In Which The Warlock Advocates Awesome-Sauce...

One of the biggest issues leveled at D&;D 3.x was the concept of "rules bloat". After only a few years, the game was stuffed to the gills with sourcebooks, splatbooks, accessories, and "Complete" guides that were anything but. Each of these books tried to lure in players with promises of new prestige classes, new skill uses, and new feats.

Ugh. The feats.

How many Feats does
a Hero really need?

Feats, in concept, are a glorious idea. An independent sub-system allowing you to customize your skills and combat options? Sounds great! The problem lay in the fact that most feats simply weren't worth taking. They were either too convoluted or too situational to justify regular use or the bonuses they provided were simply bland. Countless feats providing a ubiquitous +2 bonus to two skills took up page after page of text, nearly all of which went unused.

Other games aren't immune to this trend. Savage Worlds has Edges, Ubiquity has Talents, HERO System has Advantages, and nearly every other saga me out there has some kind of feat-resembling mechanic. And that's fine, but rarely do these feats do more than provide basic mechanical bonuses. The "Ace" Edge, for instance, provides a +2 to Driving, Piloting, and Boating rolls in Savage Worlds. Yes, it's a great bonus, considering the default target number is 4, but it doesn't really fill your head with visions of hairpin turns, ramp jumps, or barrel rolls.

When I sat down to write Cold Steel Wardens, I wanted to ensure that an unpowered vigilante could hold their own against a powered metahuman, using their skills, gadgets, and wits. A good portion of that feel came in creating a skill-driven system.  The majority of any character's points in CSW will be sunk into various skills, not the least of which are the three combat skills:  Unarmed, Armed Ranged, and Armed Melee.

Masteries, however, I wanted to be different.  Rather than simple skill bonuses or the like, I wanted Masteries to represent new and alternate uses for skills, opening new combinations and avenues that could provide entirely new methods of crimefighting.

Unfortunately, I fell into that same trap as so many other games.  The overwhelming feedback I'd received about Masteries is that they were simply too situational and not worth the points.  Why take a +4 bonus to picking locks, when you could spend those 3 points to increase your Fine Manipulation skill and reap a +3 on all uses of that skill, not merely lockpicking?  In revising the CSW beta draft, Masteries had to become more than that.

Batman, leaping into the middle of trouble!

Take, for example, The Batman.  I wanted to have a mechanic that represented Batman's ability to leap down into a crowd of thugs, intimidate them all, and start taking them out without dying under a hail of gunfire.  Batman in CSW might have taken the Brute Strength Mastery, which allows him to get a free Intimidation test at +2 dice, any time he succeeds at an Athletics test in front of a foe.  Pairing with that, The Dark Knight could take the Untouchable Mastery, which penalizes those hapless mooks on any attempt to hit our paragon vigilante.  With only two Masteries and two actions, the Dark Knight can leap down from the rafters, scare the crap out of a group of goons, and even start laying into them with his various combat skills.

If I accomplish one thing through Cold Steel Wardens, I hope to make a game that allows players to walk that line between awesome comic-book invulnerability and the emotional weight of their actions' repercussions.  It's been a long time coming, but this book is going to be amazing!

In Which The Warlock Blathers on Balance...

As you can imagine from my prior entry, I'm pretty high on Sentinels of the Multiverse right now.  Our Friday Night group has played it for two weekends straight, with FridayNightWill picking up the base game and both expansions!

So enthused, I decided to register on the Greater Than Games forums, where discussion between playtesters and the community at large has really sprung up.  One of the most vociferous and heated arguments thusfar has centered around three heroes:  the mechanic-themed martial artist Mister Fixer, the gunslinging vigilante Expatriette, and the icebound avenger Absolute Zero.  This argument centers on balance:  simply put, Fixer and Expatriette are viewed by many as underpowered, while opinion on Absolute Zero swings drastically between over- and underpowered, depending on who you ask.

Six of one, one of another?
Somehow, a designer has to make it all balance!

Now, there's an interesting conundrum running in the background here.  What, actually, does balance mean? Are two characters balanced if one person can sit down to play each and still have fun?  Each person's definition of fun varies drastically.  I tend to shy away from playing "cleric-type" characters in RPGs, while favoring charismatic, arcanely-powered blasters.  That doesn't mean that a cleric-type is imbalanced while in my hands, though my personal investment in the character may equate to a difference in gameplay.

Does balance imply mechanical equity?  When different mechanics are in play, the very nature of mechanical equity becomes a qualitative assessment.  Is a universal "+2 to damage for one round" buff equal to a power that deals 6 damage?  Thinking mechanically, one might figure that if at least 3 attacks are made using that buff, it would be as good as, if not better than, the single damage power.  But when chance enters the picture--perhaps through SotM's Villain and Environment decks, or through the machinations of a Wicked GameMaster--that simple equation goes out the window.

Absolute Zero, with two of his key pieces of equipment.
Does his reliance on them make him underpowered?
Or do his maxed-out combos make him king of the hill?

What about opportunity cost?  Decision-making certainly comes into play in terms of balance.  Using the aforementioned heroes, Absolute Zero hinges on having several key pieces of equipment out on the board in order to function on a basic level.  Zero's base power does not affect others--it actually damages himself though additional pieces of equipment allow this damage to be magnified and redirected to foes or even used to heal himself.  However, putting these pieces of equipment into play requires several turns of dedicated actions; actions which aren't spent dealing damage, conquering villains, or removing hazards.  This becomes particularly dangerous when many of the villains in SotM have cards that eliminate equipment or remove heroes' cards from play.  However, when fully equipped with his arsenal, Zero can throw down absurd amounts of damage, wiping the field free of minions and laying the hurt on a would-be supervillain.

Mister Fixer, on the other end of the spectrum, has little set-up time and is much less reliant on equipment and cards in play.  Fixer's base power deals damage to a foe:  very straightforward, though at slightly-lower damage than other heroes with similar powers.  Almost every card that Fixer can play adds to his base damage, though many criticize Fixer's deck for being repetitive--a large proportion of his deck consists of martial arts styles or "tools", each of which Fixer may only have one in play at a time.  In turn, this repetition limits his overall maximum damage, resulting in a lower maximum than other damage-dealing heroes, even as his damage requires less set-up and is more "consistent".

Is simplicity power or weakness?
This is getting a little Zen...

Does Fixer's lack of complexity imply that he's less powerful than Absolute Zero?  Does Fixer's speed of play mean he's more powerful than Zero?  What about his limited options?  Does Fixer's limited damage mean he's less powerful?  Does Zero's complexity and length of set up make him underpowered, or does his optimal upper-range combo push him into overpowered?

Answers to questions like these don't come easily in game development.  Savage Worlds attempted to quantify its racial abilities, putting them on a +/-2 point scale.  However, even when quantified in this way, imbalances still arrive.  Is the ability to breathe underwater equal to a free d8 in Vigor?  Is a free choice of Edge equal to a +2 bonus to get out of Shaken?  Who knows?  

