I’m likely to run a return of this guy using Mutants & Masterminds (either 2e or 3e, if we convert our campaign over) but ICONS is a terrific “superhero scratchpad” system for creating and benchmarking characters quickly and easily.

Special bonus: Here’s a massive list of DC heroes and villains and stated up for ICONS including Batman, Superman, the Justice Society, Teen Titans and many, many more. Perfect for an instant low-cal DC Universe campaign!

Captain London, Jack Wilkes
Origin: Transformed

Prowess 6, Coordination 3, Strength 4
Intellect 4, Awareness 3, Willpower 5
Stamina 9, Determination 1

Time Control 7 (Super-Speed, Fast Attack, Paralysis)

Specialities: Military, Mechanics Expert, Leadership
Connections: British Army, Motivation: End the war (by any means necessary)
Challenges: Public Figure, Going Slightly Mad

Hope you’re having a great weekend, all!

Oh, and when I say long-running, I mean long-running. This campaign kicked off while the Secret Wars was still being published back in 1984 so we were gaming events set after a story arc that hadn’t even ended. And it’s still going strong!

Anyhow. One of those long and winding journeys journeys took us back to events at the tail-end of World War II where each nation strove to duplicate US successes with the Super-Soldier serum. Every nation wanted a Captain America – in fact, they needed an battalion of them to replace the countless losses they had faced on the battlefield. If one man could possess the power of ten, whoever had a multitude of them might yet win the war.

In the UK, they succeeded.

The nation’s first Super-Soldier was designated Captain London. Eager to boast of their achievement and prove this was no one-off accident, the government called for one man from each county to step forward and accept the call of the superhero. While the serum worked, it affected each volunteer differently. It was apparently influenced by the hero’s psyche as much as by their physical health.

The result was almost 50 paranormals, from the time-manipulating Captain London himself to the craggy rock-creature Captain Yorkshire. I forget many of the powers we gave these guys, but remember Captain Wales (who could turn into a dragon) and tiny Captain Rutland (our own version of the Mighty Atom). Captain Kent managed to fool the examiners and was actually a woman (unthinkable!) who could control the sea. Captain Norfolk could fly and project force-fields, etc.

Each volunteer was psychologically screened to ensure that they were made of “the right stuff”. Except one.

The first. Captain London.

It was only after his creation that the scientists discovered the link between the superpowers and the psyche. He slipped through the net, with predictable results. He became this mini-campaign’s key villain, and a crazy fractured egomaniac with time-manipulation powers is something not to be sniffed at.

The problem (for the heroes) was that Captain London was also a figurehead, a prominent hero both at the front and at home. To bring him down would be akin to bringing down the establishment itself. Allegory in role-playing? I love it.

I remember running a session every day for almost three weeks during one hot summer holiday. We gamed in the open air, in a field, and it still counts as among the best three weeks of gaming I’ve ever had. The players each ran several different heroes as they were generated (we were using Golden Heroes at the time) and they came against everything from fighter planes to Nazi (and Communist) spies. They fought German Super-Soldiers and the gothic golem creations of an evil industrialist (whose name I’ve long forgotten).

But it was the final battle against Captain London I remember the best. Among the air-raid rubble of the City’s streets they fought. After each hit, Captain London wound back time, reversing the damage then speeding it up to land multiple blows back in return. It was a stalemate of epic proportions.

Until Captain Norfolk threw a force field around him, aiming to suffocate him to unconsciousness.

In return, Captain London stopped time. I figure he would freeze time to prolong his air supply. Previously when he’s done this, everyone freezes and he is able to move as normal (effectively, he’s granted Super-Speed).

Not this time though. Inside the force field bubble, the effect rebounded and he froze himself. The contents of the force-field bubble were trapped in a frozen moment in time, a prison of his own making.

The heroes took the bubble to a secure undisclosed location where the force field bubble was buried. Captain London was reported missing in action, the War ended and time (for everyone else, at least) moved on.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I think it’s “time” to bring Captain London back.

