Comic Books Were My Comfort Food

I've dropped the ball when it comes to writing entries for my blog. The act of writing is just for me. The act of sharing that writing in a blog is, I suppose, a bit of ego stroking. I'd like to think that there are people out there who care about what I have to say and who share my point of view. This might even be true. The problem is, I'm getting old.

I turn 60 this year. People my age aren't generally "computer" people. They don't read blogs. Heck, almost no one reads blogs anymore. So, maintaining this practice of writing and sharing ideas in this space begins to feel more and more pointless with every passing year. But, I'm still going to do it.

I like expressing my ideas out to the nebulous expanse that is the internet. I pretend that I'm speaking to friends who can understand and empathise with my points of view, and that is somehow comforting to me. I know that I'm deluding myself to a great extent, but that doesn't matter. Call it the "placebo effect" if you must. Just getting words out of my head and organizing them helps me.

When I was going gangbusters on this blog for several months last year, I tried to share entries about board games and RPGs during the week and a sort of personal life story during the weekends. If you were reading along during that time, you know that my childhood was a little bit turbulent. (See how I'm addressing you, the reader like there's actually someone there? Placebo effect.)

I'm working on yet another superhero RPG. I love superheroes. As a kid, comic books were my comfort food. As a teen, RPGs were my saviour. As an old man, both of them seem to remain just out of reach. Something that you don't think about when you imagine getting older is how your world will change.

 

Sure, everyone struggles with their mortality, and fears growing more frail and eventually dying. I realize now as I glance to my right at the walker that I now need in order to move around the house…  I realize now as I look in front of me at the healthy breakfast that includes cholesterol free egg substitute and an orange, which is a direct result of a recent heart attack…  I realize that dealing with my own mortality is the easy part. 

The part that no one talks about is how the world continues to grow and evolve and change while we as human beings tend to stall. We learn to value certain things. We settle into a personality and a pattern of expectations and beliefs based on our past experiences, and then the world moves on, and everything that we believe crumbles away. Oh, I still believe what I believe. It's not actually belief that crumbles away, it's relevance. 

It doesn't matter what I believe because my world doesn't exist anymore. I was so excited to see the new James Gunn Superman movie. He seems like a man who comes from the same world that I come from. I'm still excited for the film. I have plans to see it on my birthday in July. But, I realized today that it won't be what I want it to be.

I just finished watching the season 1 finale of James Gunn's Creature Commandos. It's good. It's really good. It's not what comics were for me in my youth. It's certainly not "comfort food." If anything it's "discomfort food." Creature Commandos is disturbing, sad and dark. It's a good example of why the world isn't for me anymore. 

If you aren't a 60 year old man with a 10 year old kid from 1975 living inside of him, you might like it. Hell, I "liked it." As I said, it's very good. But it's not part of the world that I remember or that I yearn to revisit. It doesn't give me what comic books used to give me. Those comic books don't exist anymore.

Deeds - Dastardly & Heroic - A trick taking Superhero RPG

This is an idea that I am playing with for a scene based RPG resolution system inspired by Biff, Bam, Kapow and trick taking card games.

Deeds: Dastardly & Heroic

Mood

Cards are used to determine the mood in a scene. Think of mood as the lighting, the camera angles, and the music that permeates the scene. The mood can be Calm, Suspenseful, Dastardly, or Heroic. (Alliteration is used to tie mood and suit together: calm to clubs, suspenseful to spades, etc.)

Calm (clubs)

• Fail: +0 Progress
  
• Succeed: +1 Progress
  

Suspenseful (spades)

• Fail: -1 Progress
• Succeed: +1 Progress
  

Dastardly (diamonds)

• Fail: -2 Progress
• Succeed: +1 Progress
  

Heroic (hearts)

• Fail: -1 Progress
• Succeed: +2 Progress
  

When a character succeeds when taking an action, they gain Progress. When a character fails when taking an action, they may lose Progress. The amount of Progress lost or gained is based on the Mood for that round in the scene. 

 

Every scene will last five rounds. The GM will have chosen a selection of five cards depending on the Dominant Mood of the scene. Three of the cards will match the selected mood and the other two could be anything. Here are some suggestions:

• Calm Scene: 3 clubs, 2 spades
• Suspense Scene: 3 spades, 1 diamond, 1 club
• Dastardly Scene: 3 diamonds, 1 club, 1 heart
• Heroic Scene: 3 hearts, 2 spades

With the mood deck assembled, the GM shuffles the cards and flips one. Interpreting the mood of the card within the context of the current scene, the GM describes the actions and events taking place within the scene and then asks the players, "What do you do?"

