Graph Paper Games

In my last post, I mentioned how I've been encouraging players to sketch what they are imagining.  Yesterday my kids wanted me to run our on-and-off Prowlers and Paragons game with a couple of their friends, so I had them wrap up a short plot line from the last time we did this.  We tried out the sketching-as-postlude, and it was a big hit.  Here's some examples: Clockwise from top left: Whiplash, Blowtorch, Kroxigor (a PC), and Xenoist (the big bad guy of the story) In the story the PC's are trying to rescue a police detective who was investigating the Secret Empire, a shadowy organization that has been a frequent antagonist of the PC's.  The heroes infiltrate ReVision, Inc, where they suspect the Secret Empire has been operating.  There they find and battle three henchmen supervillains--Blowtorch, Jackhammer, and Whiplash--and meet one of the Secret Empire's chief mad scientists, Xenoist.  Xenoist tries to pump the detective full of his own version ...

Recently, a member of my gaming group named Rachel started running her own game, a zombie-apocalypse campaign using the FATE rules.  Initially I thought this would like "the Walking Dead" but Rachel has interposed weird cults and alien minotaurs (all of which are excellent) which is far afield of what you'll find on the TV show. I asked Rachel at the onset why she chose a zombie game, given that I had never heard her express enthusiasm for the genre, she said it was exactly because she didn't care for the genre very much.  She doesn't care for brutality in entertainment, or a proliferation of firearms in gameplay.  Her argument is that she would not want to experience the world as a player, but could somehow tolerate as the GM because she knew the players would enjoy it. It seemed really cockeyed to me, because I would think that if you didn't love the game world you were creating, it would become burdensome to continue to be the navigator and adjudicator ...

What's this?  Actual content?  Here are two villains that have appeared in my side campaign using Prowlers & Paragons, the duo of Fox and Howl. Fox art by Phil Cho Fox began her career in a special forces unit before leaving to pursue a career as a private mercenary.  She was hired on by the Secret Empire, and now has been tasked with locating passengers from TransGlobal Flight 246 who may be manifesting metahuman powers.  Fox has no powers herself, but relies on her training and cutting-edge gear. Edge 12 Health 16 Traits Athletics (Martial Arts) 8D Command 4D Stealth 7D Streetwise 4D Thievery 6D Armor (Item) 5D Blast (Item) 10D Dazzle (Item, 3 charges) 8D Ensnare (Item, 3 charges) 8D Strike (Blocking, Item) 10D Perks Ally (Boss, Secret Empire) Lightning Reflexes Gear: armor costume, blaster pistol, flash grenades, tangle grenades, shock gloves Flaws: Secret (Identity), Serves Secret Empire, Wanted Howl art by Phil Cho Howl rem...

Tonight I trotted out Prowlers & Paragons for my kids to run them through a quick introductory session.  It worked out well, although the dice were all over the place.  Mac played Kroxigor , a monstrous reptile-man while Macy played Menagerie , a shape-shifter. Kroxigor (illustration from Arkhamverse) Kroxigor was one of the passengers on TransGlobal flight 246 which was attacked by the mysterious chemical gas.  Menagerie was actually a dog in the hold of the plane, now able to turn into a human.  Another passenger, a petty criminal, also gained powers which he used to burgle the nightclub where Kroxigor (prior to his transformation) was working as a bouncer.  In trying to stop the burglar, Kroxigor turned into his reptilian form and with Menagerie's help managed to recover the money, even though the burglar escaped using his elongating powers. art by Phil Cho Need answers about what has happened, Krox and Menagerie seek out Dr. Tom Gilcrest, th...

So I've been noodling around with the idea of doing a supers RPG campaign, possibly using Prowlers & Paragons, my most recent lightweight supers RPG purchase.  It's like Marvel Heroic Roleplaying with balance. In terms of the campaign itself, I have been thinking that it might be interesting to provide a kickoff event that could serve as a shared origin and the beginning of plot gears turning.  But how to share that with all the players? So I made this player handout.  I had to look around until I found a good picture (from a Flash comic book) that I could Photoshop to show the airline flight.  I'm still using Distinctions from MHR to help the players get a handle on certain things, like NPC's or campaign locations. Now, to see how the game works...