Red Skies and Floppy Disks

As my 40th Gaming Anniversary month draws to close, I am kind of amazed at how much of it I spent talking about, and playing Superhero RPGs.

It shouldn't come as a surprise really, for as I've said, Supers is what got me into RPGs in the first place (in a manner of speaking). It's just that, with a name like 'Barking Alien' you'd think there would be a bit more Science Fiction in my celebration of the 40 year mark. 

Furthermore, when I look at the general gaming landscape, how things like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and Numenera seem to dominate the market by leaps and bounds, I am once more reminded that is the bulk of the lot, the unifying factor, the common denominator...but it just ain't me.

This past Wednesday evening I ran the first session of my half of our Google Hangouts group's Ultra Mega Summer Super Crossover Event, DC Adventures - Crisis on Earth G+!

The first part, a Marvel Heroic mini-series, ended with a bit less bang, and a bit more whimper than we all would have liked. The Marvel Heroic system didn't turn out to be to most of the players' liking. Even, or perhaps especially the GM found the game cumbersome, and tedious, getting in the way of telling a Superhero comic book story instead of supporting, and enhancing it. 

I was personally a tad disappointed that we didn't get to 'see', or experience very much of the Marvel Universe. If I don't normally play in the Marvel milieu, and I get to for a limited run, I want the opportunity to encounter uniquely Marvel things. I wanted to feel why the atmosphere of Marvel is special - why it's not DC, or our homegrown Kapow! game. 

I tried really hard to make that a part of our DC excursion. To facilitate that, I made some tough choices. Not tough for me to make, but choices that I knew might not initially sit well with all the players. For example, I limited which characters they could choose to play, but I didn't do it arbitrarily. Rather, I did it to make the whole thing work. 

Here's what we ended up with...

The Silver/Bronze Age Justice League of America

Characters by Jose Garcia Lopez

Background by Me.

First, I told all the players that the story was set in the DC Universe in the year 1984.

Yep. 1984. The Bronze Age. Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths. 

I opened the game saying:

"The year is 1984. 
Ronald Reagan is the President of the United States.
Footloose and Beverly Hill Cops are raking it in at the Box Office.
Dynasty and Family Ties top the Nielsen Ratings. 
Just like the rest of Earth G+, Bonnie Tylor is Holding Out for a Hero."

That right there is the key to everything. 

Any character created by DC during, or after Crisis on Infinite Earths does not exist in our game. If the character was acquired by DC Comics, and first appears in a DC book during, or after COIE, such as Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, and the other Charlton Characters, they too are not available as PCs. 

The 'Satellite Era' Justice League of America, the Teen Titans (Dick Grayson is Robin, not Nightwing), the Doom Patrol (original), the Metal Men, and a number of independent heroes are all cleared for use. 

The group eventually chose a very classic Justice League line up:

The Flash/Barry Allen (played by Keith)
Green Arrow/Oliver Queen (played by Stephen)
Green Lantern/Hal Jordan (played by Tim)
Hawkgirl/Sheira Hall (played by Mark)
Superman/Clark Kent - Kal-El (played by Carl)
Wonder Woman/Princess Diana - Diana Prince (played by Melinda)

A day, or two before the session, I posted the following image, and caption to our Event page...

'Earth Time - August 29th, 1984, 12:00 PM EST - On the outskirts of Space Sector 2813, bordering the edge of 2814, Green Lantern Honor Guard Member, Tomar-Re, detects a disturbance in the Space-Time Continuum.'

The following morning I posted this...

'A series of strange events, some clearly villainous, some merely suspicious, have kept the Justice League of America rather busy over the past 48 hours.

Flash, and Green Arrow - In the wee hours of yesterday morning, Mark Mardon, AKA Weather Wizard, somehow escaped from the Minnesota State Correctional Facility that held him. Several hours later, a sudden, terrible storm blew over Star City just as a plane extraditing Count Werner Vertaygho of Vlatava, AKA Count Vertigo, had taken off. The aircraft, as well as Count Vertigo himself, have disappeared. 

