Sentinel Comics RPG Core Rulebook

As you set up a scene, describe each challenge,
group of minions, or villain separately in vivid
detail. Take a short pause between describing each
element, and then say “And THEN…” before
adding the next one. New players will give you the
look of people finding themselves in way over their
heads. Experienced players will likely lean forward
in anticipation as they’ll start planning and dividing
tasks to save the day once again. Either way, the
connection between the heroes and the forces
arrayed will increase with as the stakes presented
at the table are identified.
A Bit of Love for the Helpers
As in all action games featuring lots of cool combatfocused
tricks, there’s plenty of incentive to go all
out and punch things during each player’s turn. The
thing is, many heroes have great dice tricks and
bonuses that create powerful Boost and Hinder
mods. This makes them very efficient supporting
characters, which can sometimes be a thankless
job, depending on the group of players. In such
cases, feel free to reward players who are willing
to play the support role with additional information
about the scene at hand. Have them notice clues,
additional details, or some hints that tie this scene
to the next. You can even pass secret notes to
them with information that only they have, giving
them a choice between sharing the secret with
the other heroes, or keeping it to themselves for
now… or maybe forever!
Paul chooses a power,
quality, and status for
muerto, makes a roll, and
creates a bonus of 2.
Such an approach allows an investigation-based
hero to perform investigation-like actions in the
midst of high flying action and daring acts of rescue,
and also provides a story-based reason to explain
where the mod comes from.
Keep Hope Alive
On the flip side, as challenging as you make things
appear, always strive to make sure the players don’t
lose faith in their ability to win. You have tools you
can use to tweak the challenge level one way or
another as heroes struggle to turn the tide. Divide
the villains, minions, and lieutenants among all the
heroes that can take damage to avoid ganging up
on any one hero. If minions become too numerous,
have some perform secondary actions like Boost,
Defend, or Hinder instead of straight out Attacking
the heroes.
Of course, if things go too smoothly for the
heroes, use twists when you can to bring up the
challenge level a bit.
180
The GM’s Principles