1.
CORE RULES
P&P is built around one simple rule: the Challenge Roll. Everything else in this book revolves around this
central mechanic. This chapter explains what Challenge Rolls are, how they work, and how to roll them.
Characters are also described in basic terms, but Chapter 2, Characters and Chapter XX, Friends and
Foes provide more detail about Heroes and NPCs respectively.
CHARACTERS
Characters are the beings that populate the game world. They include the Heroes run by the players and
the non-player characters or NPCs run by the GM. NPCs who oppose the Heroes are classified as
Minions, Foes, or Villains, depending on how powerful they are and how much of a threat they re
supposed to present. NPCs who play any other role in the game are Extras.
Characteristics
Characters possess the following characteristics: Role, Specialty, Abilities, Talents, Powers, Perks, and
Flaws. Roles and Specialties . Abilities are
inherent physical and mental attributes. Talents are aptitudes and trained skills. Powers represent a
variety of special abilities and characteristics. Perks are social or societal advantages, such as contacts,
fame, and wealth. Flaws are hindrances and limitations, whether physical, mental, or social.
Threat: The Minion Characteristic
Minions are the exception to these rules. Minions have only one characteristic, Threat, which they use in
place of all others. Whenever a Minion needs to make a roll or use a characteristic, they use their Threat
if they re fighting Heroes or doing anything else they ve been trained to do; otherwise, they use half their
Threat. For example, ordinary Minions use half their Threat when trying to sneak up on a Hero, but ninja
Minions should use their full Threat because ninja should be stealthy.
Trait Ranks
Abilities, Talents, Powers, and the Threat characteristic are called Traits. All Traits have a rank that
indicates how powerful they are and how they compare to other Traits. Trait ranks are measured in dice
and identified as Xd, with X being the number of 6-sided dice rolled when using the Trait. A greater rank
indicates a better Trait. For example, a character with 3d Might is stronger than one with 2d Might. The
average NPC has 2d in most Traits, but the average Hero is usually a cut above average.
CHALLENGE ROLLS
Any time you want to perform an action whose outcome is uncertain, you must make a Challenge Roll to
see how you do. The Challenge Roll determines who earns narrative control and gets to describe what
happens in the game world. Things work a little differently in combat, but
Challenge Rolls generally determine who narrates the outcome of an action.
When making a Challenge Roll, you roll a number of 6-sided dice equal to the Trait that applies to
whatever you doing, typically an Ability, Talent, or Power. You can only use one Trait when making a
Challenge Roll. If two or more Traits apply to a roll, use the one with the highest rank. You get one
success for every 2 or 4 rolled and two successes for every 6 rolled. Total your successes and subtract
Threshold (Thresholds are described below) to get your Margin.
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Your Margin determines who gets to describe how the action turns out, as shown on the Challenge Roll
table. As used on this table, the Actor is the person making the roll and the Opponent is the person
opposing or resisting the roll. Unless the Heroes are facing off against each other, the battle for who gets
to narrate the outcome of an action is usually fought between a player and the GM.
The GM can apply positive and negative modifiers (bonuses and penalties) to a Challenge Roll to account
for specific conditions and circumstances. No matter the penalty, a character can always roll at least one
die when making a Challenge Roll. However, the GM is free to rule certain actions impossible and not
allow a roll at all. In lieu of rolling the dice, players and GMs may take 1 automatic success for every 2
dice they choose not to roll, but they must announce this before making any rolls.
CHALLENGE ROLL
MARGIN NARRATIVE CONTROL
-2 or less Opponent
-1 to 0 Opponent with Embellishment
1 to 2 Actor with Embellishment
3 or more Actor
[SIDEBAR: CHECKING YOUR SWING]
Challenge Rolls are meant to be swingy. A lucky roll with lots of 6s can yield a surprising number of
successes, letting an underdog occasionally do much better than expected. If you want to reduce this
effect, have all even numbers generate only one success. When you eliminate the concept of having 6s
generate two successes, Challenge Roll results become much more predictable.
Thresholds
When making a Challenge Roll, the Threshold is the number of successes you need to beat. If you beat
the Threshold by at least 1, you succeed, but not by much. If you beat the Threshold by at least 3, you
succeed completely. The GM normally sets the Threshold for the roll by making an Easy (0) Challenge
Roll (called an Opposing Roll) for the character opposing the action. Their successes are used as your
Threshold. When an being resisted by an opposing character, the GM simply assigns a static
value using the Thresholds table as a guide.
