Had a glance through the final versions of the HCHC playbooks that just dropped. My opinion of most of them is largely unchanged (some refinements here and there, but nothing really paradigm-shifting that I can see), but oh my goodness the new version of The Joined is so much better than the playtest version.
Having your character’s defining relationship be with another player instead of, well, yourself is a real game-changer, and it’s done pretty darned elegantly on the whole. It’s gone from a playbook that I felt largely missed the point of the game to one that I’d really like to play. Great job all around.
The star is all +Superior, which I find annoying.
Yeah, that was annoying in the playtest version and, looking closer, it’s actually gotten worse in the final version. At least the playtest had one move that didn’t use Superior, but in the final version that’s been rolled into your extra, so Superior is in literally every move. Urgh.
And where are these beauties to be found? Asking for a friend.
They were sent out via BackerKit. I don’t know what backer level you need to be at, or whether they’ll be released separately from the Halcyon City Herald Collection or not.
I wonder if they’re going to add rules for the new playbooks pairing up with the Joined.
At a guess, it would probably be too cramped trying to fit rules for every playbook into the Joined’s sheet. But maybe they’ll be in the full book even if they’re not on the sheet? Even if they aren’t it seems easy to house-rule.
I was going to say. The Joined is utterly indistinguishable from its Beta Test form. I posted a full run down of all the changes elsewhere.
Reformed: The Reformed’s Friends in Low Places have stayed mostly the same (though they’ve oddly given example names to fill in to the slots and…didn’t denote that they’re just examples so that’s sloppy). Like all the other playbooks some moves and things have shifted however. Which is good because the Reformed’s moves were really really bland. They’re not anymore.
What the Hell Hero has been changed. Now you get Influence instead of having “used your Influence to your Advantage” as it was in the beta. It also gives you a list of options on a hit that are similar to a Provoke/Pierce the Mask. Instead you roll with Danger. So….that’s a really nice change. The move is actually really useful now.
The Beta Moves Not so Different and Wrong Side of the Track were rolled into one move called Wrong Side of the Track.
The new Not so Different (Which is totally different) now lets you roll Danger instead of Superior when you Provoke someone to criminal or villianous action. So that’s neat.
A Mirror Darkly has been removed from the Reformed Playbook.
The Reformed has gained the move Dark Past which works in a similar mindset to A Mirror Darkly. When ever you confess a serious crime in front of someone who was hurt by it you can shift Danger up and any other Label down. You specify what you did and are given some choices such as “no one was hurt” or “not actively being chased down for the crime”.
Friends in Low Places is now “When Time Passes” and not “At the start of Play”. Which is a house rule I’ve used from the onset and I know a lot of other people who did it as well. So it seems the creator listened to fan feedback and changed it. Which is good.
The Reformed has lost the Ability of Genius Intellect and Super Speed. So gone are your Mad Scientist types and Quicksilver. I think they should have kept it added the other two they’ve gained. It’s not like they get to pick more than one Ability. Which I also think is kind of a bummer but I guess it’s balanced by Friends in Low Places.
The Reformed have gained the Abilities of Venom/Acid/Poison Control and Fear Manipulation. Both of these seem…really nasty honestly. Not sure how I feel about heroes going around poisoning people. Though now I can male Warden Magellen from One Piece. So that’s cool. Fear Manipulation is at least a unique power no one else had.
Newborn: The Newbon is more or less identical save for the loss of a couple moves.
The Newborn has lost Role Model which allowed it to, once a session, use a move of another player who had Influence over them. I don’t want to get into long “I’m vindicated” patting myself on the back but I spent basically 24 hours discussing this move with the Playbook creators over their attempts to make it fit for The Doomed’s Doom Signs and the Nova’s burn and how the move didn’t seem to work with them. So I find it very…well very interesting they just chose to throw it out with the bathwater instead of work to make it more balanced. Because it wasn’t balanced at all before even if it was an interesting move.
The Newborn lost Meet your Maker as a move. It’s now a part of their Blank Slate Mechanic. Which it probably should have been from the start of the Playbook if we’re being honest.
The moves Not from Around Here, Thermodynamic Miracle, A Mind of their Own and Damaged are the same.
Regeneration is now a move the Newborn can take. It was originally just a mechanic of the playbook. Now it’s 100% optional which is probably for the best. I think it’s a really cool move though and makes The Newborn very interesting.
Star: The Star isn’t much different from what it was.
