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 - CAPTAIN CONDOR

I thought I'd round out the opening trinity of characters with a Superhero. After Medieval Fantasy and Science Fiction, that would seem the logical follow-up genre to cover the major TRPG 'Food Groups', right?

I don't have time to do a Champions character right now (thinking about what kind of Super to make takes more time than the actual act of Character Creation for me at this point), so I thought I'd go old school with a random generation system. Inspired by a fellow fan of the game by the name of Tim Hartin, I chose my favorite game from way back when, Villains & Vigilantes!

Let's find out who's going to be out there fighting for truth and justice shall we? *Rolls*

Oh boy. This guy is...definitely a V&V Character. LOL

Character: Captain Condor

AKA: Alan Dale, The Winged Wonder

Player: Possibly me, possibly an NPC.

System: Villains and Vigilantes, 2nd Edition

 

Nature: Created for this Challenge. 

Gamemaster: None yet. Possibly me.

Circa: January 3rd, 2026

Origins: Random rolls inspired me to think of this guy as a cross between Captain America and a Superhero in the Public Domain named Airman, but then I realized I'd rolled on the 'Powers' list. This fellow doesn't use devices or special gear to fight crime. He has Bird Powers! Not only that but I actually rolled 'Animal/Plant Powers' twice. When you get this result you get to roll for an additional 1D6 powers based on your rolled or chosen animal type. I rolled Avian and decided to go with two times the Bird Powers! As you can see, this fellow's got a lot of powers related to his Condor-ness. 

Backstory: (I imagine this character as Silver Age, early 1960s or so) Inspired by the heroes of the Second World War and the recent return of both new and old ones to the world stage, down-on-his luck pilot Alan Dale volunteered for what he believed to be a secret government project to create Super Soldiers for the USA by combining ones DNA with that of a particular animal. Alan requested 'Avian' DNA as he thought 'Flight' and 'Eagle Eye Vision' would work well with his past experience and skill as a pilot.

He was right, though the process was extremely painful and resulted in physical mutations he was too naive and desperate to anticipate. Dale grew functional wings, retractable talons on his fingers and toes, as well as a developing a number of other changes. Just as he was preparing to test out his abilities, the facility he was in was raided by a number of established Superheroes and CHESS Agents. As it turned out, the Scientist that performed the operation was lying and had no connections to the government whatsoever. He intended to perfect his techniques and sell his proccess to Intercrime to create new Super-criminals. 

Alan aided the heroes in capturing the Mad Doctor and his minions and was not charged with any crimes himself. Instead, they offered him a job! Work as a Superpowered operative for the Central Headquarters of Extranormal Activities for the Secret Service (CHESS, get it?)*. Originally the CHESS head honchos wanted to refer to his new identity as 'The Winged Bishop' but Alan requested something more inspiring, like the Golden Age Superheroes of yore. He wanted to be called, 'CAPTAIN CONDOR'. They laughed...but they liked it. 

Overview: I remember back in the day playing V&V and rolling the same power twice. We initially re-rolled, an unspoken houserule. Then one day, for reasons I don't recall, we allowed someone to just have a double strong Superpower. Not long after I rolled up a fellow who had Animal/Plant Powers, Animal/Plant Powers again, Wings, and then Waterbreathing. Everyone thought I'd start over but instead I had an idea; I chose Avian and Fish as my Animal Power Sets and created a Native American character called, 'The Seahawk', a cross between DC's Aquaman and Marvel's Falcon.

He was perfect for the campaign we'd planned, a superteam made of heroes from states other than New York and California; 'The Heartland League'. Representing Seattle, the Washington local had magical powers letting him talk to birds and fish, fly, breathe underwater, and possessed incredible Strength, Endurance, and Agility. Sure, Captain Condor is similar but luckily I also rolled a Body Power and a Special Power, allowing him to possess two unique abilities. Capt. Condor has his paralyzing Condor Cry and the ability to lift things into the air with his feet.

Fun!

The Highlights: Definitely like his Flight speed, the Condor Cry, and the Taloned Feet. His Natural Weaponry makes up a bit for his having lower Strength than I'd have hoped for. 

