goes to stop her.
The dice come out. Longpunch describes herself grabbing the serum vial and running. Bone Dome describes himself setting his skeletal minions on Longpunch to drag her away from his lab.
We’ll get into the superpower mechanics later.
Longpunch decides her action feels For Duty (to destroy the resurrection serum) and With Finesse (to snatch it quickly). Her For Duty is a d6 (she’s not very dutiful) and her With Finesse is d12 (she’s very finesse-y). So she rolls d12,d6 and gets 9,2. She keeps 9 as the highest.
Bone Dome decides his action feels For Himself (he wants to sell the serum for cash) and Directly (he’s directly acting against someone else). His For Himself is d10 (he’s relatively selfish) and his Directly is d8 (he doesn’t have much subtlety). He rolls 9, 5, keeping 9 as his highest.
It’s a tie, so we consult the next dice down - Bone Dome’s 5 stands. It’s not a great roll, but it’s what he starts with. His action stands. “My skeletons start to crowd you and push you towards the door.”
After dice are rolled, the one with the standing action declares who they challenge - sometimes it’s clear, sometimes it needs to be declared. This is a pretty cut-and-dry situation here, so Longpunch has to respond to the challenge. They have to, again, describe their action and act from the position of having been put on the backfoot.
Longpunch describe their character getting bodied towards the door. “I’m going to try and leap over the skeletons, run along their heads, and leg-drop you,” she says. It might sound over the top, but this is a superhero game, so chill out and let it fall on the dice. Now Longpunch chooses the two most appropriate Approaches for that action: “This sounds like Directly and With Force.” Those are a d10 and a d8, respectively. She rolls a 4,3, keeping 4. Even with Bone Dome’s 5, she doesn’t come out on top.
After everyone responds to the challenge, we check numbers:
If the responder rolls EQUAL TO HALF or LESS THAN HALF of the challenger’s highest die, they are out of the conflict and reduce one Approach by a die size. The worst outcome for the character.
If the responder MATCHES or rolls LESS THAN the challenger, but MORE THAN HALF, they lose advantage. The challenger gains MOMENTUM (more on that later). Then, if the responder rolled SMALLER dice than the challenger and it’s the first round of the conflict, that character goes on THE ROSTER (more on that later).
If the responder BEATS but does NOT DOUBLE the challenger, the responder gains MOMENTUM.
If the responder rolls DOUBLE OR MORE than the challenger, OR if the responder has d20 MOMENTUM and rolls higher, they win outright.
For this roll, Longpunch’s 4 is less than but not doubled by Bone Dome’s 5, so the round goes to Bone Dome.
Longpunch sighs and describes how her character manages to run across the skeletons, but slips on one of them and whiffs her leg-drop.
If there was anyone else present in the match who has not challenged or responded, then they would make a challenge now. But, because Bone Dome made a challenge (which used his action) and Longpunch responded (which also used her action - because challenging someone always runs the risk of getting yourself doubled on the repsonse), it’s a new round.
Because Bone Dome won, he gains MOMENTUM. This is a scaling die which is always added to a character’s highest roll. It starts at d4 and every time a character wins a challenge, goes up a die size to a d20. If a character has d20 MOMENTUM and wins, regardless of if it’s doubled, then they win outright.
Conflicts go until one character beats all the rest, or everyone manages to concede and work out an end to the conflict. Considering each character should have their PURSUITS pointed at each other, there shouldn’t be a lot of common ground.
Why Did I Choose This
The initial conflict system comes from In a Wicked Age, with some changes. In that game, the Advantage Die is just a d6, and conflict only ever lasts 3 rounds. While this produces rapid fights with the back-and-forth phrasing of old movies, I wanted something a little more knock-down drag-out, and this seemed appropriate.
Originally Momentum capped at d12 and the fight just went until someone doubled someone else, but early playtests led to very long fights where people were getting tired of it. Capping Momentum at d20 not only adds an absurdly large range of possible outcomes, but it gives a distinct spot to end a fight - wherein one character has amassed such a string of victory that it’s difficult to claim they haven’t won just by virtue of consistency.
Next Time…
I’m going to talk about how I’m handling powersets, drawbacks, and maybe alignments. Maybe HEAT as well, but that’s a whole thing.
Thanks for reading.