DEFENDERS-5 for Silver Age Sentinels

DEFENDERS

DEFENDERS stands for Duty Equality Freedom Extra-National Defenders of Earth Region Super-heroic. DEFENDERS is an organized network of super-powered agents. DEFENDERS is the modern descendent of the legendary Liberty Defenders of World War II.

DEFENDERS has chapters in most major cities. Each chapter consists of 5-6 super-powered beings. Each chapter reports to an administrator assigned to coordinate the activities of all affiliated super-powered beings within that theater of operations. Each chapter is given a numerical designation. For example, the Pacific City Chapter is known as DEFENDERS-5. DEFENDERS-6 is located in Portland and DEFENDERS-28 is headquartered in San Francisco.

DEFENDERS-5 currently consists of Bolter, Arclight, El Montana, Typhoon, and Myst. An earlier roster included Cosmic Storm, the Kyle, Shield Maiden, String Theory, and Wounded Knee, all of whom have either been reassigned or have retired from service.

Bolter

Stephen Joseph, aka “Bolter”, has the ability to generate and control kinetic force, visible as a magenta field surrounding his body. He can project beams of force, fly, and generate force fields. He is the leader of DEFENDERS-5.

 Name: Steven Joseph aka "Bolter"
Group Affiliations: DEFENDERS-5
Territory: Pacific City
Description and Character Notes: Bolter is former military. He’s a natural leader but also cocky, arrogant, and a little insensitive.

Body: 8
Mind: 8
Soul: 4
Health Points: 60
Combat Value: 16
Defense Value: 5

Attributes:
Skills (30 points left out of 30)
Force Blast 8x4 = 32 (120 damage attack)
   Accurate 2x20 = 40 (+4 bonus to attack)
Force Field 6x4 = 24 (80 damage reduction)
   Blocks Teleport
   Offensive
Armour 2x3 = 6 (20 damage stopped)
Flight 3x4 = 12 (100 kph)
   Fly in any Direction
Combat Technique 4x1 = 4
   Lightning Reflexes x4 (+36 Total Initiative)
Attack Combat Mastery 10x3 = 30 

 Defense Combat Mastery 1x2 = 2

Arclight

Candace Brown, aka “Arclight”, is able to absorb sunlight throughout the day and redirect it in the form of intense blinding flashes, concentrated beams of heat and light, and a force field of intense radiation. The light stored within her is visible as a bright glow emanating from deep within her body. As she uses her stored sunlight, her glow begins to fade and so too her powers. Arclight is a member of DEFENDERS-5.

Name: Candace Brown aka "Arclight"

Group Affiliations: DEFENDERS-5

Territory: Pacific City

Description and Character Notes: Friendly, competent, and professional with a good sense of humor.

Body: 5

Mind: 6

Soul: 4

Health Points: 45

Energy Points: 50

Combat Value: 13

Defense Value: 11

Attributes:

  Skills  

    Acrobatics 1x6 = 6  (Well-Trained)

    Driving 2x2 = 4  (Expert)

    Interrogation 1x4 = 4  (Well-Trained)

    Street Sense 1x2 = 2  (Well-Trained)

    Performing Arts 1x2 = 2  (Well-Trained)

    Etiquette 2x1 = 2  (Expert)

    Special Ranged Attack 1x10 = 10  (Well-Trained)

  Flight 2x4 - 3 = 5  (50 kph)

    Fly in any Direction  

    Detectable 1x-1 = -1  (Detected using 1-2 methods)

    Burns Energy 2x-1 = -2  (2 pts or 10/week)

  Strobe 8x4 - 4 = 28 

    Area Effect 1x20 = 20 

    Stun  

    Flare 7x20 = 140  (-12 to stat check)

    No Damage  

    Burns Energy 4x-1 = -4  (10 pts or 30/day)

  Bioluminescence (Environmental Influence) 1x1 - 3 = -2  (1 environmental influences)

    Permanent 1x-1 = -1  (Slight inConvenience)

    Area 2x1 = 2  (1m)

    Detectable 1x-1 = -1  (Detected using 1-2 methods)

    Burns Energy 3x-1 = -3  (5 pts or 10/day)

  Stun 6x4 - 3 = 21  (80 damage attack)

    Stun  

    Flare 1x20 = 20  (-4 to stat check)

    Burns Energy 3x-1 = -3  (5 pts or 10/day)

  Attack Combat Mastery 8x3 = 24 

  Defense Combat Mastery 8x2 = 16 

  Force Field 5x4+ 1 = 21  (100 damage reduction)

    Area 1x1 = 1  (10cm)

    Duration 1x1 = 1  (1 round)

    Burns Energy 1x-1 = -1  (1 pt or 1/week)

  Armour 2x3 = 6  (20 damage stopped)

  Adaptation 1x1 = 1 

    Radiation   

Myst

Mychelle Stevens, aka “Myst”, is a telepath from England. Her skin and hair are blue, a side effect of the extra-dimensional exposure that gave her super-powers. Myst is a member of DEFENDERS-5.

