[Fanzine Focus XLIII] Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 3: Regions

On the tail of Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed how another Dungeon Master and her group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons,RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another popular choice of system for fanzines, is Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but then there are outliers, fanzines for genres, let alone roleplaying games, which you would never expect to receive support in this format.

Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 3: Regions is a fanzine for ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying. Published by VX2 following a successful Kickstarter campaign, this is a product which is very different in many ways. It is a fanzine for the superhero genre, it is a fanzine for ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying, and as superhero fanzine, it actually presents a post-apocalyptic setting. All three factors make it standout as different. As the name suggests, Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 3: Regions is the third in the series for the fanzine, but there is only a total of four issues.

The first issue in the series, Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap presented an overview of its setting. This is the future of the North American continent after society was society ripped apart in 1986 by an event known as the Shock which followed the successful attempt by the mysterious Omegas to destroy a psionic computer network powered by extradimensional energy. The resulting Aftershock killed millions, made more disappear, substituted familiar landscape with alien ones, turned the sky violet, and changed some of the stars to alien ones. Governments collapsed and supervillains seized control to establish their own, ultimately dystopic fiefdoms, together known as the Supremacy. The Shock also disrupted the Grid underlying the whole of reality and weakened it, leading to the opening of ‘Gridgates’ to other worlds and aliens visiting the Earth. Reality storms imperil travel so that long term travel in in convoys and all forms of broadcast media act as vessels for a necrocosmic plague. Only the wealthy has access to any form of direct communication, whilst messages and recorded media are delivered directly. Long distance travel is via the Thunder Road, a continental network of highways and fuel stations controlled by Lord Thunder, the leader of the Sanction.

In the world of Gridshock 20XX, the Player Characters are Vectors. They possess the ability to warp the Grid and thus reality, manipulating it in their favour. Vectors are typically human, but can also be gatecrashers from other realities or hybroids—one of the genetically engineered labour force. They are fully detailed in Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 2: Roster, whilst Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 3: Regions is more obvious in its content. It is also different in its format, being presented in landscape rather than portrait format. The issue describes the eight regions of the North American continent. This goes from Beringia and Cascadia in the northwest all the way to Asia across the Bering Causeway, down to the Sunrise Sector on the Pacific coast, and across the North American continent. This includes The Sanction, ruled by the vainglorious Lord Thunder from his capital of Junction City (formerly Las Vegas) and the fertile region of The Orchard of the Midwest, the Exhuman-infested and near lifeless Deadside around the Great Lakes, the Supremacy-dominated New Homelands that are a battleground for Exhumans from Deadside, and the Seaboard Sector on the northeast Atlantic coast. Each includes an overall profile, three points of interest, details of its inhabitants, its interactions with the wider world, three notable individuals in the region, possible artefacts to be found there, scenes that the Player Characters might see in the region, and an explanation of how its set-up can be used in play. Some entries also include stats and further details of an important individual living region. Other than that, the issue is stat-free. Each chapter packs a lot of information into its pages, whilst leaving plenty of room for Game Master to add her own details. In addition, page numbers are listed in the sidebars that reference elsewhere in Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 3: Regions and also Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 4: Reference, pointing the Game master to further details.

For example, Sunrise Sector is a corporate-dominated sector of the Supremacy with several city-sized arcologies. The population is kept quiet with diet of jazzy entertainment and sensationalist news, consisting of a mix of gossip, reports of gang violence, robot rampages, labour strikes, and so on, some of which is actually genuine. The capital is the Administrative Archipelago, whilst the worst arcology is Strawberry Heights, currently suffering rampant labour unrest and superpowered gang crime. Most Sunrisers consider the Sunrise Sector to be closed thing to living in pre-Shock civilisation, but crime, controlled by the Temple—an organised crime cult operating from Bergingia—is rife. Sunrise Sector is the leading robot manufacturer for the Supremacy and also has its own state-run superteam and stars of the reality television series, Youthquake. One member, Kid Cambrian, once a joke because all could do was breath underwater and swim fast, but now able to summon giant waves of seawater carrying prehistoric monsters he can control and remaining a member of the team by ruthlessly manipulating the voting system for the television series, is full detailed with a write-up and stats. This is a nicely done write-up—elsewhere in the description of The Sanction, Lord Thunder himself is detailed—and it would have been great to have had his teammates detailed too. The set-up highlights how society in Sunrise Sector is divided between those that fully buy into the promises that its Administrators make via the media that constantly bombards them, that a golden age is preserved, everyone is cared for, and anyone could be a star, and those resist the messages.

