Four-Color to Fantasy: Superhero Toolkit

[javadragon]

Sorry about taking so long to answer comments. Believe it or not I couldn't figure out how to post a reply for the longest time. Reason? I wasn't logged in DOH!

Okay first to Halifax:

Calm down take a deep breath. I said it was average, not awful, and not even poor.
Now I'm sorry if you feel that this game was not intended to be used as a full supers genre book. But I was told that it was more than just an "powers" add on for D&D.
I was even told (I think it was Ranger Wicket, it was definitely one of the writers) that it could even handle the Green Lantern. But I just don't see it. TO be honest though GL is one of the hardest to do in any system.

Okay now for Ranger Wickett:
* Your first point. Certainly valid, especially in the olden days. However, I think the tendency in comics today is to "humanize" the heroes showing them getting tired more often/pushed to the limit. I think I've seen Spiderman beat to a pulp more times in the last 2 years than in the entire 80's .

* Second Point. Admittedly these are usually bit hero's not the main stars.

* Third point. I'm not really sure how Dynamic powers lead to "trying to beat the system". But you clearly don't like them and didn't want them. I have no problems with this as it is your product and you can do whatever you want in it. I personally feel dynamic powers are a must for any hardcore supers game. Personnel preference maybe but I think you will find many supers gamers agree with me on this one.

* Fourth point. I was talking about someone like Iron Man here (maybe I should have stated Powered Armor?). I never said it couldn't be done but I think it is a common enough occurrence in comics to warrant a template. I think a template would really help new people out who aren't used to creating super heroes with toolkits.


* Fifth point. Okay I guess what I was trying to say is I want my gun toting maniac (heroes) to be able to go John Woo! What do I mean by this? Well if you look in Deeds Not Words (not saying this is a perfect product either) check out stuff like gun-fu! I guess what I'm saying is if one guy gets to throw a city buss the punisher guy should be able to do more than take 4 shots in a round . I know it might slow things down but it allows for cool matrix like scenes where 2 people take out a whole room full of minions without breaking a sweat.

Finally I never said that this isn't a good product. But I would like to warn people that are looking for a hardcore supers game (like me) that this probably isn't it. You want a couple of cool powers or an easy basic "comic like" game? Great go out and grab a copy immediately!

Anyways wait until my review for Deeds Not Words Comes out. I don’t give it a 5/5 either. Know why? Because it’s not perfect! It will get a 4/5 I think, because while it has some minor problems it really captures the Comic book genre “feel”. I think it will be my system of choice until M&M is out. I’ve been closely watching SAS and fear that the power levels are not granular enough. For instance there is a huge increase in power level from level 9 to level 10.

 

[javadragon]

P.S. Am I blind or are there no rules for knock back/knocking some one through a wall/object ?
If I'm just missing it please ignore, but I don't remember seeing these rules.

 

[javadragon]

PPS: I really don't like the roll lots of D20's idea. But I didn't dislike it enough to put it into the review. Although I can certainly see where you are coming from on this one. Heres my take. It should be really easy to hit or save from someone that is lower powered than you. There really should only be a chance of failure if you are fighting with some one at your "Level". Again just my thoughts on the comic genre. I think lots of heros could crush other heros without any rolls at all (you never no though which is why a 1 is a always a failure). I think your system allows for much lesser guys to challenge much bigger guys in a way that doesn't really show how easily superman could destroy batman in a one on one real fight (ie. none of the Bat's tricks like fake Kryptanite).

 

[Matt Black]

I picked this up because the cover looked good. Certainly the best cover out ofthe superhero pdfs. Lucky for me, the content was pretty darn good too!

This is a very modular approach to superhero gaming. It's designed to be affixed to another d20 game, so you could end up with a fighter superhero, a soldier superhero or whatever depending on what game you're playing. I think that's a great approach because it makes this book very, very flexible. I can imagine attaching it to something like Darwin's World for a post apocalypse mutant game or to Spycraft for a modern superhero game. Dragonstar would go well with it too - superheroes in space. The idea of superheroes in D&D is pretty interesting. I'd never thought of that before and was a bit sceptical, but I'm warming to the idea - get rid of the spandex and superheroes fit right in!

I love the approach to powers. I know it;s been done before, but these powers are effect-based. This means that you decide how they work. The character I am creating has a batwing type airplane, and in these rules that means that it's a combination of Flight, Superspeed, Projectile Attack (for the guns) and maybe I'll add in some armor. Then you just apply the gadget restriction, which reduces the cost a bit, choose the size of the gadget (it will need to be pretty big to be a plane) and voila!

Superfeats are about how you use your superpowers. Really, they're like meta-feats for magic. They are tricks or enhancements to a power. One example is Earthquake Trip, where someone with enough super strength can stomp the ground and cause people nearby to fall over.

The background rules are from Spycraft. They were cool in Spycraft, and they suit supers games even more, I think. The reputation rules are cool too - they seem like the supers version of randomencounters, where the more famous you are, the more likely it is that you'll be attacked in some way each week. The cool thing is that these encounters are supposed to flesh out your character, so if the media doesn't like you then the attack might be bad press in the newspapers.

