Lawful Good Mind Flayer
An infrequent blog about games, comics, media, politics and other things, in roughly descending order.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Friday, September 20, 2013
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
HEY KIDS, COMICS!- The New Crusaders
NEW CRUSADERS
Red Circle Comics (Archie)
w Ian Flynn
a Alitha Martinez
The NEW CRUSADERS comic is the latest attempt to revive the classic Red Circle/Archie superheroes, including such characters as the Shield, the Web, the Comet, etc...
You may be unfamiliar with these characters, as they seem to have always been "second tier" superheroes, but nonetheless they do have a publishing history going back to the 1940s, including being published by DC Comics in the 1980s and again just a few years ago. Despite being relaunched by writer J. Michael Straczynski, that version of the Red Circle heroes only lasted about a year at DC.
The newest version of the Red Circle heroes acknowledges their long history by making the main characters the children and heirs of the original characters. Long retired, the original heroes are all killed when their greatest enemy - The Brain Emperor - returns to seek vengeance upon them. The only survivor of that original generation of heroes must take the new generation under his wing and teach them their parent's secrets.
The series is currently on issue #4 (as of mid December).
Personally, I feel the series started rather weak, and I was prepared to quit reading, but by issue 4 the characters are getting well developed and I am now enjoying the book enough to have it added to my pull file. The artwork is definitely towards the cartoony side of the spectrum, resembling DC's animated series comics such as Young Justice or Batman Beyond. Mostly the art is well suited to this book, though some individual panels are still a bit rough. Similarly, the writing and dialogue left me a bit cold at first but has improved as the book rolls along.
I would rate this book a solid B list title, equal to many a Marvel or DC series with better name recognition.
###############
As a set up for a teen superhero game, New Crusaders works wonderfully. You have a whole group of heroes who your players are probably unfamiliar with. Pass them out and let your players generate legacy characters based on these new-to-them heroes. They inherit the heroic mantle, a tragic origin, and an ultra powerful nemesis all in one fell swoop.
If you don't want to play the teen heroes, than the New Crusaders also work wonderfully as NPCs. If you have the time, establish the parent heroes first, then kill them off and have their offspring appear asking the PCs for help, or perhaps causing problems due to their inexperience.
NEW CRUSADERS
Red Circle Comics (Archie)
w Ian Flynn
a Alitha Martinez
The NEW CRUSADERS comic is the latest attempt to revive the classic Red Circle/Archie superheroes, including such characters as the Shield, the Web, the Comet, etc...
You may be unfamiliar with these characters, as they seem to have always been "second tier" superheroes, but nonetheless they do have a publishing history going back to the 1940s, including being published by DC Comics in the 1980s and again just a few years ago. Despite being relaunched by writer J. Michael Straczynski, that version of the Red Circle heroes only lasted about a year at DC.
The newest version of the Red Circle heroes acknowledges their long history by making the main characters the children and heirs of the original characters. Long retired, the original heroes are all killed when their greatest enemy - The Brain Emperor - returns to seek vengeance upon them. The only survivor of that original generation of heroes must take the new generation under his wing and teach them their parent's secrets.
The series is currently on issue #4 (as of mid December).
Personally, I feel the series started rather weak, and I was prepared to quit reading, but by issue 4 the characters are getting well developed and I am now enjoying the book enough to have it added to my pull file. The artwork is definitely towards the cartoony side of the spectrum, resembling DC's animated series comics such as Young Justice or Batman Beyond. Mostly the art is well suited to this book, though some individual panels are still a bit rough. Similarly, the writing and dialogue left me a bit cold at first but has improved as the book rolls along.
I would rate this book a solid B list title, equal to many a Marvel or DC series with better name recognition.
###############
As a set up for a teen superhero game, New Crusaders works wonderfully. You have a whole group of heroes who your players are probably unfamiliar with. Pass them out and let your players generate legacy characters based on these new-to-them heroes. They inherit the heroic mantle, a tragic origin, and an ultra powerful nemesis all in one fell swoop.
If you don't want to play the teen heroes, than the New Crusaders also work wonderfully as NPCs. If you have the time, establish the parent heroes first, then kill them off and have their offspring appear asking the PCs for help, or perhaps causing problems due to their inexperience.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
HEY KIDS, COMICS! - Green Lantern
I'm trying to get into a steady writing habit, and reviewing the comics I read - and attempting to use them for gaming purposes - seems like a quick and easy way to get some words flowing.
GREEN LANTERN #13
Green Lantern continues to be one of the stronger series in the DC New 52, which is ironic since it's major continuity was barely touched by the reboot. Sure, some origins were tweaked and the timeline was condensed here and there, but for the most part everything from the SInestro War onward appears to still be in continuity.
