TEXT:  
   
   
   
  A playset for 
  Just Heroes by 
  James Mullen 
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  Contents 
  Sitting Down to Play .............................................................................. 5 
  Getting into Role ................................................................................ 7 
  Knowing the Rules.............................................................................. 9 
  Move & Countermove ......................................................................... 13 
  Basic Moves ....................................................................................... 13 
  Peripheral Moves ............................................................................. 16 
  Villain Moves ..................................................................................... 18 
  Questions & Answers ........................................................................... 20 
  Dr. Dusk ............................................................................................. 21 
  Lady Smoke ....................................................................................... 22 
  Steel Spring ....................................................................................... 23 
  The Snowdrop ................................................................................... 24 
  Black Box ................................................................................................ 25 
  Pulling the Threads .......................................................................... 27 
  NPCs & Threats ................................................................................. 29 
   
   
   
  
  5 
   
  Sitting Down to Play 
  In a world where superpowers have been with us for generations, 
  four heroes have risen to the top of the heap in London, acting as 
  its unofficial guardians, but each of the four pursues their own 
  ends through their own means. Being on the same side of the law 
  doesn't always mean working together and when it comes to the 
  crunch, whose vision for the city will prevail? 
  This is a condensed version of Just Heroes, which is itself a hack of 
  Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker; the purpose of this 
  playset is to provide a short taster of Just Heroes for use at 
  conventions and in other one-shot sessions. The playset is 
  designed to accommodate 3 or 4 players plus an MC, whose role 
  it is to organise the game and support the other participants 
  during play. I’ll assume the person reading this is the MC, which 
  makes your first job printing out this playset and the four Hero 
  Playbooks that accompany it, these being Dr. Dusk, Lady Smoke, 
  Steel Spring and The Snowdrop: these are the four superheroes 
  who protect London and its citizens from internal & external 
  threats. 
   
  In addition, you’ll need a few other basic supplies: pencils, 
  erasers, note paper and several six-sided dice: the latter are the 
  only kind of dice used in this game, so wherever I say ‘dice’, I 
  mean that kind. Before you can start playing though, there are a 
  few more things to check off, the first of which needs to be done 
  before you even find any players, and that is to find players who 
  want to play this particular type of game. Just Heroes relies 
  heavily on player input & motivation: you create situations for the 
  PCs to deal with, but the players should also be actively pursuing 
  their PCs’ own agendas. Quite often, this can mean providing 
  answers to their own questions: I can’t give you a complete 
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  encyclopaedia for the game that you can hide under the table, 
  you’ll often have to make things up on the spot. The best way for 
  you to make things up is to ask the players what they were 
  expecting. Get their input & suggestions on what outcome they 
  wanted, don’t take on the whole load yourself. 
   
  Another important point: the heroes have lives. They don’t live in 
  their costumes, they all have a secret identity, one they were born 
  into or have assumed, and a major driving force for the PCs is 
  keeping their two lives separate & balanced. Superheroes aren’t 
  exactly embraced by the authorities, but their effectiveness 
  makes them an obvious target for criminals: therefore, to protect 
  their loved ones, the PCs must protect their secrets. 
   
  Finally, relax: if you’ve made your preparations and the players 
  are arriving at the table, greet them, introduce yourself and 
  answer their questions. This is also your final chance to let 
  everyone know what they are in for, so: 
   
   Get names: find out who’s playing, write it down if you want. 
   
   Describe the setting: “This is a superhero game set in modern 
  London, in a world that has had superbeings for generations 
  and you are considered to be top-tier heroes: you’ve already 
  made names for yourselves, with the public, with the media, 
  with the authorities and with the criminal underground. It’s 
  accepted that there are strange powers at work in the world, 
  but they aren’t common and don’t affect most people’s daily 
  routine, except for what they read in the papers.” 
   
   Describe the theme: “You are each living two lives: one in the 
  costume and one out of it. You don’t want those two to mix, 
  so part of the game is juggling your responsibilities and 
  
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  keeping your friends & family safe from the consequences of 
  your actions as a superhero, whilst also finding time away 
  from them to take those actions.” 
   
   Describe the style: “There’s no singular, linear story for this 
  session: instead, each of you has hooks in your playbook that 
  will draw your hero into the action. The story will emerge 
  from what choices you make as players, including how your 
  characters go about pursuing their own agendas and how 
  they react to what happens.” 
   
