Simple Superheroes and the Unleashed Engine QA

So I have been working on Simple Superheroes for a long time, and as of August 2016 it is officially in print. Long past time to start a conversation here about it. Here are some answers to questions:

How long have you been working on Simple Superheroes?

Simple Superheroes started with the working title Gritty Superheroes. Fairly early on I realized that there wasn't much in the rules that really made the game gritty, and you could easily play it in much more "relaxed" way to have more powerful heroes. One of the stretch goals from the kickstarter was to include guidelines and some additional rules for playing at 4 different power tiers: Vigilante, Empowered, Planetary and Cosmic.
(The building blocks of powers, called Talents are narrow and it's easy to deal considerable damage. But this doesn't require "grit.")

It was renamed Simple Superheroes to reflect the ease of character and power generation, and ease of the overall system. It briefly ran under the title Superheroes Unleashed, as the intent of the game has always been to unleash player and GM creativity. "Unleash your creativity" is still a tagline of the game.

All told it has been 7 years since I first wrote a rule down for Simple Superheroes. In that time I have run a ton of convention games. If my records are right I've run 108 convention games of Simple Superheroes.  This has improved the game a great deal, and there have been various pre-releases along the way to generate feedback.

So the Unleashed Engine is?
What powers Simple Superheroes. At some point I expect I will develop a Mecha Unleashed game using a modified version of the rules, and may even consider a Fantasy Unleashed game. I always believed that different genres thrive on differnt types of rules, so while these upcoming products will be in the same "rules family"
The Unleashed Engine uses d6s, has successes and opposed rolls and a framework that lets you name, rate and define individual Talents. Given the right circumstances you can pool Talents together. The Simple Superheroes iteration features Relations, which help tie your character into the world and let you regain Strainpoints. Strainpoints can be used to gain extra dice, pull off stunts and generally do cool things. All of this is outlined in free Heart of Simple Superheroes PDF.

What is Issue #0?
Issue #0 is the core rulebook, it includes extensive play examples, about 30 heroes and villains to befuddle your players, and a mini-scenario. It's available through the CDG Marketplace (which should be of particular interest to Canadians) and from Indie Press Revolution. It is already in over a dozen FLGS.

Folks sometimes ask if there is a particular setting or age tied into the game. I've always felt that this is the role of the GM's campaign and supplements, not a core rulebook. Which is why we'll be coming out with Issue #1, 2, 3 etc. There is some setting elements in the book, with several short examples of Universes and Cities as well as same flavour that hero and villain descriptions bring. However the focuses of Simple Superheroes #0 is always on giving you tools.

What else would you like to know?
Ask me questions, that's what this thread is for.