All Things Super

We've seen a lot of Superhero material this year and its only June!

As the subject of colorful, costumed crimefighters remains near and dear to me, I thought I'd discuss some of my favorite Supers related productions of 2026 and how they are influencing my next Superhero RPG endeavor...

Dispatch

If you love Superheroes, Video Games, and especially Superhero Video Games, do not miss out on this title. Dispatch, produced by and available for download on Stream, is a 'Superhero Workplace Dramedy'.

It largely revolves around Robert Robertson, formerly the superhero Mecha Man, who starts working as a Dispatcher for SDN after his Mecha Battlesuit gets wrecked. SDN is the Superhero Dispatch Network, a private company employing Superheroes [and former Supervillains] as an ongoing on-call protection, crimefighting, and rescue agency. 

It is funny, charming, romantic, quirky, and action-packed, with a solid story and best of all, some really fun characters. I highly recommend it! It has strong Supers RPG vibes and a game where the PCs work for SDN would absolutely rock! 

More on that later...

Invincible

The Invincible comic book series was great and the animated adaptation is quite excellent as well, particularly because its not a perfect one-for-one transfer from page to streaming screen. There are a number of changes to the original material in the form of characters and events that, IMHO, work even better than they did in the comic more often than not.

Not every wild swing the show makes is a home run but they're batting average is pretty damn good. 

Free League is releasing an Invincible Tabletop Roleplaying Game and for the most part, I think it's quite good. It does some interesting things directly related to the Invincible franchise that makes the game feel original in its approach to Superhero RPGs.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

I love this series. I've alluded to this in the past but I am going to come right out and say it here, I actually like it more than the original in a lot of ways.

It feels smaller but more personal and the way it explores a character learning to use their Quirk (Superpower) gives the viewer a clearer view of how such a thing might develop.

Add in some great characters, additional world-building, and a largely straightforward plot that still has some nice twists and turns and you've got the subject most heavily influencing my newest campaign. 

Spider Noir

I'll admit I went in to this series both very intrigued and highly skeptical and ended up absolutely loving it. This is how you do a Superhero alternate universe show! 

I watched it in B&W on my first run through and I just started my rewatch in Tru-Color. I gotta say, WOW! I think the purist in me prefers the B&W version but damn if their color choices aren't absolutely beautiful. 

Nicholas Cage is at his quirkiest and the rest of the cast does an amazing job that all the characters really pop. The story is interesting and the way they transfigure the Spiderman mythos is very clever indeed. I would absolutely love to see more of this series. 

Is there another Marvel 'What If' game in my future? You never know...

The Boys

After reading the first few issues of the Boys comic book I put it down and never really looked at it again. It just wasn't for me. I don't want to see deconstructions of the Superhero genre as, unlike writer Garth Ennis, I actually like Superheroes. If you are going to do it, you're going to need to do it REALLY well, with a deep love of the genre underneath it all. 

As far as The Boys as a streaming series, I loved it. Why? Because unlike the creator who hates the very idea of Superheroes, the team that produced the show clearly loves Supers. Its the same subject, story, and characters (for the most part) approached in a very different way thanks to a much more entertaining perspective. 

While I can't see myself ever running a game in this universe, there are aspects of 'Hero as Celebrity' shown in the series that are certainly on my mind.

My Adventures with Superman

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to check out the latest season as of yet so I'll save a discussion of this show for a future post. I very much enjoyed the previous seasons and I am definitely looking forward to this one.

MHA Hero Helpline and LSH Legion Outpost

I currently have two Superhero RPG campaigns going, which is probably one too many. It might even be two too many! We'll have to wait and see what happens. 

I was kind of desperate to come up with two new ongoing games, one for each the weekly groups I'm in but honestly, Superheroes was near the bottom of the list of choices. In the end I caved though because A) I realized that Supers just works with most of my friends and B) I was kind of inspired by all of the above.

