Making Choices

First, a bit of personal history. 

My introduction to Palladium RPGs came care or Erick Wujcik's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness, circa 1985 or '86. As with most of my RPG purchases in the '80s, this was something I picked up at The Book Exchange (used book store) in Missoula, Montana while visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday...something we did every year. I'd already been introduced to the TMNT comics by a friend (an acquaintance from Boy Scouts) and this was back in the days before they'd become a punchline/media franchise. 

*sigh* The good old days...

Anyway, my brother and I made some characters and ran some fights over the holiday, but that was about it. TMNT went on the shelf when we got home, my gaming group still firmly in the TSR universe of AD&D and Marvel Superheroes.

Flash forward to '88/'89. I am a freshman at Seattle Prep high school with nary a friend to my name. My gaming group had broken up over the summer, and my prospects for gaming are lukewarm at best...I can run games for my younger brother and his middle school buddies (which I do a little of) or I can "solo game" (which is not to my taste). Instead, I go about the painful business of putting myself out there and trying to create a new social circle as your standard self-conscious, self-doubting adolescent while simultaneously being overwhelmed by the sheer size and scope of high school. However, I am fortunate to be placed in homeroom class that features "the smart kids" (since we all tested into the higher math) and here I meet some kids who play RPGs...specifically, Michael, Ben, and Mike. 

These three have been best friends for years (Ben and Mike are twin brothers), and they are into all sorts of nerd stuff, especially comic books and Robotech. In fact, if memory serves, they were playing the Robotech RPG (or discussing it) which led me to ask them what game they were talking about, as my knowledge of "anime" ended with the Star Blazers serial I had watched (on occasion) as a kid of 7 or 8. The trio introduced me to the show (loaning me videos to watch) and the RPG, another Palladium jam; however, I never had a chance to play with them as they were just running a short campaign. 

These guys were very much Siembieda super-fans...at least when it came to game design. Of course they knew (and had played) AD&D, but Palladium was their system of choice, and being comic book junkies, Heroes Unlimited was their main drug of choice. And not just HU; they were using TMNT, Ninjas & Superspies, and Transdimensional TMNT (and, perhaps, After the Bomb) all to fuel their campaign. Reading through their books introduced me to the Palladium 'universal' system, which I found remarkably interesting and exciting, in a way that GURPS (which a buddy owned in middle school) never had. I started to realize that games like TMNT and Beyond the Supernatural (which had been demo'd for me a couple years earlier) were all related...and compatible!...with this comic-driven super-system.

One of these days, I'll write a  more in-depth "profile" post on these guys; suffice is to say, they gave me a "gamer lifeline" at a time when I very much needed it, and while I didn't get the opportunity to play with them as much as I'd have liked, it was enough to keep me sane, and I'll always be grateful and appreciative of them. Even as we've gone our separate ways in life, I have fond memories of those guys.

ANYway. When it comes to HU, they played Heroes Unlimited Revised, which was really the second edition of the game...pretty confusing because there's an even larger, later version of the game called Revised Second Edition (or just 2E); I think many folks just like to ignore the first edition was even a game...and it's not that easy to come by, as I've discussed before.

But have it I do...as well as a copy of Revised (my first introduction to the game) as well as Second Edition, a real monstrosity of a book that incorporates a lot of extra material that makes the system even more "universal" -- i.e. compatible with Palladium's flagship game, Rifts. All three versions of HU are different enough to refer to them as different systems, although the casual observer might disagree. Of course, the casual observer probably considers OD&D, AD&D, and AD&D 2E to be (largely) the same system, and I'd smack them about the head & shoulders with my books for claiming such.

Let's go ahead and distinguish the three (because, inevitably, someone will ask me to do so in the comments); I will talk only about the rules, not the layout, inclusion/exclusion of adventures, comprehensibility, etc. (if that kind of thing interests you, the later books are worse than the earlier books):

1st edition Heroes Unlimited: characters with superpowers get ONE power; only nine power categories (no magic); skill selection is much more granular and education based; no class-specific abilities -- physical training, hardware, and special training characters are simply skill based; ranged combat is more "realistic"/fiddly; includes rules for occupations/jobs, law enforcement (all later removed).

Revised Heroes Unlimited: adds magic category to make ten power types; addition of class specific features; hardware adds weapons expert and option for multiple specialties; special training divided into five specific/distinct categories; super powers divided into "minor" and "major" and characters may possess multiple powers; mutant animal rules (in abbreviated form) added from TMNT; robot and vehicle combat rules added (cribbed from Robotech); modern/ranged combat system updated; skill system "streamlined" into packages, cutting some skills and adding others; more "stuff" in sections for characters with budgets (bionics, robotics, hardware); adds "Crazy Hero" option and includes a bunch of stuff for making insane characters; experiments add "super soldier" option.

Second Edition Heroes Unlimited: a LOT of "Rift-isms" and "power creep." Physical strength is divided into several distinct categories (normal, extraordinary, superhuman/robot, supernatural). Combat gets an overhaul thanks to Rifts: knockdowns, sprays/straffing, inability to dodge lasers, death blow no longer kills (but can be done at will and takes two actions), more vehicle stuff, etc.; aliens updated with tables from Aliens Unlimited; bionics updated with 'borg conversion rules (Rifts); hardware adds "analytical genius" for people who want to play Tony Stark/Iron Man; magic system changed wholesale to Rifts/BTS PPE system including levels of spells, etc.; physical training divided into two distinct, superhuman twink options; psionics updated to Rifts version so that you can play your cyber-knight character in HU; special training characters beefed up, including an ancient master who now has supernatural strength(!); substantial increases in budgets for characters that use them; includes the mega-hero option allowing the creation of Justice League (or Thor/Hulk) level characters.

While 2E does not substantially increase the number of super-powers available, it should be noted that the "Powers Unlimited" trilogy was written for 2E and contains a large number of new powers (some of them quite good/needed) as well as TEN additional power categories (classes), some of which are specific to the "mega-hero" level of character.

Mm.

It's funny. Those high school buddies that introduced me to Heroes Unlimited never liked the idea of Rifts (unlike ME, who loved it immediately). Well, maybe Michael, a little. But never Ben...and he was always the Palladium game master/guru of the group.

And yet, Ben probably would have LOVED 2E Heroes, had he seen it (so far as I'm aware, he stopped gaming long before it was published). Ben was the real comic book guy; all those cats could draw, but Ben was the only one who went and and became a professional artist. He used to decry how the powers in Revised weren't powerful enough to emulate the characters in Marvel...he even went so far as to develop his own "third tier" of super-powers above "Minor" and "Major" in order to model the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, etc. Ben would have appreciated a mega-hero option.

Me? Well, I appreciate that Siembieda is a business man and he has customers AND fans that he wants/need to please. I"m not going to bitch too much about decisions he makes in the name of keeping his small press company alive. His sustained success over the decades is evidence enough that he's sharper than most of the folks in this industry. That being said....

I've spent a lot of time over the last few days reading and rereading these books. I'm not terribly interested in running a "Franken-brew" system...I simply want ONE book that I can hold up as the "game bible" for my refereeing. Let me focus on building and running the campaign, not cobbling and tinkering with mechanics. 

For my purposes, that means I have to come down to making a choice...and, surprisingly, the choice I"ve decided on is Revised Heroes Unlimited. I say "surprisingly" because going into this project, I assumed I was going to end up going with the original, cut-down version of the system or else the whole hog 2E with all its bells and whistles.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the market (as they say)...I realized that I really didn't need ANY of the new stuff in 2E. Rifts is Rifts, and I don't plan on mixing my post-apocalyptic weirdness in my 70s/80s style comic-world. I certainly don't need the power creep (necessary from a Palladium POV if you want to 'port HU characters into Rifts Earth). Meanwhile, the original version of the game...didn't have enough. I like a lot of what's there, but I need MORE...a more robust amount of content, if I'm going to create a sustainable cmpaign world.

Sound familiar? The original HU is very much like OD&D (except better organized and illustrated); it's not enough on its own, it has holes, it lacks "oomph" in places. It's a first pass...a first try. The Revised version? That's like AD&D. More tested, more solid, incorporating ideas that occurred after the initial offering. 2E HU, on the other hand, is like incorporating the Unearthed Arcana and subsequent books (here: add NWPs and weapons specialization!). No thank you.

So, there you have it...I can put 2E Heroes Unlimited back on the shelf for now, right next to all the Rifts books that I'm not using. Heroes Unlimited Revised will be my ruleset; it is, for the most part, "the Good Parts Version" that will meet my needs. As for the other Palladium books in my collection, several of them are candidates for (eventual) inclusion in my campaign setting:

My Coffee Table At The Moment

Aliens Unlimited Revised: published in 1994, this expands the alien power category, generally in good ways, and helps make the type more distinct from the other, while not succumbing to all the new Rift-isms of the 2E HU rulebook (yes, AUR "includes Rifts conversion notes," but this consists of two paragraphs saying treat all the SDC as MDC. Thanks, Tips).

