In the comics, Super Powers have elemental sources (like fire or electricity) and heroes and villains are victorious or defeated often based upon their resistance to, or vulnerability against certain elements.Adding elements to Xceptional is actually really easy. The trick is determining what sort of element a character's powers are based on, and then what that means to the character in terms of strengths and weaknesses.
Every character will gain three new properties.
* Foundation Element (FE) - this is the element the character's damage is based on. This Element forms the basis for all of the character's abilities and exceptions. When an opponent rolls to Control Damage caused by this character, the defender must take the attacker's Foundation Element into account.
* Element Vulnerability (EV) - this is an element that the character will take more damage from. It will often be an element that opposes the character's Elemental Foundation. For Example: Fire and Ice are opposing elements. Choosing a vulnerability that is opposed to a foundation is common but not required. A character's Elemental Vulnerability cannot be the same as their Foundation Element.
* Element Resistance (ER) - this is an element that the character will take less damage from. It will often be the same element as the character's Elemental Foundation, but it doesn't have to be. A character's Elemental Resistance cannot be the same as their Elemental Vulnerability.
CHARACTER CREATION
Foundation Element (FE) - Roll or Choose one Foundation Element for your Character.
Element Vulnerability (EV) - Roll or Choose one Elemental Vulnerability for your Character.
Element Resistance (ER) - Roll or Choose one Elemental Resistance for your Character.
ROLLING ELEMENTS:
[0-2] Roll or choose from set A [A0-A5]
[3-5] Roll or choose from set B [B0-B5]
[A0] Kinetic (knives, guns, rocks, clubs, fists)
[A1] Light (photons, positive energy)
[A2] Ice (or extreme cold)
[A3] Good (Holy, Life)
[A4] Psionic (mental powers, chi)
[A5] Corrosive (acid, water)
[B0] Cosmic (Generic Comic Book Energy)
[B1] Shadow (dark, negative energy)
[B2] Fire (or extreme heat)
[B3] Evil (Unholy, Death)
[B4] Lightning (electricity)
[B5] Toxic (radiation, poison)
HOW RESISTANCES AND VULNERABILITIES WORK.
If a character is Resistant to a certain Foundation Element they improve their Control Damage effect by one "level" when being attacked by a character of that Foundation. A basic success becomes a critical success and a failure becomes a basic success.
If a character is Vulnerable to a certain Foundation Element they reduce their Control Damage effect by one "level" when being attacked by a character of that Foundation. A critical success is only a basic success, and a basic success is a failure.
There are no effects greater than Critical Success or lesser than failure.
UPDATING THE STAT BLOCK
I am fond of mnemonics and like to use them to make the stat block easier to read. In the case of Elements, I use the word FEVER to help remember the order of FE (Foundation Element,) EV (Element Vulnerability,) and ER (Element Resistance) on the stat block.
The character's FEVER appears in Parenthesis, after the character's name, and before the ability scores. (I originally thought to append the information at the end of the block, but I was afraid this might make the character's Elements become confused with the character's Xceptions.) I also think dropping the rest of the information (following the FEVER) to a second line will make the whole block easier to read, and a two line block isn't too bad.
The New Stat Block would look like this.
OLD:
Dark Lord, 343, U2U, 121, Flight, Regeneration
NEW:
Dark Lord (Shadow/Light/Shadow)
343, U2U, 121, Flight, Regeneration
Remembering the mnemonic FEVER, we see that the Dark Lord above has a Foundation Element (FE) of "Shadow," an Element Vulnerability (EV) of "Light," and an Element Resistance (ER) of "Shadow."
ADDING ELEMENTS TO XCEPTIONAL ALSO SUGGESTS A FEW:
NEW XCEPTIONS
ELEMENTAL CHAMELEON: You can change your Foundation Element to a different one for the duration of your turn. You can only use this Xception if your unadjusted Initiative roll is equal to or lower than your ranks in Elemental Chameleon.
LACK OF WEAKNESS: Ignore the effects of Element Vulnerability until the next Initiative Sequence. You can only use this Xception if your unadjusted Initiative roll is equal to or lower than your ranks in Lack of Weakness.
INVULNERABILITY: You can change your Element Resistance to a different element until the next Initiative Sequence. You can only use this Xception if your unadjusted Initiative roll is equal to or lower than your ranks in Invulnerability.
Elements make a logical addition to the Xceptional game mechanic, and their inclusion seems to integrate well into the existing rules set.
As always, feedback is welcome.
Regards,
Jeff Moore