With Group A I felt like we'd just played Supers not that long ago [and in fact, we had]. I

wanted to do something different though so I went with a very particular setting and vibe. The campaign is set in the world of the Anime/Manga My Hero Academia, with the players playing American Superheroes working for the Hero Helpline. Hero Helpline is an on-call private enterprise that responds to individual and business requests to fight crime, perform rescues, and provide other services best suited to the Hero profession. They are also available to assist city law enforcement and emergencies services. 

Basically, I wanted to combine the core concept of the computer game Dispatch with the setting of My Hero Academia. 

As far as Group B, well, I've been promising them I'd run Supers again with them 'someday soon' for a little while now. After a few short campaigns, false starts, and some really good one-shots, I decided someday was now. 

This campaign sees the PCs as an expansion of the Legion of Superheroes, the premier team of DC Comics' 31st Century. As the United Planets has grown in size, so has interstellar criminal activity and attacks from hostile powers like the Khund Empire and The Dominators. Our team of five Superheroes are based far from Earth on the ocean world of Vuruna. Every adventure sees one or more of the established Legion characters helping out the PCs. 

I'm having fun with these but I'm not sure they are what I want to run most. 

More on that...very soon,

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Barking Alien

31 Days / 31 Characters - FLEA FLY

My apologies for the big delay between post by I was having some computer issues. Hopefully this makes up for it a little. 

My Hero Academia, the seminal Japanese Manga and Anime property that gave us the definitive Japanese take on American Style Superheroes, has some big news this year.

In My Hero Academia's Final Season - Season 8! - kicks off! While the series has been on the weak sauce side for a while, Season 8 promises to be a serious turnaround (and having read the Manga I can confirm it!). Possibly even more exciting is the news that the spin-off Manga, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is getting animated! That series is schedule to begin in of 2025. I am a big fan of Vigilantes and I'm really looking forward to this. 

Hmm. That gives me an idea...

 

Character: Flea Fly

AKA: Shiro Rikitake, The Flea Circus Hero

Player: Not yet applicable. Tim Knight? 

System: Deadline Heroes RPG, Rommel Games/Fujimi Shobo, Kadokawa Group

 

Nature: Not yet applicable 

Gamemaster: Not yet applicable. Hopefully me.

Circa: January 5th, 2025. Not yet used.

Origins: The conspiracy corkboard of my mind put it all together: The My Hero Academia universe. Japan's Deadline Heroes RPG. Tim Knight's recent Superheroes RPG posts on Heropress. The 31 Days / 31 Characters Challenge. Tim's beloved Acrobatic Flea. Don't you see?!? It's All Connected!!!

I've reimagined Tim Knight's Acrobatic Flea as a student at U.A. High School using the very MHA supplement for Deadline Heroes 'School of Madness'. He's depicted here at the end of his first year (roughly Season 2 of a made up by me My Hero Academia Anime Spin-Off no doubt). We see him getting the hang of his 'Quirk' and pushing it further to [hopefully] uncover new aspects of it in the future [tune in for Season 3!]. 

Here is Flea Fly, the Acrobatic Flea if he were a student at U.A. High School... 

'School of Madness'

Deadline Heroes Supplement

Backstory: Shiro Rikitake, like over 80% of the rest of Humanity, possess a 'Quirk' - a superhuman ability that can defy predictable physics, biology, and indeed logic. Growing up in a small town in the Japanese countryside, Shiro could barely wait for his Quirk to manifest as he was eager to travel to the major city of Musutafu in Shizuoka Prefecture and, hopefully, gain entrance to U.A. High School. His goal, like that of so many others, was to become a Pro-Hero!

Beyond that I am not sure...I have some ideas but I would leave the details to the player (as I am prone to do), going over it with them to insure it 'lines up' with the campaign background. 

Overview: I ran a MHA themed campaign once some years back and it was really good if I do say so myself. It was set in the United States and took a look at what America's version of U.A High School might be like. Dubbed 'My Hero Academia: American Ultra', it was a super fun campaign that had a distinct beginning, middle, and end. 

