Review: Still Sucks to Be Me

Kim Pauley is back and so is new vampire Mina Hamilton Smith in the new (as in as of today new) book "Still Sucks to Be Me".

This book is of course a sequel to her Freshman attempt, Sucks to be Me. StbM was a great book. It surprised me how quickly the characters grabbed me and how I wanted to know all about them. You can read my review (linked) and then read this one. This review will assume that you have read StbM, so if you haven't then here there be spoilers….

Ready? Great.
Ok "Still Sucks" starts off not too long after Mina's conversion and her "funeral". No. She did not get to go. So deaths faked, names changed the Vampire Council relocates them to Louisiana. Not somewhere cool like New Orleans or even Bon Temps, no they end up in a one-stoplight town so Mina's dad (now called her brother) can study with this ancient vampire historian. Very nice for him, terrible for Mina.

Mina discovers that vampire powers not withstanding she is now, again, an outsider at her new school. Sure she is the "New Girl from California" but that doesn't help when the local school jock takes and interest in her and not in the girl that wants him.

Kim Pauley does a great job of juxtaposing Mina-as-a-vampire with Mina-as-a-teenager-in-a-new-school very well. Yes, Mina can easily overpower or glamour anyone in the school to get what she wants, and she knows it, but she doesn't. Of course life is made more difficult by the arrival of Cameron, a new vampire who is cute and smells nice, who may or may not be a Black Talon. Plus she has not heard from her best friend Serena (with whom she broke like a zillion laws to keep in contact with) or her boy-friend George since getting to Nowhere, LA. Yeah. Life, or Unlife can suck like that.

Kim gives us another great tale that in many ways mirrors the first. In the first book Mina's school life was finally going good and it was her vampire life that needed all the work. No her vampire life unlife is going as well as can be expected (she is even learning to glamour and shape-change) her school life is a chaotic mess.

What I liked most about this book was the ending. It was a reminder that we are dealing with vampires here. Not sparkly guys with bad orthodontic work that talk about their feelings all night, but some pretty nasty characters that not only can, but want to kill people. I'd love to see Kim try her hand, even if for a short story, something a bit darker. I bet she would do well.

Now there are a few caveats here. Yes, this book is aimed at the Young Adult crowd and my blog isn't. So if you pick up this book (and I would like it if you did) then keep that in mind. There is a lot of "Teen Girl Angst" here, but not as much as you might suspect given it is about teen girls and teen vampires. There is angst, but a lot of it is not the "my life is miserable teenage sort but of the "OMG this crazy chick is trying to kill my best friend!" sort.

I don't know if there are future books in store, but I hope so. I'd like to see how a college bound Mina reacts to situations. Or maybe she could tour Europe or something. Either way I can see a lot of adventure ahead for Mina and her friends.

Like I said of her first book, this is a good, well-written book with characters that a likable that relatable. I liked the new aspect to Mina's parents' lives unlives. I did miss seeing more of Uncle Mortie, but hey, it's not his book. The Black Talons were interesting, what little we got to learn of them and so were the Carters.

Using Mina in your Games
Of course it is very tempting to use Mina in a game. And since I tend to give in to temptation, here we go!

Cinematic Unisystem (Ghosts of Albion/Angel/Buffy)


Mina Smith (Apprentice level in Ghosts of Albion)
Life Points 44
Drama Points 15

Attributes
Strength 3
Dexterity 3
Constitution 4
Intelligence 3
Perception 5
Willpower 4

Qualities
Attractiveness +1
Hard to Kill 2
Fast Reaction Time
Situational Awareness
Vampire (Ghosts of Albion type)
- Glamour (note: this is shape shift ability from the book) 1
- Mesmerize (note: this is the glamour ability from the book) 1
- Sunlight Immunity (part of the Vampire package in this world. They do not burn up, but it is uncomfortable and they try to avoid it.)

Drawbacks 
Adversary (Black Talons, anti-vampire groups)
Honorable 1
Love (George?)
Teenager (from Buffy/Angel)

Useful Information
Actions 1
Perception 1d10 + 8

Skills
Acrobatics 2
Art (writing) 2
Crime 1
Doctor 1
Driving 1
Getting Medieval 1
Influence 2
Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 1
Languages 1 (English)
Notice 3
Occultism 3
Science 1
Sports 1

Witch Girls Adventures
Mina Smith, Vampire
Rank: 2

Body: d6 Mind: d6 Senses: d6
Will: d6 Social: d6 Magic: d8

Life Points: 12 Reflex: 9
Resist Magic: 11 Zap Points: 16

Skills: Athletics +2, Basics +2, Fighting +1, Hear +2, Look +2, Magic Etiquette +2, Mundane Etiquette +4, Mysticism +1, Mythology +1, Streetwise +2

Abilities: Brave, Friendly
Heritage: Vampire
Common Vampire Abilities


Links
http://community.wizards.com/bookclub/blog/2010/05/11/five_tips_for_writing_funny_fiction
http://www.amazon.com/Still-Sucks-Be-Me-Confessions/dp/0786955031 

BloodRayne. Post 200

Bloodrayne
"Stop whimpering... it's unattractive." - Bloodrayne.

