Critter Commandos - Crunchy Frog, Mystical Weapon

Critter Commandos is a game I must have picked up under the assumption that  it either worked with Toon or that I would somehow adapt it for use with Toon. It has never been used after I picked it up. It is also possible that it  was included in some bulk purchase and I have forgotten where it came from.

I have never played it myself but it had received some fair reviews on the  sites like rpg.net. I have never been much into war games so I really am  surprised I have this. Still it never hurts to have another gaming book now  does it. I am going to post what appeared on rpg.net. I suspect it is from  the back of the book, which I can't get to as it is packed away, so I don't  think I am plagiarizing.

Critter Commandos is a simulation game of squad level (and larger) combat  situations that occur in a universe with different physical laws than our own.  All of the combatants are modeled after Saturday morning cartoon characters,  and that the damage caused by the weapons isn't really real! In the campaign  game, the "killed" soldiers mysteriously reappear the next day, safe and  sound!

This game is intended to be a fast and fun introduction to the world of  miniatures gaming, while also having elements of some of the role playing  games so popular these days. Each soldier has an "INDEX" that relates the  individuals abilities, as well as a list of the various items of equipment  that the particular soldier is carrying at the time.

The combat is quick placed and simple to learn. It utilizes a single roll on  a ten sided die to resolve any combat. The emphasis is on fun and  playability, not massive tomes of over complicated, supposedly "realistic"  systems that bog down in excessive detail. We hope we have achieved our goals  and that you enjoy the game!


Spell:

Mystical Weapon

Level: Fifth
Range: Touch
Duration: 6 Turns + 6 Turns/Level
Ares of Effect: One Weapon
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 5 Segments
Saving Throw: None

By means of this spell the magic user is able to transform a normal weapon  into a magical weapon. The weapon enchanted may be of any quality and once enchanted will become as sturdy as the finest weapons one could buy.

The weapon will gain a plus to hit and damage. The number of the bonus will  begin at +1 and increase by one for every two levels of experience the caster  has above ninth up to a maximum of +5. The weapon will count as magical for  creatures that can only be hit by magical weapons.

In addition to the enhanced combat nature the caster may also add some other  benefits to the weapon. The caster can specify that the sword will begin to  glow when a specific creature type is with 12" of the blade. Another option  is that the blade will glow as if it had been enchanted with a light spell,  with the duration as if it had been cast by the magic user. This ability can  only be used once. The final and most dramatic is that the weapon can be made  to have sparks run across its form when used in combat and will be heard to  emit a sound like laughter when striking an opponent.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups  last, were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology  may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I  did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any  duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :)  Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If  anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in  advance and all I ask is proper credit.

Mutants & Masterminds - Green Ronin, Dual Location

Mutants & Masterminds is yet another of the games I have bought over the  years and have never had a chance to play yet. After fantasy games I may have  played superhero games the most. The vast majority of that was Champions and  then Villains & Vigilantes. There were also brief periods of Heroes  Unlimited thrown in there as well as some DC Heroes and Marvel Super Heroes.

I own a few books in the Mutants & Masterminds line. I was told at one point  that I need to be aware of the edition as they are not 100% compatible but  that may or may not be true. I pick them up to read the characters and  back story more than anything else. The Wild Cards supplement was really well  done in my opinion.

The game must be popular as it went into its third edition late last year.  Since I was told that some products are not fully compatible I am not sure  how I feel about that. Three editions for a game that has been out for less  than 10 years may be a bit too much change for me. Even Wizards doesn't  update editions that fast (hope my math was right there).

The next convention I am at I am going to try and find either a demo of this  game or a scheduled session and give it a run. Of the non licensed products  it seems to have the most longevity after Champions. I say that but then I  will get there and they will have a dealer room and perhaps a multi-day  auction and next year I will be saying the same thing. I guess the good news  is that I might learn it before the fourth edition makes it out sometime in  2012!



Spell:

Dual Location

Level: Seventh
Range: Unlimited
Duration:  5 Rounds + 1 Round/Level
Ares Effect: Caster
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 1 Round
Saving Throw: None

By means of this spell the caster is able to cause themselves to exist in two locations at one. The spell does not copy the caster buy alters reality allowing the actual caster to exist in both places at the same point in time.

The caster is limited in where they can cause the second instance of themselves to appear. They must be very familiar with the place the other them will appear. They will need to have spent at least a full 24 hours in the location within one game month per point of intelligence. Attempting to cause themselves to appear in a location that does not fit the criteria will cause the spell to fail.

The caster will be able to fully function in both locations. They will also be able to operate simultaneously even to the extent of casting at the same time. Spells cast will draw from the same list of available spells though. Actions taken by the caster at either location will remain in effect when the spell ends. This extends to items so anything the caster may have on them when the spell expires will be at the original location though there will be no duplication.

The spell range is unlimited as long as both location are on the same plane. There will be consequences if the two locations are too close though. If both instances of the caster are within 500 yards of each othr there is a 10% cumulative chance that the two instances will be pulled together and appear at a random location between the two spots.

The material component of this spell is a token made of silver or other precious metal. The token must have the image of the caster engraved on it. The caster flips the token in the air and it will appear where the other instance is to appear along with the other instance.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.

The Finieous Treasury, Weight Amplification

Finieous Fingers is the self proclaimed "World's Greatest Thief". The Finieous Treasury was published in 1981 and included all of the strips published in Dragon Magazine through that time. The magazine is 40 pages long and includes the Dragon strips, A who's Who from the strips, a short biography of the writer and artist J.D. Webster and also a new adventure Finieous vs. The Cloud Giants.