The current - controversial - story arc deals with a new human green Lantern named Simon Baz, an American Muslim car thief suspected of terrorism and on the run from the federal government. Some folks are offended by certain parts of the character design - the 'ski mask' like facemask, and the pistol prominently featured on the cover of issue #0 that the character never has in the actual book seems to play into the 'scary Muslim' stereotype.
Simon is an American Muslim, and so far is portrayed as a beleiver in his faith, but not neccessarily a strict adherent to its rules. I'm not sure if this is a cop out (he can be a hero 'cause he's not a devout muslim) or a good change of pace (most Muslims are depicted as being very fervent in their beliefs, but there must be a spectrum of belief and behavior in the Muslim community, just as there is in the Christian and other religious communities). Simon is also out of work, like many middle class Americans, and turns to car theft to help support his family. Criminal behavior, but certainly understandable in a cinematic fashion. In the course of his thefts, he getting involved with a bomb and a federal investigation, and ends up accused of terrorism.
Simon receieves a Green lantern ring empowered not by the Guardians of Oa, but by Hal Jordan and Sinestro. Simon has also been warned not to trust the Guardians, as they have turned on the Lanterns and are trying to destroy them. Perhaps this is a metaphor for the distrust we have of our own governemnt, fearing our own leaders are betraying us for their own ends. Perhaps not. One supporting character is a federal agent assigned to track down Baz, who almost loses his cool and goes too far, possibly a good man doing bad due to his fear of terrorism. Perhaps another metaphor, maybe just another stock character.
All in all, an interesting new development in the Green Lantern story arc.
################
For gaming, the Green Lantern Corps and mythos presents an easy way to structure a campaign, whether superhero or otherwise. Whereas most genre stories center on a singular hero, the Green Lantern Corps presents an organization of heroes - space cops in this instance - whose powers and superheroic identity are all tied into one central orgamization.
For most campaigns, choose a group or being that could benefit from having agents, figure out how these agents are granted power, how they are chosen and what their duties are, and this will answer many campaign questions. Some genres work better than others, though.
Example: In the Marvel Universe, the Vishanti are a distant and obscure group of extra-dimensional beings who usually interact solely with the universe's Sorcerer Supreme. For reasons of their own (not neccesarily altruistic ones), the Vishanti wish to keep humanity alive and thriving. Using alien logic, they reach out and empower a small number of agents, granting magical powers in return for service. Their strictures are few, the duties they demand are sometimes confusing and often extremely dangerous, but the power they grant is real and they pretty much let their agents do what ever they want unless it threatens world destruction.
Example: In a typical cyberpunk world, a group of disparate rogue computer hackers are contacted by a mysterious patron that seems to know all their secrets. The patron is willing to hook them up with cutting edge computer code and hardware, in return for secrecy and services rendered. Unknown to the PCs, their patron is a hidden emergent AI manipulating the world-net for its own security.
EDIT: I was remiss in not mentioning ION GUARD by Radioactive Ape Games, a great little supplement that covers the same Green Lantern homage ground I was going for above. Available in both BASH and ICONS versions, and well worth the US $4.99 price tag.
I'm trying to get into a steady writing habit, and reviewing the comics I read - and attempting to use them for gaming purposes - seems like a quick and easy way to get some words flowing.
GREEN LANTERN #13
Green Lantern continues to be one of the stronger series in the DC New 52, which is ironic since it's major continuity was barely touched by the reboot. Sure, some origins were tweaked and the timeline was condensed here and there, but for the most part everything from the SInestro War onward appears to still be in continuity.
The current - controversial - story arc deals with a new human green Lantern named Simon Baz, an American Muslim car thief suspected of terrorism and on the run from the federal government. Some folks are offended by certain parts of the character design - the 'ski mask' like facemask, and the pistol prominently featured on the cover of issue #0 that the character never has in the actual book seems to play into the 'scary Muslim' stereotype.
Simon is an American Muslim, and so far is portrayed as a beleiver in his faith, but not neccessarily a strict adherent to its rules. I'm not sure if this is a cop out (he can be a hero 'cause he's not a devout muslim) or a good change of pace (most Muslims are depicted as being very fervent in their beliefs, but there must be a spectrum of belief and behavior in the Muslim community, just as there is in the Christian and other religious communities). Simon is also out of work, like many middle class Americans, and turns to car theft to help support his family. Criminal behavior, but certainly understandable in a cinematic fashion. In the course of his thefts, he getting involved with a bomb and a federal investigation, and ends up accused of terrorism.
