[Q&A] Ed Jowett (Era: The Empowered)

[13:31] <+Ed_Jowett> Okay, well… hi everyone! I’m Ed Jowett, the creator of Era: The Empowered and it’s a pleasure to be back amongst you all.

[13:32] <+NowhereMan> Hi!

[13:32] <+Ed_Jowett> And the fact Nowhere Man just joined is either the most fortuitous coincidence ever or this is someone who knows about the game 🙂

[13:33] <+Ed_Jowett> Era: The Empowered is a game about people with superhuman abilities – “Empowered” – who work together or separately to save the world.

[13:34] <+Ed_Jowett> It’s based around a 1990s Animated universe, with elements of the feel drawn from TV shows like the Batman Animated Series of the 1990s, the Spiderman, Iron Man, Hulk and X-Men series of the same era and even a few slightly more recent ones.

[13:34] <+Ed_Jowett> Combine this with all of the creativity myself and the Era: The Consortium writing team can muster and I think a lot of people would agree what’s coming out is likely to be interesting!

[13:34] <+Ed_Jowett> (done)

[13:35] <~Dan> Thanks, Ed_Jowett!

[13:35] <~Dan> The floor is open to questions!

[13:35] <~Dan> So what makes this game stand out from other superhero RPGs?

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[13:36] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, AmyA!)

[13:36] <+Ed_Jowett> The ones I’ve played have struggled a lot with balancing powers to make all the players fairly even.

[13:36] <~Dan> (brb)

[13:36] *** Dan is now known as Dan-brb

[13:37] <+Ed_Jowett> I’ve worked using the Era d10 Rule Set to make a system by which the characters have their powers and the ability to grow, but no matter what power you choose, you’re balanced, as long as the power tree is constructed according to the rules.

[13:37] <+Ed_Jowett> For the time being, I’m still fine-tuning what the limits are, but the characters currently available are very much equivalent to each other, with the obvious different strengths and weaknesses based on their powers.

[13:38] <+Ed_Jowett> Another ting I’ve found is that games of this genre either end up very crunchy and stat-heavy or very, very freeform with the players becoming overpowered very fast.

[13:39] <+Ed_Jowett> Using my tried and true method from Era: The Consortium and Era: Lyres, I’ve made the Empowered so that their powers do genuinely go wrong, particularly if they are trying to do things they haven’t practiced before.

[13:39] <+Ed_Jowett> (done)

[13:39] *** Dan-brb is now known as Dan

[13:40] <~Dan> Can you say a bit about the setting? In particular, is this setting one-source or multi-source for powers?

[13:41] <+Ed_Jowett> Powers come from various different sources, based on the individual. It’s quite mysterious, but powers almost seem to be an inevitable part of progression for the human race. People who end up in dangerous situations will tend to adapt depending on their predicament.

[13:41] <+Ed_Jowett> In fact, it would be fair to say that it seems very suspicious that powers are only just emerging now… that seems almost impossibly unlikely…

[13:42] <+Ed_Jowett> and that sentence deliberately ends in a “…” 😀

[13:42] <+Ed_Jowett> (done)

[13:42] * ~Dan chuckles

[13:42] <+Ed_Jowett> Well, one small additional thing.

[13:42] <~Dan> Using well-known superheroes as examples, can you give us an idea of the power scale of the starting PCs?

[13:43] <+Ed_Jowett> The story for this game is planned to not only cover the 1990s era but span into alternate universes, and cover the future as well… the campaign that comes with the book touches on that and will extned and continue to do so.

[13:43] <+Ed_Jowett> Yeah, sure, let’s take Ant-Man as an example, perhaps?

[13:43] <~Dan> Sure.

[13:43] <+Ed_Jowett> At level 1, he might be able to shrink to various different reduced sizes.

[13:44] <+Ed_Jowett> As he learns that moving around at that size, he might look to expand his power (at perhaps level 2 or 3) to include talking to ants, because they are useful allies.

[13:44] <+Ed_Jowett> (and better to control them than have them eat you!)

[13:44] <+Ed_Jowett> So his power might expand there.

[13:45] <+Ed_Jowett> Alternatively, he might look into further applications of Pym particles to be able to grow…

[13:45] <~Dan> So this is a level-based game?

[13:45] <+Ed_Jowett> You have 3 avenues of expansion with each power.

[13:45] <+Ed_Jowett> Yeah, you’ll level up and increase your power as you do so.

