Episode 2: The Dead of Night
November 13, 2002 Wednesday
A group of necromancers (the Order of Six) is using zombies of people killed by the cast, including Ben/Glory, and a shape shifting spirit to try and unlock a portal to Leviathan’s plane.
Story Arc and Game Design elements: Monster of the week (mostly). Necromancy rules for Cinematic Unisystem. Establishes that Tara keeps a Journal that she writes in religiously. Also introduces the Codex Albius and the first of many cults.
Notes and Comments: This adventure was written by Garner Johnson based on a draft he was doing for a story. It was designed as our playtests of "Monster Smackdown".
We featured a weak shape shifter as our first among many jabs at “The First”, but mostly we wanted to deal with some glaring issues, such as why some people get do all the killing of normal humans they like and never be held accountable for it (Spike, Buffy), while others are treated like pariahs (Faith, Willow).
We also wanted to do a “zombie” episode since we were all getting into AFMBE by this time and really just wanted a monster of the week one. The title was my idea and Garner objected, but he saw it my way after spending a week trying to come up with something better.
The episode itself doesn't advance the arc much save for the fact that we established that others are going to be interested in what is going on here. This was part of my "your characters do not live in a vacuum" philosophy. This was stage building.
The idea was to have the characters have to deal with the deaths, accidental or otherwise, that they have caused, but it didn't quite work out like that. The players saw zombies and zombies had to be destroyed.
Tara's journal writing was one of those things that seem to come out of several different places at once. Lisa (our Tara) and Sass (our Willow) both talked about it. Later on it was reinforced when we began work on Ghosts of Albion and Tamara Swift also kept a journal. In fact the Journals of Tamara Swift became magical tomes in their own right, as did the Journal of Megan Maclay would in the next season.
Yes. I know there is a typo in the cover. I have been meaning to fix it for years.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Those Meddling Kids, Part 2
So I have some links to share!
Allyson Brooks the author of MK sent me some character sheets to share with you all!
Character Sheet
Wild Card Sheet
Reader Bruce Hill sent me a link that includes both the Character sheet and a second adventure.
http://www.kidzworld.com/article/4962-meddling-kids-introductory-role-playing-game-review
There is some good life in this game still!
Thanks Allyson and Bruce for the links.
Allyson Brooks the author of MK sent me some character sheets to share with you all!
Character Sheet
Wild Card Sheet
Reader Bruce Hill sent me a link that includes both the Character sheet and a second adventure.
http://www.kidzworld.com/article/4962-meddling-kids-introductory-role-playing-game-review
There is some good life in this game still!
Thanks Allyson and Bruce for the links.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Those Meddling Kids!
I wanted to talk some about super heroes this week. Really I did.
But I got sidetracked by the boxed set of D&D4. And what is it about an RPG in a box? When box sets were in vogue all I wanted were hard cover books. Boxes of soft cover books were for kids!
Well in that vein I ended up with another "new" (new to me) RPG that honestly I am a little surprised I didn't know about; Meddling Kids.
I guess it was out in 2004, but somehow I missed it in the tsunami of d20 books. But it is now at DriveThruRPG so I picked up a copy. The company is still around, but they don't support the product that much. I am still searching for more information (I'd love a character sheet) but until then I am on my own.
So what is Meddling Kids? Well it is an introductory RPG for "kids of all ages" but recomended for ages 7 and up. The writing is very clear and concise and frankly one of the better "intro" games I have seen. It is designed as an intro game and is listed as "Stage 1 of the Starter System". I don't know if other stages were produced or not, but the feel here is one of "this is your first game so have some fun, and when you are ready we will have more for you". As with most starter sets there is lot the seasoned (or grizzled in my case) player can ignore, but it was still a very fun, light and fluffy read.
The premise is simple. You create a teenage mystery-solver who belongs to a clique of other liked minded teens. Like in the TV show that this is so obviously taken from, different teens of various social standing and family incomes mix together well in a group united by their love of solving a mystery. Or maybe it's the talking dog. Or dune buggy. Or chimp. Or genie. Or...you get the idea. If you grew up in the 70s-80s then you know what I mean.
Character creation is simple. You create a background for your character, then are given points for Stats and Abilities. Pretty simple. Since we are talking about cartoons your Teen is put into an Archetype. So think Jock, Brain, Fluff, Goof and so on.
The system is a simple one of Stat plus a roll based on Abilities plus a d6. Compare to a Target Number or resist the roll of something else.
What sets MK apart though is the use of the "Wild Card" character. This is a character, usually an animal, that hangs with the clique and is run by the GM. Not an NPC or even GMPC (though very close). The Wild Card is the one that helps in the adventure/mystery. So yeah, think Scooby Doo, or even Jabber Jaw or Captain Caveman. It is a fairly clever idea really and one of the only games I have read that encourages a GMPC like character.