Name: Mychelle Stephens aka "Myst"

Group Affiliations: DEFENDERS-X

Territory: Pacific City

Description and Character Notes: English accent. Mysterious and secretive.

Body: 4

Mind: 16

Soul: 4

Health Points: 40

Combat Value: 8

Defense Value: 9

Attributes:

  Skills  

    Special Ranged Attack 2x10 = 20  (Expert)

    Interrogation 1x4 = 4  (Well-Trained)

    Social Sciences 3x2 = 6  (Veteran)

  Heightened Senses 4x1 = 4 

    X-ray Vision  

    Ultravision  

    Infravision  

    Vision  

  Enhanced [Mind] 8x2 = 16 

  Telepathy 8x3+ 8 = 32  (Start Mind Combat)

    Universal Utility  

    Targets 2x1 = 2  (5 People)

    Area 6x1 = 6  (10km)

  Sixth Sense 5x1+ 3 = 8 

    Area 3x1 = 3  (10m)

    Danger  

    Telepathy  

    Truth  

    Illusions  

    Emotions  

  Mind Shield 5x1 = 5  (5 defensive levels of Mind and Soul, +50 mental armor)

  Mental Blast 10x4 = 40  (20 damage attack)

    Mind Attack  

    Affects Incorporeal  

    Penetrating (Armour) 3x20 = 60  (60 pts of Armour Reduction)

  Armour 2x3 = 6  (20 damage stopped)

  Combat Technique 1x1 = 1 

    Judge Opponent  

  Defense Combat Mastery 3x2 = 6  

Typhoon

Kenichi Sakaguchi, aka “Typhoon”, survived an unnatural hurricane as a child and has been able to create and control weather ever since. He is sullen and moody. Typhoon is a member of DEFENDERS-5.

Name: Kenichi Sakaguchi aka "Typhoon"

Group Affiliations: DEFENDERS-5

Territory: Pacific City

Description and Character Notes: Young, detached, emotional, and moody.  

Body: 5

Mind: 6

Soul: 4

Health Points: 45

Combat Value: 5

Defense Value: 3

Attributes:

  Skills  

    Special Ranged Attack 3x10 = 30  (Veteran)

  Weather Control 8x15 - 4 = 116 

    Major or Large Categories  

    Detectable 2x-1 = -2  (Detected using 3-5 methods)

    Concentration 2x-1 = -2  (Intense Concentration)

Info And Comments For: Weather Control 8x15 - 4 = 116 

Comments:

Up to 16 levels of other abilities, any one max level 8.

  Lightning 8x4 = 32  (160 damage attack)

  Wind Blast 8x4 = 32  (40 damage attack)

    Knockback 4x20 = 80  (8 metres / damage point dealt)

    Area Effect 2x20 = 40  (4 metre radius)

  Fog, Cold, Heat, Rain, Snow, Sleet 8x1+ 5 = 13  (3 environmental influences)

    Duration 1x1 = 1  (1 round)

    Darkness  

    Heat  

    Cold  

    Sound  

    Specific Weather Conditions  

    Area 4x1 = 4  (100m)

  Wind Bubble (Force Field) 8x4+ 2 = 34  (180 damage reduction)

    Area 2x1 = 2  (1m)

    Duration 1x1 = 1  (1 round)

    Detectable 1x-1 = -1  (Detected using 1-2 methods)

    Major Limitation - Physical Attacks Only  

    Offensive (90 damage to anyone who touches the field)

El Montana

Francisco Munoz, aka “El Montana”, is a towering behemoth of a man, easily twelve feet tall, with super-strength, stamina, and mass to match. El Montana is quiet and reserved. He is a member of DEFENDERS-5.

Name: Francisco Munoz aka "El Montana"

Group Affiliations: DEFENDERS-5

Territory: Pacific City

Description and Character Notes: Quiet and brooding.

Body: 20

Mind: 4

Soul: 6

Health Points: 210

Combat Value: 10

Defense Value: 8

Attributes:

  Skills  

    Powerlifting 1x6 = 6  (Well-Trained)

    Unarmed Attack 3x8 = 24  (Veteran)

  Super Strength 10x4 - 1 = 39  (100,000 tonnes and +100 damage in close combat and +40 strength check bonus)

    Permanent 1x-1 = -1  (Slight inconvenience)

  Enhanced [Body] 10x2 = 20 

  Tough 4x2 = 8  (+80 health points)

  Shockwave Clap (Special Attack) 9x4 = 36  (40 damage attack)

    Area Effect 4x20 = 80  (12 metre radius)

    Muscle-Powered  

    Incapacitating  

      Body Check Required  

    Melee  

    No Damage  

    Knockback 2x20 = 40  (2 metres / damage point delt)

  Armour 3x3 - 1 = 8  (30 damage stopped)

    Permanent 1x-1 = -1  (Slight inconvenience)

  Unappealing 2x-1 = -2  (Moderately Unappealing)

  Awkward Size 1x-1 = -1  (2 times normal size)

  Jumping 2x1 = 2  (10 times normal distance)

U.N.I.T.E.D., D.E.F.E.N.D.E.R.S., and A.E.G.I.S.

