TEXT: Capes!
  Superhero Storytelling  
  Power is fun... 
  Superheroes soar through the 
  sky 
  and 
  leap 
  across 
  city 
  landscapes. They reshape the 
  course of mighty rivers. They dance 
  untouched when the bullets fall like rain 
  and sift moon-dust through their bare 
  fingers.
  It's the ultimate thrill ride. Don't let 
  anyone tell you differently.
  But do you deserve it?
  You've been given a gift the rest of the 
  world cannot share.  No matter how often 
  you save the city, or the world, you still owe 
  a debt you can never repay.
  Playing Capes you take on the role of a 
  superhero. You'll tell a story and pursue two 
  goals.  First, enjoy your heros powers.
  �Second, show that your hero deserves them.
  
  The example also switches from narrating the hero 
  created by the player ("Weather Witch") to narrating 
  the world itself ("the lightning strikes") to narrating 
  other characters ("Thanatos drops the jetpack").  
  This sort of switching is common in the game.  In 
  fact, when your hero isn't in the scene you can help 
  out the Editor by figuring out what the villains do.
  While you'll narrate for many people as you play, 
  you'll have special provenance over one hero.  You 
  create that hero, and you're responsible for deciding 
  at every step of the story what they care about, and 
  what they will sacrifice for.  You will put them into the 
  crucible of challenge and confusion time and again, 
  to give them a chance to show what they're made of.
  The story you tell is about more than victory and 
  defeat.  It is a chance to make your own statement 
  about what it means to be a hero.
  You will need a pad of small slips of paper, or a pack 
  of three-by-five index cards.  These will be used to 
  track the various Complications that the heroes and 
  villains vie for control over.  You'll need room to lay 
  out four or five of them at any one time.
  You will need some small tokens to track how 
  endebted your heroes are for their spectacular 
  power. Pennies are good. Small candies are better, if 
  you can resist munching on them at inappropriate 
  times. These will hereafter be called Debt Tokens.
  You'll need a comfortable place, free of distractions, 
  where you can lay all this gear out, along with your 
  players, and their sodas and other support 
  equipment. 
  What you'll need
  To play Capes you'll need at least two Players. You 
  will all be cooperating to create a comic-book story. 
  One of the players must be the Editor. They are 
  responsible for everything in the story, especially the 
  many things over which they have no control. 
  Because of this, Editors are notoriously vindictive 
  and short-tempered.
  The other players will each take on the role of a 
  superhero. They will each need one copy of the 
  Hero Worksheet included at the end of this 
  document, to help them track the various numbers 
  involved in playing a hero.
  The group will also need some physical props. You 
  will need a good handful of dice (of the sugar-cube 
  shaped, six-sided backgammon variety), in two 
  distinctive colors.  At least twelve per color.
  What you'll do
  Capes is a storytelling game.  You tell a story at the 
  same time you play a game.  What you say in the 
  story limits what moves you can make in the game, 
  and the situation in the game limits what you can say 
  in the story.
  The goal of the game is to help you tell better stories 
  than you could without any limits.  The game-play 
  itself should help you to find ideas that wouldn't 
  normally occur to you... clever ways of combining 
  story and dice to make something better than either.
  Because the storytelling and the game-play are so 
  closely intertwined this text will often talk about them 
  as if they were the same thing.  Indeed, this pleasant 
  confusion may leech into your own thinking as well.  
  For instance, you might say "Weather Witch calls 
  down lightning from the dark storm clouds... that lets 
  me roll this die.  I get control, so lightning strikes 
  Doctor Thanatos, causing him to drop the jetpack."  
  That quick section starts with storytelling ("call down 
  lightning") then switches to game-play to see how 
  the storytelling effects the game ("roll dice", "I get 
  control") then switches back to storytelling ("lightning 
  strikes Doctor Thanatos") to narrate how the game-
  play in turn effects the storytelling.
  
  Okay, it's time to make a superhero. Grab a Hero 
  Worksheet. There are lots of empty spaces there. 
  You'll be filling them in. 
