We Can Be Heroes is a superhero tabletop roleplaying game designed to combine fast-paced action with engaging and meaningful storytelling. This game introduces a familiar but fresh d20 combat system that allows incredible freedom of movement along with dynamic and strategic turns for all players.

We Can Be Heroes establishes an incredibly versatile Public Merit system. This system allows players to build their hero’s reputations with various public-facing factions (and some not-so-public-facing), call in favors, gain intel, and improve their equipment.

This game takes place in an alternate version of modern America with cities that feel fantastical yet grounded. Five fictional cities are included in the book, each with a unique history and background. These robust urban settings provide plenty of opportunities for plot hooks while leaving room for homebrew creativity.

If you like comic books, action movies, fantasy tabletop games, or anything superhero, then this is the game for you!

Players can choose from nearly 30 superpowers, all of which increase in strength as heroes level up. Superpowers are combined with Secondary and Auxiliary Powers to further round out a superhero’s abilities. Additionally, players can choose from a multitude of innate abilities to complete their heroes' skill sets. 

With countless combinations, no two heroes are alike. Design your own new and unique superhero, or model one after a favorite from popular culture. With so many customizable options, no two heroes are alike.

Superpowers

Your superpower is your bread and butter. It’s what your hero is known for; it’s your signature move! Superpowers are categorized into the following archetypes, each with multiple powers to choose from:

Secondary Powers

These incredible powers complement your superpower and have major utility beyond clobbering enemies: What good is your Colossal Punch if you can't reach the bad guys? The power of flight will get you up close and personal with your enemies, no matter how high up they are.

Auxiliary Powers

These powers round out your character as you level up. They are meant to enhance your abilities and give you new options in both roleplay and combat. Auxiliary powers are broken down into the following categories with many to choose from under each.

Innate Abilities

We Can Be Heroes features a familiar D20 system with some unique twists. For example, superpower attacks always hit! However, they have the potential to flop, doing only meager damage, or succeed wildly with staggering damage output. Our team designed this system to be approachable for tabletop RPG newcomers, but robust enough to hold the interest of seasoned role-players.

Part of a hero's journey is learning from their mistakes. That is why we created the Hero's Moment. A once-per-level opportunity for a player to turn a failure into a future success. A critical failure on a roll allows players to gain a benefit from the Hero's Moment table. This can be saved and used at a pivotal moment in the future.

Grab your fellow caped-crusaders and join powers to deal devastating damage. This mechanic allows players to combine up to four superpower attacks into one incredibly powerful blow. Can the villains withstand your collective might? The real question is, what are you going to call your sweet new move?

Public Merit 

This unique system tracks how various public entities view your heroes. You can gain or lose favor in the public eye based on your roleplay interactions and combat decisions. 

Did your team demolish that research laboratory in their fight with the mad scientist? The Scientific Community isn't going to like that. Did you recover some top secret intel while busting up that crime syndicate? The Government looks favorably on your team, and of course appreciates your discretion. 

This favor, tracked by Public Merit, can be traded in to gain intel or procure equipment upgrades.

Fast Paced, Dynamic Combat

Superhero battles should be quick, dynamic, and well…super! We found that a classic square-grid system didn’t accommodate the epic battles we had envisioned. We ditched the squares for hexes and increased the size of each zone to represent 20 feet on the map. Now players can spend less time counting squares, and more time kicking butt. 

To speed up combat even more, we developed a streamlined Action Point economy that equates all combat actions (including movement) to a number of Action Points. Heroes can move around within each hex without expending action points, interacting with objects to gain cover or getting a line of sight for their next attack. 

Movement & Large Zone Combat

Equipment Improvement

As your hero’s journey progresses, they will need better equipment to take on bigger and badder foes. Whether they are boosting their trusty grappling gun to have an extended range or giving their tech armor a boost to targeting, there is always room for improvement.

Most equipment categories (weapons, gadgets, armor, clothing, vehicles) have specific upgrades that are available to your hero. Upgrades are made using a mini-game utilizing an ideal success range to determine the strength of the improvement.

Welcome to modern-day America. Well…not quite the America we all know. Major US cities are different, humans have made contact with extraterrestrials, oh and there are superheroes of course! Yes, the world of We Can Be Heroes has superhumans, but it still bears many striking similarities to our own.

Just like our world, corrupt governments and greedy corporations reinforce a social class system that favors the wealthy and powerful. For many of those without, this promotes the ideology that crime pays. Unfortunately, it often does. Fear, mistrust, and hatred fuel all manner of violence and destruction. Unlike our world, though, there are superhumans with malintentions. Supervillains thrive within this complex landscape of greed and violence, preying on mankind’s worst impulses and sowing chaos.

