Boosts

You've probably seen it on some of the custom cards we've made, this little word "Boosts" with a number after it.

What is a boost?

Well... these cards are pretty small and the type is almost microscopic. And some of these heroes have LOTS of powers. Really, try fitting all that Superman or Spawn or Spider-Man (to choose three S-named characters) can do onto one card! Chris does a heroic job boiling down all the stuff I shoot to him (and/or the stuff he does himself) but many characters can do more than will fit in that space.

And don't even get me started on the Hulk.

So what do we do? We give you cards with supplemental powers and skills. Not every character can use every boost--like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, they have places where they fit and where they don't--but it gives us a chance to build Green Lantern or Phoenix or any of a bunch of characters into the kickass powerhouses they really are.

Of course, you can add these boosts to characters who don't have them in the comics. Want to make Professor X a world-class telekinetic? Or maybe give Batman the power to fly for real? It's off-model but a boost card (and the agreement of your player friends) make it possible.

Besides, weird stuff happens in comics all the time.

Boost Card Design
So what does a boost card have on it?

Title
Type: Power, Super-Skill, or Skill
Requires: any pre-requisite or preexisting ability or quality goes here, including if it is limited to Heroes, Villains or any team/organization
Description: what this boost does, the write up of the ability it confers on an active character
Point Cost: from 0 (yeah, there are probably some boosts that aren't worth a full point) up to 12 (which is "I can now destroy the world!" type stuff)

Playing a Boost Card
A boost card is essentially the same as equipment. You use Recruit/Equip points to deploy them to an active character during the R/E phase of your turn.

Optional rule:
If both players agree, a player can pay the points to "buy" a boost card and place it on the site facedown, leaving it waiting for the first character who is able to use it. Once a character is deployed to the site, the boost may be added at the start of the player's turn.

The boost card's value is added to the character's overall point value. If the Creeper's card is worth 8 points and he adds a boost worth 3, he's now an 11 point character and counts as such if he is KO'd.

Once played, a boost gives the character whatever powers or skills it lists.

How Many Boosts Per Character?
You can only add so many boosts to a character, sad but true. But (I hear you say) only a very few characters list this on their card--how are we to know? HOW ARE WE TO KNOW?

Calm down! I'll tell you.

The limit on boosts is based on a character's Tech level +1 (aha! it does have a use after all!), up to a maximum of four. Yeah, that's right, Reed Richards and Lex Luthor cannot have half a dozen boosts apiece.

What if a character does not have a Tech level? That poor luckless soul gets a gimme; you can add one boost card to a character without a Tech level. (Doomsday can be leveled up just a bit after all, yay!)

So wait (I hear you add after thinking it over), does that mean the Hulk doesn't get a boost? Not at all, because Bruce Banner (his alter ego) has Tech 5 (or more, depending), so Hulk can get up to four boosts. Is this cheating? Hey, YOU try and fit all the stuff Hulk can do onto one card...

But no, not really. If a character has an alter ego card (even in these spreadsheets), then the Tech level that's higher between the two determines number of boosts. (The Leader is real happy about that; his human alter ego is not that smart.)

Discarding Boosts
Maybe your character doesn't want to be so super. Can a character shed boosts (and thus drop their point value if they're KO'd)?

The answer is yes. Just like equipment, a character can ditch a boost but only during their own turn. You can't do it when you're playing defense because, c'mon, that's kind of a jerk move. But doing it at the end of your turn is still allowed.

Once a boost is discarded, it goes to the discard pile. It can be recovered by any card effect that lets you retrieve lost or broken equipment.

As you've no doubt realized, this makes it possible to ditch low-powered boosts to make a slot available for high-powered boosts.

Optional rule:
If both players agree, the point value of a discarded boost can be applied to buying another boost. Ex: Say you want to ditch Creeper's 3 point boost (let's say it's Jump) in favor of 7 point Invulnerability (we'll figure out the actual card point value later, okay?). He dumps the 3 pointer, harvests its points, and thus only has to spend 4 Recruit/Equip points to buy the new boost.

Types of Boosts
Stats

• Close
• Ranged
• Defense
• Hits
• Type

Powers

• Strength
• Speed/Movement
• Armor/Toughness
• Regeneration/Healing
• Size Change
• Special Movement
• Nonlethal Attack
• Unusual Abilities (including Reputation, Reality Alteration, etc.)

Skills

• Leadership
• Subterfuge
• Soldier
• Driver
• Pilot
• Scientist
• Scholar
• Tech
• Inventor
• Lawyer
• Doctor
• Medic
• Police
• Detective
• Criminal
• Coach
• Entertainer (includes Comedian)

Super-Skills

• Alien Tech (various)
• Flight
• Energy Blast
• Espionage
• Immortality
• Magick
• Martial Arts Training
• Psi
• Rage
• Space Traveler
• Time Traveler
• Wealth