In Which The Warlock Avenges the End of the World...

With our sessions of "The Flood" now at the end, our Friday night group has had one major question for a while:  What comes next?!

Well, the answer is a very positive one for me.  The PlatinumChick has opted to take the GMing reins for a while and will be running Hell on Earth Reloaded!

I thought long and hard on my character concept for this one, but with so many options, I found it truly hard to decide!  I toyed with the idea of a Heretic Doomsayer for a while, and even thought of running a kung-fu Librarian for a time.  But, eventually, I came up with this--my newest creation:


Jason Arrington was a corporal in the US Marine Corps before the Big Bang. While he hadn't seen much combat duty, his time spent as an artillery repairman on bases throughout Ohio and Michigan made him more than technologically apt. It also provided Jason a good deal of free time, during which he indulged in his favorite hobby: reading comic books. 

Jason's favorite character was Hawkeye, the brash archer from Marvel's Avengers. When asked why, Jason was quick to reply, "Because he's always got a trick up his sleeve..." 

When the Union began implementing Operation Damocles Soldier, Jason was one of the recruits selected, due to his technical expertise. However, when Jason was placed in cryogenic stasis, something went slightly amiss. Maybe the oxygen flow to Jason's brain wasnt quite right. Maybe some interfering gremlin introduced some technological mischief. 

Welcome to the Wasted West, Mr. Barton! 

Regardless, when Jason awoke after the Big Bang, the entire cryo-shelter was blown to smithereens. Jason himself was barely clothed, could not remember much to save his life, and could hardly walk due to muscle atrophy. Crawling back into the ruins of the cryo-shelter, Jason began scavenging all he could and began putting together the pieces of his awakening...just not in the right order. 

You see, Jason now believes wholeheartedly that he is Clint Barton, the peerless archer of Marvel fame. Finding a compound bow--a hunting bow left in a locker by a careless sergeant--Jason convinced himself that he had survived an attack on a top secret SHIELD facility, and that he is the only surviving Avenger. 

Jason/Clint thinks he has things pieced together, though his perception is warped and stilted. He believes that Apocalypse (the Marvel mutant menace) caused the devastation in the world and that his Four Horsemen are actually corrupted versions of former heroes, who can be redeemed. (Obviously, we know this not to be the case.). Jason regularly calls ghost rock "vibranium" and uses a means at his disposal to try to contact non-existent heroes like Tony Stark, Thor, or the X-Men. 

The tech spirits in the Hunting Grounds have done nothing but foster this grand delusion, granting Jason the abilities of a Junker, which manifest as Jason/Clint salvaging parts to "build new arrowheads" and piece together the gadgets Jason remembers from countless comics. Grapnel arrows, stun arrows, explosive-tipped arrows...if they're in the comics, they're in Jason's subconscious, and they're in his quiver. 

Jason/Clint wants desperately to build a new SHIELD and, with it, a new Avengers team, in the hopes to avenge his losses and take down (the totally fictitious) Apocalypse. So far, Jason's only clue has been a set of dog-tags, found upon his awakening. 

The tags belong to a 1st Lieutenant Gordon Eriksen. Eriksen was the commander of the Damocles facility where Jason was frozen, and may be the one man who knows Jason's true identity. Unfortunately, Eriksen has been turned into a Combine cyborg... 


Honestly, I can't wait to play this character.  Nothing like bringing a bit of cross-genre action to the Wasted West!

Oh, and one last thing!  If you're a Savage Worlds fan and you haven't supported Journeyman Games' Wild Card Creator Kickstarter yet, your last chance is going to be this week!  Three days left, and we're only about $150 short of the final stretch goal--full iPad and Android support.  Check the link on the right sidebar to donate!

In Which The Warlock Comes Up With a Backup Plan...

For those of you playing along at home, you may have noted that I haven't been talking much about our romps in Deadlands on Friday night.  Truth be told, it's been quite a while since we've actually had a session of "The Flood"!  Real-life issues took their toll, between our trip to C2E2, some illnesses, and a few alternate obligations, resulting in over a month of missed sessions!

Yeesh!  That's a lot of time.  But, many groups face the same situation--what do you do when you need the whole group present, and it just hasn't happened?