Green Lantern, and Superman - Our heroes have been on the trail of Rudy Jones, AKA The Parasite, for at least twelve hours now. Jones recently escaped from a S.T.A.R. Labs facility attempting to cure his condition. As the heroes neared his last known whereabouts, the Metropolis suburb of Midvale, reports came through that a 'yellow-gold giant with purple clothes' had been sighted in the Delaware Water Gap National Park, about 80 miles Northeast of the city. 

Hawkgirl, and Wonder Woman - Yesterday evening, Helen Alexandros, AKA The Silver Swan, stole an ancient, Greek salpinx from the Midway City Museum (The Midway Museum of Ancient History). She was aided by a mysterious man in a blue cloak. The two individuals vanished right before the eyes of stunned security guards. Early this morning, a man wearing a cloak of the same description was spotted in the Suicide Slum area of Metropolis by Ace O' Clubs owner Bibbo Bibbowski.'

A few hours later, I posted this last, additional entry:

'Update: Additional sightings of the Parasite, Silver Swan, the Blue Cloaked Man, and the mysterious Yellow-Gold Giant have been confirmed by various sources, and complied by J'onn Jonzz, The Martian Manhunter, back on the JLA Satellite. According to his findings, they are all headed for central Metropolis, likely the borough of New Troy.

Weather patterns there have begun to change rapidly, and a particularly intense lightning storm seems to be forming. Very likely, this is a sign that Weather Wizard, and perhaps Count Vertigo, are on their way as well.

Be ready Justice Leaguers!'

The important things to note here are that I tried to make sure I had certain vital (IMO) components established:

• Familiar super villains from the rogues galleries of the chosen PCs.
• A few mystery villains who could not be confirmed to add intrigue.
• Mention of key DC Comics locations related to the PCs.
• Mention of key NPC heroes or supporting cast members. 
• Everything culminating in the most well known location mentioned: Metropolis.

Also, I established that the Martian Manhunter was there to help in an advisory capacity. This enabled me to give exposition, helpful hints, and the like with an in-game voice (J'onn's) instead of a GM/Narrator voice.

Remember this is all before the first session. This is the prologue. It's...OMG...it's...

Pre-Crisis on Earth G+!

More to come...

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Barking Alien

Adventure Comics

As I think about today, and how amazing it is that I've been doing what I love [running and playing tabletop RPGs] in one form, or another for 40 years now, I find it curious how much of my current gaming revolves around Superheroes. 

It was Superheroes comic books that got me started in the hobby after all. 

Unlike a lot of people who came to RPGs from other games (particularly war games, and/or miniatures), or a love of fantasy literature, I came to it by way of wanting to create, and participate in stories of a heroic nature. 

The kid who taught me to play on that fateful day in Brooklyn, August 25th, 1977, was a year younger than I was, and learned to play the game from his older brother. He explained it to me by saying, "It's like playing out a comic book. You create a character, go on adventures, defeat villains, and save people."

For this reason as much as any other, I've rarely encountered the 'murderhobo' mentality in earnest. My fellow players, and I as GM, were simply never all that interested in the idea. Once in a blue moon perhaps, as a change of pace, we'd play people just trying to survive and make a name for themselves. Most of the time though, it was about bigger pictures, deep goals, righting wrongs, fighting for a better world, a better tomorrow.

The games that drew my attention, and won my favor were games in which you played heroes, fighting the forces of evil, toppling tyranny, and discovering the wonder of the universe. Games like Star Trek, Star Wars, and of course, various Superhero RPGs. 

These days I don't get to run, or play Star Trek, or Star Wars as much as I'd like (though I do get the chance once in a while. More about that another time). I do get in A LOT of Supers however. 

Why, just next week I will running a DC universe adventure as part of my Google Hangout groups Ultra Mega Summer Super Crossover Event!

I found this in the Dollar Bin of a Comic Book Store on a Parallel Earth.

It's in pretty good condition. What a bargain!

In addition to my ongoing My Hero Academia: American Ultra campaign, I am taking over the reins of our little online group for a few sessions (Muhuwahahahaha!) in order to run something very near, and dear to my heart - a Silver/Bronze Age DC Comics mini-campaign! 