Don’t you?

Yet through all its many travels, D&D has yet to settle down and properly tackle gaming with anthropomorphic races. And that’s a crying shame.

Talking animals have a long and proud heritage in our folklore and fairy tales. From the countless works of Enid Blyton to Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows, and from the Kitsune legends of Japan to Winnie the Pooh there’s a special place in our racial memory for wise old owls, wily weasels and cunning foxes. We anthropomorphize the creatures, give them personalities which we, in turn, give back to ourselves. We say “timid as a mouse”, “mad as a march hare” and such, anthropomorphizing ourselves back into animal form.

By bringing talking animals into our role-playing game we’re playing those tropes, exploring and testing them in ways that are hard to do with the classic D&D races. Quite simply, we inject more personality into our animal creations that we do our fantastic ones. An Elf might be smug and arrogant, but he’s nothing compared to a cat. That sneaky Halfling would be beaten hands down in a sneakiness competition by a weasel. And so on.

Mouse Guard proves that there’s a place at the role-playing table for talking animals. That system handles the tropes with a delicate, wonderful twist and award-winning ruleset. What I’d like to see though is talking animals brought right into D&D as an official core supplement. d20 Modern came close with Moreaus, and proved that the d20/SRD was up to the task. Fourth Edition D&D should be able to handle animal races with little difficulty and no messy Level Adjustment fudgery required. Give me Feline Sorcerers, Badger Wizards and loyal Dog Fighters. I want my Sparrow Ranger, Mouse Cleric and Weasel Rogue. I want all these, and more.

Now, animal fans. Who’s with me?

I’m also slowly digesting the DC Adventures Hero’s Handbook (free Quick Start preview here), the stunning new superhero rpg which serves double duty by being both a new release of Mutants & Masterminds and a full system for gaming in the DC Universe, all at the same time.

And I’ve got to say. It’s a tricky one.

A part of me, I’ll confess, doesn’t like it. I suspect that I don’t like it for the same reason all the people ("girls, mainly", he snorts with derision) who loved David Tennant as Doctor Who don’t like Matt Smith. Or why gamers who loved 3.5e D&D don’t like 4e D&D on principle.

It boils down to this: "OMG WHY DID YOU NEED TO CHANGE?"

Y’see. I love Second Edition Mutants & Masterminds. I’ve said before that it’s as close to a perfect system, imho, as there can ever be. A Third Edition is…. well, unthinkable. How, after all, can you improve perfection? To even try such a thing is folly. That’s a whole lot of resentment, right there. I just know I’m going to nitpick, to find fault. I’m going to question every single change to the system because, as far as I’m concerned, the system didn’t need to change.

But (and it’s a big but) I can’t help but feel that Third Edition IS a better edition of Mutants & Masterminds. Despite my hang-ups and preferences, I’ve got to admit that Steve Kenson has, indeed, done the impossible. He’s improved perfection.

Damn you.

Y’see, what Steve has done is very, very clever indeed. He’s managed to take 2e Mutants & Masterminds and somehow combine that with the epic feel and style of the original DC Heroes RPG from Mayfair Game. 2e M&M’s Time & Value Progression Chart has turned into a much more slimline exponential system. Where previously M&M could quite happily run the whole range from realistic cop drama (CSI:Metropolis, anyone?) to universe spanning ring-wielding superheroics, DC Adventures (and 3e M&M when it’s released as a standalone system, by extension) does it…. well, better.

This is a system explicitly designed for gaming in the world of DC comics, and that covers the entire spectra of power levels. This is a game where The Question can rub shoulders with Batman, and Bats himself can look Superman in the eye (probably while thinking "I can take you, and you know it."). All the things we know and love about M&M are still there – Power Levels, the superpowers, the awesome combat system, but it has been given a fresh lick of paint and a fresh coat of varnish. Some of the points costs for powers have changed, either to better reflect their commonality in the DCU, or to correct those few powers in 2e that were too costly or too cheap, and some effects have changed in (as it seems in my first readthru’) significant ways. I need to playtest it before commenting further about that though.

