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So given Dee's reputation (in my esteem and that of others) when I saw that Living Legends was available in .pdf on the RPG.now site, I jumped at the chance to download it. And I was somewhat disappointed, actually. Because given the very dynamic and fluid nature of Dee's "classic" art, (which is easily available by looking up his name online) the first thing I noticed about the book was how amateurish it looked. That is, it's good for a small-scale publisher, but given Dee's demonstrated quality, I found the art on most of the pages to be surprisingly sketchy and below that standard (compare the archer on page 2 to the lab-coat scientist on page 8, for instance). Unfortunately, the text, while better, isn't better by enough.
In the Introduction, (or Chapter 1), the author not only goes over the basic concepts of a roleplaying game and the superhero genre, he tries to define what "superhero" means for the game's purpose, settling on the following: "any larger than life character who regularly performs heroic deeds and is visually distinctive." For instance, Batman technically doesn't have powers, and not all "superheroes" fight crime on a regular basis. The "visually distinctive" part definitely goes with the comicbook tropes of the genre, and excludes a lot of people (like Pulp characters) who might otherwise qualify as superheroes. But even though the Hulk doesn't have a costume, he's certainly distinctive.
The second chapter is Character Creation, which is of course very involved. Living Legends splits the difference between random chargen and the now-standard point-based character building approach with a character point (CP) system that gives the option to roll dice in a given category OR pick a result (somewhat like Palladium's Heroes Unlimited except for the character point part). This is on a scale where a "Standard" superhero gets 100 points with up to 50 more for "Weaknesses" and a Normal person gets 50 + 25 in Weaknesses). It's somewhat like V&V in that the old game offered the unique approach of basing a superhero character on oneself, with random rolls for powers. That option is still suggested but not required.
Characters have six Basic Characteristics (BCs): Physique, Reflex, Deftness, Intellect, Cool and Vitality, written as PHYS, REFL, DEFT, INTL, COOL and VITL. Of these, Intellect is fairly self-explanatory, "Cool" represents one's cool-headness, "coolness" or social skills, while PHYS represents brawn and physical fitness, VITL is one's endurance for physical activity and the "juice" on some powers, represented by energy points or NRG. REFL is reflexes, initiative and dodging while DEFT is one's manual coordination. This is on a scale where a score of 7 is about average for a human trait, 11 is above average, an Olympic gold medalist has a 22 in his relevant BC, and 29 and up is "truly" superhuman. Later in character generation there is a "Mass" trait rolled randomly or based on character's gender and build; this yields character weight and a "Mass Effect" that determines how a character is affected by knockback, density-affecting powers, and the like. All of these characteristics have certain game values that are translated in Section 7.
The character generation section also includes tables and random rolls for origin types, including not only actual places on Earth but certain hidden lands like Atlantis and game-setting aliens like "Darklings" (beings made of dark matter). These have their own brief templates; e.g. a character rolled as a Darkling must pick certain automatic powers like Adaptation (Spaceworthy), Disintegration and Flight, and gets one less random power roll (to account for powers already assigned). Of course, random character generation also includes tables for random Skills and Powers, but the players and GM should probably read the corresponding sections to account for how they work, especially since Powers also include rules for "Enhancements" and "Restrictions" that may increase or decrease the cost. The final costs are listed on a fairly large table on page 25. Again, players should read the Powers rules first before attempting to use the Cost Table or put bells and whistles on a random-roll character- there are examples of power construction in this section, but no examples of character design.
After all this there are lists of "Secondary Characteristics", including Move and Carry capacity, HITS (hit points, equal to PHYS), NRG (equal to VITL), Leap, Luck (explained on Chapter 13), Wealth and Fame. Some of these have specific base values, some are based on existing stats (again, like NRG) and all can be adjusted upward by buying a certain power (e.g. the Luck power) or down by buying a Weakness (e.g. Unlucky). Again, all these traits have to be double-checked, even if or especially if they're random-rolled. If this whole layout seems a bit disorganized... well, it is.