   Take care of the admin: if you’re playing this at a convention, 
  you might have to check names off a list, take tickets or 
  whatever. Also, explain how you intend to structure the time 
  allocated: how often you intend to take breaks, how long the 
  breaks will be for, and so on. Take time to ask the players if 
  they are comfortable and ready to begin, and to answer any 
  further questions they may have. 
   
  Getting into Role 
  Once everyone is comfortable, you can begin by talking about 
  the characters they will be playing: take a look at them, talk 
  about them and pass them amongst the players. There are no 
  secrets from other players on these sheets, and though each hero 
  won’t necessarily know the ins & outs of each other’s lives, it’s 
  inevitable that the players will learn about them during the game 
  anyway. Take some time to choose characters, making sure 
  everyone has a hero they are comfortable playing. 
  Part of choosing characters is talking about how they feel about 
  each other and what their relationships are like: every playbook 
  has a Status entry, which is used to note whether that hero likes 
  or dislikes each other hero. The Status section gives a one line 
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  description of how the hero’s opinions of their peers, but is up to 
  each player to fill in the details here and decide whether their 
  feelings are positive or negative. 
  For example, in The Snowdrop’s Status section, the first 
  entry is “Steel Spring is guilty of pride, the same as me,” 
  while Steel Spring has an entry that reads “The Snowdrop 
  relies on force over intellect.” They should agree between 
  them what history the two heroes share that has lead to 
  them forming these opinions of each other: perhaps they 
  were both at the scene of an emergency but The 
  Snowdrop refused Steel Spring’s offer of a team-up and 
  acted on his own. They can choose to both dislike each 
  other, both like each other or one can like & the other 
  dislike, as long as they are clear with each other why they 
  have formed these opinions. 
   
  Choosing characters and discussing their mutual likes & dislikes 
  enables the players to start getting into role: the history shared by 
  any two heroes provides a chance to build on the foundations 
  given in the playbooks. Players should occupy their characters 
  like new tenants moving into a house: the building remains the 
  same, but they bring their own furniture and decorate it to suit 
  their own tastes. 
   
  The last step of preparation is highlighting stats: each hero gets 
  two of their four basic stats highlighted, earning experience when 
  they roll for those highlighted stats during the game. Players first 
  highlight a stat for each other using a round-robin method, so for 
  example everyone highlights a stat for the player on their right; 
  after that, the MC highlights a second stat for each hero. 
  Everyone should choose stats based on the type of action they’d 
  like to see, not what is easiest or hardest for that hero. 
  
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  Knowing the Rules 
  The core of the game is in the concept of moves, which are simply 
  a way of describing the actions taken in the story by the heroes 
  and their adversaries. If you question someone, that’s a move; 
  attack them, that’s a move; run away, that’s a move too. 
   
  Most moves require you to roll 2d6, adding the results together 
  and modifying the total by a stat to get your result. 
  o 6 or less is a miss: there will be consequences for this. 
  o 7-9 is a hit, but not a perfect one: the outcome won’t be the 
  best. 
  o 10 or more is a hit and it’s usually the best success you can 
  hope for. 
  o If you have advanced a move, you get a spectacular success 
  on 12 or more. 
   
  The Basic Moves are pre-packaged actions which describe what 
  happens on a hit, e.g. if you’re pressing on towards a destination, 
  then a hit means you arrive there in time, though not necessarily 
  in one piece. A miss means the hero fails at what they were doing, 
  leaving themselves open to a drastic countermove from the MC, 
  though sometimes it just means the villains get to do what they 
  were doing without any interference from the hero. 
   
  There are several game terms used throughout the Basic Moves 
  and the hero playbooks, which are explained here: 
   
   Now: an effect that applies to the move you are currently 
  making. 
   
   Forward: an effect that applies to the next move you make, 
  e.g. ‘take +1 forward’ means you add +1 to your next die roll. 
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   Ongoing: an effect that persists for some time, e.g. ‘take -1 
  Speed ongoing’ means you roll with -1 each time you use 
  Speed, until the condition affecting you wears off. 
   
   Push: any basic move can be pushed, if you have a style move 
  or other advantage that enables you to do so. When you 
  push a basic move, you have more chance of success, but a 6 
  or less means that you fall prey to hubris and go too far. 
  There are three situations that allow you to push a move: 
  o You have a style move that allows it. 
  o You are supported by another hero. 
  o You are using a tool or device to make that move. 
  When you push a move, roll 3d6 and take the best two 
  results, then add them and your stat as normal; on a miss 
  though, there are greater consequences to face. 
   Scene: the current situation taking place, this is usually tied 
  to a location and a set of characters, but either can change 
  during a scene. What counts is what the scene is about, e.g. 
  investigating the plot, fighting the villains or whatever. 
   