This sort of question has recently arisen with a vengeance, as we've been moving ahead with Cold Steel Wardens revisions.  While metahuman powers seem to be in a good place and the base skills are solid, CSW's Masteries have been somewhat on the weak side.  Masteries are intended to allow additional uses of skills--using the Scientific skill for the purposes of computer hacking or using Athletics as an active defense, tumbling away from enemies.  However, in many cases, they fell into the ongoing issue of providing additional skill dice, given a particular situation.  That's not 'fun'.  That's not 'interesting'.  As such, we're going back to the board with them.

And that's not a bad thing!  We're still locked and loaded to hit our deadlines, with layout samples and art pieces coming in throughout the month.  I'm devoted to putting forward a great game, and I don't intend on being complacent in ensuring that the best possible Iron Age comics game hits the shelves.  We forge on, friends and neighbors!

The Warlock's Review: Sentinels of the Multiverse (Enhanced Edition)

As I've mentioned a few times before, when we can't manage to get everyone together on our Friday night game nights, we typically default to a board game night to unwind after a long week.  With the PlatinumChick still suffering the aftereffects of an upper respiratory infection and our newest arrivals at the table AWOL for the evening, we decided to break out my newest acquisition:  Greater Than Games' Sentinels of the Multiverse: Expanded Edition.

Sentinels of the Multiverse: Expanded Edition
by Greater Than Games

I first became aware of SotM last year at Origins.  Since the PlatinumChick and I arrived later than our Witt-going comrades, our first day was punctuated by some time in the dealer hall, where we sat down for a demo of SotM.  While I was intrigued by the game--we both really enjoyed the demo session and were interested in an eventual purchase--we were told by one of the >G gang that they'd soon be coming with the Expanded Edition with better packaging and a higher-quality cardstock, so we held off on the purchase for the time being.  However, I stumbled into an Amazon giftcard for Christmas, and decided to pull the trigger on SotM.

Sentinels of the Multiverse is a cooperative card game set within the fictional world of Sentinel Comics.  Players take on the roles of the Sentinel Comics heroes, but any comics fan will immediately note the similarities between these heroes and the various DC and Marvel mainstays.  The Indestructible Bunker, for example, is an unabashed Iron Man homage, while The Wraith is a female pastiche of Batman.  Legacy combines Captain America and Superman, while The Visionary evokes Jean Grey.  Even the villains and environments--controlled collectively by the group--evoke classic Silver Age tropes, including a sentient robotic AI, a "lost world" trapped within a frozen wasteland, and even a rampaging alien warlord.

Gameplay is quick around the table and easy to understand, even as the rules on individual cards stack up.  In a given turn, a player plays a card, uses a power, and draws a card.  Individual cards, representing attacks, equipment, or unique powers, can alter this pattern, though the fundamental rhythm remains the same.  At the end of the heroes' turns, the environment and villain each flip a card from their own decks, representing villainous weaponry, minions arriving on scene, or even events like volcanic eruptions or train collisions.

While one would normally expect such a routine to seem redundant, the exact opposite proves to be true.  Rather, the static pattern allows individual games to run quickly:  a single game at our table, with five people each controlling their own hero, ran around 45 minutes each, which allowed us to try out all the heroes, villains, and environments in the set.  However, what really struck me about SotM--and what really made the game for me--was how unique each of the individual heroes felt, despite using the same fundamental mechanics.  Tachyon, a female speedster, benefited most from burning through her deck as quickly as possible, while Bunker relied more on lasting equipment and alternated through three "modes" which allowed him to focus on either acquiring cards, assembling equipment in play, or laying down the hurt on the villain.

The "Sentinels" of SotM: EE.
Each with their own deck, each with their own theme,
each with a totally different feel!

Even characters with relatively similar roles felt significantly different:  Tempest (a Storm/Aquaman mashup), Ra (a fiery Egyptian homage to Thor), and Absolute Zero (a unique take on Mr. Freeze and WonderMan) are all nominally damage-dealer-type heroes.  However, while Ra can lay down huge amounts of single-target damage via his innate powers and one-shot cards, Tempest spreads around the damage with numerous ongoing cards representing his ability to summon storms.  Absolute Zero, mind you, plays differently than both the aforementioned heroes, redirecting cold and fire damage to both damage his foes and to regenerate his own health.  At the very least, this provides fantastic replay value, but the differences between heroes make each one an enigma to be "figured out," even as you're subject to the whims of the shuffled deck.

I only really have one niggling frustration with Sentinels:  while SotM supports play for five players, we found the game fairly easy, winning all five games we played.  Our closest match was one against the alien conqueror Grand Warlord Voss, as the group of heroes we had chosen weren't able to pump off enough damage to take out Voss's dreadnaughts efficiently.  Even then, we still pulled out a narrow win, with two of our heroes finishing off Voss while the others 'assisted' from their incapacitated states.  I get the impression that the game would be more challenging with either three or four heroes, as we were able to control the flow of the game even from the very outset with minimal difficulties.  We even took down Citizen Dawn--a superhuman-supremacist pastiche of Magneto--on her "advanced" mode without many difficulties whatsoever.  Visionary and Haka (a Maori version of the Hulk) managed to lock down her minions with ease, while Bunker and Tempest laid the proverbial smackdown, with Legacy providing support and buffs.  I'd like to try running a three-person game of SotM in the near future, just to see how the game runs with less players at the table.  It seems like four might be the magic sweet-spot.

Sentinels has proven to be a wild hit since its release in 2011, leading to three expansions and a fourth on the way, after the massive success of the SotM: Shattered Timelines Kickstarter.  Each expansion carries its own theme, bringing new heroes, villains, and environments to the table.  Word is that these expansions also increase the difficulty, as the villains and environments in each are meant to challenge experienced players.  That could be a welcome addition, providing additional variety to an already-varied game with tons of replay value.

Sentinels of the Multiverse was really a hit around our table and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next from Greater Than Games.  I'm hoping to pick up Rook City and Infernal Relics--the first two expansions--sometime soon, though I can't say how soon that might be.  FridayNightWill came away from the table looking for where he could buy his own copy, which might be the highest recommendation I could offer.  These guys are doing it right, and it's great to see a self-funded independent project become so successful.  I have nothing but praise for SotM--pick it up, if you're able.

In Which The Warlock Shows Off Some Progress...

When we ran our Kickstarter, we showed off this:

But this is going in my book!

Wow.  Just...wow.

In Which The Warlock Returns From Hiatus...

So, it's been a while!

I decided to take off some time following the ChristmaHannuKwanzaakah holiday, so that I could recover from the fatigue of running the Cold Steel Wardens Kickstarter and focus on preparing the beta rules draft for KS backers.  While I'd like to say that I had a relaxing time off...well, it hasn't really been that, now has it?

