Creating the Super Friends for BIFF! BAM! KAPOW!

I am in love with BIFF! BAM! KAPOW! This might be the most excited that I have been to play a superhero RPG since the Supercrew!

Super Friends art by Arkan Theo

Character creation is simple. That's one of the things that really appeals to me. But, it doesn't help that actual super powers are an alternative rule. I understand why, but it means jumping around in the rules to figure out what to do. 

Aquaman art by JSenior from Deviantart.

I finally just wrote my own quick short hand version to guide me.

• The four core Attributes are: Action, Thought, Drama and Pluck. Players assign a total of 4 points to these. Values are from 0-2.
• Next are Facets. Players write down 4 skills, items or powers and label them appropriately. Resolution in BIFF! BAM! KAPOW! is narrative, not mechanical. So, there is no master list of powers and it's not needed. (There are plenty of examples.)
• Initial powers and items have a rank of 1. They can be improved in the Enhancement step.

Batman art by JSenior from Deviantart.

• Flaws are part of Facets, but they feel like a different thing. Players have the option of having from 0-2 Flaws. (Flaws grant a bonus in the Enhancement step and are helpful during game play.)
• The last step is Enhancements. You get to choose 3, plus 1 for each Flaw that you took (if you took any.) Enhancements are basically level ups. This gives you a chance to improve and tweak your design to make your perfect hero.

Robin art by JSenior from Deviantart.

Character creation is clean and easy. It's low math, high creativity. The game system focuses on "Intentions." Attribute values speak to Intentions not strengths. There are no bench marks for simulationists in BIFF! BAM! KAPOW! 

Superman art by JSenior from Deviantart.

Intentions aren't measures of physical and mental capability, they are tools for narrative control. It means that Superman can be as powerful as you want and that he can adventure right along side Batman as it was always meant to be.

In fact, to take BIFF! BAM! KAPOW! character creation for a test drive, I created the Super Friends! I used the alternative "powers" based character creation shown above, even for creating Batman and Robin. I am really happy with the results and I can't wait to try them out! 

Wonder Woman art by JSenior from Deviantart.

I designed a form-fillable version of the character sheet. Grab a copy and your own copy of BIF! BAM! KAPOW! and give character creation a try!

PS: I didn't write the "Quick Bios" for the characters. I pulled those directly from the splash pages of bronze age comics (late 70's) in my collection. Those and all characters are copyright DC Comics.

  

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