Overview
Icons by Ad Infinitum Adventures is a superheroic RPG that aims to replicate the feel of superhero comics. The game is generally assumed to take place in the modern world, with the usual conceits of a superhero world like super smart heroes or aliens with incredible technology. The base method for creating heroes is random, with the opportunity to customize your hero at the end of character creation. This is done to help create heroes with powers that replicate the seemingly haphazard suite of powers from their comic book counterparts. There is a point-buy option, but if you choose to use this option, definitely discuss it with your players first, as it is pretty easy to create a too powerful character with this optional method.
- Heroic
- At its core, this is a game about stopping villainy and saving people. While it certainly could be used for the grimdark, ultra-nihilistic portrayal of superheroes that has become popular, there are likely other systems that would do this better. You certainly could play as a supervillain using this system, but it would work best for a ragtag group of antiheroes (think Worm).
- Theatre of Mind
- This game is well designed for theater of the mind play, with abstract distances, simple actions, and a focus on cinematic play.
Resolution Mechanic
When a hero’s ability is uncertain, you make a test against a difficulty. The player describes what they are doing and the GM sets a difficulty for that task. Then the GM and player each roll 1d6. The GM adds the difficulty of the task to determine the final difficulty. The player adds the relevant attribute or power and any relevant specialties to the roll to determine their final effort. If their effort exceeds the difficulty, they are successful! There are several levels of success or failure that can come from any test.
Character Design
Attributes
Awareness Coordination Intellect Prowess Strength WillpowerEach character has six Attributes: Prowess, Coordination, Strength, Intellect, Awareness, and Willpower. With the first three being the “physical” attributes, and the latter 3 being the “mental” attributes. These attributes help you determine how good you are at performing a task, or whether you are even capable of it at all.
Skills
Specialties often referred to as “skills” in other games, your character’s specialties may be as important as their powers. Bruce Banner isn’t just the hulk, he’s also a brilliant nuclear physicist. Specialties are fairly freeform, but can be added to any roll when they are relevant. So a character with the martial arts specialty can add their specialty as a bonus when they throw a punch.
Background
Qualities are freeform character descriptions that can be used to cause trouble for your character or give them a bonus on a roll. You can activate a relevant quality by spending a determination point or for free if the quality is relevant enough. When the GM activates a quality to cause you trouble, you regain a determination point.
Abilities/Power/Feats
Superhuman Abilities are what makes your character a superhero. Not all characters will have flashy abilities like teleportation or the ability to shoot beams from your eyes, but all will likely have some power, even if just an off-the-scale intelligence or powerful devices.
Advancement
As heroes wrap up storylines they can gain achievements. These achievements allow a player to make corresponding changes to their character. For example, a minor achievement makes a minor change, like learning a stunt, move a point from one ability to another, or learning a new specialty. Bigger achievements can give heroes new qualities, new powers, or increase the hero’s determination.
Combat
Resource Management
Resource
Determination: Each character has 6-number of powers determination points. These points can be used to activate qualities, get opportunities to reroll, or avoid trouble. Likewise, you regain a determination point when the GM makes trouble for your character.
Character Sheet
