After some discussion and feedback, both privately and over on the Kalos Comics Community page on Google+, we have made the following changes to the Order Of Play section for Bulletproof Blues second edition. Knock on wood, this is very close to what will appear in the published book.

Order Of Play

Everything that happens in a round is assumed to occur more or less simultaneously, but the players can’t all speak at once. To keep the game orderly, we need a way to determine the order in which characters act when combat starts.

The most important factor in determining who acts before whom is situational awareness. If a character is not aware of their opponent, then they don’t have the opportunity to attack. For example, if a hero is lurking on a rooftop and observes a gang of hooligans breaking into an electronics store, there is no need to roll to see who goes first. The hooligans are unaware that there is anyone to fight, so they continue carrying boxes of loot out of the store. In the first round of combat, only the hero has the opportunity to act. Depending on what the hero does and how sneaky the hero is, it’s possible that the hero might be the only one with an opportunity to act for several rounds. Only after the hooligans become aware of the hero do they get the opportunity to act. At that point, the order of action in each round is the hero first, and then the hooligans. If the combatants become aware of their adversaries in a set order, then that is the order in which they act in combat — at least, until someone changes it.

Normally, characters take their actions in the same order that they have an opportunity to act. However, if the various combatants become aware of each other more or less simultaneously, or if you would prefer to roll dice to see who goes first, the players and the GM should each make a Perception task roll at the beginning of the scene. Turns proceed each round from the highest roller to lowest. If a character (or one of the non-player characters) has the Super-speed power, the player (or GM) gets a bonus to the Perception task roll equal to the rank in Super-speed (for example, rank 4 Super-speed would provide a +4 bonus to the Perception roll).

The environment always goes last in a round. Any falling objects (including characters) fall, and any free-rolling vehicles move, after all characters have had the opportunity to use their actions. This does not include thrown projectiles or character-controlled vehicles. If any object or vehicle is under direct control by a character, then the object or vehicle will move when that character moves it or at the end of the round, at the character’s option. If a character chooses not to control a vehicle, then the vehicle will move at the end of the round.

If your character starts the scene by going last, either because your character was caught unaware or because you rolled poorly at the beginning of the scene, don’t worry too much about it. The order of play will change almost immediately. Any character may delay their turn in a round, or force their next action to do something defensive. Additionally, characters who achieve an extreme success on a block or dodge roll revise the order of play so that the attacker whose attack was foiled goes after the defender in the following rounds.

Of course, this is all just an abstraction to make task resolution easier. In reality, everything that happens in a round occurs more or less simultaneously. The difference between going first in a round and going last in a round is less a matter of time and more a matter of who has the better awareness of the situation at that moment.

Delaying A Turn

If a player does not wish to use their character’s turn when they have the opportunity, perhaps wanting to wait and see what an opponent does, the character may delay their turn, with the option of using it later in the round or on a successive round. The character may then pre-empt another character’s turn.

Delaying a turn does not alter the order of play. After the character has taken their turn, the order of play resumes its previous sequence.

Example: Combat starts when Blueshift runs around a corner and sees Ganyeka, who is giving commands to his henchmen. The GM declares that the order of play is Blueshift, then Ganyeka, then Ganyeka’s henchmen.

Round 1

Blueshift’s turn Ganyeka’s turn Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

On the second round, Monolith runs around the corner, startling Ganyeka’s henchmen because, wow, that guy is huge. The GM declares that the order of play is Blueshift, then Ganyeka, then Monolith, then Ganyeka’s henchmen.

Round 2

Blueshift’s turn Ganyeka’s turn Monolith’s turn Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

On the third round, Blueshift delays her turn, waiting to see what Monolith does. When it is Monolith’s turn, he attempts to grapple with Ganyeka. Blueshift uses her delayed turn to assist Monolith by coordinating her attack with his.

Round 3

Ganyeka’s turn Monolith’s turn Blueshift’s turn (delayed) Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

On the fourth round, order of play returns to its previous sequence.