Much as I hate to admit it, I approve.

As with the previous edition of M&M, this isn’t a system for the beer and pretzels brigade. Steve’s own ICONS system does that, wonderfully well. I’d argue that with ICONS, Steve has re-invented the classic TSR Marvel RPG, and with DC Adventures he’s brought Mayfair’s classic DC Heroes into the modern age. By doing that he’s covered both sides of the market (light’n'fluffy and solidly crunchy) in one fell swoop. Not bad going, I’d say.

Then there’s the artwork. Quite simply, superhero rpgs have never looked as good as this. Heck, it’s one of the best looking RPGs, ever. Seeing Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman stare out the page at you from a frickin’ rpg is something else. What I like especially is that this system doesn’t just stop with the Big Three or the more well known heroes from the DC canon. Steve Kenson really knows his stuff when it comes to comics, and it shows. I’m particularly jazzed to see so many references to my own favourites from the Justice Society. Oh yes!

I’m impressed by just how many Hero (and Villain) write-ups there are in this one book, but we’ve still left wanting more. For heroes, we get Aquaman, Batman, Black Canary, The Flash (Barry Allen sadly, not Jay Garrick), Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Nightwing, Plastic Man, Robin, Superman, Wonderman and Zatanna. Facing against them there’s Black Adam, Black Manta, Braniac, Catwoman, Cheetah, Circe, Darkseid, Gorilla Grodd (yay!), The Joker, Lex Luthor, Prometheus, Sinestro and Solomon Grundy. Phew! Add to that the supporting characters including innocent bystanders, cops, thugs, crime lords, soldiers, gang leaders, robots, zombies and animals. Because you need to be ready when Superman wants to throw a shark, right?

Make no mistake: this is a complete one book system. In 276 pages DC Adventures packs in character generation, archetypes, combat, vehicles, headquarters, the history of the entire DC Universe, gorgeous artwork, gamesmastery and campaign advice, and much more – and all without feeling cramped, forced or overburdened. That’s no mean feat.

In short, if 2e Mutants & Masterminds is David Tennant, this is a very worthy regeneration indeed. The big question is whether it will displace 2e M&M in our long-running superhero campaign, and the answer is: probably. That campaign has already travelled through many systems including Golden Heroes, Marvel, DC Heroes (a short lived attempt) and Champions/HERO before settling on 2e M&M. We’re old hands at picking up our characters, re-creating them and carrying on so moving from 2e M&M to 3e M&M is no biggie.

Expect a full playtest report sometime soon.

In the meantime, don’t wait. Go get it!

Last Check-In

Coyness

It's..... Showtime!

(created whilst watching Galaxy Quest)

Marvelman (a work in progress)

Icon City

Frailty the Fairy Rogue

Captain of "The Broken Fate"

Perfection

I’m done. Hope you’re having a great weekend, all!

Just this once, I worry for Batman.

DAz Studio, postwork in Photoshop. You know the rest.

And they’ve managed to do it without turning it into a stewing pile of power-gamery mess too. Way to go, WoTC!

Let’s take a look as each facet of your potential multi-dimensional character to see how it all hangs together.

Race

Your character’s Race denotes the core of his (or her) being; it’s who they are when stripped of everything else. Their race says most about your hero’s appearance, and much about their culture, social upbringing and outlook on life. Unless they are shaped differently by the campaign setting or something particular to your hero’s background, it’s fair to expect that their overall attitude will be much the same as any member of their race. For example, the vast majority of Elves possess an affinity for the Natural world (and forests in particular) but the campaign setting (such as Dark Sun) might change that radically, or this particular Elf have been brought up in an Urban environment.