  First you assign numbers to the arenas in which the 
  hero proves herself. Distribute nine points between 
  the following five Drives, assigning at least one point 
  to each:
  Sketching out your Hero
  Duty
  How much the hero's story 
  revolves around the 
  responsibilities that they 
  alone can and must fulfill 
  Justice
  How much the hero's story 
  revolves around 
  laws, codes of 
  conduct and 
  rebellion 
  Truth
  How much the hero's story 
  revolves around identity, 
  honesty and 
  secrets 
  Love 
  How much the hero's story 
  revolves around friends, 
  rivals, and 
  romance.
  Hope
  How much the hero's story 
  revolves around the safety, 
  needs and doubts 
  of the common 
  man 
  Example Character
  Silverstar (played by Joe) is an advanced 
  android, equipped with superhuman strength 
  and invulnerability. Her creator was killed by the 
  villain who commissioned her, before he could 
  finish teaching her who she is. She ended up 
  in the care of the Freedom Squad, who help 
  her to use her powers for good. 
  Looking over Silverstars history, Joe 
  concludes that she feels most strongly 
  about exploring her own identity,  
  making connections to salve the pain of 
  her freakish isolation, and learning how flesh 
  and blood people live.
  
  The next thing you do is to put human faces on at 
  least three of your Drives. You do this by assigning 
  them an Exemplar.  These are people with whom 
  the hero has tangled emotional issues centering 
  around a given Drive. 
  Any time an Exemplar is in a scene, it should be an 
  opportunity for the issues they embody to rise to the 
  surface. Conversely, any time your hero wants to 
  prove himself in a given Drive, the Editor could do 
  worse than to frame a scene that includes the 
  Exemplar.
  If you are part of a two-hero team then at least one 
  of your Exemplars (bare minimum) must be shared 
  with another hero. If your team has more than two 
  heroes than you must share at least two Exemplars, 
  one each with two different heroes.  Your Love 
  Exemplar could be a Duty Exemplar for someone 
  else (or perhaps you both harbor romantic feelings 
  for the same person… complicated, that).
  Get together with the other players while they're 
  figuring this stuff out.  You can adapt one of the 
  ideas they've already come up with, or work together 
  with them to create a shared Exemplar from scratch.  
  It's easy and fun to do at the beginning and terribly 
  difficult to shoe-horn in later.
  Filling in the Details
  Example Character
  Joe feels Silverstar needs Exemplars for Truth, Love and Duty. The obvious 
  person to be tangled in her past is the villain who funded her construction. 
  Joe could invent a villain, but he guesses that other players will have villains as 
  Exemplars. After rejecting several candidates, Joe decides that Silverstar was 
  commissioned by Black Jack, evil brother and rival of Captain Liberty. 
  Joe starts writing up Supreme, a stylish, solo hero Silverstar has a crush on. 
  Alice asks around for a shared Exemplar. Joe offers Supreme. They decide 
  that her heroine, Night Maiden, is also fixated on the heroic beefcake. 
  Finally, Joe sketches in the character of Becky Tesla, the daughter of the 
  inventor who created Silverstar. Becky feels honor-bound to personally 
  avenge her fathers death. So much so, that she endangers herself while 
  refusing Silverstars help. 
  
  Now you've figured out why your Hero does things. 
  It's time to start figuring out how they do things. 
  There are three types of Abilities that can be used 
  to change dice in the game.
  Every type of ability allows you to do the same thing 
  when you use it:  You can roll a die of that value or 
  less.  So if you use any ability with a level of three 
  then you can roll a die that is a one, two or three.  
  The types of abilities differ in the costs and 
  restrictions on when you can use them.
  Abilities beyond those
  of mortal men
  Powers can be used at any time.  Each power can be 
  used once a turn.  But every time you use one you have 
  to take a Debt Token and place it on one of your Drives.
  Attitudes are Blocked when they are used.  That's why 
  they have a little box to pencil in a checkmark on your 
  Worksheet, to remind you that it cannot be used again 
  until unblocked (or next scene).  Also, you may only use 
  one Attitude each turn.  However they cost nothing to use.
  Tropes are used to react to any roll that has already been 
  made.  For each Trope you choose whether it is a fun 
  superpower (and costs Debt when used) or Blocks when 
  used.   Draw a filled-in circle over the checkbox of any 
  Trope that costs Debt
  You choose which types you want the most abilities in. 
  Each type starts off with abilities at levels 1, 2 and 3.  You 
  then add an ability of level 4 to one of the types, and 
  abilities of levels 4 and 5 to a different type.
