Icons Corebook, Podreczniki RPG, Icons, pobierz pdf

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1
C
redits
Design:
Steve Kenson
Writing:
Steve Kenson, Walt Ciechanowski, Morgan Davie, Gareth-Michael Skarka
Editing:
Gareth-Michael Skarka
Art:
Dan “Alien Mastermind” Houser
Graphic Design and Layout:
Gareth-Michael Skarka
Playtesters:
Colin “The Hawk” Diem, Morgan “The Raptor” Ellis, Andy “Whisper” Frades, Walt
“Detecto” Fulgate, Lyle “Defender” Hinckley, Andrew Johnson, Sean “Volcano” Johnson, Julian
“Angel Detective” Kuleck, Ben Matchstick, Alex Munkelwitz, Matthew “Gypsy” Muth, Meghan
“Grey” Rice-Frades, Jason “The Bald Eagle” Seabaugh, Mike “Jumpin’ Bean” Spagmola, John
Spaulding, Kevin “White Tiger” Stoner, Joe “The Swallow” Thompson, John Trombley, Branden
“The Mighty Saguaro” Webb, Michael “Mr. Zero” Wheeler, Greg Wilcox
t
able
of
C
ontents
Introduction:
p.3
Determination
p.73
The Basics
p.5
Game Mastering
p.82
Hero Creation
p.9
Villains
p.94
Team Creation
p.18
Stock Characters
p.116
Abilities
p.22
Creatures
p.119
Specialities
p.23
The Wages of Sin
p.121
Powers
p.28
Character Sheet
p.126
Taking Action
p.54
ICONS is ©2010 Steve Kenson, published exclusively by Adamant Entertainment in partnership with Cubicle
Seven Entertainment, Ltd. All rights reserved. Reference to other copyrighted material in no way constitutes
a challenge to the respective copyright holders of that material.
The following is designated as Product Identity, in accordance with Section 1(e) of the Open Game License,
Version 1.0a: all character and place names and images except for those under copyright to other parties or
previously designated their Product Identity.
The following text is Open Gaming Content: all game rules and stats, except material previously declared
Product Identity.
2
i
ntroduCtion
What kid raised in recent generations hasn’t pretended to be a superhero at some point: worn a
cape, “lown” around, bounced imaginary bullets or shot “blasts of power” from hands or eyes?
Why not? After all, the superhero is pretty much the perfect modern fantasy: powerful, respected,
and loved by the public, but with a message of responsibility, duty, truth, and justice that appeals to
parents as well as kids. In countless comic books (and now “graphic novels”), cartoons, and live-
action television shows and ilms, superheroes continue to thrill and capture our imagination while
also celebrating some of our better qualities. Who wouldn’t want to be a hero?
With
I
cons
, you can be.
I
cons
is a roleplaying game wherein you and other players take on the roles
of superheroes you create and embark on imaginary adventures, guided by one player who takes
on the responsibility of Game Master (“GM” for short).
R
oleplaying
g
ames
A roleplaying game (“RPG” for short) is a game of the imagination. Like the name implies, it is about
playing a role, essentially a version of the childhood game of “let’s pretend” with rules and dice
used to determine the outcome of actions. Although roleplaying games have been around in various
forms for decades, they haven’t changed all that much from the childhood essentials — up to and
including sometimes protracted “Did so!” “Did not!” arguments, thus the need for a Game Master.
Essentially, the Game Master is both narrator and referee. The GM comes up with a situation, the
start or “hook” of a story, and presents it to the players. They, in turn, decide what their characters
will do. The GM responds with what happens next, and from their interaction a complete story
unfolds. Along the way, the heroes encounter challenges, including ights with villains, and the
game rules help the players and Game Master to resolve the outcome of those challenges,
changing the direction of the story. A part of the thrill of a roleplaying game is that it is iction you
and your friends create together!
W
hy
i
cons
?
I
cons
is hardly the irst superhero roleplaying game — it’s not even the tenth! In fact, it is not even
the irst superhero game I have
designed
.
Superhero RPGs have been around nearly as long as the game style. Roleplaying started out with
medieval fantasy and quickly moved on to science iction, but superheroes were not far behind, and
the adventures of brightly-clad characters with strange powers has been one of the most enduring
sub-genres of roleplaying games throughout their history.
So if there are older—and presumably still fun—superhero roleplaying games around, and if I
already designed one of them, why create another? There are several reasons:
First and perhaps foremost, I do not believe in the concept of “one true game.” Saying there is
only room for one superhero RPG is like suggesting there should only be one board game where
you move pieces around squares. Why have checkers when you’ve already got chess? But neither
game is “better” than the other, they both deliver fun and some interesting challenges, but in their
own ways. The same is true of I
cons
and other superhero games.
Second, I’m a game designer, and we designers like to play around with ideas for games: different
mechanics, different approaches, seeing how things work in various ways. Again, some designs are
not necessarily “better,” just different. A lot of roleplaying game design and play is a matter of taste,
rather than objective value. Just like an artist beneits from having a broad palette, so does a game
designer beneit from having a breadth of experience creating different kinds of games.
Lastly, just as a writer writes, a designer designs. Some concepts just lodge themselves into the
folds of your brain and stick there until you do something with them to get them out and onto the
page.
I
cons
is one of those. I wanted to play around with the basic systems of Fudge (and its later
expression,
FATE
) for some time, and even started on an earlier version of
I
cons
some years ago
3
that I nicknamed “the Superlative System.” However cliché it may sound to say that I “had” to
design this game, that’s how it was. So I did.
The creation of this game does not mean I think
I
cons
is better than everything that came before it,
or that it is the “right” way to do a superhero RPG (as if there were only one way!) just that I think
it’s a good one and that it’s fun, which, after all, is the point of playing a game in the irst place. I
hope you think so, too.
W
hat
’
s
i
n
the
g
ame
?
So, what will you ind in these pages? Hopefully the tools you need for you and your friends to
create your own colorful world of heroes and villains and to play out fun and exciting adventures
with them. In practical terms, what you’ll ind here is a system, a set of rules, starting with creating
your own heroes, and progressing through how to do things with them in terms of the game.
Compared to a lot of roleplaying games on the market today,
I
cons
is fairly short and simple. You
won’t ind exhaustive details or situational rules, and there’s no setting beyond “the world of comic
book superheroes,” which pretty much anyone reading this game is going to know. (If you don’t,
go pick up and read some superhero comics. Trust me, they can be a
lot
of fun.)
I
cons
places the power in
your
hands, where it belongs. Take the basic rules of the game, get
together with your friends, and create! Make your own heroes, villains, adventures, stories... whole
worlds! Have fun.
What are you waiting for? The world needs saving!
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