“Villains &Vigilantes Ripped 13th Age’s Arm Off!

”
Or how to tear off pieces of game mechanics to build your own Owlbear -esque hybrid

Villains & Vigilantes

For those not familiar with Villains & Vigilantes (or V&V), it’s a 1st generation RPG that was the one of the super-hero
games (_Superhero 2099_ predates it by a little bit and is not as robust a game engine). V&V is also one of the first
games to be simulationist not about our reality but about the reality of the genre it presented: Gold and Silver Age
Super-Hero Comics. While the game has real-world grounding (your weight factors into your carrying capacity, and
having an 18 strength on the standard 3-18 scale will give you carrying capacities very close to world record weightlifters
of those weight classes, as an example) its simulationist heart is the Combat Table.

The Combat Table is where Attack Types such as Hand To Hand, Flame Powers or Mind Control cross reference with
Defense Types like Force Field, Robot Body or, well, Flame Powers. All attack types have a standard Attack Base from 5
to 16, but if the Attack Type/Defense Type cross reference produces different (very often lower) number, you use that.
(In V&V combat you want to roll low on the d20, which keeps it in line with saves on the Basic Characteristics.) The
Combat Chart was painstakingly constructed from reading whole bunches of super hero fights in the comics and laying
on some real-world logic. Combat in V&V feels like comic book fights because super hero physics are encoded in it.

The Combat Table produces the same result as what we expect in F20 combat where a good Armor Class doesn’t mean
you’re dodging more, it means the attackers hits aren’t having a real effect. Your Robot body drops conventional attacks
chance to hit to a 2 or less for the same reason heady armor and shield makes it hard for orcs to hit paladins.

Delightful as it is, the Combat Table does have some limitations: most notably the HTH combat type (which covers all
conventional weapons, including guns) has a low chance to hit because most mooks in comics don’t hit often, even
against targets with no defenses. V&V resolves this for heroes by giving bonuses to hit for using weapons/having martial
arts training, having Heightened Expertise, or having a superior Agility score. Unfortunately RAW you add those bonuses
after the defense table, so while Cyclops has a very poor chance to hit an intangible Shadowcat (Power Blast has an
attack base of 16, dropped to 0 by her Non-Corporeality defense, +1 for his Agility), Hawkeye has an _excellent_ chance
to hit (HTH has an attack base of 5, dropped to 0 by Non-Corporeality, +4 for his Special Weapon, +4 for his Heightened
Expertise, +3 for his high Agility = 11). To deal with this many GMs declare some defenses Absolute 0 (no bonuses apply
after defense) while others apply the bonuses before consulting the table (so Hawkeye has base 5, +4+4+3 = 16,
dropped to 0). Of course, heroes relying on HTH without super training or weapons (such as the Thing or Colossus) have
undeservedly poor chances to hit.

I prefer the latter option as it’s clear to see when the attack would have hit but for the defenses. In any event, that the
target number is being modified rather than the die roll makes it ideal for some of the 13th Age d20 Tech.

The other issue I sometimes have a GM is players having their ideal attack move – often an entangle, which generally
has to be ad-hoc ruled in play as there’s little ‘official’ guidance – that bypass the drama/risk mechanic of traditional
combat. Since 13th Age has specific ideas for dealing with this I’m going to incorporate them. Similarly the mechanics for
powers that influence, dominate or incapacitate the target (Emotion Control, Mind Control, Paralysis Ray) are often too
harsh in play.