I love my Wii. Not only does it have awesome games, it allows me to play old Game Cube games. So recently I picked up Bloodrayne (the first one) for the Game Cube and have been playing it. A Lot.

I had it for the PC and would stay up till very late playing, much to my wife's annoyance.   So, here is something old.  My conversion of Ms. Rayne to WitchCraft / Buffy for Unisystem.  And since this is my 200th post, then it seems fitting to use one of my favorite characters.

Might have to kick off a vampire week here!

Ok. So I am totally addicted to this game! Is it because she is a hot red-head with a tendency to kill people and things that piss her off? Or maybe this is what a vampire slayer should really be like? In any case, BloodRayne rocks!

Since I do a lot of RPGing as well, here is my attempt to represent her in the WitchCraft/Armageddon/Buffy RPG game universe. Exactly how does Rayne end up in your game? Well, I figure she gained enough essence over the years to slow her aging, but of course no one has done Dhampires in Unisystem (that I know of) so maybe they age slowly anyway. Either way, she makes a great NPC! Added: New information from Bloodrayne II tells us that Dhampirs can live to 200 years. Bloodrayne II takes place in modern times (so Rayne is still hot at 87!)

Rayne's Background
   In 1932 an American teenage girl was apprehended in Europe after carving a path of destruction trying to track down and kill her biological father. The girl's name was Rayne and she claimed the people she killed, and her father who was still at large, were vampires.
Before more information was attained, the girl disappeared.
   That girl is a Dhampir; a product of her human mother's rape by her vampire father. Born with powers of a vampire without all of the weaknesses. She was taken in by an underground organization calling themselves the Brimstone Society--a top-secret fraternity that hunts down and destroys supernatural threats. Agent BloodRayne, as she is now known, protects humanity from things that ordinary people shouldn't have to deal with.

Storyline

   In the years between the World Wars, Agent BloodRayne works as a killing machine for a top secret fraternity, The Brimstone Society, that hunts down and destroys supernatural threats. Two missions, five years apart, turn out to be connected by one man. For years, this man has been searching the world for powerful occult relics to bring Germany into a new age of domination. Agent BloodRayne must face this man's elite Nazi army to prevent them from releasing creatures of unfathomable terror onto the world in their unwavering quest for the relics. Agent BloodRayne will brave the darkest backwater bayous of Louisiana, a formidable German Sub-bay and mysterious temple in Argentina, and an immense vampire-infested cathedral-like castle in Germany. She finds more than an isolated outbreak of mutated humans and Swamp creatures. She catches a glimpse of a much larger plot - a plot perpetrated by her soon-to-be nemesis, Jurgen Wulf, to find powerful relics that will enable the Germans to rule the world.


Unisystem/Buffy RPG Stats

"Buffy is just a cheerleader, Rayne is a killer!" - one review of the Bloodrayne game.

Unisystem Character Type: Lesser Supernatural
 Buffy Character Type: (Very) Experienced Hero

Attributes					Secondary Attributes
Strength:	8				Life Points:	105
Dexterity:	9				Endurance Points:	71
Constitution:	8				Speed:	34
Intelligence:	3				Essence Pool:	40
Perception:	6				(Current:)	40
Willpower:	6				Channeling Level:	0

Hair: Red

Eyes: Green (red when Rayne is in Bloodrage)

Born: 1917

Nationality: American

Height: 5'11" (6'4" in heels)

Weight: 115lbs

Relatives: Mother: dead, Father: Kagan a vampire, hunted by Rayne (killed after WWII, but not by Rayne), Siblings: Half-sister (Svetlana Lupescu?[conjecture]).

Allies: Mynce, Mentor and friend. Brimstone Society.


Supernatural Qualities and Drawbacks

Dhampir*
 The Dhampir quality (15 points) can be applied only to the Lesser Supernatural (or Hero) character type. At the start the
character gains the following modifiers. +3 to STR, DEX, & CON and +1 to PER.
They may regenerate 1 life point per CON per hour. They can also drain essence to refill life points on a one to one basis.

Dhampirs are considered Gifted and have access to Gifted and Vampyric powers. They appear human but it costs essence to use
their unique powers. A dhampir does not need to spend essence to maintain a human appearance. Unlike mundane humans Dhampirs cannot self-replenish their essence, they must feed like a vampyre to do
so. Humans only release 1D6(3) Essence points due to fear around a dhampir.

