[Hearts & Souls] Banter, Blather, and Monologues

More things are changing in second edition than I intended. You ever start to write something and realize what you are writing is just missing something? You are almost there with what you want to have in a game but not quite yet? Pretty much that's where I was with Hearts & Souls1E. It is the game I wanted. It is not the game I can write now.


The ideas are there, but now I'm expounding and explaining them. Showing, how they work, and why they work.


Banter in this case becomes what used to be monologues. It is still fundamentally the same. Adding in of course mocking/taunting of ones enemies. Self pep talks and thought bubbles. You can re-roll the dice to get a result using Banter, it still needs to tie back to the character's drive, but it is subtler, less staid way of using it. More open.


Monologues, become the long, detailed pep-talks and self-pushing you see when a hero is really straining. Pushing themselves as hard and as much as possible. This now works a bit differently now. While Banter gives the old re-rolls, new Monologues give the hero the ability to stall stress becoming fallout. Oh the fallout still comes, but NOT until their current action is finished. They may fall after the fact, but they can hold it off just a little longer. Of course this works like original villain monologues. Of course they still get this as usual. Banter for them, will need to be worked out, but I suspect it lets them simply apply another "roll" for their side. Even though they are not rolling per-se.


In addition to these things, I'm adding details on how "attributes" aka capabilities work. Not limiting them, but giving more details on how they CAN be used. Strength can absorb physical (melee) attacks. Thus Wonder Woman can take a hit pretty well, so long as its physical punch, kick, etc. If its a high energy effect (arrows and bullets kinetic energy counts) she relies on blocking this with her bracelets. Spider-Man can take a single punch, but repeated punches overwhelm him, and he is going to try and get out of the way from everything. For he doesn't have armor. These things are important considerations for a superhero game and I left them to just be open and unclear. I'm not making new rules, simply defining ways the old ones can be used, better, more efficiently, and making options clear.