Finally, V&V combat runs from 3 point pools: a modest (4-40 usually) number of Hit Points determined by your basic
characteristics and size and refreshes very slowly; a larger number of Power Points (40-100, usually) that cover fatigue,
are also determined by basic characteristics, and refresh between fights; and Movement (30-90 usually) that cover both
ground speed and non-attack actions and refresh each turn (there are usually multiple action cycles in a turn, so you
have to apportion your Movement between your actions). Characters who are conscious and aware of attacks can divert
some damage from HP to Power, which is a great mechanism for capturing heroes rolling with blows but still vulnerable
to surprise hits. It also means a PC beaten down to just a couple of HP can still be a creditable combatant with a good
defense type and a full Power Score.
13th Age
For those not familiar with 13th Age, it is an F20 game that takes from 3rd and 4th Editions and adds some very clever
mechanics. (And owlbears who rip your limbs off to feed their young.) For this experiment I’m focusing on what Rob
Heinsoo calls the Mighty D20 rules. Essentially you can use the number rolled on the d20 to do more than just
determine success or failure: odd hits have one effect, even hits a different one, rolls above 16 have more effect, below
5 have a detriment, etc. etc. . Character classes with lots of martial options like Fighters have abilities they can use only
with certain dice rolls, but since they have several it means they will get their base effect and then be able to make a
tactical choice from what special move options the dice unlocked. GMs are able to design attack trees for Monsters
where the question of optimal tactical decisions are removed – the d20 roll is made against a target and the attack
powers activate on that roll. I can attest is does wonders for not sapping mental energy in the game.

13th Age also includes a concise array of conditions that are just Effect and not Cause so they can be tailored to various
spells and creature effects without getting over specific – the GM can quickly tailor to the spell or creature. They are
governed by a straightforward saving throw system that keeps the combat tension in place. V&V can likely benefit from
something like this to supplement its existing simulationist structures.

The Unholy Melding

So, that all being said, what do I want to rip off of 13th Age and graft onto V&V?

