GUARDIANS OSR Superhero RPG- DC Heroics House Rules

 

It's been a rough year with sickness. But here I am. Let's go.

Guardians is a fun little game from Night Owl Workshop games. They have a lot of fun OSR retro feel games: Raiders!, Freebooters, and Colonial Troopers are also favorites of mine. All of their games are fantastic. CHECK THEM OUT. 

Guardians is pretty good with it's base rule-set. There are some..... issues (pardon the pun!) as there usually are with games that take the old D&D rules concepts and apply them to other genres. The main issue, admittedly, is the attribute chart. Supers go waaaaay above 18 and as currently written the attribute bonuses and extra strength damage are out of proportion to the rest of the game and damage from superpowers. This has been addressed on the forum AND on the discussion tab on the Guardians page on DrivethruRPG.   I personally am ok with this. I love to tinker and a number of us have come up with options and easy fixes for this. It is NOT a deal breaker at all as I see this as an inadvertent way to adjust the POWER level of the game. 

Cosmic level Superman? Use as is. Chris Reeves movie level Superman? Use one of our alternatives. It is as simple as changing a bonus to hit and a damage bonus. Kid's stuff compared to what we have done to some other games in the past. 

With that out of the way.....
I wanted to tinker with a few things to bring it inline with what I loved as 'my' period of DC comics from the 1970's to the 2000's. I want to be able to tweak and build Batman, Superman, etc under one rule set. COULD I PLAY ANOTHER GAME FOR THIS? Of course. I've owned versions of DC Heroes, DC Universe, DC Adventures, etc for decades now. Hell I have multiple copies of Batman RPG 1989 (my absolute favorite version of the MEGS line.) But it's something about the classic D&D rule-set. Nostalgia? The touch of a familiar friend? 

That is the BEAUTY  of Guardians, it's familiar rule-set allows easy tinkering and adding various ideas and rules tweaks from other games with related rule-sets. Hell I plan to use a bunch out of the Raiders! game as well as Mark Hunt's Gangbusters for a pulp 1930's game. Plug, tweak, and go!

The House Rules
It's not going to be perfect but it should be fun!
First let's address the attribute chart. Mine is a combination of ideas thrown out by Andrew and others on the forum and discussion tab. It will be in line with the existing rules for damage from existing powers such as Force Bolt, Lightning, etc. I am keeping the carry weight as is and add a distance element taken from DC Heroes and other games to throw things around. 

Ability Scores
Use the standard chart up to Ability score 20 (19 and 20 can be achieved by trading a feature point for a +2 to an Ability if non-Human origins.) Once the Super Attribute power is taken the Ability score is doubled as per normal rules, tripled at Superior, and quadrupled at Ultimate. The new BAM modifier is added to the original BAM modifier. (Which can get weird if taken with a score under 10, especially with Strength damage but hey let's roll with it.) For Strength Damage the combined BAM is added to the damage roll.

Super: BAM +2, Strength Dmg 4d6    
Superior: BAM +4, Strength Dmg 6d6
Ultimate: BAM +6, Strength Dmg 8d6

So: A character with a score of 16 (+2 BAM) bumps the attribute up to Superior (16 x 3 = 48). The BAM is now +6 when the original and the Superior BAM is added. If it was Super Strength the Damage would be 6d6+6. Considerable.
To avoid character's just obliterating each other with one punch I am placing a Non-Lethal option into the mix below. Also the large hit point values of characters helps negate this 'problem.'

The damage is also added to the damage of any weapon's being used although normal weapons will quickly break. (I would use the breaking objects rule for weapons not imbued with Powers.)

If using standard Energy Point costs it should cost 1 EP to activate this damage. This would emulate the exhaustion of prolonged combat. I address this in Energy Points below.

Powers
As per the base rules on page 9 any Origin except Human can opt to take an extra Power by taking an extra Limit or one less Power with one Less Limit. 
EDIT : Human Origin can take an extra Gift (usually Gadget Point) instead of Power.

To add more options and to up the number of Powers at lower levels the character may do this twice instead of just once. Humans may do this with Gifts.

In addition, if using Optional Skills below, a Power can be exchanged for three skill bonuses.

Features
Allowing Supreme and Ultimate advancement for Features just like regular Powers. It costs one feature point to advance a Feature. This will not affect most Features.  Features with mechanical bonuses are treated just like normal Powers for advancements (with the exception of movement rate.)