A fantastic art piece for CSW, by Eric Douthitt.
This will become the opening "splash page",
at the start of the Equipment chapter!

Art direction's taken up a significant amount of my time, this past month, as it's really not something I've ever done before.  While I have a stable of capable, talented artists, I've been working to provide them quality, thorough notes on what I'm looking for to make Cold Steel Wardens a reality.  The art pieces that have been coming in, so far, have really been impressive.  There's almost a noir-quality about them, inked in black and white, which really complement the mood of the game brilliantly.  While I've only gotten a few pieces in, the art will be mounting up as we start approaching the end of March!

Earlier this month--and much to the detriment of my health, after I came down with an upper respiratory infection!--my editors and I held our "staff meeting" where we hammered out quite a few of the niggling issues surrounding CSW.  One of these was a chapter that I was particularly proud of, outlining a history of the Five Ages of Comics, but is probably going to get the axe.  While the content is solid, it reads too much like a textbook or a dissertation, rather than a rule-book   And, while the discussion is important, there's just no place for it when discussing rules, GMing and providing an evocative setting.

Almost unsurprisingly, we haven't exactly gotten a whole lot of gaming in over the past few weeks.  While we've managed to slide in a few sessions of Hell on Earth--including a great improv session in which the PlatinumChick almost managed to take out two party members in one combat!--they've been few and far between.  I did pick up a new game:  the co-operative superhero rumble Sentinels of the Multiverse.  You can be sure to expect a full review, once we get a play-through in!

And, most excitingly, I'm locked and loaded for this year's convention schedule!  Starting in March, the blitz for Cold Steel Wardens begins, as I'll be heading all over the Ohio Valley running demos and full investigative session of the first ever Iron Age Superheroes game.  Stay tuned to see the schedule!

In Which The Warlock Ends a Year in the Life...

Apologies on the missed post this past week--between the holidays and focusing on ending out the Cold Steel Wardens Kickstarter drive, my attention has duly been focused elsewhere, as you might imagine.

In spite of everything, though, my Kickstarter for CSW has forged on.  As I write this, we're a mere $330 from achieving our funding goal.  We experienced a fantastic surge in the few days following the Christmas holiday, and it's looking like we're going to be funded.  For a first-time RPG-designer, this is more than I could have imagined.  While I would have loved to meet some of our stretch goals, the sheer idea of my dream being funded, being expected still astounds me.  The work ahead is going to be huge, but it's work that's worth it.

That said, I've learned more than I've ever wanted in the last few weeks about starting and marketing a Kickstarter drive, to say nothing of how I work.

1. There is never enough sleep.  I'm an insomniac by nature, but the sheer stress of running the Kickstarter in addition to all the other works has run me down like a renegade truck.  While I've managed to sleep while off from school, spending numerous nights with 3 or less hours of sleep definitely took a toll on both my health, my sanity, and my ability to focus.
2. Publicity is a bitch.  It's all well and good to update your Kickstarter.  I made the mistake of updating too sporadically at the start, but swiftly changed to a twice-weekly rotating schedule of videos and text updates.  But, each update requires publicity of its own, which means time set aside for Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter updates.  Needless to say, that's a lot of work, in and of itself.
3. Your base is extremely important, particularly if you've never done this before.  I underestimated this one drastically, and my recovery from this may well be the only reason that I'm on the verge of success.  While your ability to draw in new backers does hinge on your ability to provide a solid product for people you've never met, it's the people who know you that are going to do the most publicity for you and spread the word.  Further, they're much more likely to invest more money, given that they have an emotional investment in seeing you succeed.  Ensure that your base is on deck, before launching!
4. December isn't the cruelest month.  There's been a lot of debate recently as to whether it's worth it to run a Kickstarter over the holidays.  As someone who's sitting in the midst of that debate, I don't believe I've seen a real difference based on the time of year.  With an intent to publish by August 2013, I could have waited for January, but it seemed like folly--I'd rather have the extra time to begin working on ensuring that CSW is a fantastic rpg.  Further, one might need only look as far as the FATE Core Kickstarter or the KS for ICONS: Great Power to see drives that are experiencing massive success in the holiday season.  That said, I wouldn't want to push into January or February, as peoples' wallets begin recovering from the holiday splurge.
5. Appearance matters.  While I've been happy with my updates thusfar, my lack of finished, finalized art for Cold Steel Wardens has definitely been a drawback.  However, that pushed me into that conundrum:  do I pay for art before running a Kickstarter drive with the intent to pay for art?  While that would mean additional funding set aside for layout, it also means a greater up-front investment.  That cost, coupled with the delay in waiting for said art to arrive, pushed my hand towards a December drive.  That said, I may have recouped the cost by tossing in more money up front.
6. Get your international shipping options straight from the start.  One of the first things that I was asked early in the drive was "Why aren't you offering international shipping?"  I truly hadn't given it any thought and, when I decided to actually offer such an option, I had to add all-new pledge levels specifically to accommodate them!  It seems like a small item, but it's one you want to have in order as you set up your drive!
7. Stay in touch.  If someone drops you a message, respond to it within one day.  If you have a comment on the Kickstarter at large--which everyone can see--respond as soon as you can get an answer, even if it's "I don't know right now--I'll look as soon as I'm able."  
8. KickTraq is a double-edged sword.  While it provides fantastic data in regards to what projections one might expect...the math is hard to tear away from.  And that math?  That math lurks within a realm of madness and guilt.  The more you stare at the numbers, the more you wonder "What haven't I done?  What am I doing wrong?  Why aren't people backing me?"  While those are good questions to ask, they eat at you.  He who gazes into the abyss, and all that jazz...

And the biggest piece of advice?  Never give up.  Even when hope seems lost.  Persevere.  

2012 is over, and the next step awaits.

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!

In Which The Warlock Says, "But Wait, There's More!"

For Immediate Release:  December 14th, 2012

Blackfall Press, LLC announces tentative partnership with Chronicle city for new tabletop RPG

Cold Steel Wardens: Roleplaying in the Iron Age of Comics currently in development

Englewood, OH, December 14, 2012– Blackfall Press, LLC has reached a tentative agreement with UK publishing company Chronicle City to produce Blackfall Press’s flagship roleplaying game:  Cold Steel Wardens: Roleplaying in the Iron Age of Comics.  This agreement is pending the results of the Cold Steel Wardens crowd-funding drive, which is active on Kickstarter until January 2^nd, 2013.

“Working as a print/publisher partner with Chronicle City enables us to put forward a fantastic initial product with great distribution channels.  Angus Abranson was one of my first points of contact as a freelance RPG writer, and it’s an absolute thrill to work with him on my first solo game,” said A.P. Klosky, the owner of Blackfall Press, LLC and the creator of Cold Steel Wardens. 

