Your Invincible Starter

A good starter set has to do a number of different things. It has to introduce and explain the roleplaying game it is a starter set for, whether that is the roleplaying game’s setting, mechanics, or both. It has to both tell and show what the players and their characters are expected to do in the setting and how they do it, first with the rules and then with a scenario. It has to provide everything that a group needs to play—rules, scenario, pre-generated Player Characters, and dice—and ideally more. Maps, handouts, tokens, and the like are all items that will help bring the world of the roleplaying game’s setting to life and give the players something to look at and interact with. Above all, a good starter should showcase the roleplaying game and entice both Game Master and her players to want to roleplay more with the rules and in that setting by picking up the core rulebook, and if the contents of the start set support continued play, whether that is providing an extra set of dice or maps for the setting, then all the better.

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In a world of superheroes, events on Earth are about to change. The planet’s most powerful superhero, ‘Omni-Man’ has been revealed as the killer of Earth’s premier superhero team, the Guardians of the Globe and when confronted by his teenage son, ‘Invincible’, almost killed him. Thousands of civilians died too, and in the aftermath, ‘Omni-Man’ fled the planet. In the wake of these events, the Global Defence Agency, operating from a secret base under the Pentagon, a secret organization that safeguards the world from the shadows and keeps a close watch over all superpowered activity, is forced to take a pro-active stance. It is recruiting superpowered individuals to protect against superpowered criminal activities, alien invasions, and so on. This is the set-up for Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying and specifically, the Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set. Published by Free League Publishing, both are based on Invincible, the American comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, and published by Image Comics, and subsequently developed as a television series on Amazon Prime. Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying is a departure for Free League Publishing since presents a genre that the publisher has not previously explored.

The Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set is the introduction to the setting and the rules for the roleplaying game. Open up the box and inside can be found a full set of ten six-sided Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying dice, ten Initiative cards, ten Social Scene cards—one each for five of the pre-generated Superhero characters included in the box, and a pack of twelve stands for the standees also in the box. Below this there is a ‘Read me First’ sheet which explains what is in the box, what the Game Master and her players need to do next, and once the contents of the Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set have been played through where they should look. Underneath this is the twenty-two page ‘Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Rules’ book, thirty-six page ‘Metro Mayhem’ scenario book, five Reference Cards, a thirty-four by twenty-two inch, double-sided poster map, thirty-two standees for the heroes and their adversaries, and a set of action tokens. The Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set does carry a minimum age of sixteen plus as the source material is often brutal and bloody.

The ‘Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Rules’ book introduces the set properly and quickly explains what it is, the basics of the setting, the use of safety tools, and its play structure, which divides its scenes into three types. ‘Briefings’ are when the superheroes are told about their mission, ‘Action’ scenes focus on combat and action, and ‘Social’ scenes are where the bulk of the roleplaying and interaction takes place. The ‘Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Rules’ book includes a set of Social Scene cards that can be used during the scenario to initiate scenes and interactions appropriate to each superhero. These cards each give two options and enable a player to explore the agenda and hopes of the superhero that he is playing. It then breaks down how a superhero is defined. He has a role, six attributes, several derived stats, plus Powers, Talents, Drawbacks, Personal Details, Resources and Gear, and reputation. The eight Roles are Blaster, Brains, Brawn, Controller, Defender, Leader, Striker, and Wildcard, and they define how a superhero operates, but provides no mechanical benefit. The six attributes are Fighting, Agility, Strength, Reason, Intuition, and Presence, and they range in value between ‘1’ or ‘Poor’ and ‘12’ or ‘Invincible’. A superhero’s Powers, Talents, and Drawbacks will vary from superhero to superhero, but the options available are not explored in the Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set. Instead, they limited to those presented on the pre-generated superheroes and thus enough to play through the given scenario. Personal Details encompasses a superhero’s Occupation, Personality, Drive, Flaw, and Key Relationships.

Mechanically, Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying uses the Year Zero Engine, first seen in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days. To have a superhero undertake an action, his player rolls a number of dice equal to the appropriate attribute value. The Game Master can add or deduct dice depending on the difficulty of the task, whilst Gear used and the support from allies can add dice. Each roll of a six is counted as a Success and only a single Success is required to succeed at most tasks. If more Successes are rolled, these can be used to gain bonus effects called stunts. These can be used to have a superhero to complete the task quickly or quietly, learn something new, and help a friend by passing him a Success if they are working on a similar project. However, if no Success are rolled, the Superhero has failed and that failure should ideally have dramatic effects. Alternatively, the player can choose to Push the roll. When this happens, the player rerolls any dice which do not show a one or a six. Whether the roll is a success or a failure, the Superhero suffers a point of Stress for each one rolled overall.

