Hindrances

ADDICT

Your hero suffers a paralyzing addiction to some harmful substance or source. Lack of the substance for a day drops Willpower to 0 until the substance is administered. If a chance to get the substance arises, the hero must make a desperate Willpower action or seize the opportunity at once. There are also crippling long-term effects to addiction, but they're beyond the province of a game.

Examples: Cloak ( life energy), Iron Man ( alcohol), Morbius (blood)

BRUISER

Your hero couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, but will level it if he or she does. When your hero tries a physical attack, he or she must use Agility rather than strength when determining the action score. This changes the attack's trump suit to Agility as well. If the hero hits, calculate damage normally based on his or her Strength score. Your hero must have a minimum of 11 Strength and a maximum of 4 Agility to possess the Bruiser hindrance.

Examples: Hulk, Juggernaut, Rhino

FATALLY VULNERABLE

Your hero suffers damage from the touch or absence of a common substance. After enough exposure or deprivation, he or she will die. You have 0 defense against the source of damage, and will lose one card ( or 5 health) per exchange of contact. During exposure, your hero may not heal wounds regardless of powers or the aura on the Narrator's card. Once no longer exposed to or deprived of the substance, your hero heals normally but if you drop to 0 cards while under the effect of the hindrance, the hero dies. Fatally vulnerable characters are killed at 0 Health if in contact with source.

Examples: Dracula (sunlight, running water), Attuma ( lack of water)

FRENZY

Your hero loses control in battle, falling into a killing rage which can endanger allies. If the frenzy takes hold, he or she won't accept surrender and will fight to the death. Your hero has 0 Intellect, and must succeed in a desperate Willpower action in any exchange where there are still conscious foes to fight. Once in the frenzy, your hero cannot stop attacking, pull punches, or do anything to lessen damage: only by making a new desperate Willpower action can you quell the rage. If anyone restrains the hero , you must make a desperate Willpower action to avoid making that individual the target of your hero's next attack. A Frenzied character never succeeds in those actions.

Examples: Wolverine, Venom

GUILT

Your hero is plagued by guilt over a past failure, Usually involving death or serious injury, Whenever he or she is placed in a similar situation, the hero falls to 0 in all ability scores.

Examples: Giant-Man ( making sentient robots), Rogue ( absorbing memories)

HATRED

Your hero has a consuming hatred for something ( not just a single person). He or she will go far to find the object of revulsion and destroy it. If your hero doesn't rush to obliterate the object of antipathy upon encountering it, he or she is reduced to 0 in all abilities.

Examples: Bastion (mutants), Punisher (criminals), Man-Thing (fear)

KID

Your hero is under 13. Beyond the obvious disadvantages ( can't drive, can't vote, can't reach the top shelf), the hero has a 0 intellect action. This hindrance is ignored if he or she has a skill that reduces difficulty for the purpose of that action.

Examples: Franklin Richards, most of Power Pack

LIGHTWEIGHT

Your hero is superhumanly strong, but has little impact when he or she strikes a foe. When your hero succeeds at a physical attack, Strength is 0 for totaling damage. Thus, the Strength score can affect only whether the attack succeeds, not damage. Cards are used normal for figuring damage. You hero must have a 11+ Strength to have the lightweight hindrance.

Examples: Loki, Enchantress

MONSTROUS

Your hero doesn't look remotely human, or is so disfigured that normal humans (those with 0 edge ) run in fear on sight. Your hero has a 0 Willpower when trying to convince someone with an edge of 0 not to flee. Those with the Monstrous hindrance needn't make actions against other' Monstrous appearances.

Examples: Man-Thing, Nightcrawler

NAIVE

Your hero is innocent of the ways of society. He or she trust in the inherent goodness of all creatures and assumes that all others do as well. Your hero has 0 ability scores for making and dodging surprise attacks, you must always declare your hero's actions first.