[13:45] <~Dan> So how much can a super-strong level 1 PC potentially lift?

[13:45] <+Ed_Jowett> Most of the “well-known” superheroes would be right at the top end, people like Robin or perhaps Kid Flash, for example, might be equivalent to mid-level.

[13:46] <+Ed_Jowett> well, that all depends on how many successes he rolls!

[13:46] <+Ed_Jowett> but I’ve seen a super-strong PC in a playtest campaign lift and throw a tank!

[13:46] <+Ed_Jowett> at level 1.

[13:46] <+Ed_Jowett> He got pretty lucky, I would say.

[13:47] <~Dan> Do you have a character sheet we can see?

[13:47] <~Dan> (You there, AmyA?)

[13:47] <+AmyA> Yes I am

[13:47] <+AmyA> Just listening in

[13:47] <+Ed_Jowett> I do, yeah, let me see if I can actually get it in here properly this time!

[13:48] <~Dan> (AmyA: Here for the Q&A? 🙂 )

[13:48] <+Ed_Jowett> Actually, on second thoughts, here is a link to not one, but seven characters! (Link: http://eratheempowered.shadesofvengeance.com/characters/)http://eratheempowered.shadesofvengeance.com/characters/

[13:49] <+AmyA> You bet. I am working with Ed on a few stories for Empowered so I thought I would stop in and see how it’s going.

[13:49] <~Dan> Ah, cool! Glad to have you here. 🙂

[13:49] <+AmyA> Thanks, glad to be here and happy to answer any questions I might be able to.

[13:49] <+AmyA> I did get a chance to play a session of this game and it was really enjoyable.

[13:50] <~Dan> What is the core mechanic?

[13:51] <+Ed_Jowett> Sorry, in what sense?

[13:51] <+Ed_Jowett> I mean, in general, or for the powers?

[13:51] <~Dan> In general. Like, what would you roll to leap over a chasm?

[13:52] <+Ed_Jowett> Right, so the core mechanics are the Era d10 Rule Set, the same set used for Era: The Consortium, if anyone has tried that.

[13:52] <+Ed_Jowett> It involves using an Attribute (the smaller boxes on the left) and a Skill (the longer boxes on the right).

[13:52] <+Ed_Jowett> or a Double Attribute – Double Dexterity to jump a chasm.

[13:53] <+Ed_Jowett> Each Attribute and Skill has a definition – most of it is pretty straightforward – and the GM decides which is the most appropriate pairing.

[13:53] <+Ed_Jowett> There’s no specific link between Attribute and Skill – if Intelligence and Brawl makes sense (for example, to analyse someone’s fighting style), that’s the roll you make.

[13:53] <+Ed_Jowett> (done)

[13:54] <~Dan> And the roll is… pools of d10s?

[13:55] <+Ed_Jowett> Correct, yes. The more skilled you are, the more dice you roll. There’s a variable Success Threshold, based on the difficulty of the action you are attempting.

[13:55] <~Dan> What do the numbers mean beside the ovals?

[13:55] <+Ed_Jowett> It’s a case of count the dots and roll for whatever the GM says the Threshold is, then count the number of Successes – 1 is minor, 3 is about average and 9 or more is extreme.

[13:56] <+Ed_Jowett> The numbers are for levelling up – when you increase in level, you get a specific number of points that you can spend. Once you move a Skill or Attribute above 4, you need to spend 2 points to progress it, making it quite difficult to get a full stack – it takes a number of levels and dedication to that skill.

[13:56] <+Ed_Jowett> I have had a lot of success in terms of opposing extreme min-maxing using this technique.

[13:57] <+Ed_Jowett> Especially given that you never quite know if the GM might throw Luck and Gunnery at you instead of the normal Wits and Gunnery if what you’re trying to do is very difficult.

[13:58] <~Dan> Is Gunnery the all-purpose ranged combat skill?

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[13:58] <+Ed_Jowett> No, if you were to be a Hawkeye-type character, I would use Melee.

[13:58] <+AmyA> I can say from my experience with the session we played that it does create some interesting moments. You might have success with your roll but some awkward drawback for the attempt.

[13:59] <+Ed_Jowett> Gunnery would be used for things like firearms and potentially even large than man-portable weapons.

[13:59] <~Dan> How would you distinguish an archer from a swordsman, then?