The Star has lost Voice of the Masses and Flow with their Whims. The Flow with their Whims move has been rolled into the Audience Mechanic. Voice of the Masses (which is a really cool move honestly) is just gone completely. I don’t get why honestly. It was perfectly balanced and in conjunction with the Playbook. It let you start riots!
The Star has gained Gossip Mags as a move. It is essentially just a unique form of an Assess and has parallels with the Beacon’s “Straight Up Creepin'” and “Been Reading the Files” of the Protege.
The moves Stage Fighting, Take it From Me, Cold and Cruel and Time for the Show have remained the same.
Some wording for the Audience Mechanics have been changed. It’s all superficial however. Nothing’s really been changed.
The Star has lost Lightning Control and gained Electrodynamics Control. Which is…honestly a good thing as the former is pretty limited and the latter is…well…you could make yourself a walking railgun. So that’s cool.
The Star has Lost Pheremone Control. It has been replaced with Body Plasticity and Stretching. Not sure how I feel about that.
Like the Reformed it only gets to pick one move (I’d pick Electrodynamics Control EVERY TIME) so it’s not like it hurts anything. I like Body Plasicity as a move since it’s basically “shape change” but I still think The Star should…get some kind of persuasive powers.
Innocent: The Innocent is much the same as it was actually. It’s moves however are…well it lost half of the Beta Ones in lieu of new ones.
The Innocent lost Finding Another Way, At War with Myself and Proving Myself. All of these were focused on dealing directly with your future self. Now it seems that’s not an intent of the Playbook and you’re more supposed to just…find a path on your own without confronting your future self about the path they took.
The Innocent gained three new Moves. What’s This Thing, a move to show you’re a time traveler which is something that was missing from the beta playbook honestly. White Knight which lets you switch Superior with Savior when you extol the virtues of heroism and Martyr which lets you shift your Savior up and any other label down when ever you Take a Powerful Blow when you defend someone. I feel these three are way more flavorful and show the “Trying to do the right thing” that the Innocent is sorta supposed to be.
The moves Making Amends, Growing into Power and See it Their Way have remained the same.
The Future Self Mechanic is the same but more options have been given to how you went down the wrong path. Which is good. One addition however is once you have follow all the paths you become an NPC. Your future is locked onto that pathway and there’s noting you can do about it.
Joined: The Joined beta and the offical Joined are utterly and absolutely different.
The Joined’s Advances are the same. Literally that’s one of two things that haven’t changed.
While the Shape of, Form of is no longer called that (for why I do not know). Bonds and Distinctions still work the same way and they’re the same between the Beta and Official Release.
The Beta Joined and the Official Joined are literally two different playbooks. Which is ironic in a way. There are a few things that are similar and if you squint you can see what it used to be but they’re altered to fit the new Playbook and while they have passing resemblance…they’re still too different to count.
Adam Goldberg So is the Delinquent. Lots of playbooks are mono-Label.
I >love< pheremone control for the Star. It's caused an entire emergent storyline ("is this romance? Is it just attraction?") . I think you should get two tho, since we also took Strange Wings. The char is basically a pixie DreamGirl.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/OffaxB5UdmwSy7KXd0D2maWrOIgI8PL3tvArYfbCaNE3TU3p2jOHt5UBAFqEUSN_PPPrUYYpa80xuRzBZzhM1Gnui_CNe_bAf8s=s0
Yeah, I don’t get why they dropped it. I think both the Innocent and Star should get two Abilities.
830toAwesome There’s a difference between a playbook only referencing a single label and every single move referencing a single label, though. The Delinquent engages with Influence and Team in interesting ways, the Bull gives more or different choices for basic moves, the Legacy gets new ways to gain insight or potential, and the Star… has nothing but Superior rolls and moves that let you turn other rolls into Superior rolls. It feels both dull and min-maxy.
I feel it should be Superior/Freak or Superior/Mundane (“One of a kind celeb!” or “Just your average Kid!”)
One of my players tweaked it so that you choose a label that you try to embody depending on what your stage persona is (e.g., if your audience likes you because “you’re just like them,” your stage label is Mundane). Maybe a mix of Superior and your stage label could work, like the Janus is split between Mundane and their Mask label.
I feel like the list-o-names added to the reformed is a subtle but helpful push to that book. Rather than being a list of supervillains, it reads as a list of henchpeople, fixers, and others who are merely villain-adjacent. I think that will be really helpful to the book b/c I think the problems with that playbook stem more from not doing enough to define how ‘reformed’ the reformed should actually be, and what level of villainy the friends in low places should have.