Beautiful rules light system for swords and sorcery.

This review may be a tad train-of-thought, sorry about that

92 page full color

The Punisher, The Boys, Suicide Squad, Watchmen, The Dark Knight, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, Sin City, Gotham City, Mega City One, Dogs of WAR, Dicey Tales, Everywhen”

Watchdogs of Killcade (WoK) is a new superhero-ish ttrpg by Simon Washbourne of Supers!, Triumphant, & Barbarians of Lemuria fame. It uses the same system (w/ a few tweaks) that BoL does.

It’s set in a grimdark Gotham-esque city called Killcade (check out the Influences above, it should tell you all you need to know). There was a War, then a Contagion, and some of the few who survived both came back Changed (got powers).

The game leans into the whole X-Men “prejudice/discrimination” thing for the Changed; the street justice-seeking Watchdogs (PCs) must lay low (no flashy costumes) in their efforts to keep their neighborhoods safe from the corrupt police state (and worse).

We’re not told much of anything about the Watchdogs - who started them, their code, secret handshakes, etc. Just that they’re vigilantes that don’t do fancy costumes.

Opposing them are not only elite SWAT-like Myrmidons but official “Supes” like Imperion, Valiant and Kingstar (team name The Bastion) - think The Seven from The Boys (but, uh, only Three..).

The system is roll high, 2d6 based, 9+ succeeds. You add an Attribute (the normal ones for the normal things), + a Combat Ability (for combat) -or- a Calling (see below) for non-combat tasks.

The Callings (called Careers in BoL) - Acrobat to Weaponeer - are packages of skills and more you can choose for your vigilante. To quote the text:

“A calling gives an immediate overview of a character’s capabilities – their upbringing, training, background and experiences – if you have a calling of intruder you should be able to sneak around silently, break into buildings and steal shit. You are familiar with the tools of the trade, methods of access to buildings and possibly even others in your profession. If you are a targeteer, you are knowledgeable of missile weapons past and present, able to hit the bullseye on a dartboard most of the time, use any firearm with ease and fire a bow like Robin Hood.”

You get 4 callings to start with, and 4 points to spread amongst them (w/ a max of 3 points in any one of them). If you have 2 in Merc you’d add that to a roll to, like, get info from military contacts, that sort of thing.

Since this is a superhero (again, kinda..) rpg I suppose I should mention the Power Boons. For Watchdogs/PCs, they’re all minor superpowers, so don’t expect time travel, super-speed or even flight. It’s dialed down way lower than that; think MCU Defenders as opposed to Dr Strange, Hulk, Subby, & ‘Surfer Defenders. So you can run fast, but like twice Usain Bolt speed, not even close to typical comic book speedster speed. They cost 2 points (or have pre-reqs), so few player characters will have more than one power. This can be fun (IMO) but it’s best knowing this before purchasing or springing it on your players.

NPCs like the official Bastion supes, well, they have access to Super Boons which are cranked-up Power Boons, and resemble the true super-powers we’re all used to. There’s not many but the classics (flight, true super-speed, super strength, magic, etc) are there, mostly.

The art (by Peter Frain & Jacob Blackmon) is solid, and fits the gritty setting. No (apparent) use of AI, which is a big

A terrific variation on the Barbarians of Lemuria rules well fitted to the grim & gritty (though not glum), street level supers setting. Atmospheric and intriguing, but not overwhelming you with minutia. Reading this game made me want to run it ASAP.

One of the best takes of S&S in RPG that I've found . Great for a narrrative driven game, but with enough "meat" to make you feel that you are actually playing it.

An excellent streamlining of regular BoL. My new go to for one shot pulp.

Nice lite version of Barbarians of Lemuria. Simple, easy and fast PJ creation system.

Barbarians of Lemuria, modernized and even more accessible. Simple without being simplistic. We'd love to hear about it in the future.

Sovereign City is the first official supplement for Triumphant!, and it introduces us to a fictional city that we can use to build our own campaigns. The first thing we encounter is a brief history of superheroes through eras (i.e. Golden Age, Silver Age…) from the campaign's perspective, providing the pillars on which to build the storyline. Any fan of this genre will enjoy this part, as it masterfully combines pulp and superhero elements, creating a story that feels familiar yet original at the same time. Next, the main locations and characters of Sovereign City are presented (by the way, the action takes place in the ‘80s, but you can easily adapt it to the time period you prefer). The descriptions are clear and concise, planting hooks that we can pick up and develop, but leaving enough space for us to create our own content if preferred; in that sense, the city is quite modular. There are also tips on how to run campaigns with different power levels, how to focus them on a specific theme (such as mutations, martial arts, etc.), and how to create interesting crossovers. The supplement introduces five different power levels (the core rulebook only had four), providing more variety. As a finale, there are twenty characters representing different historical moments of the city, which can be used as player characters, allies, or antagonists. The less interesting aspects of this supplement are the layout and illustrations. The layout is simple and functional, facilitating reading both on paper and on a screen. The images are of varied quality and origin, giving the work a somewhat peculiar appearance. However, it is important to consider that we have a fairly comprehensive manual at a very economical price, so it's understandable that the graphic aspect may not compete with that of a major publishing house. I appreciate the quality of the content and the numerous ideas and advice it offers for creating your own campaign.

Spoilers – You have been warned - For the past few days, I have soloed my way through SC5 Hellflower (20 pages, free at DriveThruRPG). It is for Barbarians of Lemuria Legendary Edition (110 pages, same place) which I did use. I used one PC out of this RPG and four out of the adventure (pre-generated characters). I used Magic the Gathering cards as the solo engine along with a yes/maybe/no oracle. Here are the highlights of the adventure. The adventure started with the PCs in the town market. They heard two rumors (one of them false) and then walked to the garden of Sforza the Scarlet Dreamer. Tamsin was able to climb the wall to gain access, but the others had to go in through the main entrance.