• Every scene should have a defined goal that carries some importance to the outcome of the story.
• Progress moves the story forward.
• All scenes begin with 0 Progress.
• Actions taken by the players may increase or decrease Progress. 
• At the end of a scene if the players have accumulated 2x the number of players worth of total Progress then the scene is resolved in the players' favor.
• At the end of a scene if the players have accumulated less than the required total Progress then the scene is resolved to the players' detriment.
• Generally, scene types are played out in order in a circular fashion: calm to suspenseful; suspenseful to dastardly; dastardly to heroic; heroic to calm, etc.
  
  

Trick Taking

Players play a card from their hand on their turn in order to attempt action and influence the scene.

• The GM will inform the players of the Dominant Mood of the scene when the scene begins.
• Players draw a hand of five cards at the beginning of the scene, and do not redraw cards into their hand. (They will end the scene with no cards.)
  
• A player's action succeeds automatically if they play a card from their hand that matches the suit of the current mood for the round.
• Players may follow suit to be guaranteed success, but they are not forced to do so.
• Alternatively, a player may play a card for its value, ignoring its suit.
• Playing a card with a value that is equal to or lower than the score of a relative trait on their character sheet will result in a success. (See "Using Traits" below.)
  
• Each Trait can only be used once per scene.
• Each player has a personal deck of 52 cards.
• All cards without numbers (A, K, Q, J) have a value of 1.
• Trait Scores range from 2 (average) to 9 (legendary).
  
  

Character Creation

Roll or select one trait from each of the following 8 trait categories. (You can even make up your own trait for a given category if nothing meets your fancy.)

1. Origin Trait (How does your journey begin?)

1. Mutant (You were born different – very different)
2. Augment (Science changed you)
3. Alien (You're not from around here)
4. Enchanted (Magic changed you)
5. Rigor (You learned, trained or developed your natural abilities)
6. Robotic (You are what you were built to be)

2. Value Trait (What do you care about?)

1. Love (You do it because there's a special someone that motivates you.)
2. Duty (You must do it because you took an oath.)
3. Justice (You do it because it's the right thing to do.)
4. Glory (You do it to gain recognition.)
5. Power (You do it to get stronger.)
6. Truth (You do it because you have a need to know.)

3. Method Trait (How do you solve problems?)

1. Dynamo (You use your power)
2. Bruiser (You use your fists)
3. Investigator (You use your mind)
4. Diplomat (You use your words)
5. Seducer (You use your beauty)
6. Investor (You use your money)

4. Physical Trait (What about you physically do you depend on?)

1. Brawny (Your muscles have muscles)
2. Nimble (You can move your body with surprising speed and precision)
3. Tough (You can take punishment that would cause others to crumble)
4. Small (You can squeeze into tight places and are often underestimated)
5. Large (You can be quite intimidating even when you don't want to be)
6. Beautiful (Your physical appearance is pleasing to any who gaze upon it)

5. Intellectual Trait (What about you intellectually do you depend on?)

1. Resolute (You stick to your guns)
2. Creative (You think outside the box)
3. Wise (You have the experience of years)
4. Vigilant (You notice things that others don't)
5. Technical (You understand all kinds of technology)
6. Knowledgeable (You are full of interesting facts)

6. Personality Trait (What about your personality do you depend on?)

1. Courageous (You won't hesitate)
2. Witty (You can always bring a smile)
3. Persuasive (People find you convincing)
4. Empathic (You understand what others are feeling)
5. Endearing (People want to love and protect you)
6. Unapproachable (People know not to mess with you)

7. Superpower Trait (This is the power that makes you a superhero)

1. Speedster (You strike fast and hard)
2. Elementalist (You blast with bolts of power)
3. Shapeshifter (You change your form to something else)
4. Ninja (You strike from the shadows)
5. Mentalist (You possess psychic abilities)
6. Paragon (One of your Physical, Intellectual or Personality Traits has evolved into a superpower)

8. Civilian Identity Trait (This is what you do when you aren't hiding behind the mask)

1. Doctor/Paramedic
2. Lawyer/Law Enforcement
3. Celebrity/Politician
4. Student/Teacher
5. Working Class
6. Scientist/Engineer

Fleshing Out Traits

Take some time to add personal detail to your traits so that you can envision the character that you want. D&H leans heavily into narrative resolution and "theater of the mind." Add any details that you like that will give you the sense of the character you are creating and help you to describe their moments in the story.