The book is small, less than 100 pages with pretty clear large fonts, so this is not a hefty tome to learn, it is a simple game that does exactly what it sets out to do and it does it rather well. It is a great game to teach the little guys how to play using something that both parents and kids will know all about.
There are a lot of comparisons that could be made between this and Cartoon Action hour or even BASH (which has a similar feel to it). But MK really does it's thing rather well.
So obviously a game using this based around the Hex Girls makes a lot of sense. Though there is no magic system really, though the Wild Cards have some magic like abilities. Plus the game is aimed a teen characters, not really young adult. But fortunately there is a good solution. I can do a "Season 0" or pre-season, and deal with the adventures the girls had before they discovered their magic. I would cheat a little and give the girls each one of the magical Wild Card abilities, but under only under special circumstances, say once per "scene" or something like that. It would be hard to do with a group that has played the Witch Girls Adventures, Unisystem or Cortex versions first though. It could also be a link in my life-span development chain, put it in between Little Fears but before Witch Girls. Truthfully it should go after Witch Girls, but in WGA the characters would develop their powers.
So what would be a Intro Season or a Season 0 of Hex Girls be like?
Well lets go with the mythology set up so far. We know the girls know about magic (from "The Witch's Ghost") and Thorn has some (can read a spell at least). So. Let's start at the begging. They are not big stars yet, they are touring around local clubs and solving mysteries. These will be of the Scooby-Doo variety; a haunted house, a spooky amusement park, sightings of a ghostly pirate ship. No overall story arc or main bad guy, but a string of Monster of the Week episodes. And nor more than 6 total. After that I think most kids will be ready for other games.
What are the girls like? Well younger. Let's make them all teens. Thorn is 18, Luna is 19 and Dusk is 16. This would be right about the time that Thorn and Luna formed the HG and brought Dusk in as their second drummer (all great bands have had at least two drummers). So this might even be a bit before TWG. So much for continuity...I'll say it is right after since that make the next thing make more sense.
Who is our Wild Card? That is easy. I am going to rob from myself (and Charmed) and say the Wild Card character is the ghost of Thorn's Great-great-grandmother. She is here to guide the girls to their magical destiny. She can only rarely interact with others and only the girls can see her. So in Meddling Kids terms she has "Ken" with their "clique".
So the game takes place right after The Witches Ghost and was the basis for the Hex Girls song, "Those Meddling Kids". Sure. Why not.
Thorn
Archetype: The Fluff (she is the center of attention)
Strength: 5
Moves: 7
Smarts: 6
Health: 6
Free Ability: Flirt
Monster Mind (6 pts) Smarts+3
Musician, strings (4 pts) Smarts+1d6
Singer (4 pts) Health+1d6
Weirdness Magnet (3 pts)
Luna
Archetype: The Brain (to cover all her music knowledge)
Level-Headed (3 pts) Health+3
Musician, string, electronic (8 pts) Smarts+1d6
Popular (8 pts) Health+2
Steel Memory (3 pts) Smarts+3
The Whiz (music) (4 pts) Smarts+3
Dusk
Archetype: The Temper (fits well with the image I have of her)
Fearless (6pts) Smarts+1d6
Intimidate (7 pts) Strength+3
Musician, drums (4 pts) Smarts+1d6
Rich (7 pts) Health+3 (though she keeps this hidden)
Hip (3 pts) Smarts+2
Gram
Archetype: Wild Card (Ghost)
But I got sidetracked by the boxed set of D&D4. And what is it about an RPG in a box? When box sets were in vogue all I wanted were hard cover books. Boxes of soft cover books were for kids!
I guess it was out in 2004, but somehow I missed it in the tsunami of d20 books. But it is now at DriveThruRPG so I picked up a copy. The company is still around, but they don't support the product that much. I am still searching for more information (I'd love a character sheet) but until then I am on my own.
So what is Meddling Kids? Well it is an introductory RPG for "kids of all ages" but recomended for ages 7 and up. The writing is very clear and concise and frankly one of the better "intro" games I have seen. It is designed as an intro game and is listed as "Stage 1 of the Starter System". I don't know if other stages were produced or not, but the feel here is one of "this is your first game so have some fun, and when you are ready we will have more for you". As with most starter sets there is lot the seasoned (or grizzled in my case) player can ignore, but it was still a very fun, light and fluffy read.
The premise is simple. You create a teenage mystery-solver who belongs to a clique of other liked minded teens. Like in the TV show that this is so obviously taken from, different teens of various social standing and family incomes mix together well in a group united by their love of solving a mystery. Or maybe it's the talking dog. Or dune buggy. Or chimp. Or genie. Or...you get the idea. If you grew up in the 70s-80s then you know what I mean.
Character creation is simple. You create a background for your character, then are given points for Stats and Abilities. Pretty simple. Since we are talking about cartoons your Teen is put into an Archetype. So think Jock, Brain, Fluff, Goof and so on.