So I wonder...

This version of The Acrobatic Flea is, in fact, not really The Acrobatic Flea. He is definitely the Flea reimagined as a character in a Japanese My Hero Academia series. Flea Fly is very much an Anime/Manga inspired variant, right down to his non-hero identity. 

I could see running 'My Hero Academia: UK Ultra' or something similar. What is England like in that world? If that was the campaign, I would likely make the character a bit differently; something closer to Tim's 'iconic' version . Maybe. Hard to say but interesting to think about. 

A little My Hero Academia and a little Kamen Rider.

 

The Highlights: None as of yet since this character hasn't been played. I foresee a good number of possibilities though.

Game Info:

As I don't have a fully translated edition of Deadline Heroes, the best I can do when making characters is to reverse engineer sample characters and some fan-made PCs and NPCs I've been able to check out on the Japanese TRPG 'net.

With that in mind...

Flea Fly is built as a Scion, a character type indicating a species of superbeings such as Mutants, which is what I feel best represents the Quirk-Users of MHA. 

His powers are:

Flea Agilitty: A Defensive ability representing superhuman agility and acrobatics that make it extremely difficult to hit him. 

Flying Leap: Flea Fly can leap so far and so high he appears to be flying short distances. He can easily attack opponents who are actually flying and if he leaps from the roof of a building he can cover many city blocks. 

Rapid Healing: A 'Mutant Healing Factor' pure and simple. Each time its used, roll 1D6 and the PC gets half the result back in Life Points [at the cost of 1 Sanity Point]. 

Strong Blow: A super strong punch but not Far Future GIrl strong. Spidey, not Supes. 

Notes: I really wanted to add The Acrobatic Flea's Energy Blasts but building Flea Fly as a starting character it didn't seem possible. I imagine this would be an emergent property of his developing Quirk. 

Alternate costume idea I really like. Heavier on the Kamen Rider influence.

Legacy: We shall see! I would love to 'Go Beyond Plus Ultra!' with this character. 

Whattaya think Tim? Please be kind.

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Barking Alien

31 Days / 31 Characters - FAR FUTURE GIRL

I am SUPER excited (heh, see what I did there?) to include this very special character in the 31 Days / 31 Character Challenge! I've been obsessed with the Deadline Heroes RPG for some time now so it was a given that I'd include a character from the game. Unfortunately, I've not yet run or played it.

Therefore, in a departure from my other entries for the 31 Days Character Challenge, this is an original character I created just for the 2024 edition. That's right, for a change of pace I'm going to do things the way they're supposed to be done! Inconceivable!

Did I mention I haven't been able to completely translate the rules for Character Creation yet? Anyway, let's go!

Character: Far Future Girl

AKA: The Tomorrow Hero, Alura Zordox

Player: None yet. Possibly me, possibly an NPC.

System: Deadline Heroes

 

Nature: Endless possibilities. 

Gamemaster: None Yet. Maybe me?

Circa: Today 2024

Origins: Again, I've been wanting to run or play this game forever but haven't been able to find enough of the material translated into English to make this endeavor viable. Luckily I am nothing if not persistent (read: obsessive, hyper-focused). I was recently able to find a number of resources,  including a set of Quickstart Rules (or 'Trial Set' as the website calls it), Actual Play reports, Sample Characters, and I ran them through a few translation programs. 

By essentially reverse-engineering some character temples and fan-made PCs, I was able to create Far Future Girl. It's me, so of course I knew I wanted her to be an Alien. As for powers, I wanted a classic Superhero of the American Flying Paragon variety. Messing with some AI Art designs to get some visual inspiration, I ended up with a character that, to me at least, reminded me of a Japanese Anime take on a Legion of Superheroes character. I liked one in particular and after some modifications, that's what I went with. 

Backstory: Alura Zordox was a new Superhero on her first mission after graduating from a Hero Academy in the campaign city...one thousand years in the future! She encountered a villain with a Time/Space Warping power and accidentally flew right into one of his portals. She popped out of a similar portal but in the 21st century!