Physically, Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 3: Regions is very nicely presented in swathes of blue and black. The artwork is decent, but the the format does make it awkward to use in places.

Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 3: Regions is the gazetteer for the series. At the same time as it leaves room for the Game Master to create her own content in the Gridshock setting, it does leave the reader waiting for more detail. Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 3: Regions is good, but it could have been double the size.

[Fanzine Focus XL] Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 2: Roster

On the tail of Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed how another Dungeon Master and her group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons,RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another popular choice of system for fanzines, is Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but then there are outliers, fanzines for genres, let alone roleplaying games, which you would never expect to receive support in this format.

Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 2: Roster is a fanzine for ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying. Published by VX2 following a successful Kickstarter campaign, this is a product which is very different in many ways. It is a fanzine for the superhero genre, it is a fanzine for ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying, and as superhero fanzine, it actually presents a post-apocalyptic setting. All three factors make it standout as different. As the name suggests, Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 2: Rooster is the second in the series for the fanzine, but there is only a total of four issues.

The first issue in the series, Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap presented an overview of its setting. This is the future of the North American continent after society was society ripped apart in 1986 by an event known as the Shock which followed the successful attempt by the mysterious Omegas to destroy a psionic computer network powered by extradimensional energy. The resulting Aftershock killed millions, made more disappear, substituted familiar landscape with alien ones, turned the sky violet, and changed some of the stars to alien ones. Governments collapsed and supervillains seized control to establish their own, ultimately dystopic fiefdoms, together known as the Supremacy. The Shock also disrupted the Grid underlying the whole of reality and weakened it, leading to the opening of ‘Gridgates’ to other worlds and aliens visiting the Earth. Reality storms imperil travel so that long term travel in in convoys and all forms of broadcast media act as vessels for a necrocosmic plague. Only the wealthy has access to any form of direct communication, whilst messages and recorded media are delivered directly. Long distance travel is via the Thunder Road, a continental network of highways and fuel stations controlled by Lord Thunder, the leader of the Sanction.

In the world of Gridshock 20XX, the Player Characters are Vectors. They possess the ability to warp the Grid and thus reality, manipulating it in their favour. Vectors are typically human, but can also be gatecrashers from other realities or hybroids—one of the genetically engineered labour force. Whilst Vectors have superpowers, they do not operate as the superheroes of old. They do not wear spandex and they do not patrol looking for crime. That, combined with the flashiness of their powers, would make it easier for the Supremacy to find them. Instead, they travel the Thunder Road, looking for work and when they can, attempting to strike a blow for justice and freedom. Vectors are meant to be proactive and fight for what is right, forge new alliances, push their powers to the limits of reality—and perhaps beyond, reclaim hope and rebuild civilisation, and explore the secrets of old world and the new.

Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 2: Roster is the character book for the series, the bulk of which is devoted to twelve Vector Templates that a player can chose from. These have one of five sources—Genetic, Mystic, Necrocosmic, Omegalithic, and Technologic. Genetic means that the source is biological; Mystic means the source is derived from a bond or pact with the supernatural; Necrocosmic is tied to the Necrocosm, the dark echo of where daemons come from; Omegalithic, linked to the weird crystalline substance salvaged from encounters with the Omegas before the Shock; and Technologic means that a device or cybernetics are the source. The Vectors Templates consist of the Ace, which is skill and training focused; the Fabricator, equipped with an illegal portable omegatechnology factory; Free Agent, which has been in stasis since before the Shock and uses a psionic amplifier for its powers; a Gatecrasher, an alien from another world or dimension; the Gridjockey, which can use any power by rewiring the Grid temporarily; the Hybroid is a human genetically engineered with animal DNA; the Neogenic has unique superhuman abilities; the Outcaster is empowered by the Dreaming Mother; the Revenant had his lifeforce drained by an unliving being from the Deadside, but is still in possession of his Geist and still needs to feed on the lifeforce of others; the Roguebot is illegal in the Supremacy; the Suitjack is bonded with a relic battlesuit of pre-Shock Omegatechnology; and the Ultra-Knight is a hunter of daemanoids and other evildoers.

Besides the base stats, each Template instructs the player to select one or more powers and specialities, whilst choosing three qualities from the list given. A player can take a Template as written, but each Template also suggests three variants. For example, the Ace Template also gives the Neo-Ninja, the Neutraliser, and the Vigilante as alternatives, whilst for the Outcaster, there is the Daemonologist, Exorcist, and Warlock. In each case, there is an explanation too, of how to create them from the given base Template. All together, Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 2: Roster provides thirty-six possible Vector types beyond the base twelve for a total of forty-eight options.

The last two pages of Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 2: Roster details a pair of ‘Threats and Menaces’. The first is Daemons, of which there are several types and which can only assume physical form in Realspace for a limited amount of time. The information here expands upon that given in Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap, whilst the second type is given ready made stats. These are for Exhumans, those who have had their lifeforce drained by an unliving being from the Deadside. Ordinary humans drained are converted into Shamblers, whilst Superhumans so drained return as Exhuman NPCs after a few panels. Several types are included, like the Annexator, which boosts the abilities of other Exhumans, the Demolisher—which can be formed from ordinary Shamblers in time, and the Shambler itself. These nicely tie in the with the Revenant Template earlier in the book as well as expanding the threats available for the Game Master to use.

Physically, Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 2: Roster is very nicely presented in swathes of red and black. The artwork is decent, but the typography is difficult to read in places.

Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 2: Roster is a solid continuation of Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap. It firmly focuses on the player and the types of character he can create, whilst for the Game Master the Templates can be used for NPCs as well as using the monsters.

[Fanzine Focus XXXIX] Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap

On the tail of Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed how another Dungeon Master and her group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons,RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another popular choice of system for fanzines, is Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but then there are outliers, fanzines for genres, let alone roleplaying games, which you would never expect to receive support in this format.

Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap is a fanzine for ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying. Published by VX2 following a successful Kickstarter campaign, this is a product which is very different in many ways. It is a fanzine for the superhero genre, it is a fanzine for ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying, and as superhero fanzine, it actually presents a post-apocalyptic setting. All three factors make it standout as different. As the name suggests, Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap is the first in the series for the fanzine, but there is only a total of four issues.

Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap presents an overview of its setting, gives a timeline that runs from antiquity to now, and makes a few additions and changes to the ICONS system. The setting is the North American continent, its society ripped apart in 1986 by an event known as the Shock. This occurred when the mysterious Omegas attacked a project to build a psionic computer network powered by extradimensional energy. The Omegas stopped it, but the Aftershock swept round the world, killing millions and making millions disappear, substituting familiar landscape with alien ones, turning the sky violet, and causing stars to occasionally be replaced by unknown ones. Almost none of the superheroes who fought the Omegas survived and those that did are missing. In the chaos of the Aftershock that saw government collapse, the world’s supervillains and their allies seized control and each established their own fiefdoms or sectors that as a whole became known as the Supremacy. Each Sector is different in terms of its leader’s vision. For example, Sunrise Sector on the west coast is a corporate-controlled kleptocracy and the Sanction is a wasteland of oil fields dominated by a daemoniac narcissist, but all are dystopias of one kind or another!