Beyond The Supernatural: if you're going to add magic, hokum, and goofy woo-woo hoodoo to your game, this is the book to have. I might even replace the "mystic study" subcategory of the magic power type with the Arcanist OCC from BTS (yes, yes, including PPE and all that). Really depends on how "mystical" my campaign ends up becoming. I mean, Dr. Strange was a Defender for a while, wasn't he? First edition BTS only (mainly because my 2E copy is digital and I prefer actual books at the table).

Heroes Unlimited  G.M.'s Guide (2nd Edition): most of what's here is non-useful. The job/salaries, geo-political hot spots, and random crime tables are all stuff that were in the original HU and left out later, and I'm not sure how much I need the random thug/villain tables. I dislike all the "power slam" combat maneuvers, and the extra spells and psychic powers seem fairly extraneous. Eh. Probably a skip unless I get desperate for an adventure (there are several scenarios included, some of which are fairly rough/challenging).

Ninjas & Superspies: Ah, one of my son's favorite RPG books. Personally, I kind of hate it, having some familiarity with real world martial arts, including Aikido, Tae Kwon Do, Hwa Rang Do, and Wing Chun. It adds a LOT of extra fiddly to it, and I dislike turning the physical training character into a martial artist...this archetype was (for me) always best represented by the Megalith character from Continuity Comics. Of course, the nerfing of the ancient master is even more annoying (wtf? he only gets 10th level ninjitsu? That's just six attacks!). As you can see, N&S has actual conversion notes for how to use the game with HU, not only allowing PCs to pick up martial arts (at the costs of big bunches of skills), but allowing N&S OCCs to stand in for specific power categories, including hardware and secret operative. Eh, this one is mostly a pass for me unless someone REALLY wants to play a non-ancient martial artist...and I'm okay with that. Shang-Chi is pretty cool, as is (of course) Iron Fist (though I put the latter more in the "ancient master" category).

Powers Unlimited: There are some good powers here, including battle rage, hardened skin, heavyweight, gateways, and regenerate ultima (I'm also a fan of mega-wings and super consumption, but I'm cheesy like that). This is a good one for creating the occasional NPC character (especially villains) with powers the PCs haven't encountered. I'm okay with that...don't really want to adopt it wholesale.

Powers Unlimited 2: Mm. One of MY favorite books in the franchise...I picked this bad boy up some time around 2009 or so? The delightful thing about this one is NOT the new powers (there are only four, and none worth mentioning), but the new power TYPES (HU's version of 'character classes') that are O So Stellar. I mean, you've got your empowered character (everything from Daredevil to Captain Marvel), your gestalt (Firestar to Swamp Thing), super soldiers (duh), the natural genius (for super-villains like Lex Luthor or Baron Zemo), invention (Ant-Man to Falcon), and...everyone's favorite...the immortal character (from godlings to undead). That is a huge extension of variety for the game, and most of these fill niches that needed to be filled.  I really dig the "minor hero" option, too, as it can easily be used for small-fry supers OR some hero's wunderkind sidekick. Batman's still a bit of a tough character to model in HU, but at least you've got the Boy Wonder potential.

[haha! That reminds back in my early days of making characters for HU, I had a dynamic duo called Dark Knight and Red Boy. I should probably try to rebuilding them, just to see remind myself how frustrating the system can be.  Or how amusing...]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness: The book that started it all. I have the first printing of the game, and Wujcik does a masterful job with it; of course, the Eastman/Laird artwork doesn't hurt, and the whole thing is about as elegant and self-contained as any Palladium game gets. Has several nice adventure scenarios as well. The anthropomorphic animal thing doesn't appeal to me the same as it did when I was a kid (how could you not want to play a porcupine?), but I'd be willing to use it for anyone interested in playing a mutant animal, expanding on the abbreviated rules found in HU. Just who that interested person might be, I couldn't say...while a human-sized animal that can walk and talk is pretty amazing, it doesn't really classify as "super-powered" in the standard sense. Still...Rocket Raccoon? Really easy build using Bio-E.

Aaaand...that's about it. Recon (and Advanced Recon) use different systems, and Robotech just isn't right for the kind of game I'm envisioning. No giant mecha, thank you (I pivoted, remember?). I DID just receive my copy of the Aliens Unlimited "Galaxy Guide" in the mail today (purchased because I though it might be useful for intergalactic adventures in spaaaaace...a solid cornerstone of most comic book franchises), but I haven't yet had the chance to read it...I'll be doing that this evening and see if it actually fits. The "2nd ed." tag on the front doesn't give me too much confidence, but I never planned on using Palladium's own in-house creations (planets and species and timelines and such); I just wanted FTL spaceship rules. Here's hoping. 

All right, all right...that's enough for now. Later, people!

Playing For The Other Side

As I mentioned (briefly) in yesterday's post, I've been thinking a lot about other RPGs lately...that is to say, RPGs other than D&D. I even had this crazy dream this morning that I was a part of of some classic adventure gaming "organization;" I was on some type of "board of directors," a round table of three to five people, discussing the direction of gaming and such, and I broached the subject of such exploratory ideas, to which I received some raised eyebrows. "Playing for the other side?" they asked. Yeah. "Please," one board guy told me. Please go on or please stop? "Please stop."

That's when I woke up.

Last night I bought Kevin Siembieda a sandwich. Maybe a sandwich and a beer. I'm not sure what food prices are like in Detroit these days, but the price of the book I purchased (on-line) was less than I paid for my dinner entree in Bellingham Friday evening...and Bellingham prices are a LOT cheaper than Seattle. So, maybe a sandwich and a beer; perhaps with an upgrade to a side salad instead of fries. Getting his lunch was the least I could do for him, given all the Palladium content I've been consuming 'on the side,' in recent weeks.

Let me give folks the whole skinny.

Waaaay back in June (after school got out) my son was in Mexico, hanging with los abuelos. At the end of his trip, my wife flew down to be with him and her parents the last few days, leaving my daughter and I to fend for ourselves. Sofia is a different beast from her brother...both kids get a lot of their personality from my wife and I (duh), but they get different aspects from each of us. Sofia, I think it's safe to say, has a  lot more creativity and imagination than her brother. He is very "nuts and bolts," very left-brained, very precise and practical. Sofia, on the other hand, is always leaping ahead to the idea of what to do with knowledge. She gets (more-or-less) the same high marks as her brother in writing or math or science...but then she turns around around and writes stories or starts businesses or makes "inventions." Sometimes, she puts the cart before the horse (she started filming a 'movie' with an old digital camcorder before she wrote a script, for example) but she is very "big picture" oriented. She started a band this summer and roped two of her friends into it, learning songs and writing her own (one of her bandmates only plays the trumpet, so she is writing a "trumpet bit" for a song they're working on. Sofia doesn't play trumpet...).

ANYway. Sofia and I were left on our own, and while I was cleaning the kitchen she flipped on the TV and started watching The Incredibles - a film she's seen before, more than once. But it led both of us down a rabbit hole of binge-watching a ton of superhero movies (mostly Spider-Man and Batman films)...all told, I think we watched half a dozen over a couple-three days. 

Which, of course, is the kind of thing that tends to kick my mind into the "superhero RPG" mode, where I will once again, madly comb through the scores of hero games I have, get frustrated, resolve to write my own, and then set down THAT Quixotic road...which never pans out. This time, I used Google's AI to bounce ideas off, and came up with some really cool mechanics...but then my laptop glitched and I lost everything I'd written. I still have the notes to recreate stuff, but writing is...well, it's work. Figuring out how to turn a phrase, how to explain a concept, how to teach and communicate in a text that will be read by people without you there to mentor them...well, all that takes time and effort and recreating that was more than just "rewriting." So...I punted.

Or, rather, I pivoted. At the same time I was working furiously on supers-related stuff, I also started getting into pulp action stuff. I had pulled my copy of Night Owl Workshop's Raiders of the Lost Artifacts to compare it to their Guardians (supers), and that had perked my interest in a whole swath of pulp-related adventure RPGs. Fact is, my own pulp adventure RPG (a long-term project from "back in the day" when I was running games out of the Baranof) was still on my bench of Things-To-Do. So I was considering THAT, mainly in terms of "early 20th century heroic adventurers" (a la Doc Savage and crew)...a different type of "superhero" game, right? But that wasn't the "pivot." The PIVOT was thinking about old movies and shows I needed to show my daughter (like Tales of the Gold Monkey or High Road to China, etc., etc.) perhaps also brought on by reading of ERB's Tarzan novels simultaneously (natch)...and then REMEMBERING an old Japanimation film from my youth that might be of interest to her. My daughter, in addition to all her other quirks and foibles, is an absolute stan for everything 1980s.