  Powers are what they sound like:  Leaping tall 
  buildings, flinging lightning from your fingertips, etc.
  Attitudes are what they sound like too:  Snotty, Kind, 
  Confused, etc.
  Tropes are things your hero is so good at that he 
  rarely slips up when doing them.  The Gray Ghost is 
  really quite good at slipping out of the shadows 
  quietly.  Even when he blows a roll with his Second 
  Sight power, he can slip out of the shadows quietly to 
  get a better look.  A Trope can rescue you from a bad 
  die roll, or (in the right circumstances) allow you to 
  quash a good roll of your enemy.
  3
  2
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  3
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  Each story is divided into Scenes, addressing some 
  sort of conflict.  In the story, a scene is its situation, 
  and the tensions within it that might be resolved either 
  in favor of the protagonists or against.  
  The situation of the story is paralleled in game terms 
  by Complications.  These correspond to the very 
  tensions that could be resolved either in favor of the 
  heroes or against.  For the first scene of the first 
  session, the Editor will simply list Complications.  
  Players will later earn the Inspirations and Story 
  Tokens needed take a larger role in defining 
  Complications and Prominence.  Index cards with the 
  name written on them are used to represent 
  Complications.
  Things get Complicated
  Once you have a group of superheroes, and your 
  Editor has thought about them and decided how to 
  challenge them, you're ready to tell a story.
  Each Player gets a Story Token at the start of the 
  session (and each Scene thereafter).  They can either 
  place it in the "Prominence" box on their sheet (if their 
  hero will be present in the first scene) or save it for 
  later.  One hero, chosen by the Editor, will receive two 
  Story Tokens in the first Scene but must spend them 
  both immediately.  
  The Editor adds characters until the total Prominence 
  on the hero's side is equal to the total Prominence of 
  their opponents.  The total number of Story Tokens 
  spent, all told, is used as the Victory Target for the 
  first Scene.
  Starting a Story
  A group of robbers have taken hostages at the First 
  National Bank.  Our heroes want to go in, thrash the 
  batd-guys and save the innocents.  Police Chief Arturo 
  Mannelli told the spandex-clad freaks to stay away, but 
  they plan to either win him over or sneak past his men.
  Story Example
  Against the four total Story Tokens spent by the heroes, 
  the Editor spends one on bank robbers, one on the 
  driver and two on Chief Mannelli.  He asks Joe to 
  narrate for the robbers and driver.  With eight Story 
  Tokens spent the Victory Target for the scene is eight.
  Game Example
  The players of Zip and Night Maiden each spend their 
  one Story Token in Prominence.  Captain Liberty 
  receives two tokens and spends them both on 
  Prominence.  Joe decides not to include Silverstar.
  Game Example
  The bank robbery scene has four complications.  
  Robbery, Clobbering, Hostages and Police.
  Game Example
  
  Each index card will start with two dice, of different 
  colors.  These dice are used to track Control of the 
  Complication.  One color is for the heroes, one is for 
  everything that stands in their way (often simply "the 
  villains").  When the number on one die is higher than 
  the number on the other, the side to whom the die 
  belongs is said to have Control of the Complication.  
  As you tell the story, the rules require that you make 
  your descriptions correspond to the current state (in 
  the game) of the Complications.  If your side controls 
  a 
  complication 
  then 
  the 
  situation 
  on 
  the 
  corresponding issue is getting better for you.  If the 
  other side controls it then the situation is getting 
  better for them, and worse for you.
  To play the game you take turns rolling these dice.  
  Whenever you roll a die you choose whether to keep 
  the result you rolled or to turn the die back to the 
  number it had before you rolled it.  
  When you roll a die you will also tell what happens.  If 
  you just gained Control in the Complication then you 
  describe how the tide of events turned.  If your 
  opposition has Control of the Complication then you 
  describe what happened that might have changed 
  events, and they describe why it didn't.
  Roll Them Bones
  A player rolls the blue die on Police, for a six.  He 
  chooses to keep the six.  With a red five and a blue six, 
  the heroes now control the Police Complication.  The 
  Editor rolls the blue die on Hostages.  He rolls a five.  
  He chooses to turn the die back to four.  With a red two 
  and a blue four, the heroes still control Hostages.