Fear not! There are people fighting the good fight–ordinary people like you and me, sure, but also public servants and even some politicians that do their best to keep the world on the straight and narrow. More importantly though, there are superheroes! These truly gifted and powerful individuals put society’s needs before their own. Together they form the barrier that protects civilization from those who sow turmoil and hatred just to watch humanity suffer. They are the shield that holds back the scourge created by the shortcomings of mankind.

Don’t let these idealistic ramblings fool you though, a superhero’s path is not always clear. The heroes of this world face difficult choices each day, and the moral high ground is not always obvious. A hero must grow and learn, adapt and overcome to survive in the intricate world of modern crime-fighting.

People of the World

There are several types of sapient beings in this world. 

Humans: Regular, everyday humans make up most of the world. They live mostly normal lives, from the mundane to the extravagant. A few humans have become superheroes without special powers. Some are skilled and resourceful enough to be considered useful in a world filled with incredible abilities.

Auggies: The product of evolution and the natural progression of the human species. Auggies are a step above humans and a step below superhumans. Their abilities typically manifest as enhancements to physical or mental skills, rather than full-blown superpowers.

Technologically Enhanced Person (TEP): People enhanced with technology and robotics due to injury, vanity, or a desire for power. These individuals don scientifically-advanced gear to gain abilities beyond those of any normal human. Some even go so far as to integrate the tech into their bodies.

Superhumans: Incredibly powerful and gifted individuals. It is estimated there are about 4 million superhumans around the world. These individuals possess abilities like super strength, incredible agility, great intelligence, psionic and psychic abilities, the ability to harness the natural world, and to alter matter completely. Superhumans possess incredible powers that can’t be matched by ordinary humans. The majority of mankind now goes about their day knowing they are no longer at the top of the food chain.

Aliens: In a historic development, humanity was contacted by a war-torn alien civilization known as the Systems Federation. After years of negotiations, an embassy was established for Systems Federation refugees to apply for asylum on earth. Primarily composed of the human-like Olarans and the more reptilian Zenari, the growing presence of alien refugees on earth is a heated topic of discussion among world leaders.

The Cities

Pulling from regions throughout the United States and building upon well-known superhero tropes, the cities of We Can Be Heroes will be home to many stories and adventures of your creation. Each city has its own set of districts, sports teams, influential NPC’s and organizations, and established superheroes and villains.

  • Center City - This booming metropolis is composed of numerous tech and investment companies, high-priced living arrangements, and massive public housing developments. Center City is known for its soaring skyscrapers, congested streets, and pockets of dangerous criminal activity. This sprawling city also boasts the world’s premier filming location, Movieland. 

  • Steamland - This spirited midwest city was once a booming industrial hub. Steamland flourished as the birthplace of the steam powered engine. Modern Steamland has certainly seen brighter days, but the relentlessly loyal residents remain optimistic that the city will return to its former glory. 

  • Playa Del Codicia - No shirt, no shoes, no problem! This coastal city is known for its pristine beaches and vibrant nightlife. The multitude of night clubs provide the perfect cover for an equally vibrant organized crime scene.

  • Marinetown - Another coastal city located in the picturesque Pacific northwest. Marinetown is home to a concentration of “forward-thinking” tech companies, new forms of clean energy, and a popular destination for foodies and outdoor enthusiasts. 

  • San Valentino - This thriving desert city is located in the American Southwest. San Valentino is known for its beautiful vistas, numerous casinos, and reported alien activity.

Superheroes in a Modern World

This is modern-day America, which means superheroes have access to commonplace technologies like cellphones, GPS, and computers. Street-level crime fighters even rely on gig-economy applications like SUPEFINDR to find civilians in need.

That only scratches the surface though. In the world of We Can Be Heroes, the rate of scientific discovery and experimentation has escalated significantly due to the increased cognitive abilities of certain Auggies and Superhumans. Humanity has since seen the invention of incredible new technologies. Robocare, a fully robotic medical provider, has revolutionized the healthcare industry. An innovative sensor and AI system called RETNA has made self-driving cars a reality.

Other more nefarious creations exist as well. With the sharpest scientific minds superpowers can provide, the world’s arms-race has taken on new life. Governments, heroes, and villains alike all compete to have the strongest and most destructive weapons. 

This is the world of We Can Be Heroes. It is up to you, the player, to be the hero the world so desperately needs.