That’s not to say that all Elves are nature-loving bow wielding hippies of course (though Dwarves may say that’s exactly what they all are), but that this cultural implication is present in their racial makeup. How that upbringing shapes the PC though, is entirely up to you. Maybe this particular Elf is thoroughly sick of the colour green and never wants to see another tree as long as she lives. Hey, it could happen.

Class

In 4e, a PC’s Class is less about who they are and more about how they fight. Class describes where your character gets his combat training/kewl spells/prayers/psionic potential, but also how they use it when facing opposition. Both the Fighter and Rogue are Martial characters, though their styles are very different. One charges forward, while the other runs and hides. Draw your own conclusions there.

But Class is more than that. It helps explain how your character responds to a challenge both on the battlefield and off. Each Class opens up a list of Trained Skills from which your PC selects several and these Skills say more about a character than their Class selection. For example, a Human Rogue is more likely to feel kinship with an Elven Ranger if they both have the Streetwise Skill than with another Human Rogue who lacks it; both the Ranger and the Rogue share a knowledge of urban life and respect for the seedy side of towns.

Class might also explain a hero’s motivation. It’s easy (if more than a little stereotypical) to create a sneaky Halfling Rogue or stoic Dwarven Cleric of Moradin and no further explanation of their motivation is needed. I encourage players to move away from that and instead use Background Options to help explain your hero’s motives. More on those in a mo’.

The selection of Class also chooses your hero’s Power source. 4e D&D has taken a leaf out of the (much loved) Rolemaster’s book with the implementation of Powers. Just as Rolemaster had the Realms of Essence, Channelling, Mentalism and Arms (non-combat), 4e has Arcane, Divine, Psionic and Martial, and add to that with Primal, Shadow and doubtless more to come. These control where the PC draws his powers from – Arcane gain power from the magical world around them, Divine from the Gods, Psionic from within themselves, Martial from their physical abilities, Primal from the untamed chaos of nature and Shadow from freakin’ Batman. I’m looking forward to the 4e take on the Rolemaster Archmage who recognises that all Powers sources are essentially the same and draws from all of them. Badass!

Note to self: Write more contrasting Rolemaster with 4e D&D. Comparisons abound!

In some ways though, your Fourth Edition hero’s choice of Class is the least important choice he has to make, even though it’s the most mechanically complex. Choose Eladrin as Race and  the Background Options Noble & Criminal and you’ve already got a compelling character. Making him a Wizard, Paladin or Warlord just adds another wrinkle to the pie. Do pies get wrinkled?

Role

Waitaminute. Isn’t a characters Role tied to his Class? I mean, all Wizards are Controllers, right?

Well yeah, but I’ve argued before that the two shouldn’t be tied together, and it looks (with D&D Essentials) that this hard-and-fast rule is being loosened, and that’s a great thing for the game.

Right now, if you want to play a Martial Defender (for example), you’re playing a Fighter. But what if you want to play a Fighter who is more of a Striker (fewer hit points, more damage) or even a bow-wielding Controller (even fewer hit points, more foes)? How about a Wizard who specializes in Force Fields (Defender) or one who singles out individual foes with fearsome emotion-controlling spells (Striker)? You could conceivably argue that Gandalf was an Arcane Leader rather than a Controller, and you wouldn’t be wrong.

I foresee this as a direction 4e will increasingly take, and it’s an exciting one. Separating Role from Class opens up a whole new vista for character generation, and I’m stoked!

Build

Builds are a simple shorthand way of saying “if you take this, this, this and this, you will end up with this kind of character”. They’re entirely optional and provide a good newbie-friendly way to guide them through character generation. Want to play a Tactical Warlord or a Great Weapon Fighter? Just follow this build advice, and you’re good to go.

Despite their primary function as a guiding tool, the Builds can also serve as a role-playing jumping point. Your Tactical Warlord is likely to have a very different personality to an Inspiring Warlord both in and out of combat. That’s partially represented by the priority of the attributes (a higher Charisma usually denotes a more outgoing personality) but also with their outlook on life; in this example, a Tactical Warlord is more likely to be coldly clinical in their assessments whereas an Inspiring Warlord knows that it’s the hearts of men (or elves, or dwarves…) that can truly win the day.