The system is a simple one of Stat plus a roll based on Abilities plus a d6. Compare to a Target Number or resist the roll of something else.
What sets MK apart though is the use of the "Wild Card" character. This is a character, usually an animal, that hangs with the clique and is run by the GM. Not an NPC or even GMPC (though very close). The Wild Card is the one that helps in the adventure/mystery. So yeah, think Scooby Doo, or even Jabber Jaw or Captain Caveman. It is a fairly clever idea really and one of the only games I have read that encourages a GMPC like character.
The book is small, less than 100 pages with pretty clear large fonts, so this is not a hefty tome to learn, it is a simple game that does exactly what it sets out to do and it does it rather well. It is a great game to teach the little guys how to play using something that both parents and kids will know all about.
There are a lot of comparisons that could be made between this and Cartoon Action hour or even BASH (which has a similar feel to it). But MK really does it's thing rather well.
So obviously a game using this based around the Hex Girls makes a lot of sense. Though there is no magic system really, though the Wild Cards have some magic like abilities. Plus the game is aimed a teen characters, not really young adult. But fortunately there is a good solution. I can do a "Season 0" or pre-season, and deal with the adventures the girls had before they discovered their magic. I would cheat a little and give the girls each one of the magical Wild Card abilities, but under only under special circumstances, say once per "scene" or something like that. It would be hard to do with a group that has played the Witch Girls Adventures, Unisystem or Cortex versions first though. It could also be a link in my life-span development chain, put it in between Little Fears but before Witch Girls. Truthfully it should go after Witch Girls, but in WGA the characters would develop their powers.
So what would be a Intro Season or a Season 0 of Hex Girls be like?
Well lets go with the mythology set up so far. We know the girls know about magic (from "The Witch's Ghost") and Thorn has some (can read a spell at least). So. Let's start at the begging. They are not big stars yet, they are touring around local clubs and solving mysteries. These will be of the Scooby-Doo variety; a haunted house, a spooky amusement park, sightings of a ghostly pirate ship. No overall story arc or main bad guy, but a string of Monster of the Week episodes. And nor more than 6 total. After that I think most kids will be ready for other games.
What are the girls like? Well younger. Let's make them all teens. Thorn is 18, Luna is 19 and Dusk is 16. This would be right about the time that Thorn and Luna formed the HG and brought Dusk in as their second drummer (all great bands have had at least two drummers). So this might even be a bit before TWG. So much for continuity...I'll say it is right after since that make the next thing make more sense.
Who is our Wild Card? That is easy. I am going to rob from myself (and Charmed) and say the Wild Card character is the ghost of Thorn's Great-great-grandmother. She is here to guide the girls to their magical destiny. She can only rarely interact with others and only the girls can see her. So in Meddling Kids terms she has "Ken" with their "clique".
So the game takes place right after The Witches Ghost and was the basis for the Hex Girls song, "Those Meddling Kids". Sure. Why not.
Archetype: The Fluff (she is the center of attention)
Strength: 5
Moves: 7
Smarts: 6
Health: 6
Free Ability: Flirt
Intuition (8 pts) Smarts+1d6
Leadership (5 pts) Health+3
Monster Mind (6 pts) Smarts+3
Musician, strings (4 pts) Smarts+1d6
Singer (4 pts) Health+1d6
Weirdness Magnet (3 pts)
Archetype: The Brain (to cover all her music knowledge)
Strength: 5
Moves: 6
Smarts: 8
Health: 5
Free Ability: Bookworm
Level-Headed (3 pts) Health+3
Musician, string, electronic (8 pts) Smarts+1d6
Popular (8 pts) Health+2
Steel Memory (3 pts) Smarts+3
The Whiz (music) (4 pts) Smarts+3
Archetype: The Temper (fits well with the image I have of her)
Strength: 7
Moves: 7
Smarts: 5
Health: 5
Free Ability: Stir the Pot
Fearless (6pts) Smarts+1d6
Intimidate (7 pts) Strength+3
Musician, drums (4 pts) Smarts+1d6
Rich (7 pts) Health+3 (though she keeps this hidden)
Hip (3 pts) Smarts+2
Gram
Archetype: Wild Card (Ghost)
Strength: 4
Moves: 7
Smarts: 9
Health: 4
Quirk - Speaks and acts like she did in the 17th Century. Has all the girls call her "Gram", she calls them "dearie". Likes the girls' music, but thinks it is too loud.
Call to All
Ken (2 pts) no roll
Specter (16 pts) no roll
- Fade
- Super Fly
- Transform
Telekinetic (8 pts) Smarts +7
Again, I like these builds. I think they work out nicely for starting characters and players which is exactly the point of "Meddling Kids". Gram needs to be better defined obviously.
