docblue's posterous

Mar 28 / 6:38pm

Dry Run with the #MarvelRPG Random Datafile Generator

I downloaded one of MWP's "extras" tonight - the Heroic Roleplaying Random Datafile Generator.

I've skimmed it once. What follows is a cold run through to create a character.

Step 1: Origin - Rolling a D12 I get a ... 10 - Trained Human (One Power Set. Gain two more Specialties: one at Expert and one at Master.)

Step 2: Affliation - Rolling a D6 I get a ... 3 - Buddy D10, Solo D8, Team D6

Step 3: Primary Power Set - Rolling a D12 I get a ... 1 - One power trait at D10. Add an additional SFX. (The character only has one power set, so I don't roll for a secondary power set.)

Step 4: Power Trait - Rolling a D10 I get a ... 9. For a Trained Human this means Mystic Powers.

Step 4a: Mystics Powers Table - Rolling a D10 I get a ... 1 - Sorcery (at a D10 from Step 3). Looking this up in the Basic Game this is "Sorcery Mastery... great mystical powers, channeling power into longer lasting constructs or objects, bending the laws of physics, and dispelling the magical works of others." Look out Doctor Strange!

Step 5: SFX and Limits - These are not random, but there are suggestions.

Step 5a: SFX - For a Single Power Set: Unleashed and Versatile are suggested. For few power traits: Affliction, Constructs, and Counterattack are suggested. For Mystic Power Set: Constructs, and Healing are suggested. Going back to the game book - Constructs, Healing, Unleashed, and Versatile all make sense. Constructs comes up twice, but I'm going to randomize - Unleashed wins: "Step Up or Double any POWER SET power for one action. If the action fails, add a die to doom pool equal to the normal rating of your power die." This suggests a sorcerer of great potential who holds back most of the time.

Step 5b: Limit - Mystic Power Set suggests Growing Dread or Uncontrollable. I'm going with Growing Dread "Both 1 and 2 on your dice count as opportunites when using a POWER SET power" to explain why this character holds back. Ironic Side Note: rolling a D10 makes a 1 or 2 more likely than rolling a D12.

Step 6: Specialties - Rolling a D10 I get a ... 8 - Three Expert Specialties (plus one more for his Origin).

Step 6a: Rolling four D10s until there are no duplicates I get: 1, 2, 5, and 10 - Acrobatic Expert, Business Expert, Menace Expert, and Vehicle Expert. I am put in mind of a travelling performer, possibly with a small circus. The Menace could have been learned from a stage persona. Circus doesn't really fit the D10 Buddy Afflication, maybe part of a travelling two man Renn Faire troupe - perhaps he played the evil wizard in the act.

Step 7a: Distinctions - Rolling three D6s I get: 4, 5, 6 - Catchphrase or Title, Notable Feature, Profession: I'm going to go with: "Meddle not in the affairs of wizards", Powerful and Fearsome Sorceror, and Itinerate Performer. The later two could use some work, but this feels like a good start.

Step 7b: Milestones - Rolling two D10s I get: 4, 8 - Origin Milestone and Distinction MIlestone. I'll be honest - I still want more on this, but lets give it a shot.

Trained for Destiny - You were trained to become the new Sorceror Supreme

1 XP when ... you boast about the depth of your mystic training

3 XP when ...you best another sorcerer in combat

10 XP when ... you become Sorceror Supreme or turn your back on your destiny

Let Lesser Minds Fear Me - You have spent much of your life scaring people with parlour tricks, how much more terrified will they be when they realize your magic is real

1 XP when ... you show off with your mystic skills or go out of yor way to hide them

3 XP when ... you create a magic artifact (Resource) to augment another hero's obviously inferior abilities

10 XP when ... turn your back on lesser men to fully embrace the power that is your right OR turn your back on your power to fully embrace your humanity

He still needs a name. "Magi Salazar" Trained by a secret cabal of sorcerors, he was told two things for as long as he could remember. First: Men should fear you. Second: You are destined to be the Sorceror Supreme.

At some point, he rebelled against his teachers, believing he had learned all he could from them and seeking to learn more about the world. He fell in with a travelling Renn Faire troupe and formed a close partnership with one of their members.

Not bad for about 45 minutes work. Perhaps tomorrow I will generate his road-ready partner.

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Mar 10 / 5:53am

Flood Relief for the Toonseum

As you all know, I am a fan and supporter of the Toonseum in Pittsburgh. As one of the few cartoon and animation museums in the world, I am thrilled that it is available for me to share with my family on a regular basis. (It doesn't hurt that there is regular superhero art for me to admire.)

Earlier this week, I got this note from Joe Wos, the Director of the Toonseum:

I am writing to you today in a personal plea. Over the past five years the ToonSeum has had a great many successes with your help and support. We have grown from a tiny space inside of another museum to a unique independent attraction in downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. We have brought in some of the top cartoonist in the nation and exhibited over 40 exhibits! This New Year brings exciting new exhibits and opportunities including our newly opened Will Eisner’s New York exhibit on loan from Denis Kitchen and our friends at MOCCA. I know as members and fans you will enjoy our summer exhibitions, which include Care Bears 30 Years of Caring, and Pittsburgh is Gotham! We also have a great line up of programming and workshops.

As we enter another phase of our growth we have hit a small setback. Last week during the heavy rains, our warehouse began to leak and flood. While no original artwork was stored at this site we did lose a great number of books, comics, exhibition reproductions and equipment. Much of these items were awaiting transfer to our new ToonSeum library on site. This was a temporary offsite holding storage where we kept books and equipment awaiting cataloging and transfer. We also used this space to store event and workshop supplies and equipment.