   Halted: an interruption that stops a target from doing what 
  they were doing; this doesn’t stop them completely, it just 
  means they don’t get to complete that single action. 
   
   Defeated: derailing a plan and taking the target’s current 
  goal off the table; they are still active and can do something 
  else, but they can’t get what they came for. 
   
  
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   Captured: placed in custody or unfairly imprisoned, the 
  target is incapable of taking any further action in the current 
  scene. 
   
   Tag: a special condition applied to a target that affects what 
  they can do or how others can react to them, e.g. Dr. Dusk 
  can tag himself with hidden, meaning he can’t be the target 
  of Villain moves, while The Snowdrop can tag a target with 
  frozen when she strikes them, preventing them from moving 
  from the spot. Tags don’t carry over from one scene to the 
  next. 
   
   Pain: a measure of fatigue or harm, when a hero reaches 4 
  pain, they are out of action and may even die. Pain carries 
  over between scenes, it doesn’t reset between them. 
   
   Experience: rolling your highlighted stats or changing your 
  status with another hero allows you to mark experience, 
  which measures how close you are to gaining an advance for 
  your hero; when you reach 5 experience, you reset it to zero 
  and choose one of the advances available to you. 
   
   Ace: one type of advance makes a basic or style move more 
  effective, such as by allowing for a better outcome on a roll 
  of 12+. You can benefit from an advanced move even if you 
  haven’t taken that advance yet however; when you ace a 
  move, you use it as if you had advanced it. This works in the 
  same way as taking +1: you might take an ace now, take it 
  forward or even take it ongoing. Usually you get an ace from 
  a style move, but they are rare, so don’t expect them to come 
  up  as often as getting +1 or pushing. 
   
  12 
   
  The third chapter acts as a quick reference guide to all the most 
  common moves in the game: check it out and become familiar 
  with it, so that you can better advise the players on their options. 
  Sometimes, there’s no move that clearly applies to a player’s 
  stated intent: that’s when you should fall back on the principle of 
  say yes or roll the dice. 
   Say Yes: does it sound like a good idea? Or a bad one with 
  interesting consequences? Is there no real opposition to it? 
  Would failure be dull or halt the story? In any of those cases, 
  consider just saying “Yes” to what the hero is doing and 
  moving on. 
   
   Roll the Dice: is there something at risk here? Would the 
  outcome be uncertain? Does the hero have to make a real 
  effort to do this? In any of those cases, pick a stat and roll, 
  but note it down in case someone wants to do the same kind 
  of thing later: be consistent when judging spot cases, don’t 
  adjust the rules to the hero. 
   
  
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  Move & Countermove 
  The game can be thought of as a series of moves, with the PCs 
  and the MC taking turns to state what they do; these moves come 
  in four types: 
   Basic Moves: the essential moves all PCs can make, by rolling 
  the dice. 
   Peripheral Moves: automatic moves or less frequent ones. 
   Style Moves: superpowers unique to each hero’s style. 
   Villain Moves: things the MC can do to provoke action. 
   
  Basic Moves 
  All players share the basic moves as their most common way to 
  interact with the game world: these are not just superheroic 
  actions, like stopping a speeding train or throwing bolts of 
  lightning from your hands, they also cover the day-to-day aspects 
  of the characters’ lives. 
   
  All basic moves are handled in the same way: roll 2d6 and 
  add both results together plus the value of whatever stat is being 
  used for that move. For example, if Lady Smoke races to where 
  she is needed, she rolls and adds her speed stat, which gives her 
  +1; if her dice results are 2 and 4, that gives her a final result of 7, 
  so she just barely succeeds. 
   