[14:00] <+Ed_Jowett> Dexterity / Strength being combined with Melee.

[14:00] <+Ed_Jowett> respectively.

[14:00] <+Ed_Jowett> Equally, I rely on the GM’s judgement to a degree. If someone is blatantly an archer and picks up a sword, then I could understand them adding a penaly.

[14:01] <+Ed_Jowett> *excuse me, a penalty

[14:02] <~Dan> How does the power system work?

[14:02] *** Dan is now known as Dan-brb

[14:03] <+Ed_Jowett> The Empowered abilities system works in exactly the same way! There is a “Base Power”, which is an Attribute and expansion areas, which are treated like Skills.

[14:03] <+Ed_Jowett> Attributes signify natural abilities and Skills signify learned abilities, so it seemed a very logical route for the powers to work that way.

[14:04] <+Ed_Jowett> You might initially have the power to shrink or read minds, but you gradually expand that to talk to ants or project thoughts into peoples’ minds

[14:04] <+Ed_Jowett> whether through practice or new technology, you are expanding no your power.

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[14:04] <+Ed_Jowett> *expanding on your power

[14:04] <~Dan-brb> (Howdy, LW`!)

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[14:05] <~Dan> So is there a discrete list of powers, or are they effects-based?

[14:06] <+Ed_Jowett> Currently, there is only a list. It’s my hope (and things are looking very encouraging right now) that we will be able to do a full Rulebook. My intent is to have the instructions for making powers in that.

[14:07] <+Ed_Jowett> Or, wait…

[14:07] <+Ed_Jowett> sorry, I think I misunderstood that question.

[14:07] <~Dan> Hmm. No, I think you got it.

[14:07] <+Ed_Jowett> Oh, okay 🙂

[14:07] <~Dan> So how would something like weather control be handled?

[14:08] <+Ed_Jowett> Well, it would depend on how much difference you wanted to make. If you wanted to make a few clouds, maybe make it rain, that might be relatively easy.

[14:08] <+Ed_Jowett> but if, for example, you wanted lightning to strike a specific target (for the sake of argument, we’ll call him “Toad” ;))

[14:08] * ~Dan chuckles

[14:09] <+Ed_Jowett> you’d be looking at Base Power, plus a skill that let you target a specific location with lightning.

[14:09] <+Ed_Jowett> Which would be a second-tier skill

[14:09] <+Ed_Jowett> second tier skills, under normal circumstances, cannot have more points than the skill above them, so they are hard to level.

[14:09] <~Dan> Would weather control be purchased “whole cloth”, though?

[14:10] <~Dan> Or would you have to buy it a bit at a time?

[14:10] <~Dan> I guess you kind of answered that… Hmm…

[14:10] <+Ed_Jowett> “Weather Control” would be your base ability, but the GM would quickly decide what had to be the learned Skills.

[14:10] * ~Dan nods

[14:10] <+Ed_Jowett> So if you wanted to make a tornado that would get a whole town…

[14:11] <+Ed_Jowett> you would probably have to earn the tornado skill and then actually succeed a high-threshold roll.

[14:11] <+Ed_Jowett> You could make Storm if you wished to… but it would be a long time before you reached her power levels!

[14:11] * ~Dan nods

[14:12] <~Dan> Does the system handle magic, or is that just rolled up into powers in general?

[14:12] <~Dan> (And brb)

[14:12] *** Dan is now known as Dan-brb

[14:12] <+Ed_Jowett> Magic is treated as a power set like any other. I actually had someone in a playtest who did have magic.

[14:13] <+Ed_Jowett> If you analyse Doctor Fate or Doctor Strange’s powers, though, you can get the vast majority of them into categories: Offensive, defensive, counterspells… then you break that down into areas.

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[14:14] <+Ed_Jowett> It was a playtest and an early one and I didn’t get it 100% right at that stage but I have now established it.

[14:15] <+Ed_Jowett> I plan to give pretty large numbers of examples, one for each character in the story, when the full rulebook comes around, so hopefully I will have covered most of the bases people will want!

[14:15] <+Ed_Jowett> I’m also offering people the chance, in the Kickstarter, to get their own character made by me to the power set of their choice.

[14:15] <+Ed_Jowett> Just in case they have a burning need to play their character alongside the group which are in the campaign that comes with the book – I’ll make it for them and make sure it’s balanced!