Cold Steel Wardens: Roleplaying in the Iron Age of Comics emulates such classic comic book storylines as Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil: Born Again and countless others.  Using a new game system—the MAFIANAP mechanics—Cold Steel Wardens brings the thrill of street-level superheroes and their moral struggles to the game table.

“I’ve known Andy for some time, and have always been impressed with the work he has done for me in the past, so when he mentioned he was planning his own game – and a superhero one to boot (one of my favourite genres) – I was more than happy to talk to him about teaming up. Cold Steel Wardens has a lot of potential and I’m looking forward to exploring those dark streets with him,” said Angus Abranson, owner of Chronicle City.

Blackfall Press, LLC is a new producer of tabletop roleplaying games located in Englewood, OH.  Cold Steel Wardens: Roleplaying in the Iron Age of Comics is their first wide-release game.  The Kickstarter drive for Cold Steel Wardens can be found at the following address:  http://kck.st/V8ecTS

Chronicle City is a new British based games publisher set up by Angus Abranson (ex-Cubicle 7; Leisure Games). Chronicle City are working with a number of companies and designers to publish their games, as well as designing their own roleplaying, card and board games.

# # #

If you would like more information about Blackfall Press, LLC or Cold Steel Wardens: Roleplaying in the Iron Age of Comics, please contact A.P. Klosky at  apklosky@gmail.com or visit the Blackfall Press, LLC Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/blackfallpressllc

You can find out more information about Chronicle City, and their games, at www.chroniclecity.co.uk or follow them on Twitter @Chronicle_City, Facebook http://www.facebook.com/chroniclecity, Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/113799205206829853668 or by emailing angus@chroniclecity.com

In Which The Warlock Continues the March...

I've often compared my life to that of a juggler.  I taught myself to juggle while working at an amusement park, while toiling in the long days of gift shop hell.  And, while I'm only a competent three-ball juggler, I remember my long conversations with the street entertainers during my days there, in which they spoke of greater and more impressive feats--juggling buzz-saw blades covered in lit gasoline while balancing on a tipped-up chair, or chainsaws while balancing wine glasses.

My life right now is one of carefully juggled chaos.  Between teaching, grading, taking two online professional development classes, writing and editing Cold Steel Wardens, contacting artists and layout experts, conferring with industry folks, managing and updating the Kickstarter, and publicizing for the game itself, I'm up to my eyeballs.  Each of these things spins whirls about my head, and it's all I can do to metaphorically keep tossing them back up and forging on.

Take, for example, this past weekend.  I managed to eke out a session of Hell on Earth with the PlatinumChick on Friday night, but even then, I was hard at work on my Friday update for the Kickstarter.  Saturday, amid shampooing our carpets and making curry for the annual WittLARP, I produced a series of GM screen adverts for my upcoming demo series and printed off the character sheets necessary for said demos.  Sunday was spent out at Bookery Fantasy, showing off my game in the hopes of gaining some more backers.

Only THREE?  Man, he's got it easy!

Yesterday might have been the singularity of this madness.  I arrived at my school at 7am, as usual, but downtime and breaks within the teaching day were spent editing a video update for the Kickstarter and e-mailing various contacts and potential artists.  On my prep, I took my final exam for my online history exam, which went about as well as I could have expected, given the circumstances.  Upon arriving home, I attempted to upload that video update, only to find that it exceeded YouTube's length requirement.  That meant re-editing the video to trim out about a minute of footage, then re-uploading it.  By that point, the PlatinumChick had returned home and I managed to cram down dinner and a short "de-stresssing" bath before my featured #rpgnet IRC chat.  The chat lasted nearly 3 hours, and I only managed to log off at 10:45 that evening.  My workday?  15.75 hours.  Ouch.

If you're looking at building a Kickstarter, I can't stress this enough:  don't have anything else in your life going on at the same time, if you can help it.  Minimize the level of distractions that you have overall, so that you can focus on providing quality updates and timely communication with your backers.  The less you have going, the more you can focus on your product and the publicity monster that will constantly devour your time and attention.

I'm in the "lull" right now in Kickstarter terms--that period between a project's initial surge of backers (made primarily up of a loyal base) and the end-of-project spike (primarily brought about as the project nears its deadline).  Considering that we've hit 41% this week and still have 3 weeks to go, we're doing fairly well, though our projections are very near.  Depending on the number of pledges we get in a day (some days of the lull have been great, some have been all but blank), our projections drift back and forth over our funding line.  It's easy to become absorbed in watching the numbers, but at the end of the day, playing Nostradamus helps no one and only makes a project manager more nervous.  Realism only gets you so far.

But, we still forge on!  I keep juggling my many priorities and hopefully things'll turn out in our favor, and I'll have a great game for you.

For those interested, feel free to take a look at the full transcript of my #rpgnet IRC chat.  And, if you're a Dayton local, swing by Epic Loot Comics and Games in Centerville this coming Sunday (12-16) starting at 1pm for a free demo of Cold Steel Wardens.

Oh.  I nearly forgot.  I have news.  Stay tuned on our Kickstarter page for forthcoming information!  :D

In Which The Warlock Contemplates the Kickstarter...

Friends and neighbors, I'll make no bones about it.  This week has been an utter whirlwind, between Kickstarter publicity, setting up demos, virtual meet-ups and the like, on top of my normal schedule of gaming and teaching.

However, I'd like to use this space over the next few weeks to record some thoughts about my Kickstarter experience and how things have been rolling out over time.

At the time of writing this, I've just hit the 30% funded mark, thanks to two massively generous donations from ChaoticLauryn and CinciNick, as well as ChaoticFrederick.  For whatever reason, the 30% mark seems to be the "magic number" for determining the success or failure of a Kickstarter drive.  According to Kickstarter's own metrics--as cited here, by a successful film project--if a project manages to hit that 30% mark, it has a greater than 90% chance of being fully funded.  While the actual reasoning behind this seems to be somewhat nebulous, the fact remains that people seem to be more likely to shell out for a product that has a demonstrable chance of success.  As such, hitting 30% only 5 days in means that we have a real shot of making Cold Steel Wardens a reality!

KickTraq:
All the KS stats you could possibly want!

I've got to say, the whole Kickstarter process is incredibly nerve-wracking.  The temptation to keep hitting F5 in the hopes that someone has pledged in the 5 minutes since the last time you've looked is overwhelming at times.  A mixed blessing among the Kickstarter furor has been KickTraq--an analytics site devoted to processing data specifically from Kickstarter.  While KickTraq has been invaluable in assessing the relative success and failure on any given day, it's hard to avoid "armchair quarterbacking" every moment of the drive.