The Shock also disrupted the Grid which underlies the whole of reality and weakened it, enabling links called ‘Gridgates’ to be established to other worlds, enabling aliens to visit the Earth. Reality storms imperil travel so that long term travel in in convoys and all forms of broadcast media act as vessels for a necrocosmic plague. Only the wealthy has access to any form of direct communication, whilst messages and recorded media are delivered directly. Long distance travel is via the Thunder Road, a continental network of highways and fuel stations controlled by Lord Thunder, the leader of the Sanction.

In the world of Gridshock 20XX, the Player Characters are Vectors. They possess the ability to warp the Grid and thus reality, manipulating it in their favour. Vectorisation means that this is accompanied by visual displays that means that it is never subtle. Vectors are typically human, but can also be gatecrashers from other realities or hybroids—one of the genetically engineered labour force. Whilst Vectors have superpowers, they do not operate as the superheroes of old. They do not wear spandex and they do not patrol looking for crime. That, combined with the flashiness of their powers, would make it easier for the Supremacy to find them. Instead, they travel the Thunder Road, looking for work and when they can, attempting to strike a blow for justice and freedom. Vectors are meant to be proactive and fight for what is right, forge new alliances, push their powers to the limits of reality—and perhaps beyond, reclaim hope and rebuild civilisation, and explore the secrets of old world and the new.

Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap makes some chances to ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying. The Game Master is replaced by the Grid Master and Vectors possess Vector Potential instead of Determination and Vector Points instead Determination Points. The attributes Prowess and Willpower are replaced by Fighting and Willpower. Some Powers are renamed, such as Attribute Boost instead of Ability Boost; others are replaced, such as Fabrication for gadgets; and still others are shifted from being Powers to being Extras of Powers, such as Force Field being made an Extra of Force Control. In addition, there are several new Powers. These include Fabrication, Geist Control, Gridjockeying, Protection, and Signature Vehicle. Limits and Extras are provided for all. Of these, Geist Control gives a Vector control of daemons, Ultra-Geists, and Liminals when they enter the Realspace of Earth, working like a Mind Control Power, whilst Gridjockeying enables a Vector to use a ‘Grid Intrusion Neural Interface’ to duplicate the effects of another Power! However, it is limited to the basic effect of a Power without mastering one via the ‘Routine’ Extra.

Optional rules in Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap allow for the Vectors to share and detail a motorrig, suggests some Qualities for Vectors, and offers a list of Specialities to reflect the action-orientated setting of Gridshock 20XX. There are some changes to how damage is handled, but notably this is not a setting in which there is ready access to armour. Unless it is a specific Power, armour simply reduces lethal damage to blunt damage.

Physically, Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap is very nicely presented in swathes of yellow and black. The artwork is reasonable, but the cartography is slightly difficult to read. The layout does switch in places between portrait and landscape format, not always to easy effect.

Gridshock 20XX ’Zine 1: Roadmap sets everything up for the three parts of the Gridshock 20XX quartet with a lot of intriguing content that suggests a very different style of superhero setting and a very different style of post-apocalyptic setting. Perhaps a combination of Mad Max meets the Thunder Lord?

Super Fast, Super Light

The very first thing that you notice about ICONS – Superpowered Roleplaying is its cover. Published by Adamant Entertainment through Cubicle Seven, its depiction of the comic book stalwarts is cartoony and stylised, echoing more the animated work of Paul Dini than say, the realism of Alex Ross. This has drawn the book some criticism both because the artwork is not to everyone’s taste and the RPG is designed by Steve Kenson, who is better known for the more serious take upon the genre in the form of Green Ronin Publishing's Mutants & Masterminds and the more recent DC ADVENTURE Hero’s Handbook. The criticism is born of the fact that ICONS is not a “serious” take upon the genre, but a lighter, faster approach inspired by the same source as its artwork – Saturday morning cartoons. In RPG terms its faster, lighter mechanics and design feels reminiscent of 1980s stalwarts, TSR’s Marvel Superheroes and Games Workshop’s Golden Heroes (more recently made available by its author as Squadron UK), but are more up to date in that they are a variant of the FATE system that has been used in games as diverse as Spirit of the Century and Starblazer Adventures: The Rock and Roll Space Opera Adventure Game to The Dresden Files and Diaspora.