Dhampirs do not gain extra essence due to being a dhampir.
 In addition Dhampirs have the following powers and drawbacks.

BloodLust A Dhampir can absorb Essence to power her BloodRage. This acts like a 2 point Bloodthirst drawback.

BloodRage A Dhampir can enter Bloodlust and for the duration gain +2 to STR, CON, a +1 DEX and PER, and a penalty of -1 to WILL. They also gain 2 extra levels of Hard to Kill. This costs an initial 3 essence points for the first minute and 2 more
essence point for each additional minute. Typically a Dhampir will only use this power when their essence is "full"
or they have the means (i.e. victims) to replenish it.

Enhanced Vison A Dhampir can also see in the dark as if it were normal daylight. They also can see the aura of Essence. Individuals with higher Essence look brighter than people with lower Essences.

Vulnerability to Sunlight Like vampires, Dhampirs are harmed by the sun's rays. Rayne loses 5 life points each turn in full sunlight.

Qualities	Mod
Attractiveness	+4
Fast Reaction Time	+1
Hard to Kill	+9
Nerves of Steel	+1

Drawbacks	Mod
Adversary (Lots)	8
Honorable	2
Obligation (Brimstone Society)	1
Obsession (kill all vampires);	2

Skills ('Buffy' RPG skill equivalent in parentheses)	Mod
Acrobatics	+9
Martial Arts (Kung Fu)	+7
Hand Weapon, sword (Getting Medieval)	+9
Hand Weapon, harpoon knife (Getting Medieval)	+9
Guns, hand gun (Gun Fu)	+9
Guns, submachine gun (Gun Fu)	+9
Guns, rifle (Gun Fu)	+8
Guns, grenade launcher (Gun Fu)	+8
Knowledge, General (Knowledge)	+3
Languages, English, German	+3
(Mr. Fix-It)	+1
Notice	+6
Influence	+2
Occult Knowledge (Occultism)	+2
Seduction	+4

Combat (Buffy RPG format)

Maneuver	Bonus	Base Damage	Notes
Dodge	18	None	Defensive Move
Punch	16	16
Kick	15	18
- (Groin Shot)	12	18	Ouch!
Spin Kick	14	20
Jump Kick	13	27
Sweep Kick	15	8	Knockdown move.
Grapple	18	None
Toss	12	8
Sword (2, mounted on each arm, silver)	18	32	Stabbing/Slashing damage. Can attack with either hand.
- (Decapitation)	13	32	x 5 vs vamps.
Gun, Handgun (Light)	18	15	Covers all light handguns. Can use either hand for multiple targets
Gun, Machine gun (Heavy)	18	20	Covers all heavy guns such as machine guns.
Gun, Special (Special)	17	25	Covers Shotguns, Rifles, Grenade Launchers, usually require both hands
Stake	18	18	Stabbing/Slashing damage.
- (to the Heart)	15	18	x 5 vs vamps.
Thrown Stake	17	18	Stabbing/Slashing damage
- (to the Heart)	14	18	x 5 vs vamps.

John Eric Holmes 1930 - 2010

By now many of you have heard about the death of Dr. John Eric Holmes, known better to us in game circles as Eric Holmes.  Holmes was the editor of the first "Basic" set of D&D, often called "the Blue Book Basic" where I grew up. The cover of that book pretty much tells you everything you need to know about D&D.

Holmes gave us a new edition of D&D and opened the doors to many people to play the game.  You didn't the "Little Brown Books" anymore.  Holmes D&D was set up to run in parallel to Gygax's own AD&D released at the same time.

Myself, like many in the OSR and RPG community, have fond memories of this book.
Dr. Holmes will certainly be missed.  March it seems is turning into a terrible month for gamers.

You can read more about the man and his work in these links.  They say everything I would have said.

• http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/05/rip-j-eric-holmes-1930-2010.html
• http://underdarkgazette.blogspot.com/2010/05/osr-news-from-underdark-gazette_08.html
• http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/2010/05/rip-john-eric-holms-1930-2010.html
• http://eiglophian.blogspot.com/2010/05/rip-john-eric-holmes-1930-2010.html
• http://cyclopeatron.blogspot.com/2010/05/j-eric-holmes-1930-2010.html
• http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/2010/05/holms-obituary.html

Willow & Tara: Mutants & Masterminds

Willow and Tara: M&M Conversions

A while back my semi-regular Willow and Tara game was coming to an end.  I had just finished the second season, "Season of the Witch" and wanted to work on a third season.  But for this season I wanted to do something different. I wanted to change to a new system.  Nothing against Cinematic Unisystem, I love it in fact.  But I had been eating and breathing it for years. I also tried out BESM and liked a lot of it and experimented a bit with Fudge, Fate and True 20 (more on all of those in later posts).