Again, I like these builds. I think they work out nicely for starting characters and players which is exactly the point of "Meddling Kids". Gram needs to be better defined obviously.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
D&D Red Box, I have it and Post 300
So something special today for Post 300. I picked up the new D&D4 "Red Box" starter rules and I like it.
As you can see it fits in nice with the other boxed sets I have picked up over the years. But how does it stack up to these worthy predecessors? After all that "magenta" Basic Box with the Erol Otus cover is the box that got everything going for most people my age (not so much the "other" Red Box, which I don't own). I suppose I had better make some distinctions so we are all talking about the same things.
There are a lot of games called "Basic D&D" and a few of those are even red in color. Here is how The Acaeum breaks it down.
D&D Basic Set (blue box) edited by J. Eric Holmes and cover art by David Sutherland, 1977-1979, also called "Holmes Basic" or sometimes "Blue Box Basic". That is edition on the far left of the screen. Packaged with module B1 and dice.
D&D Basic Set (magenta box) edited by Tom Moldvay and cover art by Erol Otus, 1981-1983, also called "Moldvay Basic" or "B/X". The book inside is red. Package with Module B2 and dice. In the center of the picture.
D&D Basic Rules Set 1 (red box) edited by Frank Mentzer and cover art by Larry Elmore, 1983-1989, also called "Mentzer Basic" or "BECMI". Comes with Player's and and DM's books, dice and no separate adventure. (not pictured above).
There were more, like the D&D 3.0 one up there and one for D&D 3.5 that came with a softcover of the PHB.
Now we have this one for D&D 4.
Unpacking the box is like that of unpacking the old Mentzer Basic, which this one owes a lot of homage too.
Inside there is a Player's book (32 pages), a DM's book (64 pages), 4 color character sheets on heavier paper, 6 dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20), a poster map, power cards (lots) and tokens (repalce minis).
A few things are obvious from the start here.
1. This game assumes you have never played D&D in your life. This is a starter set.
2. The game is still D&D 4. The wailing and gnashing of teeth can stop now. This is not 4.5, 4.1 or even 4.0.1, it is still the same game from 2 years ago. Things have been simplified to make learning and getting right into playing faster.
3. Wizard's knows the Grognards are out there. This game might not appeal to them, but it might to their kids.
Ok what is actually here? Well let's start with the Player's guide since it has a big "Read Me First" label on it.
The Player's Guide sets the stage on what is D&D and RPGs in general, and it gets you right into thinking about your character. Not what your powers are, but what you want to be in the game. I liked this. The rest of the book is dedicated to a pre-programed adventure (yuck) but I can see where this is god for a newbie or a solo player. As you go through this adventure you are introduced to your abilities, skills, spells, feats and other powers.
The DM's guide is similar. It gets you up and running fast and explains things along the way. Obviously lots of room for future books here, OR you could take this game and mover right into the D&D 4 hardcovers proper.
The adventure is nothing great. It will not ever measure up to the epic quest of Keep on the Borderlands or even In Search of the Unknown. I played it at Gen Con with my kids. They had fun. It is a good mix of combat, skill challenges and role-playing. Yes. I said role-playing while talking about a D&D4 product. there is a coupon inside to let you download another adventure for it for free, The Witchlight Fens (which does not seem to be up yet).
The tokens are nice. Cheaper than figs and certainly have more utility. Bloodied? Flip it over, same picture now with a red border. While this will make it easier to stock up on all sorts of characters and monsters, I see a third-party market of blank tokens and instructions on how to print out and glue on your monsters, characters and the like.
The dice are nothing special, but look like they won't chip like the old marbleized dice from the old basic sets.
The redesigned character sheets are really nice. Heavier paper and full color the skills are now listed under their associated ability. Visually it makes skills seem like a sub-set of ability checks. Maybe they are going after the Grognards?
So who is this for?
Well obviously it is designed with the new player in mind. If you are reading this on my blog then chances are that is not you. If on you are reading on Facebook, and you have never played but are interested, then this might be a great start.
I like D&D4, should I buy this?
Well....There is nothing new here. I got it for playing with my boys. I am sure you can get the tiles elsewhere. Unless you are a completist, or teaching the game to someone new (I am a little of both) then this is a good buy.
I hate D&D4 should I buy this?
Can't help you there. I like D&D4, but like I said there is nothing here that is 100% new. If you hate D&D4 you will hate this too I think. But in truth the rules are streamlined now and this is a much better "D&D" than 3.0 was. Hell, when we played at Gen Con we were one character death away from a TPK; so yeah it felt old-school.
I have 20 bucks, is this a good buy?
Yes.
I have some friends that have never played, is this a good buy?
Yes. You can't go wrong with this.
Nitpicks
Well. The adventure is not great and there is something up with the paint/ink on the books that is giving me a huge headache; before I use them I am going to air them out a bit.
