Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8352627" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/QoHD51S.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> Supers & Spheres: the Spheres System for Supers & SorceryA world where kaiju roam in the wild lands beyond the mountains. A world with a city that sits at the center of an extraplanar network of myriad realities. Every 20 years brings a new generation of empowered individuals, some of whom use their newfound talents for selfless virtue, others for selfish vice.Major Traditions: Reflecting comic book tropes and origins for its inspirational material, there’s no true limit to Beacon’s casting and martial traditions. The linked worlds dotting Portal Plaza draw people from planes of existence both familiar and foreign, adding to the diversity.Advanced/Legendary Talents: All advanced and legendary talents can be taken in the world of Beacon.Technology Level: Beacon operates at a higher technology level than most settings. Magical items and advanced technology combine together to grant Modern-era conveniences to the city’s inhabitants, while many super-science devices push things into the Futuristic era. Standard pseudo-medieval technology is still in widespread use in terms of weapons and armor, although superheroes are rarely constrained by such limitations.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/znnAqyB.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> New Rules & SubsystemsStarting Tier: Barring a few exceptions, superhero RPGs operate on a higher level of power than Dungeons & Dragons. It doesn’t feel very “super” when your PCs are struggling against mundane foes. As many Advanced talents come into play at 11th level, which itself is Tier 3 Masters of the Realm, that can serve as an ideal starting level for Supers & Sorcery PCs.Sidekicks: Instead of using the sub-par options in the default Supers & Sorcery sourcebook, PCs desiring sidekicks can gain that package for free from the Leadership sphere. PCs who don’t want a sidekick can instead gain the followers package, representing various contacts and allies they built over their crime-fighting career. PCs don’t gain proficiency in Persuasion by default this way, nor do they gain a bonus talent in the sphere if they already are proficient. PCs without access to Martial Training or Blended Training can still spend talents in Leadership if they wish to enhance their sidekicks/followers.I Have Just the Thing! PCs who have an artisan/inventor-style background, a well-stocked headquarters, or a trusty utility belt can spend Inspiration to have a convenient portable item on hand. Most mundane items can be gained without restriction, although magic items are limited by rarity. The magic item’s rarity varies depending on the Tier of Play: Common for Tier 1, Uncommon for Tier 2, Rare for Tier 3, and Very Rare for Tier 4. The magic item is single-use, and a PC must finish a long rest before being able to spend Inspiration this way again.Defy the Ground: Flying is an extremely common superpower, but long-term flight in the basic rules is hard to attain outside of race and special mounts. Although Supers & Sorcery has a new feat and magical items granting permanent flight, enhancing existing sphere talents is also a viable option.All PCs who have access to martial spheres gain the Sparrow’s Path talent of the Athletics sphere for free, or a similar talent which sufficiently enhances movement in some manner such as Rope Swing or Spider’s Touch (also both Athletics). PCs with access to magical spheres gain the Pushed Movement talent of the Telekinesis sphere for free, although the initial casting is 0 spell points instead of 1, or a magical talent which grants them flight or other forms of enhanced movement in a direct or indirect manner such as the Alteration sphere’s Avian talent or the Conjuration sphere’s Aerial Creature talent. In all such cases the PC doesn’t gain access to the base sphere abilities, only the benefits of the specific talent.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/FxHAgeb.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> Popular ArchetypesIt is of this poster’s opinion that the default Class and Subclasses of Supers & Sorcery aren’t that good, so designing archetypes closer in line to traditional comic book heroes is a better option than faithful conversions of Beacon’s existing options. A lot of superpowers can be replicated by default sphere options as opposed to entire builds (Destruction/Nature/Weather for elemental control, Illusion for Invisibility, the Dark sphere’s One With the Void for Intangibility), so the below options focus on more involved, wide-ranging, and less conventional superpower options.Regeneration/Immortality: The Life sphere’s various advanced talents combined with the Regenerate variant do a good job of simulating an amazing healing factor. The Quicken metasphere talent frees up their action slot, while Contingency combined with Resurrection or Greater Resurrection allows the character to come back from the dead if slain.Super-Strength: The Conscript’s Brawler subclass option allows a character to push, drag, lift, shove, and grapple as 1-2 size categories large depending on level. Combined with the Brute sphere’s Muscular Surge this can add up to a total of 3 size categories. The Athletics, Brute, and Wrestling sphere talents have many good options: adding double proficiency to Athletics via the Athletics sphere’s Training or Brute sphere’s Greater Brute is practically