Still going at her full burst flight speed, Alura slammed into the extraterrestrial villainess Kokorosa-Chan, leader of the Earth Invasion Society. Kokorosa had hypnotized a bunch of young male heroes and were having them walk into her own Time/Space gate when Alura crashed into her. The collision made Kokorosa-chan loose concentration. The brainwashed boys were freed but spent a few moments thoroughly confused. Suddenly, one of them shouted to Alura that Kokorosa-chan was a villain trying to take over the Earth!

Kokorosa-chan, Leader of the Earth Invasion Society

from the Deadline Heroes RPG supplement, 'Villains Showcase'

Zordox seemed to recognize Kokorosa-chan at that moment and hit her with a Thousand Year Punch! The other heroes shook off their stupor and together all of them were able to subdue the Earth Invasion Society and its leader. The guys cheered for Alura and soon introduced her to other heroes. After explaining she was from the year 302X, the modern heroes dubbed her The Tomorrow Hero: Far Future Girl!

Overview: I see Far Future Girl as a somewhat naive though very intelligent young woman who has quickly fallen in love with the 21st century. She loves to hang out with the other heroes, eat hamburgers and instant ramen, play video games, go to the movies, check out social media, and do all the typical things a normal young adult person does - all of which are completely new and foreign to her.

At the same time she is very confused by things we take for granted. You need a job to pay for food and shelter? Why? You still have trash? There's no Teleporter Booths to get around the world. How do you quickly travel to another country or to the Moon for a concert? What? No one lives on the Moon?!?

Alura misses her Mom and Dad very much, mentioning in passing they her father is a Superhero and her mother one of the smartest Super-Scientist's in the galaxy. She definitely gets homesick but also really enjoys being here in our present. Far Future Girl is a young hero torn. Should she stay in the 21st century or find a way to get back to her future?

The Highlights:

I don't have any yet as I haven't played her but I look forward to making some. I feel like Far Future Girl will be a really fun character to play. In my mind she's a mix of Supergirl and the Teen Titans Animated Series version of Starfire. 

Game Info:

As noted I don't have the full Character Creation rules available to me in English. Luckily, it seems that in Japan a common practice is to take one of the templates or sample characters, change their name and appearance to whatever the player prefers, and then run them from there. As the player and PC go on from scenario to scenario that character gains Growth Points used to improve and customize them further, resulting in a unique PC after initially being a 'copy' of a pre-made one. 

I was able to translate some of the sample characters, including a number of different 'Harbingers', the Origin type recommended for playing beings from another world such as Gods or Aliens (Thor, Wonder Woman, and Superman are described as examples of Harbingers). Kitbashing some of the these sample characters together and modifying some of the powers here and there (based on other powers from other characters) I was able to create Far Future Girl's sheet.

I'm not entirely sure how 'rules as written' accurate she is but it seems pretty close to other PCs I've seen. 

Her main abilities, Body, Spirit, and Environment, come from her Harbinger template, as does her Life, Sanity, and Credits. As for the powers, as I noted above, I took a few liberties with ones I had seen on the sample sheets. High Speed Movement (which I explain as Flight) is one that is directly from the game. Her Thousand Year Punch was inspired by the games' One Million Power. I made the punch less versatile then the power as written and I'm fine with that. Body of Steel is akin to the powers Armor Shield, Barrier, and Iron Body. Guardian is another power directly from the game (translated as Guard) but I was unclear how it works so I came up with a less powerful but more flexible variant. 

One thing I found really funny was that the Harbinger gets no Skill Level bonuses at all. The explanation is that these characters both rely on their powers and physical prowess more and are often unfamiliar with the mundane things a normal Human would have to do. 

Notes: 

In DC Comics, Alura Zor-El is the name of Supergirl's mother. Querl Dox is the true name of the Legion of Superheroes member Brainiac 5, an alien of the Coluan species and a descendant of the villain Brainiac. Far Future Girl's real name pays homage to Supergirl and Brainiac 5, who were a romantic couple in the Legion of Superheroes comic.