[14:16] <+Ed_Jowett> (done)

[14:18] <+Ed_Jowett> So I’ll talk a little about the story of the campaign, I guess.

[14:19] <+Ed_Jowett> You start as a group who are very new to your powers. You’ve all joined the Empowered Department for your own reasons.

[14:19] <+Ed_Jowett> The Empowered Department is a section of the government which takes various Empowered who volunteer and deploys them to counter Empowered threats – the sorts of threats that normal police can’t.

[14:20] <+Ed_Jowett> It’s very open, most Empowered are able to operate their own way, but there seems to be a rise in Empowered doing villainous things recently, resulting in a number of individuals being given great publicity for taking them down, showing ability well beyond what they had shown before.

[14:21] <+Ed_Jowett> Honestly, it all seems a bit… too convenient. Some are beginning to question whether the emergence of Empowered, the way things are escalating might be planned by someone or something…

[14:21] <+Ed_Jowett> but that’s all just a conspiracy theory, right?

[14:21] <+Ed_Jowett> Into this, you step, brand new Empowered in the Department, and are sent on your first mission by your liaison, Agent Johnson.

[14:21] *** Dan-brb is now known as Dan

[14:22] <+Ed_Jowett> (done)

[14:22] <+Ed_Jowett> (good timing, Dan!)

[14:22] * ~Dan bows

[14:22] <~Dan> My superhero name is Master Multitasker.

[14:22] <+Ed_Jowett> Ah, a real-life Empowered?

[14:22] <+Ed_Jowett> Impressive!

[14:22] * ~Dan chuckles

[14:22] <+Ed_Jowett> Mind if I take a DNA sample?

[14:22] <+Ed_Jowett> 😀

[14:22] <~Dan> So how weird is the setting beyond the supers?

[14:23] <~Dan> Heh. 😀

[14:23] <~Dan> Are there aliens, gods, dinosaurs, mole men, etc.?

[14:23] <+Ed_Jowett> Well, I’ve based a lot of things on the sorts of things that happened in those 90s series.

[14:23] <+Ed_Jowett> So there are aliens, there are gods, there is Atlantis…

[14:23] <+Ed_Jowett> I’ve not planned dinosaurs or Molemen yet!

[14:24] <+AmyA> Sounds like a great addition though!

[14:24] <+Ed_Jowett> There are Artificial Intelligences that want to take over the world 😀

[14:24] <+Ed_Jowett> And, of course, alliances of Supervillains!

[14:24] <+AmyA> I vote we add Molemen

[14:24] <+Ed_Jowett> I will see what I can do, Amy 🙂

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[14:25] <+Ed_Jowett> There’s all the sorts of things you saw in those series as well… people losing their powers, getting new ones, time travel, alternate universes…

[14:25] <+AmyA> That’s one thing I really enjoy about this game is the scope

[14:25] <~Dan> Were all these things around before the supers started showing up?

[14:25] <+Ed_Jowett> aliens yes, gods… it’s complicated and I don’t want to give away too much of the story!

[14:25] <~Dan> Fair enough. 🙂

[14:26] <+Ed_Jowett> Atlantis I think I can reveal a little about…

[14:26] <+Ed_Jowett> imagine, 3000 years ago, someone knew that the world was about to end…

[14:26] <~Dan> I dunno. Reveal too much, and you’re sunk!

[14:26] <+Ed_Jowett> someone with a power similar to Apocalypse, an ability to change matter on a molecular level.

[14:26] * +Ed_Jowett chuckles.

[14:27] <+Ed_Jowett> So he adapts people to be the best people can be, able to breathe underwater, super strong, telepathic with each other…

[14:27] <+Ed_Jowett> and sends them under water to escape.

[14:27] <+Ed_Jowett> So, to a normal Human, they might be Empowered, but are they really?

[14:28] <+Ed_Jowett> I should say, there are also a fair share of people who are not Empowered who take on Empowered identities, through technology, or through training.

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[14:28] <~Dan> Does the system allow for “super-skilled” people?

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[14:28] <+Ed_Jowett> Absolutely! There is one individual, who Amy will attest, is very, very scary!

[14:29] <+AmyA> Oh definitely!

[14:29] <+Ed_Jowett> Not only that, there is scope for some individuals to gain more than one power.

[14:29] <+Ed_Jowett> Including the Player Characters

[14:30] <+Ed_Jowett> The idea is that as time goes on, once you reach level 10, for example, you can pass your powers onto a new character when the right time arrives.