So it was I started down the AI road of looking up something I thought was called "Shogun Warriors," but was actually called Starvengers...at least, it was called that in its English dub version. And THAT led me (via AI queries) down the rabbit-hole of the differences between the "giant robot" genre and the "real robot" genre...which led me to Gundam (which I was aware of, but had never watched). Of course, anything futuristic/war-related is pretty much my wheelhouse. Anyhoo, from there I went back to an old fave of mine: Mike Pondsmith's Mekton Zeta. Bought Pondsmith a sandwich, too (and he lives in Seattle these days, so I know how much a sandwich costs).

From MZ and Gundam, I got back into Cyberpunk 2020 and Appleseed which, of course, led me back to cyborgs, including my own World War Borg which I decided to dust off and refurbish...again, using AI to help me refine and expand some ideas to make a really nice little RPG war game. Or the start of one. 

And then I thought: how exactly does 'borg warfare still make sense in our age of drone strikes, AI, and autonomous weapon systems?

Much depressed (although, to be fair, I DID find a way to make it all coherent), I idly thumbed through my copies of Chrome Berets, Warlords of Russia, Advanced Recon, etc., etc. and then threw on the latest Zock-Bock Radio episode (in English) where Settembrini discusses "classic" BattleTech with New Yorker Sleazy_B, a man whose acquaintance I made at last year's Cauldron convention. Back to the giant robots again (so it seemed) but now with a system I've been intimately familiar with since '86 or thereabouts. Again: my wheelhouse.

As always, the discussion was excellent. I'll say this about the Germans' podcast: compared to what you hear in, say, your average (American) gaming pod, they know their stuff and don't just pull stuff out of their ass. When they talk about what works and why, it's because they've tested it, not theorized about it, and they don't speculate about stuff they don't know, or make assumptions or jump to false conclusions just to get things to have "discussion." For me, it's a breath of fresh air. 

But enough glaze. Here's what I took away from the 'pod: classic Battletech works in the same way and for the same reason that AD&D works: it forces you to live in a world of dollars and cents. Yes, there is the pressure-cooker environment of being "in an endless war" (danger! danger! all around) but you still have to pay the (c-)bills. You need to buy parts. You still need to buy fuel. You still need to buy ammo. People get killed but there're always new recruits to step up and continue the campaign. BT just does a lot of the world building for you...and then the players live in that world. And the GM runs the world. 

AD&D has a larger playground, but the game is the same.

So, while I momentarily had the (very brief) thought of starting up a BattleTech campaign (after all, the box of all my first edition BT books...including MechWarrior...has been sitting under my bed for the last 18 months or so) I quickly discarded the thought. I wanted to play something my daughter would enjoy, and war games (or games based on a war premise) just don't get her jazzed the same way they do the boy and myself. INSTEAD, I started thinking if BattleTech (a simplistic RPG, but still an RPG if you include MW) can function for long-term campaign play, is there a way this can function for other genres of RPG? 

Can it function for (for example) a superhero game?

I've had long-running "supers" games in the past. I did the Marvel thing for a couple-plus years, and I ran a LOT of Vampire (gothic, blood-sucking supers) in the early 90s. These, like many RPGs, have issues that tend to derail long-term play. And yet, comic book universes...comic book titles...can last decades. Before 1990 there were nearly 800 issues of Spider-Man comic between Amazing Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, and Marvel Team-Ups. That's not even counting guest appearances and mini-series (like Secret Wars). If every issue was the equivalent of single weekly game session, that would be a 15+ year campaign...that's a ton of gaming even withOUT the other various franchises of the Marvel Universe.  That's a lot of mileage out of one teenager bitten by a radioactive spider having to deal with school issues and romantic entanglements while fighting bad guys.

[and that's just talking about the first 40ish years of the character's life...not the last 36 years of re-boots and re-hashes in various media forms]

In many ways, I'd liken a "comic book universe" like the Marvel franchise to a long-term D&D campaign. Not in terms of premise, but in how the thing grows organically over time, taking on a life of its own. Places like the Baxter Building, Avengers Mansion, that X-Man school in upstate New York, and various factions (the Kingpin's mafia, Shi'Ar aliens, "The Hand" ninja clan, mutant-hunting Sentinels, Ka-Zar's Savage Lands, etc., etc.) all get introduced over-time, piecemeal, and gradually become a (semi-)coherent...or, at least, acceptable...whole. The first time the characters encounter Atlantis and Namor, it's like "wow...WTF?" But then, as a part of the setting, players can make USE of such things, as necessity demands ('where are we going to find an inter-dimensional gate device? let's call Reed Richards!').  This kind of thing happens all the time in a long-term D&D campaign...and your average comic book universe is just as wild and woolly (if not more so) than an average old school outing. "Gonzo" has nothing on Stan Lee.

But D&D is an easier start. You have its premise of treasure hunters. There's no need for a Big Bad, Sauron-esque figure. There are dungeons: go get 'em. Survive and thrive and the world will gradually grow up around the players, developing as needed to keep the adventure going. And the players will pursue that adventure because it is their livelihood...they need money to survive. To eat. To resupply. To train. To hire. All that jazz. The nuts and bolts of a living, 'real' (if imaginary and fantastical) world. 

The vast majority of supers RPGs? They don't worry about that stuff. It's abstracted because it's not primary to the gist, the premise of the supers game. We don't care whether Peter Parker can pay his rent...we care whether or not he can save Mary Jane from Doc Ock and still make it to Aunt May's 85th birthday (or whatever). Manufactured drama... like so many so-called "storytelling games," this is what is embraced by the superhero RPG. This is their sacred cow; long before 5E started D&D down the road of "not letting the rules get in the way of a good story," superhero RPGs were preaching this approach.

Mostly. There was at least ONE supers RPG that was still willing to dial up the cruft in order to simulate the granular reality of a super "reality." Even as it also went GM-fiat with regard to the reward structure including bonus points for "good roleplaying" (whatever the hell that means).

And so, once again we come back around to Kevin Siembieda (the guy whose sandwich AND beer I purchased) and his RPG opus Heroes Unlimited. A game that I have posted about ad nauseam on this blog, alway coming back to how much I dislike the system, the mechanics, the clunky-ness, the disorganized 'kitchen sink' approach to the whole damn thing. Despite Mr. Siembieda's overwhelming generative creativity, I have never wanted to do more than use the book as the base inspiration for a better game, a game with more elegant design, one that doesn't suck rocks. A game of my own, in other words. One of these day.

*sigh*  Isn't that the same damn thing I was saying about AD&D a decade ago?

Screw it. I really don't have the time to rewrite games, let alone write RPGs from scratch (even when my computer doesn't crash). Why not simply play the game as written, and worry about running the campaign with the system designed? Stop complaining and learn to love the bomb, so to speak. The system is pretty darn easy, after all. A thousand skills all working off a percentile system. A combat system that's both simple and fairly intuitive (so long as you've calculated all the bonuses/adjustments ahead of time); I'll bet with a little practice I could run it with something approaching the efficiency of AD&D. Probably.  And the dumb-dumb arbitrary advancement system? Just a cheat sheet, that I throw check marks in during the course of the game and add-up at the end of the session...easy-peasy. 

BUT...yes, yes, there is a "but" here...BUT there still remains the issue that keeps a supers RPG from functioning like a D&D campaign (or even a wargame like BattleTech): what's the motivation? Heroes aren't getting their hands dirty for money. Well, maybe if they're government operatives or something...but those in THAT boat would be hamstrung as far as being independent adventurers, constrained to "mission parameters." No, that is the antithesis of adventure gaming.

The fact is that (within the genre) the super-protagonists ARE motivated by all that heroic do-gooder stuff that is absolutely cringe and/or vomit-inducing when forced down the throats of D&D players. And, as with the premise of D&D, this isn't something that holds universal appeal for gamers. Not everyone is going to dig it. And, yet, that's the game. Do you want to be a heroic adventurer, finding a way to fight crime and super-villains while navigating the problematic aspects of your secret double-life? Because that's the game...and if that's not your cup of tea, no sweat, but that's what we're doing. 

It's a different type of RPG...pure and simple. It certainly was back in my old Marvel Superhero days. That was almost all "soap opera" (compared to AD&D) with far fewer fights and battles and far more situation and relationship challenges. Vampire was a tad scrappier (it really depended on the players involved in the various 'sagas' I ran) but, again, a different animal then D&D. A sillier animal, if I'm being honest...and that's saying something.

