Christmas In October

As I noted in my previous post, generating material for the October theme of the monstrous, morbid, and macabre has proven quite difficult for me, as I'm just not in the Halloween spirit. This is largely because I can't control where my thoughts go sometimes, and recently they haven't been going toward the type of things associated with the season.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that this isn't completely my fault, consciously, or subconsciously. I mean come on! This October has been full of creative inspiration of a non-Halloween kind!

We've now seen four episodes of the new Muppets TV series from ABC and I must say the latter three are BIG improvements over the first episode. Episodes 2, and 4, stand out as exactly what I was hoping for.

The Flash's new season has begun, and while I wasn't feeling the first episode there either, the second one was better, and I'm really excited to see where this season goes. Oh, by the way, did I mention that Jay Garrick, the Golden Age/Earth-2 Flash, has appeared on the show? No? Oh, because JAY *FREAKING* GARRICK mofos! The Golden Age Flash as a character on a live action television series. Be still my pounding heart.

Yesterday, a movie trailer dropped for an upcoming film that you just might have heard a little something about. It's a sequel to a trilogy of films for the late 70's, and early 80's. Clues aren't helping? Well that's a darn shame.

OK, it's...

HOLY HAN IN A HANGAR BAY!

 

 

I've mentioned before that I didn't have high hopes for this movie after the dreadful prequels, and the reveal that J.J. 'Lens Flare' Abrams was going to be the man in charge, but damn if this doesn't look good. Plus, John Boyega plays the lead character of Finn in the film, and he was the lead in one of my all time favorite movies, Attack The Block. I am so stoked.

 

How stoked? Well, enough to use the word 'stoked' for one thing. That's not what you want to hear though is it? No. You want the creative angst, the soul-wrenching plea for an outlet to my pent up gaming frustrations. You people make me sick.

 

Fine! Fine! Yes! I want to run a Star Wars campaign. Preferably, I'd like to see the movie first, and run something set in the era of The Force Awakens if I find I like the setting.

 

Alternatively, yeah, I'm in the mood to run Supers again damn it. It's like this hidden itch that comes back again, and again regardless of the powder you...use...use to get...um. Never mind that last analogy. It's not important.

 

So why haven't you seen any Halloween stuff from me this October? Because October is been FULL OF AWESOME! None of it however, has anything to do with Halloween.

 

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Barking Alien

 

 

 

 

 



Precious Metals

It occurred to me the other day while re-reading my last two posts...

"Crap, I love running Superhero RPGs, and I'd LOVE to run one in a DC Universe".

Damn. Grife! Sprock it all!

Excuse my language*, but Great Krypton folks, what am I to do?

 

Left - Superman in the Golden Age - 1942

Center - Superman in the Silver Age - 1962

Right - Superman in the Bronze Age - 1982

I've mentioned that my group is a bit, er, unfamiliar with the type of Superhero comic books I love most. Through a discussion with my players this past Memorial Day, I discovered that one in particular really doesn't comprehend the distinctions between Silver Age, Bronze Age, and how either of them differ Modern.

I tried very hard to understand where he was coming from, and attempted, perhaps unsuccessfully at the time, to explain the distinctions. I believe I focused on the variations between Silver and Golden, and by comparison, Modern.

I don't feel I did a respectable job of explaining the differences though. Possibly because I was internally, mentally, losing my s#^t, and had to focus all the power of my indomitable will to prevent myself from flipping out.

More over, I think it was because I'd never had to explain it from scratch before.

You see, to me, the eras of comic book history are clearly defined, if not by exact dates, then by tonal changes in the fan base, in society in general, in the comic book industry, and in aesthetics.

You don't wonder why the Bronze Age of Man was called the Bronze Age of Man in Human history. The name comes from the growing use of copper, and tin ore smelting to create bronze. It followed the Neolithic, or 'Stone', Age, and was in turn followed by the Iron Age.

Most (although perhaps not all) individuals living in our modern day, advanced civilizations, with a high school level of education, should be generally aware of this chronology of 'ages'.

Now, I am not so foolish as to assume that the average person on the street is as knowledgeable about the history of comic books as they are the history of our species.

I do expect that anyone even remotely familiar with comic book fandom, and the Superhero genre, be generally aware of the various ages of comic books. I can comprehend not knowing exactly when each era starts and stops, what age a given character is identified with, or even why some like a given era over another. Not knowing what it means to say Silver Age, or Bronze Age however, is very hard for me to fathom.

 I will never comprehend what people see in the Iron Age, but I know what it is. As a matter of fact, knowing what it is, or was, allows to realize why I don't enjoy comics from that period of time.