Game Info:

A couple odd things:

I couldn't figure out how to determine his starting Inventing percentage and beginning Cash. It's been a long time since I've played and forgot how it works and where to find it in the rules.

I totally remembered that we changed the Security Clearance system 'cause it kind of ridiculous. The lower the number the better it is, so the President of the US would have a SC of 1 and a Rookie Beat Cop would probably have a 30 [maybe]. You start with the number 40, subtract your less, then you subtract your PC's Intelligence and Charisma. This means someone with Heightened abilities would have an incredibly good Security Clearance. Capt. Condor here ended up in the negatives! Much better than a US President. That just doesn't make sense, especially for a starting character. 

I'd probably just fudge it.

Notes: None as of now. Again, I like him but I haven't thought about it too deeply as of yet.

Legacy: I can see translating this fella into Champions with a few upgrades or modifications. Maybe I'd use him as a PC or NPC in another Supers game as well but with nothing in particular on my plate, Captain Condor gets filed away for now. 

UPDATE: Last night my buddy Mark used Captain Condor as an NPC in our City of Heroes setting Cypher Superheroes game! The good Captain helped the PCs escape an alien ship that had abducted a Superheroine NPC and my PC.

Coming up...Someone Else!

Stay tuned.

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Barking Alien

*In Villains and Vigilantes canon CHESS stands for The Central Headquarters of Espionage for the Secret Service. I changed it back in the day as I wanted it to be thought of as a Superhero Support organization and not just a Spy agency.

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 - BLOODY SUNDAY

This character is an NPC with a rather strange origin, one I admit I may not be remembering accurately. I'll be doing the best I can to recall as much as I can. I created it and have been using it across a variety of different genres and systems since sometime in the 1980s. It's been a while since I've brought it to the table but would like to find a way to do so this coming year. 

Character: Bloody Sunday

AKA: Bloody Sabbath, The Bloody Gentleman, The Bloody Lady, Bloody Mary

Player: Non-Player Character

System(s): Villains and Vigilantes. Stalking The Night Fantastic, Chill, Ghostbusters, Champions, and more.
 
Nature: Numerous Short Campaigns and a handful of Long Campaigns. 

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein

Circa: The first version of the character appeared in the early 1980s. The last incarnation was probably used around the early-to-mid 2000s. 

Origins: I created the character of Bloody Sunday for a creepy short story I wrote for...some reason. It was most likely a school assignment of some sort. I barely recollect the details except that the character was originally called Bloody Sabbath and the story was focused on the theme of pointless or unnecessary violence. 

That theme remained a key component of the character, who first showed up in an RPG as a supervillain in our Heartland League campaign (mentioned in the previous entry). According to that campaign, the organization known as Intercrime was lead by someone named 'The Crime Lord', only that was a title and not an particular individual. At some point early in the campaign, the then current Crime Lord was murdered and replaced by a mysterious criminal called Bloody Sunday. We would eventually confront him only to discover 'he' was some kind of supernatural entity; essentially the physical incarnation of senseless violence. Weakened by the heroes saving lives and preventing others from taking them, Bloody Sunday flees the scene vowing vengence.

I've used the concept of this entity again and again through the years in various campaigns,  with slight alterations to its demeanor, appearance, and even its abilities. Some of my favorite versions of Blood Sunday have manifested in Comedic Horror games such as Stalking The Night Fantastic and Ghostbusters, always easing off the humor and upping the creepiness. I often portray these incarnations of Bloody Sunday as self-hating and sad, not wanting to be what it is but unable to be what its not. I know, its sounds a little complicated for what is basically a being of otherwise mindless anger but that's what makes the character more than just another scary monster. 

Backstory: There have been several variants of Bloody Sunday and trying to write up all of them would make this entry twice as long as it already is. What I'll do is split the difference between the versions and give a sort of gestalt interpretation of the character. This will be less Comic Book Supervillain and more like my preferred way of portraying Bloody Sunday as a tortured supernatual being.