I digress. The point is long-term campaign play for a supers game has to be considered in terms of a different foundation modeled on the "universes" of various comic companies. And yet, it requires many of the same tenets as are needed for an AD&D campaign...not genre emulation and attention/championing of tropes. But the same serious mind, iron fist, hard limits, rules of engagement, allowance of metagaming, etc., etc.  that is part-and-parcel to running a successful AD&D game...it's got to apply here, too, no? Regardless, I find that I'm willing to give it a try. Call it curiosity...or the thought that doing something different is better than repeating the same madness and expecting results to change.

That's where I'm at; that's what I'm thinking. I own (and have read) Aaron Allston's Strike Force, detailing his eight year Champions campaign. I own (and have read) some of the comic versions of Martin's Wild Card stories, ostensibly based on his own Superworld campaign. I remain unconvinced that these are quite the thing I'm looking for...again, I am NOT trying to tell stories with my RPGs or explore what it "means" to be "super," or the psychology of characters, or their personal story arcs of discovery, redemption, revenge, or what-have-you. Instead, I want to run a world that my players can live in. I'm not sure that will fly, but I haven't yet attempted the thing.

For my daughter: I wonder if this is what she's looking for in a game. She likes superheroes (comics, TV, and film versions) but not ALL superheroes. She's not a fan of the Avengers films (for example) feeling that all they are is one fight after another, which is samey-same boring. On the other hand, she dug the Thunderbolts film, because she felt there was more story going on and more "interesting" (I think she means "psychology-based") stuff to explain the show's conflicts. Heroes Unlimited has some tools that help this kind of campaign (i.e. "world") development...which I will discuss in a later post. 

BECAUSE, as is, this post has gone on for a looong time. And I'm sure it's bored some folks and felt idiotic and meandering (or even misguided) to others. That's okay, by the way...I just wanted to write something for Ye Old Blog, and showing people where my head is (currently) at and the sick way I migrate from one thought to another in the gaming realm is...well, it's what I do. 

Nothing more concrete tonight (er, today. It's Monday morning at this point). I'm calling it. But I'll keep folks posted with updates, as I can. 

Cheers.

Batman

Hey! Must be the money!

["Ride wit me" playing in the background as I start to type this post. Followed quickly by another incredibly insipid song, "Butterfly" by the stupid stupid band Crazy Town. Only difference...far as I can see...is that Nelly was nominated for a Grammy for God-knows-what reason]

*sigh* Don't mind me. It's been a long day. And a long week. And a long month.

I decided, a few days ago, that it was time to introduce the kids to the various Batman movies. Of course, they know who Batman is...in addition to numerous animated shows, Lego films, and comic books, they've seen many of the old Adam West sitcom episodes (and the 1966 movie starring the same actor). But for [reasons] we've just never gotten around to watching the later films, not the first series kicked off by Tim Burton in '89, nor the Chris Nolan series from the early 2000's, nor any of DC's rather sorry attempts to create something like the Marvel Cinematic 'verse.

Which, considering A) the kids have seen nearly every Marvel film ever made (multiple times), and B) have long proclaimed Batman as one of their favorite superheroes of all time...well, it felt like it was time to fire up Ye Old On-Demand streaming service and get to watching.

Now, a couple+ of preamble thoughts for folks.

1. I've never been what you call a "big" Batman fan. Despite having owned and read comics and toys and (does anyone remember these?) colorforms of the Caped Crusader since I was a wee lad of 3 or so, he was never very high on my list. Captain America, the Hulk, and Spider-Man certainly outrank him. Within the DC universe he'd definitely come in somewhere below Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman (heck, I owned more Blue Devil comics as a teen than I ever owned of Batman titles). He was just never one of my favorites, okay?
2. Having said that, I've seen many of the various Batman films over the years. Well, I watched the first Michael Keaton one, and I've seen all the Chris Nolan films (multiple times). And I have seen Batman vs. Superman and rather enjoyed it (right up until the ending with Wonder Woman and Doomsday making trashy fan-service appearances)...Affleck may be my favorite Bruce Wayne of all time. 
3. As an adult I do enjoy a LOT about the Batman concept...though I probably still prefer Batgirl.

So, after running through the trailers for all the various Batman films, the kids decided that the first (1989) one with Jack Nicholson and Alec Baldwin's ex-wife (sorry...hold on. Kim Basinger. Jeez, my memory).  It was...pretty good. Some of it is really good. Not, unfortunately, most of the Keaton bits...he brings too much comedic sensibility to the role, something that doesn't fit very well with [my perception of] Batman. But I rather love all the other members of the cast, and their performances.

And here's the other thing I quite liked about the film: it wonderfully captures a near picture-perfect look at the starting career of a 1st level superhero in Heroes Unlimited. Of course, I'm talking an early edition of HU, not that bloated "2E" version. Burton's Batman could easily be a 1st level Hardware character from HU Revised (you need the Revised edition for its rules on building super-vehicles) splitting the character's budget between his car, flimsy "bat-jet," and computer-filled lair.

Grapple gun? Check.

Which I love (duh) as it gives me great ideas for the types of encounters, story, and staging one would do for such a character/game.

A day or two after this, we sat down to watch Batman Returns, the kids having thoroughly bought in to the project. Having never before seen the film, I was quite taken aback by how strange and surreal the thing is...far more of a Tim Burton film, I suppose, but quite dark and strange for a superhero film...especially a pop icon superhero like Batman. 

[and which led me to research the strange development history of every single Batman film. Fascinating, though quite a deep rabbit hole to tumble into]

Also it's a bit...mm...tedious? I fell asleep during the movie (a lot of long days lately, did I mention...?) and so will probably need to go back and re-watch the ending. But this film, too, struck me less as a coherent story, and more of a series of images, scenes, and situations designed to provoke emotional responses...which is fine (some films do that), but I guess it's not my preference.

However, Batman Returns still feels like someone's Heroes Unlimited game...probably more so, due to its overall weird disjointedness. Watching it felt like Burton was the young GM who, fresh off a successful romp in HU with his one buddy (Keaton, playing the bat-themed hardware character) brings in a second, NEW player (Michelle Pfeiffer) and tries to find a way to integrate her cat-themed anarchist into the ongoing campaign. It's still low-level, high-competence gameplay of the HU variety...no world vaporizing Thanos on the horizon, no Kryptonian mothership crashing into New York, just a weird penguin-themed villain teaming up with smash-able stooges with guns...with the usual, expected results.

Yeah, "expected." It's a tad strange to watch Batman casually murdering folks in these movies (as compared to the comic character or the later Nolan films), but casual murder of mooks and villains is par for the course in your average Heroes Unlimited game. Well, in my experience...probably there are GMs out there who have seen more Principled (in the HU alignment sense) behavior from their PCs. 

It's just tough when hand grenades retail for $60 a pop.

Anyway. The busy-ness continues (it's taken me some three days to find the time to write this up). Another multi-game soccer tournament going on this afternoon on the other side of Lake Washington. The stress of life events has been...getting to me, a bit, I guess. If the dog gets me up at 2am, I can find it difficult to get back to sleep, especially if I start to dwell on all the stuff I've got going on. Which sucks. I might have to get back on the regular coffee. Musings about Batman and (especially) Heroes Unlimited is a welcome distraction from everything.  Might have to get a game going, in the near future. Stuff like these old movies are fairly inspirational.

One last interesting (to me, anyway) thought. When the 1989 Batman (Burton) film premiered, I was 16 years old, and definitely NOT a Batman fan. I think I might have still been collecting Silver Surfer comics at the time(?)...a bit more "cosmic" in scope in terms of conflict. I had been exposed to the Heroes Unlimited game by this point (friends in high school), but they were running something far more high powered with the Revised rules in combo with Transdimensional TMNT. Those guys (they were all guys...my gaming with females ended at middle school and didn't start up again till university), were BIG into comic books in general and Batman in particular (I'm sure they saw all those movies, while I tapped out after the first). And, yet, they never ran anything "street level" in their games...instead they added as much "twink" as they could, even creating a list of "mega-powers" when HU's major powers weren't deemed beefy enough. Thinking back, it really makes me wonder what the appeal Palladium held for them, at all. Crunchy character building? Granular move-by-move combat? Bullet calibers and grenades?

Weird. They never did want to play Rifts and ridiculed that game soundly (unlike myself). 

All right. That's enough for now. Time to wake the family.

"Everyone Has A Gimmick"

This is a bit of a "throwaway post," but I feel like I've got to get something down on Ye Old Blog, and I've just had a hard time writing anything lately. Oh, I've started a couple-three things...I've got a post titled "Time Warp," one called "Down Rabbit Holes," and a third called something like "World Without End." Oh yeah...something-something about encumbrance. But I really don't have the mental brain sweat at the moment to address all these potentially O-So-Profound subjects with the requisite gravitas they so richly deserve. 

So F it.

