In Which The Warlock Breathes Deep...

Friends and neighbors, despite my earlier post, I knew full well what I was getting into this fall.  Mind you, that doesn't make any of it any easier, but knowing that you're walking into a trap does give one an advantage.

My students' final hurdle before
their holiday break!

However, here at the end of 2012, things are finally starting to clear up.  My online professional development classes finished out around the 10th.  My holiday break from Northmont started today, after I subjected my 'weasels' to my annual holiday tradition--a viewing of the absolutely abysmal He-Man/She-Ra Christmas Special.  And, I'm almost entirely caught up with grading.

So what does all this mean?  Well, it means that I'm ready for the final sprint in the Cold Steel Wardens Kickstarter.  We're just a hair below 50%, with 12 days to go.  We weathered the "lull" section relatively intact, but it's still going to require a strong push over the holidays in order to meet our funding goal.

I had hoped to stave off the "lull" via two strategies:  the reveal of our publisher, Chronicle City, and through what I called the "Warden's Bounty" system.  However, what I'm finding is that neither piece of news was really effective in bringing in new pledges.   Nothing against the crew at CC--they've been spectacular--but even though awareness seems to be up regarding CSW, that hasn't proved to put any dollars in the proverbial bank.

The Warden's Bounty system was my attempt to mobilize my "base", spreading CSW virally.  The basic concept was simple--convince one person to pledge, and you could "claim bounty" on them, earning a free set of tokens for your Hero Pool.  Convince 5, and I would automatically bump the bounty-hunter's reward level to the next tier, at no additional cost.  While this would require some extra recordkeeping on my part, which I was prepared to accept, I still have yet to actually have a backer claim bounty on another!  While I have no doubts that this method could be effective, it just hasn't been for us.

That said, we fight on!  The last sprint-to-the-end makes up a good deal of every Kickstarter's funding, so I still fully believe we can make it!  If you haven't pledged today, we could really use your support!  And don't forget that you can still take advantage of that "Warden's Bounty" program--be the first to claim your bounty today!

Oh!  One more thing!  I recently was interviewed by the Farsight Blogger about my work on CSW and in the gaming world in general.  Take a look:  Farsight Blogger Interview--Andy Klosky!

The Warlock's Review: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (First Impressions)

As I mentioned in my C2E2 recap, I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of a game that I've been eyeing up for quite a while:  Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, from Margaret Weis Productions.  While we haven't had a game night to give the game a whirl, I couldn't help but put down my first impressions of the product. 

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
from Margaret Weis Productions

First off, this book is gorgeous.  Obviously, one of the biggest advantages of any comics-licenced property is the massive stable of art that the layout gang is able to pull from, but the choices here are really inspired.  Pulling from some of the best of Marvel's bullpen over the last decade or so, MWP really raises the bar for the feel of a full-power comic book.  The book itself emphasizes this feel, coming in a graphic-novel sized full color paperback that almost feels like you're reading an Avengers trade paperback.

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is nominally based on the Cortex+ system, used by MWP in the Leverage and Smallville rpgs, though takes a few different spins with it.  A pseudo-dice pool system, MHR rates a hero's powers, skills, and natural distinctions on a scale of d4 up to d12+, which are rolled together.  The two highest dice results are added together to get a result, which is opposed by the target's roll, while a third die type represents the effect of the attempt.  The higher the die type, the more effective the attack is.  Any die showing "1" is called an "opportunity", which allows the opposing faction a chance to act in opposition.

Coupled with this, the hero can conditionally add in more dice to their pool by creating assets and power stunts, through various "SFX" unique to the Hero's power set, using Power Points, and through the hero's affiliation.  Is your hero on a solo mission?  Toss in your solo die.  Are you paired-up with a single other hero, Heroes for Hire style?  Add in the buddy die.  While I like the concept of affiliation--particularly for emulating various types of combat and encouraging players to "split the party" and achieve multiple objectives simultaneously--it's easily the most discardable mechanic.  A multitude of system hacks already exist to refit affiliations into other cases.

Also of note is the "Doom Pool"--a set of dice representing the tension and conflict built into the given scenario.  As players roll opportunities, the Doom Pool begins swelling, allowing the GM--called The Watcher--to trigger villains' abilities and add dice to their attacks.  From a wicked GMing stand point, I love this mechanic.  While it took me a touch to understand all of the uses of the Doom Pool, it really makes for a neat way to make things hard on the PCs.  Plus, use of the Doom Pool typically refreshes heroes' Power Points, which gives the players an incentive to take risks and try stunts, even if they don't pay off.

Hawkeye and Thor! 
We want stats!

The rules for MHR only take up about 120 pages, while the remainder of the book consists of a mini-campaign arc based on Brian Michael Bendis' "Breakout" arc from Avengers and a series of datafiles on popular Marvel heroes.  While I was fairly pleased with the sample adventure, I did have some questions in my mind about the heroes contained within the datafiles.  While the typical Marvel mainstays are there--Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Captain America--there are several notable absences!  No Hulk?  No Thor?  No Hawkeye?  No Wasp or Giant Man?  Is X-Men D-lister Armor really that important as to include them over some of the original Avengers?  Same thing with Sentry, particularly considering he's considered to be an NPC during "Breakout".  While supplemental "event books" are already in the works, based on "Civil War", "Annihilation", and "Shadowland", it would have been nice to see some of the classic Marvel stable, as opposed to more obscure characters.

