Wild Talents

Just picked up a copy of Wild Talents the other day and have been devouring it in my free minutes (not that I have all that many). Man, what a great read!

Not that it's necessarily a great game...I mean, I don't know if it is or isn't as I haven't read page one of the game system. No, instead I've been reading the fantastic chapter on building and modeling a superheroic world. I read somewhere on-line that this section was penned/developed by Kenneth Hite...regardless, its fanatastic and lives up to all the hype that made me want to buy the book in the first place.

I mean, I already own many, many superhero game systems...including Godlike, the precursor to Wild Talents, and the first game by Cubicle Seven featuring the "one roll engine" system. Eh...it's not really my thing to play "limited" superheroes or use a crunchy (if elegant) system as a springboard for "storytelling." But Godlike sure is a great resource if you're into alternate history WWII (does GURPS have a WWII book? Frankly, this is the best I've seen in a game system, ever).

Wild Talents, though, is much more open in scope than Godlike...you can set the damn game anywhere you want, create any type of "comic book" setting you could want or even think of...from Silver Age Marvel/DC to Wild Cards or The Watchmen. And it tells you how to do it, building from the ground up.

That's pretty sweet.

And anyway, that's why I've been coveting the game for so long...honestly, I have plenty of superhero RPGs, most of which I find lacking for one reason or another. I figure the only way I'll ever play another supers RPG is if I design/write it myself (and no, THAT type of project is a loooooong way off). But I had heard about the essays and "campaign construction" and alt history stuff and I've been wanting to read it for awhile. I just couldn't quite bring myself to shell out the full price for the book (and I wasn't about to pay even $10 for the "essential rules" when what I really wanted was the "fluff").

But I found it used and half-price at Gary's.

Don't worry, folks. I'm still playing D&D tonight (and for the foreseeable future). But I wanted to share my excitement over a VERY cool book.

: )

"The World's Greatest Superhero RPG"

Or so it says on the cover. It put me to sleep in about 5 minutes of reading, a feat previously only accomplished by the 4th edition Champions.

But after a couple hour nap with the beagles, I did go back and read the rest of the game, and managed to keep my eyes open for the remainder. That's one-up on Champions.

Yes, I broke down and bought Green Ronin's Mutants & Masterminds. Well, "broke down" isn't entirely accurate...I've been looking for a used copy of the game for about a week, ever since I saw Iron Man 2. But today I was able to get a copy of the 1st edition rules (suggested by one of my readers) down at Half-Price books...and for the bargain basement price of $8. I may be hard on D20 (that's putting it mildly) but I'm a sucker for a deal. And as I've written many times, I'm also a sucker for most any superhero RPG.

In fact, I almost picked up a copy of Wild Talents: Essential Edition for $10 when I was down at The Dreaming, earlier. However, I'm still holding out for the deluxe version with the Ken Hite essays...and while The Dreaming had one $50 copy on the shelf, a dude bought it about thirty seconds before I could even pick it up (yes, Gary's has a copy as well and I'll probably get it there...I'm still saving my pennies).

Plus, I've only begun to toy with M&M.

I've yet to actually attempt making a character with the game, though my first impressions of the character creation system was "not bad." Which isn't saying a whole lot since D20 has always had fun character creation, and starting as a 10th level character gives you a lot of points with which to play.

Which is interesting...even as a D20 game, chargen is even farther removed from D&D roots than standard D20. No random rolls at all...no hit points, no random ability scores, no starting cash. Everything balanced against each other, designed to work with a single D20...a true "D20" system I guess.

Anyway, I actually like the combo of feats and powers...the use of power points and power levels (or just "levels" to me), is pretty nifty. The thing is, I LIKE levels in superhero RPGs. Villains & Vigilantes, Heroes Unlimited...one of the cool things in these games (& M&M) IS the use of levels.

Why levels? Because for the most part the superhero/comic book genre is one of the few that features protagonists that actually grow and evolve in power over time.

Most comic book supers have to start with an "origin story," after all...an Issue #1 in which the character gains great powers and has to learn how to use 'em. They're nervous and unsure of themselves (or they're cocky and over-confident, needing to be taken down a peg)...but after a couple hundred issues they're confident veterans, looked to by younger heroes as mentors. To me, this is easily modeled by an experience/level system.

Of course, Mutants & Masterminds doesn't start with level 1.

But of course, that's just your average D20 madness...5th level beat cops and 3rd level bystanders, I suppose. No "Normal Human" monsters to be found.

But that's enough whining on that particular issue. There's plenty of other things to complain about.

; )

For example, I was fine with the first three pages of combat. But then the next 15 was more than I could stomach. I skimmed it, mostly for the pretty pictures. But despite a stated desire to "adapt the world's most popular game system to the fast-paced world of superheroics" (page 3 of the introduction) I found it to be fairly tedious and clunky...still.

Then there's this little quote from the Gamemastering chapter. Regarding Altering the Outcome of Dice Rolls, the book says:

Isn't this cheating? Well, yes, in a matter of speaking it is, but it's "cheating" in order to make the game more interesting and fun for everyone involved. So long as you don't alter the outcome of die rolls unfairly or maliciously and you do it to help ensure the game is fun, interesting, and challenging, you shouldn't have a problem. Besides, the players don't have to know that you change the occasional dice roll. That's one of the reasons it's a good idea for Gamemasters to roll their dice out of sight of the players.