I think my best bet is going to be doing a few posts that define these eras, at least as I see them. I can, hopefully, make it clearer as to the feel, and atmosphere I'm going for by pointing out the specifics of the periods I'm most interested in. By identifying the tropes of each age, the comics that are so precious to me, won't seem such a mystery to others.

It's worth a shot.

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Barking Alien


*Grife, and Sprock are expletives used in the 31st Century of DC's Legion of Superheroes comic. I assume they are untranslatable from the common interstellar language of the United Planets of that era, known as Interlac.

Time For Yesterday

I had a wonderful time this past weekend.

 

I got the chance to play in a very cool, FATE variant game on Friday night, was able to run the twentieth session of my Traveller game on Saturday (after a month and change hiatus), and spent the majority of Sunday with my mom, my sister, my brother-in-law, and my nephew.

 

Much of the time with the family was spent looking at old pictures, including some I haven't seen in ages. A number of them featured family members we have since lost, including my father, and my grandparents.

 

Among the yellowing photo albums, I found this picture, which I can honestly say I have never seen before.

 

 

 

 

This is a picture of my maternal grandmother and grandfather (whom we always referred to as 'Poppy' or 'Pop'), at some kind of wax museum in California.

 

My mother and grandfather were always quite meticulous about recording the dates on their photographs, as noted by this writing on the back of the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

"Mom & Dad in LA (Los Angeles), Oct. (October) 1976"

Handwritten by my mom.

(Nowadays Mom is so tech savvy and cool she has everything saved to her iPad or Instagram, or whatever new fangled doohickey all the kids are going on about)

 

 

I've spoken about my Pop before, and it was a very odd feeling to see this picture, having never viewed it prior, when a) this has been in the family's albums for 38 years, and b) my family knows what a huge Star Trek fan I am.

 

It gets weirder...

 

So, I mentioned above, at the very beginning of the post, that I played in a homebrewed FATE game on Friday night, right? Well, as it turns out, this is the group I've been gaming with occasionally wherein my friend Dan (normally) runs his homebrewed Superheroes game. As a change of pace, we all agreed to try something different, and have other members of the group run other things for a session or two.

 

The first of these alternative sessions was a World War II era game where the PCs are part of a secret, 'Allies' sponsored team of military specialists who fight the paranormal. It's a mix of Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, BPRD from Mike Mignola's Hellboy series, and Stalking the Night Fantastic's 'Bureau 13'.

Anyway, it was a great game, cool set up and a great cliffhanger. The next session with this group will be Superheroes again, and then we'll return to this soldiers against the supernatural game.

At the end of the evening on Friday, we were discussing ideas for other games and who might run them, so I offered to run Star Trek. As I got to know a couple of the guys (and vice versa) in the first place because I had run Star Trek for them at one of the RECESS conventions, the suggestion went over really well.

Then on Sunday, I find this photo.

It's a sign.

I don't really believe in such things, but perhaps it is simply the universe's way of telling me that probability will always steer me back to Star Trek somehow, someway, no matter what.

If it is more than that...well, thank you Poppy and Grandma. It was both inspiring and heartwarming to see you again.

Love,

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Barking Alien



 

Period Peace

The next few posts are about some things that have been on my mind lately.

They are not meant to be deep or philosophical, although if you find them so be my guest. The posts are not necessarily my opinion, though some may be or my include my open.

More accurately, they contain things that have crossed my mind and which I felt would be fun or intriguing to consider, whether I agree with them or not.

Please feel free to discern for yourselves what you think on these subjects and what I think on the subjects if you so fancy such an exercise.

***

 

My maternal grandfather's birthday was today. Or possibly this past Sunday. He came to America from a small village in Prussia (the border of Russia and Poland) and as he told it, they really didn't keep good records.

My grandfather, who preferred we called him 'Poppy' or 'Pop', was a man, of a time.

He was there for the 'Golden Age of Radio' and it's death at the hands of television. He worked in vaudeville theatres before they were turned into movie theatres and then he worked for those. He eventually became a theatre manager, and opened many of the most well known movie theatres in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and a few in the other boroughs.

He was a manager of theatres when that was a very different job. He did well because he understood people, he understood movies, and which people liked what films. I'll never forget when he ran the Nostrand Theatre on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn. The theatre wasn't far from a school, right near a Police Precinct and close to a lot of restaurants. Pop figured out the perfect trinity. He said...

"I show three kinds of films here. Crime dramas, Disney Movies and Romantic Comedies. The boys in blue come for Dirty Harry, the kids will come for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and a dinner and a movie will end with Bananas."