Their first encounter was a box turtle. They picked him up and put him in a bag. The second encounter was Pumpkin Head. They killed him and soon found a Seal of Cleansing. They continued on and ran into him again. This time Tamsin the PC broke the seal. Pumpkin Head broke in half and then disappeared. Next, the PCs found a scroll of Carbonize. When Turnip Head showed up, Tamsin cast that spell and killed him. The next encounter was Gourd Head and Scarecrow. The PCs won that battle. The PCs burned the two bodies. Moving on, they noticed one trap and were able to avoid it. Rokas used his agility to avoid the Saber Tree. At the Lotus Pond, they were able to collect some raw ingredients for a local drug. Rokas was able to see through an illusion at The Grove.

At this location they did find the NPC Naram rooted into the ground (he had been a bad boy). Tamsin freed him with a dispel magic. He joined the party and told them about The Heart of Aminah. He led them to the well and Rokas and Sal went down the well using Naram’s silk rope. Down there they encountered Aminah. She told them her story and gave them The Heart (a gem). Sal sensed that her story was “off”. They went back up and had a discussion. They decide to leave the garden. A few minutes later Naram makes a grab for the gem (I told you he was bad). The entire group ends up on the ground, fighting for the gem. Naram ends up dead along with Tamsin. The PCs loot the bodies and head back to town. They sell the gem and the raw ingredients at the marketplace. They keep the box turtle. At the tavern, they “pour one out” for Tamsin. Maybe you will have better luck.

Give this fun RPG a try!

An absolute gem of a Supers RPG city book! Complete but concise, with enough detail to make you want to visit, but not so much that you feel like you are running for Mayor. Includes several statted-up heroes and villains, as well; some even written up a different "power levels." If you need still more characters, an absolutely FREE "Sovereign City Heroes and Villains" supplement was just released, too. Triumphant is really shaping up to fill the "point based but not a total pain" niche for this genre.

Really excellent game. The highlight is easily the excellent magic system which focuses on summoning and binding elementals, and demons. Includes a lot of detail on these summon creatures and the gods associated with them. Worth the purchase price for that alone. Also has a great gazeteer of the Crimson Lands, a mass combat system, and all the basic rules you'd expect from an RPG too.

Triumphant is one of the best super hero games that you can play. The system is easy to play, but with many options: you can choose your abilities and powers, modify them with limitations and improvements, create a background, etc. Combats are fast and intuitive, powers give you the upperhand when you get creative, and you have rules for minions, natural disasters, secret bases, etc. For me, the worst part is the art and design. Many illustrations are generic and the desig is a bit amateur, but they don't get in the way to enjoy the game. If you need a good super hero game, but don't have time to learn complicate rules, you'll have to try Triumphant!

The perfect blend of street hero, urban mystic, mystery men, thriller, and pulp. With any OSR campaign, the main ingredient is a good set of classes to build a foundation on. And these classes have to mesh with whatever your ideal vision is of the setting.

Hideouts & Hoodlums, Eldritch Tales, Gangbusters B/X and Fallen Justice gave me parts of what I was looking for, but I really wasn't satisfied with any particular one of them as the foundation for my urban pulp hero campaign. Terror Tales - X has just what I needed.

Plus, I can add stuff from the others to it, if I want to. I very likely will, as they each have elements that I think could expand on Terror Tales - X in good ways.

Ended up ordering a print copy from Lulu, as well.

With Superheroes - X!, Simon Washbourne expands on his game Light Superheroes. The earlier title was an adaptation of the Swords & Wizardry Light rules to the superhero genre, with five character origins and seven character classes, enabling you to take your superhuman champions through the Third Level. X! adds even more, with two more classes, three more levels, and many additional powers.

The character origins function much like race in OSR-style fantasy games. They give your hero some special abilities or bonuses, and sometimes an extra power of choice. The origins include Alien, Construct, Highly Trained, Mutation, and Deity.

The character classes give your hero a specific hit die, saving throw, task check bonus, basic hit bonus, and a choice of powers (usually two at First Level, with others that can be added at higher levels). And powers normally gain in effectiveness as your hero increases in level. The classes are Brick, Daredevil, Detective, Elementalist, Fighter, Gadgeteer, Metamorph, Mystic, and Psychic.

Putting these together, and using some Golden Age characters as examples, you could deploy the Human Torch as a Construct-Elementalist, the Black Hood as a Highly Trained-Fighter, the Flash as a Mutation-Daredevil, Starman as a Highly Trained-Gadgeteer, Amazona as an Alien-Brick, the Thin Man as a Mutation-Metamorph, etc. Moving into the Silver Age, you could set up the Doom Patrol with Elasti-Girl as a Mutation-Metamorph, Negative Man as a Mutation-Elementalist, and Robot Man as a Construct-Brick.

Superheroes –X! does not feature every possible feat, power, or skill seen in comics over the last 80 years. (If you need that level of detail—and rules burden—you can always try Champions or Mutants & Masterminds instead.) But the available origins and classes, mixed with nearly 40 powers, will certainly give you a wide range of possible characters—enough to match many superheroes, if you want to play in an existing continuity, or an endless cast of characters in an original continuity. Really high-end heroes like the Spectre, the modern Superman, and the Martian Manhunter are probably beyond the scope of these rules, though.

Superheroes –X! marks an excellent progression from Light Superheroes, combining great playability and great value in its small package. Highly recommended for those looking for a true fast-play superhero RPG!

The basic mechanics of BoL are simple, fast, and enable good storytelling. The characters built with these rules are competent but not over-poweringly so, and typical adventures present a good challenge without TPKs. The character options are flexible so that it's possible to engage in both combat and roleplay with success.