I had been toying around with the idea of them teaching at a school for “gifted youngsters” for some time before all of this. I honestly thought though I’d do it in BESM. But since by 2006 the girls were already living in or near Boston (for many reasons that seemed to converge at once) the idea firmed up when I saw that MDSnowman (from the Atomic Thinktank) had put his version of Freedom City in Massachusetts (his is much farther south).

I had just done a conversion of Erzsébet Báthory and had a great idea.  What if Bathory had taken over Claremont and Duncan Summers went to Willow and Tara for help.  My "mini series" "A Mid-Semester's Nightmare" was born.  I kept the school fairly non-descript in-case I later converted back to another system. But M&M just seemed to work very well.

So it was settled, Willow and Tara are teaching or working at Claremont Academy. It’s possible I could still work in my BESM and other ideas with this, but this was my start.  As things progressed though, we switched systems from M&M, to Marvel super Heroes, had a brief flirt with BASH and even Witch Girls Adventures.  None though ever really worked out they way I liked.  You have seen the WGA versions, I might post the others as well.

So here are my witches in their Mutants and Masterminds guises for the short lived mini-series.  These versions of the girls are post "The Dragon and the Phoenix".  So it is many years later and Tara is alive and her and Willow are well and living together.

Willow Rosenberg “The Witch”
Quote: “Wow. And here I thought my high school was weird.”

PL: 11 (165 pp)

Abilities: STR: 9(-1) DEX: 11(0) CON: 11(0) INT: 18(+4) WIS: 16(+3) CHA: 17(+3)

Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+8) , Bluff 4 (+7), Climb 4 (+3), Computers 15 (+19), Concentration 10 (+13), Craft(Chemical) 9 (+13), Craft(Electrical) 6 (+10), Craft(Mechanical) 2 (+6), Diplomacy 1 (+4), Disable Device 4 (+4), Disguise 0 (+3), Drive 2 (+2), Escape Artist 2 (+2), Gather Information 9 (+9), Handle Animal 1 (+4), Intimidate 4 (+7), Investigate 7 (+11), Knowledge (Arcana/Magic) 15 (+19), Knowledge (Chemistry) 8 (+14), Knowledge (Math) 8 (+14), Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 8 (+14), Language (English, French, Greek, Hebrew, Latin) (4), Medicine 4 (+7), Notice 7 (+10), Perform (Ritual) 7 (+10), Pilot 0 (0), Profession (Computer Analyst) 2 (+5), Ride 0 (0), Search 0 (+4), Sense Motive 0 (+3), Sleight of Hand 0 (0), Stealth 0 (0), Survival 0 (3), Swim 0 (-1)
Saves: Toughness +11 Fortitude +5 Reflex +5 Will +6

Feats: Attractive, Ambidexterity, Ritualist

Powers: Magic 16 (Telekinesis 16, Telepathy 11, Astral Projection (dimensional only) 11, Lightning bolt 11, Force Field 32, Magical Sight 32)

Combat: Attack +9 (Meele +9, Ranged +9) Defense +19 (+13 Flat-footed) Init +0

Drawbacks: Minority (Lesbian Jewish Wicca)

Real Name: Willow D. Rosenberg
DOB: August 1, 1981 (Age 23 in Summer 2005 when game takes place)
Identity: Public, but unknown as a witch
Occupation: Part time computer instructor at Claremont Academy; Private Computer Security Systems Analyst.

Height 5’3”, Weight 110lbs, Eyes Green, Hair Red


Tara A. Maclay “The Sorceress”
Quote: “I am not teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. I know they don’t have it, I am just saying.”

PL: 11 (165 pp)

Abilities: STR: 12(+1) DEX: 9(-1) CON: 12(+1) INT: 16(+3) WIS: 18(+4) CHA: 16(+3)

Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+3), Bluff 4 (+7), Climb 2 (+3), Computers 4 (+7), Concentration 6 (+10), Craft (Alchemical) 4 (+7), Diplomacy 6 (+9), Disable Device 0 (+3), Disguise 0 (+3), Drive 3 (+2), Escape Artist 1 (0), Gather Information 4 (+7), Handle Animal 4 (+7), Intimidate 4 (+7), Investigate 2 (+5), Knowledge (Arcana) 15 (+18) , Knowledge (Theology/Philosophy) 8 (+11), Knowledge (Art) 4 (+7), Language (Greek, Japanese, Latin, Spanish), Medicine 4 (+8) , Notice 6 (+10), Perform (Rituals) 4 (7), Perform (Painting) 4 (7), Perform (Song and Dance) 4 (7), Pilot 0 (-1), Profession (HS Teacher) 5 (+9), Ride (Horses) 6 (+5), Search 6 (+9), Sense Motive 6 (+10), Sleight of Hand 2 (1), Stealth 4 (3), Survival 6 (+10), Swim 0 (+1)
Saves: Toughness +11 Fortitude +5 Reflex +5 Will +6

Feats: Attractive, Fearsome Presence (to Demons and Vampires only), Ritualist

Powers: Magic 14 (Telekinesis 14, Magical Sight 14, Astral Projection 2), Healing 5 (by touch).