Round 4

Blueshift’s turn Ganyeka’s turn Monolith’s turn Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

Forcing An Action

Sometimes a character might need to take a desperate action before they have had the opportunity to take their turn in a round or after they have already taken their turn in a round. This is known as forcing the character’s action. Forcing an action allows a character to sacrifice their next turn in order to block, dodge, dive for cover, activate a defensive power, or take another purely defensive action. A forced action can also be used to take a defensive action on someone else’s behalf, such as diving in front of an attack to protect an innocent bystander. The character may not force an action which the GM could construe as an attack, such as blocking a bullet with an opponent’s unconscious body or running into someone. When a character forces their action, they sacrifice their next available turn, whether that action would be in the current round or on the next round. A character may only force an action once per round.

Because a forced action is always defensive, it always takes place at the appropriate time, either before or during the attack which triggered it. The attacker does not have the opportunity to “take back” their attack.

Forcing an action does not alter the order of play. After the character’s next available turn has passed (the turn they sacrificed in order to take a defensive action sooner), the order of play resumes its previous sequence.

Example: Continuing from the previous example, on the fifth round, the order of play is Blueshift, then Ganyeka, then Monolith, then Ganyeka’s henchmen.

Round 5

Blueshift’s turn Ganyeka’s turn Monolith’s turn Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

On the sixth round, Blueshift makes short work of two of Ganyeka’s henchmen with a sweep attack. Ganyeka then pulls out a sinister-looking weapon, aims it at Monolith, and fires. Blueshift forces her next action to leap between Ganyeka and Monolith, taking the full brunt of Ganyeka’s attack.

Round 6

Blueshift’s turn Ganyeka’s turn Blueshift’s turn (forced from round 7) Monolith’s turn Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

On the seventh round, Blueshift loses her turn because she forced it in the previous round.

Round 7

Ganyeka’s turn Monolith’s turn Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

On the eighth round, order of play returns to its previous sequence.

Round 8

Blueshift’s turn Ganyeka’s turn Monolith’s turn Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

Blocking

During their turn, or as a forced action, a character may use a task action to attempt to block an attack against them. The defender may continue attempting to block additional attacks until their next action.

A block might entail using brute force to withstand the attack, or it might involve using finesse to harmlessly divert an attack away: the choice is up to the player. To attempt a block, the player attempts a Prowess task roll against the rank of the attacker’s power or weapon. For example, if the attacker had rank a 9 Blast, the task difficulty to block it would be 9 + 8 = 17. If the defender has expertise with blocking, they gain a +3 bonus on their Prowess task roll.

If the defender rolls an extreme success, then the order of play is revised so that on future rounds, the character whose attack was blocked acts after the character who successfully blocked the attack.

Example: Ganyeka attacks Monolith, and Monolith forces his action in order to block. Monolith rolls an extreme success on his block. This revises the order of play so that Ganyeka’s turn comes after Monolith’s turn on successive rounds.

Round 1	Blueshift’s turn Ganyeka’s turn Monolith’s turn (blocks attack by Ganyeka) Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn
Round 2	Blueshift’s turn Monolith’s turn Ganyeka’s turn Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

Normally, only attacks which inflict Endurance damage may be blocked. However, if the defender has the same power as the attacker, they may use that power to attempt to block. For example, a defender with Telepathy may use their Telepathy to attempt to block the Telepathy of an attacker. With the GM’s permission, a character may attempt to block with a power that has a similar theme or power source. For example, a GM might permit a character to use their Telepathy to attempt to block an attacker’s Mind Control.

A character chooses to block after determining if the attack will successfully hit: there is no need to block an attack that misses. A successful block completely negates the attack. An unsuccessful block has no effect on the attack.

Dodging

During their turn, or as a forced action, a character may use a task action to attempt to dodge an attack against them. The defender may continue attempting to dodge additional attacks until their next action.

To attempt a dodge, the player attempts an Agility task roll against the rank of the attacker’s power or weapon. For example, if the attacker had rank a 9 Blast, the task difficulty to dodge it would be 9 + 8 = 17. If the defender has expertise with dodging, they gain a +3 bonus on their Agility task roll.

If the defender rolls an extreme success, then the order of play is revised so that on future rounds, the character whose attack was dodged acts after the character who successfully dodged the attack.

Example: Continuing the example above, Blueshift attacks Ganyeka, and Ganyeka forces his action in order to dodge. Ganyeka rolls an extreme success on his dodge. This revises the order of play so that Blueshift’s turn comes after Ganyeka’s turn on successive rounds.