Taking some inspiration from this and the Japanese Anime 'Project: A-ko', I imagine Alura Zordox is the daughter of a genderbent version of the pair; a female Brainiac 5 and a male Supergirl (a variant Superboy I suppose. Superlad?).

The One Million Power that Thousand Year Punch is based on was definitely inspired by the power of the same name in the Anime/Manga 'Tiger and Bunny'. I additionally wanted a nod to 'Detroit Smash' and the other US city and state named super punches used by All Might and Deku in 'My Hero Academia'. 

Why did Alura recognize Kokorosa-chan? I'm thinking there is a villain in her future time of the same species. 

Legacy:

Me. Anime. Superheroes. How could I not like this?

It is heavily structured however, as are many modern Japanese TRPGs, and that might end up annoying me in the long run. Still, if there is a way to loosen it up a bit I would definitely use Deadline Heroes as a reoccurring and/or ongoing fill-in game for when we can't play one of our regularly scheduled campaigns. 

From the far future to modern day to a Medieval Post-Apocalypse Fantasy! Swords, Sorcery, and Giant Robots clash as we meet GARETH of OLLWOOD! 

Have at Thee! 

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Barking Alien

Superheroes - American Style

I've discussed the distinctly Japanese Tokusatsu genre of Superheroes already, so now I'd like to address Japan's take on Superheroes of the West.

As with Science Fiction novels, the first exposure to US published Comic Book Superheroes the Japan people would've had would've been from American Servicemen post-WW II. Superman was first published in Japanese in Japan in the 1950s. Manga anthology magazines began serializing American comics in the late 60s and early 70s. 

I can remember back in the late 80s and early 90s, when Anime and Manga were first making major inroads into the American market, that being an American fan of Japanese shows and comics was still considered very underground. Likewise, being a Japanese Otaku dedicated to America comics was similarly niche. 

Fanzines and Doujinshi covering Marvel and DC Superheroes did exist in this period, with the Wolfman/Perez run on Teen Titans and the Claremont/Byrne X-Men being especially popular among a small but growing Japanese audience. 

Batman Manga - Artist Jiro Kuwata

1966-1967

My friend Rina had collected some of these doujinshi and brought them to show me when she visited the US during the Summer. The younger brother of a girl I later dated was a Star Trek and X-Men fanatic for sure and that was around 1995-96.

Of course, the widespread popularity of American Superheroes was kicked into high gear thanks to TV shows and Movies. The CW programs featuring Green Arrow, the Flash, Supergirl and others brought the genre to the masses, though that pales in comparison to the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel Superheroes by My Hero Academia Creator Kohei Horikoshi.

At the same time, the MCU doesn't top the charts in Japan the way it does in the West and indeed elsewhere. To understand why might take a deeper dive into the subject than this post is meant to cover but it definitely has roots in Japanese culture and preferences. Key factors include Japanese protagonists tend to be younger, they are often awkward underdogs who take a while to get good at their special abilities, and the designs and other visual are just very different from what Japanese fans have come to expect in their Pop Culture Entertainment. 

That said, there are those creatives in Japan who truly love American Comics and have found a way to make them appealing to a Japanese audience. Just look at the work of Kohei Horikoshi, the writer and artist behind one of Japan's biggest Anime and Manga hits in recent years, My Hero Academia. Not only has he created a successful series of Manga based on the Western Superhero with a Japanese twist, it has been made into a popular Anime TV series, a few Anime films, and a number of spin-off Manga (I am particularly fond of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes!). 

He's not the only one. There's Tiger and Bunny, One-Punch Man, and a Manga series from last year the became an Anime back in October called SHY, just to name a few of the most well known examples.

Left: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Right: SHY

So what about American Style Superhero Role-Playing in Japan? Well, this looks like a job for...