For us, the answer is usually board games.  Arkham Horror is a particular favorite, as two sessions of that can fill an entire game night for us.  Lately, we also broke out Innsmouth Escape and had a blast with Munchkin Axe Cop.  These are usually good for single night sessions where we're just looking to unwind after a long week, but occasionally we just get the itch for some actual dice-rolling RPG that a board game just can't scratch.

The PlatinumChick and I, after years of running games for conventions, have quite the library of one shots.  Under normal circumstances, we tend to use these sorts of nights for playtesting.  Most of my WEGS games and several of our other one-offs get tested with our home group when a few players are missing.  Again, that's good for most circumstances, but when we don't exactly have a lot of one-shots to test this year, due to the Origins date change, that leaves that option out in the cold.

So, the question has been:  "What do we do now?"



Straight from the comics, onto my gaming table! 
Iron Man and the Avengers take on Carnage in Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

The answer, interestingly enough, arose from one of my recent reviews:  Marvel Heroic Roleplaying.  After going to see The Avengers a few weeks ago (and again a week later...), we were all really high on some superhero goodness, and I was eager to give the system a run.

So, with no prep at all, we decided to delve into the book-built scenario, based on Brian Michael Bendis' "Breakout" arc from "New Avengers".  Serendipitously taking on Bendis' Avengers--Iron Man, Captain America, Miss Marvel, and Wolverine--we dialed up the action as the SHIELD/Riker's Island prison known as "The Raft" exploded with an EMP pulse.  With Iron Man in the in the sub-basements upgrading security and the rest up top, examining some new holding cells with Maria Hill, we started with the party already split....and Carnage making a beeline for Iron Man!

The nice thing about all this?  I've already managed to lay down enough plot hooks in one session to provide a ton of possible "episodes" in the future.  Where did Carnage escape to, after attacking Iron Man?  Who was at fault for the explosion?  Who were the infiltrators in the northwest guard tower, and what's their relationship to "Mutants Sans Frontiers"? 

While we're hoping to get back to "The Flood" this week--with the Battle of Shan Fan, no less!--we'll be revisiting MHR off and on, when we have missing members.  And, it's already looking to be spectacular!

The Warlock's Review: "Marvel's The Avengers"

Let me put this out there:  I've been waiting for this movie for almost the entirety of my adult life.  I started reading comics back when I was in 3rd grade, after I'd picked up the late-Silver and early-Bronze Age comics left behind at my grandparents by my Uncle Ron.  I threw myself into them anytime I was there, reading about Spider-Man's adventures in trying to find the true identity of his parents, of T.O. Morrow's victory over the Justice League, and of the Fantastic Four's journey into the Negative Zone to save Sue Storm's life while she was in childbirth.

But out of Uncle Ron's stacks, he only ever had one issue of Marvel's iconic team:  The Avengers.  Reading that book was like reading a tantalizing preview of all the things that could be--the idea of a group of conflicted, bickering heroes coming together for a greater good, to face those foes that no hero could face alone.  It was unfathomable!  It was amazing!  It was...a teaser for all those things that could be out there.  And, truly, there was!  I started watching the "Marvel Action Hour" on CBS, and the spectacular Spider-Man and X-Men series which aired on Fox.

Marvel's greatest gamble:
The Avengers

When Iron Man came out in 2008, the world of geekdom nearly imploded with a few simple words.  An eye-patch clad Samuel L. Jackson ignited our imaginations, telling Tony Stark that he'd "come to talk about the Avengers Initiative."  Since then, Marvel Studios had begun preparing for something totally unprecedented:  a gestalt universe of films which would eventually combine into a crossover that would shake the fundamental concept of what it meant to be a "superhero movie".  It was ambitious, it was foolhardy...and it was unheard of.

Needless to say, I was nervous.  While Jon Favreau's Iron Man films were spectacular and Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk were all quality films, blending their various idiosyncracies would prove a monumental task, despite the scaffolding made throughout each film.  When geek-icon Joss Whedon was brought aboard as writer-director, I grew apprehensive.  While Whedon was well versed in comics, having spent quite a bit of time on "Astonishing X-Men". 

And that's where we emerged this week.  The build-up for Avengers was one for the ages and, of course, one we couldn't resist, as the JourneymanGM, FridayNightWill, Chris2, GeoMike, the PlatinumChick and I headed off to Fairborn for a 3D showing.