Conflict in Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying uses the same core mechanics. Initiative uses a deck of cards numbered from one to ten, and extra cards may need to be drawn if a Superhero has additional actions. In a round, a Superhero can perform a Full Action and a Quick Action or two Quick Actions. A Full Action is a Slugfest, Charge, or Shooting attack, using a superpower, breaking or lifting something, saving bystanders, and so on. Quick Actions can be to move into an adjacent zone, blocking a slugfest attack or dodging a shooting attack, engaging in banter, and more. Some of the Quick Actions can be used to interrupt the actions of an opponent and they can be saved for this purpose to use later in a round. A combatant can also give an Order to grant extra dice to an ally’s action. Movement can be on the ground and in the air with different elevations counted as separate zones. The action also allows for smashing through doors and walls. In a Slugfest attack, extra Successes can be spent on Stunts including Double Damage, Knockback, Stun, Bang Heads, Trap, Disarm, and Deadly Hit, and Special Stunt. Those for Shooting attacks include Double Damage, Suppressed, Trick Shot, Disarm, and Deadly Hit. A player is also free to create his own Stunts and use with the Game Master’s permission. Armour reduces damage, but when a combatant’s Health is reduced to zero, he is broken and suffers a Critical Injury. Critical Injuries can be inflicted without reducing a combatant’s Health to zero. Critical Injuries take weeks or months to recover from, but Health is recovered faster. A combatant can suffer Stress, often from a Banter Action in combat, but primarily through the use of a Superhero’s Powers. When a Superhero’s Resolve is reduced to zero due to Stress, he is stressed out, cannot use any Superpowers which require Stress to be gained or push any rolls.

The rules also cover minions, challenges, and other hazards. Notably, a Superhero can use a Slugfest attack to ‘Wreck a Zone’, the Superhero or Supervillain ripping up objects and using them to hit, throw at, or smash an opponent. This grants bonus dice to an attack, means the attack can be made into an adjacent zone, and completely wrecks the zone, meaning it cannot be wrecked again. It requires a minimum Strength wreck certain types of terrain and this means it is possible to level office interiors, city streets, and whole buildings! Just like we see in superhero films, Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying allows for the possibility that a fight between superpowered individuals is not without its consequences.

The Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying comes with six pre-generated Superheroes ready to play. They are Atom Eve who can manipulate matter; Bulletproof who can absorb damage to boost his combat skills; Monster Girl, who transforms into a monstrous troll-like creature due a curse, but gets younger when she transforms back; Rex Splode, who has a blast attack and can leap great distances; Robot, a construct who has great reasoning and can analyse a situation and create a plan to support his allies; and Invincible, who is half-alien and can fly and is tough and lucky. Of the six, Invincible does not have Social Scene cards, so his player will need to suggest situations or scenes when can reduce his Stress. All of the details on each character sheet are clear presented. For example, “BLAST: You can perform a shooting attack with Damage 3, Range 0/3.” is Atom Eve’s direct attack form, whilst she has the Talent of “KNOWLEDGEABLE (NATURAL SCIENCES): You get +3 dice to REASON rolls to recall, find, or understand information related to physical sciences like biology, chemistry, astronomy, genetics, physics, and geology.” For the most part, the Powers for all six pre-generated Superheroes are straightforward and easy to understand, and most of them are quite direct in their effects. Of those that are not, Robot’s superpowers are supportive in nature and will require some consideration in how they are used in play to best support the other Superheroes.

The events of the ‘Metro Mayhem’ scenario book take place after Invincible has been defeated by his father, Omni-Man, leaving him to recover from his injuries whilst he flees the planet. Global Defence Agency asks the Superheroes to investigate the activities of the Mauler twins, hyperintelligent criminals who do not know which one of them is other’s clone, following their escape from Stronghold Penitentiary. The scenario begins with a briefing before being divided into three acts. The first two Acts have an Action Scene each, followed by Social Scene—when the Social Scene cards can be used to set-up particular scenes, whilst the Action Scene of the third Act is followed by the epilogue. The story takes the Superheroes first to warehouse to investigate the activities of the Mauler Twins, followed by a confrontation with the supervillain behind it all, and concludes with dealing with the consequences of the supervillain’s plan. It is an exciting affair, with the Superheroes having the chance to save scientists and civilians, fight supervillains, and ultimately go up against kaiju, all with a little time in between for some roleplaying and interaction. All of which is played out on the maps, one side showing individual locations where Acts One and Two take place, and the cityscape where Act Three occurs.