In those days, if the film did well the theatre manager received a bonus, a big one, almost a cut of the proceeds. Why? They choose which films would end up in their theatres. My Pop had a sixth sense of what would work in the neighborhood he was in, and what wouldn't.

When 20th Century Fox came in to a meeting of various managers with a new Science Fiction film called 'Star Wars', most everyone in the room passed on it. Sci-Fi is dead they thought, the best of it now on television. Only my grandfather took the film by young upstart director George Lucas.

"I have two grandsons (myself and my cousin) and they love this kind of stuff. They'll tell their friends at school. It'll do alright."

Heh. Classic. Guess who got nearly ever major Star Wars figure, and toy that Hanukkah? You bet your sweet Menorah I did.

 
 

***

 

It was thanks to my grandfather that I developed a love of history, of the past, of the old and of 'period'. He fought in World War II. He was a tank driver in the Battle of the Bulge. He received the Purple Heart when injured by shrapnel to the leg as German forces disabled his tank, and then gunned down the crew as they abandoned it. He was thought killed, and left for dead.

 

When I watched films like Midway, The Guns of Navarone, or A Bridge Too Far, I understood them in a way kids my age could not. My Pop explained them. Not only from a soldier's point of view, but from a film point of view.

 

I was raised on comedy before my time, comic books that had long since past, and stories of a New York I had never seen.

 

He had seen it of course, first hand. He was, as I said, of a time.

 

***

 

I never realized how much I loved this Earth of ours as a setting for gaming until recently. Doing research for my most recent campaign helped me notice that the only two Fantasy RPGs I really like are Ars Magica, and Pendragon, two fantasies set in the mythic past of our real world.

 

It got me thinking of why, although I do like Star Wars a great deal, I actually prefer Traveller and Star Trek. Partially it's because the Earth is out there. The Earth may not be the focus, and they may be so far from the PCs' activities that they never visit the birthplace of Humanity, but it's there. The Humans of these settings are not arbitrary Humans from some made up place. They are us, in the future. I like to think of Traveller especially as a period piece set in a period that has yet to occur.

 

This, combined with memories of my Pop, has me contemplating my next campaign, and I can assure you, it will be set in a time and place that is indivisible from a genre. That is the key. To set the genre by setting the era, the age, the time period. A game where my approach is that the two things are one and the same.

 

What periods are like that? Let's think...

 

Westerns

Western style stories can be taken to other times and places but when you think Western you think American West/South West, late 19th Century. I can add fantastic elements as long as it doesn't stop being that time and place and atmosphere.

 

World War II

I have always wanted to run a Golden Age Superheroes game set during The Big One. A war story set in this period with a imaginative twist would be extremely fun as well. Imagine the Predator film as a period piece set in the jungles of Malaysia in 1942.

 

UFO Scare

My obsession with UFOs and aliens doesn't stop at wanting to create and run a game where the PCs are the E.T.s piloting the Flying Saucers. I wouldn't mind a sort of 1950s or 60s Project Blue Book meets Men In Black campaign. That would rock I think. MIB 3 had the right idea but the wrong delivery (though I didn't think it was as bad a movie as some people did).

 

Other eras and ideas:

 

Psychodelic/hippie superhero adventures using Champions or Mutants & Masterminds ala the 1966 Batman TV Series.

 

A Victorian era campaign set in a Dickensian London combining Oliver Twist and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Perhaps with a touch of Little Orphan Annie. See the free RPG Doom & Cookies.

 

A late 70's to early 80s style campaign set in the world of Smokey and The Bandit, Cannonball Run and other films and TV series of that era. Like if Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds starred in a 1979 The Fast and The Furious. With a chimpanzee sidekick. Use Cars Wars or something for this. That's a big 10-4 good buddy!

 

Anyone see those Ruffles commericals with Ruff McThickridge? Bomb Diffusing Sloth. Yeah.

 

Well, that's all the time I have for time.

 

Miss you Pop,

 

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Barking Alien

 





Star Wars Birthday and The Challenge of The Super Friends

So, yesterday (as of about a half an hour or so ago) was my birthday. Normally an event I dread, I actually really enjoyed it for once. I had breakfast/brunch with my Mom, my Sister, my Brother-In-Law and my Nephew. It was my Nephew's idea to throw Uncle Adam a Star Wars themed party, complete with paper plates and cups covered with images of Yoda and Darth Vader. It was very cool and I felt like I was his age for a bit (He's 5), instead of my age (Not 5).




Afterwards I went to Brooklyn to run my D&D-esque game for the kids at the Learning Center and review the RPG Journals they have to keep in order to make sure they are doing the learning assignment part of the deal. Some great, some not so much but I see progress in many so I'm happy and so is my ex-wife (whose Learning Center it is) and the parents.

