Where Legends Live

I'm not entirely sure when DC Comics used the title of this post as their company slogan or for how long but it has always been one of my favorites.

As you can probably tell from my posts, I am a DC fan.

To put it more accurately, I am a superhero comic book fan who loves the DC characters the most. Unfortunately, this hasn't always been easy.

As a kid in the late 1970's and early 80's, liking DC wasn't especially cool compared to liking Marvel. I even remember saying to my friends that I liked Marvel better. At the same time, if you asked me who my favorite superhero was I would say Green Lantern. Ask me my favorite team book and I'd likely say The Legion of Superheroes or the Teen Titans.

"I thought you liked Marvel?", my buddies would say in an accusing tone.
"Oh yeah I do," I'd reply in defense, "Overall."

It was in high school that I figured out that since I wasn't trying to fit in with the majority in any other aspect of my life, why should my geeky choices be any different. So for Adam, who loved comic books and role playing games, it was 'DC For The Win' and 'Death Before D&D'.

I first heard rumors of a DC RPG using Mutants & Masterminds mechanics nearly 5 years ago I believe. As a matter of fact, while I was working in the comic book industry (in a manner of speaking) about 4 years ago, I had the rumor confirmed by some people working at DC Comics. For whatever reasons, the project was abandoned or placed on the back burner and I for one was really sad. I love DC and I believe M&M to be the best Supers RPG on the market. The combo would be nothing short of Reeses mixed chocolate and peanut butter. Awesome plus Spectacular.

Now, in but a few short months that could not feel longer, the rebirth of this comic book gaming geekgasm will be a reality. DC Adventures! Compatible with and showing off Green Ronin's Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition, this is the game I've been waiting for.

But what to do with it? I only have a quintillion ideas. I need to focus, bump the list down to the millions at least. There is my Legion Unlimited idea, my Earth-A.C. idea (what I think should have happened after Crisis on Infinite Earths), my Earth-2 alternative idea, my Earth-3 alternative idea, my alternate modern DC Comics concept...ooh, I just thought of ten more.

Of course, running a Supers campaign set in a popularly known setting is tough. It would be like running a...Star Trek game. Hmm. I can do this. I just have to solidify the background of my particular campaign's take on DC.

So the question is...Which Legends Live?

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Barking Alien

This Looks Like A Job For...?

I'm gearing up for my next big RPG campaign and in the process of doing so I've run a number of one-shots with different groups to see which Superhero RPG is my favorite.

Now normally this wouldn't be a big question for me. Seeing as how I've been running Superhero campaigns since 1982 or thereabouts, I've pretty much tried them all. I already know which ones I like and which ones I don't and while I love trying new games I'd rather spend my free time jotting down ideas and doing illustrations instead of worrying about mechanics. Actually that could pretty much be said for every game project I've ever worked on and ever will. Bottom line, Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Edition is my favorite - more on that later.

All that said, there have been quite a lot of new entries into the superhero comic book gaming genre of late and I thought I owed it to my players and myself to at least read through a few and test out ones that caught my fancy. Bet you didn't know I had a fancy.

First off was an old game actually rather than a new one, Golden Heroes. I remembered liking this game but don't recall playing often. It is long out of print but a free download of its 'sequel' Squadron UK can be found on the internet.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with this system that some minor houses rules wouldn't cure, the game feels a bit dated. It is relatively easy and rules lite but I wanted something meatier. Still, we did have fun with it and the plot for that particular one shot was quite good.Next I tried the very disappointing ICONS RPG by Adamant Entertainment, created by none other than Superhero gaming genius Steve Kenson. Steve is to Supers RPGs what Reed Richards is to comic book super science. Because I believe this so strongly, it pains me to say that I just don't like ICONS.

Its fast, simple, rules lite and has many aspects I should love. It is also way too limited. The mechanics are reminiscent of the TSR Marvel Super Heroes game, a game I felt was too childish and not expansive enough when it first came out in 1984 and I was 15. The limited number of ranks, none of the powers really feeling different from each other and the difficulty in determining exactly what should be a stunt and what should be part of the more vague power descriptions makes it fun for a one shot but not well suited to be the system for my next long term campaign.

I also tried BASH, Supers and a few others but nothing really hit that sweet spot held by Mutants & Masterminds. Most of these games are too simple for the Superhero comic book RPG fan whose looking for something a bit deeper in their save-the-universe-from-costumed-criminals experience. Champions, while another favorite of mine, is too complex and for the GM too time consuming (especially if, like me, math is not your forte). M&M falls into that area of near perfect balance that is really rare to come by with any game system.

So its settled right? What's that? Mutants & Masterminds THIRD EDITION?! And an official DC Comics game USING THAT ENGINE?!?

Great Caesar's Ghost!