Unlike the other optional elements of character generation (Background Options and Themes) your hero gains absolutely no mechanical bonus for following a Build other than the satisfaction of having put together a neat, well-optimised character. Conversely, there’s nothing to lose for not following a Build neither; you’re entirely free to choose between the Class Features, Feats and Powers however you wish. While you might not end up with a character with the same single-path focused optimisation as one of the Build, your hero will be (and here’s the important part) much more fun to play.

That’s not to say Build don’t have their place. They give us much more of an insight into the game designers’ minds. The Build represent how they expect the Classes to be played and a solid foundation for your own tinkering with Class element and Feat selection. For example, you could take Great Weapon Fighter but replace Power Attack with Potent Challenge. Minor changes to the Build like this help make your character that bit more unique.

So Builds are a great way to help get a handle on the Classes, and on the game as a whole. They’re a great starting point for new players and oldies alike who are trying out a new class for the first time. It pays to know when to follow a Build, when to tweak them and when to ignore them altogether. Let’s save that for a blogpost for another time, ok?

Background Options

Now we’re talking! Background Options are my favouritest optional rule in 4e D&D – to the point where I don’t consider it optional at all. Background Options are an Essential part of character generation as they serve to provide your PC with that all-important backstory. And that’s pure gold for this GM.

Background Options also confer a minor (though significant) benefit in the form of a +2 to one skill, adding a Skill to your potential list of Trained Skills, granting a bonus language or some other special boon. That’s a choice of five benefits. No, not four. Clearly you can’t count.

See, here’s how the choices break down:

1. Add a +2 to an Untrained skill. This gives a small bonus to a skill which you wouldn’t normally have access to, or one which you don’t want to spend Training on. This is a good choice if you choose a Background Option that offers Associated Skills that overlap with and Skill Bonuses from your Race. For example, an Elf with the Background Option Geography:Forest could be at +4 to either Nature or Perception without Training at all! That’s perfect if you want to play a Class that lacks the Perception skill and is short on Training points. How about a keen eyed Elf Fighter who specializes in the Greataxe?!

2. Add +2 to a Trained skill. Back to that Elf. Make him a Ranger and (thanks to being an Elf and the Geography:Forest Background Option he can be at +9 Perception even before stat bonus. That’s one eagle-eyed Ranger! Choosing a Background Option that synergizes nicely with your Trained skills is a smart move though taking a Background Option which just emphasises something we already know (Elf + Geography:Forest) is booooring! Think about the more esoteric Background Options to make your character much more interesting. An Elf with Occupation:Mariner can still take that +2 Perception but is a much more engaging character to play. Imagine an Elf with an ornately carved wooden leg……

3. Add another skill to your list of Trained skills. Each Background Option offers two skills. Pick one to either gain a +2 (as above) or add it to your list of available Trained Skills choices. That’s a +5 bonus, but the cost is that you have one less choice to spend on something else.  This is a great choice if you want to create a character who has access to knowledge outside their Class’ normal field of interest. A Fighter who is an Arcane Refugee would make a terrific character as his village was destroyed by magic (rather than orcs – unless they were Orc Wizards) and he could take Skill Training in Arcana, making for one highly knowledgeable warrior who hates spellcasters. This also gives him access to the Ritual Caster Feat too meaning he could sometimes be forced to use the very thing he hates. See what I mean about Background Options being GM gold?

4. Gain a bonus language. Boooring, unless you really want to play a character who can speak both Goblin and Giant. For these kind of multi-lingual characters it’s better, imho, to use the Background Option to gain a Skill-related bonus and burn a Feat on the Linguist Feat.