Publicity has been a struggle, though I feel that I've been fairly successful in areas.  My attempts to contact actual comics news sites has been an utter failure, with not even so much as an email back from any site that I had contacted (of seven).  Facebook has been useful, and I've seen good metrics from the Blackfall Press Facebook page, but the limitations on page-based posting (at least on a free basis) makes it difficult to keep word spreading.

I've also encountered something of a conundrum, for which I have no easy answer.  I began this Kickstarter drive for three primary reasons:  art, layout, and an initial print run.  As is, I can afford none of these three.  The Kickstarter was designed specifically to pay for these items.  However, I'm finding that one of the biggest criticisms leveled at the KS is that the art doesn't look "professional" or "refined".  Well...that's probably because it's not.  It was done by a good friend, pro-bono, who's never had formal art training.  While I like the cover image we've been using--I think it fits the tone and genre of the comics I'm attempting to emulate--it's not professional by any stretch.

But, because of this, I find myself in a catch-22.  I ran the Kickstarter to afford high-quality, professional art...but I find myself in need of said art in order to succeed at the Kickstarter.  Established companies have a decided advantage in this regard, as they have both numerous freelance art contacts and, in many cases, in house artists.  But, if that's the case and they have that funding already available, why are they doing Kickstarter?  Frustration, thy name is crowd-funding!

That said, the drive goes on!  I'm the featured guest at the Beautiful Brains BackRoom Chat tomorrow evening (9pm EST), so if you'd like to chat with me,  you can catch me then!
If you haven't pledged, check out the Cold Steel Wardens Kickstarter page, and stay posted through the Blackfall Press Facebook page!

In Which The Warlock Officially Announces...

For Immediate Release: November 30, 2012

Blackfall Press, LLC Announces Tabletop RPG Kickstarter: Cold Steel Wardens: Roleplaying in the Iron Age of Comics

Cover Design for Cold Steel Wardens
(Courtesy of Julia "Kit" Mowry)

[Englewood, OH] Blackfall Press, LLC is pleased to announce the opening of a Kickstarter to finance publication of their first tabletop roleplaying game, Cold Steel Wardens: Roleplaying in the Iron Age of Comics. Utilizing the new “MAFIANAP” mechanics, Cold Steel Wardens players take on the roles of masked vigilantes taking back their city from the vicious gangs, metahumans and other criminals infesting the streets. 

Cold Steel Wardens emulates the Iron Age of Comics: an era of comics writing from roughly 1979-1996 made famous by works such as Alan Moore’s Watchmen, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, Dennis O’Neil’s seminal run on The Question, and countless other masterworks. In Cold Steel Wardens, heroes not only have to contend with the scum of the streets, but also the intense moral and ethical dilemmas surrounding vigilantism, personal rights, and justice. 

“What sets Cold Steel Wardens apart is its focus,” said A.P. Klosky, president of Blackfall Press, LLC and creator of the game, “Cold Steel Wardens is built around slow-burning investigations, brutal combat, and difficult moral quandaries. It’s a game meant to challenge players just as much as their characters.” This is Klosky’s first solo foray into designing a full roleplaying game, having worked as a freelance designer and editor for Cubicle 7 Entertainment, GameWick Games, and Gun Metal Games in the past. Provided that the Kickstarter drive is successful, 

Cold Steel Wardens: Roleplaying in the Iron Age of Comics is slated for a Summer 2013 release in both PDF and print. A follow up volume—Cold Steel Wardens: Rogues’ Gallery—is already in the planning stages. 

The Kickstarter itself is available at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/apklosky/cold-steel-wardens-roleplaying-in-the-iron-age-of and runs from November 30th to January 1. For more information on Blackfall Press or Cold Steel Wardens, contact A.P. Klosky at apklosky AT gmail.com or visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/blackfallpressllc

The Countdown Begins.

FREE COUNTDOWN WIDGET

Are you prepared to do what is necessary?

In Which The Warlock Creates a Comics Conception...

In designing Cold Steel Wardens, my original intent has always been to emulate the Iron Age of Comics.  Heck, it's in the name of the game!  I wanted to build a game that focused on the investigative aspects of being a masked vigilante, on the moral dilemmas faced with putting on a mask, and on the brutality of street-level combat.

But, how would I know if I had accomplished my goals?  How could I determine whether these aims were successful?

I spent yesterday evening writing up a series of pre-generated characters for my upcoming session of CSW this weekend, as part of the Wittenberg RP-Guild one-shots.  While I started with two of the characters that originally inspired the game--the PlatinumChick's gunslinger, CheapShot, and DigitalKat's psionic paralegal, Scheherazade--I quickly had to come up with some archetypal Iron Age characters of my own.

Gender-swap good ol' Nightwing
and you've got a brand new Hero!

So where did I turn?  Right back to the source material, of course.  Within a few hours, I had recreated a female version of Nightwing, struggling to escape the shadow of her overbearing mentor, a Rorschach-ian private detective, and something of a mash-up between John Constantine and Kitty Pride, among others. What better way to measure the success of my ability to emulate the Iron Age than to rebuild some of the era's classic characters in my brand new system?!

And, truly, I was astounded at the result.  After each character was finished, I passed off the character sheet to the PlatinumChick, who simply smiled and nodded.  As I finally put the finishing touches on the last of the characters, I asked her "Which one are you planning on playing?" fully believing that she was going to gravitate towards her old character.  I was surprised, however, to hear her say that she was more interested in Sawbones--the aforementioned Shadowcat/Hellblazer mash-up.

It's then that I knew--I had knocked it out of the park.  And it's now time to take things to the next level.

Presenting:  the new home for Blackfall Press, LLC--our official Facebook page!
Like us on our page to receive all the latest news regarding Cold Steel Wardens, The Pendulum Method, and all of our other publishing efforts!

In Which the Warlock Pencils a Potential Plotline...

It's been a while since I've jumped in on the RPG Blog Carnival, but this month's entry gave me some special impetus:  it's being hosted by Lindevi, over at TripleCrit.com!

In light of NaNoWriMo and the concurrent-running NaGaDeMon, DigitalKat posits the following question:

So what about you, RPG Bloggers?  Why do you write about games?  In what form does your writing crop up in your campaigns?  What's your process, your stumbling blocks, your passion?  How has writing helped you or your table?  Or is writing more like a CR 8 Succubus whose torturous siren song hurts so good and dominates your very being?

Writing is part and parcel of my gaming 'process', as you probably could imagine.  Between my work on Cold Steel Wardens and the various convention games I've run over the years, it's been my continual effort to provide a series of adventures and materials to serve as my role-playing "legacy".  While doing so can sometimes be tedious--writing up stat blocks is a particular bugaboo of mine--there are quite a few tasks that I particularly relish.

One of my favorites is the "character vignette".  Usually stemming from an NPC's contact with given PC, these vignettes flesh out the world at large by speaking within a character's voice.