  Game Example
  "Five… four… three…" Chief Mannelli yells over a 
  bullhorn.  Just then the first of the escaping hostages 
  come into view from an alley.  "Hold your fire!" Mannelli 
  says immediately.  Then lowering the bullhorn he 
  murmurs "Well I'll be damned… they pulled it off."  
  Meanwhile, inside, a thrown grenade lands dangerously 
  close to the escaping bystanders.  They scream, 
  fearing their lives are at an end.  Papers and skirts are 
  blown by a sudden gust of wind as Zip (the fastest 
  teenager alive) runs by.  The grenade is gone.  There is 
  a dull explosion as it detonates harmlessly in the 
  armored bank vault where he dropped it.
  Story Example
  Later in the Scene, Police has a red 5 and a blue 1.  
  Hostages has a red 2 and a blue 4.  If blue dice belong 
  to the heroes then they have moderate control over 
  Hostages, and their opposition has dominant control in 
  Police.
  Game Example
  Chief Mannelli has given the heroes ten seconds to 
  cease their villain-bashing activities, or he will have his 
  men open fire on them.  At the same time, hostages are 
  making their way through a hole that's been broken in 
  the wall, escaping one by one to safety.
  Story Example
  
  Each Scene is played out in a series of Pages. So the 
  Editor might announce "Alright, that's the end of page 
  2.  We're now on page 3 of the bank robbery."
  At the beginning of each Page people decide what 
  Complications they are trying to Resolve that Page.  
  Starting with the Editor (and proceeding around the 
  table clockwise) each player can Claim a 
  Complication for each hero or opponent they are 
  narrating.  The Complication must be one Controlled 
  by the side that hero or opponent is playing on.  The 
  player then drags the index card for the Complication 
  (carefully!) across the table to sit right in front of the 
  worksheet for that character.
  If a player wants to Claim a Complication that has 
  already been Claimed then they can do so, but only if 
  the Prominence of the hero or opponent they are 
  claiming it for is higher than that of the one currently 
  holding it.
  When a player Claims a Complication they should 
  narrate how the hero or opponent can see a possible 
  end to the ongoing struggle.  This is often the time 
  that villains boast of how they'll conquer the world 
  (sometimes detailing their precise plans) once the 
  hero is dead.  It is also the time that heroes make 
  bold statements about how they'll never give up, 
  never give in, and so forth.
  As the Pages Turn
  Zip claims Hostages (which the heroes control).  
  Captain Liberty claims Hostages from Zip, pointing out 
  that he has a Prominence of 2 to Zip's inferior 1.  The 
  Editor claims Robbery for the Robbers.  He does not 
  claim any Complications for the Police Chief, because 
  Police (the obvious story-choice) is under hero control.
  Game Example
  Zip, dodging bullets, grates out "Just a few more 
  seconds… and the bystanders will be clear."  Captain 
  Liberty leaps between the robbers and the civilians, 
  bullets bouncing off his star-spangled chest.  "You deal 
  with these miscreants, young speedster!" he bellows.  "I 
  always stand ready to shield the innocent!"  Meanwhile, 
  the robbers pull a getaway car up, and pile in.
  Story Example
  After Complications have been claimed, doubt and 
  weakness must be assessed for any heroes or 
  opponents whose moral foundation is in jeopardy.  A 
  Drive is Overdrawn when a hero or opponent has 
  more Debt Tokens on the Drive than the value 
  assigned to it.  For each Overdrawn Drive on a hero 
  or opponent the player narrating for them must roll the 
  highest die on their side (or choose one of the highest 
  in case of a tie) and accept the result only if it reduces 
  the value.
  If a side loses Control in a Complication because of 
  these rolls the player explains how confusion hinders 
  the hero or opponent.  This is often either through 
  doubt (i.e. wondering whether the Drive is actually as 
  important as you thought) or failure (i.e. believing in 
  the Drive and feeling that you've failed to live up to it).
  Your account is Overdrawn
  The driver is Overdrawn in the villainous Drive of Need.  
  The opponent side's highest die is a six on Robbery.  
  The roll reduces the red value so much that the 
  opponents lose Control in the Complication.
  Game Example
  The wheel man of the getaway car is anxious, panicky.  