That's ugly. I mean, it's not just irritating, but offensive to my sensibilities...in about three or four different, separate ways.

- "in order to make the game more interesting and fun for everyone involved" ...well, actually, it is making the game more interesting and fun for the GM and whatever is the GM's idea of "interesting and fun."

- "so long as you don't alter the outcome of dice rolls unfairly" ...um, isn't a random dice roll kind of the definition of fair and impartial? When you ignore what the Fates have decreed you are ignoring what is (hopefully) a game system designed to be fair and balanced.

- "besides, the players don't have to know you change the occasional dice roll" ...the conspiratorial tone, especially the included emphasis just makes me cringe. Is this us against them? Are the players just a bunch of suckers to be played?

- "it's a good idea for [GMs] to roll their dice out of sight" ...just keeping the trust-building going, huh? 'Cause the players couldn't take it if they saw you fudging the rolls and working off GM fiat of what YOU think is interesting? Or because the players will (rightly) pound your ass for preempting the game with what YOU think is fun?

Just so long as it's not "malicious," I guess. Jeez.

Anyways, there's probably more nit-picking I could do but again, some of these complaints about the attitude of D20 games is nothing new. I knew what I was doing when I bought it...which is why I was un-willing to pay more than I did.

I DID like the random disaster/opponent tables and would totally steal 'em (or make my own knock-off versions) for any superhero RPG I design. That was a good thing. Also, it's a plus for any game to have an introductory adventure included in it, and while I totally hate those over-stuffed stat blocks the NPCs (both the Freedom League heroes and the villains of the "rogue's gallery") are quite good. But then, I'm a fan of supers...

And the artwork is all excellent, too.

All right, that's enough back-n-forth. I'll try crafting a couple characters later to try out the system...maybe even run a couple mock combats to see how workable it is.

Later, gators.

Thoughts on the Old School Renaissance

It's funny how things come around.  In 2007 I reserved myself a blogspot that I thought I would use as a RPG forum, but didn't know what I wanted to do besides "wax nostalgic."  Gary Gygax dies and I feel the end of an age, but I was already feeling that with the onset of 3.5 and the flooding of D20 products into he market (not to mention the re-writing of various older games as D20 versions...Gamma World, nooooo!).

Truth be told, the majority of my game acquisitions and dabblings have been in the indie-games developed in part on the Forge, where I found the discussion on game design both thoughtful and enlightening.  Some may find Forge-ites to be the extreme opposite end of the gaming spectrum, but I consider them to be kindred spirits.  Certainly Rod Edwards article/essays on Dungeons & Dragons are great food for thought, and a self-professed lover of fantasy RPGs, I think he is extremely fair in his analysis of the hobby.

However, the last few months I've put my own game designs (non-fantasy, mind you) on hold in order to explore the OSR.  I actually got hipped to the movement when I read an interview between James Maliszewski of Grognardia and Kenneth Hite (Hite, for those who don't know, is a crafter of the mighty fine Trail of Cthulhu RPG).

Anyway, now I find myself starting up my own old school blog.  Well, it probably would have happened eventually.

Frankly, there's a lot to say.  Is the Old School movement a push-back against the commercialization of the hobby?  Is it an out-pouring of creativity from a marginalized group in the RPG sub-culture?  Is it simply a bully's attempt to show "this is how I play?"

I don't think its any of those things at heart, though I may be wrong.  I think that it is "more than a feeling" as James wrote...but even if it's ONLY a feeling, feelings are strong and real and have power to affect the real world.  Aren't "feelings" a large part of the problem on the West Bank?

(side note: I am not inviting discussion on that last question)

Here's how I see it...I'm getting to the age where, if I was going to stop collecting and playing RPGs, I would have...just like I gave up Hot Wheels cars, comic books, and Saturday Morning cartoons.  Just as I stopped playing soccer or fencing.  We get older and we pick our priorities, including hobbies.

SO coming to acceptance that, "okay, I guess I'm a geek that likes RPGs," it's time to become an evangelist and "spread the good word."  By which I mean simply: gaming has merit. It is a shared experience...and by definition, one that needs to be shared with interested parties.

For me, that means youngsters.  While I don't have children of my own (yet), I do have younger friends (teens and pre-teens) that hang out with my wife and I and enjoy playing games.  And I want to introduce to them the same games that sparked my interest in gaming in the first place.  If I can, I want to introduce them to games in the same way that I was introduced to them, echoing my own gaming education.

But even more than that, I am a man with a lot less time than I once had...I'm fortunate that I don't have to travel and work 12 hour days like my wife, but I still have errands in keeping up a house and taking care of two beagles.  Plus I need to find time to exercise...for my health as much as for this paunch I've been slowly developing.

Less time means, less time to waste on games that I don't enjoy.  It means bye-bye to the frustrations of 3.5+ (whose learning curve is too high to introduce to people), to incoherent game designs (like AD&D2 or most White Wolf games).  It means getting maximum enjoyment for my time...and while games don't all have to be "rules light," I am dropping all giant stat block games like hand grenades (sorry D20, Palladium).

To me, the Old School Renaissance is the re-birth of my own gaming preferences...a re-defining of what I enjoy in a game, and a hard, cold look past the glossy exterior to the meat of the game.  Some books make great coffee table material, and some are games worthy of being played.  I own both types, but if I have the choice, I'm only going to play the latter.