Most of my friends were Marvel fans when we were growing up. For a while, I would've said I was too if asked. DC wasn't as cool as Marvel you see, especially when you're between 8-14 years old, and living in the 1970s and 1980s. 

At the same time, if asked who my favorite superhero was, I would usually say Green Lantern. My favorite team? The Legion of Superheroes, and the Teen Titans. (But, you know, I'm still really a Marvel fan. Shyeah. Right.).

Eventually I grew to be proud of my love of the bigger, bolder, more mythic comic book company, and it's larger than larger-than-life heroes, and villains. Of course, I came to terms with this just as DC's management decided to blow it all up, and start fresh in the landmark Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series.

I now yearn for a simpler, yet more epic time. A time of four color heroes, threats to the world, and even the universe, Gold Kryptonite, Super-Pets, and Bat-submarines. I want to visit the Wild West of Jonah Hex, Batlash, and Cinnamon, and the ruined, mutant future of Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth. 

This campaign is therefore a celebration of DC Comics before 1984 - Before waves of anti-matter, and muted, red skies took away the true Earth-2, Earth-3, the original Superboy, and The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. It is the era of The Creeper, Ragman, Supergirl dating Brainiac 5 in the 30th Century, and a host of awesome forgotten villains, and heroes deemed 'not edgy', or 'extreme' enough to survive unmolested into later eras. 

Feh!

The Teen Titans Judas Contract, the Legion of Superheroes' Great Darkness Saga - these stories are worth a thousand times what modern DC is doing. 

Hold on to the Mobius Chair, unfold the Worlogog, and follow us on a journey through the space-time continuum to save an entire reality, or maybe two, in the...

I can't wait!

Stay tuned.

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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.

ALL ACCESS! Say you!

Posts are light for all our brethren this time of year it seems. No matter. I have something to talk about, and FINALLY, time with which to talk about it!

My group's new Champions 4th Edition campaign has had one session, and that session freakin' ROCKED!

It's hard to believe it worked as well as it did, but if it hadn't I would've probably turned in my gaming credentials, and taking up stamp collecting as a hobby instead.

I really put thought, and prep time into how to make this particular campaign idea work with this particular group. It appears to have been time well spent.

The JLA vs. The Avengers

Commission work by John Byrne*

 

 

HERE'S WHAT I WAS UP AGAINST:

Out of 7 players, only 3 are hard core Superhero comic book fans. There are 2 people who generally like comic books, but 1 is a casual fan, and 1 is more of an indie/Vertigo fan (not as into traditional Superhero comics). The remaining 2 are more Anime/Manga fans, only generally familiar with Superheroes through animated movies, TV shows, and live-action cinema.

To run a game to the best of one's abilities, one should run what one knows, and loves. For me, in the genre of Superheroes, that's the subgenre/specific style of comics most prevalent during the late 50's to mid 80's, otherwise referred to as The Silver Age, and The Bronze Age. Now, if you think it would be tricky to run a Supers game for a group in which more than half the members aren't all that familiar with Superhero comics, what are the odds they're going to comprehend the tropes of a particular era of Superhero comics.

Yeah. Exactly.

Finally, I noticed that a good number of the players tend to run the same types of characters from game to game, regardless of genre. They also tend to approach our games with a particular mindset, regardless of the setting, story, etc. How do I get those same players to play a bit outside their comfort zone, thereby avoiding the same old mistakes, and problems, without making them feel so uncomfortable that they lose enthusiasm for the game, and/or their characters?

HERE'S HOW I HANDLED IT:

First, we (those more heavily into American Superhero comics) gave those less familiar with the genre recommendations as to what to read, and watch to get the right feel for the campaign.

This post ,as it turns out, helped a bit, but not in the way I would've expected. Even before serving as a resource list of places the players could look to for an accurate sense of the games atmosphere and styling, it served as a benchmark to determine what they were already familiar with. Had they even heard of the Justice, or New Frontier series. Did they know who the All Star Squadron or Legion of Superheroes were? How much catching up was required? This allowed Dave, and myself (veterans of both Comic Book and Superhero RPG fandom), and to a lesser extent Ray, to direct the others more specifically and effectively.