  "Wait for the money!  Wait for the money!" the man in 
  the passenger seat keeps repeating.  But the driver's 
  nerve breaks.  "I don't need the money that much!" he 
  cries.  "It's not worth going to jail for!"  He puts the car 
  in gear and pulls away from the building before his 
  partners can load the loot.
  Story Example
  
  Most of the time spent on each Page will be spent 
  handling Turns.  In the first turn of the Page, every 
  hero or opponent (starting with those the Editor 
  narrates, then moving clockwise around the table) 
  gets an opportunity to act.  They may choose to 
  Stake Debt.  They may also (and generally do) 
  choose to roll one of the dice on the table.
  Action Turns
  To Stake Debt, a player takes Debt Tokens from his 
  character's Worksheet and places them on a 
  Complication his side does not Control.  The player 
  may not Stake two types of Debt (i.e. Hope and 
  Justice) on a single Complication.  He may not Stake 
  more tokens of Debt on a Complication than the value 
  of the Drive from which he Stakes.
  In the story, players should have their hero or 
  opponent show how they now view the issue of the 
  Complication as personally important to them
  Staking your Identity
  The "Getaway" Complication stands at two on the blue 
  (hero) die and four on the red (opponent) die.  On his 
  Turn, Zip chooses to Stake a Debt Token from his Hope 
  Drive (Drive of 2) on "Getaway".
  Game Example
  The getaway car side-swipes a lamp-post which starts 
  falling on screaming bystanders.  Zip grimaces and 
  turns aside.  He whisks the bystanders from harms way 
  at the last instant.  "These guys are going to kill 
  someone if they aren't stopped!" he mutters, quickening 
  his pace to catch up with the car.
  Story Example
  To roll a die (whether it is on their side or their 
  opponent's) the player must use one of the Powers, 
  Attitudes or (for opponents) Skills of the character.  
  The value of that ability must be at least as great as 
  the current number showing on the die.  No Ability 
  may be used more than once in a Page.
  There are different costs for using different types of 
  Abilities.  If a player uses a Skill or Attitude then that 
  Ability is Blocked and cannot be used again in the 
  same scene.  If a player uses a Power then they must 
  take a Debt Token and place it on one of the 
  characters Drives.
  In the story, the player must describe their actions in a 
  way that makes clear the importance of the Ability 
  they used to what they were attempting.  If they can 
  think of no way that an Ability would apply (Laser Eye 
  Beams at a refined debutante party, for instance) then 
  they may not use the Ability. 
  Action!  Action!  Action!
  Zip chooses to roll the hero die on "Getaway" using 
  Super-speed (a level 3 Power).  Because the hero die 
  is a two (equal to or less than the level of the Power) 
  Zip may roll it.  He could not have rolled the opponent's 
  die, because it is a four (greater than the level of the 
  Power).
  Game Example
  Because he used a Power, Zip takes a Debt Token and 
  places it on a Drive (in this case his Duty Drive).
  Game Example
  The getaway car tears through the city streets 
  recklessly.  But Zip is faster than a speeding 
  automobile, and chases after them on foot.
  Story Example
  
  If the player chooses to accept the outcome of the 
  new roll then any player (including the one who rolled 
  in the first place) may react to that roll with a Trope 
  from one of the characters they narrate.  This is the 
  only time when the rules allow one character to 
  interfere in another's turn.  The Trope must be of a 
  level equal to or greater than the value of the new die.  
  The interrupting player rolls the same die again and it 
  is his choice whether or not to accept the new 
  outcome.  If he accepts it then any player can, in turn, 
  react to this roll with a Trope of his own.
  If the Trope used is a super-powered one (as chosen 
  when the hero or opponent was created) then the 
  player takes a Debt Token, as he would if he were 
  using a Power.  If the Trope is not super-powered 
  then it is Blocked, as with an Attitude.
  Reaction!  Reaction!
  Zip's player rolls a one in his attempt to raise his die.  
  He accepts the value and immediately invokes 
  "Mundane Tasks done Super-fast" (a level 2 Trope of 
  the hero) to roll it again.  This time he rolls a three.  
  That still wouldn't gain him Control against the 
  opponent's four.  He accepts the die, invokes 
  "Desperate Effort" (a level 4 Trope) and rolls it again.  