Combat: Attack +9 (Meele +8, Ranged +10) Defense +18 (+12 Flat-footed) Init -1

Drawbacks: Minority (Lesbian Wicca)

Real Name: Tara A. Maclay
DOB: 11/07/1980 (24 in Summer 2005 when game takes place)
Identity: Public, but unknown as a witch
Occupation: Youth Counselor and Art instructor at Claremont Academy

Height 5’5”, Weight 125lbs, Eyes Blue, Hair Blond

Notes:
As usual, I am going with “The Dragon and the Phoenix” versions of these characters.
Briefly: Tara is back, Season 7 never happened, they defeated Leviathan. This would be the start of my Series 3 with Willow and Tara.

Neither are strong physical fighters, here or in Unisystem, so that converts well enough.

No dynamic Powers. I opted, for a couple of reasons, not to give Willow and Tara dynamic magic powers. Partially because they start this series as semi-retired but mostly I have something in mind for them later and dynamic magic plays a role in that.
Tara has healing separate from her Magic array same as her Unisystem counterpart. This plus her fearful presence to vampires and demons are the remains of her divine power as a Keribum (Kerubim). Tara also Magical Sight to cover her Empath and Sight qualities from Unisystem, but to better emulate it I might pull it out of her Magic array.

To mimic the Cinematic Unisystem magic better you can add Fade to the magical effects.

Casting together. 
In my games Willow and Tara can cast together to produce phenomenal effects via Anamchara Quality. In M&M this would be a special power or a special feat. In either case the results would be the same, Willow and Tara add their Magic levels together when casting together.


Links
My version at the Atomic Think Tank, http://www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?t=14876
Also have a look at Narsil's builds for Willow and Tara on the Atomic Think Tank.

• Willow
• Tara

Zatanna, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

Note: Continuing my posting on DC Comics and Mutants & Masterminds this week.  If you want to know why then read this; Green Ronin to do DC.

Like many my first comics were DC Comics. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman defined "super hero" to me. And like many people I moved on to Marvel Comics, to Spiderman and the X-Men, and then later still to the independents (Witchblade and the like). While I was never a huge reader of comics as a kid (I read them more now than I ever did then) I always gravitated to the more mystical or horror elements of the comic book world. Tomb of Dracula and Doctor Strange is what really got me into Marvel, along with Ghost Rider and for a while I equated that with why I thought Marvel was "better". I came back to DC when the "Bat Craze" of the 90's broke out. That and the death of Superman made me look at something I thought I knew well in a new light. To my surprise I discovered something. I just liked DC Comics better. Sure I still like Doctor Strange, but when someone says "Master of Magic" I don't think of Doctors Strange or Fate, but rather a Mistress of Magic, Zatanna.

Ok, this really should be a no brainer. I love witches, we all know that. But Zatanna has something that some of the other magic wielding types don't have; a pedigree. Her father was a stage magician of the Golden Age comics, Giovanni "John" Zatara. Her mother is a member of a magical race that resembles what passes in some horror fiction as a "witch" race (ala Kim Harrison, Kelley Armstrong or Witch Girls Adventures) or the "Gifted" (WitchCraft RPG). So Zatanna comes from two distinct lines of magical use and she combines them. Of course her father was doing his thing in the 1930s and "Zee" herself appears in comics in the mid 1960s so she is by most rights in her 60's but still looks great in fishnets. Well that is no big deal, since the same fictions that separate out witches into their own race also have them long lived. So at 60 Zee probably still looks like she is in her 30s. But I never "got" Zatanna till I read the "Hellblazer" and "Books of Magic" comics and read about her relationship with John Constantine. I felt that this gave her a more interesting background, plus it should that Zee was willing to try multiple paths to magical enlightenment (including "black" magic and even Tantra with Constantine). Of course there is also the whole deal with her magical lobotomy of Dr. Light in "Identity Crisis", a comic that was good for Zatanna's character but I mostly disliked.

I am not going to go into detail about her life, history, her interesting sex life, or her smoking pot with Constantine on his 40^th birthday, since that can all be found in other places on the web.  But it's all pretty cool for a superhero.