Challenge Rolls against a static Threshold are often identified by their Threshold (difficulty and value)
followed by the Trait used to make the roll. For example, a character faced with a Daunting (3) Intellect
roll will have to beat a Threshold of 3 using Intellect to make the roll.
THRESHOLDS
DIFFICULTY THRESHOLD
Easy 0
Average 1
Hard 2
Daunting 3
Brutal 4
Inhuman 6
10
Superhuman 8
Legendary 10
Godlike 12+
Hiro is chasing a cyborg across the rooftops of New York. The cyborg leaps from one rooftop to the
next, and Hiro leaps after her. The GM calls for a Hard (2) Agility roll. Hiro has 6d Agility so he rolls his
dice and gets a miserable result: 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, and 5 ld
from his 1 success, Hiro winds up with a -1 Margin. This means the Opponent (the GM) gets to describe
how things go for our hero and Hiro can add an embellishment.
Embellishments
An embellishment means the person a
small but meaningful way. Embellishments are clarifications or additional details that expand the original
narration without contradicting it or rendering it meaningless. Embellishments must remain within the
scope of the original action bring entirely unrelated elements into play. They must
also be reasonable within the overall context of the game.
-1 Margin. The Opponent here the GM gets to describe the outcome of
that action, and Hiro gets to add an embellishment. The GM tells Hiro that he slips on a patch of oil,
cutting his jump short and causing him to miss the ledge. Hiro uses his embellishment to say that he
lands on a scaffolding some distance below the ledge. This is a valid embellishment. Invalid
embellishments would include saying that Hiro did in fact make it across, or that the cyborg he was
chasing faints and will be there waiting for him when Hiro gets back up to the roof.
Compromises
When someone else has the right to embellish your narration, you can offer a compromise. This means
you agree to describe a less-than-perfect outcome for your action in exchange for them giving up their
embellishment. Both sides must agree on the final narration to have a compromise.
[SIDEBAR: REGARDING NARRATIONS]
By making success and failure about narrative control, this system hopes to motivate creative
descriptions and unexpected outcomes. It gives everyone the chance to come up with interesting
results that add to story of the game. Although players are expected to describe outcomes in their favor
and GMs are expected to describe outcomes that work against the Heroes (to make Challenge Rolls
meaningful), narrations should usually involve more than a simple I win or you lose. Remember that every
narration is an opportunity to help create the emergent narrative of the game.
Judging Traits
The rules often tell you which Trait to use when making Challenge Rolls and Opposing Rolls, but they
will fall under an Ability or a Talent, and many will fall under both. If an action clearly falls under a Talent
knowledge, characters may use half the rank of whichever Ability is most
relevant to the action. GMs are free to decide how lenient they want to be with this rule depending on how
realistic (or unrealistic) they want their game to be.
Anna Arachnoid has 10d Agility, 8d Intellect, and 2d Covert. Having followed a supervillain to what
looks like an empty warehouse, Anna wants to sneak inside. The GM lets Anna use half her Agility to try
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use half her Intellect to try
deactivating the high tech security system she finds on the warehouse doors.
SIMPLE RESULTS
Not all Challenge Rolls are created equal. While no roll of the dice should ever be meaningless, some
Challenge Rolls have a clear either/or outcome and not a lot of room for flair. In these instances, the GM
may split the difference and rule that a Margin of 2 or more is a success and a Margin of 1 or less is a
failure. This is especially true when a simple succeed-or-fail result is all you need to keep the game
moving. come to mind, then simply let the
Challenge Roll determine whether an action succeeds or fails and move on.
TRADITIONAL RESULTS
Not everyone is comfortable narrating their actions. Some players find this intimidating. Others feel it kills
immersion by making them think like an author rather than
want to come up with a narration for every Challenge Roll when the dice hit the table, all they want to
know is whether they succeed or fail. If that describes you, . While these rules are
designed around rolling for narrative control, you can just as easily apply a more traditional framework of
rolling to determine success or failure by using the Traditional Results table. When using this table, the
GM determines the nature of all silver linings and complications. You can even mix and match these
systems, with some players using narrative results and others using traditional results.
TRADITIONAL RESULTS
MARGIN RESULTS
-2 or Less Complete Failure
-1 to 0 Failure with Silver Lining
1 to 2 Success with Complication
3 or More Complete Success
ASSISTED ROLLS
Many actions are easier to accomplish with an assistant or a team. When working with a single assistant,
your assistant makes their own Hard (2) Challenge Roll, and you gain a bonus on your Challenge Roll
equal to their Margin. For example, if your assistant winds up with a Margin of 2, you add +2d to your
Challenge Roll. The rules are the same when working with a team of up to three assistants, but the
Threshold for their Challenge Rolls rises to Daunting (3). Some tasks may require a large group of
assistants or support personnel, but only the top 3 are relevant for these purposes.
