Agents of OS: Origins

Ever since the debut of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, I have wanted to run a low-powered supers game similar to AoS.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a system that really captured the feel that I was trying to get.  I considered writing my own and made pretty decent progress using the Fudge RPG, but ultimately I started riffing on the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox rules.  After getting caught up integrating the setting information into the rules, I decided to strip out the setting information and just write the rules.  I called it... Agents of OS (OS, of course, for Old School).

Characters - "agents" - would have standard WhiteBox attributes, attribute modifiers, saving throws and level-based HD-generated hit points.  They could choose from one of three "origins", or classes: artificial, trained, and transformed.

The remainder of this post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.

Origins

Each agent has one of three origins. They are: Artificial (the agent has received bionic or cybernetic enhancements), Trained (the agent is specialized in one or more fields of study due to focused and intense training), and Transformed (the agent has undergone an event which caused latent powers to awaken).

To determine an agent’s origin, roll one six-sided die. If the die shows between 2 and 5 inclusively, the agent’s origin is Trained. If the die shows a 1, the agent’s origin is Artificial, and if the die shows a 6, the agent’s origin is Transformed. For a more customized agent, the GM may allow players to select an origin as desired.

An agent’s origin also sets the starting values for hit dice and hit points, saving throw, and attack bonus, and controls the advancement of those values as the agent gains experience. Finally, an agent’s origin dictates the abilities (augmentations, specialties, and powers) into which the agent can tap.

Artificial

Level	XP	HD	ST	AB	Abilities
1	0	1d6+1	14	0	New Augmentation; Weakness
2	2,500	2d6	13	0
3	5,000	3d6	12	1	Augmentation Increase or Augmentation Enhancement or New Augmentation
4	10,000	4d6	11	2
5	20,000	5d6	10	2	Augmentation Increase or Augmentation Enhancement or New Augmentation
6	40,000	6d6	9	3
7	80,000	7d6	8	4	Augmentation Increase or Augmentation Enhancement or New Augmentation
8	160,000	8d6	7	4
9	320,000	9d6	6	5	Augmentation Increase or Augmentation Enhancement or New Augmentation
10	640,000	10d6	5	6

New Augmentation: at 1st level an Artificial agent gets a new augmentation; at 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, an Artificial agent can choose to take an additional augmentation. An augmentation represents a bionic or cybernetic enhancement and emulates the abilities of any one specialty or power. A new augmentation provides a +4 bonus once per round to any roll or value for which the augmentation applies.

Weakness: at 1st level, an Artificial agent must take a weakness, representing a substance, an event, or a condition which causes their augmentations to perform at less than peak capacity. The weakness should not be common, but it should also not be exceedingly rare. When in the presence of that which causes their weakness, Artificial agents take a -4 penalty to all augmentation die rolls.

Augmentation Increase: At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, an Artificial agent can choose to take an augmentation increase. An augmentation increase raises the bonus of a selected, existing augmentation by +2.

Augmentation Enhancement: At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, an Artificial agent can choose to take an augmentation enhancement, for any existing augmentation based on a power (it does not apply to augmentations based on a specialty). An augmentation enhancement does not change the augmentations bonus but expands the augmentation with additional capabilities.

Trained

Level	XP	HD	ST	AB	Abilities
1	0	1d6	14	0	New Specialty; Basic Combat Training
2	1,500	2d6	13	1	Specialty Increase
3	3,000	3d6	12	2	New Speciality or Specialty Increase
4	6,000	3d6+1	11	2	Specialty Increase
5	12,000	4d6	10	3	New Specialty or Specialty Increase
6	24,000	5d6	9	4
7	48,000	6d6	8	4	New Speciality or Specialty Increase
8	96,000	6d6+1	7	5	Specialty Increase
9	192,000	7d6	6	6	New Specialty or Specialty Increase
10	384,000	8d6	5	6

New Specialty: at 1st level, a Trained agent gets a new specialty. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, a Trained agent can choose to take an additional new specialty. A new specialty provides +2 to any one roll per round for which the specialty applies.

Basic Combat Training: at 1st level, a Trained agent learns how to maximize their attacks or defense in combat. Before each combat round, a Trained agent can select a stance. The available stances are Offensive (+1 to attack and damage rolls, -1 to AC), Normal, and Defensive (-1 to attack and damage rolls, +1 to AC).

Transformed

Level	XP	HD	ST	AB	Abilities
1	0	1d6	15	0	New Power; Extra Effort
2	2,000	2d6	14	0
3	4,000	2d6+1	13	0	Power Increase or Power Enhancement or New Power
4	8,000	3d6	12	1
5	16,000	4d6	11	2	Power Increase or Power Enhancement or New Power
6	32,000	4d6+1	10	2
7	64,000	5d6	9	3	Power Increase or Power Enhancement or New Power
8	128,000	6d6	8	4
9	256,000	6d6+1	7	4	Power Increase or Power Enhancement or New Power
10	512,000	7d6	6	5

New Power: At 1st level a Transformed agent gets a new power; at 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, a Transformed agent can choose to take an additional new power. A new power grants a +4 bonus to any one roll or value per round for which the power can apply.

Extra Effort: At 1st level, a Transformed agent learns how to apply extra effort to their power(s). Once per encounter, a Transformed agent can apply extra effort to one of their powers which grants a one-time +4 bonus. For the duration of the encounter after extra effort has been applied, the agent is tired and takes a -1 penalty to all rolls associated with the power.

Power Increase: At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, a Transformed agent can choose to take a power increase. A power increase raises the bonus of a selected, existing power by +2.

Power Enhancement: At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, a Transformed agent can choose to take a power enhancement. A power enhancement does not change the power’s bonus but expands the power with additional capabilities.