Trait Scores

All traits start with a score of 2. You have 4 points to assign to improve your traits. Improve traits as you wish, but no trait can ever be more that 5 points higher than your lowest trait, and no trait can ever have a score greater than 9.

Using Traits

Try to save lower valued cards in your hand to use with your Traits as you are trying to play equal to or lesser than your Trait Score. One important rule to remember is that once you use a trait to perform an action, that trait is exhausted and cannot be used again in this scene!

Scenes

All scenes should be defined with clear goals and consequences relating to both success and failure. Combat is resolved like any other scene. The Players and the GM can describe exciting exchanges of blows between combatants to match the mood of the scene, understanding that the final resolution only occurs at the end of the fifth round after the last card is played and Progress is tallied.

Advancement

At the end of each game session players can make one change on their character sheet. They can increase a Trait Score by +1 (subject to the restrictions listed under "Trait Scores" above.) They can swap a defined Trait out for a different one in the same category. (This doesn't effect it's score.) They can change their character's name, description or anything else about them that makes sense within the context of the story and roleplay that has been shared. Every session: One Change.

  

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Weapons and Armor (Again)

After sleeping on yesterday's post, I find that I don't think I really like the way the Aspect approach changes the game of Five By Five. What I really want is a way to make the different categories of weapons and armor equally viable options, without really changing anything else.

 

 

Here is an idea that replaces the default descriptions for each category of weapon and armor without changing Five By Five's base rules too much. It doesn't add new Aspects or increase the complexity of character creation. It does add "counter attacks" to combat, but that might be a good thing. (By default Five By Five combat is really basic.)

Weapon Options:

Light Weapons

• Weapon Bonus +1
• Penetrating (Armor Bonus of target is always 0)

Medium Weapons

• Weapon Bonus +3

Heavy Weapons

• Weapon Bonus +1
• Deadly (roll H5 for damage twice and keep the better roll)
• Two-Handed (cannot equip an off-hand weapon or shield)
  
  

Off-Hand Options:

Off-Hand Weapon

• Dual Wield (if initial attack roll is doubles, make a free attack using off-hand weapon)

Off-Hand Shield

• Parry (gain an additional Dodge roll each round)
  
  

Armor Options:

Light Armor

• Armor Bonus +0
• Improved Counter Attack (free attack following any successful Dodge roll*)

Medium Armor

• Armor Bonus +2
• Counter Attack (free attack if Dodge roll is doubles*)
  

Heavy Armor

• Armor Bonus +4
• Diminished Counter Attack (free attack if Dodge roll is double zeroes (box cars)*)
  

*A counter attack is a free attack taken during the enemy turn that must target the enemy who triggered the dodge roll.

Close Vs. Distant Targets

By default a weapon is assumed to be designed for close combat. In order to target enemies at a distance, a weapon or attack must be Ranged.

Ranged Weapons

A weapon with the Ranged keyword can target both close targets as well as distant targets, but when used against a close target the attack suffers a -2 rank shift penalty to the trait used to make the attack.

Why Use These Rules?

These weapon and armor descriptions include new combat options that make every type of weapon or armor a viable choice. Players just choose which type of weapon (light, medium, or heavy) and which type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) that their character has equipped during character creation and each choice carries with it different strengths and weaknesses.

  

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FIVE BY FIVE OG (2024) OPTIONAL RULE: WEAPONS AND ARMOR AS ASPECTS

The weapons and armor listed on page 13 of the Five By Five core rules don't include pricing or guidance with regard to their distribution. The examples were included so that a GM could substitute these values when using an established setting. Such settings usually contain lists of weapons and armor and provide relative pricing.

 

This approach is fine in the hands of an experienced GM and if the game being played is patterned after popular fantasy RPGs. However, this accumulation of gear is generally a trope exclusive to those settings. Five by Five is meant to be more freeform. Below is a method for assigning Weapons and Armor values that is better suited to the spirit of Five by Five.

COMBAT STYLE

Using this method every player starts with a Weapon Value and Armor Value that is equal to their Level. Then, each player chooses from one of three combat styles:

• Barbarian - Your character's style focuses on dealing damage. +2 Weapon Value

• Knight - Your character's style focuses on resisting damage. +2 Armor Value

• Adventurer - Your character's style favors a balanced approach. +1 Weapon Value, +1 Armor Value

SIGNATURE WEAPON

Players should choose a signature weapon. This is the weapon that your character is always assumed to carry with them into combat. All signature weapons have two keywords.