[14:30] <~Dan> How common is that? I mean, having more than one power is pretty much the norm in mainstream comics.

[14:30] <+Ed_Jowett> Again, this is something that I can’t go too far into, but it is intended to affect pretty much every player at some stage.

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[14:31] <+AmyA> The growth for each character is incredibly deep from  my understanding

[14:32] <+Ed_Jowett> It’s also a very personal thing for each character, because they all have some level of choice about how and whether their powers are passed.

[14:32] <+Ed_Jowett> If you are willing to, you can actually play a dynasty of heroes, each more powerful than the last (also something that happened in the comics – blue beetle, for example.

[14:33] <~Dan> Very cool.

[14:33] <~Dan> I mean the multiple powers thing, though, re: how common.

[14:34] <+Ed_Jowett> Yeah, I meant to answer for that.

[14:34] <~Dan> Oh! Sorry.

[14:34] <~Dan> Carry on.

[14:34] <+Ed_Jowett> Pretty much everyone should be able to gain multiple powers 🙂

[14:34] <+AmyA> Would multiple powers have to be related to the original?

[14:35] <+Ed_Jowett> We’ve been very fortunate to have some help from an individual who actually worked on a few of these TV series as a writer.

[14:35] <+Ed_Jowett> No, the new powers could be totally different.

[14:35] <+Ed_Jowett> Again, in one of my playtests, I had a character with the ability to create solid shadows (as the example Umbra does) and her second power was telepathy.

[14:36] <+AmyA> If it’s not too basic a question to ask… would that need to be a learned skill or does our hero get dropped in a second vat of toxic waste?

[14:36] <+Ed_Jowett> Haha! It depends on the hero.

[14:37] <+Ed_Jowett> I wouldn’t recommend on going and paddling in toxic waste to see if it helps, though!

[14:37] <+AmyA> ^_^ I’ll take that under advisement.

[14:38] <~Dan> How powerful are the most powerful supers in the setting?

[14:39] <+Ed_Jowett> Well, there is one which has been affectionately dubbed “not-Galactus”

[14:39] <~Dan> Impressive!

[14:40] <+GenoFoxx> I’m not a Celestial

[14:40] <+GenoFoxx> but I play one on television

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[14:40] <+Ed_Jowett> I’ve tried to keep the same kind of power level variations you see in the cartoons, because I want this to “feel” like something that might have been a 1990s TV show.

[14:40] <~Dan> (Howdy, Radijs!)

[14:40] <+Radijs> Hi Dan!

[14:41] <~Dan> Why the 1990s in particular?

[14:41] <+GenoFoxx> because he was to young in the 80’s

[14:41] <+Ed_Jowett> I’m going to date myself now, but I grew up on those ones.

[14:41] <+Ed_Jowett> Yep 🙂

[14:42] * ~Dan chuckles

[14:42] <+Ed_Jowett> I also felt that’s when people suddenly picked up the animated pen and really did stuff with it that was a little more… realistic… than the batman and spiderman series that had previously existed.

[14:42] <+Ed_Jowett> much as we loved those.

[14:42] <+Ed_Jowett> They were actually my first introduction to some of the greater heroes in the marvel universe in particular…

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[14:43] <+Ed_Jowett> and my first introduction to Scarecrow, I remember in particular, was the Batman Animated series.

[14:43] <+Ed_Jowett> So, for me, it was almost the “superhero formative years!

[14:43] <+maxmahem> Dan because: (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAkL2-vh2Sk,)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAkL2-vh2Sk, (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQVC2zCC5qA,)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQVC2zCC5qA, (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZGN9fZvQhc)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZGN9fZvQhc

[14:43] <~Dan> (Howdy, Frankto!)

[14:43] <+Ed_Jowett> And that is another EXCELLENT reason 😀

[14:43] <+Ed_Jowett> I used to watch those…

[14:44] <+Ed_Jowett> and the Justice League one in particular blew me away, the opening sequence.

[14:44] <+Ed_Jowett> Pre-Unlimited.

[14:44] <+Ed_Jowett> One of the things I’d love to do for this game is its own iconic title sequence in that sort of style.

[14:45] <~Dan> Going back to the system for a moment, how does combat work?

[14:45] <+Ed_Jowett> It depends on the form of combat for the specific rules but they are only slightly different.