Since I was really going for a very particular era of comics, and I realized that even reading those comics may not secure the concept in the heads of the uninitiated (they hadn't grown up on them - they aren't at the impressible age I was when I encountered these stories for the first time), I went to other more readily available sources.

For example, although also influenced by Golden Age comics, the animated series of Batman: The Brave & The Bold is a recent, widely accessible source of Silver Age goodness. Likewise, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is a strong early Marvel to Bronze Age Marvel love letter to some of the greatest stories in Avengers history (as well as the histories of some of it's individual members). While incorporating both Marvel Cinematic and current comic book elements, the show is really a shining example of The Avengers in it's Bronze Age heyday.

Now the last part was perhaps the hardest feat for me, for us as a group, to accomplish, even though the solution was quite simple. I simply said no to character concepts that I didn't feel fit the bill.

Normally, I give the players in my campaigns very general parameters for character creation. I see what they come up with, and build our game around their ideas. This time, I said this (Silver/Bronze Age Superheroes) is what I want to run. Make a character for this.

I'm sure I frustrated one or two of the players, but I also got some fantastic characters out of them. Chief among them is Will's character, and that is a big deal for me. You see, Will is the most active player in the game with the least amount of comic book knowledge.

***

 

Also...

Will is an Anime/Manga fan going way back (although oddly, so am I). His head appears to think in a Japanese storytelling way, not an American storytelling way. What do I mean? Well, simply put, I have noticed for some time now that all the backstories for his character involve a motivating situation, one that propels his character forward toward adventure, or into teaming with the others. Awesome right? A GM's dream you say. It starts as a dream certainly, but it becomes a nightmare very quickly.

Will's first, and foremost goal upon the start of the campaign is to solve his background drawback. For example, in Traveller, he began with the backstory that his character was looking for her runaway son. Cool. Episode one, first few moments of the game, he hires the rest of the PCs to help find the son. I liked that idea, and managed to spread out the search, and rescue into a really good adventure arc.

Then in Bushido, his Samurai's backstory involved him raising his daughter as the Mom died in childbirth. The mother's spirit haunts the house the father and daughter live in. What is the first thing he does? As soon as he is given the chance he wants to have everyone explore the house, discover info about the ghost, and possibly find a way to exercise it.

In Superhero terms, imagine Uncle Ben is dead, and Peter Parker now has to care for his feeble Aunt May in addition to finishing High School, and of course, being Spiderman. Will's Peter Parker would've made a phone call in the first five minutes of the game to have Aunt May put in a nursing home so he doesn't have to worry about Aunt May.

You bastard. How could you do that to Aunt May.

While I may be stretching my theory here, I feel like his is following a Japanese comic book technique here, not an American one. He is trying to get to the 'end of the story'. Unlike American Superhero comics, which generally go on, and on forever, Japanese comics, Manga, tell stories with a definitive beginning, middle, and end. While those endings are sometimes kept vague in case the creator wants to revisit the setting, and characters again at some later date, most Manga series will have a last issue. Spiderman, and Superman, will not.

In the end, Will came up with an idea that was somewhat vague, and ill-defined. It was also perfect. Neither Will nor his character know the exact details of the character's background. He has a distinct goal, a questing beast to chase, but he doesn't actually know who it is, or why he is chasing them. (More about this in an upcoming post).

***

This one has run long so I'm going to stop here. There is more to come though, so please check back. I have a number of non-Supers related posts coming soon as well, so stay tuned.

Oh, before I go, a Very Happy Birthday to the one and only Stan 'The Man' Lee! Happy 92nd! EXCELSIOR!

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Barking Alien

*You may notice a lot of John Byrne art lately. That's because he is awesome. Also, while I haven't loved everything he's down professionally over the late decade, his commission work is astounding. Seriously. It amazes me how well he draws classic Superheroes when he doesn't have to draw them in comic books. Jeez. That reads like a slight, but I assure it's not. What I mean is, when he can draw an image in the way he wants to draw it, featuring characters he loves, you can see it in the picture. His feelings for the characters really come through.