American legends and folklore surrounding Bloody Sunday date back to the Revolutionary War but tales of similar spirits abound in many cultures, especially those that would have been present during the early European colonization of North America. Stories of ghostly beings in white with blood stained clothing are told and retold time and again by the English, Irish, Germans, and countless others. Even the Indiginous peoples of Mexico and North America feature blood stained spirits in otherwise pale garments. Bloody Sunday's mythology shares many elements of these other entities but we'll focus on the points that make it unique. 

Bloody Sunday appears during or just after acts of violence considered senseless or extreme. It is especially likely to show up if, for example, soldiers continued fighting after a ceasefire was called. If innocent bystanders or civilians are killed in a conflict between two other parties it is practically a guarantee that the Bloody Sunday entity will manifest. 

If bloodshed could have been avoided but wasn't, expect a visit from this disquieting spectre.

Overview: It has been seen as a male, a female, or an androgynous being, usually around 6 feet tall, finely dressed in quality white garments slightly behind the times (whatever those times may be). Its clothing always displays blood stains, ranging from a light dappling to being virtually soaked. Some white is always visible however.

The being's facial features are never clear, completely covered in a blend of blood and shadow. Its head is covered in a torn sheet, blanket, hood, or some kind of tattered hat. The phantom leaves behind proof of its passing (though doesn't if it doesn't wish too), most commonly drops of blood or bloodied footprints. It moves very quietly when it wishes to and rarely speaks. When it does, its voice is low, raspy,  and laced with sorrow and anger. 

When Bloody Sunday is present, it attempts to make bad situations worse. It will spur on or antagonize the most short-tempered, violent people present in an attempt to cause even more fighting and death. It rarely goes into battle itself, prefering to generate violent acts and chaos while fading into the background.

Such conditions do empower it however and if directly attacked by anyone capable of doing so - other supernatural entities or those with weapons that can hit ghostly beings - Bloody Sunday will engage opponents with the goal of getting away as quickly as possible. Apparently, Bloody Sunday gains nothing from causing pain and injury on its own. 

The entity possesses incredible strength and speed, made greater by the amount of bloodshed and violence that has recently occurred [or is currently happening]. It has thrown individuals across parking lots and smashed others straight through car doors but has never been seen lifting a car, so its exact level of might remains in question. As implied above, it can not be harmed by physical hits or conventional weapons but only other paranormal beings and/or attacks specifically designed to effect such beings (such as certain Magic Spells, the Ghostbusters' Particle Streams, etc.). Once it gets far enough away from its opponents - say 50 ft. or more - Bloody Sunday will disappear, rapidly fading from sight. 

The Highlights:

A rash of very brutual turf wars between various New York street gangs was getting out of hand and starting to spill out into the surrounding neighborhoods and threatening common citizens. Bureau 13, a super-secret organization dedicated to protecting people from supernatural and paranormal dangers, is called in to investigate a possible unnatural cause for what was happening. After a few days of looking into the problem, the Bureau 13 Agents encountered evidence and references to the Bloody Sunday entity, soon after coming into direct contact with it.

Using a combination of occult items and paranatural abilities, a few of the Agents delayed the entity (and got their butts kicked pretty badly) as the remaining members of their team talked the gangbangers out of continuing their foolish conflict. It was a truly heart felt speech by one of the Bureau 13 operatives who was in a gang himself as a young boy and appealed to the thugs sense of family and community in a way most outsiders wouldn't relate to. Bloody Sunday got less and less powerful and eventually departed by disappearing before the Agents' eyes.

The Ghostbusters appearance of Bloody Sunday was awesome as I remember but I can't picture the details and specifics. There was humor in the way the PCs interacted with each other and with this being, at least initially, but the overall narrative was actually serious and spooky. 

Game Info:

I don't have any of the write-ups for this character (think I lost them in a transfer of files to a new computer long ago). Instead, I did a new information sheet using my homebrewed Ghostbusters kitbash (combining Ghostbusters, InSpectres, and ALIEN's Year Zero system).

Notes:

I think of this character as falling into the same [or into a very similar] category as The Red Rider. I have a few of these. Hmm. For a guy who isn't really into the Horror genre, I definitely have some spooky NPCs, no?