Examples: Longshot, Silver Surfer

NON-CORPOREAL

Your hero does not have a physical body. This reduces his or her Strength and Agility to 0 unless he or she is in mental control of a real body. This hindrance does not provide this control, however. While non-corporeal, the hero cannot be affected by physical attacks.

Examples: Proteus, Shadowking

OBSESSIVE

Your hero has a consuming passion for something or someone, and strives to satisfy this desire. If your hero doesn't rush to the object of desire upon encountering it, he or she is reduced to 0 in all abilities.

Examples Arcade ( games ), Kraven ( hunting )

OVERCONFIDENT

Your hero is without fear, but not in a good way. Failing to believe he or she can be harmed, your hero won't use full abilities and weapons until things get very bleak. Any card you play with a value of 7+ is treated as a 0 of that suit, and you can't declare pushes. This hindrance vanishes when you are reduced to 2 or fewer cards ( or below 10 health).

Examples: The Leader, Ultron

PANICKY

Your hero can't distinguish minor threats from major ones, and acts impulsively without husbanding resources. Any card you play of 4 or less is treated as if it were a 0 of that suit; Edge cards still apply, but they have 0 value. Cards pulled off the deck after you play trump count as full value. Panicky characters gain no value from Narrator draws of 4 or less.

Examples: Songbird (Screaming Mimi), Toad

PHOBIC

Your hero is terrified of something, and will flee the dread object. If your hero doesn't run away from the object of fear upon encountering it, he or she is reduced to 0 in all four abilities.

Examples: Dracula (garlic), Mole Man (sunlight)

PHYSICALLY DISABLED

Your hero suffers a physical misfortune which makes a common action such as seeing or walking difficult to perform. ( A disability corrected by a power, such as Daredevil's radar-offset blindness, is not a hindrance.) This Hindrance reduces an ability to 0 in certain situations:

DISABILITY
RESTRICTION

Amputee

0 Strength for actions involving the missing limb or limbs

Blind

0 Agility in fights, cannot make or dodge unseen surprise attacks

Deaf

0 Agility for actions involving actions from behind and surprise

Mute

0 to Willpower for offensive actions which involve speech

Paralyzed

0 Agility in fights and movement

Unable to walk

0 Agility in fights and movement


Even if cured, your hero suffers a long period of adjustment. He or she can't have a score in the affected ability greater than the number of months since losing the disability.

Examples: Rick Jones ( unable to walk), Alicia Masters (blind)

SUSCEPTIBLE

Your hero is especially vulnerable to a single form of common attack, such as mind control, fire, or cold. If you're playing a Susceptible hero, your hero has 0 defense against such an attack.

Examples: Iceman ( fire), Sub-Mariner (dehydration)

TRANSFORMATIVE

A common occurrence causes your hero's personality to be subsumed by a persona that the hero finds repulsive. A desperate willpower action must be made every exchange to avoid the change. Your hero may not remember what occurs while transformed. If you're playing a Transformed hero, you loss control while changed--- the Narrator may ask you to continue playing, but has final say over your actions.

Examples: Hulk, Werewolf, Puck, Ghost Rider

TRIGGERED POWERLESS

Your hero loses all of his or her powers when within firing distance of an object or material--or when separated from it. If you're playing a Triggered-Powerless hero, all affected powers are reduced to 0 intensity and loss all special features when this occurs. This can occur if the hero is a high-tech hero, and loses his or her equipment. If the condition is rectified, powers return at 1 intensity per exchange, or when the equipment is restored. This hindrance can only be chosen if the hero has a power of at least 10 intensity.

Examples: Annihilus (loss of cosmic control rod), Dracula ( stake through the heart)

UNLUCKY

Your hero is plagued by bad luck. When your hero will be affected by the Narrator's draw ( for example, if the hero is wounded and would regain cards on a positive draw), the Narrator draws two cards and applies the worst. Characters with the Unlucky hindrance also cause this effect, with the card applied being the one worst for that character. If individuals on both sides of a conflict have this hindrance, they cancel each other out.

Examples: Spider-Man, Rick Jones

Back