Author: Takashi Nagata

Studio: Rommel Games
Publisher: Rommel Games / Fujimi Shobo

Deadline Heroes, while not a major player in the Japanese TRPG market, has a dedicated fanbase that appears to absolutely love this game. It has a number of supplements and pre-made adventure scenarios both official and fan-made. Personally, I can see why...

Deadline Heroes differs from other Japanese Superhero Tabletop RPGs in that it really isn't a 'Japanese Superhero' game at all. It's an American Superhero RPG made by Japanese creatives. Most of it's tropes, mechanics, and even the look of its pre-made heroes and villains are more in line with Western Comic than Manga. Well...sort of.

If you've watched Japanese Anime or read Manga such as One-Punch Man, Tiger & Bunny, and My Hero Academia you'll notice that the Japanese depiction of Western style Supers, especially the villains, is very distinctly Japanese. Most Supervillains are quite monstrous in appearance (though not all) and the costumes worn by many of the good guys are more over-the-top than even the most avant garde American heroes. 

Still, this game and the genre it seeks to represent is undeniably clear; these are masked crimefighters in colorful outfits using their wits, weaponry, and wonderous powers to protect the citizens of this fair city from criminals, catastrophes, and would-be world conquerors. 

Not Wolverine, Isn't Scarlet Witch, Different-from-Iron Man,

Definitely-Not Black Widow, No-Where-Near Hulk, and Nearly-But-Not-Quite Thor

would like a word with you evil doer!

The game first came out in 2013-2014 and somewhat uncharacteristically [for a JTRPG] uses both D10s and D6s. The game is generally viewed as very easy to learn and play. Character Creation works by choosing a Superhero Origin which gives you your Stats and the kinds of Superpowers, Equipment, and Abilities you have access to. Next you pick the options that add details you want for your character.

The Superhero Origins are:

Enhanced: Someone given powers through accident or experiment. Super Soldiers, Hulks.

Harbinger: Beings from beyond our world or dimension. Aliems, Gods. 

Justicar: A normal person with super training and discipline. Dark Detective, Amazing Archer.

Mystic: A person with magic spells or supernatural powers. Sorcerers, Witches.

Scion: A member of a superhuman race or species. Mutants, Atlanteans. 

Technomancer: Technology and the power of science! Armored Heroes, Cyborgs.

Additional elements of Character Creation figuring out ones Powers, Skills, Credit, Grit, and Sanity (the last three are types of game mechanic currency). One of the things I love is as these resources dwindle you get closer to unconsciousness and death but also get a bonus to your effectiveness as you become desperate to win, hence Deadline Heroes.

As with many Japanese TRPGS of the last decade, the game uses a ;phase system' to progress the session's events. During the Introduction Phase characters entered the story and determine what is going on. It is the discover and investigation part of the scenario. After that you enter the Deployment Phase and complete various Challenges. If your hero or team can best these Challenge you move on to the Decisive Battle Phase where you'll face off against the villain(s) of the adventure. Be warned! Fail to beat any of the Challenge events in the previous phase and you'll start your Decisive Battle at a disadvantage. Great Scott! 

Another thing about Deadline Heroes I find really interesting is that the studio that makes it, ROMMEL GAMES, produced about a half dozen sourcebooks, supplements, and scenarios in house while the rest are fan made and then published through them. The game is almost entirely supported by the Doujinshi market and the fans of DLH have really made some great stuff. 

Some of the current supplemental material includes:

School of Madness

A supplemental including new rules, character creation options, and a very cool setting that gives Deadline Heroes its own 'My Hero Academia' 

Villain Showcase

A collection of adventure scenarios, each introducing a new villain organization and their leaders. 

There is a very distinct flavor to the villains of the game and its one you do see reflected in other Japanese Superhero content. Manner of them seem especially monstrous, particularly in appearance  I could probably do an entire post just on this subject.

Find Weakness

Adds the concept of Weaknesses to the game, giving your hero bonuses for being allergic to alien rocks or unable to harm things made of wood. 