GROUP ROLLS
When a group of characters works together to do anything that requires a Challenge Roll, if at least half
the group succeeds, they all succeed. This applies only to cases where one failure would doom the whole
group, such as when sneaking into an enemy encampment or climbing a mountain while roped together.
INVESTIGATION ROLLS
can help them solve mysteries or advance the plot
of the story. A Hero who searches in the right area automatically finds all clues in that location, whether
obvious or hidden. The GM may ask a player to specify where they re looking, but looking in the right
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pful for finding clues, the
Investigation Talent has many other uses, including knowing where to look for clues, understanding how
to interpret clues, and determining where a trail of clues might lead next.
TIMED ACTIONS
Timed actions may be used when what matters is how long something takes rather than whether an
action succeeds. The re a useful way of handing actions that have a time limit (such as defusing a time
bomb) or determining how long the Heroes spend on a particular task. When rolling for a timed action,
you make a Challenge Roll every page, every minute, every hour, or at whatever other interval the GM
determines. Every success rolled is banked until you accumulate enough successes to complete the task.
When dealing with a timed action, success is assumed. The only question is how long it takes.
Timed actions are only useful when the Heroes are racing against a literal or figurative clock. Again,
defusing a time bomb is probably the best example, but so is decorating for a surprise party before the
guest of honor arrives. At the meta level, timed actions are a great way for the GM to add tension and
GM has called for a timed action at all.
When running timed actions, GMs should keep in mind that a Hero will score an average of 2 success for
every 3 dice they roll. While each roll will of course vary, this average can help the GM determine how
many successes a particular timed action should require. GMs should also remember that the tension of a
timed action comes from the players either not knowing how much time they have or knowing how exactly
how little time they have in which to accumulate the necessary number of successes.
COMPETITIONS
When two or more characters compete directly or try to accomplish the same thing at the same time
(think a race, a tennis match, or a game of chess), the one who rolls the most successes is considered
the Actor and uses the next best roll as their Threshold. The other character or characters are collectively
considered the Opponent when determining who gets to narrate what. This roll-vs-roll mechanic is the
you just about any situation.
Two mighty Heroes, Citizen Soldier and Gatecrasher, are putting on an arm-wrestling exhibition for
charity. Both have 12d Might
rolling and instead takes 6 automatic successes for his 12d. Gatecrasher, meanwhile, rolls 12 dice and
gets a 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, and 6, for a total of 7 successes (one for each 2, one for the 4, and
two for each 6). Because both characters are trying to do the same thing win the contest the one
successes, Gate ends up with a Margin of 1. Gatecrasher gets to describe how the arm-wrestling
contest plays out, but Citizen Soldier can add an embellishment to the narration.
CONTESTS
Some challenges are more dramatic and interesting when broken up over multiple rolls. These challenges
are contests, and they re broken down into a number of exchanges. Each exchange covers a separate
part of the overall task and requires its own Challenge Roll. Most contests involve 3 exchanges, but
especially long and arduous ones can have more if the GM can make each exchange interesting. For
example, a foot race with 3 exchanges could be broken down into sprinting through darkened alleys,
scrambling up building facades and fire escapes, and bounding across moonlit rooftops. The winner of
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each exchange can describe something that happens during that exchange think of this as an
embellishment and earns a +2d bonus on their Challenge Roll in the next exchange. Whoever wins the
final exchange gets to describe the overall outcome of the contest.
DEFINING MOMENTS
an established superhero team, there are
times when everything rests on your shoulders. If you find yourself in a situation
like this, you can do something extra special, called a Defining Moment. When you declare a Defining
Moment, it means yo going to give everything you have and then some.
In game terms, declaring a Defining Moment has two effects. First, it doubles the rank of whatever Trait
you re about to use. Second, if you have to make a Challenge Roll during your defining moment (and you
probably will), your 6s explode. This means that in addition to being worth two successes, you can reroll
each 6 to try for extra successes, and you can keep rerolling as long as you keep rolling 6s.