Physically, the Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set is very well presented. All of the components are decent quality and both the rules and the scenario are written in a clear fashion that makes it all easy to grasp and understand. Backed up, of course, by plenty of artwork from the comic book series that gives it a Four Colour style contrasting with its often bloody scenes of conflict. Many of the components can be used beyond the playthrough of the Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set, including the dice, reference sheets, and standees and counters. This makes it a good utility pack for Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying as much as it does an introduction.

The honest truth is that the Superhero genre is not one that most people thought that the Year Zero Engine would ever try to tackle. The Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set shows that it can work, the result being a fast-playing, bruising, knockabout system that gives the players and their Superheroes lots of dice to roll and lots of Powers and Stunts to choose from, and so lots of options. The core mechanic is simple—in fact simpler than most Year Zero Engine roleplaying games—and where the roleplaying game’s complexity does come, is in those choices and the spending of the extra Success to choose Stunts. So, a player will need a little time to not only understand how the Stunts work, but primarily how his Superhero’s powers work. Of course, this is like almost any other roleplaying game, but in a superhero roleplaying that is intended to be fast-playing as Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set is, the Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set almost needs a training mission to get the players used to their Superheroes and their choices.

Ultimately, the Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Starter Set is a great introduction to Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying and the world of Invincible. It presents everything necessary to play in its bruising, knockabout world using surprisingly simple rules, but giving players and their Superheroes plenty of choices when it comes to their actions.

[Free RPG Day 2026] Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules

Now in its nineteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2026 took place on Saturday, June 27th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Unfortunately, it did not take place outside of the USA due to US customs issues, which means that none of the physical content has shipped to the UK. It is hoped that with the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh will able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day for future reviews.

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Quick-starts are a means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps two. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.

Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.

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What is it?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules is the quick-start for Wizard Riders, the post apocalypse roleplaying game of (mostly drunk) wizard bikers riding maguscycles they are bonded to across the world in the very future of Orth under a red sun.

The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules is a thirty-nine page, 10.28 MB full colour PDF.

How long will it take to play?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules includes the scenario ‘The Vanishing of Dotshire’. It can be played in roughly a single session.

What else do you need to play?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules needs a standard set of polyhedral dice per player.

Who do you play?
The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules includes six pre-generated Player Characters or Wizard-Bikers. They include a lucky Wizard-Biker, a Natural Wizzer Wizard-Biker, a Wizard-Biker who likes to plan, a perceptive Wizard-Biker, an ace maguscycle-riding Wizard-Biker, and a threateningly ambidextrous Wizard-Biker.

How is a Player Character defined?

A Wizard-Biker in the Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules is defined by his name, and then six attributes, which are Brawn, Twitch, Daring, Brains, Presence, and Fortune. Of the six, Twitch is a Wizard-Biker’s dexterity and agility, whilst Fortune is his Luck and points that can be spent to activate special powers. Each attribute also has one or more associated skills. Each attribute and skill has is represented by a single die type, typically ranging from a ‘d4’ to a ‘d12’. An attribute or a skill can be marked as having an ‘Upgrade’, for example, ‘D8+Upgrade’. This means that a die in the Feat Pool for any action involving that attribute or skill can be upgraded to a larger size. A Wizard-Biker has a Gift, an advantage which grants him a bonus under certain circumstances. For example, ‘Juryrigger’ allows a die to be re-rolled for a Repair Feat whilst ‘Ambidextrous’ lets a Wizard-Biker make attacks with both hands in one round and only suffer a single Downgrade to each attack. This also includes ‘Wizzer Power’, which can be taken multiple times, each time granting the Wizard-Biker a spell-like power.

How do the mechanics work?

