Malcolm Harris and Relentless Fiction have released a new superhero roleplaying game called The Watch.
The complete standalone book introduces a system built around mechanics that reward character choices and dramatic progression rather than pure physical attributes. The game is published digitally under the Relentless Fiction banner on DriveThruRPG and listed via the Nuclear Gel-O Games imprint for its physical Amazon print edition, bringing a comic-book style directly to its layout and distribution.
The title focuses on a team of heroes who choose hope in a challenging setting. This design departs from typical grimdark tropes, leaning instead into cinematic teamwork and explicit mechanical rewards for character development. Players construct their heroes using seven distinct Foundations and twenty-one separate Power categories, navigating a fast-paced dice pool system designed to simulate classic comic book action sequences.
A mechanics breakdown of earned hope
The book provides complete rules for character generation, covering specific hero Tricks and starting equipment, as well as the core capability groups. The system implements a dedicated Drama Point mechanic. Rather than escalating strictly based on physical power or combat victories, character advancement tracks how a hero changes and adapts through the trials of the plot.
For the game master, the book includes an eleven-mission toolkit filled with specific adventure seeds, alongside a fully documented sample mission. The non-player characters and adversaries utilise the exact same structural rules as the player characters. This choice ensures mechanical consistency across combat and social encounters.
The Superpunk setting
The world within The Watch features traditional government bodies, alien elements, and a secret supernatural community. This mixture draws directly on the established design philosophy of Malcolm Harris, who has previously worked on titles such as Witch Girls Adventures and Nemesis: A Perfect World. The release is accompanied by an official theme song, solidifying the multi-media approach intended for the project.
The core rulebook is a 152-page document formatted to match an independent comic book issue. It features a streamlined dice pool engine that requires player characters to coordinate actions to overcome high-threat scenarios, placing tactical value on narrative cooperation.
The digital edition is now available on DriveThruRPG, and the print version is available as an independently published book on Amazon.
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