Within my Silver Age Sentinels setting, there are three groups whose presence dominates all aspects of super-hero life: UNITED, DEFENDERS, and AEGIS.

UNITED. stands for the United Nations Integrated Task-Force for Extraordinary Defense. It was established by the UN in the early fifties to investigate and counter super-normal threats to peace. UNITED is a massive organization with an international mandate.

UNITED is comprised of numerous divisions. Chief among these are the DEFENDERS, and AEGIS.

DEFENDERS stands for Duty Equality Freedom Extra-National Defenders of Earth Region Super-heroic. DEFENDERS is an organized network of super-powered agents. DEFENDERS is the modern descendant of the legendary Liberty Defenders of World War II.

DEFENDERS has chapters in most major cities. Each chapter consists of 5-6 super-powered beings. Each chapter reports to an administrator assigned to coordinate the activities of all affiliated super-powered beings within that theater of operations. Each chapter is given a numerical designation. For example, the Pacific City Chapter is known as DEFENDERS-5.  DEFENDERS-6 is located in Portland and DEFENDERS-28 is headquartered in San Francisco.

DEFENDERS-5 currently consists of Bolter, Arclight, El Montana, Typhoon, and Myst. An earlier roster included Cosmic Storm, the Kyle, Shield Maiden, String Theory, and Wounded Knee, all of whom have either been reassigned or have retired from service.

AEGIS stands for the Alliance for Enforcement of Global Integrity and Security. It is an international armed force that serves an intelligence-gathering and special forces role for UNITED. It is primarily comprised of baseline agents but has several superhuman operatives. AEGIS is the equivalent of SHIELD or UNIT. Its operations are generally covert and classified. AEGIS personnel are divided into Agents, Operatives, and Support. Agents are mission leaders. A single agent oversees and coordinates the work of several operatives and support on a given mission. AEGIS also directly supports DEFENDERS. The support personnel of DEFENDERS technically work for AEGIS, and AEGIS operatives often work directly and cooperatively with DEFENDERS on missions. AEGIS also serves as a check against the super-powered DEFENDERS.

Candace Brown, aka "Arclight"

Silver Age Sentinels stats for Candace Brown, aka "Arclight"

Name: Candace Brown aka "Arclight"
Genre: SAS Default Skills
Group Affiliations: U.N.I.T.E.D.-North America
Gender: Female
Description and Character Notes: Arclight's power bends a shaft of sunlight down on her from above, even at night. It is from this shaft of sunlight that she derives her powers. Clouds, overcast days, beining indoors, or under any other kind of covering disrupts this beam and robs her of her powers. Therefore, she can only use her powers while outdoors on clear days.

Body: 5
Mind: 6
Soul: 4
Health Points: 45
Energy Points: 50
Shock Value: 9
Combat Value: 11
Defense Value: 10
Attributes:
  Skills  
    Acrobatics 1x6 = 6  (Well-Trained)
    Driving 2x2 = 4  (Expert)
    Interrogation 1x4 = 4  (Well-Trained)
    Street Sense 1x2 = 2  (Well-Trained)
    Performing Arts 1x2 = 2  (Well-Trained)
    Etiquette 2x1 = 2  (Expert)
    Special Ranged Attack 1x10 = 10  (Well-Trained)
  Flight 2x4 = 8  (50 kph)
    Fly in any Direction  
  Strobe 8x4 = 32 
    Area Effect 1x20 = 20 
    Stun  
    Flare 7x20 = 140  (-12 to stat check)
    No Damage  
  Bioluminescence (Environmental Influence) 1x1 - 1 = 0  (1 environmental influences)
    Permanent 1x-1 = -1  (Slight inConvenience)
  Stun 7x4 = 28  (100 damage attack)
    Stun  
    Flare 1x20 = 20  (-5 to stat check)
  Attack Combat Mastery 6x3 = 18 
  Defense Combat Mastery 7x2 = 14 
  Force Field 3x4+ 2 = 14  (60 damage reduction)
    Area 1x1 = 1  (10cm)
    Duration 1x1 = 1  (1 round)
  Armour 2x3 = 6  (20 damage stopped)

Steven Joseph aka "Bolter"

Silver Age Sentinels stats for Bolter, leader of Defenders-North America.

Name: Steven Joseph aka "Bolter"
Group Affiliations: U.N.I.T.E.D.- North America
Occupation: Leader
Age: 27
Gender: Male

Body: 8
Mind: 8
Soul: 4
Health Points: 60
Energy Points: 60
Shock Value: 12
Combat Value: 16
Defense Value: 5

Attributes:

  Skills  (30 points left out of 30)
  Flight 3x4 = 12  (100 kph)
    Fly in any Direction
  Force Field 6x4 = 24  (80 damage reduction)
    Blocks Teleport
    Offensive
  Force Blast 8x4 = 32  (120 damage attack)
    Accurate 2x20 = 40  (+4 bonus to attack)
  Combat Technique 4x1 = 4
    Lightning Reflexes
    Lightning Reflexes
    Lightning Reflexes
    Lightning Reflexes
  Armour 2x3 = 6  (20 damage stopped)
  Attack Combat Mastery 10x3 = 30
  Defense Combat Mastery 1x2 = 2

Alas, Aberrant.