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Barking Alien

Secret Origins - Part III

From the first game I ever played in August of 1977 until the summer of 1978, I only got the chance to game a dozen times or so. Between school, family and, well, being 8-9 years old, I really didn't have a lot of control over my time. It wasn't until I started summer camp again in early June of 78' that my passion for RPGs would kick into high gear.

My good friend David Pollack brought the Basic Set of D&D to camp. Although I don't recall which version it was, I do remember it looked different from the one Tom had used to introduce me to the game. When David asked if anyone was familiar with it I said I had played it a bunch of times.

"Great," David said, "you can be Dungeon Master".

Once I was on the other side of the process, creating adventures, characters and worlds, I realized that I had found my calling. I DMed constantly after that, with more and more friends wanting to join the games I ran. Soon, having 7 or 8 players on an adventure was normal for me.

Between 78' and 82' I would play a ton of D&D. I finally got my own copy of the Basic box (Erol Otis cover) in 80' or maybe 81'. In the later half of 82 I began a campaign that would last about three and a half years of real time. I have used, reused and modified that world setting ever since I still run games in it to this day. I also discovered other games like Boot Hill, Gamma World and Traveller. While they were fun, I stuck with D&D for the most part, adding in superhero style abilities and adventures to a world quite unlike medieval times.

In the early fall of 1982, my friends and I made the sojourn from distant Brooklyn to New York City to find a store we had heard about called 'The Forbidden Planet'. A true adventure as harrowing as any we had rolled dice to conquer, we finally found the place after getting lost and walking a mile or two to get there.

For those unfamiliar with the place, its a comic book store, book store, game store, model shop, toy store and much more all rolled up into one. Its older location, the one I am describing here, even more so. I would end up working at its now long defunct but thoroughly awesome Midtown East location from 1989-1992, serving as Asst. Manager at one point. Man those were fun times. Anyway, back to the story...

While at the Forbidden Planet I came across a game called 'Villains & Vigilantes'. It was...could it be?...a Superhero Role Playing Game?! I couldn't believe my eyes and read over every inch of the box at least twice. I reached into my pocket and realized I only had half the amount needed to buy it. I called over my friend Martin Lederman and read him the back of the box, which was illustrated to look like a page in a comic book by the awesomely awesome Jeff Dee. For good measure I read it in my best Ted-Knight-Superfriends-Narrator voice. Once he stopped laughing, Martin agreed to split the cost and we purchased the game.

V&V was very D&D-like, which helped us to understand it and convince others to play. The more I played however, the less I wanted to go back to D&D. It was not long after this that I discovered the Star Trek RPG and largely said good bye to Dungeons & Dragons as my mainstay game.

I guess the reason I wrote these three 'Secret Origin' tales was to give both myself and the reader some perspective on why I write what I write and how my view of things in gaming got to be the way they are.

My motivations and those of my players were not hack-and-slash but based on the heroic fiction we were exposed to at an early age, namely Silver Age comic books and Star Trek. We also understood the dangers of crime and the cold war mentality much easier than we did medieval society, which was essentially alien to lower-middle class, city dwelling, pre-teens of the 70's and 80's. We lived in NY and therefore had easy access to lots of players so big groups and 'splitting the party' was normal and necessary. We didn't focus on the rules but on the fun and creativity of gaming so rules lawyers and a love of crunchy systems was rare. Once we found games stores like the Compleat Strategist and Forbidden Planet and could get there easily by train we spent our allowances or pay on games by the score. Playing lots of different games gave us a different view of what worked for us and what didn't.

I hope you've enjoyed taking this little trip down memory lane with me. Now that the foundations are out of the way, I intend to use the next few posts to illustrate some (hopefully) cool ideas I have for Superhero gaming. Y'all come back now, y'hear?

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Barking Alien

Secret Origins - Part II

...So our story continues as Tom, Paul and I, the only ones interested enough and brave enough to give this new game a try, prepare to play on the kitchen table over at Tom's house.

Tom handed out paper, pencils, and dice. As he did, he explained the game of Dungeons & Dragons in a bit more detail. He described the basic concepts of Attributes, To Hit rolls, Saving Throws, and all the other standard elements of D&D. After a short discussion of the rules he went on to describe the world.

At the ages of 7 and 8 none of us had any real experience with what 'medieval' was. Likewise, our exposure to fantasy literature of the sword and sorcery variety had been limited. I had read The Hobbit (I was very advanced for my age in reading and writing, while simultaneously monumentally terrible at math. Still am.) but not much else as far as wizards and dragons went. Luckily, we had read comic books featuring Conan and Warlord, seen animated films, and tv shows to help us get in the 'right' mind set.

My first character (ever for an RPG) was Gobo Pepperthorn, a Halfling who hailed from farmlands quite some distance from the Human Kingdoms. The adventure began when Gobbo was told to take a small box containing six bottles of the Pepperthorn family's secret recipe super-spicy hot sauce to The Human King. Apparently Gobo's father had gone to do that over a year ago and never returned.