Instead, I'm going to hearken back to someone else's blog post of yesteryear, specifically this little doozie from Necropraxis called Only Ten from back in 2012. For some reason I've had this old post open on some random tab of my laptop for I-don't-know-how-long and I don't even remember why I was looking at it (let alone what I was thinking saving it). Maybe it came up when I was doing some search for Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play? I don't know...really I don't.

Anyway, for the disinterested, the gist of Necro's subject was the following question: if you could only keep 10 printed RPG books, which would make the cut?  Now I'm not sure about my lovely readers, but I happen to be a middle-aged dude who's been playing (and collecting) RPG material for close to 40 years, and while much of it has been sold, lost, or stolen over the years, I still hang on to a substantial amount of printed material. Enough to fill a bookshelf and a half plus a cupboard, and (perhaps) a large plastic crate or two.  And that's just the printed material. That's a LOT of books to pare down to just 10...and a particularly tall order for a packrat like myself.

Still, while I'm glad I don't actually have to burn the bulk of my library, it's an interesting thought exercise. And it's one I went through in my head earlier today: just what would I keep? Strangely enough, B/X didn't make the cut (due partly to me having memorized most of it, and partly having purchased PDFs from DriveThru...when I absolutely have to look something up these days, B/X is quite searchable on the ol' laptop). Mainly I was thinking of games that would allow me to play (or recreate) multiple genres of fantasy, interesting systems, or thoughtful design. Here's  my list at the moment (in no particular order of priority):

1. AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide
2. AD&D Players Handbook
3. AD&D Monster Manual
4. Heroes Unlimited
5. Maelstrom
6. Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader
7. Sorcerer
8. Vampire the Masquerade (1st edition)
9. Hollow Earth Expedition

I can't really bring myself to choose a 10th book...there are a few that could make the cut. The Fiend Folio, of course (and almost certainly would be). Deities & Demigods (the original) makes a strong case if only for its official ability score tables up to 25 and discussions on clerics, worship, and divine ascension. Beyond the Supernatural, Rifts, Gamma World, Deadlands could all go in there...even Ars Magica (1e), Orkworld, ElfQuest, or Over the Edge. And I hardly need not be mentioned how much I love both Ken St. Andre's Stormbringer (1e) and Marc Miller's Classic Traveller (I have the core book compilation from GDW)...that last one (Traveller) might even be able to edge out HEX in the #9 spot. 

Ugh...I completely forgot Twilight 2000. But it's box set technically consists of multiple books. If the original system had a single hardcover, it would leapfrog several of the "possibles" for the #10 slot. It just has a wonderful system for near-future post-apocalyptic games. 

The thing is, MANY of the games I own would be simple enough to recreate, and many could stand a rewrite using a different, more convenient system. Such was definitely the case with Shadowrun (my B/X style knockoff Cry Dark Future is a testament to that). Beyond the Supernatural or Gamma World could both be remade quite easily using B/X (see Mutant Future for an example of the latter). I've run great Top Secret games using the Story Engine system (first published with the Maelstrom RPG)...it can easily be used for other genres asking for "rules-light-story-heavy" mechanics. Of course, OD&D is easy enough to make out of AD&D...if one wanted...

Some may find it curious that 40K makes the list when it's not really an RPG. What can I say other than it provides exactly the kind of science fiction I want...one day, far in the future, I'll completely rewrite both it and HEX (Hollow Earth Expedition) using a different system from what they've been given. But I find their books to be incredibly imaginative and inspirational, as is. Nice art, too.

Folks might note there are no "supplements" making my list. I generally can write my own supplemental material (that's kind of what I do). That being said, I love Ron Edwards's Sorcerer supplements, especially Sorcerer & Sword. Unfortunately, Sorcerer makes the list because of its elegant design principles (and diabolic themes) more than because it's a game I play a lot (I don't). It's an inspirational reference, especially for its narrative sensibilities, and I like it better than other story driven games like Fiasco, Polaris, and Capes.

The real odd duck on the list though is (duh) Palladium's Heroes Unlimited, an RPG I've written enough of in the past. You'll note the cop out above where I don't pick any single particular edition of the game...there are a plethora of differences between 1e, "revised," and 2e HU, enough so as to really alter game play for the participants. 1e was the best written, but "revised's" tweaks to certain classes are really welcome (including the addition of the magical power set) and I would probably go with that. 2e is just a tad over-the-top...although if you want to include uber-powerful characters (equivalent to Thor or the Hulk) you really need to check out the "mega-hero" option in 2e. It's rather beastly, though nothing one couldn't work out for their own campaign (my buddies' long-running HU campaign in high school created their own "mega-powers" list using only the revised rules...long before the advent of a 2nd edition).

And, yeah, for those who hadn't already guessed, this is all just a rambling preamble to talk about superhero stuff.

As I wrote in my last post, my in-laws have been in town, and were supposed to fly back to Mexico on...mmm, Tuesday? Yeah, Tuesday last. But after our last road trip with them, the kids discovered that abuelo (their grandpa) hadn't watched any of the Marvel movies (The Avengers, etc.) and so decided to embark on an epic marathon of film watching...basically one movie per night for 2+ weeks (in chronological order), culminating in Avengers Endgame the night before they were supposed to leave town. And since it's summer time, and we still have things going on during the days and evenings (and we don't watch movies during dinner) this has meant starting 2-3 hour films around 10pm every night and not getting to bed till near 1am.  Um...yeah. And I still get up around 6:30 to take care of the one beagle I have left.

Consequently, I've been in something of a fugue state with a mind inundated by cinematic superheroics for much of the last month. Makes it a little hard to focus.

[hmm...wonder if that's had anything to do with my lack of a "will to write" lately. Certainly can't help]

Anyway: I am NOT about to start dipping back into designing superhero RPGs (again) as happened last April (wow! A month long tangent that started with this post!)...I've just got too many D&D irons in the fire at the moment (and little enough time for juggling those). But that Necropraxis article made me consider long and hard which hero game I'd bring with me to a desert island and I was, well, a little surprised at my own answer. Despite having written on or about the subject a thousand times in the past.

But in consideration for having the MCU force-shoved into my brain lately...well, sometimes I have to do something to spew the excess waste material from my cranium. Here are my current (as in, today, this morning) thoughts on the subject of superhero role-playing games (SRPGs):

• an SRPG should be run in real time, as much as possible. Day 1 of the campaign should start on a real world date (even if heroes/villains have been "training" or whatever for years). 
• an SRPG should be grounded in as much "reality" as possible (no picking up buildings by the corner, or flying faster than the speed of light). Super-technology can make impossible things possible, within reason, but shouldn't be readily accessible/understood by Earth humans (so as not to disrupt what passes for "daily life" in the real world)...at least when starting the campaign. Magic falls under the category of a "super-technology" (with the same stipulations).
• the campaign world should be set in the real world. Imaginary cities/countries (Metropolis, Atlantis, Wakanda) should be avoided. Extraterrestrial and extradimensional entities are okay, which can explain mythological-type beings (Thor or whatever).
• the campaign world should be allowed to spin out of control based on the occurrences of the game.
• all heroes/villains should start as "unknowns" to the general public, i.e. they have no reputation for being "super-anythings" before the start of play. Actions taken by characters will determine public perception.
• Day 1 marks the first appearance of super individuals in the campaign world
• an SRPG should be generally "free-wheeling" with logical consequences to follow
• no weapon fetishes: make and model of firearms and caliber of ammunition should have near zero impact on game play.
• experience increases effectiveness of characters. Active superpowers (things that turn on-and-off) either increase in scope/impact, or ability of character to use. Experience is gained through play. Time spent not playing will not result in experience.
• an SRPG is not a comic book. There is no plot immunity for characters.
• an SRPG is not a film. There are no guaranteed happy endings.
• an SRPG is a game about super (i.e. "greater than human") individuals in a human scale world and those individuals impact on the world. The PCs may become champions of the people or conquerors of the world. 
• The referee's job is to establish challenges for the PCs. For villainous PCs, these challenges can take the forms of law enforcement, task forces, and heroic super teams. Challenges should be commensurate with the scale of the PCs' abilities. Scale is determined by sphere of operation as mutually decided by the referee and the players.
• All PCs have a drive that allows them to push beyond the boundaries of ordinary humans.
• All PCs have a flaw that can be exploited by adversaries.
• All PCs have enough humanity to allow players (including the referee) to relate to the character. Thus, no artificial beings or alien creatures lacking human emotions, feelings, etc. The game is not about how well a player can portray a plant thing, inhuman monster, or celestial/infernal being. Likewise all PCs must be sentients of at least minimal intelligence for operating on planet Earth (the campaign setting); the game is not a comedy of errors based on an ignorance of cultural norms.
• There should be at least some randomness in determining a PCs particular "power set;" players are neither allowed, nor expected to come to the table with a fully formed character concept.