And normally I would convert her to a bunch of my favorite systems, but Paul Dini and I are not alone in our obsessions (ok, Paul Dini is several orders of magnitude above me in this one), and others have already done that for me.

Thom Marrion did a great Cinematic Unisystem / Ghosts of Albion version, http://edenstudiosdiscussionboards.yuku.com/reply/34516#reply-34516

A bunch great ones over at the Atomic Think Tank for Mutants and Masterminds, Baron's, Batgirl's, Jabronville's, Narsil's, Pamela Isley's, and MDSnowman's.

But I think I want to do something different. How about a teenaged Zatanna, just getting started out in the magic biz. Ok, so not all that different, but it could make some fun stories.

So here is Zee for Witch Girls Adventures. This is Zee after she left her formal schooling or just about ready to graduate. In a WGA style school she would have really had it tough as most of the girls would have focused on her human father the stage magician and ignored that fact that her mother was a really powerful witch. Though they would not have done that for very long.

Zattana Zatarra

Witch Sorceress
 Age: 17

Body: d6
Mind: d6
Senses: d8
Will: d8
Social: d6 +1
Magic: d10

Life Points: 12
Reflex: 9
Resist Magic: 13
Zap Points: 20

Skills (Rank)
Acting d6
Basics d4 
Hear d4
Look d6

Casting d6
Focus d4 (needs to talk backwards to achieve this)
Magical Etiquette d4
Mysticism d6

Talents
Beautiful, Entertainer (+1 to rolls)

Heritage
Legacy (mother was the powerful witch Sindella, father John Zatarra has witch-blood and was a stage magician).

Magic
Alteration 5 (4 +1)
Conjuration 3
Curse 2
Divination 2
Illusion 3
Mentalism 2 (later will be at Rank 6 here)
Offense 1
Protection 1

Signature Spell - Forget

Equipment
Crystal Ball (+1 to Scry)

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zatanna
http://www.mykey3000.com/cosmicteams/profiles/zatanna.html
http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Zatanna
Misty Lee, aka Mrs. Paul Dini, aka the real life Zatanna, http://www.mistylee.com/
Toyriffic on the JLU Animated figure. http://toyriffic.blogspot.com/2009/04/abra-abra-cadabra.html


The Zatanna pic at the very top was made by Mach Sabre.  You can find his Deviant Art page here: http://machsabre.deviantart.com/ and his co-effort, the awesome Shadow Girls comic here:  http://www.shadowgirlscomic.com/  Not sure why there is a lobster in her hat though.

Dracula: Mutants & Masterminds

More Mutants & Masterminds today.  Here is one of my favorite builds.

Dracula, Lord of Vampires, Prince of Darkness

Duncan Summers left the lecture hall to bright mid-day sun. It was, by all accounts, a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, it was warm, not too hot for August, with a gentle breeze. Freshman Orientation had gone off with out a hitch and the new faculty hires he had made the previous semester were working out great. Pleased that everything was going so well today that he decided to take a more leisurely walk across campus instead of straight to his office; there was plenty of time for paperwork later.
That’s when he saw Him.

It was so much that he saw him at first but rather felt his presence. To see him there was too much, like a black eye on a beautiful model’s face, or like someone had taken a marker and defaced the Mona Lisa. Duncan wasted no time in hurrying over to where the man sat.
Not once did the intruder move or even turn his back. He continued to sit there, reading his newspaper as if he belonged there.

Duncan had finally reached the side of the intruder, he only just now saw his face, but he knew who his old enemy was long before that.

“Get the hell out of here!” Duncan hissed.
“Good Afternoon Raven.” The man said calmly, not once averting his gaze from the paper. “Or is it ‘Professor Summers’ now?”
“What do you want?” Duncan asked. He needed time to find some help.
“You killed my mate Duncan. I came here to return the favor. Much to my disappointment I see I am too late. No matter.” He folded up his paper. “Speaking of ‘Raven’ your daughter is lovely by the way. The very image of her mother, but I fear she is a fool like her father.”
“So help me if you so much as touch her I’ll…” Duncan began, but his words were cut in his throat.
“You’ll do what?” the man hissed in Duncan’s face. He had moved so fast that even Duncan had trouble keeping track. “You are a cripple, a mere shadow of who you were, and I am Lord of my kind.” Duncan felt the vampire’s will beating down on him, attempting to overpower his psyche.
“Yet…and yet I defeated you once.” Duncan reminded his old foe.
“And yet here I stand. She will be mine Summers. Her, this school, this city will all be mine. And you will live to see it all fall, and then, only then will I kill you.”
“Revenge? This is nothing more than simple revenge?” Duncan asked, hardly believing it was true.
“Professor, there is so much you still need to learn. There is nothing ‘simple’ about it.”
There was a blur and the intruder was gone. Duncan looked around, but even to his highly trained eye, he could not see any trace that he was even there.
He paused and composed himself. He pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial that would put him in contact with the members of the Freedom League.