  As well as the outcomes for a 7-9 and a 10+, each basic 
  move description gives two other pieces of information: 
   If the move has been advanced for a character, this symbol 
  indicates what happens if they get 12+. 
   If the move has been pushed when made, this symbol indicates 
  what happens if they miss. 
  Strike: When you attack people, objects or things, roll+might to 
  strike: on a 10+, you choose one; on a 7-9, they choose one: 
   They take pain, unless they halt. 
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   They are defeated, but you take pain. 
   They exchange pain and/or tags with you. 
   They temporarily lose an advantage or ability. 
   The target is immediately captured. 
   Choose one: the target is killed, the target is crippled or the 
  target is captured at a great cost in innocent lives. 
  Steel Yourself: When you shake off your injuries or fatigue, 
  roll+might to steel yourself: on a hit, remove 1 pain or one tag; on 
  a 7-9, choose one: 
   It's exhausting: you lose the use of one style move for the rest 
  of this scene. 
   It takes you out of the action for a short time. 
   Remove all your pain and/or tags. 
   Choose one: retreat from the scene & leave others in danger 
  or it’s worse than you thought: take +1 Pain. 
  Rescue: When you protect or save anyone from danger, including 
  yourself, roll+speed to rescue: on a hit, they are safe for now and 
  any threat is halted; when you rescue someone else, you may also 
  remove one tag from them. On a 7-9, choose one: 
   Take the pain or tag meant for them. 
   You cause collateral damage. 
   You lose valuable time. 
   Whoever you have rescued is delivered to safety outside 
  this scene. 
   You cause more harm to your target by attempting to rescue 
  them. 
   
  Press On: When you need to reach your destination without being 
  stopped, roll+speed to press on: on a hit, you arrive in the nick of 
  time. On a 7-9, choose one: 
   Take pain as established. 
  
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   You draw attention to yourself. 
   You're out of range of your support. 
   You may act again immediately upon arrival. 
   Choose one: you are trapped/lost or you virtually destroy 
  your goal in attempting to reach it. 
  Stand Firm: When you hold your position, physically, socially or 
  emotionally, roll+will to stand firm: on a hit you prevent others 
  from passing you or moving you and they are halted. On a 7-9, 
  choose one: 
   Take pain or a tag as established. 
   They distract you from another threat or a target. 
   Give way; they are not halted but you take +1 ongoing against 
  them in this scene. 
   They are defeated and must reconsider their strategy. 
   Your target cannot be halted or defeated for the rest of this 
  scene. 
  Persuade: When you need someone or something else to take a 
  specific action, roll+will to persuade: on a 10+ they take whatever 
  immediate action you suggest, if they can. On a 7-9, they require 
  something of you first; only if you do that will they do as you 
  want. 
   You make them question their fundamental assumptions on 
  this matter and permanently change their outlook. 
   They trick you into thinking they are doing what you want. 
  Investigate: When you examine places or objects, or question 
  anyone, roll+genius to investigate: on a hit, the MC provides the 
  answer you are seeking or invites you to create your own. On a 7-
  9, choose one: 
   The answer is clear to you but not to others. 
   You give away a secret of your own. 
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   You’ve walked into a trap. 
   You learn all you need to know; the MC provides answers 
  right now to all the follow-up questions you have on this 
  subject or invites you to create your own. 
   You get a false answer which you believe is correct. 
   
  Improvise: When you look for a creative solution, roll+genius to 
  improvise: on a hit, your plan succeeds and you may halt a mob, 
  ignore a limitation or remove an obstacle. On a 7-9, choose one: 
   It takes time to implement it. 
   It costs you something you value. 
   It puts innocents at risk. 
   Your plan is wildly successful: you may defeat a mob, erase a 
  limitation or remove all obstacles of a single type. 
   Your plan is flawed and makes your foes more powerful. 
  Peripheral Moves 
  These are the moves that are triggered automatically by 
  situations; they don’t involve rolling dice, just making simple 
  choices or following the consequences of what has happened. 
  Whenever you roll a highlighted stat, mark experience; only do 
  this once per scene per stat. 
  You recover at the end of each scene, removing any tags you 
  have. 
   
  If you like a hero, you can support them, meaning they can take a 
  push forward. If they miss while making that move, you may 
  switch to disliking them; if you do so mark experience. 
  If you dislike a hero, you can taunt them: either erase one of their 
  tags or halt them. To erase a tag, you have to make some quip or 
  
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  insult that riles them up, giving them the little kick they need to 
  overcome a temporary setback. Think of the witty hero who 
  constantly makes fun of the big strong one, making them angry, 
  or the proud hero who doubts his allies’ competence, challenging 
  them to prove themselves. 
  If you choose to halt a hero when you taunt them, they 
  choose whether they stop and listen to you or carry on regardless: 
  if they carry on, you are halted instead of them, but if they listen 
  to you and stop what they are doing, you may switch to liking 
  them; if you do so, mark experience. 
   
  When your experience reaches 5, reset it to zero and choose an 
  advance from your playbook. 
  Whenever you fill your last pain shield, you face death; choose 
  one: 
   You die, but you foil the villain’s master plan or take them 
  with you. 
   You die, but you save someone else’s life: remove all their 
  pain and take them out of harm’s way. 
   You live, but are defeated and changed: replace your existing 
  style with a different one. You may reselect your beginnings 
  from your origin, but stat bonuses are not reapplied; all 
  advances from your previous style are lost.  
   