*Whew!*  Aaand...that's about it. I've decided that I'm no longer all that interested in forcing players to act cooperatively or assign them to super-powered task forces...I'm not even (particularly) interested in them acting as "heroes." Instead, I'd rather just offer them opportunities...multiple...just as one might with, say, an AD&D campaign setting. Being a planet such as we have, it's not like the PCs couldn't hop a plane and be most anywhere in less than 24 hours, so lot of possibilities for adventures are possible...and "story arcs" have nothing to do with any of it.

It's a little different from how I've thought about SRPGs in the past. 

Annoyances

 September, huh? Guess it's time to throw some content up on Ye Old Blog.

While gaming in the time of Covid must certainly suck (I wouldn't know, since I have zero opportunity to game), school in the time of Covid sucks worse. Does it suck as much as this new Blogger interface that I am finding it tricky to decipher at the moment (WTF Blogger)? Yes, more...because it affects the entire household, not just the education and developmental years of our children's lives.

*sigh*

So, yeah, school started up for the kids last week, and I've been dealing with that since the end of August. Oh, and a few other things. But fortunately the fam had a chance to get away for a mini family vacation in the mountains (far away from Covid country) and THAT as much as anything is still keeping my batteries charged up the last couple weeks. Oh, and the return of sports on the TV.  Everyone's happy when the Storm or the Sounders can take someone apart (as has become my custom the last few years, I have ignored the Mariners since they fell under .500 and will continue to do so until they can put together a respectable season), and hey football season started! I wear Seahawks merch all year round, but at least now I won't look like such a tool (or, rather, I'll have company with the rest of Seattle).

Mmm. None of that is really "content." Apologies.

Just because I haven't been blogging doesn't mean I haven't been reading (and listening to podcasts) from other folks. Thanks to all of you who have continued to entertain me...it helps keep me sane.

On my own front, well, as said, we've been pretty darn busy the last couple weeks

[ugh...just as an aside, I'm listening to my child's remote learning class in the next room. Is there anything more obnoxious than a 4th grade teacher that claims to love fantasy and cites Harry Potter as her favorite book series? Well, yes, there is...a 4th grade teacher who also touts her Nintendo Switch as her favorite game/toy. Gosh, I am a crusty old man...]

...but before things started heating up, the kids really REALLY wanted to play a superhero RPG. And not just any RPG but, specifically, Heroes Unlimited. Because, as everyone knows, Palladium has the greatest design for an RPG ever. I mean EV...ER.  😉

Actually, here's the deal: an inventory list that includes Real World equipment, especially FIREARMS with ILLUSTRATIONS is pure nectar of the gods to my children, especially the boy. The random character creation which allows one to create a Soviet agent with enough money to buy a Yugoslavian assault rifle (wow, dated) is more adolescent geekery than I can stand, but for my kids, it is FAN-fricking-tastic. Heck, what they wanted to start with was Ninjas & Superspies, but got overwhelmed with the extensive martial arts lists, and decided they'd prefer to make mutants and robot pilots and whatnot.

[no, my kids haven't gotten to that stage where they argue about which culture's kung fu is better. Maybe some day they'll get into the Hong Kong action theater, but right now Lego Ninjago is about the extent of their cinematic martial arts experience]

Anyway, I just decided to "roll with it;" that is, I figured I'd just run the game By The Book, rather than complain about the thing. But, as has happened before, things fell apart in the usual places: character creation and adventure creation. I know, right?

It's actually the latter issue that I wanted to write about. Character creation, despite being convoluted, is still relatively straightforward. And depending on the character type you rolled (or chose) it might even be fast, other than the skill selection process which is O So Awful (sorry, Kevin Siembieda...it is). For a guy who's owned, read, and played the game over three decades...well, it's still a laborious process (depending on the type of character being created), but it's doable. For newbies (like my kids) there's a lot of hand-holding required...unless you want to circumvent it with your own rules (which I did).

Adventure creation...or rather campaign creation...is another matter, though related. Basically, the problem is this: you can't prep anything until after you've got the characters created and the team established. Which may be a big "duh" from long time GMs of the supers genre but was a bit of an "ah ha" moment for Yours Truly.

See, I'll let you in on a not-so-secret secret of mine. I'm not a fan of "Session Zero;" quite the opposite, in fact. When I sit down to play a game, I want to play the game, not "prep" for the next game session. That is a big fat waste of my time. It's what makes D&D such a great go-to game: there's plenty of time to create dungeons, scenarios, adventures, etc. in one's free time (or read and familiarize yourself with a pre-written module), and then when come to the table you simply pull out something that matches the characters' general level. Even for campaign play, you can have multiple established adventures or scenarios ready to point a party towards...or let them choose amongst...based on their comfort level with various risk/reward factors ('No, we don't feel like tackling the Necropolis of the Dead, seeing as how the party cleric got eaten in our last session.'). Hell, even if the party takes a left turn from where you expected an adventure to go, it's fairly easy to come up with something "on the fly" just using random tables.

But that doesn't fly with the supers genre. Unless you're playing a pre-written scenario that includes pre-generated PCs (for example, any of the old TSR adventure modules for Marvel) there's no way to come prepared to the session until AFTER the characters have been created. Starting a basic D&D game? You show up with adventures suitable for 1st level characters (and then let the players put them together in 5-10 minutes). But with supers characters the range of divergent power levels is so wide that you can't do that. You can't prep for a street level Daredevil style game when players are creating Thor-level characters...and vice versa. 

Likewise, there's no way for a GM to set-up a campaign until AFTER you see what the characters are you're dealing with. Diego's robot pilot ("Red One") is a Soviet special forces soldier driving a prototype power vehicle with the explicit sanction and blessing of the military institution that developed it. Sofia's  tech-savvy inventor is British secret service. While this in itself can be an interesting dilemma to resolve, given an 80's Cold War setting, how the heck am I supposed to have an adventure prepped for that prior to play? Or, rather, how do I prep for the possibility that these are the characters that will be generated at the beginning of the game session?

Oh, yes, yes...I understand that one could say at the outset: "Hey, everyone: your team of superheroes is a special task force put together by the American government to deal with alien invaders" (for instance) "so make sure you create a superhero to match." But, again, what if someone rolls up the equivalent of a masked vigilante while another gets the equivalent of Superman? Point buy? Okay, that's just conceding (again) that the entire first session is going to be spent in character creation as people hammer out concepts and figure where and how to spend points in order to build some sort of coherent, consistent team.

And if you're going to do that, you might as well let the players use their own imagination (rather than set parameters) and prep your adventure based on what they come up with.

This is, in the end, my point: you need a Session Zero (i.e. a game session where no part of the regular game "play" happens) if you're going to run a campaign of any longterm value in the supers genre. You need to establish origins and relationships and how characters complement (or don't) each other and what the power level is going to be. Regardless of the planned scenario (or "story arc") for the campaign.

At least if you plan on running a game that allows for a wide range of different super characters with disparate power levels, i.e. something that emulates the superhero genre. Because in the genre, you DO have characters with divergent power levels: Thor and Iron Man with Hawkeye and Black Widow. Superman and Wonder Woman with Batman and Black Canary. Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach. Green Lantern and Green Arrow. Etc.

And I hate Session Zero. I just do. And I kind of hate pre-generated characters (at least, for this genre of game) because I do NOT want a game to be about how well the players can role-play a particular established piece of intellectual property. Don't give me your Tony Stark impression, pal.

Hmm...that's a lot of hate (probably grumpy due to, you know, everything going on in the world. Lot of smoke outside my window at the moment). But it explains why I've always had difficulty getting superhero campaigns off the ground, despite personally enjoying the idea of running such a game. And it explains why (for me) D&D is soooo much easier to run. 

My next post should be on that particular topic.

Crap...Crap...Crap...

That's the title of the post I started to write back around mid-July, as I went through all the various super powers found in Palladium's Heroes Unlimited products over the years.

Yes, Kevin Siembieda has nothing on me: I've purchased pretty much every HU product ever-penned by the man over the years...sometimes more than once!...all those "Powers Unlimited" books, GM and Galaxy Guides, etc. I've got a whole shelf filled with Palladium product and a good chunk is Heroes Unlimited related (the bulk, of course, is the prolific Rifts line...). And doing a "deep dive" of the evolution of the game...and the every-expanding list of powers down the years...simply leads me to the conclusion that nearly all of it after the original, unrevised first edition is crap. Just...crap. By which I mean "useless drivel," unnecessary filler and fiddly wanking that's just...so...not...needed.

In my opinion (of course). Your mileage may vary (of course).