“We have a situation. Dracula has returned.”

No literary person or creature in the English language (and many others) has gained the notoriety, the infamy, or prestige as Count Dracula. His story has been told and retold in thousands of pages of text, hundreds of hours of film and not to mention having gone up against nearly every comic book and action hero there is. He has been sinister and monstrous, as well as suave and sexy, but always dangerous. He is quite simply the biggest villain of all time. Who else can claim to have fought Batman, Blade, the X-Men and Buffy and still be around to tell the tale? Are your characters ready, or just next in line to die?

The Freedom City source book only gives us a brief tantalizing clue to what the Lord of Vampires aims were for the city. In 1973 Dracula was reported to be in the city and coincidentally there was a rise in “Satanic Cult” activity.
Given this time period, it is VERY tempting to base the Freedom City version of Dracula off of the old Hammer films. So think Christopher Lee.

History
I'll forego posting his history here. There are lots of places to get that story. Start with Bram Stoker's book and then move on to movies and then comics.
Here are some links for you to start with,
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/345 
http://www.classic-literature.co.uk/bram-stoker/dracula/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/draculav.htm
Dracula for the WitchCraft RPG

Dracula in Freedom City, 1972
Dracula’s actual involvement in Freedom City begins the year before he is claimed to have been spotted. The Vampire Lord books passage on the Aphrodite passenger liner (commonly, and somewhat despairingly referred to as the ‘Love Boat’ in later years) and arrives in Freedom City. His timing could not have been better, while a new ‘Zero-Tolerance’ campaign was taken against costumed Heroes (thanks to the CODE), Dracula infiltrated Freedom City’s wealthiest families. He was, inevitably, put at odds with Duncan Summers. While the two aristocrats (Dracula by birth, Summers by wealth) were entangled in their war of intrigue in social circles of Freedom City’s elite, the original Raven had been hearing rumors of a new crime lord that had “magical” even “satanic” powers. Both Lords of the Night met in battle for the first time and the Raven barely made it out alive. Dracula had taunted him the whole time, offering him true power and the chance to really be able to clean up the crime ridden streets of Freedom City. It was not long after that battle that both men discovered the true identities of their antagonist. Dracula taunts Summers during the daylight hours and Raven during the night time. Dracula even sends Duncan, via a possessed messenger, a letter with only a pressed Jasmine flower in it. Panicked the Raven sought out Dracula and the two fought amongst the spires of the abandoned St. Michael’s cathedral. The Raven fought harder than he had ever fought before, and many times Dracula almost bested him. Finally the roof gave way and Dracula and Raven fell. Raven fell and landed on the rotten pews below, Dracula fell and was impaled on an ornate cross below. The Raven, sure his foe was defeated, lit a magnesium flare and set the cathedral ablaze.

Using Dracula in Freedom City
The Freedom League heard that Dracula was once again active. He was spotted on the western coast of the United States in the later part of 2000 and in Detroit by 2004.
Dracula wants more than just revenge against Duncan Summers, though that is reason enough for his return, he also wants to control the greatest city of super heroes in the world. The following are some plot hooks you can use for Dracula.

Brave New World
Dracula comes to Freedom City and works with leading geneticists collecting samples of super-hero blood. While the scientists believe they are working on a cure for some disease, they are in truth working on a formula that will make Dracula more powerful than he already is.

School Daze
Dracula uses his power, both vampiric and his great wealth, and gets himself appointed the Claremont Academy Board of Directors. He finds a way to publicly embarrass Duncan Summers and gets him removed as Headmaster. With Duncan gone, Dracula begins to feed on the super powered students.

Urban Decay
The heroes believe that Dracula is targeting one of their own, possibly Raven II. Only once the heroes have Dracula cornered is his true plan revealed. His true target is Dr. Metropolis and Dracula believes that if he can turn Metropolis into a vampire the entire city will become corrupted. The dead rise and zombies walk the streets of a corrupted Freedom City.

War in Hell
Dracula has come to town to unleash some nefarious plot but is thwarted, not by the Freedom League, but rather by the Crime League. After several days of nearly no crime the Crime League goes to the Freedom League begging for help.
Subplot: Dracula is actually working with Medea and the two are lovers.

The Impaler Returns
For a much darker and grittier game take the War in Hell plot and have Dracula return to his zero tolerance ways with criminals. Several mooks and maybe even a major member (my money is on The Maestro) have been impaled outside the city limits.