The damage and clean up will be extensive. During this time the ToonSeum’s day-to-day operations will remain unaffected however the cost of replacing what was lost and the clean up will be difficult. We are reaching out to you, our fans, for your help.

Your tax-deductible donation will help support the ToonSeum is this tough time. Any amount is deeply appreciated and will help greatly. There are several ways to give and links are provided below.

You can donate via Razoo at http://toonseum.org/waystogive.html; Paypal to donate@toonseum.org; Or by sending a check to:The ToonSeum, 945 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

On behalf of the ToonSeum, our board, volunteers, staff and myself, Thank you. We exist because of fans like you.

Fortunately, since I got that note, there has been some good news. An anonymous donor has pledged a matching fund of up to $5000 in support of the ToonSeum as they recover from the water damage. This is a dollar for dollar match and a great opportunity to double the impact of whatever you can afford to give.

You can also support the ToonSeum by donating cartoon and comic related books or just by visiting.

The ToonSeum is an incredible resource, and I hope that you will consider helping them out in this time of need.

Thanks, Doc Blue

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Feb 29 / 11:38am

Monkees Assemble

Inspired by a friend's observation on Facebook:

It says something about the circles that I run in, I think, that in the past hour about half the status updates have been about the death of Davy Jones, and most of the rest about the new Avengers trailer.

I present a modest proposal for a Monkees/Avengers mash-up/amalgam.

I would cast Micky Dolenz, drummer, as the Hulk. Micky smash!

Peter Tork, as the musically proficient member of the band, would need to be the technologically-inclined member of the team - Tony Stark, aka Iron Man!

Davy Jones (RIP), the front man of the team, would need to be Captain America, despite his nationality.

That leaves, of course, Michael Nesmith. I don't know if I can see him as the blonde Thor, but maybe some Norse magic can help with the physical build. He might make a better Hawkeye.

I would love to see someone do a drawing of the Mighty Monkees as the Avengers. Or perhaps the movie Avengers as the Musical Monkees....

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Feb 25 / 1:55pm

Playing with Data Files for the new Marvel RPG

Click here to download:

SPIDER-GIRL.pdf (239 KB)

(download)

I'm looking for thoughts.These are going to be for the game with my kids. I'm intentionally cutting back on SFX, but don't want to remove them entirely.

I'm interested in your overall thoughts of the stats and the format.

I did Spider-Girl as a pretty straight-up conversion of Spider-Man. I want to replace one of the milestones with one that is about learning how to use the system, but haven't finalized my thoughts on that yet.

Oh, and consider this an Earth-718 version of Spider-Girl (that is, my own custom universe). I will be drawing from various known continuities, but will not feel bound by any of them. (A No Prize to anyone who can tell me why I choose Earth-718!)

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Feb 14 / 8:23am

For Valentines Day: The Five Best Super-Hero Comics Couples That Never* Met

(*Or Almost Never)

Join me for a while in a world where Marvel and DC comic heroes can interact freely. In such a world, what team-ups would occur? Who become whose arch-enemies? And most importantly on a day like today, what couples would emerge? Here are my Top Five choices for Cross-World Relationships:

5. Quicksilver and Lady Flash – Love acts is speedy ways. Christina Alexandrova (aka Lady Flash) has a thing for powerful men and Pietro Maximoff certainly qualifies, at least in his own mind. In her home universe, Christina fell for bad boy speedster Savitar. Quicksilver has a bit of a bad boy vibe, but a heroic core. If they stuck together, it is possible Pietro could turn her to the side of heroes, but when you live life in the fast lane, a relationship like this is likely doomed to burn out rather than burn away.

4. Power Girl and Hercules – What better match for the womanizing Prince of Power than Power Girl herself? But what would attract Power Girl to Herc? Probably not much, to be honest. She wouldn’t tolerate his ego for long, but while they were together, it would be EPIC! On a scale from one-night stand to life-long commitment, I rate this at “serial hookups” at best.

3. The Huntress and Hawkeye – These two have so much in common: fashion sense, a penchant for pointy things, and attitude to spare. As long as this pair has criminals to bring to justice, they will be the Nick and Nora of the super hero set. However, if crime ever decides to go on vacation, I can see them turning on each other. Still, I suspect they would stick together, just like that old bickering couple down the street. They may not want to admit it, but they simply don’t want to fight with (or alongside) anyone else.

2. Captain America and Wonder Woman – Two patriotic, time-lost souls driven by higher ideals. In a universe where they co-existed, I suspect it would take a couple of tries before this relationship stuck. During the war, both Steve and Diana had other things to worry about – like the Nazis and other relationships. But forty years later, after the rest of the world they knew had slipped away, I could see them getting together for coffee to reminisce. Coffee would lead to crime-fighting team-ups when old foes raised their hoary heads. And crime-fighter would lead to a more permanent partnership. They would still pursue their own lives and goals, but also remain connected by an emotional bond that transcended time.

1. Spiderman and Barbara (Bat Girl) Gordon – Peter Parker has demonstrated a thing for red heads (and blondes, and brunettes, and… okay, he’s not all that picky) and his longest and best known relationship is with one. Barbara likes athletic men. Put the two in the right place at the right time, and I think this couple is inevitable. Their high-flying antics would make them the darlings of the super hero set, possibly engendering a bit of jealousy from some of the other couples on this list. Both are deep down good people and would stand by each other during the best and worst of times – severe injuries, threatened loved ones, revealed identities.

So that's it. My top five Cross-World Couples. Who is your favorite? What pairings would you add to the list?

Happy Valentine's Day!

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