I was hoping for something new (not just revised or tweaked); but I think that is just me and not a fault with the game itself.
Overall
I like it. I'll catch grief from my D&D4-hating friends, but it is going to do exactly what I need it for and rarely can I say that about a game.
As you can see it fits in nice with the other boxed sets I have picked up over the years. But how does it stack up to these worthy predecessors? After all that "magenta" Basic Box with the Erol Otus cover is the box that got everything going for most people my age (not so much the "other" Red Box, which I don't own). I suppose I had better make some distinctions so we are all talking about the same things.
There are a lot of games called "Basic D&D" and a few of those are even red in color. Here is how The Acaeum breaks it down.
D&D Basic Set (blue box) edited by J. Eric Holmes and cover art by David Sutherland, 1977-1979, also called "Holmes Basic" or sometimes "Blue Box Basic". That is edition on the far left of the screen. Packaged with module B1 and dice.
D&D Basic Set (magenta box) edited by Tom Moldvay and cover art by Erol Otus, 1981-1983, also called "Moldvay Basic" or "B/X". The book inside is red. Package with Module B2 and dice. In the center of the picture.
D&D Basic Rules Set 1 (red box) edited by Frank Mentzer and cover art by Larry Elmore, 1983-1989, also called "Mentzer Basic" or "BECMI". Comes with Player's and and DM's books, dice and no separate adventure. (not pictured above).
There were more, like the D&D 3.0 one up there and one for D&D 3.5 that came with a softcover of the PHB.
Now we have this one for D&D 4.
Unpacking the box is like that of unpacking the old Mentzer Basic, which this one owes a lot of homage too.
Inside there is a Player's book (32 pages), a DM's book (64 pages), 4 color character sheets on heavier paper, 6 dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20), a poster map, power cards (lots) and tokens (repalce minis).
A few things are obvious from the start here.
1. This game assumes you have never played D&D in your life. This is a starter set.
2. The game is still D&D 4. The wailing and gnashing of teeth can stop now. This is not 4.5, 4.1 or even 4.0.1, it is still the same game from 2 years ago. Things have been simplified to make learning and getting right into playing faster.
3. Wizard's knows the Grognards are out there. This game might not appeal to them, but it might to their kids.
Ok what is actually here? Well let's start with the Player's guide since it has a big "Read Me First" label on it.
The Player's Guide sets the stage on what is D&D and RPGs in general, and it gets you right into thinking about your character. Not what your powers are, but what you want to be in the game. I liked this. The rest of the book is dedicated to a pre-programed adventure (yuck) but I can see where this is god for a newbie or a solo player. As you go through this adventure you are introduced to your abilities, skills, spells, feats and other powers.
The DM's guide is similar. It gets you up and running fast and explains things along the way. Obviously lots of room for future books here, OR you could take this game and mover right into the D&D 4 hardcovers proper.
The adventure is nothing great. It will not ever measure up to the epic quest of Keep on the Borderlands or even In Search of the Unknown. I played it at Gen Con with my kids. They had fun. It is a good mix of combat, skill challenges and role-playing. Yes. I said role-playing while talking about a D&D4 product. there is a coupon inside to let you download another adventure for it for free, The Witchlight Fens (which does not seem to be up yet).
The tokens are nice. Cheaper than figs and certainly have more utility. Bloodied? Flip it over, same picture now with a red border. While this will make it easier to stock up on all sorts of characters and monsters, I see a third-party market of blank tokens and instructions on how to print out and glue on your monsters, characters and the like.
The dice are nothing special, but look like they won't chip like the old marbleized dice from the old basic sets.
The redesigned character sheets are really nice. Heavier paper and full color the skills are now listed under their associated ability. Visually it makes skills seem like a sub-set of ability checks. Maybe they are going after the Grognards?
So who is this for?
Well obviously it is designed with the new player in mind. If you are reading this on my blog then chances are that is not you. If on you are reading on Facebook, and you have never played but are interested, then this might be a great start.
I like D&D4, should I buy this?
Well....There is nothing new here. I got it for playing with my boys. I am sure you can get the tiles elsewhere. Unless you are a completist, or teaching the game to someone new (I am a little of both) then this is a good buy.
I hate D&D4 should I buy this?
Can't help you there. I like D&D4, but like I said there is nothing here that is 100% new. If you hate D&D4 you will hate this too I think. But in truth the rules are streamlined now and this is a much better "D&D" than 3.0 was. Hell, when we played at Gen Con we were one character death away from a TPK; so yeah it felt old-school.
I have 20 bucks, is this a good buy?
Yes.
I have some friends that have never played, is this a good buy?
Yes. You can't go wrong with this.
Nitpicks
Well. The adventure is not great and there is something up with the paint/ink on the books that is giving me a huge headache; before I use them I am going to air them out a bit.
I was hoping for something new (not just revised or tweaked); but I think that is just me and not a fault with the game itself.