The real “Old School” design element to ICONS is that players create their characters randomly, just as they did in Marvel Superheroes, Golden Heroes, and Villains & Vigilantes. A player not only rolls for his character’s Abilities (or attributes), but also his hero’s Origins, number of Powers and the actual Powers, and number of Specialities (or skills). He also needs roll the level of each of his Powers, which like his Abilities, are rated between one and ten, with three being human average, six being human maximum, and ten being on a cosmic scale. All this takes is two six-sided dice rolled a few times. From the Abilities and the Powers rolled and the Specialities selected, a player is free to create his hero’s background and identity. (A point-buy system is also included if a player does not want to roll for his Powers, but that is the blander option.)

In addition, a player is also free to choose up to ten Aspects that define who the hero is, split between five Qualities and five Challenges. The former are positive descriptors that can also occasionally work against a hero, such as a Catchphrase, a Connection, or a Motivation; while the latter are negative like Bad Luck, Enemy, or Weakness. In keeping with the game’s more contemporary design use of the FATE system, a character’s Aspects define where he can spend “Determination,” its equivalent of Luck or Hero points. Every hero begins a base level of Determination with the greater the number of Powers and high Abilities a hero has, the lower his base Determination. By Qualities being Tagged and Challenges being Compelled during play, a player can earn more Determination and in the process add to the game’s ongoing story.

To gain further Determination during the game, the players can also work together to create a Team and its Qualities and Challenges. Each hero has to contribute one point of permanent Determination to a Team pool that can be drawn from when the Qualities and Challenges particular to the Team come into play. Determination can also be invested in Team Resources, the rules suggesting several ways in which Resources can be handled in the game.

Our sample is Doctor Farland Boring, a doctor and biologist working for an environmental research institute. Whilst working as part of a survey team monitoring the impact of deep sea drilling in the Java Sea, the ship he was aboard was attacked by pirates and he was knocked overboard and into the sea where he was bitten by a sea snake. The venom, tainted from pollutants from the nearby drilling, did more than poison him. It gave him the ability to swim at fantastic speeds, deliver a fast bite, and follow that up with potent venom. With his newfound abilities, Farland trailed the pirates, rescued his colleagues, and in the process, discovered that the pirates had corporate masters. In the past two years he has become an environmental campaigner, supporting causes around the world and making a nuisance of himself to many of the world’s leading oil companies.

Sea Krait
Real Name: Doctor Farland Boring
Origins: Transformed
Prowess: 4 Coordination: 6 Strength: 5
Intellect: 3 Awareness: 4 Willpower: 6
Stamina: 11
Determination: 3
Powers: Aquatic-7, Offensive Power – Paralysis-8, Offensive Power – Strike-5
Specialities: Medicine, Science – Biology, Underwater Combat
Qualities: Catchphrase (By the power of sea!), Connection (ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Baker), Epithet (The Sea’s Greatest Warrior), Identity (Mild Mannered Scientist), Motivation (To help save the environment)
Challenges: Enemy (Big Oil), Personal (Hates to use his strongest Power), Social (Enemy of big business), Weakness (Crude oil)

The base mechanics in ICONS are straightforward and simple. Whenever a hero wants to undertake an action, his player takes two six-sided dice, designating one die as positive and the other negative. After they have been rolled, the dice are added together to generate a number between -5 and +5, and this is applied to the Ability or Power being used. If the end result beats a difficulty number, a hero has succeeded. The most radical aspect of the dice mechanics is that the GM never rolls them, only the players. So for example, in combat, a player rolls to hit when attacking and rolls to dodge when being attacked, the difficulty numbers being taken by an opponent’s Abilities and Powers or set by the GM.

