Kids on Bikes vs We Can Be Heroes
Compare Kids on Bikes and We Can Be Heroes side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Kids on Bikes | We Can Be Heroes | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Superhero, Modern |
| Play Style | Beginner-Friendly, Cinematic, Collaborative, Worldbuilding, Mystery, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Theater of the Mind, Narrative, Roleplay-Heavy, Drama, GM-Friendly | Heroic, Superhero, Combat-Heavy, Cinematic, Character Building, Faction Play |
| Core Mechanic | Six stats (Brains, Brawn, Fight, Flight, Charm, Grit) each get a single die from d4 (terrible) to d20 (superb), with the assignment determined by a chosen Trope (Brilliant Mathlete, Loner Weirdo, Popular Kid, etc.). Roll the relevant stat die against a GM-set difficulty; rolling the die's maximum 'explodes' and the die is rerolled, adding the values together. Failed rolls grant Adversity Tokens, each spendable for +1 on a future roll. Combat is fully narrative — there are no hit points; the margin between attacker and defender rolls determines injury severity and who narrates the outcome. Age (child, teen, or adult) grants +1 to two relevant stats and unlocks a free Strength. Each campaign also features a Powered Character co-controlled by all players through shared Aspect notecards and a pool of Psychic Energy tokens. | Roll d20 + Talent Modifier vs. GM-set threshold for Talent Checks. Superpowers use Target Die (d12 at levels 1–9, d20 at levels 10–20) + Superpower Die + Moxie. Superpower Attacks always hit — damage is the variable. Hero's Favor points fuel superpowers and creative power use. Action Points govern turns with Primary (3 AP) and Secondary (2 AP) actions. Public Merit tracks faction reputation for favors, intel, and gear upgrades. Hero's Moment rewards critical failures with one-per-level power-ups. |
| Dice | d4–d20 | d4–d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Community | High | Very Low |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Hunters Entertainment / Renegade Game Studios | BudStuff Games |
| Year | 2018 | 2024 |
| Best For | Groups who want collaborative small-town supernatural mystery in the vein of Stranger Things or Stand By Me, where character relationships and tropes matter more than mechanical complexity. Especially well suited to one-shots, short campaigns, and tables that include players new to TTRPGs. | Groups who want crunchy superhero campaigns with detailed character builds, tiered superpowers, and a reputation system that ties heroism to community relationships. |
| Highlights | Pre-built Tropes turn character creation into a five-minute step, Setting Boundaries safety tools are integrated as the very first step before play, collaborative world-building constructs the town and seeds rumors before the first session, the Powered Character mechanic distributes shared narrative control of the supernatural element across the table via Aspect notecards | Public Merit system ties heroism to community impact through faction reputation, six superpower archetypes with five-tier progression and Auxiliary Powers for build variety, Hero's Moment turns critical failures into one-per-level power-ups, Hero's Favor points enable out-of-combat power use (freezing locks, creating barriers, boosting checks) |
| Considerations | Combat is fully narrative with no hit points or initiative, which can frustrate groups who want tactical structure, difficulty setting is entirely GM judgment with example anchors but no formulas, the shared-control Powered Character can confuse players new to collaborative narration, long-campaign play requires the GM to invent advancement and pacing because the rules are tuned for one-shots and short arcs | Character creation requires multiple derived calculations (Moxie, DT, HP, Vigilance, Initiative), 20-level progression has many repetitive incremental steps, combat-heavy with limited non-combat mechanical support |