Overall
I like it. I'll catch grief from my D&D4-hating friends, but it is going to do exactly what I need it for and rarely can I say that about a game.
Superheroes
I am planning on doing a series of posts next on Superhero RPGs, focusing on some new ones I have picked up with some retrospective of some older ones.
I have spoken at length about Mutants & Masterminds, my "go to" Supers game, but I have also talked a bit out Silver Age Sentinels and Smallville. Games I want to cover are the DC Adventures, Icons, BASH and Villains & Vigilantes 2.1.
Obviously one of the things I like to look in any system are the magic rules. I like to think that Supers and Horror games are reflections of each other. They share a lot of the same tropes and even plot designs. Supers are obviously the "light" world and Horror is the darker reflection. The core philosophies are are also very different. I think two quotes sum this up perfectly by two of the "kings" of their respective genres.
Of course I see this link since I was re-introduced to horror from comics. "The Tomb of Dracula" took me from Marvel (which took me from DC) into the world of Horror, Occult and all sorts of things that go bump in the night. It should also be no surprise that my favorite parts of AD&D were the horror-themed elements; the gothic tradition and the weird horror of Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. Supers comics even got into the game, alot, and not just Dracula. Read a copy of Dr. Strange, or anything with John Constantine in it; monsters abound. Twilight is less about vampires than it is about super-powered humans. So yeah there is a lot crossover.
So as I review these games this is something I want to keep in mind.
I have spoken at length about Mutants & Masterminds, my "go to" Supers game, but I have also talked a bit out Silver Age Sentinels and Smallville. Games I want to cover are the DC Adventures, Icons, BASH and Villains & Vigilantes 2.1.
Obviously one of the things I like to look in any system are the magic rules. I like to think that Supers and Horror games are reflections of each other. They share a lot of the same tropes and even plot designs. Supers are obviously the "light" world and Horror is the darker reflection. The core philosophies are are also very different. I think two quotes sum this up perfectly by two of the "kings" of their respective genres.
"We believe in heroes because, ultimately. we believe in ourselves." -Jack "King" KirbyHorror helps us deal with how the world is. Superheroes help us by showing us what the world could be.
"We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones." - Stephen King
Of course I see this link since I was re-introduced to horror from comics. "The Tomb of Dracula" took me from Marvel (which took me from DC) into the world of Horror, Occult and all sorts of things that go bump in the night. It should also be no surprise that my favorite parts of AD&D were the horror-themed elements; the gothic tradition and the weird horror of Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. Supers comics even got into the game, alot, and not just Dracula. Read a copy of Dr. Strange, or anything with John Constantine in it; monsters abound. Twilight is less about vampires than it is about super-powered humans. So yeah there is a lot crossover.
So as I review these games this is something I want to keep in mind.
Friday, August 27, 2010
The Dragon and the Phoenix: Episode 1
So my Fridays are likely to be very busy so I am thinking of going through my big CineUnisystem adventure season The Dragon and the Phoenix. These will be mostly plot summaries and some actual play reports. Keep in mind that these games are now almost 10 years old. I wrote and ran these a long time ago. They were the playtest bed for Buffy, Angel and Ghosts of Albion. Plus I have talked about these for so long I assume everyone already knows everything about them and that is really not the case. So sit back a enjoy.
Episode 1: Will We Burn In Heaven?
Willow (crying): I thought…I thought I had lost you!
Tara (kissing her face): I’ll find you. I will always find you.
- Willow and Tara: The Dragon and the Phoenix, Episode 1 “Will We Burn in Heaven?”
November 7, 2002 Thursday
(Ran this during Summer 2002, right after the Dark Druid)
Willow and Buffy have just been visiting Tara’s grave when they get two unexpected visitors, Cordelia and Tara. Tara comes back from Heaven to help the cast defeat a group of fallen angels bent on finding the Enochian Tablets and destroying all of creation with the Word of Unmaking. Tara helps, but is torn between her duty to the Creator and Creatrix and her love for Willow. Te tablet is found, in the hands of a magical merchant named E'rif E'nur. He is found dead and his local contact, Spike is horribly burned. Anya is later found also burned. Tara is able to heal her by touch, but both Spike and Anya tell her that they are "afraid" of her now. The fallen angels are found and there is a great battle. An angel tries to burn Willow, but Tara gets in the way and engulfed in flames. She walks out of the flame, unharmed, and in full angelic form to fight back. The fallen angels are defeated with daggers given to them by Anya. The tablet is destroyed and Tara must choose whether to return to heaven or remain. In the end Tara chooses Exile; she gives up her powers and angelic life force to be human again.
Giles discovers that the dead god Leviathan will be entering our reality.
Story Arc and Game Design elements: Introduce the new Ascension, Other Worldly and Geas quality/drawbacks.
