Hack This

# Capes vs Cloaks Lite — System Reference

A one-page superhero tabletop RPG. Each player runs one extraordinary
character, a **Cape** (registered, public) or a **Cloak** (vigilante, villain,
anti-hero), and one player runs the world as the Game Master. You need
percentile dice (d100) and a few d6s and d8s.

## Making a character

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.

**HP equals your Brawn. Energy equals your Will.** Natural Brawn 60+ is
Immovable; natural Will 60+ is Bottomless.

Every hero can already **Blast**: fists, flames, lasers or sonics, up to 50 ft
(or arm's reach), 2d8 damage, 3 Energy. Upgrade: +1 die.

Then pick **two** powers. Every hero carries a cause or a grudge; write yours
down.

## Powers

- **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. Upgrade: +1 Creature.)*
- **Blink** — Vanish and reappear up to 30 ft away; walls, cages, and grabs don't matter. *(2 Energy. Upgrade: +30 FT.)*
- **Disguise** — Rebuild your entire body into anyone you've seen: height, build, voice, fingerprints. *(2 Energy per 10 min. Upgrade: 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. Upgrade: Double It.)*
- **Force Field** — Action: raise a 10-point buffer that soaks damage before your HP. It collapses at 0. *(4 Energy. Upgrade: +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. Upgrade: 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. Upgrade: +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. Upgrade: +2 Damage.)*
- **Super-Stat** — One stat is superhuman: +10 to it. The bonus doesn't count toward Immovable or Bottomless. *(Passive. Upgrade: +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. Upgrade: +2 Damage.)*
- **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. Upgrade: +60 FT.)*
- **Utility Belt** — Once per day, produce exactly the tool this moment needs: rebreather, zip line, smoke bomb. *(1×/day. Upgrade: +1 Use Per Day.)*

## How rolls work

- **Rolling.** 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.
- **Henchmen.** Combat 40, Reflex 30, 30 HP, no Energy, no powers: 1d6 damage no matter what they use. 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 an even fight. Four is a climax the heroes should lose.
- **Levels.** Each Level grants +5 HP, +5 Energy, and either +2 to every stat or one upgrade to one power. Heroes gain a Level when the GM says the story earned it.

## Fighting

- **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.

## Licence

Capes vs Cloaks Lite is licensed under [CC BY 4.0][cc]. Hack it, translate it,
publish your own villains, sell what you make — just credit "Capes vs Cloaks
Lite" and link back. No permission needed, and none of this text is anyone's
trademark.

[cc]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/