Amazing Heroes vs Masks: A New Generation
Compare Amazing Heroes and Masks: A New Generation side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Amazing Heroes | Masks: A New Generation | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Superhero, Modern | Modern, Superhero |
| Tags | Beginner-Friendly, Rules-Light, Family-Friendly, Superpowers, Narrative, Fiction-First, Cinematic, Theater of the Mind, One-Shot Friendly, Strong GM Support | Narrative, Rules-Light, Character-Driven, Drama, Beginner-Friendly, CC-Licensed Rules, Superpowers |
| Core Mechanic | Each hero has four traits (an occupation, a body attribute, a personality attribute, and a superpower) assigned a d6, d6, d8, and d10 at creation. When the outcome is uncertain, the player rolls the relevant trait die against a difficulty of 3 (easy), 4 (normal), or 5 (hard), adding +1 if a body or personality attribute fits. Rolls of 1 or 2 on a normal or hard test inflict a condition like 'tired' or 'hurt'; a repeated condition becomes 'really [X]' and imposes a –1 penalty, and a third hurt condition defeats the hero. Defeating a villain requires successes equal to the villain's level times the number of heroes. | PbtA moves: roll 2d6 + Label. 10+ = strong hit, 7–9 = hit with complications, 6− = miss (GM makes a move). Five shifting Labels (Danger, Freak, Savior, Superior, Mundane) represent how the hero sees themselves, and others can shift them. Influence and team mechanics drive interpersonal drama. |
| Dice | d6–d12 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Low |
| Availability | Paid | Paid |
| Runnability | 3 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | CC BY 4.0 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Amazing Tales | Magpie Games |
| Year | 2021 | 2016 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German |
| Best For | Mixed-age tables wanting a fast, narrative superhero RPG that genuinely works for kids aged 7+ alongside adults: sessions are designed to cram an hour of TV-style action into a single sitting. | Teen superhero drama where identity, relationships, and emotional stakes matter more than punching villains. |
| Highlights | Trait dice carry transparent in-fiction meaning at each step (d6 is 'best in your country,' d12 is 'best in the world'), so players and GMs negotiate power level by description rather than parsing stat blocks. Conditions like 'tired' or 'shaken' replace HP entirely and stack into 'really [X]' with a –1 penalty before a third instance defeats the hero, keeping damage in fiction while still tracking toward a losing point. The GM receives plot points equal to the number of players each session and spends them on cinematic moves (villain ambushes, escapes with a planted clue, perfect disguises, 'missing body' recurring foes), encoding superhero-TV pacing as a budgeted resource. | Labels system makes identity the core conflict, 10 distinct playbooks, low prep for GM, encourages drama and character growth |
| Considerations | Superpowers have no defined list or mechanical effects beyond a die size, so the GM must adjudicate what each novel use of a power can do on the fly. Advancement caps at d12+1 and amounts to larger dice plus secondary powers branched from a parent power, so long-running heroes don't gain meaningfully different mechanical options from starting ones. Villain fights accumulate flat successes equal to villain level × number of heroes with no incremental damage per hit, which can grind against tougher foes when most attack rolls only mark a single tick of progress. | Labels shifting can frustrate players who want a stable character identity, Influence mechanic requires careful tracking, adult moves can overshadow teen PCs, limited mechanical growth beyond Label shifts |