• MELEE OR RANGED

Weapons with the MELEE keyword have no special bonus or penalty, but they are limited in the narrative to melee targets.

Weapons with the RANGED keyword suffer a -1 to Weapon Value but can be used without restriction in both melee combat and ranged combat.

• LIGHT OR HEAVY

LIGHT weapons allow the player to either use a defensive weapon or shield in their off-hand, (page 13 of the Five By Five core rules) or grant a +1 bonus the player's Armor Value. To represent this choice the player should record either: "Light: Extra Dodge" or "Light: +1 AV" on their character sheet. (If the player chooses the "Extra Dodge" option they should describe their off-hand weapon or shield along with their signature weapon.)

HEAVY Weapons provide an additional +1 to the Player's Weapon Value.

With these rules, weapons and armor are defined as "Aspects" (page 10 of the Five By Five core rules) of each character and will level up as the character grows in experience just like any other Aspect.

WHY USE THESE RULES?

While these optional rules may be less desirable in a traditional high fantasy "treasure for treasure's sake" sort of campaign, these rules work much better in science fiction and superhero themed games. (In a superhero themed game consider changing SIGNATURE WEAPON to SIGNATURE ATTACK to better represent the inherent nature of super-powered attacks.)

What do you think of these optional rules for the OG (2024) version of Five By Five? Have you read Five By Five? You can download it here.

  

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What IP Would You Make Into An RPG

I know of two relatively obscure Science Fiction IP's that are becoming RPGs, and I love it. 

I can get lost in the fervor of anti-Hasbro sentiment as I lament the stranglehold that D&D has on the RPG industry, and I forget sometimes just how diverse and healthy this hobby is. 

Besides, if Elon Musk is going to jump on the Hasbro hate bandwagon, then I need to reconsider the messages that I'm sending here.*

The most important message is that I love RPGs, and if the market can offer us two super niche fandom driven projects as top tier professionally produced tabletop RPGs within a few months of each other, then I think my hobby is doing something right.

The two new Sci-Fi RPG products based on unlikely intellectual properties that I currently have my eye on are: the Space 1999 RPG from Modiphius Entertainment, and the Phantasy Star RPG from Skydawn Game Studios. 

The new Phantasy Star RPG is based on another sci-fi RPG called ESPer Genesis which is itself based on 5th Edition D&D. So, if you are looking for a scifi RPG with familiar mechanics, this one looks like a winner. 

The game is available for pre-order and based on what I've been able to find out, it's based more on the original 4 Sega Phantasy Star video games and only incorporates a little from the latter Phantasy Star Online. 

My experience with the Phantasy Star universe is from Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II for the GameCube. I loved the game and played for many hours. 

Although, I have never played the earlier video games that this upcoming RPG is based on, I'm super excited to give this new tabletop game a try. 

Space 1999 was a Sci-Fi TV series from the 70's that sadly only lasted 2 seasons. The series was by Gerry Anderson who is best known for puppet animated adventure shows like the Thunderbirds. 

Original episodes of Space 1999 can be streamed on Peacock. I've been watching them. Some episodes are pretty good. Some not so much. 

This one is being published by Modiphius and uses their "house system" 2d20. I like the idea of Moonbase Alpha careening through space as a setting for an RPG. I'm pretty excited about this one. Clearly, the game's designer is too. 

I watched some interviews with the designers of both the Phantasy Star and the Space 1999 RPGs, and it's very clear that these are passion projects that would never exist without the love and determination of these creators. 

What about you? Is there some obscure book, movie or television show that you think would make a great RPG?  For me, the proof can be found right here in my blog. 

Prometheus Blade is inspired by the Highlander TV series, and I wrote my own Phantasy Star RPG based on Phantasy Star Online. I'm honestly not sure these are very good, but they are over in my side menu along with all my other RPG offerings if you want to give them a look. 

If I were going to pick a project today, I have already mentioned Godzilla, but I also think the TV series, "The Good Place" would make a really interesting RPG. 

* Elon Musk shared some hate against Hasbro in a comment to a post condemning the company for (among other things) their publication of inclusivity guidelines in the 2024 D&D Players Handbook. 

But, to be realistic, Elon doesn't care at all about D&D or the RPG hobby. This maneuver creates a bit of controversy and that drives traffic to X (Twitter) which he owns.