Tab-Classic Zeotis
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The Zeotis setting has something of a Bronze Age feel to it. Heroes are larger than life, although not as absurdly powerful as Silver Age heroes. Darker social issues are not shied away from, yet heroes are recognizably heroes, rarely the brooding anti-heroes of the Iron Age.
The Zeotis is Tab Creation's setting, dating back to 1993. Yet this is the first time that the Zeotis has seen print in role-playing form. Enjoy.
Setting Rules
The following rules are in effect for the Zeotis game, helping cement in the full flavor of a supers setting.
Super Points
The type of Moxie Points possessed by all supers in the Zeotis setting is called Super Points. Normals possess no such pool of points. Super Points can be regained in several ways ways: Once per scene if a character plays up her Creed or Idiosyncrasy, she may immediately regain a Super Point—this replaces the Tab-Classic core mechanic of playing up one's Creed or Idiosyncrasy to regain cards. Finally, once per scene a character can regain a Super Point through extraordinary playing of the conventions of the supers genre (GM's discretion), such as spouting witty one-liners in combat or going recklessly out of one's way to save helpless pedestrians from falling cars. Finally, occasionally (such as possibly between sessions) the GM may declare that everyone's Super Points refresh and they are brought up to full.
A Super Point can be spent on the following:
- To activate a power or maneuver without a trump.
- To make use of a power in a creative manner that is dramatically appropriate, but not within the power's normal range of functionality (GM's discretion).
- To immediately discard all unwanted cards from one's hand and redraw up to one's hand limit.
- To downgrade all damage received from one source to superficial damage (see below).
- To remove all levels of fatigue.
- To deliver a lengthy monologue about one's back story, intent, scheme or goal during which all the speaker can do is talk and make hand gestures, and during which all listeners can do is gasp in shock or understanding.
- To make a flashy or mysterious (as dramatically appropriate) getaway from a scene (see below).
- To invoke the obscure death rule after one's apparent death (see below).
Obscure Death
Supers characters rarely die. Instead they survive through some miraculous circumstance, coming back again and again. They may be seen falling off a cliff, but the body is never found. They may be shot full of lead, but miraculously pull through with little medical attention. With the expenditure of a Super Point, characters in the role-playing game can do this as well. Whenever an Endurance action against death would otherwise be called for, the player may instead declare that she is spending the point. Then, the GM narrates in the obscure circumstances surrounding her "death" in whatever way makes sense and is appropriate. The player may give suggestions.
Flashy or Mysterious Getaways
If it is dramatically appropriate (GM's discretion), a character may spend a super point to make a flashy or mysterious getaway. This usually may only be done after giving a monologue about some scheme, delivering a threat or kidnapping a love interest. Points can only be spent in tis way on the character's turn. Once spent, the character disappears from the scene as appropriate, whether in a bright flash, poof of smoke or disappearing amid traffic.
Super Toughness
All supers have an innate toughness that explains how they regularly survive massive falling, getting slammed into buildings or through windows, in supers stories, with only minimal hindrance. Thus, all supers have a Super Toughness score that is equal to the super's Endurance stat,. This functions mechanically identically to Armor.
Superficial Damage
In the supers genre, heroes and villains have some sort of dramatically-innate durability. They take a lot of blows that do little but superficial damage, knocking them back and perhaps ripping their costumes, while a ways into the fight it takes only a well placed punch or two to knock then down. This is modeled in the game through the Superficial Damage rules. Long story short, a super can spend a super point to reduce the damage done from one source to Superficial Damage; this is done after the cards for attack and defense are already played and the damage otherwise normally calculated. When damage is reduced in this manner, the super does not lose any hit points. Instead she takes a level of fatigue and is cinematically knocked back from the blow (if appropriate) a number of yards equal to the damage that would be otherwise dealt. This may have secondary effects, such knocking the character into walls, off cliffs and other inconvenient places.
Normals
Normals are not really the focus of mechanics in supers RPGs. Normals are different from supers in that their stats average lower, and they do not possess Super Points. If a normal gets in an opposed action with a super, under most circumstances the GM shouldn't even bother having the involved players set down cards; the super should simply win. If the margin of success has an effect, assume that it was equal to the difference between the super's stat and the normal's stat in the opposed action. Under some conditions, however, the normal may fight back against the super, delaying the super and otherwise making an annoying pest of herself. When swarms of normals are involved fighting a super, it may be beneficial if the GM doesn't even worry about their hit points and instead simply declares that they are dead or unconscious when struck by the super.
Optional Rule: The Edge
Combat in comic books and other comics-inspired media usually goes back and forth: first the villain gets a few punches in on the superhero, then the superhero gets the edge and does a few things, then the villain takes the lead again, repeat until the villain is defeated. This kind of back and forth can optionally be represented in game by who breaks ties on opposed actions in combat.
If using this optional rule one side (heroes or villains) always have "the edge". Furthermore, the edge always starts in the villain's court. At the beginning of every round (not pass) the edge passes to the other side. For that round, the side with the edge wins ties in opposed actions in combat with each other.
Optionally, normals on the side with the edge do not automatically fail opposed rolls with supers. Supers must play a card to oppose normals with the edge, although normals are still normals and are probably still out-classed.
On Other Optional Rules
The game presents Bleeding and Lasting Injuries as optional rules. These are probably not appropriate for the supers genre.
Character Creation
When creating a super character there are a number of unique factors to take into consideration.