So for those wondering what I've been up to the last couple weeks (other than winding down Ye Old Summer Fun Stuff, etc.), it's this: I'm back on the design train, designing my own superhero game. Again (*sigh*). No, I haven't been writing, other than writing notes. No, it hasn't been play-tested yet (though it's ready to start...going to be doing that with the kids this week, God willing). But, at the moment...it seems like I have a pretty solid start to a nice little system. A gritty little system that has absolutely no "point buy" and is EXTREMELY "non-abstract."

In other words, the kind of supers game I want to play.

If it ends up developing into anything, well, I will of course blog more about it (as I find the time to do so). However, just want folks to know I'm working on something game-related and not just blowing the blog-o-sphere off for no good reason.

Carry on, good people. My advice to folks suffering under excessive hotness (ah, yes...climate change) is to stay in a shady indoor area and play table-top RPGs as much as possible. With gusto.
: )

Diving Into The Inelegance

For those who come here for the D&D posts: apologies. Until the last couple days, I’ve had a bunch of Palladium rulebooks, several sets of dice, and piles of paper and pencils covering my kitchen counter (now everything's been moved to the coffee table in the living room). Even if I hadn’t originally planned on doing a deep dive exploration of Kevin Siembieda’s work...well, it’s kind of ended up happening.

It started off...hmm, let’s see...last Friday. After taking the kids to mini-golf in Edmonds, they decided we should go to our favorite game store (“since we’re in the neighborhood”), Around the Table Games. While poking around a bit, I was somewhat amazed to find no more than TWO Palladium books gracing the shelves (not two product lines...two single rule books): a used copy of Heroes Unlimited Revised and an equally used copy of Ninjas & Superspies. While I do own both of these and have in fact had HU sitting on my bedside table the last couple weeks, my son appeared to have been oblivious to this fact, asking if we could get one or both to play.

So we've been playing Heroes Unlimited.

*ahem* Kind of. Let's back up a few hours earlier in the day when I had a chance to futz around on my computer with everyone else still asleep in bed (kind of like this morning). Having just written a post about HU a couple days prior, I decided to actually go through the chargen as written in the ORIGINAL game, and create a handful of characters. One thing I've continuously had to learn and re-learn over the years: there are reasons a game is designed the way it is, and it's best to try it out before trying to "improve it."

And of course, with a laptop it's a lot easier to generate random characters than it was back in my youth. Armed with an Excel spreadsheet and the "randbetween" function, I was able to quickly generate four PCs using original HU's near-100% random system. And guess what? It worked pretty darn good! Each character came out with enough pieces that I could form an adequate picture of the character and their backstory with relative ease. I had the bullied Australian scholar from the poor background who'd ended up working for a private company and stealing their robotic exoskeleton; the silver-spoon Frankforter who'd joined the German military at a young age and built himself into a brick outhouse; the shy professor who wears hats to hide her small horns, and prefers to use her own academic prowess over her mutant psionic abilities; and the Canadian farm boy who volunteered for experimentation and was only (grudgingly) allowed to leave only after the installation realized they had no real way to hold a person with the ability to teleport.

That's some cool stuff right there.

Of course, it all falls down when it comes to the first non-random part of chargen: skill selection. I only took the time to go through the whole process for the Physical Training character...partly because skills are the WHOLE of his "power suite;" partly because, as a guy with an enlisted military background (rolled randomly) he had a lot fewer skills to bother worrying about than the guy with the Masters degree or the lady with a Doctorate. And even knowing that I was just going to take as many physical skills as possible, it took a loooong time. As such I didn't bother finishing up the other characters, let alone spend the time buying their equipment (Palladium, unlike most supers RPGs, doesn't have an "abstract" system for modeling the economy...instead you're counting individual dollars and buying every piece of equipment (even your costume, in the original rules!) from the budget that is your character's life savings).

Anyway, it wasn't just "inelegant;" it was ugly. So I set aside the HU figuring I'd come back to it in another six months/years...and then my kid encountered the books later that same day and wanted to play.

SO...we ended up going through the entire character generation process for him (by hand). After some discussion we decided to play HU (first edition) instead of N&SS. He also ended up with a German; a mutant with the power of shrinking (no change in mass). We did all the skill selection (I provided him with no hints or nudges except to explain that didn't need more than one hand-to-hand skill), just walking him through the process. He spent his fairly ample life savings buying guns and ammo out of the equipment section. It took probably close to two hours to complete the process of making "Dave Dangerfield" AKA "DD." And while that time probably could have been cut down quite a bit with system familiarity, keep in mind that a mutant is probably the simplest of the character types to create, and that we were using the un-Revised HU rules (only one superpower, everything random, choices limited).

[my original idea was to create a character at the same time, a fellow adventurer who would act as an NPC companion; however, I gave up the idea when I rolled Hardware character with a $500K budget to spend. Even without the super-vehicle design of later editions, that's just too much work for the quickie game I wanted to run]

It really emphasized Kevin Siembieda's philosophy with regard to the game's design: HU is supposed to be a "thinking man's game." It is not supposed to be all four-color action and superhero cliches (though what's more cliche than super-powered individual's saving conflicts with their fists?). The time spent in such an elaborate chargen system represents an INVESTMENT in the character; yes, it's also a part of play, too, but in spending so much time building, your identification process (with the character) starts early in the game.

I also think that Siembieda has made very interesting (and astute) choices with what parts are random and what parts are not. A person's education CAN be effected by a host of random elements: opportunities provided by accident of birth, changes in a family's fortune, a person's approach to academic life and standardized testing and how that balances with other aspects of the character's life (social, familial, economic). Codifying that into a random table to determine one's final opportunity at skill selection is appropriate...just as allowing the player to select skill packages based on that (random) opportunity is appropriate. There are things within your control and things outside your control. It really takes the "meta" out of character generation.

[yes, I realize long-time Palladium players will say there's still "meta" involved in selecting physical skills that will optimize a character for combat. Siembieda looks at it differently, writing (in 1E) that players should OF COURSE be optimizing themselves as part of their "training" for a career in hero work. That's not "meta;" it's putting yourself in the mind of your character, deciding whether you should be learning gymnastics or how to speak Russian or how to fly a helicopter]

Yes, I am really starting to become a Palladium system apologist (if I wasn't one already), at least with regard to the HU line of games. The problem is, that such an elaborate, granular system REALLY requires some simplification in order to run the game effectively. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, for all the "fiddly" it adds to player characters, still maintains a simpler way of codifying bugbears and goblins. A DM might care about every coin of encumbrance and the location of every belt pouch for a particular PC wizard or fighter, but NOT for individual monsters. And yet HU wants me to figure out skill packages and equipment lists for every NPC the heroes might encounter? Ugh! No way!

There are other good concepts in the game that fail in execution. Combat is still kind of a mess, as well as over-emphasized in this "thinking man's game." Some of what appears to have been "corrections" to (what was originally) a D&D chassis are over-thought, convoluted, or impractical in practice. Why bother splitting Charisma into "mental affinity" and "physical beauty?" Why bother having both "hit points" and "structural damage capacity?" And the firearms combat rules are just so...aaaaaRRRGH. I understand why they were revised (and why they were later re-revised), but going more abstract just doesn't jibe great with a combat system that was already over-specific, what with counting individual strikes and parries. The whole thing needs an over-haul.

Anyway...

Adventure setting.

The boy and I did get through the whole process of creating a character and had a chance to play an adventure; I used the "One Dam Thing" introductory adventure from Revised HU. While we didn't bother worrying how his German, rifle-toting mutant had ended up in Nevada, the nice thing about having the internet these days is that it's fairly easy to pull up specs for something like Hoover Dam (where the scenario takes place). I figured I'd saw the Revised NPCs down to 1E size (limiting Golden Eagle to just "gliding," for example).

But we never got that far. Danger Dave decided to set-up a hunting blind in one of the powerhouse outlets to the Colorado River a couple days before the projected sabotage was to take place. Failing a prowl roll and encountering a security guard, the PRINCIPLED character's first reaction was to blow him away with his .44 auto-mag, and did so with a natural 20 (critical) roll. After dumping the body in the river, he set up shop to ambush the other security guards (investigating the gunshots) with his H&K sniper rifle. Eventually this led to a bunch of State Troopers from both sides of the Arizona-Nevada border being called to the dam, where a melee ensued along the top of the structure. DD managed to dispatch maybe half a dozen troopers before being thrown off the top and plunging 762' to the concrete powerhouse below (while he succeeded at his "roll with fall" attempt, he still ended up taking 110 points of damage and splattering like a bag of blood and gristle).

A fitting end to our "hero."

Which just goes to show: Palladim games end up looking much the same whether you're eight, eighteen, or twenty-eight years old (at least, mine always have).

My boy immediately wanted to play again by the way, and has since created a new character: this time a Dedicated Martial Artist (ninja) using the Ninjas & Super-Spies set. More later, perhaps.