Expect The Extraordinary

Don't be surprised if this month is kinda Superhero heavy.

MARVELS Panel By Alex Ross

 

 

In addition to the weekly online Superhero game I'm in as a player, and the bi-weekly (or so) Supers game where I switch between player (mostly), and guest GM (occasionally), I am gearing up for a new Superhero RPG campaign with my regular group to begin (hopefully) in December.

 

Dang, but that was one of my most annotated paragraphs in a while. Sheesh.

 

Back to the subject of this post, it looks like my group may finally be getting the Four-Color Superhero genre the way I see it, and that is a big plus in my attempt to run something with a little staying power. Our last few attempts at Superhero campaigns have often experienced great starts, but quickly buckle under a combination of the players being unfamiliar with the tropes of the era of comics I like, and my frustration with them not comprehending what to me is so second nature I don't even think about it.

 

Truly this is unfair of me, I know. I can't expect them to understand something largely foreign to them, which I've spent almost 40 years being engrossed in (See my recent post, A Secret War). At the same time, as I've said before, I have tried to provide them with frames of reference, and a few of them are familiar with the era, and style of comic books I'm talking about.

 

On the suggestion of my good pal Dave*, I have attempted to approach this campaign, and character creation specifically, in a slightly different manner than that which I've used in the past. In my mind, I have been a tad more heavy-handed in telling the players what I'm looking for with this game. Dave was insistent that I had to be if I wanted to run a particular type of Superhero game. I do believe he's right.

 

It may not be my preferred way of doing things, but the results have been pretty good so far.

 

As expected, I still have two players who's characters are a tad off, although mostly in their powers. Their backstories and such are excellent. They are coming around, albeit a little slowly. That's OK by me. Take all the time you need to get the parts to fit together I say.

 

Expect updates on the PCs and the setting (still a mystery to most of the players! Yay!), ideas and attitudes toward running Supers, and anything else that pops up while I develop this campaign.

 

Questions and comments are always welcome!

 

Oh, and if you know of any good Superhero tabletop RPG blogs or podcasts, send them my way. Thanks!

 

 

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Barking Alien

 

*Dave is/was, surprisingly, having the most trouble with the overall feel of the campaign, even though he is my biggest advocate for the running of Superhero games.

 

Dave is not a fan of the Silver/Bronze Age periods of comics. I find this somewhat perplexing, even knowing the reasons for his opinion. My point to him was, "utilize the tropes and style, but add what you felt the comics of that era were missing".

 

It's comic books, not brain surgery, yet sometimes I think it would be easier to assemble a Brain Surgery RPG than one of the former type.

 

 

 

 

 

A Secret War

I want to run a Superheroes RPG campaign.

I really do. I don't think you understand how much. More than that.

No, you don't get it. I really, really want to run one, sooo bad. I mean, I just used a 'so' with three 'o's in it. Who does that? That's some high school crap. Well I'm willing to do it. That's how desperate I am to run Supers.

Alex Ross painting Marvel Super Heroes

from alternate times and dimensions much!

The problem I have, as evidenced in many of my previous, recent attempts to do so, is that I don't have a lot of consistent players who are comic book readers, and/or fans of the Superhero genre. Fewer still who are fans of my type of Superhero comics, the 'Four Color Comics' of the Silver Age and Bronze Age.

See, I am fighting a 'secret war' of sorts. The objective is to get a group of people on the same page that I am on in regards to comic book Superheroes so that I can run a campaign of it.

That page is a beautiful, action-packed, double-page splash. If only I could get them to see it, I'm sure they'd be amazed. This is far easier said than done, as the two or three people I am thinking about probably don't even know what a 'double-page splash' is.

*Thuds head against the wall. Repeatedly.*

Even though, intellectually, I am well aware that there members of fandom who may never have grown up with Superheroes and comic books, it is still sometimes hard to me to wrap my head around the idea. To me, Superhero comics are an American institution, right alongside hot dogs, apple pie, and horribly expensive health care.

Hmmm. Bad example. OK, how about this...

