Icons

by Stephen Kenson

What kid raised in recent generations hasn't pretended to be a superhero at some point: worn a cape, "flown" around, bounced imaginary bullets or shot "blasts of power" from hands or eyes? Why not? After all, the superhero is the perfect modern fantasy: powerful, respected, and loved by the public, but with a message of responsibility, duty, truth, and justice that appeals to parents as well as kids. In countless comic books (and now "graphic novels"), cartoons, and live-action television shows and films, superheroes continue to thrill and capture our imagination while also celebrating some of our better qualities. Who wouldn't want to be a hero? With ICONS, you can be Steve Kenson, the designer of the best-selling Mutants & Masterminds delivers a superpowered new role-playing game, inspired by the fast-playing old-school games and the new generation of narrative role-play Within its pages are complete rules for character creation, abilities and powers, random adventure generation, a rogue's gallery of villains, a complete adventure and all the superheroic action you can handle

Genres: Role Playing Games, Games, Nonfiction, Comics

Paperback

First published July 13, 2010

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Icons may very well be the Supers game I always wanted. It is simple enough to get the basics in one read-through, but promises good depth of play due to the simple power structure which can adapt to pretty much every comics archetype I could think of, and due to the use of Aspects to give the game narrative punch and player control. As a text it is easy to read and understand, a must for a pick-up style game. I cannot wait to play it and see it in action.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic take on Superhero RPG.
Pros:
Random hero creation. Can be used in whole or in part, such as randomly determining powers for a hero you've otherwise made up and playing an origin story. With a little practice and the references in the book, you can roll up a new hero in less than 10 minutes start-to-finish.
Fairly versatile rules arbitration.
Most hero archetypes are easy enough to approximate if you have a specific build in mind.
Cons:
Art style isn't the best (very minor).
Organization could be improved slightly.

[Garrett Henke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best superhero game since original FASERIP Marvel Superheroes back in the 80’s. I could roll random superheroes all day and never get bored. Don’t expect a robust balanced system here - but again, when have superheroes every really been balanced?