[14:46] <+Ed_Jowett> It involves rolling an Attribute and a Skill – I spoke about Wits and Gunnery earlier.

[14:46] <+Ed_Jowett> You have a Hit round of dice and then a Damage round of dice (for which you roll the number of dice that were hits).

[14:47] <+Ed_Jowett> the threshold for Hit is based on the difficulty of the shot and the Threshold for damage is based on the weapon or power you are using.

[14:48] <+Radijs> I loved that spiderman show

[14:48] <~Dan> How do you determine the Threshold for unarmed combat?

[14:48] <+Ed_Jowett> The grapple rules are something I am particularly proud of – I use a system of opposed rolls to make it very simple to do any action in grapple.

[14:49] <+Ed_Jowett> if it’s just running up to someone and punching them, in exactly the same way. If it’s a grapple, I model it on Captain Kirk fighting – rolling around on the floor!”

[14:49] <+AmyA> Nice

[14:49] <+Ed_Jowett> I lower the Threshold to 5 as a basic (modified by difficulty, of course)

[14:49] <+Ed_Jowett> and then each side rolls.

[14:50] <+Ed_Jowett> whoever gets more Successes gains an advantage… if you’re the attacker and you gain an advantage, you might be able to snap the enemy’s neck or restrain them…

[14:50] <~Dan> So it sounds like the system isn’t really set up for clumsy-but-powerful fighters.

[14:50] <+Ed_Jowett> if the defender gains the advantage, the attacker takes an elbow to the face (and the damage that goes with it!

[14:51] <+Ed_Jowett> Can you give me an example, Dan?

[14:52] <~Dan> Sure. Let’s take the Blob for example. He’s not exactly agile, but he hits like a ton of bricks… IF he hits.

[14:52] <+Ed_Jowett> Sure, I would do that by giving him a huge bonus to Strength but a mandatory higher Hit Threshold.

[14:53] <+Ed_Jowett> So +2 on whatever people would normall have.

[14:53] <+Ed_Jowett> For example.

[14:53] <+Ed_Jowett> Meaning it’s not overly likely he would hit but if he does, then he hits extremely hard.

[14:53] <+GenoFoxx> if the Blob were agile he wouldn’t be the ‘Blob’ he’d be the Kingpin

[14:54] <~Dan> Is there a rule to govern that, or is that just a tweak you’d make for that particular character?

[14:55] <+Ed_Jowett> There are rules around the negatives of powers, absolutely. This would be one of the Blob’s “Quirks”

[14:55] <~Dan> Because even though he’s a competent fighter, I wouldn’t want the Hulk to fight like a ninja just because of his superhuman strength.

[14:55] <+Ed_Jowett> Quirks might be anything from Kleptomania to … fat and slow…

[14:55] <+Ed_Jowett> Right, exactly.

[14:55] <+Ed_Jowett> and he wouldn’t. people could potentially escape from the hulk by being super agile.

[14:55] <+Ed_Jowett> not strong.

[14:56] <+Ed_Jowett> and that’s handled in the wriggle free rules for grapple, where you get a bonus to your dice to try to escape.

[14:56] <+GenoFoxx> (laters)

[14:56] <~Dan> For that matter, is there a quirk to allow Dexterity to govern Brawling and/or Melee (HTH), to simulate super-agile fighters?

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[14:56] <+Ed_Jowett> There is.

[14:57] <+Ed_Jowett> I’d not call that a quirk, but having “Brawl Finesse” or “Melee Finesse” is definitely something included.

[14:57] <~Dan> Excellent.

[14:57] * ~Dan nods

[14:57] <~Dan> Can you say a bit about the futuristic setting?

[14:58] <+Ed_Jowett> Sure, I can say a little…

[14:59] <+Ed_Jowett> Time has moved on and everyone has forgotten about heroes.

[14:59] <+Ed_Jowett> it was a thing that happened… well, maybe… and everyone has forgotten it, really.

[14:59] <+Ed_Jowett> And then suddenly Empowered start appearing.

[14:59] <+Ed_Jowett> At first, it’s very mysterious and then two individuals come forward to a particularly powerful military company.

[15:00] <+Ed_Jowett> It’s sort of akin to Batman of the Future/Batman Beyond and Spiderman 2099

[15:00] <+Ed_Jowett> THe companies are the important interests there.