1) Incorporate some of the Conditions: Looking at the 13th Age conditions vs. what’s in V&V and I see a lot of space
to fold these in.
a. As it stands the V&V conditions are
i. Influenced: The character is under Emotion Control (or similar) and must be played accordingly.
(this is the 13th Age Equivalent of Confused, but with more options)
ii. Dominated: The character is under Mind Control (or similar) and is played by the dominator.
iii. Fatigued: The character has no Power remaining and is at one half in Movement, Basic
Characteristics for saves, damage rolled and carrying capacity.
iv. Unconscious: The character still has HP and Power but is temporarily unable to act until a Save
is made vs. Endurance. At which point they are free to act. Attackers have a +4 on their Attack
Base to hit. (This is the 13th Age equivalent of Helpless)
v. Incapacitated: the character is out of HP but still has Power and will not recover this fight
barring an outside agency.
b. To these I would add (in order of severity for me to keep straight)
i. Hampered: The character loses all secondary and bonus effects from their abilities and can only
make standard attacks.
ii. Stuck: the character at 0 or less Movement. They and cannot Evade, move or change stance/
facing until they have a positive Movement Pool.
iii. Trapped: The character is at 0 or less Movement and recovers at 1/4 normal rate. They are
treated as if both Hampered and Stuck.
iv. Dazed: The character takes a -2 penalty to attacks (This is lower than the similar condition in 13th
Age to fit V&V scaling.)
v. Disoriented: The character has a -2 penalty on their attacks, and attacks against the character
have a +2 to their Attack Base.
vi. Weakened: The character has a -4 penalty on their attacks, and attacks against the character
have a +4 to their attack base.
vii. Stunned: Attacks against the character have a +4 on their attack base and the character can’t
take any actions.
c. Saves against Conditions in V&V are traditionally d% vs a Basic Characteristic. That’s awfully harsh,
coming in at an on-average 15% chance to recover every turn. Moving to a 13th age style of saves being
determined by the ability and independent of the character is out of place. More likely the ability will
have a save of d20 vs. basic characteristic, d% vs. 3 times basic characteristic or d% vs. basic
characteristic. That feels about right.
2) Increase the HTH attack base to hit to 10, with odd and even rolls having different effects based on skill. While
just doubling the chance to hit for everyone in melee is a step too far, you can state that only Odd Hits do the
attackers HTH damage to HP as standard. Even Hits have some other, significantly smaller, effect.
a. Even Hits normally do Movement Damage: This is a new concept in V&V, but it makes sense – the
attack in some way pins the target down, buries them under rubble or forces them to move, depending
on the circumstances and effect. People with no Movement left can’t Evade (though ongoing evasions
restart on their first action of the next round when their Movement pool refreshes), change facing, get
up or move around the battlefield. For people with lower basic HTH scores this is usually a minimal
effect, but it does capture the use of automatic weapon fire to pin people down or super strength blows
knocking people against walls or creating rubble to hinder their foes.
If you end up being damaged to Negative Movement, it can slow you down next round. The Movement
Refresh means you get the value of your pool back, so if you’ve got a Movement of 40 and are reduced
to -20 Move, at the start of your first action you regain 40 Movement and enter the turn with 20 Move.
Movement Attacks are about one-quarter as useful as HP effects, as a rule of thumb, but if you’re doing
3d10 damage to Movement Rate that might be more….
b. How does this interact with Weapons/Natural Weaponry: rather than giving their current +1 to +3 to
hit, weapons and Natural Weaponry increase the HTH attack base by 2, 4 or 6 points. This has the same
effect to accuracy, with a 5-15% increase in chance to land a significant blow. Weapon attacks do
increased damage on an Odd Hit, as per normal.
If it’s a Special Weapon, has a Natural Weaponry bonus ability or is on some other way coupled with
another Ability designed to enhance close combat it may also have an extra effect on an Even Hit,
making it about half as powerful as an Odd Hit. This is left to the GM and player, but it shouldn’t do HP
damage, instead doing greater Movement damage, Power Damage, or applying a Condition that lasts
until the end of the target’s next action.
c. How does this interact with Heightened Expertise: Rather than increasing your attack base, Heightened
Expertise increases your Even Roll effect as per Weaponry above. The additional effect is ADDED onto
the basic damage of non-HTH attacks (so someone with Heightened Expertise with their Power Blast
does d20 damage on an Odd Hit or d20 Damage + something else on an Even Hit).
d. Heightened Expertise with Weapon Bonus Abilities: If you have two powers that are giving you a half-
strength Even Hit effects, you can just let them do your standard damage as per an Odd Hit.
3) Give ‘Absolute Defenses’ some die roll weaknesses. The idea here is a condition of an Absolute Defense is that
attacks that roll particularly low may not “hit” and activate any of the attacker-controlled effects, but they do
trigger a defender-determined detriment. D20 rolls of 5 or less (minus 1/3d the Ability’s controlling
characteristic, or reduced by training) triggering the Bonus Detriment. These should be about one-quarter as
potent as damage to HP.
a. Force Field, for example: the current Force Field rules have any kinetic attack that would have hit but
for the Force Field do damage to the field generator’s Power Score. This captures the Susan Richards
Takes Psychic Feedback effect from the comics, but it makes Force Field debilitating as you will burn
through your Power Score really quickly. Instead, the feedback to power only takes effect if the kinetic
attack roll is a 5 or less, so in 25% of cases.
b. Adaptation as another example: This is the ‘absolute defense’ against environmental attacks, and the
player should pick about half the attack types that can stun them with a good enough hit. Maybe it’s
damage to Power Score (“Good Lord, his fire is so hot I nearly felt that!”) but it might take the PC
movement to recover for the onslaught.
c. Non-Corporeality as a final example: The classic ‘absolute’ defense against physical attacks, this does
dome with increased vulnerability to mental attacks, but still needs more balance. The player should
pick 3-4 attack types (usually energy ones) that on a roll of 5 or less can Hinder or Daze them on their
next action, or alternately do Power damage. This is usually being partially blinded by the energy or
somesuch, so the non-corporality remains absolute.
Sample Characters
With this laid out, lets take a look at how this would play out for the PCs in my Legion of Super Heroes V&V game.

