NewEdo vs We Can Be Heroes
Compare NewEdo and We Can Be Heroes side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| NewEdo | We Can Be Heroes | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk, Fantasy | Superhero, Modern |
| Tags | Cinematic, Character Building, Crunchy, Classless, Faction Play, Heroic, High-Power, Urban Fantasy, Tactical | Heroic, Superpowers, Combat-Heavy, Cinematic, Character Building, Faction Play |
| Core Mechanic | Contests use a dice pool combining Core Trait d10s plus Skill dice (d4, d6, d8, or d12 depending on Focus) against a Target Number, with d10s exploding on 10s. Before each contest, the player Rolls their Fate on a d100 and resolves any matching lines on their personal Fate Card, which fills up with triggered effects as the character develops through Path abilities and in-game choices. Legend is the character's reputation and acts as a resource pool: spending up to 5 points of Temporary Legend per Round adds that total to a dice pool for cinematic stunts, and Legend is regained by doing memorable things. | 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–d12 dice pool | d4–d20 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Availability | Paid | Paid |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | Book tools not listed |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Salty Games | BudStuff Games |
| Year | 2022 | 2024 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want deep character customization across magic, cybernetics, and skills in a near-future city drawn from Japanese folklore and samurai fiction, with heavy factional politics and larger-than-life heroes fueled by their growing reputation. | Groups who want crunchy superhero campaigns with detailed character builds, tiered superpowers, and a reputation system that ties heroism to community relationships. |
| Highlights | Priority Buy character creation distributes uneven resources across Backgrounds, Magic, Augmentations, Skills, and Core Traits so that no two builds share the same shape. Ten playable Lineages are drawn from Japanese folklore (bakeneko, kappa, karasu, kitsune, oni, saru, tanuki, usagi, human, and the cybernetic half-machine hisanaka), each with two Cultures. Seven Factions and their Paths tie every character to a political stance in the Empire. Magic is built around Shinpi and Rotes granted by tiers of kami: casters negotiate with spirits rather than memorizing spell slots. | 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 | Dense interlocking subsystems (Legend, Fate Card, Trait Noise, Shinpi, Priority Buy, Derived Traits, Wound tiers, and four Soak types) take significant time to internalize before first play. Core rulebook runs over 300 pages and is paid only, with no free quickstart or SRD. The setting mixes cyberpunk, samurai fiction, and yokai folklore in a single package, which may not suit groups looking for a pure take on any one genre. | 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 |