CAPES vs CLOAKS  ·  ISSUE #1  ·  PLAY IT TONIGHT
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No. 1

Capes vs Cloaks

A superhero RPG where nobody dies but the scenery isn't so lucky
A tabletop superhero RPG: each player runs one extraordinary character, a Cape (registered, public) or Cloak (vigilante, villain, anti-hero), and one player runs the world as the Game Master. Grab percentile dice (d100) and a few d6s and d8s.

Make a Hero Name, costume, cause or grudge

  1. Build your stats: give Combat, Brawn, Reflex and Will at least 10 each, then split 150 more points among them however you like, with no stat above 100. (Quick start: 60, 50, 40, 40.)
    Combat: Your chance to hit with aimed attacks.
    Will: Your Energy. Saves against anything aimed at your mind.
    Brawn: Your HP.
    Reflex: Who acts first. Attackers whose Combat is below your Reflex strike at disadvantage.
  2. You can already Blast: every hero has an attack. Fists, flames, lasers, or sonics, your call. Up to 50 ft (or arm's reach), 2d8 damage, 3 Energy. ↑ +1 die
  3. Then pick two powers. Every hero carries a cause or a grudge; write yours down.

Powers Pick two

Animal/Plant Control. Pick a species. Enlist one creature within 30 ft. It gives advantage on your attacks against foes it engages. It always has 1 HP. 2 Energy/minute. ↑ +1 Creature
Blink. Vanish and reappear up to 30 ft away; walls, cages, and grabs don't matter. 2 Energy. ↑ +30 FT
Disguise. Rebuild your entire body into anyone you've seen: height, build, voice, fingerprints. 2 Energy per 10 min. ↑ Beast Shapes Too
Flight. Fly 120 ft per move (about 30 mph). You can carry one person per 40 Brawn; catching someone mid-fall is what the power is for. 1 Energy/round airborne. ↑ Double It
Force Field. Action: raise a 10-point buffer that soaks damage before your HP. It collapses at 0. 4 Energy. ↑ +1 Soak
Invulnerability. Free and always on: reduce every hit by 2. Too tough to flinch, too tough to also Roll With the Punch. Passive. ↑ Shrug Off 1 More
Mind Push. The target saves Will or you control their next action: they attack one of their own allies (your pick), or stand frozen if no ally is in reach. 5 Energy · 10 ft. ↑ +10 FT
Phantasm. Conjure their worst fear, 60 ft. The target saves Will or the terror is real: 2d8 straight to HP, ignoring Invulnerability, Force Field, and Roll With the Punch. It never triggers Fly Back. 3 Energy · 60 ft. ↑ +1 Die
Super-Stat. One stat is superhuman: +10 to it. The bonus doesn't count toward Immovable or Bottomless. Passive. ↑ +5 to That Stat
Telekinesis. Hurl whatever's lying around, 2d6 at 30 ft, or lift anything up to car-sized. 2 Energy · 30 ft. ↑ +1 Die
Telepathy. Speak mind-to-mind with anyone you can see, free. Read a mind within 60 ft (Will save resists); reading an enemy's intent gives you advantage on your next roll against them. 2 Energy · 60 ft. ↑ +60 FT
Utility Belt. Once per day, produce exactly the tool this moment needs: rebreather, zip line, smoke bomb. 1×/day. ↑ +1 Use Per Day

Henchmen & Named Villains

Henchmen. Combat 40, Reflex 30, 30 HP, no Energy, no powers: 1d6 damage no matter what they use: punch, pipe, or pistol. One hero handles three of them. Four or more is trouble.

Named villains. Build them exactly like heroes, with the same point buy and the same power list, plus Levels. Three Levels above the team is a hard fight. Four is a climax the heroes should lose.

How Rolls Work Roll low, aim high

Roll d100. You want equal to or under the number: attacks against your Combat, saves against the named stat. A roll of 00 always fails. Advantage: roll twice, take the better. Disadvantage: the worse.

Capers: picking the vault, hacking the mainframe, sneaking past the guards. The GM picks the stat that fits and you roll under it. Easy stunts need no roll; hard ones roll at disadvantage; a clever plan earns advantage.

Fight! The whole combat chapter

Turn Order. When the fight starts, everyone rolls 2d10 and adds their Reflex. Act in descending order, every round. The GM breaks ties.
Your Turn. Move up to 30 ft and take one action: use a power, attack, or restrain a downed foe. Anyone can throw a punch: 1d6, free. Push yourself: once per round, spend 5 Energy to take a second action.
Attacks. Anything you aim rolls against your Combat: Blast, Telekinesis, punches. Exception: a target whose Reflex is 30 or less is automatically hit unless they Dodge. Mind Push and Phantasm never roll; the target saves Will instead.
Dodging. Spend your whole action to Dodge; until your next turn, every attack against you is at disadvantage.
Grabbing. Roll against your Combat to grab a foe. While you hold on, neither of you can move or attack; they break free with a Brawn save on their turn.
Roll With the Punch. When you're hit, spend up to 3 Energy to reduce the damage by that much.
Calculate Damage. Roll the power's dice. The defender subtracts Roll With the Punch or Invulnerability, then 2 more for each Level they have above the attacker (Toughness). A hit that lands always deals at least 2. What's left drains a Force Field first, then HP. Levels guard the mind too: saves improve by 5 for each Level above the attacker (Veteran's Resolve).
Fly Back. A hit that deals 8 or more hurls the target into the nearest obstacle: knocked prone (half move to stand), +4 extra damage. 12 or more sends them crashing through it, +8. Wrecked walls and flattened cars are part of the show. Immovable: if your Brawn is 60+, only a 12+ hit can hurl you, and nothing sends you through walls.
Knocked Out. If a hit leaves you at half HP or less, roll d100. Equal to or under the damage taken and you're out cold.
Going Down. At 0 HP you are incapacitated. Nobody dies unless their player decides it. Restraining an incapacitated villain is an action: that's a capture, and captures are what make the news.
Second Wind. Once per combat, for free, recover 20 Energy. Bottomless: if your Will is 60 or higher, recover all of it. Save it for the moment the crowd thinks you're finished.
Between Combats. Catch your breath: Energy refills. Bruises stay. HP comes back in full after a night's rest.

Levels The benefits of experience

Each level grants +5 HP, +5 Energy, and either +2 Combat or one upgrade to one power; the red ↑ tag on each power shows what an upgrade buys. Heroes gain a Level when the GM says the story earned it.

Create Your HeroRun the First Caper
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