Five or So Questions on Disposable Heroes

Hi y’all! Today I’ve got an interview with Liam and Ren from Sandy Pug Games about Disposable Heroes, which is currently on Kickstarter! It sounds like an interesting take on superheroics. Check out their responses below!

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Tell me a little about Disposable Heroes. What excites you about it?

Liam: So the basic pitch is a PbTA/Dungeon World based game where the playbooks are replaced by cards that are rapidly cycled in and out of play. We got rid of HP for the heroes, and made it so every hit they take is deadly – when they die, they discard their card and draw a new one – with a new class, weapon and set of stats. Obviously this changes the dynamic of the game a lot, and pushes players to get really creative with their class powers. One thing that I tell people is; you know how every pbta playbook has That One Move. The one that makes you go “oooh snap, yes, this is it right here”? What we tried to do with Disposable Heroes is capture that feeling the whole game. We want players to be hyped and excited and have their minds race when they draw a new character.

I’m also really pumped about the art design. We’ve tapped into the electro-neon-funk of Jet Set Radio and Lethal League where possible, lots of vibrant and loud colors, high energy, thick line art. Stuff rarely, if ever, seen in TTRPGs. It’s mostly being done by my partner Ren, who also came up with the core concept and who I’m assisting with the game, but if funding goes well we’ll also be bringing a bunch of guest artists on board to do a set of the cards – and they have a wide wide variety of styles that we’re really excited to showcase. Like so many Sandy Pug projects, I guess what I’m most thrilled about is getting to show off the amazing talents of other folx.

This sounds very cool! How have you altered the PbtA type system to suit this, beyond HP, to make the disposability snappy but still really grabby?

Liam: Honestly, not a whole lot had to be done to adapt the system itself – We encourage GMs to run things so that whenever they can inflict damage as a move, they do so, and we made armor ablative rather than subtractive (That is, it acts as a HP pool for characters that have it). The rest of the changes really come from applying the PBTA system to a card game. Making moves around the deck and drawing and such. Dungeon World already feels, at least in my opinion and experience, snappy and exciting. Making it so you’re constantly getting new tools to solve problems just amplifies what’s already there in a big way.

That art sounds amazing. What are some of the benefits of a variety of artists and how it presents the characters in your game?

Liam: For a start, it means your game looks amazing. I’m a big believer in the idea that having lots of perspectives and ideas makes a project grow and pop more than anything. All the artists have their own really cool takes on the characters who are, remember, just a class and a name and an animal for the most part. To see them take those ideas and make this logo that screams a ton of personality is worth it all by itself for me.

On a more mercenary level, having a big team has always helped Sandy Pug Games punch above our weight. One person yelling about the game they made is one thing, having 10 people doing the same yelling amplifies things a whole bunch, and I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a consideration when we were kicking around ideas. As for how it changes how characters are presented – you know how people tend toward the same kind of themes for their characters in TTRPGs sometimes? I know I’m a big fan of Fighters With Cool Weapons and playing Tieflings all the time, I find artists tend to have a “vibe”, and while Ren’s vibe is really freaking awesome, it’s rad to get a bunch more “vibes” on the project.

What are the heroes like? Who these one-punch people?

Ren:They are Delivery beings just trying to get the job done and go home in one piece! I say beings because we like to allow players imagination run wild on this one. The heroes are anything from literal animals, animal humanoids, or humans dressed up with ears and tails and process said animal characteristics. As the artist, I particularly found it amusing to imagine a literal whale using a hovercraft pool as a means to get around on land. The art in particular allows for creative leeway and a more versatile cast. 

What are the activities like in Disposable Heroes? What do players encounter?

Liam: Although the Heroes’ main goal is delivering a package, their missions take them through treacherous, neo-future dungeons. The game is essentially a classic dungeon crawler; our heroes solve puzzles, dodge traps, fight monsters, and the usual. The only real twist is the package has to remain intact and undamaged, then instead of facing off against the Big Bad Guy at the end, they simply deliver it. Gotta get that 5 Star Rating!

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Thanks so much to Liam and Ren for the interview! I hope you enjoyed it and that you’ll check out Disposable Heroes on Kickstarter today!