Simon receieves a Green lantern ring empowered not by the Guardians of Oa, but by Hal Jordan and Sinestro. Simon has also been warned not to trust the Guardians, as they have turned on the Lanterns and are trying to destroy them. Perhaps this is a metaphor for the distrust we have of our own governemnt, fearing our own leaders are betraying us for their own ends. Perhaps not. One supporting character is a federal agent assigned to track down Baz, who almost loses his cool and goes too far, possibly a good man doing bad due to his fear of terrorism. Perhaps another metaphor, maybe just another stock character.
All in all, an interesting new development in the Green Lantern story arc.
################
For gaming, the Green Lantern Corps and mythos presents an easy way to structure a campaign, whether superhero or otherwise. Whereas most genre stories center on a singular hero, the Green Lantern Corps presents an organization of heroes - space cops in this instance - whose powers and superheroic identity are all tied into one central orgamization.
For most campaigns, choose a group or being that could benefit from having agents, figure out how these agents are granted power, how they are chosen and what their duties are, and this will answer many campaign questions. Some genres work better than others, though.
Example: In the Marvel Universe, the Vishanti are a distant and obscure group of extra-dimensional beings who usually interact solely with the universe's Sorcerer Supreme. For reasons of their own (not neccesarily altruistic ones), the Vishanti wish to keep humanity alive and thriving. Using alien logic, they reach out and empower a small number of agents, granting magical powers in return for service. Their strictures are few, the duties they demand are sometimes confusing and often extremely dangerous, but the power they grant is real and they pretty much let their agents do what ever they want unless it threatens world destruction.
Example: In a typical cyberpunk world, a group of disparate rogue computer hackers are contacted by a mysterious patron that seems to know all their secrets. The patron is willing to hook them up with cutting edge computer code and hardware, in return for secrecy and services rendered. Unknown to the PCs, their patron is a hidden emergent AI manipulating the world-net for its own security.
EDIT: I was remiss in not mentioning ION GUARD by Radioactive Ape Games, a great little supplement that covers the same Green Lantern homage ground I was going for above. Available in both BASH and ICONS versions, and well worth the US $4.99 price tag.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Campaign Sourcebook I Like - Neverwinter Campaign Setting for D&D 4E
The
sourcebook presents a wide variety of allies and foes, including human and
demi-human occupiers, aboleths, demon worshippers, drow, and barbarians. By picking and choosing which plot lines to
emphasize, the campaign could be very political and urban, or focused on ruin-based
dungeon crawling, or even wilder expeditions into the wilderness and other
planes. In my opinion, this book
contains at least two or three times more material then could be used in a
single campaign. However, that is not to say that the campaign is handed to you
on a silver platter. Rather, the
sourcebook gives you information on the various factions, including their
leaders, goals, typical activities and which monster stats to use. The game master will need to put a fair
amount of work into building the campaign, but a very useful skeleton is
provided here.
For
me, the idea to steal from this book is the use of character themes to help
define the campaign and tie the characters into the various factions of the
city. (Character themes are a D&D 4E option that combines a background story
with a few mechanical features such as skill bonuses or additional character
powers.) The book provides 13 themes
that players can choose from. The “Neverwinter Noble” is a scion of the cities
noble families, and his very existence embroils him in the political
maneuverings of the city. The “Devil’s
Pawn” is marked by the Lords of Hell, and his adventures in Neverwinter will
assuredly be watched by the cult of Asmodeus operating in the city.
With
a party of 4-6 characters, each with an appropriate theme, the game master has
a great tool to pick and choose which of the many plots offered by the book to
focus on. If no one chooses the “Devil’s
Pawn” theme, then the game master can feel free to de-emphasize or completely
ignore the cult of Asmodeus operating in the city. If someone chooses the Dead Rat Deserter,
then the game master knows to give greater emphasis to the were-rat thief’s
guild setting up operations in the city.
While some plots will always be present, by altering the secondary plots
the game master can more easily weave a unique campaign for his players.
In
my opinion, the Neverwinter Campaign Setting sourcebook is a very good product
if you are looking for a campaign that centers around a single city. While designed for D&D 4E, the sourcebook
contains more fluff than mechanics, and I could easily see running the campaign
with any other edition of D&D, or another fantasy system such as Runequest
or Savage Worlds.
Friday, August 10, 2012
A book I like - PLAY UNSAFE by Graham Walmsley
PLAY
UNSAFE by Graham Walmsley, purchased as a pdf thru Lulu.com:
An 82 page essay on how to apply the lessons of improv theatre to your
role playing games. The book is divided
up into five main sections, though the exact separation of ideas is a bit
inexact. To be fair, I like and agree
with many of the ideas presented, and therefore review them positively. Someone who prefers less “story telling” and
more “gamism” may be less impressed.