Case in point:  my "Tear of Ioun" campaign from a few years back.  Chris II's character, Martook, came in a veteran of Blackfall's most elite guard, tasked with the unenviable task of securing and destroying evil artifacts.  Chris depicted Martook as a grizzled veteran and family man, on his last mission before retirement from the force.

However, when the group's mission went afoul and the PCs were accused of a series of murders which touched off a small-scale war, Martook and his compatriots had to flee to another plane.  Upon their return to the Prime Material, Martook received the following from his wife:

Dearest Martook— 

I don’t really know how to say this.  I’m going to do my best to not cry as I’m writing this, but I can feel myself already welling up. 

When you told me that you were being recruited to work in The Vaults, I didn't want you to go.  We had just started to raise our family.  We were only married two years when you started there, and Maximilian was only six months old.  But, I let you go, knowing you’d come back to me.  

When you were promoted to Field Agent, and you were sent to find these…things…I didn't protest.  That was last year, and Maria was just a bulge in my belly.   I let you go again, and I knew that you would come back to me. 

When you left to look for this Tear of Ioun, I didn't object.  Maria had just been born, and I was getting back on my feet.  Little Max was only 5, but he was helping around the house as much as he could.  The neighbors helped out, too.  I let you go one more time, knowing you’d come back to me. 

And now?  I have Cathedral Agents at my door, telling me that you’re wanted for murder and treason.  I have Max asking me if Daddy is ever coming back, now that the King’s Men are waiting for him.  He asks me, “Mom, what did Daddy do wrong?  Why does the King hate him so much?”  I don’t have an answer for him.  Little Maria barely knows you.  She’s three now, and caught Gray Fever last winter.  She wheezes at night still, but the clerics of Erathis are confident she’ll recover sooner or later.  

I've been waiting for you most of my adult life.  We've been taken care of, thanks to the Cathedral, but that doesn't mean that we have everything we've ever wanted.  The kids want a father.  I can’t say I blame them.  I want a husband again. 

But now, with you being hunted…I just can’t wait anymore.  There’s been someone else, Martook.  You know him—Dengild Oathhammer, from across the street.  He helped fix our roof about a year ago, after a snowstorm and I asked him to stay for supper and then one thing led to the next and… 

I told myself I wouldn’t cry. 

I can’t even tell you what I want right now.  I've stopped things with Dengild, but my children—our children—need a father, and I need my husband.  I just can’t manage to let you go, the one time where it might matter. 

The kids and I are about to leave Blackfall for a while.  We’re going downriver, to a cottage my parents had east of Kasserine.  I gave this to the priestess Valandor, at the Cathedral, and she promised that she would get it to you.  I’m not sure how, because they say that Wellspring, the town you were at, is in ruins.  I hope it gets to you.  You deserve to know, at least. 

I’m sorry, Martook.  I really am.  Please forgive me. 

---Maleena

Obviously--just take a look at my picture up yonder!--I'm no scorned woman, much less one with two children to take care of and an illicit relationship with her next-door neighbor.  But, being able to write as such a character allows me three primary benefits.

Firstly, it allows me, as a GM, to immerse myself in my own world.  Did I know about Kasserine or any of the other characters in this letter, prior to writing it?  Absolutely not!  But, by including them, I can help flesh out my own world, building in people, places, and ideas that normally would never make an appearance.

Secondly, this provides me an opportunity to directly address a PC's background.  When our group was galavanting through the Shadowfell, it became hard to justify any expansion on Martook's relationship.  But, by including this vignette upon their return, I've not only shown that time has passed (in the fact that Martook's wife has moved on) and hooks him with a personalized side-quest:  make it back to Kasserine to make things right with his wife.

Finally, this allows my player, Chris II, the opportunity to expose the other players to Martook's own personality.  While we can see Martook's personality in the context of the group, there are aspects to his personality which would only emerge when in the presence of his personal friends and family.  Our identity, many philosophers have claimed, is mutable over time--who we are varies based on the course of our lives, the experiences we've had, and the memories we retain.  As such, our group experienced a side of Martook that they might never see otherwise...

While I don't use the character vignette often--maybe once or twice a campaign per character--it provides ample opportunities for both myself as a GM and as a player.  Plus, since it usually takes up less than a page, it's quick!  Try it!  You'll like it!

In Which The Warlock Happens Upon Horror...

It's been my distinct pleasure over the course of my gaming life to be exposed to dozens, if not hundreds, of game systems and genres.  It honestly astounds me at times that some gamers only play D&D or only play a particular version of a game system.   And yet, I recall that once upon a time, my own experiences were exactly that:  D&D and nothing more.

A bad moon rising...

It wasn't until I'd reached Wittenberg that I started to branch out.  And, truth be told, it wasn't until one fateful  night that I received my first taste of the Call of Cthulhu RPG.  Thanks to some great players, BLof's extraordinary gamemastery, and a harrowing walk home at 1:00 am beneath a bloody red-orange moon, I was hooked.  My gaming life would never be the same.

My first real shock came in character generation.  Used to (and rather sick of) the min-maxing of D&D, I decided to go all out in characterization, breaking from anything even remotely familiar.  I settled upon writing up what I lovingly referred to as a "Wicca wench"--a heavily overweight woman who fancied herself something of an "occult expert", when her actual arcane knowledge came only from her part-time job in a New Age store.

BLof's scenario began with our characters investigating the disappearance of several campers in a nearby state park.  After a day of fruitless searching, evening led us to the campers' cabin.  And that?  That's when the real horror kicked in.

Run away!  Run away!!!

Marooned in the park, our cabin was overrun by ghoulish infant-like creatures which would latch onto the living and begin digging into their flesh with needle teeth.  The ghoul-children burrowed in through the walls of our cabin, driving us onto the roof.  While we were lightly armed, it quickly became apparent to me that Call of Cthulhu was not a game of combat.  We barely were able to beat a handful of the creatures back, but were forced to retreat into the depths of the darkened woods, the infant-dead wailing after us.

I'm not sure whether it was the setting, whether it was the stark contrast between this game and my prior forays in D&D, or maybe it was how BLof described the wails of these demon-children as we fled into the dark.  Regardless, I was hooked.   Call of Cthulhu had blown my mind, completely and utterly.  That evening, I slowly made my way back to Ferncliff Hall beneath the blood-orange moon.  With those hideous wails embedded in my ears, the horrified look of my characters' face emblazoned onto my imagination, I knew that I'd be back for more.

Our campaign lasted for the majority of that semester and, while many of our sessions were nowhere near as horrific as that first one--our highway-chase/gunfight in Harlem comes immediately to mind--that first session set me down quite the path.  The flirtations with horror gaming I'd had in the past through Ravenloft were just that--mere flirtations.  With Call of Cthulhu, I'd found real vehicle--and my options have only spread open since then.

By now, you're probably wondering what brought this entry on.  Obviously, the holiday spirit is my primary motivation, but not necessarily for the reason you think.

