tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post3273981818921605072..comments2024-03-27T19:02:58.368-04:00Comments on BARKING ALIEN: The Making of Freedom City Unlimited: Ureka! It worked!Adam Dicksteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04840144928096089178noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-17705816851895703002012-03-02T20:05:51.730-05:002012-03-02T20:05:51.730-05:00Exactly! I couldn't have said it better myself...Exactly! I couldn't have said it better myself.Adam Dicksteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04840144928096089178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-35253977931187271082012-03-02T17:54:09.600-05:002012-03-02T17:54:09.600-05:00Oh, sure, sure...The Shooter archetype can totally...Oh, sure, sure...The Shooter archetype can totally work.<br /><br />I think it was the sneaking aspect that was the main problem. There was no soliloquizing, no be-spandexed derring-do...just "I creep around the side of the building, hide in the dark, and shoot the supervillain in the head" kind of stuff.<br /><br />Even The Punisher knows how to give the audience a show.Justin S. Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14881276106170920830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-85976780730766554222012-03-02T10:05:31.234-05:002012-03-02T10:05:31.234-05:00@Justin - Agreed.
Now I don't mind the one su...@Justin - Agreed.<br /><br />Now I don't mind the one superhero-merc/gun guy. I've seen some cool ones over the years. My friend Selim had this awesome dude in Champions called Overload and we converted by friend Luke's City of Heroes character Gun Knight into M&M 2nd. <br /><br />It is a question of understanding how that kind of character works in the Superhero Comic Book genre. Essentially, a gun guy on an Avengers type team needs to be a lot more than a gun guy to be interesting a face the challenges of fighting dudes who are going to shrug off gunfire like raindrops.Adam Dicksteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04840144928096089178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-3458121038378788662012-03-01T22:48:00.236-05:002012-03-01T22:48:00.236-05:00I've run supers games for almost 30 years, and...I've run supers games for almost 30 years, and there is a HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE difference in the total experience when playing with Comics People versus Non-Comics People.<br /><br />And I've all but sworn off GMing for the Nons, unless they've seen enough--and "get"--cartoons like <i>Justice League Unlimited</i> or <i>Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes</i>.<br /><br />Theron over at <b><i>My Dice Are Older Than You</i></b> has a story about GMing for a guy who wanted to play a character based on Master Chief from the <i>Halo</i> video games. Player had zero comics background, and Theron had zero <i>Halo</i> background. Annoyance ensued, especially when the hero's response to everything was to just stealth and shoot his way through the game.<br /><br />That's not comics, son!Justin S. Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14881276106170920830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-79359649942183073002012-03-01T19:39:13.764-05:002012-03-01T19:39:13.764-05:00Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the responses...Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the responses.<br /><br />@Astronut - When I played Champions in High School I loved the universe. Of course I would later find that what the GM was running was a rebooted, much, much cooler parallel world of his own creation (see my previous Champions posts). The default Champions Universe is rather bland in many places, although Kingdom of Champions was definitely the exception. Very well done book.<br /><br />@Doug Wall - Years ago I had a buddy who ran a Supers game in a universe where only TV Supers not affiliated with any comic company existed. PCs included The Misfits of Science, Automan, The Bionic Man and Bionic Woman and of course, The Greatest American Hero. I 'guest-starred' in one session/episode as 'I-Man', the Scott Bakula character from a Disney pilot whose series was, sadly, not picked up.<br /><br />@Blacksteel - Heh. See, 6-8 hours is pretty much our standard or was and it's something I intend to get back to now that we have a game that merits it.Adam Dicksteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04840144928096089178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-17794883568568776472012-03-01T18:43:45.414-05:002012-03-01T18:43:45.414-05:00Dude I've barely been able to read my own blog...Dude I've barely been able to read my own blog this month, much less yours - but I'm catching up. Pretty much all in one day.<br /><br />The characters do all have a "stumbled into it" vibe going rather than a "destined from birth" thing. I like that. Having a group of comic fans also lets you shift it up a gear and that's a cool thing to have. The alien/darkness enemies is a solid two-dimensional way to link everyone together - nice.<br /><br />Desperation leads to focus apparently - you should only run once a month to keep them hungry for a 7+ hour run.Blacksteelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16289298640828309072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-2094368481922213602012-03-01T10:11:16.814-05:002012-03-01T10:11:16.814-05:00I like that your Iron Man guy has some Greatest Am...I like that your Iron Man guy has some Greatest American Hero in him. There have been times where I've wanted to do a supers campaign where all the PCs get that dorky suit with no instructions and see what they do.F. Douglas Wallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06497140550892192807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-19821943199920148362012-03-01T08:23:39.901-05:002012-03-01T08:23:39.901-05:00I wouldn't panic too much - I dare say a numbe...I wouldn't panic too much - I dare say a number of us are in the "if it ain't useful, don't say it" crowd. Personally, I hate "me too" comments! In my case, I'm often here several days after the post was made - which means any comments I might make tend to just bounce off into the ether...<br /><br />IMO, if your viewing and following figures are good, you're doing well. The conversations are the icing on the cake!<br /><br />Speaking of which, I discovered Freedom City a couple of years ago and it rapidly became my favourite superheroes setting, for most of the reasons you describe. My number 1 reason, though, has to be the history: this is a setting where we've had three iterations of heroes before the present day, each with their own style and approach to heroism (Golden Age is my favourite vision of the WW2 era). Some of the NPCs are descendants of others and superheroic legacies are a featured part of the setting.<br /><br />I used to be a fan of the Champions Universe (at least in its 4th ed incarnation - I loved the Classic Organisations book and even Kingdom of Champions), but went off it when it got rewritten (and substantially redesigned) for 5th... A number of my favourite CU ideas will appear in FC if I ever get to run it though.<br /><br />JonAstronuthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14595495803627874029noreply@blogger.com