TEXT: Written by Zak Arntson
  Illustrated by Jon Morris
  Welcome to Superpets!
  Welcome to the Animal Super Hero roleplaying game. No, these aren't Ninja Turtles or
  furry heroes. Superpets are great animals like Wonderdog, Gleek and Krypto. These are
  Regular animals with amazing super powers!
  Stuff You Need
  You will need: Paper, pencil, bunches of dice (all
  having the same sides). Each player needs ONE die
  of a unique color (but the same sides as the others).
  This is called the Master Die.
  Superpets also requires a bag of doggie treats, called
  Stinky Treats during play. You will be eating these, so
  you may substitute something else that tastes a little
  off. Try garlic-stuffed olives or plain rye crackers.
  Gamemasters should take note that there are no rules
  covering Superpet vs. Non-Superpet rolls. If
  something like this ever comes up, as Gamemaster,
  you simply make up a number of dice to roll (don't
  forget to include the Master Die). Roll half the Player's
  dice for an easy task, equal the Player's dice for a
  moderately difficult job, and one-and-a-half times the
  Player's dice for something super tough.
  This game can be played with or without a
  Gamemaster. If no Gamemaster is present, the
  Players should vote on how best to resolve disputes.
  Torto
  Telltale: Super Cape
  Tricks: Fly 2
  Problems: Really Really
  Really Slow 2
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  Adopting a Superpet
  This part's pretty darn easy. Pick an Animal and Name
  for your Superpet. Every Superpet also has a Telltale,
  which is a feature that readily identifies it as Super.
  This can be anything from a costume, to a skin color,
  to weirdly visible magnetic rays.
  Now you pick Tricks and Problems. A Trick is any
  superpower, like turning into a gorilla (if you're already
  a chimp), flying or an incredibly sensitive nose.
  Problems include any weakness that could be taken
  advantage of, such as an addiction to bananas, severe
  aluminum allergies or an overprotective Superhero
  owner.
  Every Superpet is required to have one Trick and
  oneProblem at level 1. In addition, you can improve a
  Trick by one level or gain a new Trick as long as you
  increase a Problem by one level or gain a new
  Problem. New Tricks and Problems begin at level 1.
  To keep you from going overboard, I suggest you
  never give your Superpet more than five levels in any
  one Trick or Problem, and to choose no more than
  three of each.
  Belfry, Super Giraffe
  Telltale: Goggles
  Tricks: Supervision (x-ray,
  heat, you name it!) 2
  Problems: Insatiably Snoopy
  1, Nearsighted Without
  Goggles 1
  Stinky Treat Dish
  Everyone begins with an empty Dish of Stinky Treats. This is more fun with a physical
  dish, but you could just draw a big circle on a piece of paper. Any Stinky Treats you earn
  will be placed in this Dish.
  Remember that you can never be brought down to less than zero Stinky Treats. An empty
  Dish cannot get any more so.
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  Conflicts & Rolling the Dice
  When Superpets come into conflict, dice are rolled to discover the result. Superpets
  places the rolling at the beginning of a conflict. This allows for an incredible amount of
  improvisation afterwards. Anyone involved in a potential conflict states their Goal only,
  which in no way is carried out in the game world. If nobody opposes anybody's Goal, then
  everyone gets to roleplay without rolling. Otherwise, you'd better grab some dice:
  Your Master Die - You always get this with every roll you make.
  Your Trick Dice - For every level of a Trick that applies your Goal, you get one die.
  Your Problem Dice - You lose a die for each level of a Problem that currently hinders
  your Superpet.
  Your Stinky Treat Dice - Stinky Treats can add or remove dice from your grasp, as
  explained below.
  Remember that your Master Die can never be removed, even if your Problems far
  outweigh your Tricks.
  Stinky Treat Dice affect rolls in the following ways:
  Filling Your Dish - For every Stinky Treat you add to your Dish, you get one more die for
  your current roll.
  The Other Guy's Dish - Look at the Dish of every Player opposing your Goal. For every
  Stinky Treat in their Dish, you add a die to your roll.
  Eating Your Treats - For every Stinky Treat in your Dish that you eat, you can remove
  one die from your roll.
  Done getting your dice? Now roll 'em!
  Conflicts & Reading the Dice
  Take the highest value you rolled and compare it with
  the other rolls. Whoever rolls highest succeeds at her
  Goal. But wait! Don't narrate any outcomes just yet!
  Everyone now compares their Master Die. Whoever
  rolled highest on her Master Die is now the Master of
  the situation. As Master, you narrate events up to and
  including the completion of the successful Goals.
  You must eventually narrate the Goal, even if your
  own Superpet failed. Note that this doesn't prevent
  you from narrating an almost-failure that turns into a
  Atmoic Snail, Super
  Mollusk
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  success for dramatic effect. Or providing a loaded
  success, where the Goal could leads to possible
  future trouble. As long as the successful Player's Goal
  is reached at the end of the narration things are fine.
  To keep the Master from rambling, there is a five
  minute time limit on a single narration.
  Voice-Over Option
  If your group decides that the Master's narration
  controls too much, whenever a Superpet is queued to
  speak, the Player of that Superpet says her lines. The
  Master then has to accomodate the situation to the
  dialogue. This allows Players to throw wrenches, play
  nice and all things in between.
  Telltale: Atomic Tattoo
  Tricks: Atomic Sonar 1
  Problems: Atomic
  Radioactivity 1
  Improving Your Superpets
  Improvement is normally reserved for human superheroes, who do things like move plots
  and make sense. It is possible, however unlikely, that you may grant your Superpet new
  Tricks. Given certain conditions or events throughout the game (like exposure to gamma
  rays), a Superpet may gain new powers. Use the same methods from Superpet Creation
  to increase/add Tricks and Problems (i.e., for every level of Trick or new Trick, you must
  gain a level of Problem or a new Problem).
  Pet Death!?
  A Superpet cannot die unless his own Player wishes it. No other Player (or the GM, if a
  GM is present) can kill another Player's Superpet. This is an ASPCA mandate, the ASPCA
  being run by the most superpowered of pets, who insure death by natural causes for all
  Superpets across the universe (especially in film). This does not prevent injury, emotional
  stress, or all other sorts of non-lethal trouble.
  Afterword
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  Acknowledgements
  Gone & Forgotten - Jon Morris' wonderful tribute to
  terrible comics.
  Sorcerer - Ron Edwards' amazing game, from which I
  ripped off the Telltale in name only. I am indebted to
  his introducing me to concepts like Currency. Check
  out this game.
  The Forge - Indie roleplaying at its very best.
  Superpets picked up explicit Fortune in the Middle
  from discussions at the Forge.
  Mike Holmes - Pointing out that Superpets uses
  Fortune in the Middle, not Fortune in the Beginning.
  He also asked me about the Premise, which led to me
  actually analyzing this game. Shame on you, Mike!
  Copyright Notice
  The written content in this document is Copyright ©
  2001, by Zak Arntson. Permission to duplicate
  writtenfor personal use and captions for review
  purposes is granted. You must receive explicit
  permission from the author (email: zak@harlekin-
  maus.com) to use this game and any portion therein
  for public use, such as publication or convention play.
  All Superpet artwork (save the title image) is Copyright
  © 2001, by Jon Morris. Any questions about using his
  artwork should be made to jon@ape-law.com.
  Daffodil, Super Monkey
  Telltale: Yellow Dress and
  Accessories
  Tricks: Laser-Shooting Eyes
  1, Amazing Flying Power 1
  Problems: Potassium
  Addiction 2
  Back to Games | Email Author | Email Artist
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Kid Friendly/Superpets Corebook.pdf