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  Villain Moves 
  If the game is a conversation, then you need something to say; 
  any of these moves can be used to respond to the players’ moves, 
  so that the conversation snowballs forward. 
   
  Apply Pressure: the heroes’ mundane lives intrude and face them 
  with hard choices. 
   "Your boss tells you if you screw up one more job, you’re fired; 
  do you still patrol tonight?" 
   "Your boyfriend got thrown out by his parents; are you going 
  to let him move in with you?” 
   
  Bypass Obstacles: the threat overcomes whatever is currently 
  standing in its way. 
   "The wall of water hits the temporary dam and sweeps it 
  away; who do you try and save?" 
   "An explosion takes the door of the bank vault off; do you 
  guard the vault or tackle the crooks?" 
  Capture Goals: have the villains acquire what they set out to 
  claim. 
   "The thugs have loaded the drums of chemical into the back 
  of their van; what’s your first target?" 
   "The president is beamed up into the alien spacecraft; do you 
  follow him?" 
  Destroy Property: cause collateral damage to the surrounding 
  area. 
   "The gas main explodes, spraying flames across the street; 
  how are you going to put it out?" 
   "Rocks rain from the sky, smashing through buildings; where 
  do you go?" 
  
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  Leave Clues: drops hints about what the villains are up to and see 
  if the heroes bite. 
   "An eyeless corpse washes up on the bank of the Thames; who 
  are you going to ask about it?” 
   "There’s a story in the papers about a spate of jewel thefts; 
  what’s your plan?" 
   
  Make Charges: extract a price from the heroes. 
   "Your contact will sell you the information; what have you got 
  to offer?" 
   "Clearing up this mess will take hours; are you going to stick 
  around and do it?” 
   
  Neutralise Heroes: place a hero in a trap or attack them directly. 
   "The doors to the bunker slam closed behind you; do you go 
  on or turn back?” 
   "The monster stomps its mighty foot down on top of you; are 
  you going to take that?" 
   
  Threaten Bystanders: make a move to place innocents or others in 
  danger. 
   "The train hits the break in the tracks and begins to tilt over; 
  what do you do?" 
   "Your boyfriend is standing in the crowd beneath the falling 
  helicopter; what do you do?" 
  20 
   
  Questions & Answers 
  Instead of a fixed plot for the game, there are a number of 
  connected suggestions: the way these develop & integrate into a 
  plot relies entirely on the choices the players make and the 
  resulting actions taken by the heroes. 
  Each hero gets their own page to expand upon their plot hooks 
  here; first, their heroic & secret identities are split into two main 
  issues. Second, a leading question is asked for each of those 
  issues, with one or two follow up questions. Ask one of the 
  leading questions in the first scene the hero has, relating it to 
  where they are and what they’re doing, e.g. if Lady Smoke is 
  patrolling the streets, then ask about The Treasures of Gossamé, 
  but if she’s dealing with business in her office, then ask about 
  Argus. 
   
  The follow up questions don’t have to be asked literally and with 
  some of them, you might want to provide the answer yourself, if 
  you have an idea you want to put forward. Don’t be afraid to ask 
  really obvious questions though, as it will give you a better idea of 
  what sort of story the players are looking for: you can even ask 
  the players what vile plan is afoot, especially if they took the time 
  to investigate some random bit of colour you threw in. They 
  probably have a better idea of where that line of questioning 
  should go than you do. 
   
   
  
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  Dr. Dusk 
  Aka Austin Wells 
  The Order of Harkeners 
  They trained him, but they aren’t happy with his decision to use 
  that training to be some kind of vigilante. 
  “You see a Brother from the Order watching you on the 
  street: who is he and what does he owe you?” 
  There’s a really loaded question there that creates a conflict in 
  the NPC between their loyalty to the Order and their debt to Dr. 
  Dusk. The deeper the debt, the more likely he is to betray the 
  Order, so perhaps what has he come to warn you about? On the 
  other hand, if his loyalty to the order is strong, he might be trying 
  to hide his debt from them, so what has he come to threaten you 
  with? 
   