For example: Swinging is taken at Supreme (2 feature points.) The ground speed remains at 1.5 normal as per the basic level of Swinging but the range is now 150' (3x basic), and the Dexterity saving throw receives a +2 bonus (as per Supreme saving throw advancement.)

Floating Feature Points
Instead of sticking three Feature points on one single gadget they can be spread out to other gadgets, vehicles. etc. This makes them a bit more utilitarian. 
Issues I've added in eight more issues to the twelve introduced in the core rules. The added Issues give a bit more variety and add a few classic tropes. These are inspired by the Drawbacks in DC Heroes.

1d20

1. Bad Press
2. Dark Secret
3. Dependency
4. Disability
5. Duty
6. Enemy
7. Guilt
8. Innocent
9. Kid
10. Loved One
11. Mental Breakdown
12. Obsession
13. Old
14. Phobia
15. Rage
16. Scarred (Enemy if already Inhuman)
17. Secret Identity
18. Traumatic Flashbacks
19. Uncertain
20. Wanted

Dark Secret: The character has a secret from the past, an incident in his or her life that if revealed would end the hero's career and lose the character's friends, social standing, and freedom. The character may have to go to extreme lengths to protect the secret. If discovered publicly the Dark Secret would be shifted to the Wanted issue.

Guilt: The hero is plagued by memories of an event or action in the past. Any non-damage rolls connected to the event or action or deemed relevant by the Referee are rolled at disadvantage; roll twice and take the worse result.

Innocent: The character is particularly naive to the darker elements of the world and society believing in the inherit goodness of all. This results in a -4 penalty to saving throws to avoid persuasion, trickery, or other mental manipulations.

Mental Breakdown: The character suffers from psychotic breaks. This could include catatonia, memory loss, split personality, schizophrenic behavior, severe
depression, etc. This leads to bizarre and possibly violent behavior if their behavior is questioned or challenged. The hero suffers a breakdown any time a 1 or 11 is rolled on attacks, saving, or skill throws. The incident and all social or tactical consequences lasts 1d6 turns.

Obsession: The character is obsessed with a person, object, place, or perhaps a certain behavior. Money, bats, riddles, etc. The obsession dominates the character's life.

Rage: The character is prone to fits of extreme violence. When first entering combat and every time the hero is hit he must make a Wisdom save at a -4 penalty or lose control and attempt to kill the enemy. Attacks during the fit or rage are at a +2 bonus to hit.The fit of rage lasts for 2d6 rounds. (This is different from the Brute's Berserk ability as a character with Rage is pissed but mostly still in control.)

Secret Identity: If the character's true identity is made public it will be a major disruption in his or her life. The hero's job may be lost, family members could become targets for enemies, etc. The loss of anonymity brings many consequences and responsibilities that the character may not want.

Traumatic Flashbacks: When associated with a location or specific item (such as the location of the murder of the character's parents or the gun that killed them) the hero suffers a -4 to all attacks and skill throws due to distraction.

Uncertain: The hero suffers from confidence issues questioning the competency of his or her abilities or perhaps beliefs. This self doubt causes the character to second guess his or her actions causing disadvantage on Initiative rolls; the character rolls two dice and must take the worse result.

Miscellaneous Drawbacks: If something isn't listed make it up. If the Referee approves of it then go for it.

Energy Points I'm doubling the energy points available per level. I am considering subtracting one from energy point costs. Thus most Powers that require EP will be free to use and the more powerful ones will still have a cost. I feel this is closer to the power levels of DC.

Characters will now recover 1 EP per level for every minute of rest. Gadgets recover the same.

Using EP to recover Hit Points I'm also changing the EP to recover hit points rule. Instead of restoring just one hp by spending one Energy Point in a round the character can now take the full round and
restore 1d6 hit points by spending one EP, provided his or her hit points are not -10 or worse

Modify Rolls Using energy points for additional things (ala DC Heroes and other point games).
In addition to recovering hit points EP can be used in combat. One EP can be spent to add a bonus to an attack, saving throw, or skill throw. This bonus is limited to one point for every odd level of the character.

Soak Damage This can also be used to help soak damage. One EP can be spent per every odd character level to remove one point of damage. Example: a 5th level character is hit for eight damage. The character can spend three EP to remove three points of damage.

Healing Damage is still healed after a combat by resting one turn to regain 1d4 hp, doubled it attended by a character with the Medical Background gift. Double the amount listed on pg 68 for rest. DC characters seem to bounce back fairly quickly!