Round 3	Blueshift’s turn Monolith’s turn Ganyeka’s turn (dodges an attack by Blueshift) Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn
Round 4	Monolith’s turn Ganyeka’s turn Blueshift’s turn Ganyeka’s henchmen’s turn

Normally, only attacks which inflict Endurance damage may be dodged. However, if the defender has the same power as the attacker, they may use that power to attempt to dodge. For example, a defender with Telepathy may use their Telepathy to attempt to dodge the Telepathy of an attacker. With the GM’s permission, a character may attempt to dodge with a power that has a similar theme or power source. For example, a GM might permit a character to use their Telepathy to attempt to dodge an attacker’s Mind Control.

A character chooses to dodge after determining if the attack will successfully hit: there is no need to dodge an attack that misses. A successful dodge completely negates the attack. An unsuccessful dodge has no effect on the attack.

[Ultra-power], which permits the character to use a wide range of powers for 3 character points per rank, is open to abuse by players who care less about having fun than they do about “winning”. It’s important to stress that the powers in an [Ultra-power] should have a tightly unifying theme and should all derive from the same power source. If the [Ultra-power] is relatively low-powered, like Grimknight’s “investigator’s tools”, then the GM may want to turn a blind eye if the player plays a bit fast and loose with the “tightly unifying theme”. After all, there’s not much harm in allowing the player some latitude when the rank of the [Ultra-power] is only 1 or 2.

For a character whose main power is the [Ultra-power], enforcing the theme becomes more important. A character who can accomplish anything the player can think of can easily spoil a game and ruin everyone’s fun.

It’s also important to recognize that just because the [Ultra-power] is rank 6, for example, that doesn’t mean that every power in the [Ultra-power] necessarily has rank 6. For example, Miasma’s “grenade launcher” [Ultra-power] is truly formidable at rank 11, yet she has several grenades which are of far less rank than that. Her smoke grenade, for example, is only rank 2. The most important thing to consider when choosing the rank of a power in an [Ultra-power] is what makes sense for the character.

The theme and the rank of the [Ultra-power] are important limits on the character, but the most important limit should be what makes sense for the character’s background and abilities. A character should never have a power simply because the rules permit it. You control the game, not the rulebook.

While on the topic of [Ultra-power], here’s a question from a player on how to write-up [Ultra-power] in the Bulletproof Blues Character Sheet Helper.

I have some questions about the Bullet Proof character sheet helper spreadsheet. I am in the middle of creating a gadgeteer for a pulp hero game and was wondering about the Ultra Power on the sheet. How do group my gadgets under Ultra Power or do I not and just do them individually?

Logan

Hi, Logan!

The way [Ultra-power] works, it allows you to have any power that a) fits in the theme of the [Ultra-power], and b) has the rank of the [Ultra-power] (or less).

In the Character Sheet Helper, you buy the [Ultra-power] in the top powers section, and then, if you want, you can write up some frequently-used powers in the [Ultra-power] section in the bottom part of that screen. The powers listed in the [Ultra-power] section do not cost the character any points, and you are not limited to the powers you write up in the [Ultra-power] section — that list is just to make it easier for you and the GM during play. If you take a look at the Character Sheet Helper file for Miasma, she’s a pretty good example of how to write up a character with an [Ultra-power].

We hope this has been helpful.

One of the rules we would like to simplify in Bulletproof Blues 2e concerns expertise and extreme success.

Right now, expertise with a skill (including a combat skill) costs 1 point. Expertise does not provide a bonus to the task roll; the benefit of expertise is that it allows a character to achieve “extreme success” if they roll particularly well (3 or more over what they need):

If the character has expertise in the power or skill, and the player rolls three or more over the task difficulty, the character achieves an “extreme success”. So if a character attempted a challenging task (task difficulty 12), and the player rolled 15 or more, and the character had expertise, this would be an extreme success. (from Actions, “Extreme Success”)

We are considering separating these game mechanics, in the following fashion. First, expertise would provide a +3 bonus to the player’s task roll. A character with expertise in Searching, for example, would have a +3 bonus on a Perception task rolls to find a clue in among a suspect’s belongings. Similarly, a character with Expertise with Archery would have a +3 bonus when using a bow in combat. We would keep the admonition that only *very* unusual villains have expertise:

Only very unusual villains have expertise. Expertise can have a powerful effect in combat, and it tends to be more powerful in the hands of the GM than in the hands of the players because the GM rolls more dice over the course of the game than any of the players do. For this reason, it is best to restrict villainous expertise to only those villains that truly do have an exceptional amount of control over their powers and abilities. (from Skills, “Villainous Expertise”)

How would this affect extreme success?