The power list has about 60 powers. They're all the basic ones, really, like Flight, Invulnerability, Superspeed, Superstrength etc. etc. According to the website, there will be another book soon full of superpowers, and this will completely remove this game's only weakness (as long as the book is good, of course!)

Art is great, comic book style. Pictures fit the text. The whole thing looks nice, and it isn't too hard on your printer either.

Defintely the best D20 Supers game out there. I hope it gets supported well - it would be a shame to leave it at just this book. A superpowers book, a couple of adventures and maybe a hall of heroes and villains type of book would be good.

 

[Tuerny]

Four Color Fantasy is the latest in Natural 20 Press’s line of d20 supplements. Designed to serve as a tool kit for building campaigns with a super heroic theme or adding a little something to a more traditional fantasy game.

Layout:

Four Color to Fantasy is a ninety-nine page, full-color, .pdf document. It is organized into eight chapters and two appendices with a table of contents in the front. It lacks, however, an index. The art varies from mediocre to good, with none of the pieces being particularly exceptional. The titles have problems with font size and formatting on occasion, and this offsets the organization of the document slightly.

The .pdf bookmark function is present but not implemented very well. Rather than properly categorized chapter and subchapter headings there is merely a list of topics. Some of the subtopics are set in bizarre places, and there are no indications where one chapter ends and another begins.

Chapter One: “Super-powered Rules and Mechanics”

Chapter One introduces the basics of the super-powered rules and mechanics provided in this book. Key terms are introduced as well as some optional rules that are useful in the genre.

The first item to be introduced is backgrounds, which are special plot hooks that are supposed to be brought up each adventure in exchange for an experience point bonus. Every time it is introduced you gain a number of bonus xps depending on the initial outlay. None are really beneficial to the character, but instead add depth and interesting subplots. They can appear as a focus or a minor part of a plot resulting in slightly different awards. According to the rules if a background goes unused for three sessions you can cash it in for an experience point bonus. I think this rules is kind of unnecessary. If the DM does not want to use backgrounds he will just disallow. Also, having a rule that says if you do not use my cool thing I get a large bonus is not really a dynamic that belongs in any but an antagonistic game and will more than likely lead to an argument or two if it is brought up.

The next item to be introduced is reputation. Reputation provides a measure of a character’s presence and impact on the world, including both your public identity and any secret identities you may or may not have. By default it starts at ten and increases as your level increases. There is also an option to generate it randomly using 2d4. However, the maximum reputation you could get with this is an 8, which by comparing it to the table results in the character being the equivalent of a homeless bum who noone would ever know had disappeared. It would have been better if they had had it be 10+-1d4 with a control die to determine if it was going to be greater or less than 10.
The last item is “Hyper rolls”, a mechanic for handling modifiers above +20. For every additional +10 you have, instead of getting a flat bonus you roll an additional d20. This is a great mechanic, both providing a chance for failure when making critical rolls and allowing the character to be rewarded for his exceptional scores.


Chapter Two: “Creating a Character”
Chapter Two introduced two new classes: the Hero, and the Specialist

The Hero is the default superhero character. The Hero’s class abilities center entirely around the gaining of new hero points, which are used to buy super powers as he goes up in level. The class itself gets poor hit dice advancement in practically everything else. Hit dice are only d4, skill points are nonexistent, and attack bonuses and saves all follow the poor advancement chart. This class is designed for use in conjunction with other classes.

Specialists are an alternative to the rogue, providing a way to produce a hero-level skill competent character without requiring the acquisition of rogue levels. It provides the largest base amount of skill points of any class thus far, along with a collection of abilities that are based around using these skills. This class can serve as a nice addition to almost any game that has heroic characters that are defined by their skills but do not really fit the sneak attacking rogue model.

Four prestige class are also introduced: The Detective, the Gadgeteer, Menacing Vigilante, and the Mentor. Each of these provides samples of heroic archetypes (ranging from Batman to Professor X) that are common within modern superhero comics. They are mechanically well balanced and have interesting, appropriate special abilities.

Heroic templates is the last concept introduced in this chapter, providing a basis for superhero abilities that are common among many types of heroes or even an entire race. Rules for building them are provided, as are several sample templates. One of these is a super-powered race (clocked in at having powers equivalent to that of a level fifty character), another a race genetically altered to have spider powers, and the last three are examples of three types of super-hero archetypes: the brick, the blaster, and the flyer.

Chapter Three: “Hero Points & Super-powered Characters”
Chapter Three introduces the core mechanic of the d20 system upon which super powers rests on and covers a broad array of different facets related to superhero gaming.

The first thing covered is possibilities in the execution of super-powers. Each super-power has set, defined basic power template with further customization to the ability based on the amount of hero points an individual spends on the ability. Additional generic modifiers, called enhancements, which cost points, and restrictions, which reduce a powers cost, are also available The origins of super powers are left flexible, with options ranging from mutations, to alien heritage, to mystical abilities, to gadgets and more. This particular topic is concluded with an in-depth discussion of the most complicated explanation of super power origins: Gadgets.