  May Wells 
  Austin’s sister is still furious at him for dropping out and leaving 
  her to take over the family business . 
  “You see your sister’s name in the papers: what’s the 
  story?” 
  Either May is the victim of something or the perpetrator; either 
  way, are you going to investigate? If Austin keeps his nose out, 
  things will escalate for May; if he gets involved, May will refuse to 
  co-operate and try to keep secrets from him, so how far will you 
  go to get the truth? Even if it hurts your family further?
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  Lady Smoke 
  Aka Montserrat Vivaldi 
  The Treasures of Gossamé 
  Lady Smoke has come to the Earthly Plane to fulfil her oath: she 
  cannot return home until she has returned the seven treasures. 
  “Which treasure have you already recovered and what did 
  you do with it?” 
  The answers will tell you something about how the player 
  imagines the treasures, but more importantly what arrangements 
  have been made for sending them back to Gossamé. Either they 
  are being kept here until all seven have been collected, in which 
  case where are they being stored? Or each one gets sent home as 
  it gets recovered, so who is your contact for returning them? 
   
  Argus 
  Being CEO of a major provider of security services is no piece of 
  cake, but maintaining effective covers demands it be done 
  professionally. 
  “What’s the most urgent business decision you have to 
  make?” 
  The answer is likely to involve staffing or new contracts, e.g. who 
  to hire or fire, the best plan to provide security for a major event, 
  etc. Follow up the above question by probing deeper into Lady 
  Smoke’s process, by asking how soon do you have to make a 
  decision?  If it’s a short time, keep the clock ticking, apply 
  pressure at every opportunity; if it’s a long time, create hurdles, 
  introduce unexpected challenges to the decision or even have it 
  taken out of Lady Smoke’s hands altogether. 
   
  
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  Steel Spring 
  Aka Adede Okafor 
  Suit Technology 
  There’s more to Adede’s past with the suit than is clear from her 
  backstory. 
  “Someone else is using the technology that created your 
  suit; what have they done with it?” 
  The answer to that question will also indicate who has used the 
  technology: if it’s being used to make super soldiers, then it’s 
  probably a government department or private industry, for 
  example. Whether the tech is making enemies that Steel Spring 
  must fight or rivals that she must prove herself better than, the 
  follow up question is, who had the technology first? In other 
  words, was it stolen from her father? Or did he steal it from them? 
   
  Pastor Unathi 
  A friendly phone call from the Pastor to one of his wayward flock 
  can change the whole situation on its head. 
  “You get a phone call from the Pastor: why is he worried 
  about your father?” 
  The response depends on the situation: if her father is ill, then 
  what wishes does he want you to carry out? If he’s strayed from 
  the True Path, then what’s making him do this? 
  24 
   
  The Snowdrop 
  Aka Corey Elliston 
  The Curse 
  So, what exactly is the deal with the curse that gave Corey his 
  powers and what affect does it have on others? 
  “Who has been hurt the worst by your curse? What 
  happened to them?” 
  Getting The Snowdrop’s player to expand upon the nature of 
  their curse forefronts it for later, as one of the themes of the 
  playset is presenting the heroes with hard choices. If Corey hurt 
  himself or someone close to him, then how will you make 
  amends? If he hurt a stranger or bystander, then how will you 
  make sure that doesn’t happen again? 
   
  Mike 
  With all this drama going on, it’s nice if Corey has a change of 
  pace. 
  “Mike comes up to you at work and says, ‘Hey, my 
  brother’s band is playing a gig at the pub tonight; wanna 
  come?’ What do you say?” 
  The answer is yes, no or maybe, but can Corey say either of the 
  latter without putting Mike off for good? A date is the best way to 
  find out if he has an agenda; it could also lead to him being 
  frozen solid. If yes, then the gig gets rowdy, so do you deal with 
  the trouble or leave with Mike? If not, then who does Mike take 
  instead? 
  
  25 
   
  Black Box 
  This chapter is all for you, the MC: it gives you some guidance on 
  running the game, some methods for connecting the heroes’ 
  separate stories and a catalogue of NPCs to use in scenes with 
  them. 
  First up, a little guidance: this is broadly intended for a full 
  campaign of Just Heroes, but it also applies specifically to this 
  playset. 
  Present hard choices 
  This is the central agenda of the game: the players’ characters are 
  trying to live two lives, so that should always be a challenge, but 
  the principle applies beyond that. The question you’re asking of 
  the heroes all the time should not be do you succeed or fail? It is 
  what choice do you make? Is it better to capture the villain now, 
  but let his victims suffer? Or save the victims, allowing the villain 
  to get away yet again? 
   
   
  Bring it on 
  The heroes are tough, so don’t hold back: you can drop a burning 
  building on top of them and expect them to walk away from it 
  with hardly a scratch.  
   
