Yeah, I make a lot of super games...

    Artwork by Jan Annarella. 

I make a lot of super games because I love the genre and I love tinkering with different mechanics and dice systems. 

I figure that if you also like super games, one of my rule sets might be for you! That's why a couple of years ago I published the FCS Guide to Super Gaming. It's a list of all of the currently available supers games I make, along with brief write-ups and complexity ratings about them. 

I've just updated it to include the imminently available VMF game, but I also wanted to share the text here because I think these sorts of "insider" tidbits might prove interesting to folks who like my games. 

I'll also include the entry for SSG that comes right before it in the document for context and comparison: 

Super Skirmish Gaming
Core System: 3D6 (roll-over)
Complexity: 6 of 10

Published in 2022, Super Skirmish Gaming (SSG) synthesizes years of superhero gaming experience into one slick book that offers easy mechanics, comprehensive character creation, built-in solo play options, and a fully realized campaign system that captures the tropes and drama of superhero comic books. SSG’s unique initiative mechanics will keep you guessing even when you’re playing solo.

Villain Mission Force

Core System: 2D6 (roll-over)

Complexity: 5 of 10

Published in 2025, Villain Mission Force (VMF) places the focus squarely on villainous characters, and features fast-playing 2D6 mechanics that put solo / co-op gaming in the forefront. This is the first FCS supers game designed to take relatively weak starting characters through a Series that will see them slowly rise in power and resilience with each game played. Your Series will last a dozen or so games at most, and the Infamy system will give you a clear picture of whether your villain team did well enough to warrant another volume. 

One of the things that might jump out to folks looking at this is my complexity rating for each book. SSG gets a 6 of 10, while VMF gets a 5 of 10. What makes VMF less complex than SSG? It's mainly the way I have reworked the powers that lowers VMF's complexity. I trimmed down the rules "weight" of some of the more involved powers, outright cut others, and generally revisited and reworked every power from SSG before moving it into VMF. 

The other big thing is the core mechanic. Especially when playing solo, 2D6 + mod is just easier to calculate on the fly than 3D6 + mod. Even more so when you consider that in most cases, VMF is asking you to roll vs. a static target number instead of opposed checks like in SSG. This player facing mechanic also serves VMF well when you run it as an RPG, and the appendix has a few rules that facilitate this option. 

I hope this brief look under the design hood was helpful. I intend to do more of these for all of my games as the mood strikes me. 

Thanks for reading! 

--Scott