What makes this character interesting and cool in my personal opinion is how the players and their PCs deal with him. With the right group, Bloody Sunday can generate some intense moments and fantastic dialogue. With a more traditional party of hack-and-slash types, this character is either wasted or - if you are a particularly evil GM - their activities would result in making the entity incredibly powerful. Imagine setting up situations where the PCs could talk their way out of them but resort to violence instead. When they finally encounter Bloody Sunday they'd be facing off against an extremely dangerous opponent indeed.  

Legacy:

It's been quite a while since I've made use of this character but I'd love to put him in effect in a game of InSane, Castle in Gray, or other Japanese Horror RPGs. 

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Barking Alien

31 Days / 31 Characters - AMERICAN DREAM

Happy New Year Everybody! Welcome to 2025!

Hitting the ground running I'm opening the 31 Characters in 31 Days Challenge with a Superhero, inspired by Tim Knight of Heropress and his current discussions and references to the classic 4-Color Comic Book RPG Villains and Vigilantes.

Character: American Dream

AKA: Constance Anne 'Connie Anne' Crawford 

Player: Don't recall her name. 

System: Villains and Vigilantes, 2nd Edition

 
Nature: Short-to-Mid Length Campaign. Approximately two dozen sessions, the first quarter and last quarter of which were widely spaced. Sessions ranged from 5 to 7 hours on average.

 
Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein

 
Circa: 1990-1992. 

 
Origins: I was working at the Forbidden Planet - a popular pop-culture store in NYC that carried books, toys, comic books, and other fandom products - when I got into a conversation with several customers about the fact that most Superheroes in comics seemed to live in New York. More specifically, we discussed how we don't see Superheroes in other states. "I mean, are there Costumed Crusaders in Des Moines, Iowa?"

The Supers RPG Villains and VIgilantes sort of addresses this, since you are supposed to be playing a superpowered version of yourself, living in your own hometown. This got us to thinking about how one would set a Superhero campaign in some small town in Nebraska or the like. One person in the discussion then suggested, "Wouldn't it be cool to run a Superhero featuring Superheroes from across the United States except for New York and LA?"

We all agreed that indeed, that would be very cool. The gang decided I would run it and everyone in the conversation would play, each choosing a state in the USA to represent. Actually, the way we did it was to randomly roll up a V&V character and then decide what state the player wanted their PC to represent ( American Dream is from and represents Oklahoma). Throughout the course of the campaign, entitled 'The Heartland League', a number of the players and PCs came in and out of the story. American Dream was there from the beginning and participated in most of it. 

 
Backstory: Connie Anne Crawford was the most popular girl at school, cheer captain, and well on her way to a college scholarship because she wasn't just beautiful but an A+ student as well. The perfect girl with the perfect life in . Happy family, great neighborhood, and a picture perfect existence. However...all was not as it seemed. 

As Crawford readies for the next phase of her life, she begins to see the cracks in the one she'd been living all these years. It was too perfect, too good to be true. Eventually she discovers her life was lie and that she was the key to a terrible legacy. A dozen children were genetically engineering to be super-soldiers for the US by an 'Evil SHIELD' black-ops project. They were given fake families with specific conditions to result in the type of individual they wanted to produce. 

Connie Anne ends up escaping, fighting her way through the opposition, and dealing a blow to the enemy both devasting and long lasting. The real 'SHIELD'-type organization, Villains and Vigilantes' C.H.E.S.S. (Central Headquarters of Espionage for the Secret Service) is made aware of the black-ops group's existence and the fact that is was a front for/backed by Intercrime.

The entire situation is covered up by CHESS on Crawford's request, the family supposedly tragically killed in a gas explosion that burned down their house. CHESS transferred the fake family's money and assets to Connie, thus enabling her to continue on with a normal life. She instead decided to lend CHESS her unique abilities as a superpowered agent. Enter: American Dream, Oklahoma's favorite daughter. 