The U.S.A. is only 238 years old. Our history as a nation pales in comparison to that of England, France, Japan, China, and numerous other countries on the Earth. In addition, while it's awesome that we are a people of mixed cultural heritage, we don't have the unified mythology and folklore of our respective homelands from which we originated. Sadly, the average American citizen has little knowledge of the spiritual tales of the original Natives either.

So what is our folklore? Who are our mythic heroes and villains?

Well, you definitely have characters from the fiction made popular entertainment in this country such as Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the like. You have the tales of Tarzan, the Lone Ranger, and perhaps Conan. Prior to these characters and other heroes of the Pulp Era, you had Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and the real life cowboys turned larger-than-life like Billy the Kid, and 'Wild Bill' Hickok.

Beyond that, you have Superheroes.

 

Is this not Ragnarok, The Fall of the Gods?*

 

 

Superman, created by two young, American lads from Cleveland, was originally conceived of as a very different character from that which we know today**. It wasn't until they hit upon an incarnation of the character as a heroic individual in the mythic tradition of Hercules, Samson, and others, who fought against evil, and stood for justice and truth, that Superman caught fire in the imaginations of America's youth.

Comic books are our mythology. I'm sure I've said this on the blog before, but it bares repeating. It was actually comic books that got me into D&D. I wasn't intimately familiar with the literary sources that inspired Gygax and Arneson. I was 8 years old in 1977 when I started gaming. I knew fairy tales. I knew the Wizard of Oz (films and books), and some English, Irish and Scottish folklore. At that time however, I knew little of the type of medieval fantasy, or sword and sorcery, from which Dungeons and Dragons drew its 'setting'.

I knew Star Trek, Star Wars, Lost in Space, and a host of other Science Fiction shows and movies. Mostly, I knew Superheroes. My friends and I talked about them all the time. We drew pictures of them. We read the comics, and wrote our own stories about the heroes and villains depicted therein, even before we played RPGs. These were the stories we knew, branded into our heads by a love of them, and multiple re-readings. These are the stories I still pass down today.

I fear there is no way to win this war of mine, since there is not weapon as powerful as my own love of the genre developed over the last 40 years. I have no illusions that I can make anyone get it the way I get it if they didn't share the same experience, but even a glass half full would be nice. I don't expect it to be an intrinsic part of them (my players), but a cap they could put on and feel comfortable with.

How to do this remains a mystery.

In the meantime, I continue my fight, to right that which is wrong, to defend peace, and serve all mankind.***

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Barking Alien


*Art credit where credit is do. This is the cover to the 'Crisis On Infinite Earths: Absolute Edition' hardcover. It was illustrated by series artist George Perez, and then painting over by the amazing Alex Ross. It has to be one of my favorite pieces of comic book related art ever. My two favorite artists working together on a single piece. Incredible.

**While Superman is often thought of as a boring character (largely due to writers who, IMHO, focus too much on the wrong elements of him), the story of his creation is absolutely fascinating, and worth a little research.

***Recognize this catchphrase? Ever-so-slightly modified, it is part of the intro to the classic, animated TV series Superfriends.

The Heroic Age...Of Around 11 - Part I

My computer is very near workable.

Just in time too, as I intend on doing something pretty cool and definitely fun for April's A-to-Z Challenge this year. A little more about that in the next post.

There are still a few kinks to work out but I should have them taken care of relatively soon. Besides, what is life without a few kinks? I have a good number of kinks myself. Hmmm. That did not come out quite as I intended.

Moving on...

A quick though regretfully belated Happy Birthday shout out to two fine gentlemen who are big heroes of mine - Happy Birthday William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy!

***

Last Sunday I started a new game with the kids at the study center in Brooklyn where I teach. The new game comes with a new lesson focus involving writing and story structure. The key this time is working on those elements that will be important in essay writing, a major part of the upcoming state wide tests.

What game did I decide to use to make my point?

Marvel Heroic! That's right Marvel Zombies, your favorite ol' diehard DC fanboy went over to the dark side once again, this time full force and ran a game featuring the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Spider-man and a couple of X-Men for good measure.