  This time he rolls a five, which will gain his side Control 
  of the Getaway Complication.
  Game Example
  Zip's player decided long ago that "Mundane Tasks 
  done Super-fast" was super-powered, and "Desperate 
  Effort" was not.  He Blocks "Desperate Effort" and takes 
  a Debt Token, accepting it for his Hope Drive and 
  staking it on the "Getaway Complication" before rolling.
  Game Example
  An old lady is crossing the street, walking her poodle.  
  The getaway car hurtles toward the intersection, 
  heedless of her.  "They're going to kill her!" Zip shouts 
  in alarm.  He snatches cable from a nearby hardware 
  store and, in an instant, wraps it dozens of times 
  around two lamp-posts, making a net crossing the 
  street.  Then he grabs the rear bumper of the car and 
  pulls with a desperate effort, his feet skidding down the 
  street.  The car, thus slowed, slams into the net.  The 
  net groans, but holds.
  Story Example
  
  Either before or after rolling a die, the player may 
  have an opportunity to Split one die into two or more. 
  To split a die you add more dice, then rearrange their 
  faces so that the sum total on them is the same as 
  the original one and the numbers are as close to each 
  other as possible.  In order for a die to be split, you 
  must be able to place every die on your side of the 
  Complication on a Debt Token Staked by your side 
  (including, if it's on your side, the one die that the 
  Complication starts out with).
  Splitting dice can also be used to create whole new 
  sides (turning a two-sided Complication into a three-
  sided, or even more intricate, one).  This can cause a 
  shift in Control (as players split their Control between 
  two now-uncooperative sides).
  Splitting Dice
  Zip chooses to split the hero die on Getaway.  He has 
  two Debt Tokens Staked on the Complication.  He puts 
  one of them under the blue die already there.  He puts 
  a second die on the second token.  He turns the 
  original blue die from five to three, and turns the second 
  die to two.  Three plus two gives him an unchanged 
  total of five.
  Game Example
  Night Maiden stakes two tokens of Duty on Police.  She 
  splits the blue six into three twos.  She places her twos 
  (now a side of their own) on her Debt Tokens.  She 
  does not need to assure that the other two is on a Debt 
  Token, because it is no longer on her side.  The 
  opponents regain control of the Complication, because 
  their red five is higher than either Captain Liberty's total 
  of two or Night Maiden's total of four.
  Game Example
  The old lady scurries away from the car that almost 
  ended her life.  As robbers leap out, looking around 
  desperately for an escape route, Zip appears in front of 
  them with a sudden whoosing sound.  His face is grim 
  and angry.  "If you think I'm going to let you get away to 
  hurt people some more," he says with a frown, "You're 
  about to learn how wrong you are."
  Story Example
  Captain Liberty congratulates Chief Mannelli on their 
  achievement, and expresses a hope for future 
  cooperation.  "Cooperation?" snorts Night Maiden.  "He 
  was threatening to SHOOT US!  I want to hear him 
  admit that we were the only ones good enough to save 
  those people!"  Captain Liberty makes ineffectual 
  shushing motions at Night Maiden.  Mannelli's face 
  flushes.  His expression shifts from one of grudging 
  admiration to frustrated fury.
  Story Example
  
  After everyone has had an action in the first turn, you 
  may need to move on to subsequent turns.  In the 
  second turn, only those characters with Prominence 
  of two or more get an action.  In the third turn only 
  those with Prominence of three or more, and so on.  
  All players may still react with Tropes.  Turns continue 
  until nobody's Prominence is high enough for another 
  action.
  Turn and Turn again
  After the Action Turns everyone (starting with the 
  Editor, moving clockwise) checks the Complications 
  they Claimed at the beginning of the Page.  If a 
  Complication is still Controlled by the side of the hero 
  or opponent who claimed it then it Resolves in their 
  favor.  If not then it is moved back to the center of the 
  table until someone claims it on a future Page.