I''ll never forget my first encounter, largely because it explains why I view things the way I do today.

Basically, I was walking on the road to the Human Lands when I entered a ghost town. Not a deserted medieval town since, as I said, we had no clue what the heck a medieval town looked like but instead what was essentially a Wild West ghost town, complete with horse troughs and a swinging door saloon. I mean seriously, to an 8 year old Adam an Errol Flynn Robin Hood movie and a Western are separated by one thing; guns hadn't been invented yet. Other than that its the same setting. Isn't it? 

As Gobo explored the abandoned town he eventually discovered that everyone had died of some kind of illness. Soon, Skeletons were attacking him and I made haste for the saloon so I could get access to alcohol, broken glass bottles, and other impromptu weaponry.

Battling multiple opponents, running and jumping like a jack rabbit (which I just assumed heroic Halflings with a high Dexterity could do), young master Pepperthorn spilled numerous bottles of whiskey and wine. Gobo than lures most of the undead into the bar and proceeds to torch the place with a makeshift Molotov cocktail.

The flames are seen by Paul's Cleric, a Human from the largest Human kingdom, who was coming to the town to find out why his people had lost contact with them.

To be honest, in the 30 years since that game I've rarely had even close to that much fun playing D&D if I wasn't running it. If that sounds egotistical so be it. Why? Because so many D&D GMs seem caught up on the meaningless minutiae of weight allowance and weapon speed and all the other crap that makes me want to cast light into my own eyes. Rarely has any D&D referee I've encountered let me or anyone else leap off bannisters, flip over tables, or do any of the borderline comic book/kung fu movie craziness Tom let us do in that very first game.

Also, after the battle was over and Paul and I had defeated the last of the Skeletons...there was no treasure. We didn't get any, look for any, and didn't ask for any. Why? Superheroes don't do it for the gold. Captain Kirk never 'looted the bodies'. Why would we?

The party defeated evil creatures created by a cursed disease. Our job now was finding out where the curse came from and why it was made. In the weeks to follow we would learn of an evil Cleric out to take over the world with an undead army. We would save innocent lives and free the lost prince of the Elves who would than join our party (an additional player). We found out the Pepperthorn hot sauce has an unusual effect on humans, giving them super strength for sort periods. That was why the Human King wanted it and why Gobo's father was kidnapped by the evil Cleric.

It wasn't about treasure, gold, or even XP for us. It was about being heroes from Day 1.

To be concluded with Secret Origins - Part III...Coming Soon...

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Barking Alien

Secret Origins - Part I

Our story begins on a surprisingly mild summer day in August of 1977. In fact, it was August 25th. The place, Brooklyn, New York. Oh, Earth Prime.

I was 8 years old and hanging out with my friends in front of my grade school. Summer camp had ended and the school semester had yet to begin so we all set out to have as much fun as possible in our limited window of freedom.

Even at the age of 8 there were cliques. A good sized group of the athletically inclined played handball against the wall on the school's shaded side. A few girls were talking and jumping on the opposite side of the area where I was seated. As for my closest friends and I, we sat on the stairs of the school's front entrance discussing the important issues of the day. Mainly, we talked about that new movie that had come out just before the summer, 'Star Wars', various TV shows, cartoons and of course, comic books.

I was a pretty popular kid back then. I had a lot of friends and many of them wanted to hear my ideas and opinions on stuff. See, I was already a geek and a geek was cooler than cool in those days. When you're 8 even the 'jocks' and the bullies read comics.

While building my arguement on why and how Superman could beat up Thor, a friend of mine approached the outside gate with a box of some sort in his hand. As he came toward us, many in the group, myself included, got up to meet him half way.

To say Tom Zizzo was my friend at that time is not quite accurate. He was a year younger than me and a grade below me and while I knew him I didn't know him well. He apparently knew my friend Paul though and so I figured if Paul was cool with him he must be an OK guy.

"Hey Tom, whatcha got there?", Paul said.

"It's a game. I got it for my birthday. It's called Dungeons & Dragons," replied Tom.

"Oh, I've heard of it," I said, even though I hadn't actually heard of it. I was the 'go-to-guy' for all things superhuman, supernatural and/or spacefaring. No way was I going to admit I didn't know anything about a game with 'Dragons' in it.

"It's really cool. My older brother taught me how to play. Anybody want to try it?", exclaimed Tom with a mix of enthusiasm and nervousness. It only made sense since he was asking older kids if they wanted to play a game where he, a younger kid, would have to show them how.

"I might", I said, "I've heard of it...but I'm not familiar with the rules. How does it work?"

Tom than spoke the words that not only began my journey into the hobby of RPGs but would also forever color every game I would ever run.

"It's like playing out a comic book. You create a character, go on adventures, defeat villains and save people!"

My eyes must've lit up. "Yeah! Sounds cool!"

To Be Continued...

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Barking Alien