Posts tagged superheroes
Captain London
Aug 31st
From the Short & Sweet Department: Here’s Captain London’s stats for ICONS, all primed and ready for play. For comparison purposes he weighs in at 60 points, more than the suggested 45 point base for a point-buy character, but well within the limits for a randomly generated one. That’s in keeping with his status as the first (and arguably greatest) British Super-Soldier.
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: TransformedProwess 6, Coordination 3, Strength 4
Intellect 4, Awareness 3, Willpower 5
Stamina 9, Determination 1Time 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
From campaigns past: The County Men
Aug 27th
Our long-running superhero campaign has trod a long and twisting path. The whole campaign began in a faux-Marvel Universe where the events of the Secret Wars took place, but the heroes (and villains) never returned, leaving a void that our superheroes came to fill.
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?
Why I should hate DC Adventures, but I don’t
Aug 23rd
My rpg time has suddenly become a barren wasteland, and that’s a Bad Thing especially given we’re only three sessions away from the end of the world in our Endday Campaign. Here’s hoping that things pick up when normality returns after the school holidays. The Good Thing though is it gives me time to think more about the next campaigns; I’ve got a 4e D&D adventure in the making with Shadowlands, wherein Our Heroes battle gnolls and cross over to one particular corner of the Shadowfell. Then there’s Icon City for our lightweight superhero enjoyment. More on those though, another time.
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!
Lazy building Icon City
Aug 10th
There’s a fine art to being a LazyGM. It takes hard work & dedication – and throws them out the window. The true LazyGM instead uses that most limitless and potent of resources: the players. Our ICONS beer ‘n’ pretzels game has reached a point where it needs a place to call home. It needs a city through which our heroes can fly, web-sling and drive their rocket cars. And the players are going to build it.
But first, we need a ten second pitch. Shamelessly stealing from ideas and plot points I’ve used before, we get this:
Earth’s greatest (indeed, only true) superhero was dead. UltraMegaMan’s body was blasted into a myriad atoms, consumed by the explosion which also destroyed his arch-foe Captain Nemesis. The world was safe at last, yet it mourned.
On the site of his demise they built a statue in his honour, a modern Colossus thousands of feet tall. It stood as a beacon of hope in a world with no more super-powered heroes. To many it was a symbol, the Icon for the modern age. People came to gaze at it, and people stayed. The camp around the statue’s base became a town, and in time that town became a city.
Welcome to Icon City, where hope is born and dreams might truly fly.
Icon City is situated someplace central in the US. As the Greatest New City in America ™, none of the buildings are more than 40 years old, and the hippie culture that gave it life has ever quite left. The overall attitude is closer to San Francisco that New York in that a total stranger is more likely to give you a flower than a punch in the face. Of course, there are exceptions….
Icon City is unusual because of the high number of superheroes (and villains) it has produced. Some theorize this is due to the death of UltraMegaMan – perhaps his atoms have affected the land in some way. (I’ll let you into a secret. They’re partly right.)
That’s it. My work as GM is done.
Now, it’s over to my players. I’m going to give each hero a district they can flesh out however they want, in as much detail as they care to give. I know Brickbat will take Dirtside, Icon City’s slum district, while his partner Gunfire has claimed the as-yet-unnamed Entertainment (bars, clubs, movies and musicals) zone. Vince Cable’s player has the Science Block. The other heroes will pick up districts as the game develops. My own new character, Toxic, will likely pick one of the industrial zones. In the best tradition of story-writing, nothing exists until it exists.
By handing development of the city to the players, I’m letting them inject something of their hero’s personality into the game. Just like Gotham is Batman and Metropolis is Superman drawn in stone, the districts of Icon City are a reflection of our superheroes. The area they choose may be where they were born, grew up, currently live or work. Above all, these are the places they care about.
Which means when I, as GM, send a Giant Rampaging Alien Robot through the Dirtside, Brickbat is going to be really pissed. Likewise, when I announce that Mister Media, uber-showman (and egomaniac mega-villain) is hosting a show in the Entertainment zone, you can guarantee that Gunfire will be on the scene.
See, that’s how this works. I give them control, and in turn that gives me control. Only one area is off-limits to the players’ imagination: The Icon itself. I’m saving that for something special down the line.
I’ll let you know how we get on.