Defining Moments usually involve a single Challenge Roll and last no more than one page. However, they
can last longer if the action taken has to be maintained for a short while. For example, a Hero with super
strength might declare a Defining Moment to keep a building from collapsing long enough for the civilians
trapped inside to be rescued. Similarly, a charismatic Hero might declare a Defining Moment as they try to
make a Villain see the error of their ways, at least for a little while. Either way, the Defining Moment is
going to last longer than a p
Once a Defining Moment is over, you suffer the consequences of pushing yourself so hard. First, you
wind up physically exhausted, mentally drained, or both re out of action for
the rest of the scene. Additionally, the Trait used for the Defining Moment is reduced by one point. You
can buy this back up with Hero Points, but not immediately. You must spend at least 3 Hero Points in
other places before you can spend them improving the reduced Trait.
Experiencing too many Defining Moments can have even worse consequences. After you have your third
Defining Moment and every time thereafter, roll two dice and read them normally (for a result of 2 to 12). If
you ever roll less than the total number of Defi e last Defining
Moment damages you beyond repair. You might be killed, you could be rendered powerless, you may be
left so drained or overwhelmed that you decide to hang up the cape, etc. Exactly what happens is up to
you, but the end result is that your Hero must be retired from play.
Roleplaying Defining Moments
Defining Moments are really a narrative tool with mechanical oomph. When a player calls for a Defining
Moment, it means that something about that moment in the
willing to put everything on the line to succeed. Heroes are constantly fighting the good fight, challenging
supervillains, protecting civilians, and doing what they can to make the world a better place, all without
experiencing a Defining Moment.
Challenge Roll. They mean something to the Hero who experiences them, and that character should
somehow be changed by the Defining Moment, assuming they survive.
Along the same lines, GMs are encouraged to alter these rules to suit how they want to treat Defining
Moments at their table. Some groups will prefer to limit Defining Moments even more, allowing Heroes to
have only 3 before their careers end as discussed above. Other groups might prefer to soften these rules,
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limiting how often Defining Moments can happen . And GMs
who want to handle the consequences of a Defining Moment in a completely narrative manner tailored to
the hero and the particular situation are always free to do so. The most important thing is that Defining
Moments remain rare, special, and consequential for the Hero.
Defining Moments are much less impactful when playing a convention game or any one-shot game where
in games like these. However, if you want to allow them, any Hero that declares a Defining Moment in a
one-shot game should immediately be taken out of play for the rest of the game once their Defining
Moment passes. As usual, the player gets to describe what happens to their Hero. The player can then be
given another character to play if it makes sense within the story of the game, or they might just sit back
to watch wha
JUDGING THRESHOLDS
Threshold to make a particular action, remember the following guidelines: an
Average (1) Threshold will challenge an ordinary person, a Hard (2) Threshold will challenge a skilled
individual, a Brutal (4) Threshold will challenge an elite individual, an Inhuman (6) Threshold will
challenge an enhanced individual or a modest super, and a Superhuman (8) Threshold will challenge a
full-on superhero or supervillain. review the examples on the Sample Thresholds
table fine to wing it and go with whatever feels right.
SAMPLE THRESHOLDS
THRESHOLD EXAMPLES
bypass a simple interior lock ●
Easy
lost ● find a hidden clue ● hack a home computer ● sprint over uneven
(0)
ground without tripping ● stand on a narrow ledge
bypass a simple exterior lock ● convince a bodyguard to let you pass ● find a
Average hidden clue a detective might miss ● hack a typical office computer or server ●
(1) perform simple gymnastic maneuvers (flips, rolls, tumbles) ●
stand on a tightrope or walk across a narrow ledge
bypass a high-end home security system ● convince a police offic
Hard officially sanctioned consultant ● find a hidden clue a forensics expert might
(2) miss ● hack a cutting-edge computer system ● perform complex gymnastic
maneuvers ● run across a narrow ledge or walk across a tightrope
- ●
Daunting ● ●
(3) ● -
● ●
●
Brutal ●
(4) ● ●
●
- ●
Inhuman ●
(6) ● -
●
- ●
Superhuman ●
(8) ●
- ●
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bypass celestial or infernal security ● convince a celestial or infernal
being to change its very nature ● detect something beyond the sensory range
Legendary
of advanced technology ● hack the core of a sentient cyber-planet ● perform
(10)
legendary acrobatics (leap your way up a trail of falling
debris to reach the rooftop of a crumbling building)
convince an omnipotent cosmic being to change its very nature ● deduce
the past and predict the future using current information ● outsmart or sneak
Godlike
past an omniscient cosmic being ● perform impossible acrobatics (dodge
(12 or more)
raindrops to avoid getting wet during a storm; run across
a spray of machinegun fire or a pressurized stream of liquid)
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