This topped off a pretty cool Saturday (Feb. 11th), birthday of my pal, the oft-mentioned Dave.

We got to play a bit of our Champions game, though we had a slow start and an all to quick finish before we had to go our separate ways.

Two of the best parts of what was essentially an only OK game outting were...

The New Guy! Corey joined us for the very first time and I swear it was like we'd known and gamed with this guy for years. As Dave remarked, "Is it me or was he always a part of this group?". Definitely felt that way. The only bad news is that in two weeks he won't be available, although there is a silver lining. Before I tell you what that is I will go to the second awesome part of Saturday.

An Old Guy! Teasing 'Rad. My old pal Conrad got to join us. Turns out Conrad's schedule has changed somewhat enabling him to game with us on an irregularly regular basis.

Now wait...Conrad can't be there all the time and Corey can't be there all the time and sometimes it won't be the same time. Argh! Hold on...*RING*...here's that silver lining I promised...NEW INCREDIBLE IDEA!

When all are available (Me, Dave, Marcus, Conrad and Corey...and maybe even Jeff and/or a another possible player to be named later), we play Champions.

When only three or four are around we play a new campaign specifically designed to have players pop in and out. Very episodic. If you're there you play and at the end of the session the story is over. Next time, new story and if you're there you play, etc.

The vote is in for Mutants & Masterminds 3E, with the world being another pet project idea of mine. This time it's a twisted alternate history of a combined Timely/Atlas Comics (Pre-MARVEL Marvel) and National Comics (Pre-DC DC) universe. The idea was inspired by my love of Golden and Pre-Silver Age comics, the recent resurrection of many Public Domain Heroes by Dynamite Comics and Marvel and a firecracker-down-your-shorts crazy idea by one of the players (Marcus actually).




I think we have met and bested the conundrum of how to get more players and what to play and come up with something truly epic. The Challenge of The Super Friends has been won!

 

Stay tuned,

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Barking Alien

THE BIG ONE: Three Ring Circus

February 10th, 1940
Signals Intelligence Service
German Supernormal Development Report, Part 1

According to information obtained by US Intelligence Agents and confirmed by several allied foreign sources the German military, under direct orders from Adolf Hitler, have engaged in three separate but related projects to unlock greater than normal abilities among humankind, although specifically focused on what they believe to be the superior 'Aryan' race.

The three projects, secreted away in hidden bunkers throughout Germany whose locations have yet to be identified, collectively form 'Ausführung: Drei Ringe' or 'Operation: Three Rings'.

Project 1, 'The First Ring', is a serum designed to enhance and restructure a person's physical attributes to as close to perfect as possible. The results would be increased strength and endurance, heightened agility, improved resistance to physical harm and possibly rapid healing.

Project 2, 'The Second Ring', involves a series of high frequency rays or waves whose exact nature is at this time uncertain, being broadcast or beamed at a subject's brain. According to our sources, the effects of this 'treatment' are intended to give the recipient enhanced mental capabilities up to and including increased intelligence, ESP, the ability to see into the future and perhaps even the power to move objects by force of will alone.

Project 3, 'The Third Ring', is a technological device of considerable interest for its potential to be mass produced. It essentially consists of a tight fitting suit of clothing, including a hood, with electrical diodes and wires connecting it to a battery pack in the form of a belt. A unit on the power belt sends regulated pulses through the suit that stimulate and improve the wearer's abilities, both mental and physical. A soldier wearing this suit would be the equivalent of five normal men. If used in combination with one of the other two 'Rings' who knows what they may be capable of.

So far, none of the three projects have successfully created the Ubermenschen that Germany is looking for. Current reports indicate that The Third Ring is furtherest along and has had the most postive results and the fewest user-related injuries and deaths. The First Ring has a long way to go. The Second Ring might as well be science ficition but they keep trying.

A possible 'Fourth Ring' may be in the works, related to less to science and more toward occult beliefs but right now information on this avenue of exploration is scarce.

More information as it becomes available...

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Barking Alien

Atmospheric Conditions

The other day, Erin (Palette) and I were talking and she wanted to know if I'd developed any more for my gritty golden age Superhero RPG campaign 'THE BIG ONE'. Since she helped me get the idea rolling she was eager to help with the development of characters, especially or specifically ideas for villains.

And why not? I mean, the creation of stuff to fill our fictional gaming milieus is one of the great joys of being a Gamemaster right? We love to create villains, NPCs, locations, items and all other manner of toys to throw into the sandbox and see which ones the players take to and want to play with.

