SUPERHERO AFTERLIFE

by Brian (Faust) - 1997

Ever wonder what really happens when your favorite super-hero bites the big one in a game?
Well, now your GM can find out for you! All he/she has to do is grab some dice and make
some rolls on the following charts!

All tables below use d100. "Powers" is loosely defined as any and all paranormal
abilities/devices of the hero. 'Death' is defined as that state in which a character
loses all power and hit points. Special note:

SUPERHERO FATE TABLE

01-20 Death - Permanent
21-22 Transformation of Others
23-24 Death - Ghost returns
25-35 Death -Ressurectable
36-50 Identity lives on
51-52 Death - Clone returns
53-75 Rebirth
76-84 Severely wounded
85-95 Wounded
96-00 Unscathed

Death - Permanent: the character is permanently dead. He/she can not be brought back.
(ex.: Dr. Mad surveys the damage and finds only a carbonated skeleton left.
"HAH! HAH! HAH! I guess the Incredible Chunk couldn't withstand the
Destructo-bomb when at ground-zero!")

Transformation of Others: this is a bizarre event. The character's death actually
causes a transformation (roll on EFFECTS chart below) on any person around
him/her when the death was caused. (up to GM to determine the actual area
effect) It is suggested that another roll be made to determine the Fate of the hero,
or the hero can be assumed dead. (ex: Power-guy is brought low by Destructo-
man's evil ray. The ray causes a chain reaction in Power-guy, turning him into a
living bomb. The explosion changes all the heroes within a 20" radius.)

Death - Ghost returns: the character is dead, but returns as a ghost. I suggest using the
ghost to haunt/inform the heroes and thus adding a new adventure/plot. The ghost
should become an NPC.

Death -Ressurectable: the hero dies, but there exists some way to bring him/her back to
life. This should probably be pointed out to the other players. (ex.: Robo-man
dies, but someone suddenly discovers that he could be brought back to life "If we
could just get that Robo-lifesaver device from Dr. Mad). The character will return
to life and be the same as before once the ressurection requirement is met.

Identity lives on: the character's death is permanent, but his/her secret identity lives on
via somebody else. This brings up several questions, is the new identity taken up
by the player or the GM? Does the new identity have the same powers as the old
one? This can be determined by the GM or randomly selected by rolling below:

New Identity becomes: New Identity has:
01-10 NPC Villain 01-25 different costume, different powers
11-30 NPC Hero 26-50 same/similar costume, different powers
31-00 Player 51-75 different costume, same/similar powers
76-00 same/similar costume & powers

Death - Clone returns: Ugh! Not a clone! The character dies, but a clone is made or
appears some way or another. There is a small chance the clone will be different
in some way (10%). To determine the change roll ONCE on the EFFECTS table,
after all it is a "clone". The clone could either come back as player or GM
controlled: (Roll below)

Clone is:
01-05 NPC Villain
06-25 NPC Hero
26-00 Player

Rebirth - the character dies but comes back changed. The GM needs to determine
whether the hero is controlled by the GM or the player. And what sort of changes
have occurred to the hero (roll on EFFECTS table below).

Hero is Reborn as:
01-15 NPC Villain
16-35 NPC Hero
36-00 Player

Mortally wounded: the character has nearly escaped death. After the combat is over, the
character "awakens" and must receive hospital treatment within an hour or face
permanent death. In addition, the character has suffered a severe permanent
wound. Roll on the BODY LOCATION chart below to determine the area of this
wound and then come up with a suitable handicap.

Wounded: the character has barely escaped death. He/she is suffering from 1d4
temporary wounds (will last several days or one game session) and must get
medical attention (within 2 hours) or risk one of them becoming permanent.
Roll on the BODY LOCATION chart Roll below to determine the area of this
wound(s)and then come up with a suitable handicap.

Unscathed: the hero wakes up after the combat to find that he/she is somehow
miraculously alive. Of course, if any villains were left after the fight they might
take the hero to their headquarters and hold them for ransom (I'd allow the villain
an Intelligence roll to see if the hero is "alive"). Other than that, there is no bad
effects whatsoever. (ex.: Jimmy-guy wakes up, rubs soot off his face and looks
around. "WOW! GEE GOLLY! I guess I somehow managed to jump clear of that
Destructo-bomb! Too bad, the Incredible Chunk didn't.)

EFFECTS CHART
(roll for 1-4 effects, unless stated otherwise)

01-04 Invalid/Coma
05-30 Damaged body part
31-40 Loss of powers
41-60 Diminished powers
61-70 Memory loss
71-80 Personality change
81-90 New powers
91-00 Increased powers

Invalid/Coma - (perm.: 25%) the character is a complete invalid or is in a coma. The
character will recover (if not permanent) in 1d6 months.

Damaged body part - (perm.: 50%) the hero has a body part which has been severely
damaged (roll on BODY LOCATION chart). Temporary damaged body parts will
heal in 1d6 weeks.

Loss of powers - (perm.: 50%) (all powers: 25%) the hero loses all or some (randomly
roll) of his/her powers. Temporary losses will return after 1d6 weeks.

Diminished powers - (perm.: 50%) (all powers: 35%) the hero's powers are diminished
either some (randomly roll) or all of them are affected. Typically the diminished
effect is 1/2 of current potency or value (in AV&V take away 1/2 of the points)
of the power(s). Temporary losses will return after 1d6 weeks.

Memory loss - (perm.: 30%) (entire memory: 20%) the hero loses all or part of his/her
memory. The GM and player will have to work out what this means. Loss of
certain skills is a good possibility. Temp. effects will wear off after 1d6 months.

Personality change: - (perm.: 30%) (split-personality: 25%) hero develops a different or
split personality. The hero should still be of the same "alignment", though.
Temporary effects will go away in 1d6 months. (ex.: Dr. Mad awakens after
Jimmy-guy shoots him with the deadly zappo gun. He now realizes the inherent
weaknesses of villainy and adopts the personality of Jeff Dee! ;>)

New powers - (perm.: 50%) (wipes out pre-existing powers: 25%) the character has either
gained entirely new powers (losing his/her old powers in the process) or has
received a few new powers in addition to the old ones (roll 1d4 new powers). If
the character loses his/her old powers then re-roll powers as if starting over.
Temporary powers will go away after 1d6 weeks.

Increased powers- (perm.: 50%) (all powers: 35%) the hero's powers are increased
either some (randomly select) or all of them are affected. Typically the increased
effect is 1.25 of current potency or value (in AV&V add 1/4 points) of
the power(s). Temporary increases will last 1d6 weeks.

BODY LOCATION CHART

01-05 Head 36-40 Hands
06-10 Face 41-64 Upper Torso
11-15 Eyes 65-85 Abdomen
16-20 Ears 86-95 Legs
21-25 Throat 96-00 Feet
26-35 Arms