We have been playing Aberrant, the supers game from White Wolf, for the past five or six weeks.

The story we created revolved around the Alternatives, a team of novas headquartered in San Francisco. The Alternatives were created by wealthy real estate tycoon L. Roy Davidson as a competitor to Project Utopia and Team 2Morrow.

The campaign was going great. The story was developing. In true Aberrant fashion, the story involved secret agendas, conspiracies, truths revealed, etc. Everyone had compelling interesting characters and were invested in the meta-plot.

Unfortunately, we were betrayed by the rules.

The rules failed us in three areas:

1) The rules are terribly complex. Battles were taking us about 30 minutes per combat round. There was a lot of complexity to track. Which dice were which (mega-stats vs. normal stats vs. stats that explode tens). Converting mega-attributes to normal attributes. Automatic successes vs. dice. mega-successes vs. normal successes. Subtracting dice from multiple actions, which is simple enough but led to some complicated math when deciding how many actions it was worth taking this turn. One of my players just never ever could wrap his head around the rules, no matter how hard he tried.

2) It's roshambo. It's terribly difficult to match PCs up with NPCs in an interesting fight. It was always "PC-A defeats NPC-B with one touch. NPC-C defeats PC-A with one touch. PC-D defeats NPC-C with one touch." and so on. It therefore became difficult to challenge the PCs. If the PCs were "rocks", they would either fight "scissors" and win without effort, or they would fight "papers" and lose badly. Or they would fight a mixed group and whoever won initiative won the fight. And one of the PCs ALWAYS won initiative.

3) It's exploitable. As a side-effect of the very complicated rules, it is possible to find exploits in the rules that make your PC unbeatable or at least far more effective than other characters made with the same number of points. One player announced to me last week that, in three experience points, he will have Quantum 6, which would effectively double all his damage and soak, making him unbeatable.

I was beginning to become disappointed. It was very time consuming making NPCs because of the complicated powers and rules, and they weren't challenging the PCs anyway. The players weren't enjoying the complex rules either.

We talked about it as a group and decided to abandon Aberrant.

I decided to bring out another old supers game: Silver Age Sentinels.

I have never run SAS, but I ran BESM back in the 90s and I did play in an SAS game back in 2003. The game is MUCH simpler! The powers are much more straightforward and less exploitable.

I will have to convert many of my NPCs over to SAS, but that shouldn't be too difficult. I also want to move away from some Aberrant universe concepts that I found too stifling as a GM. I'm moving the setting over to my old Mutants and Masterminds settings, which is more 4-color than Aberrant. So I'll be changing little things. For instance, Team 2Morrow will now be U.N.I.T.E.D. The Directive will be A.E.G.I.S. Teragen will be called the Legion.

I'll be posting my NPCs and conversions in the coming weeks.

RPGs I've Run and/or Played

This recent post got me thinking about the games I have run or played. My problem with this poll is that it compresses a lot of games into one option (FATE and Savage Worlds) and does not include a lot of games. So I compiled my own list, with substantially different game editions listed as different games (for instance, Alternity Gamma World vs. Gamma World 4E or different Savage World settings).