  If a Complication has Stakes when it resolves then 
  the Stakes are resolved at that time.  Any hero or 
  opponent who placed Stakes and was not on the 
  Controlling side when the Complication Resolved 
  must take back their own Debt Tokens and also take 
  an equal number from the central pile of Tokens.  All 
  of these are placed on the Drive from which the 
  tokens were Staked.  Any hero or opponent who 
  placed Stakes and was on the Controlling side does 
  not take those Debt Tokens back onto their own 
  Worksheet.  Instead they choose the player (including 
  the Editor, but not including themselves) who most 
  helped to make the Complication interesting for them, 
  and give those Tokens to them.  That player puts the 
  Tokens on the "Story Tokens" space on their 
  worksheet, and can spend them later for greater 
  control of the narrative.
  Resolving Complications
  Only Captain Liberty and the Chief have the 
  Prominence to act in the second turn.  The Captain 
  uses his "Team-builder" Attitude and rolls his die on 
  Police, gaining a three, which he accepts.  Chief 
  Manning uses his "Angry" Attitude and rolls the 
  Captain's die, getting a two, which he accepts.  Night 
  Maiden's player immediately uses "Glare venemously" 
  (a level 2 Trope on her heroine) and rolls the same die 
  again.  She gets a five, and chooses not to accept it.
  Game Example
  Captain 
  Liberty 
  had 
  claimed 
  the 
  "Hostages" 
  Complication.  At the end of the page the heroes still 
  control it.  It resolves in his favor.  The robbers had 
  claimed Robbery, but they do not control it at the end of 
  the page.  It returns to the center of the table.
  Game Example
  Captain Liberty had Staked one Duty token on 
  Hostages.  The Editor had Staked one Despair token 
  on the same Complication (from the shadowy arch-
  villain manipulating events from afar).  The Stakes 
  resolve in favor of the heroic side.  Therefore the Editor 
  takes two tokens and places them on the arch-villains 
  Despair Drive.  Captain Liberty takes his one Debt 
  Token and gives it to Joe as a Story Token in 
  recognition of how his constant aggression as the bad-
  guys made the Complication entertaining..
  Game Example
  "What she meant was…" Captain Liberty begins.  "I 
  KNOW what she meant!" Mannelli snaps. Night Maiden 
  glares venemously at Mannelli.  "Just stay out of this, 
  Cap," she recommends
  Story Example
  
  The player who claimed the Complication gets to 
  keep the card.  He notes whether it was won by 
  Heroes or Opponents ("H" or "O"), the total of the dice 
  of all sides who did not Control the Complication 
  (usually just the opponent's dice) and labels it Victory 
  Points (or "VP").  Next to that he notes the difference 
  between the largest die on his side and the largest die 
  on any other side and labels it Bonus (or just the 
  number preceded by a "+" sign).  He keeps this card, 
  which now represents an Inspiration.
  In the story, Inspirations represent the consequences 
  of success and failure.  They may crop up 
  immediately, or they may appear only much later.
  Getting Inspired
  The player who won the Complication now gets to 
  decide what replaces it.  He may choose to use an 
  empty index card, write a name on it and set two dice 
  (both ones) on it to represent Control.  Or he may 
  choose to put one of the Inspirations he has earned 
  back on the table.  He crosses out the old name and 
  writes in a new one.  Whichever side won the 
  Inspiration starts with their die equal to the Bonus.  
  The other side starts with a one.  If the Bonus is one 
  or less then both sides dice start at one. 
  Replacing Complications
  The Editor adds the Victory Points for the 
  Complication to the running total of Victory Points 
  earned by that side during the scene.  Even if heroes 
  (or villains) have split their efforts and are fighting 
  against their own erstwhile allies, all Victory Points go 
  to either the Hero or Opponent totals.  After everyone 
  has 
  checked 
  and, 
  if 
  necessary, 
  Resolved 
  Complications, the Editor checks whether either 
  Victory Point Total has reached or exceeded the 
  Victory Point Target for the scene.  If so the scene is 
  over and no more Pages will be played.  Otherwise 
  you start at the beginning of the next page the same 
  way you started the previous one.
  Are we there yet?
  Hostages was won with a four die and a two die.  
  Captain Liberty's player notes "H 2vp + 2".
  Game Example
  Captain Liberty places his Hostages Inspiration back on 
  the board.  He crosses out "Hostages" and writes in 
  "Public Opinion".  The Complication starts with a red 
  die showing a one, and a blue die showing a two.