In a word?  Brilliant!  (And, at this point, the spoilers begin--turn away, if you fear!)

The storyline of Avengers is simple enough:  Tom Hiddleston's Loki has emerged from Asgard with the help of some mysterious benefactors (who are spoiled brilliantly in the credits!) in search of the Tesseract--the Cosmic Cube used by the Red Skull during Captain America: The First Avenger.  Loki seeks dominion over the Earth and Nick Fury's SHIELD command stands in his way.

The film opens with a literal bang, as Loki's theft leaves the SHIELD facility crumbling and the action split between Nick Fury's escape and Maria Hill's pursuit of Loki through a series of underground tunnels.  Cobie Smulders (of How I Met Your Mother fame) brings the right attitude to the role of the all-business Maria Hill, but outside of this opening action scene, she doesn't have much to do.  Word is that just under an hour of footage was cut for the final version of The Avengers, so hopefully she'll see more screen time in the DVD/BluRay cut.

From there, the titular Avengers begin assembling.  Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson) heads to India to collect Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Nick Fury pulls Captain America (Chris Evans) out of proverbial mothballs, and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) heads to Stark Tower to recruit Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).  However, the bonds bringing these heroes together begin cracking in the second act, providing internal conflict that must be conquered before the external threat of invasion.

What really struck me was the level of characterization given to each of the Avengers.  Whedon somehow manages to find time for unique pairings and groupings of the heroes to act together, using their natural charisma to fuel the conflict and charm that makes the film work on so many levels.  While I had no doubts about Robert Downey Jr.'s ability to bring Tony Stark's snark and self-obsession to the table, real surprises emerged from Ruffalo and Johanson.  Black Widow really didn't have much to work with in Iron Man 2, so seeing her really come into her own as a deadly martial artist and manipulative spy was really a treat.  Similarly, Mark Ruffalo's treatment of Bruce Banner brought a lot of humor and humanity to a role that typically reeks of melodrama and inhuman rage.  Plus, the script really calls upon Banner's ability as a scientist, which gives him some great scenes with Stark and with Steve Rogers.

Black Widow flees from
the rampaging Hulk!

Whedon strikes a great balance between scenes of characterization and utter action, and isn't afraid to keep his foot on the gas in either case.  A scene between Loki and Black Widow in the second act brings back echoes of Silence of the Lambs, while the Hulk's rampage through the SHIELD Helicarrier brings with it real echoes of fear from Johanson and even Chris Hemworth's Thor. 

It's because of this that my favorite scene in the movie isn't one of the action scenes, or even a conversation.  The second of two post-credits scenes--the first, setting up a cosmic-level sequel!--has our heroes, exhausted and battered, sitting down at a meal together in a shwarma joint, referenced earlier in the movie.  This scene of camaraderie, of togetherness despite differences, despite toil, despite conflict, really shows all the things that makes The Avengers great.  And what's better?  It's wordless.  No dialogue, no witty repartee necessary.  It's just a matter of cinematographic perfection.

The Avengers, assembled!
A payoff for 60 years of comics
and 5 long years of incredible films!

The third act of The Avengers provides a beyond-suitable climax, with action scenes streaming from character to character in a free-flowing melee.  Iron Man bounces repulsors off of Captain America's shield, while Thor calls down streams of lightning and Hawkeye snipes at Chitauri warriors from the rooftops.  Reminiscent of recent issues of Bendis' Mighty Avengers, the film looks like a comic-book brought to life, more than any other film in history.  Depicting the medium as it is, The Avengers scores on all fronts.

Really, I have but few nitpicks about this movie.  Early on, Hawkeye is mind-controlled by Loki, which stunts his depth of character in the second and third acts, in comparison to the depth provided by his foil, Black Widow.  Thor suffers from the same issue, though not to the same degree, as the development built in his own movie provides relationships for Hemworth's ability.  We never really get a good look at the Chitauri, though they're meant to be faceless, alien troops, led only by the charismatic Hiddleston. 

But, all these are minor quibbles.  The Avengers provides the greatest, most true-to-the-medium comic-book movie experience ever seen in a theater.  After 5 years of build-up and anticipation, Marvel Studios has pulled off the impossible:  a gestalt film linking their films together in a manner never before seen.  See this movie.  See it multiple times, even.  This one changes everything. 

See it, revel in it, and enjoy it!