The second item discussed is the creation and selection of super powers. Some guidelines for translating spells to super powers are discussed, as are arguments for why specializing too much in a single type of super-power is probably a bad idea, and how to spend points for character advancement. This section in particular helped in the analysis of how balanced the system was, providing some insight into the methodology used for the creation of the system and how it was implemented.
The final item discussed, and probably my favorite, is the section on Heroic Powers, which provides a feat that allows characters in a more traditional fantasy campaign to trade magic item potential for hero points. It provides an excellent way to keep the power balance as suggested in the DMG while still maintaining a lower level of magical objects than the norm.

Chapter Four: “Super Feats and Heroic Tactics”

Chapter Four’s first section covers twenty new super-power feats such as Earthquake Trip, which lets those individuals with a large enough strength trip people by causing an earthquake, and Faster than a Speeding Bullet, which lets you make one five step reaction per turn allowing you to either step in the path of or away from a single melee or ranged attack per round. Each of these feats has some sort of super power as a prerequisite and is primarily used as skilled applications of an existing power, rather than an entirely new ability.

The second section is on Heroic tactics, with its primary area of discussion being unusual circumstances that might arise from using the rules presented in this book. Most of the material centers on the unique situations arising from the use of super strength and super speed. The coverage it gives to these topics is quite extensive and handles most situations that would arise from using these two rules topics.

Chapter Five: “Creating a Supers Game”

Chapter Five covers how to create a game using the rules included in this discussion. Its primary focus is a discussion of the various facets that define a game: setting, tone, and power level, including several examples and how individual examples may vary within themselves. Also discussed are explanations of heroic powers, character creation and advancement, and playing a super-heroic character. This chapter does an excellent job of presenting to the GM the questions that he needs to answer before running this sort of campaign.

Chapter Six: “Dark Decade”

Chapter Six provides details of a sample campaign setting called the “Dark Decade.” Set in the eighties’ New York, it presents a setting in which vampires and other dark creatures live in parallel to the world we know about. The heroes take the role of individuals who are powered by magic, the divine, or technology to fight the supernatural like no normal character can. A sample game is presented with an overview of the characters being created, how the character’s backgrounds can influence the intricacies of the campaign, some sample adventure locations, and a grab-bag of adventure ideas. The chapter finishes up with some sample monsters and campaign villains, including a hero level package for a “Dark Decade” vampire.

Chapter Seven: “Sample Characters”

Chapter Seven introduces five sample characters representing a variety of different genres and settings ranging from pulp 30s detective stories to near future to alternate earth steampunk, to traditional fantasy. The fantasy character, Zidi Wheatling the Halfling Titan, is particularly interesting and provides a good example of how you can use this material in a traditional fantasy campaign.

Chapter Eight: “Super Powers”

Chapter eight, the final chapter in Four Color to Fantasy provides what most people are looking for in a super hero game: the powers. Seventy-two super powers are provided, providing the basis to explain many abilities found in anime and comics. The abilities each provide a basic power and a number of power-specific enhancements and restrictions. Going by traditional sensibilities, many of these powers, such as Haste, which gives a permanent extra partial action per round, and Heal Wound, which allows you to translate normal damage to subdual damage, or even remove it entirely with more points, seem to be a bit extreme. However, when considering the number of hero points required to get the basic ability and what the basic class offers, it comes out to being fairly balanced. The chapter wraps up with a selection of generic super power enhancements and restrictions that can be applied to most powers.

Appendices:

The book ends with a pair of appendices. The first one provides books from other publishers that it might be useful to use Four Color to Fantasy with as well as a large section on modern-day gaming.


Four Color to Fantasy is very flexible, being able to accomodate everything from relatively low-powered Batmanesque superhero comics, to high-powered anime along the lines of Dragonball Z. It truly fits the toolkit descriptor and I hope that future Natural 20 Press offerings are able to fit into this mold as well.

I am not traditionally a super-hero genre fan. Comics are interesting to read and I admit I to owning a few graphic novels, but it never grabbed me like heroic fantasy did. However, while reading this book I couldn’t help but wonder what running, or better yet playing in, a super hero campaign would be like. While I doubt I will run out and start a super-hero game anytime soon (I love my Indiaesque fantasy campaign too much), I have a feeling that I will be using there suggestions for using the material in a fantasy setting very soon. Like next week.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Ranger Wickett

Another hero who multipies himself (not all that common a power unless you're playing Freedom Force and are being beaten unmercifully by that guy with the ray gun) was the old Multiple man from X-Factor... any normal blow caused him to split into two people. He had a suit that protected him from light attacks but he wasn't really that powerful, if I recall correctlly he ended up being killed.

Java Dragon
You were being harsh on the game itself. It was designed to be modular one of it's greatest strengths is that they don't force a campaign setting in the product itself. Though a do agree I only have so many D20's Hyper rolls for really powerful things could be outrageous.