DoubleZero: Mansions & Misfits

A Dysfunctional Super Family Setting Toolkit for DoubleZero

The city was in chaos as the misfits stumbled through the streets, trying to save as many people as they could. The team, made up of an unlikely group of individuals who had all discovered each other in their darkest moments, had formed a found family of sorts. But despite their best efforts, they were constantly hindered by their own personal issues. The leader, a telepath named Carole, struggled with severe anxiety and self-doubt. The strongman, Dave, was constantly battling his addiction to painkillers. The speedster, Guillermo, had a reckless streak that put the misfits in danger. And their only true powerhouse, a woman with the ability to control fire named Linda, was constantly at odds with the rest of the group due to her hot temper and lack of control over her powers. Together, they were determined to save the city, but their own struggles got in the way.

Mansions & Misfits is a setting toolkit for DoubleZero. The player characters are a dysfunctional found family of low-powered supers in a world where they’re not just unique, but unappreciated and unwanted. Harassed by the secretive and covert National Registry of Misfits (the NRM), a government agency tasked with maintaining decency and normality, the group has to deal with its own issues while struggling to stay safe and make the world a better place.

Because “a dysfunctional found family of low-powered supers” is a mouthful to repeat again and again, we’ll just refer to them going forward as Our Beloved Misfits, or simply misfits.

Wait, DoubleZero supers? Wasn’t the system created specifically for modern characters that don’t have powers? Yes! The emphasis is still on the characters. Low-level superpowers are not as powerful or versatile as those of typical supers. They’re more limited in scope, duration, and intensity. These powers are designed to maintain a sense of realism and verisimilitude in a misfit-adjacent setting, as well as to add depth and variety to the characters.

This book includes:

• Worldbuilding: How to utilize and develop the setting elements you’ll need to successfully run a Mansions & Misfits, including the genre, setting, theme, and tone.
• The Family: The player characters misfits-slash found family, including their purpose, how they’re organized, the resources at their disposal, and key personnel.
• The NRM: The National Registry of Misfits, an antagonist organization, including their aims and goals, how they’re structured, their capabilities, and a selection of important individuals.
• Creating Characters: Information on the types of player characters, antagonists, and supporting characters most appropriate for a Mansions & Misfits campaign.
• Adventures: Elements you’ll to run a Mansions & Misfits adventure. This chapter covers the premise, goals, obstacles, and stakes, and includes a selection of plot hooks to get you started.
• Systems: Mechanics for low-level superpowers, dysfunctions that affect them, and family advantages and disadvantages.

A copy of DoubleZero: Modern Roleplaying is needed to play.

Why a Toolkit?

Roleplaying is a creative and collaborative activity. A large portion of the joy it brings is from making up the things that add to the experience. The reason Mansions & Misfits is a toolkit and not a highly developed setting with tons of worldbuilding details is so there’s room left for your imagination. While it can be cool to read setting guides that cover everything down to the last detail, in play it can box you in and make you feel that your own ideas don’t fit or aren’t valid. The goal here is to give you as much as you need to get started, then step aside and let you turn this into whatever you and the other players want it to be.

Content Warnings

Content warnings are a way of informing players of potentially disturbing content before they encounter it. They can include warnings about violence, sexual content, suicide, self-harm, drug use, and other sensitive topics. A Mansions & Misfits setting created using this toolkit might include themes of abuse, trauma, addiction, and mental health issues. It may also include warnings for violence and intense conflicts within the group as well as with outside parties as a result of their powers. See the Adventures chapter for additional information.

The DoubleZero System is a tabletop roleplaying game toolkit. First designed for action, espionage, and thriller adventures, the skill-driven tabletop roleplaying system is perfect for mysteries, police procedurals, and crime dramas based on your favorite television series, movies, and novels. DoubleZero works with any “realistic” modern setting that doesn’t lean into magic, the supernatural, or superpowers.

Lightspress Media is a tabletop roleplaying company with a lo-fi approach. Utility of content takes precedence over ostentatious production value. Graphic elements should enhance the message of the text, not act as page filler and eye candy. Physical books need to be compact, portable, and sturdy. This minimalist aesthetic results in powerful toolkits that are both useful and affordable. After all, tabletop roleplaying isn’t the book. It’s the creativity and collaboration that takes place around the tabletop. Our mission is to give you as much as you need, then get out of your way.