Abilities are what make your character super.
Superhero Express gives you a framework for buying Abilities. If you imagine your character as being a mutant and having mutant abilities, go with it. If you imagine them as being an inventor, go with that instead.
The difference between having been injected with super-serum, having decades of training, or building equipment in your basement is all in how you imagine the character.
We provide an [Ability List](Ability List) of Abilities to take inspiration from. It’s just a set of examples. If you think of something not on the list, talk to the GM about it.
Ranks run from 1 to 10. When you make a STAR Check, you add your rank to your roll for success. rank is high enough, it may give you Advantage or even not make you roll for success.
Your rank always adds to your roll that's d20 + stat + rank against a target number, and that part never changes.
There are two ways to think about Ability ranks — mechanically and narratively.
The Combat rules discuss Accuracy, Stress and Armor, which is the mechanical way to think about ranks. From a storytelling perspective, things are a little more nebulous, and the easiest way might be to use some analogies.
| Rank | Fire | Telekinesis | Invisibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Candle | A marble | Blurry |
| 2 | A Torch | A brick | Hard to Spot |
| 3 | A bonfire | A dog | Invisible to the Naked Eye |
| 4 | A car fire | A man | Invisible to electronics |
| 5 | A house fire | A car | Able to make others nearby invisible |
| 6 | A building | A bus/train | Hide a crowd |
| 7 | A city block | A small building | Hide a large moving vehicle |
| 8 | A neighborhood | A large building | Cloak a Spaceship |
| 9 | A small town | Push a spacecraft | Hide a whole town |
| 10 | A large city | Push a small moon | Hide a whole city from detection |
At 10 we’re starting to think in terms of impossible gods, almost beyond the game.
Superhero Express’s focus is on characters with ranks between 1 and 7.
Distance is always fluid in comic books, but here’s a rough idea of distances as they relate to ranks:
Abilities in the [Ability List](Ability List) are just inspiration, and more importantly, the labels in the list are just a starting point. The Ability List might call it Danger Sense but you can call it Peter Tingle, or whatever you want. Your Ice Generation might come from your hands, or it might come from a Freeze Ray that you have. The narrative spin you put on the ability is up to you.
Some abilities are blank so you can specifically fill in your idea. Want to shoot acid from your mouth? Buy Generation and write in “Spits Acid”. Want to control metal? Buy Shaping and write “Magnetism”. Even if an ability isn’t listed, so long as your GM allows, you can invent it.
The list is a starting point to inspire you. It’s like a menu at a restaurant, you’ll probably find something on it that you want, but if not, you can ask for something else.
Rules that apply to everything, and the places players most often get surprised.
When you buy Generation, Shaping, Resistance, etc. unless otherwise allowed by the GM, it’s paired with one element, which could be a physical element like ice, earth, metal, electricity, or something ephemeral like telepathy, life force, etc.
If the material you have isn’t solid, such as light or mental energy, you can buy Solidification. If you aren’t sure what Solidification means, think Green Lantern.
Generation makes your material where there wasn't any. Shaping moves material that's already there. A fire generator can throw a flame, but a fire shaper can turn a flame into the shape they need. You might want to buy one or the other, or both.
Constructs are things you create, specifically things. They might be boxes, barriers, even a giant hand, but they’re not a creature or a servant, at least not without Animation.
And an animated thing acts on your Action, not its own. You get one Action a round and so does your construct, and they're the same Action. Animation buys you reach and shape, but it still acts on your will, so it takes up your Action.
Accuracy on ranged attacks is based on your Agility while damage is based either on your Might, the damage of the weapon, or your Ability rank.
In other words, a character with a 10 in Archery firing an ordinary arrow would have perfect accuracy, but only do damage according to either their Might, or the damage of the Arrow, unless they took Trick Arrows as an Ability, which would have different Stats.
A few abilities break something the game leans on — walking through walls, reading minds, taking away someone's choices. Those carry a mandatory Trouble: you and your GM pick one together when you buy the ability.
It isn't a tax. It's the game asking what it costs you to be able to do that, which is usually the most interesting question on the sheet. See Troubles.