While the roster of heroes we used closely resemble the modern incarnation of the Avengers (complete with Thing, Mr. Fantastic and Spider-man as members), I couldn't help but see them in their 80's outfits in my mind's eye. It's partly that that's when I was a really big Marvel fan (though I love DC too) and partly the way the kid's play Superheroes.

For the first session the story was fairly simple.

The heroes are hanging out at the Baxter Building (home of the Fantastic Four) or the Avengers Mansion (HQ of the mighty Avengers). Spider-man was visiting the FF while Wolverine and Storm were paying a visit to the Avengers at the time.

The full roster was Captain America, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Storm, The Thing, Thor and Wolverine.

All the male characters were played by males. All the female characters were played by females. The youngest player was in 4th grade. The oldest player is in 6th grade (should be 7th but the boy only moved here from China a year ago).

The plot, sorry, Event, began when the heroes all received a call from Nick Fury of SHIELD. Something terrible was happening just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Something big. Something...

green.

Yes indeedy-do comic book crusaders, the one and only (well, relatively) incredible Hulk was on a rampage once more and SHIELD needed help taking him down. It is important to note that the players received a number of subtle clues that this was not the Hulk's normal wanton destruction but that he seemed even madder and crazier than usual. On the Rampage-O-Meter, with a scale from 1 to 10, Hulk had his HULK SMASH dial cranked up to 12. He only partially recognized heroes he had fought or teamed with before and didn't really use any thinking or tactics (Specialties). It was just "GRRRRAAAA!", lunge, tear-to-shreds.

As Mister Fantastic, Captain America and several other heroes set up a sort of base camp/defensive line near the opening of Mr. F's Transportation Portal (he teleported the teams to New Mexico by tracking Hulk's gamma radiation signature), several other team members went to look for Hulk's exact position, obscured as it was by smoke, flames and screaming civilians.

The players and PCs of Mister Fantastic and Iron Man quickly picked up on the Hulk's abnormal level of rage...you know, even for the Hulk.

Iron Man's sensors pinpointed the Hulk and he radioed back to the rest of the group.

The first to attempt to take down the green goliath was the man who's the best there is at what he does and what he does isn't nice...Wolverine! Unfortunately, Wolvie's roll stank and Hulk easily avoided the blow. Next up was the Human Torch, who got into the system pretty quickly and used his Fire Mastery to set up a Complication. Instead of blasting the Hulk with flames, he heated the dirt and sand beneath Hulk's feet, causing Hulk to begin sinking into molten ground.

The Scarlet Witch attempted to follow up that move with a Transmutation Hex. Her idea was to transform the lava like earth into solid granite or marble and trap the Hulk's feet. No dice. That is, she too rolled pretty poorly.

Actually, there were very few good rolls this past Sunday on the part of the kids. I would've slaughtered their team if it hadn't been for one really bad roll on my part toward the end of the session.

More on that after this ad for Hostess Fruit Pies and X-Ray Specs!

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Barking Alien

From The Far Future To The Silver Age

Short one today as I am heading out the door in a few moments...

As I prepare to continue our Traveller campaign, I am also gearing up for a side or 'back-up' campaign of Champions. I will be using Champions 6th Edition for the first time ever and I am a little unsure about how this will turn out since our last Champions campaign started out AWE-to-the-SOME and ended with a whimper.

Part of the reason the last Champions game went south toward the end was because of the player dynamic we had and my getting so tired and fed up with them that I dropped the ball and let them get away with crap just to get it over with. That is a damn shame. I am ashamed. That campaign world, that universe deserved better. They, the PCs, deserved to die and I was too afraid of hurt feelings to kill them. I am not normally like that but I began to realize that they (the players) just weren't on the level of my older groups. They couldn't handle it. It I went all out and did what I can do, what I should have done, we'd have been making up new PC's every three weeks (and it was a weekly game).

This current group, well, I have high hopes but I am also committed to not being a pansy. If these guys screw up, they buy the farm, no ifs ands or buts. At the same time, knowing what I know now and having some of the previous game's players joining in here, I am setting my sights on a less deadly game overall.

