Learn to Play · Season 3
Powers, Harm and Teams
Building powers, Showstoppers, getting hurt, and how a team holds together.
In this season
Episode 15
Building a power
Powers are tools, not rewards. Any power takes six moves, each a short answer: an Effect in one plain sentence; a Family, which sets the flavour, what counters you and a free Signature Trouble; an Array of two to four things it does, each tied to an action and a skill; a Hard Limit, the one honest thing it can’t do; a Cost for pushing past its reach; and up to three Showstoppers. You never roll “a power”: you take one of the four actions with an Array entry.
Episode 16
Showstoppers
A Showstopper breaks a rule on purpose. Ghost’s Now You Don’t lets her Vanish end the exchange outright, once per session, unless a Truth has her pinned; no ordinary Set Up can do that. The test is simple: if it only makes the dice better, it isn’t a Showstopper, it’s a Reach. You get one or more free at creation, set by your Tier, and you can buy more by lowering your Reserve.
Coming next
The nine power families.
Ready to play?
Start with the free QuickStart
Everything in these videos comes from Nova City Heroes: First Light. The QuickStart has everything you need for your first night in Nova City.