That's definitely a fun factor of 25 on a scale of 1 to 10 for me but it's not where I begin. No. See, I'm Adam of Barking Alien. I gotta be different.

I start with thinking about Atmosphere.

How is the setting going to look and feel? What words or visuals can I use to convey the campaign's style and theme to the players from the first moment of the first game? To me this is the single most important thing I can consider about the game before I get started actually designing stuff for it.

For this game specifically, I'm researching two different approaches side by side in search of the right balance between the two. Source material that is perfectly in line with what I'm looking for does exist (most notably the RPG 'GODLIKE' for example) but I'm actually saving the reviewing of such material for last as not to cloud possible inspiration gained by starting from scratch.

From the comic book superhero side of things I'm focusing on my personal favorites The Justice Society of America, the All-Star Squadron and especially the original Freedom Fighters (all DC Comics though Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters were originally owned by Quality Comics and published later through National Comics which eventually became DC). In addition I am looking at the Nedor/Better/Standard Comics characters (mentioned in the comments of my last post by Velaran) which include American Crusader, the Black Terror, Fighting Yank, The Ghost, Miss Masque, Pyroman and The Woman in Red among others.
I'm looking for golden age stories that define the look and feel that most people think of when the term in mentioned as well as those moments that are, to some, 'uncharacteristically' deep and edgy (kudos to Velaran for bringing that up and reminding me of it).
From the World War II side my source are a bit...eclectic. My initial focus is on films. From personal favorites like A Bridge Too Far, The Guns of Navarone, Midway and Tora! Tora! Tora! to more recent entries like Saving Private Ryan and Inglorious Bastards. From there I'm looking into a number of different history books, especially anything with good photos or illustrations. Osprey Books are a must as is anything entitled, 'An Illustrated/Visual History of World War II' or anything along those lines.

I also have a number of old stories my grandfather told me about when he served in the war. Those will be reviewed along with my own comic book universes' less than stellar golden age period.

What I want to end up with is a means of describing what the PCs see and hear and having that convey a sense of what the situation is and what's to come. I've considering several different opening sequences already, going over the 'cinematography' in my head and I think I have some good scenes. What I'm waiting for is more info on the PCs so I can figure out where they are when the events start to unfold. Timing and placement is crucial to capture a sense that they are in a living, breathing world as well as giving it cinematic pacing. It may sound strange but its been a big part of how I GM for over 15 years now.

I want a living movie if they makes even a lick of sense.

Do you worry this much about the words you use to describe things? Do you plan out what your adventure will look like 'onscreen'? Let me know.

This is going to be AWEsomazing.

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Barking Alien

THE BIG ONE

I've finally finalized my final decision for the New Jersey Group's new ongoing campaign. Finally.
A very special thanks and a hardy I-couldn't-have-done-it-with-out-you goes out to Erin Palette of Lurking Rhythmically who figured out what I was looking for when I wasn't so sure myself.
Mr. and Mrs. America and all the Ships at Sea...NewFlash...This just in from the Empire State of New York and the Garden State of New Jersey...Introducing...
GODS IN LONG UNDERWEAR: THE BIG ONE
A gritty Golden Age campaign set right smack in the middle of World War II. Think the Golden Age comics of the 1940's meets Saving Private Ryan, The Guns of Navarone and A Bridge Too Far.

Largely its comic book style characters placed in a real world war setting. Bullets may bounce off one or two people but they still hurt and they still kill the guy next to you. If you can throw a car the Ratzi's are going to be aiming for you before the lady who leaps around with a trick staff. I've already mentioned it to the group and they are all over it.

I've always included a healthy dose of Golden Age comics in my Superhero campaigns and used the period to create a history and mythology for my modern caped and cowled universes. I've never actually run a Golden Age game however. I'm really excited to finally be doing so.

At least two characters have already been pitched. I won't reveal them yet as I'm looking to get more info on one and a few ideas from the ladies in the group. Suffice to say they fit the setting though they are very different from each other. One would appear to get along perfectly in a brilliantly four color comic book setting, though there are twists and obstacles to the character giving it a deeper nature. The second character is much more Pulp, akin to a Doc Savage feel. Its going to be very interesting seeing these guys interact, especially since they do have some common elements between them.

Things I Need to Keep in Mind:
This is not my usual comic book style game. PCs can kill the villains. Villains are out to kill the PCs.

War is Hell. Superheroes are fun. How do you make Hell fun?

Genre tropes and conventions need to be more flexible. Realism edges out comics this time.

So many ideas and so much more to think about. Really wish I wasn't completely exhausted from work and my utter lack of sleep.

More to come as always.

Good night America and have a pleasant tomorrow,

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Barking Alien