You see, friends and neighbors:  that fateful first session, which brought me full-bore into horror roleplaying...that session was played on Halloween, eleven years ago today.

Now, isn't that spooky!?

In Which The Warlock Peruses the Perfect Party...

For those of you that were hoping for more cross-blog shenanigans, never fear:  it's just The Journeyman GM's turn to host our info.  This time around, we take a look at one of his games--his Deadlands "Heart of Darkness" conversion!

In the meanwhile, I wanted to spend a little time talking about a recent game that really blew me away, which is only more fitting considering the time of year!

I'm talking, of course, about the PlatinumChick's Call of Cthulhu game, "Welcome to Zendik Farms", which I ran for the first time this past Friday for the WittKids.  I've spent quite a while running over-the-top steampunk action in Deadlands, and it had felt like ages since I'd actually run a true 'horror' session.  Upon arriving, the PlatinumChick and I found ourselves with no less than 11 players--more than enough for two full tables.

I've got to say, though:  I think I ended up the beneficiary of that division, though.  My table was nothing short of immaculate, with a series of spectacular role-players who bought into the nihilistic, cult-driven storyline like none other.

If you haven't played the PlatinumChick's "...Zendik Farms" scenario before, you're missing out.  Based on an actual real-life cult (from which people have actually escaped!), the scenario seems simple on the surface:  characters start on what seems like a relaxing excursion to an organic arts community.  But, the plot delves into deeper secrets and horrors, the longer that the investigators stay.  No session ever truly plays the same way twice, as the farm itself provides a mini-sandbox for the investigators to play through.

So, let's talk a little about my players.  I was excited to have Lindevi (also known as DigitalKat) on board, as she was aching to play in horror game as much as I had been aching to run one.  She's well known my capacity for Wicked GMing, having played in my Deadlands "Follow the Walkin' Man" campaign as well as a Ravenloft one-shot I'd run years ago:  "An Incident at Ravencroft Asylum".  Lindevi was coupled by a familiar face from our Friday night sessions, Chris I!

I knew these guys could role-play.  I see it on a regular basis, as they delve into deep character interactions and difficult moral choices.  What I didn't know was how much the other three would get into it--two WittKids and a community member totally new to the Guild, LatinJoseph.  The three of them played their parts to the hilt, with WittDrew even converting to the Zendik cult partway through the scenario!  The stark looks of horror on the others' faces as their comrade willingly started going along with the farm's plans was priceless--you can't script emotional responses like that!

The segment of the game that struck me most, though, was the willingness for players to put themselves in vulnerable positions.  Characters continually committed that "cardinal sin" of splitting the party again and again, even isolating themselves with members of the cult.  LatinJoseph astounded me, leaving his traumatized college activist alone with Zendik scion Fawn, all the while under the effects of various psychotropic drugs.

I've posited before that the social contracts inherent to role-playing games are fundamentally a variation on the same relationships and contracts held between dominant and submissive members of a BDSM-style relationship.  I've been doing quite a bit of research into this concept, actually, in the hopes to expand my theory into an essay suitable for my upcoming Pendulum Method compilation.  LatinJoseph showed his flexibility and versatility in storytelling by allowing his character to submit to the given plot element:  the psychopathic Fawn.  His metaphorical submission allowed for fantastic role-play opportunities in that his own character slowly came out of their psychotropic haze (which he portrayed spectacularly!) but also for Lindevi, whose then-insane investigative reporter did her best to save LatinJoseph's college student!  By relinquishing a degree of control in the scene, that narrative power was magnified and spread out through my own NPCs, Lindevi's character, and even through himself!

It's okay to give up control
once in a while!  Cut loose!

Throughout the course of the game, the role of 'dominant' was passed back and forth between players and Keeper almost seamlessly.  Lindevi herself took the reins when a horrific event caused her reporter to lose a significant amount of Sanity, leading her to take WittSean's character hostage!  WittSean rolled perfectly with the scene, mentally handing over control of the scene to Lindevi.  Later on, Chris I's housewife stole the show, overturning tables in a desperate, last-gasp stand against the Zendik faithful.  However, the narrative power swiftly changed hands to WittSean's crisis of conscience:  does he betray his 'innocent' friends or does he believe the idyllic truth put forward by Wulf Zendik?

It's that sort of continued, extensive power exchange that takes an average table and makes it a good one or, in the case of this group, takes a good group of players and pushes them into an evening of phenomenal gaming.  This group's ability to build opportunities for one another through narrative power exchange allowed them to achieve some of the best table-based role-play I've ever seen.  When we staggered out of our room in Shouvlin at nearly 12:30 that morning, the group was worn, beaten down, and thoroughly smiling.  And, after a long session of dominance and submission, that's about all you ever want...

In Which The Warlock Illumines the Shadows--The Journeyman GM's Perspective!

As mentioned last entry, this is part of my October cross-blog shenanigans with Will Herrmann, better known as the Journeyman GM.  Here's his perspective on our "Shadows of the Cold War" game!  Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Shadows of the Cold War was my second campaign ever. I was in the middle of a Dungeons & Dragons 4e campaign and, as a new and eager roleplaying gamer, was interested in trying out a new roleplaying game system. Heroes Unlimited was definitely an interesting one to have chosen (like all games from Palladium, it's riddled with typos, very messy character creation, and internally inconsistent mechanics), but fortunately, Andy had houseruled the egregious problems and we spent far more more of our time talking things out than we did worrying about the game mechanics.

"Aren't the stars and stripes a little...
...old-fashioned?"

Having always been a Captain America fan, I decided to create a super soldier. In his backstory, I decided that him and his twin brother were experimented upon (experimentation on twins was pretty common in Nazi Germany and I figured the Soviet Union might have done something similar with a super soldier program). Using the random character generation in Heroes Unlimited, Ulrich Hartmann wound up with speed, strength, endurance, and fighting prowess that far exceeded that of a normal human. He knew a variety of fighting styles and could pilot just about any vehicle with ease. And at night, he became even more deadly, perhaps out of a realization that the darkness would hide his brutality. Despite this, Ulrich definitely had the Captain America attitude of using his power to protect those who were weaker than him. Ulrich's full character sheet can be found here.

The thing that meant the most to me was Ulrich's hindrances. In Dungeons & Dragons, characters are generally flawless. Sure, they may not be proficient in certain skills or they many be deficient in some attribute, but they don't really have any character flaws. Ulrich on the other hand received constant headaches and had a metabolism four times that of a normal human (this led to a lot of fun situations and his nightly ritual of going to the Happy Panda all you can eat Chinese buffet). In addition, he had escaped from the Soviet Union and was being hunted down by his twin brother, Jakob Hartmann, who had the same powers, but a much more brutal and self-serving outlook on how they should be used. And perhaps the most defining thing for the campaign was that he literally started by walking off of a bus. With no money, no job, no place to stay, and a poor understanding of the English language, the early sessions were largely focused on Ulrich trying to find a place to live and a job to support himself. These hindrances to Ulrich's character wound up defining him just as much as his superhuman abilities and I think because of that, I wound up gravitating toward systems with hindrances later in my gaming career.