The strip details the adventures of  Finieous Fingers, who is actually quite cowardly and often inept, and his henchmen Fred and Charly. Through their adventures they encounter comrades and adversaries all the while making a total mess of things. Finieous is based on a close friend of the author and one of the villains has the name sake of Tim Kask who was the editor of Dragon Magazine at the time. The adventures of Finieous did not end with this book nor did they end in Dragon magazine. He later appeared in Adventure Magazine, Space Gamer, Fantasy Gamer and was last seen in Shadis though drawn by a new artist.

The adventures in the Finieous Treasury are perhaps his best though many of the later ones I have not had a chance to read. I would not have thought this went for what it did in the secondary market but it is still worth grabbing a copy of it. The cast of characters appearing the Finieous Treasury are:

Finieous Finger - "World's Greatest Thief"
Fred and Charly - Men-atArms
Eric the Paladin
Skraig the Merciless - Red Dragon
Grond - Anti-Paladin
Mergatroid - Dragon
Kask - The Evil Wizard
The Hobbit Thieves Guild


Spell:

Weight Amplification (R)

Level: Second
Range: 6"
Duration: 1 Round/Level
Ares Effect: One Item
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 4 Segments
Saving Throw: Negates

Weight amplification enables the magic user to make a single item increase in weight by a factor of their level. It must be noted that the spell will only affect non-living objects. The weight of the affected item will increase by a factor of one for every three levels of the caster. Thus a third level caster doubles the weight while a sixth level caster will triple the weight.

Objects in the possession of a living creature are entitled to a saving throw. The items make a save as a fighter of one half the owners level. Items in the possession of willing recipients need not make a saving throw. Intelligent weapons will be entitled to a save if the DM feels the weapon would not be willing to be affected. When saving they save as a magic user equal to their owners level with all appropriate bonus due to pluses. In no case will artifacts or relics be affected by this spell.

The reverse casting of this spell will decrease the weight of an item by a divisor equal to the level of the caster. A third level caster will cause an item to weight one third while a tenth level will cause it to weigh one tenth of its normal weight. The reverse casting of this spell has all the same limitations and restraints as the normal casting.

This spell will have additional effects when used on weapons that are being used in combat. The changes are the damage done by weapons with their weight changed and also affects to durability.

Items with their weight increased will do one extra dice of base damage for every double in weight. The DM will also need to factor in the weight of the item for factors of use, encumbrance and fatigue.

Items with a decrease in weight will have the damage done divided by one half the factor of weight decrease. This means that a weapon that weighs one fourth its normal weight will do half damage. The minimum amount of damage on any successful attack will be one hit point. If an items weight is reduced below one gold piece it must make a save versus crushing blow for each successful hit in combat.

The material component for the normal casting of this spell will be a small lodestone which is destroyed with the casting of the spell. The component of the reverse casting is a small piece of down which is also destroyed in the casting of the spell.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.

Superbabes - The Femforce RPG, Protection from Normal Weapons

Superbabes - The Femforce Role Playing Game is a hard one to pin down as to what was meant to be and what it is. It was published by Tri-City Games. It is a super hero games based on Femforce from AC Comics. I was an avid comic collector for years but do not recall having any issues of Femforce...based on the cover maybe I should. The game is either even more misogynistic that Mach Women or a true adaptation of a comic that takes a satirical look at the way women are treated in comics. I think it works either way and apparently does a fair enough job of it to warrant a number of supplements and accessories. The game was published in the middle of the 90's so it was a little less demanding period of time though. The game is point based and seems to use skills similar to Champions though with a lot more tongue in cheek names for them. Character are also rewarded in some cases for having lower stats and penalized for having higher stats which I can see might make sense in a comic book world. The game also allows for creating male characters but is obviously geared against that idea. I am not sure that I see this as an option for a long running campaign type game but it would provide an alternative to the more commonly played super hero games. In the end can be totally bad to have a game that gives you a mechanic called Bimbo Points?

Spell:

Protection from Normal Weapons

Level: Fifth
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Turn/Level
Ares Effect: Creature Touched
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 8 segments
Saving Throw: None

The casting of this spell bestows to the recipient total immunity to non-magical melee weapons. This is similar in effect to the spell Protection from Normal Missiles. The recipient of this spell may still be attacked and hit by non-magical weapons but the weapons will do no damage or deliver any effects from attacks that hit.

This spell also grants the recipient immunity to physical attacks by creatures under three hit dice. Attacks by creatures of more than three hit dice are treated normally. Any creature of an undead, magical, supernatural or extra-planar nature will be able to cause damage to the recipient with physical attacks regardless of their hit dice but will not cause damage if normal weapons are used in the attacks.

The material component of this spell is a small piece of hide from a creature with an armor class that is naturally lower than AC2. it can alternatively be a small piece of flesh from a creature that requires a magical weapon to hit them. If the former is used it is consumed by the spell while the latter is not.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.

Champions - Hero Games

Of all the various superhero games I've played over the years Champions would have to be the one that I have played the most. There are others such as Villains & Vigilantes that hold a more special place in my heart for some reason but Champions was the one that we returned to the most. I think it was that you could create a more structured and level playing environment. All of the Hero games lend themselves to the idea of game balance. Everything is point based so all of the players should be basically equal. There are ways to try and beat the system but a good GM can address those. In the end it is a bunch of dice and math but the underlying idea is there. Give it a try if for no other reason than to try and recreate your favorite hero or villain within 250 points.