Greetings! My name is Bravesteel.

I was the lead protagonist of Galactic

Heroes, a short-lived cartoon from the 1980s. And Im here to give you a
quick rundown of the Cartoon Action Hour: Season 3 game system.

How dare you fail to introduce me -- Kargorr the Conqueror,

also known as Kargorr the Despotic, Kargorr the Magnificent,
Kargorr the All-Powerful, Kargorr the...
Alright, alright. Im sure they get the point. Kargorr, who never
acquired any of the titles he was boasting about, was my arch
enemy on the show. Now, he acts as my co-host in the rulebook.

Feh. Its the other way around. Im the host and youre my cohost. Dont try to elevate yourself higher than you actually are,
you half-witted buffoon!

Keep dreaming, Kargorr. Anyway, this document isnt intended to

give readers all the rules; rather, the intent is to showcase the basics and even hit upon some of the less central elements. Lets get
going, shall we?

Defining Characters
Special Rules

Traits

Special Rules are rules that can be given to a Trait to alter how it
functions in the game. For example, the Situational Boost bolsters a Traits effectiveness under certain conditions (while underwater, at night, against metal targets, etc.).

Every character has a list of Traits that reflect what he or she is

particularly good at. Traits can represent inborn abilities, skills,
knacks, knowledge, perks, equipment, vehicles, companions,
powers, magic or anything else that makes a character who he or
she is.

Qualities

Arent you going to give these imbeciles the list of Traits, you
twit?

Qualities are miscellaneous tidbits that can help or hinder the

character during the game.

Of course not... because there is no definitive list of Traits. When

you make a character, you get to come up with your own Traits.
If you want your character to be a gifted athlete, give him or her
a Trait called (you guessed it) GIFTED ATHLETE. If you envision
your character to be a leader, go with LEADER. If your character
is to be a master of the martial arts, jot down MASTER OF THE
MARTIAL ARTS. This allows you to bring your ideas to life without
having to conform to a rigid, unbending Trait list.

One Quality (known as the Signature Quality) defines the characters role, archetype, profession or gimmick. Think of it as the
little blurb beneath the characters picture on the back of the old
action figure packages that gave kids a nutshell idea of what the
character was all about (Computer Specialist, Evil Overlord,
Commando, etc.).
The characters other Qualities (known as Standard Qualities)
tend to be narrower in scope and often tie in to the characters
personality or background (Afraid of Crowds, Was Once a King,
Risk Taker, In Love with [insert name], etc.).

Bah! Players need to be controlled like the sheep that they are! I
demand a Trait list!

Ratings

Each of a characters Traits is measured by a rating. The higher the

rating, the better he or she is in that area. Most normal humans
have ratings of between 1 and 4. Anything higher than that is
considered superhuman, augmented, enhanced or otherwise
beyond the reach of normal humans.

Star Power
Characters possess a Star Power rating of between 1 and 4 that
defines their place in the shows hierarchy. Star Power affects numerous aspects of a character both during character creation and
during the game.

Checks
the GM can just add 6 to the Trait rating to get the DN.

Making Checks

Normal Checks

When the action isnt directly against another character (jumping

over a chasm, lifting a boulder, etc.), the GM chooses an appropriate base difficulty number and adds it to the roll of a die to determine the DN. Alternatively, the GM can just add 6 to the base
difficulty number to get the DN.

Whenever the GM feels that the outcome of an action or situation

would be made more interesting by adding a random element,
he can require a check. A check is simply a roll that must be made
to determine success or failure.
To make a check, roll a d12 and add the most appropriate Trait
rating to it (or add nothing should the character be without an
applicable Trait). If the result is equal to or higher than the Difficulty Number (DN), the characters action is successful.

Other Factors
Qualities

If one of the characters Standard Qualities would either be helpful or detrimental, the GM can add 2 to the Trait rating or to the
DN, respectively. If the former is the case, the Trait cannot grant
a bonus for the rest of the episode. If the characters Signature
Quality would prove helpful, the player rolls a Benefit Die along
with the normal die, choosing the highest of the two rolls.