Inelegant Design

A bit of a divergence from more recent topics, but...

My kids are always asking me to play with them. This is, of course, a great blessing...I'm sure there are many parents out there who'd give their eyeteeth for children who preferred their attention to that of their friends or (worse) screens/devices.

It is, also (again, of course), annoying at times: not only are there other things that I want (or need) to do, but it bugs me that they sometimes seem to lack the capacity for amusing themselves. Growing up, my brother and I invented many games and pastimes to amuse ourselves without the need for parental supervision or inspiration...even before we'd discovered role-playing games. Imaginative play came easy (naturally?), whereas my children want direction in how to play. Lacking direction (and/or parental participation) they most often default to wanting some sort of screen entertainment: a video game or television to simultaneously stimulate and soften their brains.

(*sigh*)

All of which is simply a precursor to this: my son is interested in my game design "work," and has asked me on multiple occasions to create a "superhero game." I haven't had the heart (or patience) to explain to him just how many supers games I already own and are available, all of which are lacking in some capacity. But I keep telling him I will (eventually) get around to it. One of these days.

So it is that I've been looking at Heroes Unlimited (again) for the last 30 hours or so. This would be the original, un-Revised version that I've blogged about previously. Again, I've been struck by the real design sensibilities on display here: there is reason behind all of Simebieda's madness that simply isn't explained in later editions. Again, I'm frustrated by the gross editing errors, typos, and information left out...not to mention the sheer clunkiness of a system evolved organically in play. And reading the Revised and 2nd Edition books this morning, I again am struck by how much the game has changed ("evolved" as Siembieda writes) through its various updates. And not for the good.

And yet, and yet: the sheer monstrosity of HU, of its inelegance...I finally start to see something of the appeal and of why the game has had such staying power over the decades. As I struggle to search the various entries for even basic information (like how much SDC a particular power type starts with, or exactly how many hand-to-hand attacks a character should receive), I am forced to parse out various systems and discrepancies and make decisions ("rulings") about various aspects of the game...I am, in struggling to understand and grasp the game's concepts, in the process of learning and developing a degree of expertise with the system.

RPGs are difficult beasts to grapple with anyway...at the table that is. Running an RPG, managing the players, the rules, the pacing and narration...it's a tough juggling act. And yet, streamlined "rules light" design (no doubt intended to excise complexity in aid of playability) ends up making games feel, well, less game-like and more like regulated story-telling...and the more simplified, the more this is the case.

Which, for me, isn't what I want out of a fantasy adventure game. It just isn't.

However, the other thing I do not want is a game where the system IS the game: where the real "play" is in crunching the numbers of the various in-game currencies in order to actually get to play itself. This includes any game that has point-buy/build systems (GURPS, Champions, MektonZ) or anything that has excessive character building through "option selection" (any D20 game or any version of D&D post-1988). I want to get to play without the extra prep of "building" and once play starts I want players to be "in the moment," un-worried about how their character might develop over ten plus levels.

So here's this monstrosity of a game called Heroes Unlimited, full of these clunky, unbalanced character classes, non-unified systems, often ugly aesthetics, and inelegant design. And yet I can randomly generate something like 50 different character types right out of the box, not counting differences in ability scores or power selection. Assuming I have some a decent grasp of the comic book genre (even with a limited, non-nuanced perspective), I can run a game right out of the box. And even without adjusting the rules I can tailor the game play to many sub-genres of supers play, incorporating nuance (the issues of vigilanteism or incorporating modern day politics, for example) as opposed to simple, four-colored action. Its asymmetry, unburdened by toolbox aspects of later games, makes it ripe with the potential of "Advanced" play.

In that way, it really does earn the moniker "Unlimited."

Jut something I'm musing on this morning: the features of inelegant design. Cheers.
: )

Team Building

"Snowmageddon" appears to be winding down here in Seattle (at least in my neighborhood) and I've already been informed the schools will be open at the regular time tomorrow.

In the meantime, though, it's still All Day Kid Play at my house. Which mean (fun as that is), writing time is scarce. I'm stealing a few minutes right now while they eat soup and watch Johnny Quest.

[really need to get around to writing my thoughts on JQ one of these days. Add that to "the list"]

Once again I'm thinking about Heroes Unlimited (the original edition) and how I might adapt/repurpose the thing to my own tastes. Part of this has to do with being snowbound with the kids...been watching shows like 3 Below and Carmen SanDiego and getting a bit inspired (though the latter also makes me want to dig out Top Secret, I watched the former first, and it's definitely put me in an HU state of mind). Part of it is seeing trailers for things like Shazam and Captain Marvel. Part of it is the kids themselves: my boy keeps asking me "Why don't you design a superhero game we can play?"

[*sigh*]

And part of it is seeing other designers tackle superhero gaming. Ron Edwards has been doing his own "retro" stuff lately as he tinkers with early edition Champions (his equivalent of my B/X fixation), trying to incorporate his decades of experience with gaming, comics, and theory-bashing. This recent post of Edwards, Venn diagramming various super groups really got the gears in my head spinning, especially as I was already considering certain CDF mechanics would fit far better in a hero-type game than in a fantasy cyberpunk RPG.

What mechanics you ask? Well, individual rewards (tied to advancement) that provide players with the choice to either A) increase their own effectiveness, or B) improve the team's abilities. It's a holdover from when I was re-writing CDF as a post-apocalyptic "tribe building" game (yes, I know that probably sounds a little crazy...it didn't really work and is one of the reasons the thing was back-burnered so long, as well as one of the reasons I went back to its original design concept).

But while building one's tribe/family doesn't really work in a game about shadowy mercenaries doing dirty jobs in the grim-dark future, it's not a bad idea for a game that centers around the superhero team.

Here's the thing: if we look at D&D as a "successful" concept in tabletop RPGs, we can see that at least part of its appeal is how it draws the party together in cooperation for a common objective. And the way it does this is pretty darn simple: while there is "strength in numbers" (to spread the attrition around), the limitations of each individual class (or, in the positive, the powers and capabilities of each class) provides an incentive to work together to solve the conflicts and problems being thrown at the PCs in their quest for treasure. Mechanically, they're semi-forced to get along with each other, because survival...and success...becomes much more difficult without cooperation.

This concept isn't as effective, or compelling, in the superhero genre. Supers tend to be fairly capable individuals, able to handle whole swaths of mooks and villains on their own, only being held back by individual flaws (the elderly aunt or significant other that needs to protected, the power limitation against kryptonite or the color yellow, or whatever)...flaws that, more often than not, completely eliminate the character's effectiveness or ability to affect the in-game fiction in an effective fashion.

But for a team of heroes, such flaws rarely come up, because it would tend to throw one hero under the bus while her teammates heroically soldier on. Instead, the tendency is to simply throw one Giant Big Bad Threat at the team that requires the full might of the team to overcome: an Uber-Villain or a Villain Team (one foe for each hero!) or a Humongous Natural Disaster. Which, for me, gets old after a while.

Which is one of the reasons I keep looking at 1st edition HU. I like the idea of reducing the effectiveness of the PCs from the get-go, in part to give them MORE reason to rely on each other, and in part to open up a larger gambit of threats and challenges. But rather than simply allowing weak-ass beginning characters to "level up" over time, growing in power and effectiveness into Justice Leaguers, I'd like to see a way for characters to become more effective as a team over time...becoming more effective for their greater cooperation and ability to work together...becoming stronger as they develop stronger relationships within the group dynamic of the hero team.

This might be a little different from the approach of other "hero team" concepts. At least, it seems different to me; I don't usually see newly-formed teams stepping on each other's toes or having trouble coordinating their efforts in the field (their interpersonal relationships are, perhaps, another matter). Maybe you have a sidekick screwing up his mentor's activities (a way of giving the mentor additional challenge and providing the apprentice with a "teaching moment"), but in a "group of equals" it's rare that there's any significant time spent "team building" with the exception of young student types (the early X-Men, New Mutants, etc.).

Thing is, I don't want to run "hero school" for teenagers. I want a variety of different power types (hi-tech wonders, chemical spill mutations, aliens, etc.) brought together in the typical (for comics) paramilitary fashion (i.e. as an elite, supers-fighting task force) but without any kind of formal training...because there's nothing "formal" or "traditional" when it comes to supers of various different powers. Each super is unique; each group will need to find their own method of working together. Each team will have their own group dynamics born of differing personalities (often determined by how an individual hero reacts to the presence and effect of her own power set). Any "training" they receive is going to have to be "on the job;" I don't want any kind of alien tech created Danger Room.

[as an aside: has the Danger Room ever appeared in any of the various X-Man movies? I remember Cerebro being in the earlier films, but I stopped watching them a few years back]

Anyhoo...that's what I'm thinking about today. While I wait for the snow to finish melting.