The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules uses what it calls the ‘Dice Core’ system. When a Wizard-Biker wants to attempt an action, it is called a ‘Feat’. His player assembles a ‘Feat Pool’ of three dice consisting of a Skill Die, an Attribute die, and a Feat Die. For Standard Feats, such as breaking down a door or punching someone, the Feat Die is a ‘D8’, but is a ‘D6’ for Complex Feats liked a called shot or attempting trauma care. The player then applies any Upgrades or Downgrades to any of the dice in the ‘Feat Pool’. Upgrades can come from the skill or attribute, or from the situation, as can Downgrades. The dice are rolled and totalled, the aim being equal to or beat a Difficulty Rating, which can range in value from four or ‘Rookie Rider’ to twenty-two or ‘Ace Rider’, with thirteen or ‘Standard’ being the median Difficulty Rating. If the result is exceeded by three or more, a Critical Success has been achieved and for every three-point threshold on the roll after that, a further Critical Success is achieved. A roll of three on the Feat Pool’ indicates a Critical Failure.

A Wizard-Biker also has Plot Points. In the Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules, these can be spent to perform a ‘Counterstrike’, ‘Defy Physics’ when the Wizard-Biker is riding his maguscycle, ‘Doubletime’ to move extra fast in combat, ‘Interfere’ in the actions of an NPC or other Wizard-Biker, or trigger ‘Natural Healing’.

How does combat work?

Initiative is determined by a simple roll, but after the first round, a player can spend points of his Wizard-Biker’s Daring attribute and then roll a die to change his Initiative value. The more points spent, the larger the die size can be rolled. This will come at a loss of Focus, especially on a given target. Attacks are opposed rolls between a ‘Feat Pool’ of a Weapon Skill, Attribute Die, and Feat Die for the attacker and a ‘Feat Pool’ of the Armour plus the Twitch and Daring attributes. Weapons inflict a base value in terms of damage, but this increases the more Critical Successes a player rolls. Three Critical Successes will also damage the defender’s armour, inflicting a Downgrade to future Defence rolls.

Damage can come from an attack in combat, suffering too much Fatigue, and so on. Wounds are recorded on a Wound Track with each Wound suffered applying a Downgrade to skills and attributes, and ultimately Feats, before the Wizard-Biker is knocked out or killed.

How does magic work?

A Wizard-Biker has a number of Special Powers which can be freely cast. They include Aether Lance, which gives him a lighter-than-air lance he can wield whilst riding his maguscycle; Deadeye’ grants a random number of Upgrades to apply to ranged attacks; Fireball does exactly what you expect; Ghost Hand gives a Wizard-Biker an extra hand to control at range; and Special Powers such as Smoke Cloud and Oil Slick give effects that can be used on the road. Every Special Ability has five Power Levels, so a Wizard-Biker can improve and specialise. In addition to extra effects, increasing the Power Level of a Special Power also increases the size of the Feat Die that a player adds to the ‘Feat Pool’ he rolls for the Special Power. Some twenty-one Special Abilities are detailed and all six sample Wizard-Bikers have three or four Special Abilities.

Do Wizard-Bikers Get Bikes?

Yes. A Wizard-Biker in Wizard Riders has a maguscycle. It has stats for Handling, Build, and Zoom. These are when a Wizard-Biker wants to do something extra with his maguscycle than simply go at top speed. A basic Riding Feat roll is done in two stages. First, a Riding Feat roll to gain Upgrades, and second, the Vehicle Feat roll to do the desired action, modified by the Upgrades previously generated. The rules for chases are supported by a good example of play and they also cover vehicle damage and passenger damage. All of this requires a Bond between the Wizard-Biker and his maguscycle, the process of which is also detailed. This Bond has multiple levels and each level grants a bonus to the bonded rider.

What do you play?

The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules includes the scenario ‘The Vanishing of Dotshire’. The Wizard-Bikers’ club is running low on supplies. The beer is flat, the snacks stale, and the power coils for the members’ maguscycles are running seriously low. When they ride to the village of Dotshire in search of new supplies, they discover it swirled with fog. The Wizard-Bikers must ride into the fog to reach the village and find out what is happening and what caused it. It is a short, single-session scenario.

Is there anything missing?
Yes. The Age of Vikings Quickstart has everything that a Game Master needs to run the included scenario, but it could have done with some more examples, especially of combat.

Is it easy to prepare?
No. The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start is a different ruleset and will be unfamiliar to most players, so it requires a higher degree of teaching. Also, the Game Master will need to copy out all of the Player Character Wizard-Bikers onto character sheets.

Is it worth it?
Yes. The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start feels a bit underdeveloped in places, but it is a solid introduction to the rules and world of Wizard-Riders. Its combination of setting, Player Character type, and themes manages to be both silly and surprising given the usual gaming content that the publisher releases, but all the more fun for that.

The Wizard Riders: Quick-Start is published by Catalyst Game Labs, and is available to download here.