Mr. Music
The current team chairman has Emotion Controlling Music as his super-power. In game mechanics terms he combined
Emotion Control, Sonic Powers, Heightened Senses and Heightened Expertise into one giant ability, with the Special
Requirement that he has to be able to make music that his targets can hear for this to work. His Knowledge Areas are
Religion/Mysticism (he was trained by the space monks of cosmic harmony) and Scholar - Detective/Crime Fiction (he’s a
devotee of 20th century Earth mysteries). He is 3rd level and his music links to his Charisma of 13.
 Melee Combat: Mr. Music has no training in close combat. His attack base is 10.
o Odd Hit: 1d4 damage to Hit Points
o Even Hit: 1d4 damage to Movement
 Emotion Control: Mr. Music has considerable power and expertise with his music. The power is linked to his
Charisma attribute. His attack base is a 10. Power cost for this is 8 per successful use on one target, or 8 per
attempt on a radius. Range is 13 inches (65 feet).
o Odd Hit: Target is Influenced by Mr. Music’s emotion of choice. Currently he can generate Calm,
Collaboration (targets naturally work together, accelerating group projects), Joy and Rage. This is ex
o Even Hit: In addition to the Odd Hit effects, Mr. Music gains a bonus effect based on the emotion
 Calm: Target is Dazed until the end of Mr. Music’s next action. Alternately, Mr. Music can give
targets a +2 to Attack Base for the same time frame.
 Collaboration: Target gains a Mental Switchboard link as per Telepathy with Mr. Music (if one
target) or with all other effected targets (if area effect).
 Joy: Target ‘blisses out’ for a moment and loses 2d10 Movement.
 Rage: Target’s frothing rage is an emotional drain, causing 1d12 Power damage.
This is an example of how Heightened Expertise links with a non-HTH attack – he has half-again bonus powers to his
Even Hits. The nature of the Influenced condition in V&V means much of this power is improvisational in play, but this
gives us a clear framework for extra effects.

Bubble Boy
The team’s doctor and resident romantic, Bubble Boy’s species has a natural force field required to keep them alive on
their incredibly hostile homeworld. In game mechanics terms he has Force Field, Life Support and Telekinesis linked into
a single power. His Knowledge areas are Xenomedicine and Sport – Reef/Undersea Exploration. He’s currently 3rd level
with an Endurance score of 10.
 Non Forcefield Melee Combat: Bubble Boy has no training in close combat, and if for some reason his personal
force field is down he’s an inept combatant. His attack base is 10 as HTH. The attack costs 1 Power.
o Odd Hit: 1d4 damage to Hit Points.
o Even Hit: 1d4 damage to Movement
 Low Power Force Field Defense: he has Telekinesis and Life Support defense whenever his Low Powered Force
Field is on. It takes one full action to activate but will stay on as long as he is conscious. He can extend this to up
to 300 lbs. of other matter with a touch by spending weight/50 in Movement. The field will filter out toxins
native to Tellag, and let him survive in hostile environments unharmed for 50 minutes.
 Low Powered Force Field Close Combat: Bubble Boy’s Low Power Force Field is on whenever he is awake, and it
enhances his ability in melee combat considerably. He can use this in melee or in Close range (20 feet or so) with
an effective carrying capacity of Endurance x Level x 10. His attack base is 10 as HTH. The attack costs 1 Power.
o Odd Hit: 1d6 damage to Hit Points. This will naturally go up as his force field capacity increases.
o Even Hit: Bubble Boys hits are very good at pinning people down in short term force field grapples and
bubble barrages. He does 1d10 damage to Movement (triple his carry cap to find move damage)
 Full Power Force Field: This takes 1 Attack per turn to maintain. Any attacks made through the Force Field have
to penetrate it. In addition to the Force Field defense, this also provides Life Support defense (all gasses are
blocked, but the field will recycle air to keep him alive for up to 10 hours). He can create these at a range of 50
feet. His maximum volume is a 50 feet sphere in diameter
o Attacker rolls 2-5: If this is a kinetic attack, Bubble Boy takes 1d6 Power damage from bio-feedback.
 o Attacker rolls 1: Bubble Boy has to spend 20 Movement or the Force Field collapses.
 Full Power Force Field Attack: Bubble Boy can attack with Force Field to encase an opponent. The usual rules for
Force Field as a defense apply. This takes one attack to use. The attack base is 16 as Force Field.
o Odd Hit 7+: Target has to expend 2d10 Movement to avoid being trapped in field.
o Even Hit 6+: Target is Hampered until the end of their next action
o Hit 1-5: Target is Trapped until Strength save on d% is made or kinetic attack brings down field. This
requires Bubble Boy to spend one Attack per turn to maintain.
There’s a lot going on here, but we can see how a power can act to supplement melee combat in his Low Powered Force
Field, an ability that will become ever more powerful as he levels up or trains in Endurance. The changes to his Force
Field let him keep what he wants – a Sue Richard-like force field generator – without seriously disrupting combat by
bubbling all his opponents. Force Field attack will have regular effects, but only has a 25% chance to get the full trapped
in the bubble effect.