required to be a good grappler. The Brute sphere’s Legendary talents have the most iconic “super-strength superpower” options like Earthquake Stomp and Terrain Trasher. For weapon/damage types, the Equipment sphere’s Unarmed Training is a common thematic choice, as is the Barroom sphere’s Brutal Breaker base ability and the fragile talents for use of improvised weapons. For ranged combat the Equipment sphere’s Rock Toss allows the character to throw all kinds of objects and people, while Wrestling’s Living Weapon lets them use creatures as melee weapons. For teamwork, Telekinesis’ Dampening Field allows thrown creatures to negate damage from being used as a projectile. The Retribution Sphere’s Launching Uppercut and the Brute Sphere’s Perpetual Motion and Throw talents are alternative ways of throwing creatures.For less directly offensive feats of super-strength, talents such as the Athletics sphere’s Mighty Conditioning, Strong Lungs, Sure Grip, and Legendary Talents such as Shark Swim and Terrain Glide are good means of showing off one’s superhuman athleticism.Superman Powers: A faithful representation of Superman is beyond the scope and means of 5th Edition. But replicating some of his common powers can still be done, if at a lower magnitude. The Super-Strength option above represents his physical feats, while flying can make use of bonus talents gained from the new Defy the Ground rule. X-ray vision can be emulated via the Divination sphere’s Unobscured Vision talent, while the Viewing talent and Scrying can represent super-senses that can extend great distances. Advanced Senses plus Expanded Divination can grant a host of additional sense types. The Protection sphere’s Breathless and Adaptation talents allow one to ignore most negative environmental conditions and a host of damage resistances.Speedster: The Athletics, Time, and Warp spheres are the most appropriate for this superpower. The Warp sphere’s Flawless Teleport combined with True Teleport can represent being able to show up virtually anywhere instantly, while Planeshift can replicate going so fast that one crosses into another era or reality. The Warp sphere’s Spatial Reach can further increase movement and reach for melee attacks, while the Telekinesis sphere’s Speed Zone and Pushed Movement talents can make one move even faster! The Nature sphere’s air geomancy package can emulate super-speed’s ability to generate powerful air currents.For smaller-scale applications of super-speed, the Athletics sphere’s Rapid Motion, Afterimage, Flash Step, and Speed Boost talents are the most appropriate for covering great distances on a round-by-round basis. The Time sphere’s Adjusted Frequency and Shift Time talents can grant additional actions and movement to a limited degree, while Time Freeze and eventually Time Stop is a good means of representing how the character can flawlessly react and even dodge incoming harm.Web-Slinger: Replicating New York’s favorite wall-crawler is relatively easy in the Spheres system. A martial tradition that grants Unarmed and Unarmored Training helps represent the nimble fighting style. For the web-shooters, the Alteration sphere’s Vermin genotype talent grants one the ability to create restraining webs, and the Aberrant Body talent’s Tendril option can also be used as a long-ranged version for grappling far-off targets. The Destruction sphere’s Restraining blast type talent can replicate using the webs as a ranged weapon, ideally combined with the Explosive Orb, Ray, Sculpt, and/or Tether blast shape talents. For the stranger objects Petey made web material out of, the Creation sphere is a good choice, along with some appropriate talents such as Complex Creation and Magnify/Minimize.The Athletics sphere has some important choices, such as Rope Swing, Wall Stunt, and the ever-so-appropriate Spider’s Touch. Various spider-themed gadgets can be represented via the Tinkerer sphere, such as Recording Gadgets for those hot-selling Daily Bugle shots.Mecha/Power Armor: The Artisan class with the Technician subclass grants the ability to create a self-augmenting suit. Flight and super-strength have been previously covered in earlier entries, although as the Artisan only has access to martial spheres barring multiclassing or the Magical Training feat, its options are more limited than a gish. The Tinkerer sphere’s Collapsible Weapons, Integrated Weapon, Melee Weapon Improvement, Ranged Weapon Improvement, Weapon Damage Pack, and the Modern/Futuristic Firearms and Melee Weaponry talents can replicate a wide variety of onboard weapons systems. The Alchemy sphere’s various damaging formulae do the same for various energy damage types and AoE in the cases of Bomb, Dynamite, and Fragmentation Grenade talents. Suit Improvement can directly enhance the Technician’s suit, while invention options of that subclass which increase its size can emulate the mecha end of the spectrum.Rebounding Shield: This build is surprisingly light on talent expenditures. The Equipment shere’s Throw Shield and Throwing Mastery turn shields into a boomerang-like weapon. The Shield sphere can enhance this further, such as the Cover Ally and various deflect talents. Redirecting Shield and Perfect Redirection allows one to redirect spell attacks, while Extensive Defense can create a multi-target ricochet to defend multiple nearby allies at once. The Sniper sphere’s Deadly Shot talent and the Tinkerer sphere’s Ranged Weapon Improvement talent allows one to throw the shield farther more effectively.</blockquote>

Verification