Overview: American Dream was such as awesome character, played by an equally cool young woman. I wish I could remember her name. I've been trying for years but it just keeps eluding me. I distinctly recall that she brought  a sense of pure Americana and unwavering optimism to both the campaign and the character. 

The make-up of the group would regularly change in a fashion similar to the Justice League Unlimited animated series. A villain or situation would pop-up somewhere and whichever heroes were available to respond would show up. American Dream often took the lead but the Heartland League team never had an assigned leader. Her attitude and interactions with the eclectic and ever changing cast of Superheroes was always fun.

 
The Highlights: 

An investigation into a string of kidnappings by West Virginia's Mothman and a series of graverobberies being looked into by Pennsylvania's Freedom Ring crossover and reveal the mad schemes of a modern day Necromancer. Calling in fellow Heartland League members for back-up, American Dream of Oklahoma, The Apparition of Maryland, and Ohio's Buckeye respond. During the battle against the Shroud and Dr. Wraithman, American Dream leapt from one zombie minion to the next, royally kicking their butts, all the while giving a speech on the sanctity of Human life. (I've often wondered why a lot of gamers see scenes as being either RP scenes or Fighting scenes. We always did both things at the same time. lol). 

A favorite American Dream moment I recall was when she and several other members took on a team of supervillains trying to...er...do something...at the Grand Canyon. Each hero picked out a bad guy to oppose, sometimes teaming up two against one for the real tough hombres. American Dream teamed with The Visitor (New Mexico) and took down their target faster than expected. Visitor went to help another hero having difficulty with their fight as American Dream spun around to find another enemy to face off with. She is immediately caught by the throat and lifted into the air by a big robot dude. 

She was waaay out powered by this mechanical menace, like Captain America going one-on-one against Ultron. She decided to try and talk it down, using a logical arguement with philosophical elements to get the robot to question its actions and its alliance with the other villains. It put her down and the two had a brief discussion that resulted in the robotic rogue deciding to sit out the fight. When one of the other villains saw it doing nothing the baddie yelled at the robot, who - prompted by American Dream, proceeded to beat the snot out of its former teammate. 

Game Info:

I don't have American Dream's original character sheet so I remade it from memory. She's first level here because that's the write-up I remember best. I believe we got to 5th level or so by the end of the campaign. I left off Cash and Training because honestly I have no idea what her data was in those categories. 

Notes: 

This was the first Superhero campaign I ran using the Justice League Unlimited approach, though we played it some 14 years before that show would go on the air. 

American Dream clearly resembles a female Captain America, many years before Captain Carter or other similar Marvel Comics characters would become well known. Costume and secret identity wise there is some similarity between American Dream and DC's Stargirl, whom she also pre-dates by a good 5 years or so.

Definitely an asset in battles against the forces of evil, it was the personality given to her and her wholesome, positive outlooks that really made American Dream special. She won as many fights with her wits and dialogue as she did her powerful punches.   

Interestingly, the player of this character wasn't a huge comic book fan. She was a casual reader but really liked the idea of 'Superheroes that don't live in New York'. Her decision to go with what she described as 'an all-American Good Girl' was in sharp contrast to her other RPG characters who were of the sneaky, back-stabbing, cloak of darkness sort. 

 
Legacy: I've had American Dream appear in one or two of my Mutants and Masterminds games but other than that, we haven't seen her in a very long time. That's a real shame. I would love to bring her back one of these days. 

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RPGaDay 2024 - Barking Alien Edition - Day 14

This is tricky to answer as it's difficult to pick my favorite campaign setting.  

I could easily go with Star Trek and explain why even after 42 years of running campaigns set in that universe, I still love to do so and probably will for 42 more. Honestly, I feel like I've discussed the subject before or I am very likely to do so in the future. It's also...too easy. Too expected. 

Instead, let me tell you why I don't generally like Medieval Fantasy but I do enjoy running my D&D-But-Not setting of Aerth, the world of The Winghorn Guard.