Power to the People

Mainly a selection of new options, powers, and scenarios, there seems to be a focus on street crime of the Batman and Daredevil variety. 

In conclusion (for now), Deadline Heroes is a really intriguing look in Japan's American Superhero Fandom as well as its RPG culture. I really love some of the ideas in this game, while others are too heavily structured for me personally. I would love to tinker with it to adapt it to something more in line with my approach to Supers RPGs. 

To that end, get ready for something a little different as I try to create a Deadline Heroes character for my next 31 Day Character Challenge entry.

Go Justice!

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Barking Alien

What's Happening?

Whew! I've been gaming a lot.

A lot!

Well, a lot for me in comparison to last year at least. 

Most of it has been very fun too, and really, what more can you ask for?

At this point I figured I should update you all on what I'm doing, if for no other reason than to share the joy, and get some new content up on this blog for cripes sake! It's September 18th, and this is only my third post! Sheesh! 

Have no fear citizens, a meatier post is forthcoming. 

Most of the games I'm in, or running are bi-weekly, or monthly. Only the online Google Hangouts Kapow! Group (the one I am running DC Adventures for right now) meets every week.

Wait. That isn't exactly true. I meet with Dan's Group every Friday night (roughly), but we alternate games. 

Following our DC Adventures game, the Google Hangouts Kapow! Group will be doing a DC/Marvel Crossover, and then its back to our Kapow! campaign. 

Crisis on Earth G+

We've had three sessions so far, and everyone seems to be having a great time. I can tell you that I am. This mini-campaign is just my personal love letter to the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Silver/Bronze Age continuity of DC Comics. Getting the chance to do this is awesome, but knowing that my players appreciate the work I've put in is really icing on the cake. 

This week will feature the fourth part of our story, and a trip to World War II, and Golden Age DC! In addition to DC's WW II 'War Comics' heroes, such as Sgt. Rock, and Easy Company, G.I. Robot, and Jeb Stuart and The Haunted Tank, we'll get a guest appearance by the Earth-2 Justice Society of America! Woohoo! I can't wait.

Star Trek Adventures: Excalibur

Our new Google Hangouts group completed the adventure 'The Rescue at Xerxes IV' last week, and I must admit, it was really good. A fairly straight forward scenario, it was nonetheless an excellent introduction to the new Star Trek Adventures RPG. 

We are going forward with a mini-campaign, which may last no more than one additional adventure scenario, or it may continue onward. Lots of enthusiasm, but no pressure to commit to a tightly scheduled, long term game. 

We run this every two weeks, or so at a terribly late hour on Saturdays. 

The idea of using the Star Trek Adventures game to run a campaign based on 'The Orville' (which I touched on in my previous post) is one that keeps popping into my head. I am currently trying to rework the character sheets, and obtain as much information about the setting as possible, which isn't easy considering the series has only had two episodes at this point. 

My Hero Academia: American Ultra!

The Students of UA High School's Class 1-A

My Hero Academia

We've had three sessions of American Ultra, my homebrewed spin-off campaign based on the popular Japanese Anime/Manga series, My Hero Academia. 

So far it's been really great, with moments of WOW. It's some of the best GMing I've done in a long time, and I have the perfect group of players for it. Everyone, and everything just connects in a way that makes the game a pleasure to run, and the players have told me they love it.

The first two sessions had a nice mix of action, intrigue, humor, and world building. The third was much more focused on character development/role playing, investigation, and was a tad less funny, and action packed, but the players/PCs uncovered a bombshell reveal that had the team 'Holy Crap!'-ing all the way to the end. 

I'm pretty proud of that.

Next session is coming soon.

New Group - New Campaign - Villains & Vigilantes?

We played a super fun game of that Superhero RPG classic, Villains & Vigilantes last week, and are considering turning it into a campaign.

When I say we, I really mean myself, and two of my buddies. The third participant from our first foray won't be able to make it on a regular basis. Actually, it will be a rare occurrence if he can make it, which is too bad. He was a great guy to game with, and really rounded out the team.