  Game Example
  The heroic side earned two Victory Points for Hostages, 
  which is not enough to reach the Victory Point Target of 
  five for the scene.  On Page 4, Night Maiden fails to 
  Resolve Police, but Zip succeeds in Resolving 
  Getaway, with a four and three die against the lone six 
  die of the robbers.  He writes down "H 6vp -2" on the 
  card.  The hero total rises to eight victory points, which 
  matches the target of eight.  The scene is now ended.  
  There is no Page 5.
  Game Example
  A camera crew for the local news arrives on the scene.  
  Captain Liberty expertly leads them away from the 
  ongoing battle of wills between Night Maiden and 
  Captain Mannelli.  As the freed hostages eagerly praise 
  the actions of the Freedom Squad, Captain Liberty says 
  he'd be glad to offer an interview.
  Story Example
  
  When the Scene ends any Complications that do not 
  have tokens Staked on them can be immediately 
  claimed and resolved by anyone on the side that 
  controls them.  Any Complications that do have 
  tokens Staked on them do not resolve.  The Tokens 
  are returned to the people who Staked them.  No 
  Victory Points are generated from such unresolved 
  Complications.
  In the story, any Complication that does not Resolve 
  is interrupted somehow by outside events.
  When all Complications have either been Resolved or 
  discarded, the Editor adds the Victory Totals each 
  side earned during the scene to the Victory Totals for 
  the entire story.  If neither side has met the Victory 
  Total for the Story then another Scene is created.
  Ending the Scene
  Any player who has an Inspiration may use it to 
  create a Complication in the new Scene.  This is 
  handled the same way as using an Inspiration when 
  replacing a Complication.  After this is done, the 
  Editor may create Complications (neither side starting 
  with a bonus) that he feels will benefit the Scene.
  Once Complications are known, players may spend 
  Story Tokens to give a hero, Exemplar or opponent 
  Prominence in the scene.  Any character with 
  Prominence will be present in the Scene, and 
  narrated by the player who paid for their presence.  
  Player declare which side (heroic or opponent) the 
  characters they narrate will be on. The Editor then 
  adds characters to whichever side has less total 
  Prominence until the scales are balanced.  He then 
  describes (perhaps after a few minutes to arrange all 
  the pieces in his mind) the situation in the story that 
  brings all of those Complications and people together.
  Beginning the next Scene
  The scene ends.  Public Opinion has no debt Staked, 
  and resolves in Captain Liberty's favor.  Police has debt 
  Staked, and does not resolve.  Night Maiden's player 
  takes back the Duty Token Staked on it.
  Game Example
  Zip's player uses the Inspiration he received for 
  "Getaway" to create a "Villainous HQ" Complication.  
  Captain Liberty declines to use his Public Opinion 
  Inspiration.  The Editor adds "Stealth" and "Clobbering" 
  Complications to the mix.
  Game Example
  Zip's player plays one Story Token on Zip.  Captain 
  Liberty's player plays a token on Polly Trueheart, 
  Exemplar of Love, declaring her to be on the villainous 
  side (probably by way of becoming a hostage).  Joe, 
  having sat out last scene and earned Story Tokens as 
  the villains, spends three on Silverstar's Prominence.  
  That means four Story Tokens on heroes and one on 
  opponents.  The Editor adds one point on Minions and 
  two points on evil arch-nemesis Black Jack.  He asks 
  Night Maiden's player to play Black Jack.
  Game Example
  "I could rip you apart, little man!" Night Maiden 
  threatens.  "Come on and try it!" Mannelli retorts, "I'm 
  not afraid of…."  A lieutenant runs up.  "Chief!  Chief!  
  The kid… the fast one… he caught the perps on forty-
  seventh and Lex."  Mannelli turns away immediately.  
  "Let's roll," he says as he walks toward the squad car.  
  Night Maiden moves angrily to follow.  Captain Liberty 
  takes her by the arm and holds her back.  "Another 
  time," he says.  "Or not, if you take my advice.  It's a 
  fight you'd lose by winning."
  Story Example
  "The driver was supposed to drop the money at this 
  address," Zip says, showing a slip of paper.
  "Stars and Stripes!"  Captain Liberty exclaims, "that's 
  the old warehouse Silverstar and Polly were searching 
  for signs of Black Jack!  They're walking into a trap!  
  You're the only one fast enough to warn them!"
  Story Example
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Capes/Capes Storytelling Book.pdf