  Firstly, though a limit of 4 pain might not seem like much, 
  don’t forget that they can steel themselves at practically any time, 
  with little penalty other than it taking them away from other, 
  more pressing matters. 
   
  Secondly, don’t always go for the pain, use tags as well: 
  there’s a short list of these alongside the NPCs at the end of this 
  chapter. Hitting a hero for 1 pain probably won’t even slow them 
  down, but blinding or burning them will give them pause for 
  thought. 
   
  26 
   
  Allow the awesome 
  The heroes are the heroes, so enable them to do their thing: if a 
  player comes up with a questionable interpretation of what their 
  character can do, fall back on say yes or roll the dice. Don’t shut 
  down the things that make them special by telling them they 
  can’t do that, but equally, don’t elevate them to cosmic levels of 
  power. Judge in favour of the heroes when they use their 
  superpowers, because the more flexible those powers are, the 
  greater the temptation to misuse & abuse them, which is one of 
  the things you want. Making them feel like their powers are 
  second nature encourages them to be used as the first option, 
  instead of the last resort, across a spectrum of everyday 
  situations. 
   
  Villains are problems 
  There aren’t many actual villains portrayed in this playset, but the 
  principle remains: the heroes’ problems ultimately can’t just be 
  resolved by hitting them. Whatever adversity they face, they’re 
  not going to overcome it by just smacking them down until they 
  surrender, for some good reasons. 
   
  First, they are meant to be the heroes: you can’t call 
  yourself a good guy if you do bad guy things. This is why 
  Superman doesn’t just kill Lex Luthor: he needs to catch him in 
  the act of villainy, then go through legal processes in order to put 
  him away. 
   
  Secondly, a villain is just an expression of a plan: the 
  opportunity still exists, even if the villain is KO’ed, and the plan 
  probably has enough momentum to carry on without them. Also, 
  most plans are enacted by low-level henchmen, the mastermind 
  behind them is never there to be caught, so they will continue to 
  be a thorn in the side for many more adventures to come. 
   
  
  27 
   
  Pulling the Threads 
  This playset includes no plot because it relies on the players to 
  create one: that’s why you need to keep asking them questions.  
  Whatever they do, probe for more information: if they’re at work, 
  get them to describe their office and where it’s located; if they’re 
  patrolling the streets, ask them what time it is and what part of 
  London they’re in. Use the answers they give and spin them into 
  threads, then weave those threads into a story. 
   
  There’s a big info dump at the start of the game, when the players 
  discuss the history their heroes share: listen to that, make 
  suggestions and take notes. There are several opportunities for 
  them to name major villains or serious crises that they have been 
  involved with in the past: revisit one of these at the start of the 
  game to get things off with a bang. Did they fight a villain 
  together? They’re back for revenge or just busting out of prison. 
  Did they save London from invaders? That was only the first wave: 
  now that the Fifth Column has had time to embed itself, the real 
  fight is on.  Listen to what the players say and use it, but don’t just 
  repeat it verbatim, put a twist on it. 
   
  To get ideas for twists, hit the players with the questions that are 
  tailored for their characters: follow your instinct and go after the 
  hero you feel ought to be facing this crisis or the one who you 
  most want to see dealing with it. For example, if Dr. Dusk saved 
  Steel Spring from The Scrap King’s furnace, then that villain could 
  come back to try again, trying to get at Steel Spring with a new 
  technique, trying to get revenge against Dr. Dusk for foiling his 
  plan or even trying to trick another hero into helping him with his 
  plan. 
   
  28 
   
  When you ask a player one of their tailored questions, like asking 
  Lady Smoke what’s the most urgent business decision you have to 
  make?, you’re fishing for a connection, not an entirely new 
  plotline. Look for a way to connect their answer to something 
  that has already been said: for example, perhaps The Scrap King 
  is going to target Lady Smoke’s business? Or maybe The Scrap 
  King is the client, using Argus to spy on his enemies or case his 
  next target for him. 
   
  Whatever happens, don’t keep it to yourself: if the players need 
  to pick up on subtle clues to find the plot, you’re doing everyone 
  a disservice. If you plant a clue, don’t rely on a player noticing it, 
  ask them to investigate and see if the hero makes the connection. 
  The plot is there to be dealt with, not located: if you make it too 
  hard to find the threads, the players will flounder and the story 
  will stall. An aspect of this is that the heroes are never entirely 
  wrong: they might not always have the full picture, but they never 
  go up a total blind alley, so if they decide that The Scrap King’s 
  HQ is under Canary Wharf, then he must have some kind of 
  operation based there, even if it’s not his main base. No set of 
  circumstances (unlucky rolls, missed opportunities, 
  misunderstood information) should ever put the heroes outside 
  the plot, unable to interact with it or affect it. The heroes are by 
  definition the protagonists: this is their story and it always centres 
  on them. 
   