Ulrich followed the meaning,
not necessarily the movement.

Being on the run from the Soviets, Ulrich naturally needed a superhero identity. Having always admired the words of Karl Marx (but not how the Soviets had "corrupted" them), Ulrich decided to take on the name "Manifesto" and made it his goal to right the injustices he saw. And what better place to do it than in America? Hub City itself had recently constructed skyscrapers for the rich to work in, but had the poor living on the streets next to it.

Eventually, Manifesto teamed up with several other superheroes and started tracking down an individual who had kidnapped a young girl…and it was clear that he was too powerful for the police to take down. Admittedly, this nature of this villain made me a bit uncomfortable (see Andy's description) but it definitely made our final fight of retribution against him ore meaningful.

Unfortunately, Ulrich met his match not from some violent super-powered killer, but from a car crash. How that happened is a fun story in and of itself, but ultimately it meant that Manifesto's crime-fighting streak came to a premature end. I'm told that future plots would have had him meet his evil twin brother again and have his past catch up to him again!

This was my first exposure to Andy's GMing style. He's big on creating overwhelming challenges and creating very personal stories. Although I'm not as crazy about Watchmen-style superheroes as Andy, I found the game overall to be really enjoyable and the first real exposure to having characters that seemed "real".

All in all, Shadows of the Cold War is one of the most memorable games I've played in. It was the first that really let me play a character that was human and had his share of flaws and, much to my surprise, it was fun having to deal with the challenges of daily life. Manifesto is one of my favorite characters and a Savage Worlds version of him will be included as a pregen for Wild Card Creator.

In Which The Warlock Illumines the Shadows...

Continuing our cross-blog extravaganza, the Journeyman GM and I decided to stop and reminisce about one of our first real campaigns together--my Heroes Unlimited/Call of Cthulhu mash-up, "Shadows of the Cold War".  While the campaign was somewhat short-lived, it provided some great moments of role-play around the table and really showed off some of the things I love about gaming at Wittenberg, to say nothing of Will's skill and creativity as a player.

For those of you that don't frequent my blog, I billed "Shadows of the Cold War" as something of an "alternate-universe Watchmen", in which the events of that seminal graphic novel never actually happened:  Ozymandias never detonated his squid, Silk Spectre never determined the identity of her father, and Dr. Manhattan simply up and left.  Our heroes took up residence in the DC Comics underworld of Hub City, which was all but polluted with crime and vigilante activity.

Rorschach's vengeance:
an inspiration for Manifesto's
first investigation.

While our three other heroes--played by the PlatinumChick, DigitalKat, and L-Train--played "average" citizens of Hub City, Will had decided to take a slightly less orthodox route.  His hero, Manifesto, was the semi-successful result of an East German/Soviet super-soldier project who had gained most of his combat experience fighting in Afghanistan.  After falling out with his handlers over ideological issues, Manifesto escaped Soviet control and stole into the United States, hoping to spread the word of Marx to the impoverished masses of the Hub.

While it might not seem exciting to many, the two introductory sessions of "Shadows..." may be among my all time favorites.  Manifesto was literally a "stranger in a strange land"--bereft of basic 'givens' like citizenship, a drivers' license, or even the ability to speak proper English, Will/Manifesto stared down a greater threat than a supervillain or a back-alley ganger:  the plight of poverty, viewed through the eyes of an illegal immigrant.  Manifesto was lucky in many regards--he managed to procure work as an unskilled laborer at a construction site, was able to find his way to a housing and human services branch through which he procured a small apartment, and received some significant donations from the Salvation Army.

Throughout these sessions, nary a die was rolled--after all, what good is combat prowess or technical expertise, when your character is living on the streets?  But the buy-in on Will's part was spectacular, and the table was riveted throughout.  When Manifesto finally managed to get his feet under him and meet some of his fellow vigilantes, it was like he had finally 'made it'.

This isn't to say that our game was a matter of The Sims-lite.  Rather, our game focused heavily on investigation and several ongoing attempts to thwart an arms-trafficking ring run by The White Russian, an enigmatic criminal mastermind.  Leads into a Benson and Hedges Holdings warehouse led our heroes to what may be the most foul villain I've ever created:  Mr. Kisses.

Meant to be a riff on "Mr. Fantastic gone mad", Mr. Kisses was a serial rapist and murderer, with a penchant for targeting under-aged girls.  His deranged psyche had fetishized the "American Ladies" young adult novels of the time, leading him to kidnap school-aged girls, abuse them, and then kill them.  However, with an in-born elastic ability, Mr. Kisses' victims died messy, horrific deaths.  With each clue they found, with each step closer the group took, Mr. Kisses provoked a powerful sense of righteous vengeance, which I've rarely seen around the game table.  When Kisses died--and they most assuredly did not let such a madman live--there was a collective sigh of relief around the table.  One less girl would be made a victim in this world.  One less mother would spend sleepless nights in tears.

While Mr. Kisses certainly hit home with a Rated-R, Iron Age sensibility, this isn't to say that our campaign didn't have moments of comic relief.  As a side-effect of his super-soldier experimentation, Manifesto's metabolism worked at four times the normal rate:  he had to eat a full meal every few hours or be stricken with crippling migraines.  It became a running joke at our table that Manifesto would hit the Happy Panda Chinese Buffet on his way home from work, eating the place clean!  Set in 1986, our game was rife with references to The A-Team, MacGuyver, and the worst of 80s music.  Lockshanks, L-Train's character, even made a point to go see Return of the Jedi on its opening day!

The treacherous roads of Centralia, PA

As I mentioned earlier, our heroes met an untimely end, mainly due to a poor choice of driver and some phenomenally bad die rolls.  Our campaign ended just as it hit its nascence.  I had planned for our heroes to visit Centralia, Pennsylvania in the upcoming session, uncovering Cthulhian horrors amongst the smoking ruins.

Despite our tragic (and more than a little ironic) end, "Shadows of the Cold War" left a sizable influence.  The wonky mechanics of Heroes Unlimited left an ashen taste in my mouth and the Iron Age of Comics remained a relatively untapped realm of inspiration for a would-be game designer.  In designing Cold Steel Wardens, I dropped elements directly from "Shadows..." into the game--The White Russian, Mr. Kisses, and even Manifesto himself have made it into my first draft copy as NPCs and, in Manifesto's case, a fully playable pre-generated character.

And Will?  Well, despite my tendency to kill off his characters, he's still coming back for more...and next week, we'll take a look at what it's like as a player in one of his games!