William's Champions World (Champions Earth Wilco Charlie-1 and my variant of it, Champions Earth Alpha Delta-1) was a deadlier, more brutal place. The villains were out to accomplish their goals, willing to kill each other in the process and the heroes were largely viewed as annoying speed bumps that periodically got in their way and slowed them down.

This new setting, which is largely based on an old Villains & Vigilantes campaign of mine, is far more Silver Age DC with Bronze Age Marvel undertones. There is angst and melodrama and the occaisional Gwen Stacy being tossed off a bridge but the villains are a bit more, mmm, 'Comic Book-y' overall. Quirky power or gizmo baddies are numerous, with a good number of smart, mid-level villains, followed by a few of your master villains and then the rare but astonishing cosmic nemesis.

I will have more to say on both this and my Traveller campaign very soon. Until then, enjoy the weekend and good gaming to one and all.

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Barking Alien

The Game Plan

February has sucked for page views.

In a way I'm not surprised, as I have been pretty light on posting this month. February is always a tough month for me in a lot of ways but I often do much better than this in regards to posting.

At the same time, I did expect a bit better, as there seemed to have been some great responses to some of the posts and quite a lot of interest in Traveller on the net of late. Still, I am seeing the dynamic reinforced once again that the most comments I get, the fewer page views there are and vice versa.

Enough of this...on to more interesting concerns...

***

Oh wait, before I forget...

NOVA #1 was really good. I loved the art, the story and situation are shaping up nicely and they actually explained the alternate costume as an in-universe element of the plot and that always makes me happy. Also, I do want to spoil it for anyone but Sam's father's Nova power...it's...did anyone else notice The Star Brand?

***

So we are still two Saturdays away from the second session of our new Traveller campaign, originally dubbed 'Operation: Paladin', now being nicknamed 'The Compleat Traveller' as I am running it at The Compleat Strategist, our FLGS.

What I am relearning from this experience is something I should have remembered from the last time I ran a monthly game at the Strat. A month is too damn long.

Seriously, I am still super excited and super invested which only makes it feel like it's taking even longer to get to the next session and it's only episode 2! How the heck did I do this last time? It's painful waiting this long to continue.

Unfortunately its also brought up some other thoughts that have me considering an additional campaign of something...maybe Supers.

See, some of the Traveller plays can only commit to a one a month game, while others are a bit more available but only two are available every week. This means I may be looking at the following schedule...

First Saturday of the Month - Ars Magica
Second Saturday of the Month - Traveller
Third Saturday of the Month - Ars Magica
Fourth Saturday of the Month - Supers

That's a lot of campaigns for me right now. I don't really have that much free time to devout to the prep work necessary for three seperate campaigns. Also, I am getting a little tired of Ars Magica and plan to wrap it up somewhere down the line (soon-ish).

What I would much rather do would be...

First Saturday of the Month - Supers
Second Saturday of the Month - Traveller
Third Saturday of the Month - Supers
Fourth Saturday of the Month - Traveller

...but that seems highly unlikely at the moment. Another, perhaps more feasible scenario is...

First Saturday of the Month - Supers
Second Saturday of the Month - Traveller
Third Saturday of the Month - Supers
Fourth Saturday of the Month - Supers

...with a large, open world Supers game that has players playing different characters depending upon with other players show and who was teamed up with who last session.

On a related note...

***

I am in the mood for Supers again, that much is certain. This time I want to go more classic, Silver Age than I usually do. While I always have so degree of Silver Age influence (sometimes more, sometimes less), I want it to be the major style focus this time around. OK, maybe a sort of Silver/Bronze mix. Maybe.

What system? I am feeling the 'extremes' at present and can't decide between Marvel Heroic (finally getting the chance to attempt a campaign of this game) and Champions 6th Edition ('Cause I do love me some Champions).

Oh before I forget, the 'Do Superheroes Improve?' discussion rages on. Check out WQRobb's thoughts on the subject here.

So, The Game Plan, as it turns out, is still not finalized and there is likely to be a good deal more thought and discussion on the subject.

Until next time,

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Barking Alien