1.      2300

2.      50 Fathoms

3.      Aberrant

4.      Adventure

5.      All Flesh Must Be Eaten

6.      Atomic Highway

7.      Big Eyes, Small Mouth, 2^nd ed.

8.      Boot Hill, 1^st ed.

9.      Bubblegum Crisis: The Role Playing Game

10.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer

11.  Call of Cthulhu, 5^th ed.

12.  Champions

13.  Conan, d20

14.  CyberGeneration

15.  Cyberpunk

16.  Cyberpunk 2020

17.  Delta Green

18.  Diaspora

19.  Dragonball Z

20.  Dungeon Crawl Classics

21.  Dungeon World

22.  Dungeons and Dragons, 3.0-3.5

23.  Dungeons and Dragons, 4E

24.  Dungeons and Dragons, AD&D

25.  Dungeons and Dragons, AD&D 2E

26.  Dungeons and Dragons, Moldvay Basic

27.  Encounter Critical

28.  Fiasco

29.  Gamma World - Savage Worlds

30.  Gamma World 4E

31.  Gamma World Alternity

32.  Ghostbusters

33.  Ghostbusters, 2^nd ed.

34.  GURPS

35.  Hong Kong Action Theater

36.  Legend of the Five Rings

37.  Lightspeed

38.  Marvel Super Heroes (FASERIP)

39.  Mechwarrior

40.  Mekton II

41.  Mekton Zeta

42.  Monster Hearts

43.  Monsters and Other Childish Things

44.  Mutants and Masterminds, 1^st ed.

45.  My Life with Master

46.  Paranoia

47.  Pendragon, 5^th ed.

48.  Rifts

49.  Robotech

50.  Sengoku

51.  Serenity

52.  Seventh Sea

53.  Shadowrun

54.  Star Frontiers

55.  Star Trek (LUG)

56.  Star Wars Second Edition, Revised and Expanded

57.  Star Wars, 1st ed

58.  Street Fighter

59.  Swords of Cydoria - Basic Roleplaying

60.  Talislanta, 2^nd ed.

61.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness

62.  Teenagers from Outer Space, 1^st ed.

63.  Trail of Cthulhu

64.  Traveller, Mongoose

65.  True20

66.  TWERPS

67.  Twilight 2000 v.2.2

68.  Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 2^nd ed.

69.  Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 3^rd ed.

70.  X-Plorers

Meet our new dog: Raven C.S. McCracken!

Christa and I have adopted another greyhound. The newest member of our family is Winnie, whom we have re-named Raven C. S. McCracken.

We chose the name Raven C. S. McCracken months ago when we decided that the next dog we own will be named "The Kraken!" so that when we let her loose at the dog park, we can announce, "Release the Kraken!"

The full name, Raven S. McCracken, was inspired by the real life Raven C. S. McCracken, creator of one of the world's most awesome I mean, worst, I mean least appreciated role-playing games: The World of Synnibar!

Plus, Raven is black, so it just fits, and our other greyhound has a full name of Santos L. Halper (named after Bart Simpson's dog's credit card).

Yes. We have a history of coming up with obscure names for our greyhounds. Our first greyhound was named Pazuzu, ostensibly after a gargoyle in Futurama, but really so much more!

Anyway, Raven C. S. McCracken is 6 years old and has a little stubby butt where she lost her tail in an accident at the track. She kind of looks like a little doberman but she's all greyhound, I can assure you! What's even more bizarre, we looked up her history online when we got home and she and Santos are siblings! They share a father! She really is his little sister! That just really blew us away.

Anyway, welcome Raven, aka Little Miss Stumpy-Butt, to our family.

My Sunday RPG group is looking for +1

My Sunday RPG group is looking for +1. We play Sundays 1pm-5pm in Ridgefield, WA. Every other week in the summer, every week in the winter. Let me know if you are interested.

There are currently four of us. All in our thirties to forties, professionals, three men and one woman. We've been playing as a group since 2003.

We tend to have gamer-ADD. We change games/campaigns/runners every 3-4 months or so. We are about to finish up a Dungeon Crawl Classics game. After that, we are planning on Legend of the Five Rings.

"She" 1935 film

I'm watching the 1935 film adaptation of H Rider Haggard's "She". This movie has it all!

It's a thirties adventure story with intrepid explorers tracking down a crazy legend in the Siberian arctic. In the arctic, they find a huge unexplored mountain range. They find an entrance to volcanic caves inhabited by degenerate cannibal cave men!!! They are almost literally boiled in a cauldron like bugs bunny when they are saved by warriors from a lost kingdom on the other side of the mountains.

There they find an Art Deco kingdom ruled by an immortal woman with magic powers. There's some jealousy and love triangle and mistaken identity and blah blah blah.

This movie has some amazing matte paintings and costumes (the immortal queen was the inspiration for the evil queen in Disneys Snow White). And did I mention there's a saber tooth tiger and its last victim frozen in a glacier? From only 500 years ago!

The film also gets bonus points for explaining why the lost kingdom speaks English. Plus they have their own fictional language.

The ending is amazing. The entire sacrificial procession and dancing! The rituals and masks! The giant statues of gods sitting around the chamber! My eyes boggled! The design and choreography and costumes and set design just all come together to be perfect pulp adventure film. The special effects of the Flame of Life at the very end were amazing, even by today's standards. They were beautiful and mysterious and very modern looking.

The whole movie is like a pulp-adventure rpg campaign come to life! This movie should be required viewing for anyone wanting to run a pulp adventure RPG.

The FP is EPIC!

First things first. The FP is an epic film. It's a 2011 film that's currently available on Netflix Streaming. It's an homage/parody of 80's direct-to-video fighter movies about some kind of underground fighting arena, like any of the dozens of Bloodsport knock-offs. The schtick is, however, instead of fighting, the FP is a bout the underground world of high-stakes Dance Dance Revolution  Beat Beat Revelation. The film is the best kind of parody: It's not only funny, it's one of hte best examples of the genre its trying to emulate. Other great examples include Black Dynamaite, Galaxy Quest, Planet Terror, and Shawn of the Dead.

The genius of the FP is that it takes itself SO SERIOUSLY! The only hints that this is a parody are plot elements that are just intentionally over-the-top. If the movies it emulates took their plots to 11, the FP takes its plot to 12!

