You’ve seen the pattern many times: hero gets badly wronged by villain, only to come back later to deliver a storm of butt-kickin’ rage.

A true cliche of the action genre, indeed—extremely easy to replicate in Darkworm Colt’s FURY!

The character gets Fury! whenever is serioulsly beaten or humiliated by the bad guys (like, nailed to the Tree of Woe) or a partner, best friend, lover, master, etc. is killed. At any time later during the adventure, release Fury! to change a single die to 8 (of course, you can do this after you roll).

Norbert Matausch just released FURY!, a game of high-octane fightin’, shootin’ and special ops based on Big MutherF*in’ Crab Truckers rules (by now with 7+ add-on settings). As soon as I read it, I just couldn’t help start having these ideas about mixing Hong Kong movies and The A-Team.

So, enter the SKY DRAGON SPECIAL ATTACK TEAM (which apparently was how The A-Team was called in China and Taiwan; why waste such a good name?). The premise is pretty much the same: a bunch of expandable experts that somehow got wronged helps the innocent (though perhaps more questionable assignments may also be accepted).

Roll some d8s and check the results on the tables below to generate your member team and get a few ideas about the adventure. (Some of the assignment entries come straight from my own game Soldier With No Name, as they seem equally appropriate.)

YOUR ROLE
1 SPECIALIST (Operation! + three other traits)
2 ENFORCER (Fight! + three other traits)
3 POWERHOUSE (Strong! + three other traits)
4 WILDCARD (any four traits you want)
5 LEADER. You are the group’s mastermind, usually in charge of recruiting members and dealing with contractors. You start with Chief! and three other traits.
6 FACE. Smooth-talking and suave, you can get in anywhere and almost anything. You start with Sway! and three other traits.
7 DAREDEVIL. You’re a professional risk-taker, used to perform all kinds of crazy stunts—acrobatics, piloting, horse riding, you name it. You start with Stunt! and three other traits.
8 WEIRD. You contribute to the group with psychic powers, yoga mastery, shamanic mojo or whatever strange ability you got. You start with [name your thing]! and three other traits.
(Note that the first four entries were already presented in the core rules; the last four can be considered Specialist or Wildcard variations.)

YOUR OTHER TRAITS… (reroll if you already has the trait or it is part of Operation! or Fight!)
1 Kung Fu!
2 Gun Fu!
3 Strong!
4 Quick!
5 Brash!
6 Smart!
7 Car Fu!
8 Alert!

…AND A FEW MORE!
1 Smooth!
2 Tough!
3 Demo!
4 Track!
5 Hack!
6 Fix!
7 Medic!
8 Hot!

YOUR BACKGROUND/FAILED CAREER
1 Cop
2 Commando
3 Criminal
4 Entertainer
5 Gang member
6 Martial artist
7 Special agent
8 Working-class

YOUR PERSONALITY
1 Gentle
2 Hot-headed
3 Melancholic
4 Protective
5 Rude
6 Thrill-seeker
7 Wisecracking
8 Zen

YOUR TROUBLE (something that could put the mission in jeopardy; when seeing fit, the GM rolls a d8 and it comes up on 1-4)
1 Haunted (perhaps literally) by a loss, a mistake or the people you killed
2 Hopelessly naive
3 Revenge consumes you
4 Scarred—you’ve seen too much
5 Skeletons in the closet
6 Wanted (maybe you’re innocent, maybe not)
7 You pissed off a lot of dangerous people over the years
8 You took a vow (such as never take a life again, or never use guns)

THE ASSIGNMENT
1 Protect a neighborhood/village from a gang (that is backed up by a corporation)
2 Infiltrate an illegal tournament in order to put down a criminal operation
3 Capture a corrupt general, turned dictator of an insular nation
4 Protect the only witness of a corruption net within the police
5 Find (and eventually rescue) someone who disappeared during a trip, rave, etc.
6 Stop a gang wars after the son of a crimelord is killed
7 Protect an artifact (or the vessel) from a strange cult who intends to use it for a ritual
8 Capture a criminal (alive) before the wrong person is executed

THE MAIN VILLAIN
1 CEO
2 Corrupt politician
3 Crimelord
4 Corrupt general
5 Martial arts master
6 Mercenary leader
7 Weapons dealer
8 Ancient sorcerer (why not?)
(Roll their traits if you need, as well as a villain personality below; do the same for relevant henchmen.)

VILLAIN PERSONALITY
1 Ardilous
2 Arrogant
3 Bloodthirsty
4 Elegant
5 Greedy
6 Honored
7 Obsessed
8 Sadist

THE TWIST
1 There is a third faction
2 There are hostages
3 Someone even worse backs up the bad guys
4 An enemy or a rival from the past comes up
5 Someone the good guys care about is deeply involved
6 The good guys are betrayed by an informant or their own contractor
7 A bigshot wants to erase any evidence of his/her participation
8 The villains got a nuclear warhead!

A tribute to the late Kenji Ohba, without whose talent tokusatsu would never have achieved the same success.

The Metal Hero franchise, started with Gavan (1982), featured policemen and other fighters wearing chromed suits protecting the universe (and Earth) against intergalactic conquerors, space pirates, cyborgs, witches and — of course — giant monsters! More than enough elements for a respectable campaign.

That said, the tables below may give inspiration for campaigns in such a setting. Ambitious referees might even innovate on top of the series’ traditional structure -- for example, by introducing multiple factions, or taking the action off-Earth!

Ideas for the hero

The standard gear of a Metal Hero includes: a suit that convers all the body in a fraction of a second, protecting even from the vacuum of space and amplyfing strength, speed and senses; a sword; a laser pistol; a space cruiser and as many vehicles as needed. Don’t forget to give a proper name to each item, vehicle and technique!