Soundtrack: Foo Fighters “Learning to Fly”, Enya “Exile”
Notes and Comments: This is the first adventure and it is fairly linear, but also fairly combat heavy. What is new here is the first time we have seen angels in the game or universe, and they are evil ones. We also see the return of Tara and her exile. One thing quickly became obvious to us that a demonic Anya is not a playable character. She can't die, she is totally beholden to her demonic master D'Hoffryn and really she should be out to kill the Cast. Finding things to do with Anya was a problem. Another problem was Dawn. We had big plans for her, but no one wanted to play her. Spike gets burned pretty badly in this episode by the angels so we could have an excuse not to have him. The focus of this of course is the return of Tara and how Willow could deal with it. In the begining I wanted Willow to be completely de-magicked; unable to cast any spells. It would have been great for a story, but for a game people want Willow to have spells. So we comprimised and had Willow's magic reduced. Throughout the series she begins to gain it back. Tara shows off some of her new powers too here, the ability to heal and her "otherworldlieness". We liked the idea that every demon and vampire in town was now terrified of Tara. Later in Episode 4 Spike describes her as appearing as if she was on fire.
Some elements from my old AD&;D game appear here. Luna is a former character and E'fir E'nur was an NPC. E'Fir E'nur was also going to be part of the D'jinn arc as a summoneer and binder of Iffrits.
Like the D'jinn series, this also had a tie to the Dark Druid episode that was published in July of 2002. The Dark Druid, with your cast, acts a prelude to the D'jinn or with the original cast as a prelude to this.
Tara Maclay
Keribum (Ascended Human Witch)
Life Points 71
Drama Points 20
Strength 5 Dexterity 4 Constitution 5
Intelligence 4 Perception 3 Willpower 5
Qualities Ascended
Attractiveness +3
Empathy
Fast Reaction Time
Hard to Kill +7
Nerves of Steel
Sorcerery 5
Drawbacks Adversaries (lots) 5
Honorable (Serious)
Geas
Minority (Gay Wicca)
Obligation (Major)
Otherworldly
Skills
Acrobatics 2
Art 2
Computers 1
Crime 0
Doctor 2
Driving 2
Getting Medieval 3
Gun Fu 0
Influence 2
Knowledge 3
Kung fu 3
Languages 1
Mr. Fix it 0
Occultism 5
Science 1
Sports 0
Wild Card (riding horses) 3
Combat Dodge +7 -
Magic +15 varies
TK +10 2xSL
This is Tara at the beginning of the first episode of the Dragon and the Phoenix. She has returned as a Keribum (or not exactly a Kerubim from WitchCraft) to stop the Knights of Elohim from the Unmaking. Or at least she (and we) think so at first. She allowed to go into exile but keeps the healing touch power of the Keribum and demons and vampires still fear her.
After Episode 1 her stats return to what appears in the Magic Box or revised Core (which were based on the above stats in the first place).
I also made a print quality pdf of her character sheet.
Episode 1: Will We Burn In Heaven?
Willow (crying): I thought…I thought I had lost you!
Tara (kissing her face): I’ll find you. I will always find you.
- Willow and Tara: The Dragon and the Phoenix, Episode 1 “Will We Burn in Heaven?”
November 7, 2002 Thursday
(Ran this during Summer 2002, right after the Dark Druid)
Willow and Buffy have just been visiting Tara’s grave when they get two unexpected visitors, Cordelia and Tara. Tara comes back from Heaven to help the cast defeat a group of fallen angels bent on finding the Enochian Tablets and destroying all of creation with the Word of Unmaking. Tara helps, but is torn between her duty to the Creator and Creatrix and her love for Willow. Te tablet is found, in the hands of a magical merchant named E'rif E'nur. He is found dead and his local contact, Spike is horribly burned. Anya is later found also burned. Tara is able to heal her by touch, but both Spike and Anya tell her that they are "afraid" of her now. The fallen angels are found and there is a great battle. An angel tries to burn Willow, but Tara gets in the way and engulfed in flames. She walks out of the flame, unharmed, and in full angelic form to fight back. The fallen angels are defeated with daggers given to them by Anya. The tablet is destroyed and Tara must choose whether to return to heaven or remain. In the end Tara chooses Exile; she gives up her powers and angelic life force to be human again.
Giles discovers that the dead god Leviathan will be entering our reality.
Story Arc and Game Design elements: Introduce the new Ascension, Other Worldly and Geas quality/drawbacks.