It's a movie where two rival gangs vie for control of Dawn's Liquor Mart, the only liquor store in the rural California town of Frazier Park (the FP), through underground duels of Beat Beat Revolution. In the opening scene, the main character's older brother dies in an especially intense match against the leader of the rival gang. The main character, named JTRO, who wears an eye-patch by the way, gives up BBR and becomes a logger. He is lured back into the scene when he learns that L-dubbah-E, the leader of the rival gang, has shut down the liquor store. All the drunks in town have now switched to meth and crack, causing the town to go downhill. What's worse, without alcohol there are no bums. Without bums, there's no one to feed the ducks. Who's gonna feed the mutha-fuckin ducks, yo?

A lot of the promotional material for the movie says its in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future. Don't believe any of that. It's in the modern day normal city of Frazier Park, and that makes it truly hilarious.

Anyway, Christa and I laughed our butt off. And I thoroughly recommend this film for anyone who appreciates a good combination of the sublime and the rediculous.

Pendragon, Carcosa, and DCC. Plus, a realization about my Sunday group's preferences.

The entirety of my creative attention lately has been focused on finishing "The Blade of Takshaka", a full-length adventure scenario for the Swords of Cydoria, written for BRP. I have finished the writing and am ready to move into layout and illustration.

Pendragon

We're still playing Pendragon on Fridays. Last week, our intrepid knights tracked the knave Ithyll into the Saxon-controlled northeastern section of England. We passed through a dense forest and found some moors. On the morrow we awoke to find ourselves magically transported to a fairy realm. A gigantic sword balanced on its edge to form a bridge across a raging river. Sir Hyll made it across. We found a pagan cairn atop a hill and a sword in a magical red stone. Nearby, we found a city filled with beautiful fairy ladies. Our knights were besotten and partook of the comely hospitality. They laid out a test for us the next day, a gauntlet designed to test our knighly qualities. We all failed pretty quickly.

Failing the test, we found ourselves returned to our original location. We continued our mission and came across an abandoned farm. It was a Pictish trap. The three of us slew a score of Picts. My knight, Sir Hyll, had no small difficulty defeating the final Pict who was, in fact, the bastard Ithyll. The rest of the eschille stood by and looked on as Ithylll and Sir Hill traded blows for nearly an hour. Finally, Sir Hyll won the day and grudge-killed that evil traitorous mother-loving... Anyway. You get the point.

Carcosa

 On Saturday, I picked up the book Carcosa. It is nominally for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, a D&D retro-clone, but it can be used with any OSR game. I have been wanting to purchase this book for a long time. It's bound in soft embossed leather. It has amazing artwork and typography and layout. It's just a really well done book. Christa was admiring the printing of it and the overall design.

Carcosa is a hex-crawl adventure setting. The book consists of a hex-map, a guide to the setting, the special rules for characters, some new special rules for combat, psionics, alien technology, and sorcery, new monsters, and a big section with two encounters in every ten-mile hex. Then there's an adventure.

As a setting, Carcosa is weird-fantasy mash-up of science fiction, sword and sorcery, and Lovecraftian horror. It is very inspired by the writings of Clark Ashton Smith and Jack Vance and H.P. Lovecraft. It feels like a Rene Laloux sci-fi film. It's creepy and dark and menacing.

The setting catches a lot of flak because of the graphic nature of the sorcerous rituals. The rituals all require some kind of human sacrifice, and some of the sacrifices involve rape and infanticide and, well, just really really depraved actions. But that's the point. Sorcery in this setting is meant for bad guys. If you, as a player character, are willing to do these things for sorcery, then maybe you're the bad guy! I think it's totally in keeping with the setting and mood of the game. The book is also clearly marked on the cover with a warning of the mature and gruesomely graphic nature of some of its contents.

The hex-crawl aspect is fascinating. I want to run a hex-crawl type of game and I really wanted this book to help inspire me. Although, now I kind of just want to run Carcosa instead.

Dungeon Crawl Classics

On Sunday, we continued DCC. In recent weeks, we plumbed the depths of a dark pit inhabited by faceless (literally) cultists and giant tentacles. We reached a point last time where we had to retreat out of the dungeon. We re-traced our steps using our maps and managed to get out. We returned to the town of Swallow and recuperated for a few days. We levelled up (Level Two! W00T!), resupplied, recruited some new henchmen (our original four had died or fled), and went back into the pit.

We explored some side-passages we bypassed, lost some henchmen and a PC (poor Pyramis the Halfling) to some basilisks during a scouting mission, retreated and returned with the full party to kill said basilisks. Henchman Hector Mierdas Vendedor became a bad-ass warrior in this battle thanks to being Enlarged by the wizard Zebediah. Afterwards, we continued down. We defeated a tomb full of ghosts and got a +2 short sword, which we gave to Hector the Zero-Level Henchman. Then we linked up this path to a path we previously explored, closing the loop. We came across and defated some cultists and brainwashed captives and our out-of-game characters decided to call it day.

I really enjoy DCC. It's very weird fantasy. It feels like Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperborea. As I keep saying, it's like Warhammer FRP and Basic D&D had an RPG baby.