Play discusses an improv style of play
achieved through such ideas as “stop working so hard”, “don’t plan ahead”, “hold ideas lightly” and “be obvious”. Many of these ideas are aimed more at the GM,
but are also interesting for players to think about as well. Embracing this section would create a more
free-flowing, reactive style of GMing for anyone who could pull it off, and I
would enjoy playing in this sort of game.
Build centers on the improv idea that you
should never negate what another player says, but rather should respond with
“Yes, and...” (though as a GM, I think an equally strong answer is “No,
but...”). This section discusses the
log-jam that happens when players and GMs keep negating each others ideas (The
example used is the classic “castle with a single way in”. The players must guess the riddle at the gate
to get in, and no amount of searching will discover another way in, the walls
cannot be climbed, the guards cannot be bluffed, etc). I think this section and the section before
would make excellent reading for any RPG player looking to improve their game
(and by improve I mean improve in the narrative, story telling vein of gaming,
if such is your thing).
Status is the third section of the book,
and in my opinion it does not fit very well.
It gives tips on how to play high status and low status characters, and
how to make changes in status into good stories elements, but it does not
really seem to fit the “improv” theme of the rest of the book. However, it does have some interesting ideas
on its own.
Tell
Stories is the next
chapter, and delves into techniques for the Game Master or Story Teller. It gives advice of how to set up routines in
the story and how to reinforce them and break them; how to stage a scene, then
“tilt” it to create conflict or tension; and a number of other issues. My favorite reminder is to “deliver on your
promises”. If you describe a town as a
“wretched hive of scum and villainy” then the PCs better encounter some scum
and villainy when they explore the place.
The last
section is Work Together and covers the ideas of playing so that the
other players enjoy themselves, losing gracefully, and trusting the other
players. This would be a good section to
discuss out loud with a group of players having problems, to see if any of the
advice here would help solve those problems.
All told, an
interesting book with many specific and general kernels of advice worth
heeding, even if I do disagree with some of his suggestions (screw with each
other, and let your guard down both sit uneasily with me). For certain styles of games and gamers, the
advice in here is wonderful, useful and somewhat obvious once stated.
I give this
book a solid B, and would recommend it to anyone interested in improv style
gaming.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Game Mechanics That I Hate
Really, just a filler post. This was originally written for inclusion in Alarums & Excursions #388 back in December 2007 or January 2008. However, the opinions are still valid, so I have done some minor updates and will launch it into the blogosphere.
# # #
# # #
Currently, the only RPGing I have been able to engage in is
D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder. I am not a
D20 hater, nor am I a D20 fanatic... I think it’s a fine system, sometimes a
bit too crunchy and tactical, but certainly robust enough to hang a game
on. I prefer D20 derivatives such as
True 20 or Mutants and Masterminds to straight D&D. Games I like but have not played recently
include Savage Worlds, Runequest, Tristat/Big Eyes Small Mouth, Feng Shui, Over
The Edge, Unknown Armies, PDQ and Spirit of the Century/FATE. I seem to be seeking two completely opposite
games – one a robust, detail oriented, crunchy system with lots of tactical and
character advancement rules, and the other a fast, rules light, detail light
system that can be run on the fly with minimal references and red tape.
Some things I hate in a game as far as mechanics go:
1)
Having to reference charts to determine the results of rolls (this kills games
like TORG, Mayfair’s DC HEROES and ROLE MASTER
for me). I don’t mind an occasional
“look up a critical hit” effect, but when you have to look up a chart to
determine weapon damage or how far you jumped... that kills the fun for me.
2) Games where the combat sequence forces you to declare
actions as a group, then roll dice, then determine what happens (GODLIKE, WILD
TALENTS and REIGN all do this, as does WYRD IS BOND and a few other cool
games). To me, this not only slows down
the combat round, but when you have four or five highly competent heroes
fighting several equally competent villains, plus a dozen or so mooks, by the
time everyone declares who can remember what anyone said?
3) In-elegance. <is that even a word?> Games where sometimes you roll high and
sometimes you roll low, and sometimes you roll percentile, and sometimes you
don’t.... I’m not saying that everything has to be tied to one die mechanic,
but the fewer exceptions the better for me.
This is one of my primary reasons for disliking AD&D in any edition,
and I think that the Kenzer's Hackmaster and Aces & Eights games both suffer from
the same flaws.
There are probably a few other things that really bother me in a game, but these are the main mechanic flaws that will lead me not to play a game. How about you?
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