  
  29 
   
  NPCs & Threats 
  Any typical, minor character is really just a platform for the Villain 
  Moves that you can use to keep the story moving forward: they’re 
  just the people who do those things and they can usually only 
  withstand 1 pain before they fall unconscious or worse. Examples 
  of NPCs at this level include The Snowdrop’s parents Duncan & 
  Eleanor or his work-colleague/prospective romance Mike. 
  More important characters can withstand more pain and also 
  have their own unique moves, like a dark reflection of the heroes’ 
  style moves: a measure of a character’s power is how many pain 
  shields and unique moves they have.  
  [ 
   
   
   
  ]? 
  The big bad, whoever that turns out to be: the ultimate villain the 
  heroes must face is defined by the answers they give and the 
  history they create at the start of the game. This might even turn 
  out to be the secret identity of one of the other NPCs! 
   Command: An ability to control some element or force related 
  to the theme of their powers, such as metal, water, acid, etc. 
   Attack: either enhanced pain or an automatic tag such as 
  poisoned. 
   
  The Order of Harkeners  
  Though not a large organisation, they are pervasive and have ears 
  everywhere, though they are rarely seen. Anyone who goes head 
  to head with the Order will find them as difficult to uproot as a 
  bed of weeds, but they can be useful if treated respectfully. 
   Isolate: by subtly redirecting bypassers and other traffic, the 
  Order can cut a target off from support. 
   Congregate: the Order can converge quickly at any point. 
   
  30 
   
  Dodie 
  A powerful and nearly immortal witch, she has nevertheless 
  renounced much of her past & powers to atone for her sins. 
   Deceive: Dodie can create illusions that trick & mislead. 
   Curse: using a sample of her target’s hair or clothing, she can 
  weave a spell to afflict them, given time. 
   
  Seth Quinn 
  He mostly works through intermediaries, but he is wily enough to 
  run rings around any opponent. 
   Background Check: he’s always fully informed about anyone he 
  meets, though this doesn’t include connecting their separate 
  identities. 
   Broker: he has almost unlimited resources and isn’t afraid to 
  offer a tempting bargain to get what he wants. 
   
  Amber Croft 
  Acting as go-between for those who cannot be seen to be 
  negotiating with each other, most of her work is sub rosa. 
   Locate: her network can find pretty much any mundane thing in 
  a short space of time, but she will always want a favour in return. 
   
  Pastor Unathi 
  A deeply spiritual man with a profound moral sense, coupled with 
  righteous anger at the divide between the rich and the poor. 
   Preach: he can make others question their moral choices; he 
  can halt them once per scene in this way and get them to 
  reconsider their current action. 
   
   
  
  31 
   
  The tags below can be used in almost any confrontation as an 
  alternative to inflicting pain, though some are more specific to 
  certain powers, e.g. frozen only comes up about as a result of ice-
  related powers.  
   
  o Bleeding: losing blood, take 1 pain when this tag is removed; 
  you can be bleeding multiple times. 
  o Blinded: unable to see clearly, therefore unable to take any 
  action at range. 
  o Burned: scorched by fire, add 1 to all other pain you take; 
  burned and frozen always cancel each other out. 
  o Ensnared: trapped or tied up, therefore unable to move from 
  your current spot. 
  o Frozen: locked in ice, you are unable to act or react in any 
  way; frozen and burned always cancel each other out. 
  o Poisoned: sick or contaminated, take 1 pain every time you 
  roll dice. 
  o Spent: simply exhausted by overreaching yourself, you can't 
  make style moves. 
  o Wounded:  badly injured, you are unable to remove pain 
  while you have this tag. 
   
  You can rename a tag to suit the narrative, such as having 
  Irradiated instead of Poisoned  if you’ve been playing about with 
  nuclear reactors; you can also make up your own tags ad hoc, as 
  the story demands them, such as Hunted by the Police, Trapped 
  inside a Mirror, Hungry for Human Blood and so on. These can 
  have narrative effects (you can’t effect the outside world while 
  you’re in a mirror), mechanical effects (as long as you need blood, 
  you take the lowest two dice when you push any basic move) or of 
  course both. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Just Heroes (PbtA)/New Gods for an Old Town Digital Version.pdf