Difficulty Numbers
So, how is the DN determined?
Naturally, the DN should be much lower for villains than for
heroes! This is because heroes are boring and nobody wants to
see them succeed. They must be squahed, thwarted and made to
look like fools at every turn!

Flubs and Boons

If you roll a natural 1 (i.e., the die actually lands on 1) while making a check, a flub occurs. The action automatically fails and you
may not alter it using Oomph. Furthermore, if the flub happens
during an action scene, the character automatically gains a Setback Token; he or she falls on their face, drops their weapon, gets
hit by a counter-attack, becomes tangled up in some vines, etc.

Youre hopeless! For what its worth, Kargorr is wrong. DNs arent
determined by whether the character is a hero or villain. Instead,
those numbers are based on what type of check it is:

Opposed Checks

If you roll a natural 12 (i.e., the die actually lands on 12) while
making a check, a boon occurs. When this happens, double the
characters Star Power score and add it to the checks result.

When the action is contested by another character, the contesting character chooses an appropriate Trait and makes a check
with it. The result is the DN for the acting character. Alternatively,

Action Scenes
A character attempting to traverse dangerous terrain (leaping
from one vehicle to another, hopping from rock to rock, climbing
a cliff, etc.)

What is an Action Scene?

Anyone who has ever watched a retro-toon can tell you that
action of some kind is never too far away. Whether its a thrill-asecond chase, a sprawling battle between armies, a one-on-one
fight, a race against time or some other segment of the story
designed to get the viewers adrenaline pumping, action scenes
were plentiful. Not only were they plentiful, they were also vibrant, dynamic and fast-paced!

Conversely, these instances probably shouldnt be crucial checks:

A character attempting to pick up an item
A character attempting to spot a hard-to-see object
A character attempting to push open a heavy door

Standard Crucial Checks

Some crucial checks are standard checks (leaping from one airship to another, bounding over a chasm, etc.), wherein failure
means that the character making the check gains a Setback
Token.

In Cartoon Action Hour: Season 3, sequences of this nature are

called action scenes. Whenever the excitement begins, the Game
Master will announce that an action scene has begun.

For standard crucial checks, the character must make a standard

check and if he fails, he gains a Setback Token.

Crucial Checks

Opposed Crucial Checks

When the success or failure of a check could cause a character to

either receive or deal a Setback Token, it is called a crucial check.
Generally speaking, anything that could harm or hinder a character will be a crucial check, which means that most of the ones
made during an action scene should qualify.

Most crucial checks are opposed checks (attacks, attempts to outwit each other, chases, etc.), wherein one specific character gains
a Setback Token if he fails. The acting character (i.e., the one whose
turn it is) is attempting to force a Setback Token on the reacting
character (i.e., the one hes attempting to give a Setback Token to).

The following instances are examples of crucial checks:

For opposed crucial checks, the characters must make an opposed check. If the acting character succeeds, the reacting character receives a Setback Token. If the reacting character succeeds,
he doesnt gain a Setback Token.

A character attempting to attack another character

A character attempting to capture another character
A character attempting to pursue a fleeing character
A character attempting to trick or outwit another character
A character attempting to confuse, frustrate or befuddle another
character

Gah! Your ceaseless prttle has denied me a chance to get a word

in edgewise!

Setback Tokens and Defeat

The attack targets loose boulders, which roll onto the character, trapping him.
The attack knocks the character unconscious.
The character becomes so flustered that he cannot contribute to the scene in any meaningful way.
The attack flings the character into a wall, which crumbles on top of him.
The attack cuts down a tree, which topples over onto the character.
The character is tricked into thinking the enemy has gone elsewhere and thus follows the trail
away from the location in which the scene is taking place.
The attackers dog-pile the character, capturing him.
The attacks impact causes the character to be sent back into vine-laden trees and he gets tangled
up in them.
The character being chased is caught by the pursuer.
The attack forces the character to flee (villains only!).
The attack sends the character over the edge of a cliff, delaying him long enough for the villain to
get away.
The attacker goads the character into moving onto a trap door that leads to a secret prison cell by
way of a grav-tunnel.