Soundtrack: Foo Fighters “Learning to Fly”, Enya “Exile”
Notes and Comments: This is the first adventure and it is fairly linear, but also fairly combat heavy. What is new here is the first time we have seen angels in the game or universe, and they are evil ones. We also see the return of Tara and her exile. One thing quickly became obvious to us that a demonic Anya is not a playable character. She can't die, she is totally beholden to her demonic master D'Hoffryn and really she should be out to kill the Cast. Finding things to do with Anya was a problem. Another problem was Dawn. We had big plans for her, but no one wanted to play her. Spike gets burned pretty badly in this episode by the angels so we could have an excuse not to have him. The focus of this of course is the return of Tara and how Willow could deal with it. In the begining I wanted Willow to be completely de-magicked; unable to cast any spells. It would have been great for a story, but for a game people want Willow to have spells. So we comprimised and had Willow's magic reduced. Throughout the series she begins to gain it back. Tara shows off some of her new powers too here, the ability to heal and her "otherworldlieness". We liked the idea that every demon and vampire in town was now terrified of Tara. Later in Episode 4 Spike describes her as appearing as if she was on fire.
Some elements from my old AD&;D game appear here. Luna is a former character and E'fir E'nur was an NPC. E'Fir E'nur was also going to be part of the D'jinn arc as a summoneer and binder of Iffrits.
Like the D'jinn series, this also had a tie to the Dark Druid episode that was published in July of 2002. The Dark Druid, with your cast, acts a prelude to the D'jinn or with the original cast as a prelude to this.
Tara Maclay
Keribum (Ascended Human Witch)
Drama Points 20
Strength 5 Dexterity 4 Constitution 5
Intelligence 4 Perception 3 Willpower 5
Qualities Ascended
Attractiveness +3
Empathy
Fast Reaction Time
Hard to Kill +7
Nerves of Steel
Sorcerery 5
Drawbacks Adversaries (lots) 5
Honorable (Serious)
Geas
Minority (Gay Wicca)
Obligation (Major)
Otherworldly
Skills
Acrobatics 2
Art 2
Computers 1
Crime 0
Doctor 2
Driving 2
Getting Medieval 3
Gun Fu 0
Influence 2
Knowledge 3
Kung fu 3
Languages 1
Mr. Fix it 0
Occultism 5
Science 1
Sports 0
Wild Card (riding horses) 3
Combat Dodge +7 -
Magic +15 varies
TK +10 2xSL
This is Tara at the beginning of the first episode of the Dragon and the Phoenix. She has returned as a Keribum (or not exactly a Kerubim from WitchCraft) to stop the Knights of Elohim from the Unmaking. Or at least she (and we) think so at first. She allowed to go into exile but keeps the healing touch power of the Keribum and demons and vampires still fear her.
After Episode 1 her stats return to what appears in the Magic Box or revised Core (which were based on the above stats in the first place).
I also made a print quality pdf of her character sheet.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
LEGO Minotarus
I don't talk much about board games here. Nothing against them, they are just not something I talk a lot about, but I would hazard a guess and say that a full half of my game room shelf space is devoted to board games. My kids and wife love them and it is something we can all do together.
So if you were at Gen Con this year you saw the LEGO booth. And if you saw it then like me I am sure you looked at their new board games, Minotaurus, Rames Pyramid, and Lava Dragon. I am sure that LEGO is still kicking themselves for not bringing product to sell, because they would have raked in the bucks.
We went to our local LEGO store and picked up Lava Dragon and Minotaurus. The salesman mentioned that they had been selling out of them over the last three weeks and couldn't keep them in stock.
Anyway, see more here. http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=3841&cn=595&d=70
So if you were at Gen Con this year you saw the LEGO booth. And if you saw it then like me I am sure you looked at their new board games, Minotaurus, Rames Pyramid, and Lava Dragon. I am sure that LEGO is still kicking themselves for not bringing product to sell, because they would have raked in the bucks.
We went to our local LEGO store and picked up Lava Dragon and Minotaurus. The salesman mentioned that they had been selling out of them over the last three weeks and couldn't keep them in stock.
Well I can see why.
We got the games home and my LEGO loving son wanted to build them right away. That is part of the appeal of these games over say most board games. You have to build everything first.
It was easy for him (he regularly builds the big Star Wars LEGO sets, so something under a 100 pieces is nothing) and we all sat down.
The rules are simple. Roll a die, move your pawns. Try to get to the center of the maze and don't get hit by the Minotaur. Oh, and you have to build the die too. On some rolls you can move the Minotaur to send a pawn back to "home" or move a wall to block an opponent. The game move quick and I can see how it will be a little different each time. The rule book also comes with some suggested "house rules" like more or less powerful Minotaurs, the ability to jump over some walls and how many pawns you need to get in to win.
In truth this game reminded me of the old Mattel "Electronic Dungeons & Dragons" game from the dawn of the D&D age.
If LEGO is moving into the board game world then I think they are going to do very, very well. For the RPG crowd this game is nice little diversion and I am sure it will not be long before there are house rules about how the pawns can attack the Minotaur and even rules separating the three pawns each into "classes". Maybe that is too much, but I can see ways to do it now and certainly someone else will too.
Anyway, see more here. http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=3841&cn=595&d=70
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