Backgrounds, Stats & Domain
Backgrounds in the Zeotis setting are primarily superficial, used to describe a character's origins. So when picking a background, the player should make up something that sounds fitting. The character's stats, on the other hand, are determined by the player's choice of array. Each array presents a list of numbers which may be rearranged and assigned to different stats as the player sees fit.
- Specialist: 18, 14, 8, 7, 7, 7, 6, 5
- Strength & Weakness: 15, 13, 11, 9, 9, 7, 5, 3
- Generalist: 11, 10, 9, 9, 9, 9, 8, 7
All supers have the Super domain, which gives access to Super Points. Super Points can be used to power all abilities—whether maneuvers or powers.
NPC Reference Backgrounds
For a frame of reference when building characters, these are common backgrounds and average stats of these types:
| Background | | | | | | | | |
| Human | | | | | | | | |
| Blaabatronian | | | | | | | | |
| Vampire | | | | | | | | |
| Sidhe | | | | | | | | |
Superhuman Creeds & Idiosyncrasies
In the Zeotis Creeds and Idiosyncrasies work just as they do under the core Tab-Classic rules, with the exception that playing them allows a character to regain a Super Point instead of a new card. When picking an idiosyncrasy and a creed, players should keep in mind to pick something fitting and emblematic of the supers genre. For example, a super may have an Idiosyncrasy of "Yells 'It's crushing time!' before going into battle" or a Creed of "Protect truth, justice and the Tasmanian way."
Powers, Abilities & Specialties
Super powers are central to the supers genre. For this reason a super gets to pick five different abilities or specialties at character creation instead of just three. The GM is encouraged to be flexible with powers as players design their character, possibly even allowing new custom-designed powers into the game (and players should remember that powers can take a couple attempts to balance, so they should be flexible with GMs as well). A new ability is presented below.
Power Specialization [General]
Pick a power. That power may now be used at will, without spending Super Points. The GM may wish to restrict this power to non-combat powers, such as Flight.
Optional Rule: Weaknesses
The core Tab-Classic game operates under the assumption that most drawbacks characters have are beneficial to players in their own right, being that they make a character more interesting, give more of a spotlight to that player when the drawback comes up and are fun. Consequently, in the core Tab-Classic rules such weaknesses are not mechanically enforced—they're left up to role-playing. In the supers genre, however, some weaknesses are very prominent and have very real profound effects; such as a super who's power entirely leaves him when he is exposed to some mysterious green space rock. For GMs who want a more mechanics-based system for weaknesses, this optional rule is provided.
At character creation a player may select up to two weaknesses for her character. These weaknesses may be from the example ones listed below or worked out between the player and her GM. They all have some negative mechanical and/or role-playing effect. When this effect causes a character a significant amount of difficulty (as judged by the GM), then the character gains a Super Point after the difficulty manifests. No more than one Super Point can be regained per scene in this way.
A few of the most common weaknesses for supers are detailed below.
Limited Power
Your powers cease to function in the presence of a certain place or substance. Or perhaps your powers only function in the presence of a certain place, object or substance. You and the GM need to work out what this means. For example, your power might only work when you are exposed to sunlight, or might not work against lead walls.
This weakness generally grants Super Points when the presence (or lack thereof) of your limitation prevents you from using your power when it would otherwise be significantly useful.
Secret Identity
You have a secret identity, leading a double life as super and normal. If your real identity ever got out, it would be a disaster. This means you have a secret you have to keep and villains that find out your secret can use it as leverage over you, or even to threaten your other life and loved ones. If your secret identity ever becomes common knowledge, you lose this Weakness, a point in Charisma (representing the bad reputation you get among the media, friends or family for the deception) and antagonists are free to target those around you.
This weakness generally gives Super Points when this information is used as leverage against you or another similar situation.
Nemesis
You have some other super out there who just doesn't make plans opposed to yours, but is out to get you personally. You probably have some shared background with them and they probably hate your guys and may go out of their way to target you personally. If your nemesis dies or is otherwise permanently defeated, you simply lose this Weakness. In some situations the GM may allow the introduction of a new nemesis.
This weakness generally gives Super Points when the nemesis goes out of her way to target you personally and otherwise make your life a living hell.
Abstract Wealth
In supers games each dollar or mundane possession a character has doesn't matter a whole lot. Supers games aren't generally about acquiring wealth. Meanwhile, some super villains run around going to wealthy parties and funding elaborate schemes with no apparent source of income. Therefore, the Zeotis setting uses abstract wealth rules.
By default assume a character simply has a middle class level of wealth: a home or in a big city an apartment, the usual assortment a towels, clothing and other household items, perhaps a car or a dog. Additionally, assume that supers have their costumes and any other pieces of equipment included in their Powers. This is a Wealth stat of 5.
Some supers are very wealthy and run large corporations, etc. In these cases, such characters have the Wealthy ability. Under the abstract wealth rules, this ability increases a character's Wealth stat by +5. This lets a character assume a greater amount of possessions and access to expensive things—like the best sports cars and loads of diamond jewelry. The higher the wealth stat, the more that can be assumed. Having below middle class wealth may qualify as a Weakness.
When purchasing new equipment the GM simply sets a target number depending on the cost and scarcity and the player takes an action based on the Wealth stat. For characters without the Wealth ability, assume they have a stat of five. Even if you do not meet the target number you can still purchase the equipment. However, not meeting the target number and still purchasing the equipment will reduce your Wealth power stat by one plus 1/5 the margin of failure, as one expends a lot of funds in the purchase. Because of this, if the GM doesn't want players to be able to get their hands on a particular piece of equipment (like battleships), she should simply rule that such things cannot be purchased.