Non-Lethal and Lethal Combat (New!)
The reasoning behind this is that I feel it adds even more of a four color feel to the game if my mega super isn't blowing people to negative hit point bits with each hit. For the gritty feel just ignore!

This will require the player to keep track of what hit points were lost from each type of damage. The damage totals for each will be important later for healing.

Similar to DC Heroes, character damage from natural weapons is considered non-lethal combat unless a character declares that he is trying to do lethal damage. This includes unarmed attacks and damage from powers. The character can never be brought below 0 hp and at 0 hp the character is unconscious. Non-Lethal damage is healed at twice the amount discussed above.

Weaponry (melee weapons, firearms, explosives, ect) and environmental damage (drowning, fire, falling, etc) are always considered lethal.

The Referee has the final say on what is lethal.

Skills (New!-ish) SUPER OPTIONAL
I want to add some more flavor to the Super-Agent Class, to help better distinguish one Super-Agent character from another in more than just combat and gadgets. Gifts does this to a degree as is but I would like to have options to further this along. Skill bonuses does this and I can base it on the rules found in other OSR games such as Raiders!.

They work as follows: a skill gives a +4 bonus to relevant rolls (as judged by the Referee) related to the skill in question. They represent expertise on various subjects.

To gain skills: each Power or Gift is worth three skills. Each skill gains the +4 bonus. These can only be taken once each.

Acrobatics
Appraisal
Artist
Climbing
Demolitions
Disguise
Driving
Gambling
Hide
Horsemanship
Language
Mechanic
Medicine
Pick Pockets
Pilot
Security
Sneak
Swim

Sciences

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
  
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Paleontology
• Physics
• Psychology
• Etc.

Summary
Ability Scores
Use the standard chart up to Ability score 20.
Once the Super Attribute power is taken the Ability score is doubled as per normal rules, tripled at Superior, and quadrupled at Ultimate. The new BAM modifier is added to the original BAM modifier.
For Strength Damage the combined BAM is added to the damage roll.
*Super: BAM +2, Strength Dmg 4d6
*Superior: BAM +4, Strength Dmg 6d6
*Ultimate: BAM +6, Strength Dmg 8d6
The damage is also added to the damage of any weapon's being used although normal weapons will quickly break.
If using standard Energy Point costs it should cost 1 EP to activate this damage.

Powers
Any Origin except Human can opt to take an extra Power by taking an extra Limit or one less Power with one Less Limit.
Character may do this twice instead of just once.
Power can be exchanged for three skill bonuses.

Features
Allowing Supreme and Ultimate advancement for Features just like regular Powers, one Feature point per advancement.
Features with mechanical bonuses are treated just like normal Powers for advancements (with the exception of movement rate.)
Can be spent on one single gadget or can be spread out to other gadgets, vehicles. etc.

Issues
Bad Press
Dark Secret
Dependency
Disability
Duty
Enemy
Guilt
Innocent
Kid
Loved One
Mental Breakdown
Obsession
Old
Phobia
Rage
Scarred (Enemy if already Inhuman)
Secret Identity
Traumatic Flashbacks
Uncertain
Wanted

Energy Points
Double the energy points available per level.
OPTIONS: Subtract one from energy point costs.
Recover 1 EP per level for every minute of rest.
Gadgets recover the same.
Take the full round and restore 1d6 hit points by spending one EP, provided his or her hit points are not -10 or worse.
One EP can be spent to add a bonus to an attack, saving throw, or skill throw.
This bonus is limited to one point for every odd level of the character.
One EP can be spent per every odd character level to remove one point of damage.

Healing
Rest and treat one turn to regain 1d4 hp, doubled if attended by a character with the Medical Background gift.
Double the amount listed on pg 68 for rest.

Non-Lethal and Lethal Combat (New!)
Considered non-lethal combat unless a character declares that he is trying to do lethal damage.
This includes unarmed attacks and damage from powers.
The character can never be brought below 0 hp and at 0 hp the character is unconscious.
Non-Lethal damage is healed at twice the amount discussed above.
Weaponry (melee weapons, firearms, explosives, ect) and environmental damage (drowning, fire, falling, etc) are always considered lethal.

Skills (New!-ish) SUPER OPTIONAL
A skill gives a +4 bonus to relevant rolls (as judged by the Referee) related to the skill in question.
Each Power or Gift is worth three skills.
Skills can only be taken once each.