ORIGIN
1 police officer who followed in the footsteps of a missing parent/relative
2 police officer who accidentally came from another dimension
3 explorer/scholar who came to learn about Earth
4 orphan, perhaps the sole survivor of their destroyed world
5 earthling who received powers by accident or merit
6 reformed criminal, seeking for redemption

PROFESSION (if earthling or wanting to blend in)
1 detective (1-3) or forest ranger (4-6)
2 reporter (1-3) or photographer (4-6)
3 teacher (1-3) or school assistant (4-6)
4 explorer (1-3) or academic (4-6)
5 farmhand (1-3) or other job (4-6)
6 none — full-time hero!

ASSISTANT
1 police officer in training
2 android
3 animal robot (1-2 dog; 3-4 bird; 5-6 other)
4 monster child
5 earthling (roll a profession)
6 choose two above

ASSISTANT’S ABILITY
1 technological knowledge
2 ESP or other special senses
3 disguise or shapeshifting
4 utility belt
5 trained combatant (though not as trained as the hero)
6 comunicates with animals (and irrational monsters)

MAIN WEAPONS (roll separately for melee weapon and gun)
1-3 sword / pistol
4-5 double sword / pair of pistols or rifle
6 only punches and kicks / shots from the hands

EXTRA WEAPON/ABILITY (roll 3 times)
1 backup weapon (hidden)
2 force field
3 luminous form
4 dimensional arena
5 revitalizing ray
6 all of the above

SPECIAL SENSES (roll 3 times)
1 optical sensor (X-ray, infrared, etc.)
2 acute hearing
3 chemical sensors
4 radar
5 pattern analyzer
6 all of the above

VEHICLES AND CRUISER FORMS (roll 3 times)
1 flying motorcycle
2 jet
3 tank (with drill)
4 giant robot (humanoid)
5 giant robot animal (1-3) or giant cannon (4-6)
6 all of the above

SUIT COLOR
1 silver
2 gold
3 red
4 blue
5 black
6 green (1-2), purple (3-4) ou bronze (5-6)

Ideas for the campaign

In general, Metal Heroes must deal with a criminal organization or an empire of intergalactic or interdimensional conquerors that intends to seize Earth’s natural resources and enslave its inhabitants. Besides the main villain, there is a general and several lieutenants (with intrigues and betrayals among them), plus the monsters or mercenaries sent every week; many of these have unique abilities and weaknesses that must be discovered and exploited in order to defeat them.

MAIN VILLAIN
1 warlord
2 archimage
3 scientist who transferred their mind to another being/machine
4 mysterious figure, about which little is known
5 living planet or black hole
6 hibernating monster-god

WHAT THE VILLAINS WANT
1 annex Earth to their growing empire
2 rebuild their ancient empire using Earth as a base
3 sell Earth with its resources
4 absorb the earthlings’ psychic/spiritual energy
5 raise a mutant army with the Earth beings’ DNA
6 awaken ancient monsters or find an artifact

GENERAL/LIUTENANT (roll as many times as needed)
1 soldier/knight
2 witch/priest
3 space pirate/bounty hunter
4 scientist
5 mutant
6 renegade ex-cop

SOMETHING ABOUT THE VILLAIN
1 cyborg (1-3) or clone of the hero (4-6)
2 has psychic/supernatural powers
3 uses a suit and vehicles just alike to the hero’s
4 can enrage monsters
5 has a monstrous pet
6 has a hidden, more powerful form

SOMETHING MORE ABOUT THE VILLAIN
1 someone related to the hero, missing or presumed dead
2 is being controlled by the main villain
3 has a secret trump card against the main villain
4 is the main villain in disguise
5 deep down they like one of the villains (1-2), the hero (3-4) or another character (5-6)
6 is a secret informant or agent of another faction

PERSONALITY
1 ardilous
2 furious
3 flamboyant
4 sadistic
5 quiet
6 honored

MONSTER FORM
1 mammal
2 avian (1-3) ou reptile (4-6)
3 fish (1-2), amphibian (3-4) ou plant/fungus (5-6)
4 arthropod (1-3) or other invertebrate (4-6)
5 made of stone (1-2), metal (3-4) or other material (5-6)
6 hybrid (roll or choose from two above)

MONSTER’S SPECIAL ABILITY
1 only those inherent to the form
2 energy discharge
3 acid or toxins
4 psychic powers
5 camouflage or illusions
6 energy absorption

EPISODE ELEMENTS (roll d66 until you get enough ideas)
11 animal
12 trap
13 weapon
14 artifact
15 attack
21 hunt
22 cave
23 control
24 child
25 desappearing
26 disaster
31 spirit
32 experiment
33 spell
34 forest
35 fortress
36 fugitive
41 gang
42 invasion
43 machine
44 sea/river/lake
45 monster
46 mountain
51 shipwreck
52 partner
53 request
54 powers
55 prophecy
56 kidnapping
61 royalty
62 refugee
63 rivalry
64 sacrifice
65 test
66 vengeance

Ideas for the system

Being a huge Fighting Fantasy fan, I indicate its rules (as close to the gamebooks as possible) to almost every setting, in this case with a single change: LUCK is called SPIRIT, representing determination, a sense of duty and a yearning for justice, and is tested in the same situations, especially to protect oneself from strange powers and to increase or reduce damage (with special techniques); the hero recovers SPIRIT points when something raises their morale -- or awakens their wrath!

The hero utilizes their own stats when piloting vehicles and robots, receiving a -3 penalty to SKILL when not wearing their suit. Fighting without the proper equipment/vehicle imposes penalties to Attack Strength: -2 against armed opponents; -2 against vehicles; -4 against giant monsters!

Or, for a more freeform approach, everything is resolved according to the logic of the genre — or by 2d6 vs. 2d6, applying a bonus to the stronger side.