The Skills section is fairly brief; skills are based on a BC of either DEFT, INTL, or COOL with unskilled use possible based on the Effect roll for that Characteristic. Skills come in two categories: General (skills available to anyone) and Specific (requiring specialized training). Note that if a given Power requires a skill to use, that skill is treated as 'General' for that character. The format is written like: Acrobatics, DEFT/S, where Acrobatics is a DEFT-based Specific skill. Back in the Character Creation section, skills are bought on the same level of character points, except that Specific skills are one rank more expensive (2 CPs buys a Specific Skill at base ability or a General skill at BC +1).
Section 4, Powers, is obviously the section for character superpowers. The master list of powers is on pages 38-39. Powers are classified according to three types on this list: C, P, or V, meaning Continual (always on unless 'held back'), Persistent (which remain active even if the character is KO'ed, but the character cannot regain NRG points unless they're turned off) and Voluntary (deliberately used powers that turn off if the character is knocked out).
Note that in this system certain abilities that other game systems would classify as perks are in the Powers section- for example Local Police Powers is classified as a type of "Legal Powers", a Continual power costing 2 points.
The Equipment Catalog is Section 5 and has a very useful list of items that heroes and villains might carry as everyday gear in terms of what "powers" they convey (a fire extinguisher is 'Negation vs. high temperature' bought with Area and appropriate limitations).
Character Weaknesses, Chapter 6, lists optional character weaknesses that a PC can use to get more CP at character generation. The book advises that these should only be allowed where they count as an actual weakness and are not typical traits (i.e. giving an animal 'Limited Education'). Note that because of this there is no "Secret Identity" weakness; all heroes are assumed to have Secret Identity unless one takes Public Identity as a weakness. Each weakness category is worth a certain number of points, with some having modifiers for how frequently they occur or the Difficulty required on a Luck roll to avoid their effects. (e.g. the aforementioned Public Identity is worth 10 points).
Core Game Mechanics is Section 7. It starts with the Universal Table, which starts with a "score" that has a separate game "effect" and a mathematical value. This is very much like the AP mechanic of DC HEROES, except it doesn't read quite so clearly. The progression is more additive than exponential: It starts with a "score" of 1 representing a value of .75 and 2 being 1.5, 3 being 2.25, etc. However, each score doesn't have a corresponding effect value- score 1 is a game value of d1, and score 2 is d2, but it takes score 4 to get up to d3 and score 7 to get to d4 effect. When cross-referencing, a given score has a certain mathematical value and an effect based on the highest effect level on the chart at or below the score. So in the example, a PHYS Score of 12 has a Value of 14.4 but an Effect of d6. (It takes a Score of 16 to get an Effect of d8)
Using this table the GM can modify Effect Rolls by straight modifiers (1d6 becomes 1d6+2) and Effect Level adjustments (1d6 becomes 1d10, 1d6+2 becomes 1d10+2). With this system, there is a Difficulty Table where 1 is Poor, 2-3 is Mediocre, 7-10 is Superb ('the pinnacle of what is believed to be human ability') and so on. There is also an open-ended "Lucky Break" rule where if you roll max on your Effect Die you can make another roll on the next higher Effect Die and use the better result (so if you started with d2 and rolled 2, you could roll again on d3, and if that got 3, you could roll again on d4; if it rolled less than 4 you would accept the Effect Roll of 3, but if you maxed out on d4 you could roll yet again on d6). There's also a fumble roll; if the minimum result (1 or all 1s) is rolled, the Effect Roll is made again and if that comes up minimum, the character has fumbled. Note that with sufficiently high dice and low difficulty it's still possible to succeed AND fumble (for instance difficulty of 4 and Effect of 3d10+2, the minimum Effect, 5, still succeeds even if it fumbles; there's just a mishap involved at the same time). With this Effect system there are rules for pushing powers, which basically assume that the power uses NRG (you cannot push equipment, and you also cannot push your Luck). There are rules for multiple attacks. These generally adjust the Effect Roll up or down accordingly; for instance if a swordsman with a d8 sword attack attacks three guys the effect is reduced one level for each extra target, so each attack does d4 damage if it hits.
The mathematical Value is used for measuring Score to real-world units. These are given assigned conversions on p. 129- so Velocity is Value in KPH/2, game Time is Value in Minutes/2 or Rounds x4, where a Round is 7.5 seconds.
Character Interaction is Section 8. It covers the use of INTL and COOL based abilities for NPC reactions, character reputation, and so on.