Stick figure superheroes!
Jul 10th
I am, I’ll admit, a sucker for new figures and characters for DAZ Studio. When I saw Blank Boi – had to have it! It is exactly what it claims; basically a blank canvas, nothing more than a 3D version of a stick figure where everything is left to your ability to pose and position the figure. Except unlike a regular pencil stick figure, it’s got material zones so it’s easy to apply colours and textures.
Which to me means only one thing. Stick figure superheroes! Oh yeah.
Here’s a bunch I whipped up last night in around 30 minutes flat. Hope you recognise ‘em.
I’m resisting the temptation to put together a LEGION of The Stick superhero web comic.
I’m resisting, but not very well.
Have a great weekend!
Character du Jour: Ratman
Jul 4th
When nerdy insular Drew Duayne saw his wealthy socialite parents gunned down by a laughing criminal, he ran. After several months the search was called off and he was declared missing, presumed dead. Ten years later, he returned.
Drew had fled into the sewers, hiding in the comforting darkness. Silence enveloped him as he considered his fate and the evil he had faced that day. That was when they came. The Rats.
They brought him food and water, kept him warm in the cold dark. Their chatter filled his mind as they showed him the secrets of the Under City. He learned the most forgotten sewer routes, the ancient caves that speak of a time before civilised man. They showed him how to use the shadows, and when to choose the right moment to attack. He also saw what it means to go against the law of the pack; justice should be swift, absolute and without mercy.
When the time was right, they showed him the way back into the light.
Drew reclaimed his heritage as head of Duayne Industries, secretly funnelling off the R&D budget to craft a secret base and array of vehicles, weapons, armour and equipment. When the darkness falls, Ratman roams the streets bringing justice – swift, absolute and without mercy.
Not the best render in the world. Picture Batman but skinny, brown and no cape. Got that? ‘Kay.
Dirty little secret: At the centre of it all in the deepest dark sits The Rat King, immortal, silently plotting, using the weakest and most vulnerable of human children to unknowingly forge an army of conquest. And as for the laughing criminal who killed Drew’s parents – well, every King needs a Jester……
Notes: Much as I like Batman, his origin story is a bit crap, isn’t it? I mean – he sees a bat from his bedroom window and decides to become Batman; what’s that about? He could have seen a tree and become Treeman, or the Moon and turned into Moon Knigh… I mean, Moonman. Heck, we could have Cloudman running around catching the crooks if he’d looked up five minutes earlier. The bats did nothing for him except provide a fashion theme. Big woo. So here’s my take where the Rats aid poor Drew, care for him, nurture him and become (should he ask it of them) and entire frickin’ ARMY for him. Bats? Bats are for wusses.
Supporting characters: Colin (weedy sidekick wannabe); Nighthawk (an earlier Colin, now fully grown), Arnold (butler, secretly in the pay of the Rat King), Ratgirl (teenager, also taken in by the Rats); Ratwoman (slightly mad lady with a rat fetish); The Jester (arch enemy), Ratmite (don’t ask).
Stats as per Costumed Adventurer archetype, Mutants & Masterminds, Second Edition page 18. Here’s the direct link to the whole of Chapter One (which includes these stats, and more), for free!
(Note to self: Getting behind on my ICONS and Risus Superheroes versions. Must fix that.)
The Price of Superheroes
Jul 3rd
Anyone else notice there’s a Superhero Price War going on at RPGNow? It all started when ICONS hit the scene. That came in at a discounted price of just $14.95. Mutants & Masterminds Second Edition promptly dropped to a mere $9.99 (probably also spurred by the imminent release of Third Edition) and now we have Villains & Vigilantes released for just $7.50!
Seriously, there’s no better time to get into Superhero gaming. In fact the entire genre is littered with bargains. While the BASH Ultimate Edition is $15.00, the original is only $5 and perfect if you prefer a lite rules-system and ICONS doesn’t suit. Want another option? There’s Supers! for $6!
The Absolute Bargain Award has to go to the Free Edition of Squadron UK because… well, it’s free. This is exactly the same as the not free edition (which is just $9.99) only without the art and examples. For those of you that don’t recognise the name, Squadron UK is Golden Heroes, a classic superhero game from the days of yore. It features a great random generation system (don’t knock ‘em till you’ve tried it!) and a ground-breaking Frame-based combat system. Add in rules covering what the superheroes do between scenarios (training, patrolling the city, developing their secret ID, etc) and you have a system that stands right up there among the greats of the genre.