First created in 1982 for a campaign called 'The Winghorn Guard', the main idea behind the game is the same reason it remains special to me. The concept was simple, 'Run a Dungeons and Dragons campaign using the Gamemaster advice from a Superhero game'. Instead of planning to do a Medieval Fantasy game using ideas from the Advanced D&D Dungeon Master's Guide , I based how to go about running the game using what I'd learned from years of reading comic books like Marvel's Avengers and DC's Legion of Superheroes. Eventually, when I purchased Villains and Vigilantes [2nd Edition], I used the Gamemaster advice in that game to supplement what I was already doing. 

Giving Dungeons and Dragons 'Four Color' Superhero Comic Book elements allowed the game to have a unique identity and feel. I was able to focus on aspects of world-building and adventure design that emphasized the heroics, ethics, and emotions of the PCs, while de-emphasizing the murderhobo approach. The money, violence, and quest for power normally attributed to traditional D&D PCs are what the bad guys are concerned with on Aerth.

My objective was to inject Medieval Fantasy and Folklore with something I understood a lot better and that, at the time, was Silver to Bronze Age comics. The results were very successful and continue to be four decades later.

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BONUS FEATURE: Day 14 of the official RPGaDay 2024 Prompts:

What about them, eh? What makes a character compelling?

That's definitely a subject that could take up an entire post (good job official challenge!) and may be too broad a topic for a 'BONUS FEATURE' entry. 

I'll say this; it isn't always clear at the onset what will make for a compelling character. Often times players write multi-page backstories for their PCs not thinking about the fact that what they (really the player) might find really interesting is something they hadn't considered or didn't even know about when making up the character. 

As an example, my Hogwarts/Wizarding World PC, Frank Pellgrove, was created with an eye toward making him less interested in and effective at casting spells or brewing potions but really good with Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. These were two things I knew most other players wouldn't give much thought to.

At some point during the campaign he helped birth a Hippocampus (mythological fish tailed horse) in the Hogwarts lake and became especially interested in aquatic beasts thereafter. In follow up sessions he would take an interest in boats, other sea creatures, and it was suggested to him that he might someday get a job as the Wizarding World's equivalent of a Marine Biologist.

These were profund moments for Frankie and ones that intertwined with and challenged his sense of self. Now, after roughly 6 or 7 years playing Frank, he's a much more compelling character than I ever would have expected. 

Bottomline is don't limit yourself to what you think would be compelling. Start with a basic concept, an outlook on life, and then through play allow yourself to be compelled. Give it a try!

RPGaDay 2024 - Barking Alien Edition - Day 2

I think I might have told this story before, long ago but what the heck...it's an excuse to post about one of my favorite old RPGs.

I didn't have enough money to purchase the first game I bought with my own money.

It was 1982, I was 13, and this was the first time I'd gone to New York City from Brooklyn without an adult. I was with a bunch of friends and we endeavoured to reach The Forbidden Planet, a Popculture/Sci-Fi/Fantasy super-store selling books, comics, toys, models, and of course RPGs. 

Reach it we did and there on the shelves, beside the Ampersand Game and its vast array of modules and supplements, was a box featuring a superhero and supervillain at odds. The bold colors and dynamic art was truly eyecatching.

As I do with all boxed set games, I turned the package over and over in my hands, reading the front, back, and every side. It was the back that go me really charged up. So charged up in fact, that I immediately ran over to my buddy Martin and showed him the box. I suggested we go 'halfsies', splitting the cost and sharing the contents. He was interested in it being a Superhero RPG but wasn't so sure...

I flipped the box over and in my best imitation of Ted Knight as narrator of the Superfriends cartoon voice, I did a dramatic reading of the image below.

After Martin stopped laughing, he said yes to picking up the game. We started playing it a week later and before long it became one of our most commonly played games. 

What made me buy it was pretty simple: It was the first Superhero game I ever came across at a time when I was really into DC and Marvel Comics. It was also the Golden Age of RPGs and any new game we discovered immediately inspired us. 

Up, up, and away!

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BONUS FEATURE: Day 2 of the official RPGaDay 2024 Prompts:

The game I played most recently was our homebrew Hogwarts/Wizarding World game, now in its 6th or 7th year. This asks nothing else about it but I'll say it was fun but I rolled terribly. 

Next!

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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