5. Any other Boon. some Background Options (particularly those from the Scales of War adventure path) offer more unusual benefits to the character. These tend to be more powerful and Feat-like in nature (such as the Assassin background which adds both Arcana and Stealth to your class list, and gives a +1 bonus in both). I try to steer my players away from these options but allow them on a case-by-case basis, depending on just how much of a hard time I can give the hero in-game :D

Background Options cover a whole range of choices – from mysterious happenings during their birth to the geography of their homeland; from their pre-adventuring occupation to wealth level; from Early Life and Parentage to Recent Events. It’s all there and more, in spades. You’ll need the PHB 2 or a D&D Insider account to access them, but for my money Background Options alone make it worth the price of entry.

Your hero isn’t limited to a single Background Option, though he only gains the mechanical benefit from one of them. If you want your hero to be a Former Gladiator Scorned Noble Magic Scholar who is a Fugitive from a Vengeful Rival with a Missing Master that’s very all right by me!

Note to self: Use multiple Background Options and Risus notation? The character above could be Former Gladiator (3), Scorned Noble (2), Magic Scholar(1), Fugitive from a Vengeful Rival (4), Missing Master (5). Hmmm. Food for thought.

Themes

So far, Themes are only present in the Dark Sun campaign setting as they provide just a little more oomph to your character. That’s firmly in keeping with the setting as characters in prior editions were generated at a higher level than 1st from the start. Each theme grants an additional Encounter Power to the character, putting them kinda-almost at the same power level as a 3rd level character (only without the hit points, surges, utility power, feats or equipment – so not like 3rd level at all). Every character takes one Theme, and only one. Extra goodies (feats, paragon paths and optional Powers) are unlocked at later levels, if you choose to follow the Theme’s natural course.

Each Theme is a natural fit for one or more character classes (such as the Gladiator Theme for a Fighter) but the real fun comes from mixing things up.  How about a Gladiator Monk, or a Dune Trader Warlord? More on that shortly.

I like Themes. They can tie the adventuring party together (“You’re all Gladiators!”) but still give them plenty of flexibility (thanks to freedom of choice over Race, Class and Background Options)  to make each character unique and memorable. Themes also help to tie the characters more closely to the campaign setting – you’ll only find Dune Traders on Athas – in a way we’ve not seen before. That’s definitely a win in my books! Despite the power creep, I expect to see setting-unique Themes to find their way across all the campaign settings in due course (perhaps requiring a Feat to gain them). That won’t be a bad thing.

Mixing it up

What’s more fun? An Eladrin Paladin, or an Eladrin Paladin Merchant Prince Dune Trader? How about a Halfling Star Pact Warlock Monster Hunter Travelling Missionary? Or a Dwarf Gladiator Rogue who was Born on Another Plane?

Background Options (and Themes) come into their own when you play against expectations. As Elf with Geography:Forest might as well just be an Elf, whereas one with Geography:Wetlands has an interesting twist. Likewise, a Fighter with Occupation:Military isn’t going to win any prizes, but make him a Wizard……

There’s no shortage of Background Options both in the books (regrettably, not in PHB I though) and in the Character Builder so make good use of them.

Your GM will thank you for it, I swear!

To my mind, this dysfunctional band of merry pyromaniacs (who always seem to get the job done) are the archetypal adventuring party. They travel from locale to locale, continually breaking things until they’re fixed. Yep, just like an adventuring party.

Gimme race & class for Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith, First Lieutenant Templeton “Faceman” Peck, Master Sergeant Bosco Albert (“B.A.”) Baracus and Captain H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock in all their glory. Bonus points will be given for suggested level and stats with extra special bonus points for complete characters.

The weirder and wilder the better! Points will be deducted for just saying “Four Human Rogues” and walking away. Not that I’m counting points. But still.

Repeat after me: DAH da DAH, DAH DAH DAAAAAAAH!

Over, dear people, to you.

Fwends?

Raar said the Dragon

Hide and Seek

Leaping Halfling

Two axes. Awesome hair.

Yellowjacket

Lady Bones

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