Count Dracula
PL: 18 (270 pp)

Born: 1431, turned 1476

Str: 26 (+8) Dex: 21 (+5) Con: NA (-) Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 15 (+2) Chr: 25 (+7)

SKILLS: Acrobatics 6 (+11), Bluff 10 (+17), Climb 4 (+12), Concentration 4 (+6), Diplomacy 10 (+17), Disguise 5 (+12), Drive 2 (+7), Escape Artist 6 (+11), Gather Info 6 (+13), Handle Animal 6 (+13), Intimidate 12 (+19), Investigate 6 (+9), Arcane Lore 8 (+11), History 8 (+11), Tactics 8 (+11), Theology and Philosophy 6 (+9), Streetwise 8 (+11), Medicine 2 (+4), Notice 8 (+10), Ride 4 (+9), Search 8 (+11), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Sleight of Hand (+5), Stealth 4 (+9), Survival 8 (+10), Swim (+8)

FEATS: Animal Empathy, Assessment, Contacts, Fascinate (1), Fearless, Fearsome Presence (1), Inspire (1), Leadership, Minions (4), Accurate Attack, All-out Attack, Attack Focus (Melee) (5), Blind-Fight, Critical Strike, Elusive Target, Improved Critical (1), Improved Grapple, Power Attack, Rage (1), Uncanny Dodge

POWERS:
Animal Control (8), Drain Constitution (blood Drain) (1), Immunity (Fortitude Effects) (30), Insubstantial (mist) (2), Protection (7), Regeneration (blood drain based) (5), Shapeshift (Wolf, Bat) (2), Mind Control (visual dependent) (5), Weather Control (obscure, wind and fog) (3), Super-senses (Acute) (2), Super-movement (wall crawling) (1)

COMBAT: Melee 20 Ranged 15 Defense 25 (25 flatfooted) Init +5

SAVES: Toughness 7 (7 flat-footed) Fortitude 0 Reflex 10 Will 10

DRAWBACKS:
Weakness -Blood Dependence
Weakness -Holy Items
Weakness -Sunlight * Dracula can move about during the daylight hours, but he can not use his powers. (Gave him this as opposed to Power Loss).
Weakness -Garlic, Mirrors

Breakdown: Abilities 43 + Skills 42 (165 ranks) + Feats 27 + Powers 96 + Combat 60 + Saves 13 – Drawbacks -11 = 270

Creation Notes
I based this write up largely on my Erzsébet Báthory one and the “Vampire Lord” archetype from the Core Book. I also based the stats on my conversions of the Unisystem Dracula (both the WitchCraft and Buffy versions by Thom Marrion), the d20 Masque of the Red Death version and Dracula from “Chill: Vampires”. I was very pleased with the way all the conversions sort of dove-tailed into this one. In a way this represents an “Ultimate Dracula” for me. Speaking of which; one of the things I really wanted to capture was the Dracula of the old Marvel series and his later appearances in Marvel comics. I still have this picture of Colossus trying to punch Dracula and he stops him with one hand.   The M&M Dracula needs to be as cool as this.

Bottom line: Dracula needs to be powerful and a credible threat to a group of super heroes. Dracula is not a team player, he has minions of course, but they are minions-not equals.
If you are going to go through the trouble to add Dracula to you game it needs to be a memorable encounter for both your characters and your players.

Green Ronin to do DC

In what I am sure is already "old news" Green Ronin sent out a press release today about their new partnership with DC Comics to do a new DC Adventures RPG.

You can read the details here, http://www.greenronin.com/2010/05/dc_adventures_press_release.php

Personally, I couldn't be more thrilled.

Mutants & Masterminds is one of my favorite Supers RPGs and I have been more of a fan of DC over Marvel since pretty much the late 80's early 90's.  I loved the DC Animated universe (Batman, Superman, Justice League) and all the Batman movies.  In fact I was just talking to Greg this weekend about how much I prefer DC over Marvel.

Yes as a teen I read Spider-man and the X-men.  I loved Dr. Strange (especially all the 70s occult influences)  and Tomb of Dracula. But the the stories were getting to be retreads of things I had already seen before and I was not an avid comic reader by any means.  I actually read more comics in college than I did in high school and I read more now than I did then.
Sure I still think Wolverine is cool, but Batman is a hell of a lot cooler.  The older I got the more I appreciated what DC had to offer in terms of story.  Marvel went for the quick angst more times than not from my point of view.

Given my roots I also liked DC's take on magic and horror a bit better.  Sure they never had anything quite like Tomb of Dracula or even Blade, but they had Zatanna and John Constantine. Dr. Fate is not as cool as Dr. Strange, but he is still pretty cool.    Plus my kids like the DC universe more now.  I have a theory that most people start out liking DC,

So maybe I'll spend this week doing some posts on the DC universe and on Mutants and Masterminds.