First, expertise would no longer be required in order to achieve extreme success: anyone who rolled exceptionally well would be able to choose from one of the extreme success bonus effects (overwhelming the target, smashing the target, or staggering the target).

Second, because these bonus effects would occur more frequently, we would reduce the damage bonus of an overwhelming attack from +3 down to +1.

With these revisions, one repercussion of extreme success is that characters with very high Prowess or Accuracy can often rely on doing extra damage with their attacks. Conversely, characters with very low Prowess or Accuracy will often take extra damage from attacks.

We are still discussing this modification: if you have an opinion, we would love to hear it.

Distraction can be used by a character to mislead an enemy into dropping their guard. Distracting an opponent requires a Willpower task roll against the Willpower of the opponent. If the distraction is successful, the next attack against the distracted opponent on the following round receives a +3 attack bonus.

Using Willpower for distracting an opponent may seem counterintuitive. Wouldn’t Prowess or Perception seem more appropriate? Not at all. Distracting an opponent — whether in physical combat (such as a gunfight), psychic combat (such as a battle of wills), or in a social conflict (such as a marital dispute) — isn’t about how good you are in a fight or how good you are at noticing things. Anyone who has ever seen a talented stage magician at work knows that the real “trick” to most illusions is getting the audience to look where the magician wants them to look. In game system terms, that’s a classic Willpower vs. Willpower task roll.

Additionally, one of the main reasons we added the distraction maneuver to Bulletproof Blues was to help characters with low physical attributes cope with combat. Characters with high physical attributes don’t usually need to resort to distraction. Characters with high Willpower, on the other hand, are exactly the type of characters that need to use tactics like distraction.

As you know, damage in Bulletproof Blues is not dependent on “rolling damage”. A knife usually does the same damage, a pistol usually does the same damage, and so on. The exception to this is if the attacker has “expertise” with the attack and rolls particularly well on their attack roll: that grants an “extreme success”, the most common result of which is +3 damage.

There are three reasons for this. First, rolling and counting handfuls of dice is time consuming. Sure, doing it once is no big deal, but over the course of a game session, with every player doing rolling and counting, rolling and counting, that small amount of time adds up. Since one of the primary goals for Bulletproof Blues is that combat should be fast, we decided to keep the damage for attacks consistent.

Second, given the range of power levels for attacks and defenses in a typical Bulletproof Blues game, rolling for damage obviously wouldn’t work. Even a relatively small variation (rolling a d6, for example) would have game-breaking consequences. A small revolver would have a reasonably good chance at shooting through an armored car, while a bazooka would have a reasonable chance to bounce off of a police officer’s ballistic vest. That works for a more “four color” game, but not for Bulletproof Blues.

Third, and most importantly, is that we don’t want Bulletproof Blues to be the kind of game where you just attack a tough opponent over and over and hope to get lucky. If the player characters are faced with an opponent that shrugs off their usual attacks, we don’t want the players to just fire away at the enemy doggedly until a lucky hit takes them down. That’s terribly dreary. Instead, an enemy that is too tough for their usual attacks should inspire the players to rethink their strategy. Perhaps the player characters need to use teamwork to combine their attacks and overcome the enemy’s armor. If the opponent is too tough for even that, then they should try some other approach. Can the enemy breathe under water? Does the enemy have some psychological weakness than can be exploited? Is the enemy vulnerable to a particular form of energy? In Bulletproof Blues, success should depend on the choices of the characters, not on dogged persistence and waiting for a lucky die roll.

However…

Unpredictability is undeniably part of what makes combat fun, and even a small unexpected bonus can add some zing to a fight. So we got to thinking: how could we add a very small amount of variability to the damage in combat without undermining the basic premises of the game and without slowing down combat?