Metal Lass
The team’s diplomat, Metal lass comes from a world of deeply formal clan and social structures. Her people have also
developed the species power of drawing up and manipulating metals from their metal poor world. Complex physical and
mental rituals to do so can also be used s a close combat style. OK, they are Metal-Benders from Avatar. This gives her
two Abilities – The Forms (Natural Weaponry + Heightened Defense) and Metal Bending (Magnetic Powers + Heightened
Attack, with the Special Requirement that she needs freedom of motion to do her metal mending) Her knowledge areas
are Government and Artist (sculpture). She is 3rd level.
 The Forms (unarmed melee combat): She is a finely trained martial artist. She has an Attack Base of 14 with
Unarmed HTH. It is based on her 12 Agility. She has the following options available to her.
o Heightened Defense: Any HTH attack type rolls (including conventional ranged weapons) against her
have their attack base reduced by 4
o Odd Hit: Target takes 2d4 HP damage (1d4 basic HTH. +1d4 from Natural Weaponry)
o Even Hit. Target takes 2d8 Movement damage as Metal Lass hurls them to the ground.
o Odd Hit, Forego Heightened Defense: Metal Lass can choose to drop her Heightened Defense until her
next action to instead apply the Disoriented condition to her opponent until her next action (if they go
before her they can save on d20 vs. Endurance at the end of their action to lose the condition). This is in
addition to the HP damage.
o Even Hit, Forego Heightened Defense: Metal Lass can choose to drop her Heightened Defense until her
next action to instead hurl her opponent 1d4 inches (5-20 feet) in the direction of her choice. This is in
addition to the Movement damage.
 Metal Bending: This is not magnetism, but a psychokinesis that only works on Metal. It is based on her 10
Endurance, but due to her Heightened Attack ability all of her characteristics add her Level to their scores. It has
a range of 65 feet.
o Connect with Metal: With one Attack and a Magnetic Powers roll she can ‘connect’ with a piece of
metal in the area, gaining the ability to shape and mold it for the remainder of the fight. She needs to
have some metal nearby to be able to attack with. She can connect with up to 1950 lbs. of metal.
o Shield of Metal: with one attack she can both connect with nearby metal an dedicate it to defense. This
lets her maintain a Magnetic Powers defense for the remainder of the fight, blocking incoming attacks
with ribbons or shields of metal
 Metal Strike: Its possible for Metal Lass simply hurl large quantities of metal at her opponents with great speed.
This has an Attack Base of 13 as Magnetic Powers, and costs her 5 Power and an Attack per attempt.
o Hit: 2d8+3 damage to Hit Points.
 Metal Binding: Metal Lass usually prefers to restrain her opponents with the controlled metal. This finesse is
less draining (Taking an attack and 15 Movement per attempt) but also less accurate, attacking as HTH with an
ttack Base of 10.
o Odd Hit: gains the Stuck condition until they can expend 20 Movement or the metal is destroyed– if this
ends up rolling into the next turn the target is stuck until the beginning of their first action.
o Even Hit: Target is Weakened until they make a d20 save vs. Strength or until the metal is destroyed as
their sensory/breathing organs are blocked.
 o Roll of 1: Target is Trapped until they make a d% roll vs. Strength or until the metal is destroyed as they
are completely encased in metal
Again, there’s a lot going on here. Metal Lass’s martial arts are reliable as an offense, doing reasonable HP or movement
damage. The mechanic of shutting off her Heightened Defense lets her quickly sacrifice defense for offense, hitting
people with throws or nerve strikes. (If there is metal around and she has a chance to maintain her Metal Shield this is a
good tactic for her.) She also has a couple of options with her Metal bending directly, but we’ve taken steps to mitigate
the players instinctive “I wrap them up in metal” tactic because it’s not something V&V does well (the best we can do is
mirror Ice Powers, or ad hoc it with weights and structural ratings of the metal). In this case she can always do the metal
wrapping up, but barring a perfect hit it’s not going to remove the target for a whole fight.

I think these three examples get the point across of how I see the systems merging. I’m interested in people’s thoughts.