[15:00] <+Ed_Jowett> There are all the tropes – flying cars, jetpacks for police, mind-controlled machines, advanced AI…

[15:00] <+Ed_Jowett> And super-awesome tech.

[15:01] <+Ed_Jowett> The sorts of things you might see in those comics.

[15:01] <+Ed_Jowett> Again, I was aiming for the same sort of feel as those comics for the same reasons.

[15:01] <+Ed_Jowett> I haven’t come up with anything that has the same feel as Spider-Ham, however, and until I do, I regard this book as incomplete.

[15:02] * ~Dan chuckles

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[15:03] <+Ed_Jowett> Obviously, time travel and crossovers were very important in these sorts of series as well, so there will be chances to see the futuristic universe before we get there the long way.

[15:03] <~Dan> Does the game have a martial arts system? Or does that fall under powers as well?

[15:03] <+Ed_Jowett> So if you would be talking about Batman’s sort of martial arts, that would fall under powers.

[15:04] <~Dan> Can you give an example of that?

[15:04] <+Ed_Jowett> If you’re talking perhaps more about a basic understanding of fighting or a fighting style…

[15:05] <+Ed_Jowett> Sure, an example power might be “Untouchable” – like Batman in the Arkham games, if you can roll well enough, you can literally stop any attack by either dodging or blocking.

[15:05] <+Ed_Jowett> Of course, that would prevent you from attacking with your combat turn.

[15:05] <+Ed_Jowett> It might expand to give you “Counter”, which would do a (relatively weak) attack in response to any successful block or dodge.

[15:06] <+Ed_Jowett> You might have an offensive martial art like a death touch (that would definitely be a second tier), where if you jab the right place, you kill the target…

[15:06] <+Ed_Jowett> more one for a villain, that idea, I think!

[15:07] <~Dan> I would think so.

[15:07] <+AmyA> Considering how far into the future you’ve got the history planned out is there any room left for expansion later on?

[15:07] <+Ed_Jowett> There is, because there are other universes to explore, and the end of the story would be more accurately entitled “The Beginning”

[15:08] <+Ed_Jowett> Of course, as with Era: THe Consortium, not every single tiny daily event is planned out in the History.

[15:08] <+Ed_Jowett> So there is loads of scope for “stuff that happened between, to the content of any GM!”

[15:09] <+Ed_Jowett> And, also importantly, I would love to do an expansion that makes the 1960’s type of Empowered playable.

[15:09] <+Ed_Jowett> Sorry, the 1960’s Batman type

[15:09] <~Dan> That would be fun.

[15:09] <~Dan> As would a pulp/Golden Age supplement.

[15:10] <+Ed_Jowett> Yeah, definitely.

[15:10] <+AmyA> Would love that! Are you also going to include a “time travel” scenario for people to go back and change things much like you’ve got in Era: The Consortium?

[15:10] <+Ed_Jowett> I think there’s a lot of scope.

[15:10] <+Ed_Jowett> I think I would at least give people the chance to experience that time period with their heroes.

[15:10] <+Ed_Jowett> I would love to see Drift and the others try to fathom why Batman slides down a pole to get into the batcave instead of having stairs.

[15:11] <~Dan> Does the setting have many iconic NPC heroes?

[15:11] <+Ed_Jowett> I really started with the time period I remember and know best. All of these others are things I know a little about but would have to research a lot more to write in the correct style.

[15:11] <+Ed_Jowett> Oh goodness, yes!

[15:11] <+Ed_Jowett> Anyone who has played the session will never forget “Monolith”!

[15:12] <+Ed_Jowett> And there is another one called “the Harbinger”, in particular, who is very, very central to the story.

[15:12] <+Ed_Jowett> Ah, Monolith, an image was released, one moment.

[15:12] <+Ed_Jowett> (Link: https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/004/743/816/a7e64fc7fb3ccd0086797fcbe304c3d9_original.jpg?v=1445500817&w=680&fit=max&auto=format&q=92&s=128e55c86603d98aa0e9036b8af43519)https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/004/743/816/a7e64fc7fb3ccd0086797fcbe304c3d9_original.jpg?v=1445500817&w=680&fit=max&auto=format&q=92&s=128e55c86603d98aa0e9036b8af43519

[15:13] <+Ed_Jowett> The dragon at the back of that image (did the link work) is actually Monolith shapeshifted into one of the forms he can take on

[15:13] <+Ed_Jowett> One of his favourites is the dragon form, he’s quite well-known for it, actually!