So here’s what we are currently planning for Bulletproof Blues Second Edition (look for the Kickstarter in February!): an expansion of the benefits of rolling particularly well on a given task. Previously, a task roll either failed, succeeded, or resulted in an extreme success. We would like to add an intermediate step between ordinary success and extreme success, called “remarkable success”.

Remarkable Success

If the player’s roll equals or exceeds the task difficulty, the character succeeds at the task in a completely satisfactory manner: the clue is found, the language is translated, or the lightning bolt hits its target. However, rolling higher than the required task difficulty may grant additional benefits.

If the player does not have expertise in the power or skill, and rolls three or more over the task difficulty, the character achieves a remarkable success. So if a character attempted a challenging task (task difficulty 12), and the player rolled 15 or more, but the player did not have expertise, this would be a remarkable success.

If the player rolls a remarkable success when making a skill roll, perhaps the character gets some small amount of additional information unrelated to the task at hand, or perhaps the GM gives the player a hint about a better avenue of inquiry. If the player rolls a remarkable success in combat, one rank is added to the weapon or power, solely for the purposes of that attack.

Extreme Success

If the player has expertise in the power or skill, and rolls three or more over the task difficulty, the character achieves an extreme success. So if a character attempted a challenging task (task difficulty 12), and the player rolled 15 or more, and the player had expertise, this would be an extreme success.

If the player rolls an extreme success when making a skill roll, perhaps the character has a “eureka!” moment, or perhaps they have found answers to questions they didn’t even know they should ask. If the player rolls an extreme success in combat, the attacker may choose one of three bonus effects, unless the description of the power says otherwise: overwhelming the target, smashing the target, or staggering the target.

What do you think?

One repercussion of adding “remarkable success” is that characters with very high Prowess or Accuracy can often rely on doing an extra point of damage with their attacks. Conversely, characters with very low Prowess or Accuracy will often take an extra point of damage from attacks.

This section was inadvertently omitted in the initial print versions of Bulletproof Blues. It pertains to using Experience Points to improve your character.

Improving Your Character

Unlike most roleplaying games, Bulletproof Blues assumes that the player characters are relatively complete when they are created. In the comics which Bulletproof Blues seeks to emulate, characters don’t grow ever more powerful as time goes on, as is common in some roleplaying games. However, part of the fun of a roleplaying game is developing new skills and powers, so Bulletproof Blues uses the concept of “experience points”, but the increase in power over time is relatively slow compared to most other games.

At the end of each story arc (every half-dozen game sessions or so), the GM determines how many experience points to grant each player, and each player adds that amount to the “Unspent Experience” on the character sheet of the character they played during that story. If they played more than one character (due to plot requirements, death or incapacitation of the first character, or any other reason), the player can pick which character receives the experience points. If the player receives more than one experience point and played more than one character over the course of the story arc, they can distribute those experience points among the eligible characters as the player sees fit.

Experience points may be spent at any time to improve or modify a character’s attributes, skills, advantages, or powers. Each experience point is used just like the character points used to create a character: one experience point can improve an attribute or power by one rank, buy expertise in a skill, and so on. The GM should keep a close eye on any new powers the character gains, as well as on any increases in the character’s attribute or power ranks that might make the character unsuitable for the power level of the game being run. It’s never a bad idea for the players and the GM to discuss how the players plan to spend their experience points.

The GM should award experience points to players who role-played exceptionally well and made the game more fun for everyone. Here are a few suggestions.

Activity	Award
Showed up for the game	+0 pts
Played the game enthusiastically	+1 pts
Concluded a lengthy series of games	+1 pts
Has the lowest quantity of experience points in the group	+1 pts
Role-played exceptionally	+1 pts
Was clever and inventive	+1 pts

We suggest that only one player in the group receive the “Role-played exceptionally” award and that only one player in the group receive the “Was clever and inventive” award, and that these should be two different players. You might like to have the players vote for who they think should receive these two awards. If so, encourage them not to vote for the same two people every time. Also, remember that the purpose of the game is to have fun playing, not to rack up the highest score. If it rubs your players the wrong way to receive different amounts of experience points, it may be easier to just give each player two experience points at the end of each story arc and be done with it.

Thanks for playing!