Setback Tokens
During action scenes, characters acquire Setback Tokens. Setback
Tokens dont necessarily represent damage that the character has
suffered (although that can certainly be the case as well). Rather,
they can represent any type of impediment imaginable, from
a character becoming subdued by vines to a character getting
so flustered that he cant even see straight. Anything that sets a
character back is worthy of resulting in a Setback Token; hence
the name.

Defeat is for sissies! I, for one, have never been defeated in combat. Not once!

Whatever the case may be, each Setback Token gained by a character brings him one step closer to failure.

I have one word to say to you, Kargorr: Ziggle. Even the cute companion kicked your tail!

Individual Setback Tokens have no actual effect on the character.

However, a character can only safely acquire a number of Setback
Tokens equal to his Star Power score. If he acquires more than
that, he is Defeated (see Defeat below) and may not participate
further in the action scene.

My defeat at Ziggles hands was a fluke! A fluke, I tell you!

Insta-Defeat

It is entirely possible for any character to be taken completely out

of the scene with only one crucial check. This is emulated in the
game rules with Insta-Defeat. A character is in danger of being
Insta-Defeated any time he gains a Setback Token as the result of
an opposed crucial check.

Defeat
In Cartoon Action Hour: Season 3, when a character goes down
for the count, its referred to simply as Defeat.

If the acting character succeeds in the check and his or her check
result is higher than the reacting characters DN by an amount
equal to or greater than the reacting characters Star Power x2,
the reacting character is Insta-Defeated. Thus, a character with
Star Power 3 would be Insta-Defeated if the final DN is at least 6
higher than his or her DN.

As mentioned earlier, gaining an amount of Setback Tokens higher

than the characters Star Power score causes the character to be
Defeated. A Defeated character no longer participates in the scene.
The Defeat can be described any number of ways. Here are some
examples, but keep in mind that the possibilities are endless.

Oomph
include when the GM decides that the characters Qualities would
be detrimental or when the player comes up with a clever idea.

About Oomph

The GM has more limited means of gaining Oomph than players

do, though we cant go into that here due to a lack of space.

Oomph is an expendable resource that separates heroes and

villains from other characters in the series. Points of Oomph can
be spent to bend the game rules in various ways, all of which are
described in the rulebook.

Likely excuse! The truth is that you simply want to keep us villains
down! I shall make you pay for that!
Sure you will.

Starting Oomph
Spending Oomph
Each PC starts every episode with a number of Oomph equal to
his Star Power score. The player can spend his characters Oomph
as he sees fit (see below).

Players can spend Oomph on a whole slew of things, from re-rolls

and avoiding Insta-Defeat to editing scenes and automatically
avoiding laser blasts fired by lowly minions (hey, those blasts
never seemed to hit heroes in the retro-toons no matter how
many shots were being fired!).

The GM doesnt have a constant pool of Oomph to draw upon.

Instead, he receives an Oomph pool on a per-scene basis. The
exact amount is equal to the number of PCs in the scene, plus the
Star Power of the GMC with the highest Star Power involved in
the scene. The GM can spend the Oomph in his pool to benefit all
GMCs. The GMs Oomph pool dissipates entirely once the scene
ends.

Leftover Oomph
If a PC has any points of Oomph remaining at the end of an episode,
they are converted into Leftover Oomph on a one-for-one basis. Furthermore, if the PC participated in the After-Show Message of the episode, he or she automatically gains a free point of Leftover Oomph.

Earning Oomph
Players can earn Oomph in a variety of ways, though the primary
way to do so is by roleplaying in accordance with the conventions of the retro-toon genre. Other methods of gaining Oomph

Leftover Oomph can be used to improve your characters abilities between seasons... representing a brand new version of the
characters action figure!