[15:13] <~Dan> Very nice!

[15:13] <+AmyA> Oh yes, I remember it well!

[15:13] <~Dan> Great artwork, too.

[15:13] <+Ed_Jowett> He’s one of the few individuals who has more than one power right from the start!

[15:14] <+Ed_Jowett> The artwork – Keith deserves a mention here.

[15:14] <+Ed_Jowett> The artwork for this entire Primer and probably for the entire 400-ish page rulebook is being done by one person.

[15:14] <+Ed_Jowett> He’s insisted he wants to do the lot, he LOVES doing these images, he was only leaving me messages yesterday about how much he’s enjoying doing the final tweaks on the full version of the image I just linked.

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[15:15] <+Ed_Jowett> I had a lot of people apply for this job.

[15:15] <+Prince_Herb> Aloha!

[15:15] <+Ed_Jowett> But Keith really caught the feel of the 1990s Animated series that I wanted to see.

[15:15] <~Dan> (Howdy, Prince_Herb!)

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[15:16] <~Dan> Hmm… You might want to double-check your KS text. I could have sworn it said “40-page rulebook” somewhere.

[15:16] <~Dan> Oh, wait… yours isn’t a KS.

[15:16] <~Dan> I may be thinking of something else.

[15:16] <+Ed_Jowett> Right, a lot of the things I’ve been speaking about are featured in the campaign or in the upcoming full rulebook.

[15:16] <+Ed_Jowett> No, you’re right.

[15:16] <+Ed_Jowett> Mine is a Kickstarter

[15:16] <+Ed_Jowett> (Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/era-the-empowered/description)https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/era-the-empowered/description

[15:16] <+Ed_Jowett> It’s a Kickstarter for the Rulebook Primer.

[15:17] <~Dan> Ah! Okay, gotcha.

[15:17] <+Ed_Jowett> The full rulebook is not ready yet – that’s why I was saying about it currently being a list of characters

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[15:17] <~Dan> (Howdy, Cassiemouse!)

[15:17] <+Ed_Jowett> So the characters I linked earlier as options are the options for playing the campaign.

[15:17] <~Dan> Speaking of dragons, will there be a bestiary of creatures, or just supervillains?

[15:18] <+Ed_Jowett> I will be lumping the creatures in with the supervillains, but there definitely are creatures which are distinct and different to humans.

[15:18] <+Ed_Jowett> a (slightly silly) example might be a giant, evil squid which can breathe air and decides to invade a city.

[15:19] <+Ed_Jowett> But I’ve aimed to make the characters a little more grey in most cases as well, I think that’s worth a quick mention.

[15:19] <+Ed_Jowett> If you define villains as people who do things that are against the law, your definition stands…

[15:20] <+Ed_Jowett> but if you define them as fundamentally evil people, there are some interesting shades of grey for you to explore in this universe… much like there were in episodes of these 1990s series.

[15:20] <+Ed_Jowett> The Spiderman episode about The Prowler comes to mind

[15:20] <+Ed_Jowett> After all, if being a villain saves the world… just how villainous are you, really?

[15:21] <+AmyA> That’s something I really enjoy exploring with these characters, they’re meant to be more than just hero vs villain.

[15:22] <+Ed_Jowett> Working with this team again is really great for me, it’s a pleasure to be in touch with Amy, John and Jennifer again.

[15:22] <~Dan> 🙂

[15:22] <+Ed_Jowett> I mean, we’ve worked on projects together, but not as a whole team.

[15:22] <~Dan> In what remains of regular time, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to mention?

[15:23] <+Ed_Jowett> Just that the Empowered Kickstarter is running now, we’re funded already.

[15:23] <~Dan> Congrats on that!

[15:23] <+Ed_Jowett> We’re working on the Stretch Goals and we have some really great ideas that we just need a bit more than the basic for.

[15:23] <+Ed_Jowett> So consider backing it.

[15:24] <+Ed_Jowett> And, if you’re not up to date on other books, you can get those from this Kickstarter

[15:24] <~Dan> Thanks very much for joining us, Ed_Jowett!

[15:24] <+Ed_Jowett> There’s a Hardback tier and a Paperback Catch Up tier which lets you get Era: The Consortium and Era: Lyres

[15:24] <+Ed_Jowett> Thanks for inviting me back, Dan!