Icons: Great Power

Conversion Notes
Since the ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying game was published by Adamant
Entertainment in 2010, I’ve had plenty of time to look it over, and to think about it,
play it, run it, and talk to other gamers about their experiences with it. That led to
various notes scribbled in notebooks and word processing files about different
places where the game could be clarified, expanded, or improved, particularly with
regard to some of the powers.

As the introduction to Great Power points out, powers are at the heart of most
superhero games, and ICONS is no different in that regard. While I set out to
maintain consistency between the sourcebook and the published ICONS rules as
much as possible, some changes were necessary to fulfill the sourcebook’s goal of
improving and expanding the powers rules. This document provides an overview of
those changes and how they may affect existing ICONS characters and what, if
anything, you may wish to do to adjust characters accordingly.

The notes look at the power descriptions and rules given in the ICONS
Superpowered Roleplaying game book in the order in which they appear, describing
any significant changes.

These conversion notes do not go into detail on all the whys and wherefores of the
changes, nor do they address the added material in Great Power, which stands on
its own and builds on the power descriptions and rules in ICONS. As with all of the
rules in ICONS (all rules in all RPGs, technically), the material in Great Power is
optional, and you are free to use it—or not—as you choose and as best suits your
own games. I sincerely hope that you find both the sourcebook and these notes
useful and that they help to make your games more fun and enjoyable.

BONUS POWERS
What were referred to as “bonus powers” in ICONS are called extras in Great Power.
Extras either modify an existing power or add an additional power effect to it.
Players have the option of substituting extras for rolled powers during hero creation,
allowing them to create more strongly themed heroes based around just one or two
“base” powers with expanded capabilities.
DOUBLE POWERS
The ICONS concept of powers that count double for a character’s number of powers
(including for Determination purposes) has been removed in Great Power,
providing more consistency and ease of use.

DEVICES
Great Power provides thirteen pages of detail on devices, including rules for
vehicles and numerous examples of power-granting devices and fairly mundane
equipment.

ALTERATION POWERS
CHAMELEON
This power is now a limit of the Invisibility power.

MATERIAL DUPLICATION
This power is now called Material Mimicry.

POWER DUPLICATION
This power is now called Power Mimicry.

POWER THEFT
This power is an extra of Power Mimicry, both duplicating and taking away the
target’s powers.

TRANSFORMATION
Transformation is limited to one type of form (animal, humanoid, or object) by
default, but may acquire the other types as extras. There is no required limit, but
those listed in ICONS are available as options.

CONTROL POWERS
ANIMATION
This is a version of the new Servant power in Great Power.
ELEMENTAL CONTROL
This power now grants one effect by default, with others available as extras, but
does not count as two powers. The Attacking, Defending, and Moving effects have
been replaced with corresponding powers (Blast or Strike, Force Field, and
Telekinesis, generally).

POWER NULLIFICATION
Feedback damage for a failed nullification attempt is now a limit of this power,
rather than the default.

PROBABILITY CONTROL
This power is usable for one of good or bad luck by default, with the ability to affect
both as an extra.

TIME CONTROL
This power now grants one effect by default, with others available as extras, but
does not count as two powers.

TRANSMUTATION
This power is now close range by default—requiring you to touch objects to
transmute them—but can work at extended range as an extra. It does not require a
limit, but can still apply those listed as normal limits.

WIZARDRY
This power is broken up into its three sub-powers (Cosmic Power, Gadgets, and
Magic) as stand-alone powers, with Wizardry as their power group.

DEFENSIVE POWERS
FORCE FIELD
Additionally, whenever an attacker must touch you for a power to take effect, you
can resist the effect with your Force Field level, if it is higher than the normal
opposing ability for the effect.

IMMORTALITY
Immortality has an effective power level of 10, in cases where level comes into play.
Ignore rolled level for this power.
IMMUNITY
This power is removed and replaced with level 10 Resistance.

INVULNERABILITY
This power is replaced with Damage Resistance, which has the same game effect.

LIFE SUPPORT
When you gain this power, you can choose to discard another rolled power to
increase Life Support’s level to 10, allowing you to ignore all physical needs.

RESISTANCE
The base categories are: Afflictions, Binding, Damage, Detection, Mental, Sensory,
with limits narrowing the category of Resistance to One Type.

MENTAL POWERS
ANIMAL CONTROL
This becomes a limit of the Mind Control power.

MIND CONTROL
Degree of success determines how often you need to make Mind Control tests to
maintain your control over a subject: With a moderate success, you must make a
new Mind Control test on the next page to maintain control. With a major success,
you make new Mind Control tests each chapter, while a massive success maintains
control until you choose to end it.

MIND SHIELD
This power is effectively Mental Resistance as a mental, rather than defensive,
power.

POSSESSION
This power becomes an extra of Mind Control.

MOVEMENT POWERS
Various movement powers are further clarified by the Benchmarks Table in Great
Power, but otherwise unchanged.
TELEPORTATION
Called Teleport in Great Power, and no longer counts as a “double power.”

OFFENSIVE POWERS
AFFLICTION
The ability to remove Afflictions at will becomes an extra. Standard extras add a
wide range of options to this power.

BLAST
The explosive blast bonus power is replaced with the Burst extra in Great Power.

BLINDING
This power is called Dazzle in Great Power and is expanded to cover all senses,
rather than just vision. The Extra Sense extra allows a Dazzle to work on multiple
senses at once.

FAST ATTACK
This power has been revised as follows:

You can attack more than once per panel, dividing your Fast Attack level into
additional attack tests up to your normal level with that attack.

Example: A hero has Prowess 4 and Fast Attack 8, so he can make three level 4
attacks: one with normal Prowess and two more with Fast Attack, dividing level 8
into two level 4 attacks (at the hero’s normal Prowess). If the hero had Fast Attack 6,
he would make two extra attacks: one at level 4 and one at level 2. With Fast Attack
10, he could make three: two at level 4 and one at level 2.

LIFE DRAIN
This power is called Energy Drain in Great Power and has a much wider range of
options.

PARALYSIS
This power is folded into the Stunning power in Great Power.
SENSORY POWERS
ESP
Spelled out as Extrasensory Perception in Great Power, and uses the Benchmarks
Table to detail its range.

SUPER-SENSES
The Additional Senses option is expanded and more details in Great Power,
offering descriptions of fourteen Additional Sense options.

UPDATING EXISTING CHARACTERS

Example #1 – Saguaro: A character like the Mighty Saguaro turns out to be a snap:
His three powers (Aura, Leaping, and Life Support) are unchanged in Great Power,
so no adjustments are needed! The Game Master double-checks the power
descriptions for any updates, as well as any potential adjustments to Saguaro’s
starting Determination, and pronounced the character ready to go!
Example #2 – Miss Tikal: The Central American sorceress has Wizardry 7 with
Blast, Force Field, and Teleportation. Looking at the Great Power conversions, her
player changes it to Magic 7, her particular form of the Wizardry power group, with
Blast, Force Field, and Teleport as Mastery extras (spells she can use at-will without
a Magic test). Combined with her Willpower 7, that makes for a total of 5 subtracted
from 6 for starting Determination 1. If this really concerned Miss Tikal’s player, she
could potentially add a limit or two to her Magic in order to counterbalance the
effect of those extras, but she decides Miss Tikal will use her Determination wisely
and come up with ways to earn more during play.

Example #3 — The Troll: The Game Master looks to update Troll from the ICONS
rulebook: His Leaping 7, Burrowing 5, and Strike 5 are essentially unchanged. The
GM just notes that Troll’s Invulnerability is now called Damage Resistance, and the
massive bruiser is ready for action once again!