That’s a terrific spread of superhero games from the simplest (ICONS, BASH or SUPERS!) to the most complex (Mutants & Masterminds). I really ought to sit down and review them all properly sometime. In the meantime, you’ve no excuse – go get ‘em, and get your cape on!
Characters du Jour: Brickbat and Gunfire
Jul 1st
Brickbat was born and raised in a nowhere town in a nowhere state so far in the Deep South they still talk about the Civil War like it was yesterday’s news. His momma told him there was only two ways out: sport, or in a box. Johnny Noxx chose sport. He earned his baseball scholarship easily, and life looked rosy. That was until he said the one word the Iron Coach hated more than any other. Johnny said “No.”
“Gunfire, ah thought you ni-… black folks could all run fast!”
“Honey, I’m from New York. We don’t run anywhere. We just walk like we mean it.”
Meanwhile in upstate New York, Casey Chambers was also having problems with words. In her case, the words were “You’re fired!”, and it was the sixth time she’d heard them in as many months. Her anger management classes suggested a little therapeutic firearm practice, and that’s where the word “Fire” took on a whole new meaning.
“Can’t you just let one of ‘em get close enough for me to hit ‘em? Just one?”
<BLAM> <BLAM> <BLAM> “CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
Refusing the Iron Coach’s “compulsory performance enhancers” meant one thing: being pinned down and strapped to a chair by the rest of the team then having his arm shot with needles while they all cheered on. All for the sake of the team, of course. But the mix o’ drugs they pumped him with that day…. it wasn’t quite right.
“Look at their balls, swing the bat. Look at their balls, swing the bat.” <THWACK!>
“Oh honey that’s gonna leave a mark. On the ceiling.”
The firearms coach told her to hold the gun and funnel everything she’s got into the trigger. All her anger, all her hopes and dreams. Then squeeze. Forty feet away, the target blew into a thousand pieces. Odd thing is, the gun wasn’t even loaded.
“What you running from, Johnny?”
“I broke a gym. And the building. And the baseball team. And the coach. Guess I’m gonna keep running till they catch me. Who you running from, Cass?”
“… Myself, I guess.”
“Damn girl. You’s already caught.”
Dirty little secret: It goes without saying that the evil drug-peddling Iron Coach is after Brickbat so he can replicate the formula, right?
Notes: Brickbat is your typical brick with a bat (hence the name) and Gunfire can shoot bullets of fire with her guns (hence the name). They’re about as stereotypical as can be (a Deep South lummox and a New York sassgirl) but…. I dunno. There’s something about them. Chemistry. Love these two!
For both characters, their weapons (the guns and the bat) are just pieces of equipment that they use as a focus. Brickbat is just as effective a hitter when unarmed and Gunfire doesn’t really need the guns to fire her blasts – the ones she uses are just plastic toy guns as that way she doesn’t need a firearms license and it doesn’t matter if they fall into the wrong hands.
As such, these items don’t influence the points of their powers or abilities.
Brickbat AKA Johnny Noxx, PL8 120pp
Str 30, Dex 16, Con 26, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 16
Tough +8, Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +9
Attack +8, Defense +8, Init +3Super-Strength 2 (Thunderclap 40′ Area, DC 18, Heavy Load 3.2 tons)
Handle Animal +6, Notice +7, Profession:Baseball +4, Sense Motive +7, Survival +7
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Improved Block 2, Improved Grapple, Takedown Attack 1Equipment: Baseball bat
Gunfire AKA Casey Chambers, PL8 120pp
Str 13, Dex 24, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 16
Tough +1/+3, Fort +6, Ref +12, Will +8
Attack +4, Defense +8, Init +7Blast 8 (200′ DC23, Autofire 2, Improved Range)
Immunity 5 (Fire)Acrobatics +9, Bluff +5
Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Specialization 1 (Blast), Defensive Roll 2, Jack-of-All-TradesEquipment: Fake plastic guns
ICONS stats to follow!
Batman hits the Hut
Jun 23rd
Don’t know why this cracked me up. But it did.
Source: The superlatively good Batman #700.