Time and Travel is Section 9, briefly going over the concepts of detailed time (measured in Combat Turns), "Travel Scale" (day-to-day coverage of distance) and downtime between encounters. There is a table detailing the multiplier of travel speed depending on terrain and factors like rushing or searching an area.
Combat is Section 10. Like HERO System the game uses metrics but also like HERO insists on using inches for tabletop measurement. One inch equals two meters distance. Combat Rounds (and character combat Turns) are 7.5 seconds each. Initiative is rolled (per round) as a REFL Effect roll for each character. In a Turn, a character can do both a Movement Phase (doing his Move rate per turn, minus 1" for every 'simple task' like opening an unlocked door) and an Action Phase, where Action is defined as "a task too complex or too critical to be treated as simple movement" (including arguing). In most cases this is resolved simply enough with a relevant Effect Roll modified by range modifier, multiple attacks, and so on. Defense is usually a free action but requires a roll, so the attack action is usually an opposed test. This section includes the tables for both attacker and defender fumbles.
If a target takes over half their Hits from a single strike, they are KO'ed. Damage past this point goes into NRG. At that point the character rolls his VITL Effect against a difficulty based on NRG points lost from wounds or pushing, with failure causing a mortal wound. A character who has been beaten down to zero HITS and NRG dies. A conscious character with no NRG is "fatigued" (-1 to most Effect rolls).
After the basics, the chapter briefly goes over other combat options, like called shots, aiming, using "brawling weapons" like folding chairs or buses, etc. There are rules for advantaged attacks like area effects and autofire, and also for "carrier" attacks (like a poisoned arrow, where the poison hits automatically if the arrow does damage, but cannot hit at all if the arrow does not penetrate)
Game Physics is Section 11. It very briefly details a few miscellaneous rules like the effects of asphyxiation and the "Structural Rating" of certain materials, which affects not only how much armor rating a given material has but how much weight (in Mass Level) a structure of that material could support. Which is nice for determining exactly which buildings a super-heavy character can enter without crashing through the second floor.
Wealth is Section 12. Wealth is a secondary Trait that can be boosted as a Power in character creation. It uses Effect Rolls like everything else, on a scale where a Difficulty of 1 is cab fare and 4 is international airfare. It isn't necessary to roll for any purchase with a Difficulty 3 or more under the character's Wealth Level, and the roll is normally used only for "major" purchases where there's a chance that the character might not afford the purchase. In the superhero world, wealth cannot be used to make equipment purchases that will be used more than once by the superhero identity (such equipment has to be bought with CPs).
Section 13, Luck, is only one page. Basically, a player can use his Luck Effect roll to "get a clue" from the GM or to create some other random element. I'm not sure why this needed a separate section outside the Powers description, but here it is.
Running a Campaign is Section 14. This section starts with the rules for giving out Experience Points (EPs). As in HERO, EPs are spent in the same manner as CPs, although on a scale where a reward of 4 EPs requires that "the fate of the universe must hang in the balance" (!) And as in HERO, the GM can assign "tagged" EPs (if PCs had to learn a particular skill in the course of the story, they get a point in that skill, for instance).
Then there's a d12 roll table of villain motivations. Then there's an index. Then there's a sample Darkling villainess and a blank character sheet. That's it.
SUMMARY
The main selling point of Living Legends is a low cost for the PDF product, and while it's a comparatively brief amount of text, it doesn't seem to have any gaping holes that aren't addressed. It just doesn't address things in great detail. The brevity of text should also mean simplicity, but that isn't necessarily the case; again there's a lot of stuff that needs to be added together for character creation, much like with Palladium. Of course Palladium proves that the old school tables-and-rolls approach to character creation does have an appeal.
This system does work, and the Universal Table is indeed universal, but again it's not as easy to grasp as DC HEROES, and requires more math conversions and dice conversions. So if you're looking for a superhero game that has less math than HERO System, GURPS, or Mutants & Masterminds and is also easier to teach new players... this ain't it.
Style: 3
The layout and art in Living Legends is basically average. Again, I wish it were otherwise.
Substance: 3
Living Legends is an effective system for superheroes, but not good or distinctive enough to put it above its competitors.