For example, Sea Krait has tracked down the pirates that attacked the ship he was aboard to a drilling rig and dealt with most of them except for the armoured suit wearing villain, Big Oil, who has Sea Krait’s girlfriend, Jennifer Baker, in his grasp. Before Sea Krait can move, Big Oil releases a jet of crude oil at him with his Blast – Crude Oil-8 Power and Co-ordination 6. To avoid this, Sea Krait needs to make a Co-ordination test against that of Big Oil’s. With a result of -5, his player rolls badly and Sea Krait is hit by the jet and takes damage equal to Big Oil’s Blast Power, plus extra for Weakness, reducing his Stamina down to 1, but because his Weakness has been Compelled, receives an extra point of Determination. Knowing that this could be his last chance in this fight to save Jennifer, Sea Krait’s player Tags his Connection Quality to his girlfriend, enabling him to spend Determination. He opts for Determined Effort to increase the likelihood of successfully hitting Big Oil. His player rolls a total of +2, spends a point of Determination to add another +2, giving him +4 to apply to his Prowess. When compared to Big Oil’s Prowess of 6, Sea Krait’s total of 10 is a successful use of his Strike Power, but will not inflict enough damage to stop Big Oil. So he follows the bite by injecting the villain with his Paralysis Power. Enough to stop Big Oil, but too much for Jennifer, who is horrified at what her boyfriend has become and runs screaming!

To an extent, Determination works like ICONS’ currency. Both players and GM are meant to Compel and Tag Aspects not just to gain Determination and an explanation within the game for its use, but also to add to bring story elements into the game. And not just each hero’s Aspects, but also those are belonging to the villains and to an extent the environment around them. When brought into the game Determination can be spent to various effects. Besides Determined Effort which lets a hero improve his dice rolls, Focused Effort allows a hero to use an Ability or Power of his choice, Recover restores his Stamina (this needs no explanation or tying to an Aspect to use), “Retcon” adds details to the game, and Stunts let him do something special with his Powers.

The Powers themselves are divided into seven categories: Alteration, Control, Defensive, Mental, Movement, Offensive, and Sensory. Some like Blast will need further definition, whilst others are more costly at character generation, such as Immortality, Probability Control, Teleportation, and Wizardry. The Powers included in ICONS should cover most types of heroes and villains, and in keeping with the design are fairly broad. Plus a player will need to define the exact nature and flavour of his Powers, but that should be part of his character’s background.

Advice for the GM covers everything from handling character and team creation to individual actions, designing adventures, and dealing with Determination. It tries to cover most situations, but part of the game’s light mechanics and design philosophy is that the GM is meant to adapt them to most situations rather than find a rule in its pages to cover every situation.

Besides the rules support, the GM is given an array of villains to include in his games, all of them with surprisingly detailed backgrounds given ICONS’ intended light style. It would have been nice if some sample heroes had been included as well as the villains, the only given hero in the book being the cactus-themed Saguaro used as an example of character generation. There is also a short scenario, “The Wages of Sin,” which provides a suitable means of introducing the rules to the players and the player characters to each other. Beyond its core rulebook, ICONS is supported with plenty of PDF titles.

Putting aside the fact that the artwork in ICONS might not be to your taste, the book is far from physically perfect. Although it needs an edit here and there, the real problem is the lack of an index. There are few if any rules to ICONS, but having to flip through the book to find them is time consuming considering how light and fast the game is meant to be run. By any means though, the lack of an index in an RPG rulebook in this day and age is inexcusable.

Although ICONS is a light game, it is not suited to be run by an inexperienced GM. It requires too much rules adjudication upon the part of the GM, and that calls for someone with some experience under their cape. Nevertheless, it is suited to inexperienced players, especially if they know the superhero genre, whether that be from the comics or the Saturday morning cartoons. In comparison with other more detailed superhero RPG designs, ICONS places more of an emphasis on the story and the drama through the use of the FATE system and its Aspects that encourage everyone to stick to the genre. Combine that with its light mechanics, and what you have in ICONS – Superpowered Roleplaying is a fast playing supers RPG that does both the genre and pick up and play.