I have also come to the realization that our Sunday group really enjoys games were the PC's kind of suck. We have the most fun playing games were our characters are nobody sub-standard slightly amoral peons just trying to survive. Not where we are failing, mind you, but where we are making our way in spite of our lot in life. Where we're playing rat catchers and shit farmers and blacksmiths fighting kobolds and goblins and giat rats. Or, like in our Ghostbusters campaign, where they are just dudes who get enough money to purchase a ghostbusters franchise which they operate out of one of their mom's basement, with a crappy van and no office and yadda yadda yadda. You get the idea.

I'll need to remember this when designing future campaigns for this group.

The Glaive of Krull, a Heroic Tier artifact for D&D 4E

The Glaive of Krull
Heroic Level

The Dragonborn hero Krull had the Glaive forged deep in the heart of Mount Grem. Five chromatic dragons were sacrificed in its creation and enchantment. Krull used the Glaive to help conquer the neighboring tribes, forming an empire in the Northlands in the name of Tiamat. Krull continued his campaign of conquest until he died, assassinated by his own slaves. The Glaive passed from one would-be conqueror to another until it was taken by the Knights of Bahamut during their crusades against the Northlands.

The Glaive is a +2 magical throwing weapon (Superior Ranged Weapon, Prof +2, Damage 2d4, Range 6/12, Weight 4 lb, Group: heavy blade, properties: heavy thrown) with the following properties and powers. When de-activated, the weapon consists of five 6-inch curved equidistant radial spokes around a central hand-held hub. When activated, 6-inch curved blades extend from the end of each spoke and has the appearance of the symbol of Tiamat. The weapon is thrown in a spinning motion. It magically returns to its wielder after each throw, or can magically fly about on its own under the mental control of its wielder.

The artifact at first appears to be nothing more than an over-sized magical symbol of Tiamat. After its owner takes an extended rest with the Glaive in his possession, the artifact becomes bonded to the owner and its true nature and powers are revealed.

Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +2d6 damage
Property: You gain a +1 item bonus to Athletics and Thievery checks.
Property: You can speak and understand the Draconic language and script.
Power (At-Will): Standard Action. The Glaive does not need to return to the wielder at the end of the turn, it can be maintained and controlled remotely.
Power (At-Will): Free Action. The blades can be retracted to hide the weapon’s true nature.
Power (Encounter): Immediate Interrupt. You gain resist 5 vs. ice, fire, poison, acid, or lightning (choose one) until the end of the encounter.
Power (Encounter): Attack five different targets, each with separate attack and damage rolls.

Goals of the Glaive of Krull

• Hoard wealth, acquiring much and spending little. Wealth is its own reward.
• Forgive no slight and leave no wrong unpunished.
• Take what it wants from others. Thos who lack the strength to defend their possessions do not deserve to own them.

Roleplaying the Glaive of Krull
The Glaive of Krull is selfish, avaricious, deceptive, and manipulative. It does not speak directly to its wielder, but it insinuates itself into the wielder’s own conscience, urging the wielder to choose a course of action that furthers its goals.
Concordance
Starting Score 5
Owner gains a level +1d10
The owner’s wealth is doubled +2
Acquire something that rightfully belongs to someone else +1
Kill out of vengeance +1
Suffer an insult -1
The owner loses something that belongs to them -1
The owner’s wealth is halved -2
Defeat a Chromatic Dragon -2
Offering money, making donations, or any other charitable gesture -2

Pleased (16-20)
“Greed captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed is liberating. Greed is empowering. Greed is good.”
The Glaive is excited to serve its new master, goading him to greater acts of vengeance and acquisition.

Property: the Glaive’s item bonus to Athletics and Thievery checks increases to +5.
Property: Gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls against any enemy that damages you with a cold, fire, acid, poison or lightning attack until the end of your next turn.
Power (Encounter): Standard action. If the glaive scores a hit on an enemy, the enemy is immobilized. On subsequent turns the wielder may expend a standard action to will the Glaive to remain in place, spinning like a buzz-saw, and continue to do damage each turn (save ends).
Power (Daily): Immediate Interrupt. You gain resist 10 vs. ice, fire, poison, acid, or lightning (choose one) until the end of the encounter. This supersedes the normal resistances granted by the artifact.

Satisfied (12-15)
“Too much is never enough.”
The Glaive is pleased with the wielder’s greed and avarice and encourages him to take more and more.

Property: the Glaive’s item bonus to Athletics and Thievery checks increases to +2.
Power (Daily): Free Action. Gain 1 action point.

Normal (5-11)
“One possesses only what one has the strength and cunning to guard. All else is forfeit.”
The Glaive inspires its wielder to acquire more wealth, brook no insult, and to kill all those that deserve vengeance.

Unsatisfied (1-4)
“To know want is to be unworthy. Those are blessed who have the will to seize what they desire.”
The wielder is not acquiring enough wealth to satisfy the Glaive.

Special: You take a -2 penalty to all defenses against creatures whose level is equal to or lower than yours.

Angered (0 or lower)
“Poverty deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is difficult for an empty bag to stand upright”
The wielder is not living up to the Glaive’s expectations. It will not remain in the wielder’s possession for long. The artifact’s enhancement bonus to Attack rolls and damage rolls drops to +1.