I also worry somewhat about the ability for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying to portray a darker, more visceral game.  While the game is perfect for encouraging over-the-top action of the current era in comics, I can't see myself running a Watchmen-esque game using this system.  I guess that's good for me!

The PlatinumWarlock's first cosplay?
Time will tell!

However, I also thought of another style of game that might just be great for this:  a Masters of the Universe game.  The over-the-top stunting and team-based mechanics really would make for a great representation of He-Man, working with the various Masters against Skeletor's forces.  I've been meaning to do one of these for a while, and this system just might be the ticket.

Plus, it'd give me a chance to show off my latest--yes, another one--project!  For a few years now, the PlatinumChick has been slowly nudging me towards doing cosplay with her.  And, after seeing some of the great costumes at C2E2, I think I finally know what I might do.  I'm going to start working this month on a Man-at-Arms costume, complete with armor, mace and big-ass blaster!    I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on my progress, of course.  Pics or it didn't happen, right?

Anyway, as for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying?  It's a fantastic little system, with the flexibility of an ICONS coupled with the storytelling capacity of Marvel comics.  While it has a few flaws--set to be remedied in upcoming supplementals no doubt--I'm definitely looking forward to giving this one a whirl!

In Which The Warlock Muses on the Future...

Last night was Wittenberg's first game night, which is always exciting for us.  It's spectacular to be able to meet a whole legion of incoming gamers and share with them all of the exciting events that the Guild puts forward, all of the events and systems that we run, and the cameraderie of slinging dice with your fellow man.

There's really nothing like the first time that you sit down to experience a game.  The 'first impression' that one gets just can't be replicated.  The first time I slung out the d10s and d6s in WEGS, for example, was a game unto itself.  The first time we broke out Arkham Horror, while frustratingly long, got us immediately hooked.  The first time we watched someone's dice 'ace' two and three times at a clip in Savage Worlds...it caught the eye like none other. 

What to write, what to write?!

But keeping that newness?  It's hard!  The longer one plays a game, the more apparent the flaws are in the system and the more 'rote' things become.  The Journeyman GM and I discussed this tendency on our way home from GenCon this year.  By this point, he had run his Blackbeard-based Doctor Who game nearly 12 separate times for various groups across the Miami Valley.  I'd been pinging my "WEGSthulhu" adventure and "Westbound on the San Juan Express" just as often.

As such, with the close of the convention season, it comes time for us gamers to think about what comes next:  what one-shots are on deck for the coming 2012 season, for the Friday Night One-Shot series at Witt, and what we're excited about.  But, that leaves me with a major question:  with so many options, what do I write?!

Obviously, my first and biggest option (and my biggest priority!) is my campaign of Cold Steel Wardens.  I'm running my alpha test--a campaign that I'm calling "Hard Rain"--at Witt this year, with my tentative players' Heroes making their way into the (ideally forthcoming) book as sample characters.  But, one-shots?  I have no issue running them at Wittenberg, but I'm not sure if the rules-set is ready for the convention circuit yet.

Last year, I built a series of Deadlands characters specifically for the purpose of using them on the convention circuit.  As such, I'm very tempted to bring back those characters for another go.  However, I'm at somewhat of a loss of what I'd like that adventure to look like.  I'm loathe to put forward another "train-based" adventure, and would like to lean towards something a little more investigative.  However, that's the furthest I've managed to think this one out.

The Laundry, similarly, is an appealing option.  While I'm more than proficient in the BRP Call of Cthulhu game, The Laundry has its own unique style that makes for a strange balance between absurdist comedy and deadly serious spy-drama.  But, that same balance makes it particularly difficult to GM appropriately.  Even for a skilled GM, it becomes difficult to shift gears so quickly between tones.  I'd been also thinking up a basic Call of Cthulhu adventure based around Shakespeare's "Scottish Play", but that's still in development.

Coming to a game convention
near you in 2012?

I'd also been thinking about potentially revisiting one of my all-time favorite heroes:  the Masters of the Universe in the role-playing arena.  However, I'm really not sure what system I'd use.  While I'd be tempted towards picking up Cartoon Action Hour, I actually think that ICONS would work really well for emulating the over-the-top action.  But, again, I haven't really thought out what the adventure would entail, or any plot ideas beyond the simple "He-Man and crew have to team up with Skeletor to take out a greater threat". 

And then...there are other options.  While I'm swearing off D&D for a while, my gaming stack's still full-up.  I'm planning on picking up All For One: Regime Diabolique in the near future, and I just found a copy of Wild Talents at Half Price Books for $5.  Also, The Journeyman GM still has my copies of Hell on Earth, while my regular Friday night group is chomping at the bit for some post-apocalyptic action.  Oh, and there's always WEGS, particularly with the Ultimate Dungeon Party out now, and the official printing of Dingbitt's Dunge-O'-Doom on the horizon. 

So many options, so little time, fellow gamers!  What should I run?  What would you like to see at WittCon, FOPCon, and all the rest in the next year?!