While we had a great time, and I was flooded with nostalgia over the use of the very first Supers game I'd ever run, the loss of the third player and the fact that I am already running two Superhero campaigns has me wondering if this is a missed opportunity to run something else, like a Sci-Fi/Space Adventure game. 

More about this in my next post.

This group will also probably meet every two weeks, but I'm kind of running out of free days, and nights, so we'll play it by ear. 

Dan's Group - Alternating Games

Dan's Group meets at my friend Dan's house, and therefore we creatively refer to our entourage as 'Dan's Group'. Currently, Dan isn't GMing our Friday night games. That task is usually handled by my friend Alex, who is running a home-modified Powered by the Apocalypse 'Harry Potter/Hogwarts' game, or myself running...whatever. 

Whatever is a catch-all for the various games I start up with the group, run for a couple to several sessions, and then try to figure out what else might work better. Over the past year, or so this has included Ars Magica 3rd Ed., Champions 4th Ed., Marvel Heroic, Star Trek (LUG Version), and a number of others.

The problem is that games with the group never feel quite right to me. While we all get along and share similar interests, our playing and GMing styles are quite different, and even clash on occasion. The group is doing great with Alex's game, but every game I try feels either underwhelming, or annoying. 

I've yet to figure out what game works best with this assembly of gamers. 

I will keep trying of course. 

That's all for now. I have another post coming up very soon on some game ideas that have come to me of late. With any luck I can get this next entry out tonight.

Until then,

AD
Barking Alien

The Fall of Superheroes

And by 'Fall' I mean Autumn of course!

Yes my fellow caped and cowled costumed crusaders, it's that time of the year again - The kids are back to school, the leaves are changing colors, and the Pumpkin Spice Lattes flow like river rapids through the streets of every major American city. 

As Summer departs, and the harvest season blows in, I find myself running a number of Superhero RPGs. More accurately, I am running Superhero games, and little else. All things considered, I'm enjoying it, and pretty happy with the results so far.

I am currently running:

My Hero Academia: American Ultra!

Our third session of this campaign is coming up this Sunday (September 10th). 

So far the game has been a delight, with a perfect mix of action, intrigue, humor, and characterization. The world building has also been a ton of fun, as I adapt ideas from the Manga, and Anime, but twist a few to show the differences between how things work in Japan, and how they work in the United States. 

This next episode with feature school orientation, meeting their homeroom teacher, and the first day of classes. I can hardly wait!

I really need to do some session recaps on here soon. 

DC Adventures - Crisis on Earth-G+!

We just had the second session of my part of our Ultra Mega Summer Super Crossover Event, which is obviously bleeding into the next season. Summer was not enough to contain it! 

Our story places us in 1984, in the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Comic universe, where the inevitable wave of anti-matter from Crisis is sure to eliminate our reality. However, a plot by a cabal of supervillains may actually have given the heroes, with the help of the New God Metron, a way to save existence!

Travelling through time, and space, the heroes of the Justice League of America, are attempting to gather various items of power from throughout DC history, and use them to repair the Worlogog, a map and transportation device that might keep Earth G+ around post-Crisis. 

One can only hope. 

Villains and Vigilantes - Unnamed Superhero Campaign

I have been tasked with the creation of a new Superhero game by two good friends of mine, and I have gladly excepted the challenge. 

I am contemplating using the new Villains and Vigilantes 3.0, or a hybrid of 3E, and 2E. A friend suggested the 'Revised Second Edition' maybe a good option. 

I have a lot of nostalgia for that game, and I created a universe for it that I'd love to revisit and update. I have a pretty clear idea of how it would work, but I need to get comfortable with a version of the rules before I go about really setting it down on paper.

OK, that's what's up at the moment. More to come very soon.

I'm really eager to run a few other things, namely Star Wars and Star Trek, but I have not idea when I'll find the time. 

AD
Barking Alien