Superworld

The game box contains

• three rules booklets
  • "Superheroes Book" (32 pages): character creation rules, the game system itself, and two character sheets with a male and female standing silhouette.
  • "Superpowers Book" (40 pages): the Powers available to the characters, Advantages and Disadvantages that can be applied to them, and Disabilities that can affect the character. The interior covers have two more character sheets, this time with silhouettes of a male and female in flight.
  • "Gamemasters Book" (40 pages): various aspects of a campaign, the legal system, animals, and the creation of organizations adapted to a superhero universe, with three specific examples: FIRE for Free Investigatory Research Enterprise, FORCE for Federal Organization for the Registration and Certification of Exotics, and the Omega Institute. The "Gamemasters Book" also includes two scenarios: "Deadly Devices of Doctor Dread", which pits a team of heroes against the Dr. Dread of the title and his subordinates, and "The Haunting", which describes a mysterious and ancient tome desired by a mystical super-villain.
• a booklet of character sheets,
• a booklet of tables for the Gamemaster,
• a page of cardboard figure silhouettes to be cut out,
• some 6-sided, 8-sided, and 20-sided dice.

Editions printed in 1984 and later also contain a 4-page booklet of errata.[1]

Characters are generated by rolling two six-sided dice and adding 6, to produce scores for Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, Dexterity, and Appearance. The sum of these characteristics gives a total of Hero Points used to buy super powers. Hero Points can also be used to buy skills or increase characteristics. It is possible to earn more Hero Points by choosing a Disability such as Public Identity, Vulnerability to a Substance, or Psychological Problems. More Hero Points are awarded for experience at the end of each game session.

The super powers system imitates the system used in Hero Games' Champions superhero game, where powers are described by their effects, not by their causes. For example, the player does not buy "Laser Vision" to cause an energy blast, but instead buys the effect "Energy Blast", which specifies that it caused by a laser beam emitted by the hero's eyes. Each effect can be modified by Advantages (less energy expenditure, for example) or Disadvantages (reduced number of uses, for example) which increase or reduce the cost of a power.

As with all games using the Basic Role-Playing rules, skill tests and combat are resolved by rolling percentile dice against skills. Rolls that are much lower than needed can result in increased effect, while high rolls can cause critical failures. Combat rules have many options and take into account three types of energy for damage: Kinetic, Electric, and Radiation.