The Universal Heroes - Core Rules

The Core Rules of the Universal Heroes Role Playing Game are the basis on which the rest of the system is designed. The other nine chapters of the Universal Heroes rules depend on the material presented herein to function, so it doesn't hurt to be familiar with the Core Rules. Whether playing gunslingers, sorcerers or alien gods from beyond, players will all need this inherent knowledge of the game.

Introduction: before one actually makes use of the Universal Heroes game, it couldn't hurt to read this basic introduction. It explains what the Universal Heroes Role Playing Game is and what you can do with it. I've also included a 'bare bones' basics description of role playing games in general, in the event that you've never actually had the pleasure of playing one before.

Ability Scores: the core of any game, the section on ability scores describes, well, ability scores. This area quantifies the basic capabilities of a character; how strong they are, how smart, and so on. Ability Scores includes both the 'standard' scores as well as an optional 'split-stat' system you can use to further specify what a character is capable of.

Ranks and FEATs: expanding on the basics, we present the Ranks system of the UH. This is the metric by which one thing is compared to another. One character's strength versus another's, and so forth. Of course, once one has ranks, he must have something to do with them, and that is what FEATs - Functions of Exceptional Ability or Talent - are all about.

Space and Movement: movement is the most basic of actions, but how does one handle moving around? Getting from one place to another seems simple at first, but then you mix various super powers into the deal and it gets all wonky. Here's some basic notions on movement and movement difficulties, from movement powers to clutter and the various issues it may cause you.

Time and Combat: one of the most important aspects of the game is the time scale of the turn. This determines when everything can occur relative to everything else, in a solid and consistent manner. The turn structure manages everything from movement to character actions, and is the very core of how combat flows in the Universal Heroes system.

Advanced Battle Concepts: while most conventional combat has been covered in great detail already, there are a lot of things that simply don't qualify as conventional when you get down to it. Super powers, specialized tactics, and even the weather can act to modify how ordinary combat plays out - and Advanced Battle Concepts will show you exactly how.

Living and Dying: a coda of sorts to the combat rules, Living and Dying is all about the consequences of combat. The loss of Health and the expenditure of Karma (both in battle and for advancement) is detailed here, as is a variety of uses for the secondary abilities of these ability scores, if they are to be used in one's game. In process.

Character Generation with a (hopefully) solid understanding of all else, all you need is a character! The Universal Heroes character generation segment explains all the options available to a character, and if it doesn't shuffle a player off to a specialized tome dedicated to one origin or another, it details how to build adventurers without ascendant powers.

Power Customization: while the Universal Heroes system tries to account for every possible ability a player may want to try out, the truth is that even one hundred game developers could never achieve this feat. Thus, room is left for players to customize their ascendant abilities, either by limiting them for more power or by enhancing them for more versatility.

Quirks: the Quirks system is a tool with which a player may customize and individualize a character somewhat, adding minor beneficial abilities or deleterious hindrances as they see fit. Quirks can be used solely for that purpose, or can be added to a character in order to either justify additional powers, talents or contacts - or perhaps the reverse, if the player desires.

Talents: Talents are representative of knowledge a character possesses. One does not need aberrant genes or alien ancestors or psi exposure in order to learn a Talent - anyone can do so given the appropriate opportunity and time to study. There are many different kinds of Talents, all of which have a practical benefit for every character - either in or out of combat.

Contacts: Contacts are people that a character knows well. A character's contacts are usually a good way to determine or expand on his origin, as they represent people that not are not only aware of him but are willing to help him as he goes adventuring. Questions such as why the character knows these contacts and how their relationships work only help to develop his story more.

Accessories:

Core Rules, Version 4 - Text File - as I finalize sections of the all new Universal Heroes Core Rules, I'm plugging them into this handy dandy text file, for ease of use... not to mention browsing on the go. There is very little formatting going on in this file naturally, so the tables may or may not look horrible on mobile devices. But it's now available for you!

Core Rules, Version 3 - Word Files - this is the lump of basic rules I'd managed to codify in the past. What that means is I really sorted out stuff in my head, but take too darn long putting things into coherence. Sad, huh? But this also includes an older file for version 2 of the UH, my 'msh fight' file, which started working on various combat bits. Enjoy the find - I got a good laugh.

Core Rules, Version 3 - Text File - in the even that you hate Word and/or Microsoft, or their obnoxiously insulting business partners on their new mp3 player thing, feel free to enjoy this monopoly-free text file version of the core rules I wrote to date - I included that msh fight text I mentioned above, but it lacks any real 'place' in the current format. But still, is there. Heh.

Quirks, Version 1 - Word File - this is as complete as I got it. Namely, i'd only not finished 2 or 3 that were dependent on the sections that they referred to - a techno-thing, a psi-thing i think, and that could be it. It's actually online in various places, but since I wrote the darn thing, i figured I may as well make it available on the 13. Go Figure, eh?

Quirks, Version 1 - Text File as I've been doing elsewhere on the 13, I am now making texty file versions of all the Word files I have available, for a) those of you that hate Microsoft, and b) those of you that don't have word, and c) prefer a quick, dirty and portable info-file type thing. So here's some Quirks, texty-style, for your general gaming amusement.