Special: You take a -5 penalty to all defenses against creatures whose level is equal to or lower than yours.
Special: Any time you miss with an attack, there is a 25% the Glaive makes an attack against your Reflex defense, rolling 1d20 + your level, when it returns to your hand. If this attack hits, your Concordance is decreased by 1. If it misses, your Concordance in increased by 1.

Moving On
“I will never be satisfied. There will never be enough.”
When the wielder next gains a level, the Glaive of Krull melts into residuum worth 5,000 gp. Its magic and sentience appear elsewhere in the world as a new Glaive.

Special
If you spend an extended rest without the Glaive on your person for any reason other than moving on, the Glaive makes an attack against your Will defense, rolling 1d20 + your level. If this attack hits, it does a number of d6 psychic damage equal to your level. You are no longer bonded to the Glaive.

Attempting to disenchant the Glaive automatically fail and result in an immediate interrupt attack against the disenchanter’s Will defense, rolling 1d20 + your level. If this attack hits, it does a number of d6 psychic damage equal to your level.

Symbol of Tiamat

Donaar of the Jagannash Bloodline, Hand of Tiamat

In our long-running three-year D&D 4E campaign, one of the players wanted to switch characters, so I took his old PC and turned him into a recurring villain. I will post stats for Donaar's artifact: the Glaive of Tiamat, as soon as I can find that file.

Donaar of the Jagannash Bloodline, Hand of Tiamat                                      Level 14 Soldier

Medium Natural Humanoid                                                                                         XP 1000

Initiative +7

Senses Perception +15

HP 102; Bloodied 51

AC 32; Fortitude 23, Reflex 23, Will 24

Resist 10 ice, fire, poison, acid, or lightning

Immune poison

Speed 6

Action Points 1

(M) Ardent Vanguard Strike (standard; at-will)

+13 vs. AC; 2d6+5; may be used as a Basic Melee Attack when charging.

M Vanguard Charge (minor; encounter)

+1 to attack on any charge made using Ardent Vanguard Strike until the end of Donaar’s next turn. If the charge is successful, damage is increased by +1d8 and all allies within 10 squares gain +1 bonus to attack and +3 to damage until the end of Donaar’s next turn.

(R) Glaive (standard; at-will)

Ranged 6/12; +13 vs. AC; 2d4+5.  The glaive does not need to return to Donaar at the end of the turn. It can operate independently and move with a speed of 6. Moving the Glaive requires Donaar to expend a Move action. Attacking with the Glaive requires Donaar expend a Standard action. Simply maintaining the Glaive at a distance requires Donaar to expend a Minor action. If no actions are expended, the Glaive immediately returns to Donaar.

R Glaive Assault (standard; encounter)

Attack 5 different targets with the Glaive, each with separate attack and damage rolls.

R Glaive Buzz-saw (standard; encounter)

Ranged 6/12; +13 vs. AC; 2d4+5 and the target is immobilized. On subsequent turns, the wielder may expend a standard action to will the Glaive to remain in place, spinning like a buzz-saw, and continue to do damage each turn (save ends)

C Dragon Breath (minor; encounter)

Close blast 3; +11 vs. Reflexes; 2d6+2 lightning.

C Divine Challenge (minor; at-will)

Close burst 5; One target in burst; the target is marked until not engaged. The target takes 10 radiant damage the first time it makes an attack that doesn’t include Donaar as a target. Additionally, all targets of an attack made by a creature challenged by Donaar that doesn’t include Donaar are healed for 11.

Glaive’s Protection (immediate interrupt; at-will)

Donaar gains +1 to attack and damage rolls against any enemy that damages him with a cold, fire, acid, poison, or lightning attack until the end of his next turn.

Draconic Telepathy (standard; encounter)

Donaar may send a short message to a dragon that is up to 1 mile away. Donaar may also use this power as a free action when he drops to 0 hit points, even if he has already expended this power.

For the Master (within 5 squares of a dragon)

Donaar gains +1 bonus to attack rolls.

Dragonborn Fury (only while bloodied)

A dragonborn gains a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls

Five Heads of the Dragon Queen (standard; special)

Donaar creates 4 copies of himself, each appearing in an adjacent square. Each new Donaar is identical in every way and may attack or perform any other action Donaar can except for Five Heads of the Dragon Queen. The new Donaars have no Action Points. The original Donaar may perform this once per encounter. At the end of the encounter, all but one Donaar crumbles to ash. The remaining Donaar is now the true Donaar regardless of which Donaar originally used the power. This power cannot be used if there have been any allies nearby within the last 5 minutes.

Alignment Lawful Evil

Languages Draconic, Common

Str 17 (+9) Dex 15 (+9) Wis 18 (+11)

Con 15 (+9) Int 11 (+7) Cha 17 (+10)

Equipment carried: The Glaive of Tiamat, +2 Vanguard Mordenkrand, +2 Immunizing Armor