Starting Another campaign.
So being part of the "write about your favorite RPG" project over at Dyver's (link in the left hand bar) got me thinking.
Ok I always say how much I love and respect the Mayfair Exponential Game System used in "DC Heroes 3rd ed," why have I only run it once in 20 Years?
That's a fair question if there ever was one.
It's comics.
I just don't know comics, and my friends do. So when I tried to run supers I always felt like I was faking to much of the funk. Not only that but all the research into the standard tropes of comics that I could possibly do would never key me into what makes comics cool. People who love comics, LOVE comics. People who love comics have strong opinions about them, and I have always been ill-prepared to jump that knowledge gap.
Well Fuck that.
I guess I'm not quite so self conscious as I was 15 or 20 years ago, because this week I started thinking up the framework for a Supers game lack of Comics savvy be damned.
I got to thinking what do I like watching on TV that is game-able, and a bit off the wall.
I love all that Alien theory , black helicopter, Erich Von Daniken, crap. It entertains the hell out of me.
Government secret projects? Conspiracies? Yes please thank you.
So that's where I am going, A Secret government agency created to use genetically modified Agents to investigate and eliminate an alien threat right here on earth.
Would it make a good Comic? I have no idea.
However there are a ton of of places it can go and that's what I want. My plan is to create this clandestine world and give the the players the tools to investigate it. Sort of a modern day sandbox where the players have an insight into the world that 99.9% of the rest of us can never have. And Aliens, aliens that will kill them.
Here is a link to the first Blog post provided to the players.
This is a kind of set the tone, start the juices post.
It is also "Character origin story railroading." While I hate railroading during play, I think in this style of game getting the "team" together as quickly and simply as possible is best.
That's it.
if I told the players to come up with hero's and make up some origins, I would end up with wildly differing views of, "what is a comic book hero anyway?". That could cause friction in the game right from the start. I would much rather have personality friction among characters than conceptual friction within the game. That conceptual friction is like rats in the walls, it might not seem so bad at first, but it is, and it will only get worse.
So I have some ideas moving forward, much of it involves the NPC's in game and what their motivations for starting this organization really are. Conspiracies and Double crosses could be a thing. What I am really looking forward to is seeing where the players take the whole concept. Allot of different things could happen and the one constant is as GM's we never know exactly what the players are going to do . Which in the end is what sets this hobby apart from say video games, or Decoupage.
My real hurdle now is trying to brain storm exactly what the aliens are and how they will manifest on earth. I don't want to use "greys" like we see on TV all the time, Cthulhu clones, and I don't want Giger's aliens either. I need to think about it a day or two and hopefully strike on something interesting.I mean it's universe out there I can come up with something.
(my favorite alien race were the invid form Macros soooo... I might steal a bit form them, perhpas not)
In the end I guess you can say I'm using a super hero game to run a story I think is interesting even if it's not exactly the typical bronze age comic book tone I missed out on growing up with..
Thanks for reading.
Wish me luck
-Mark.
Ok I always say how much I love and respect the Mayfair Exponential Game System used in "DC Heroes 3rd ed," why have I only run it once in 20 Years?
That's a fair question if there ever was one.
It's comics.
I just don't know comics, and my friends do. So when I tried to run supers I always felt like I was faking to much of the funk. Not only that but all the research into the standard tropes of comics that I could possibly do would never key me into what makes comics cool. People who love comics, LOVE comics. People who love comics have strong opinions about them, and I have always been ill-prepared to jump that knowledge gap.
Well Fuck that.
I guess I'm not quite so self conscious as I was 15 or 20 years ago, because this week I started thinking up the framework for a Supers game lack of Comics savvy be damned.
I got to thinking what do I like watching on TV that is game-able, and a bit off the wall.
 |
| Naturally! |
I love all that Alien theory , black helicopter, Erich Von Daniken, crap. It entertains the hell out of me.
Government secret projects? Conspiracies? Yes please thank you.
So that's where I am going, A Secret government agency created to use genetically modified Agents to investigate and eliminate an alien threat right here on earth.
Would it make a good Comic? I have no idea.
However there are a ton of of places it can go and that's what I want. My plan is to create this clandestine world and give the the players the tools to investigate it. Sort of a modern day sandbox where the players have an insight into the world that 99.9% of the rest of us can never have. And Aliens, aliens that will kill them.
Here is a link to the first Blog post provided to the players.
This is a kind of set the tone, start the juices post.
It is also "Character origin story railroading." While I hate railroading during play, I think in this style of game getting the "team" together as quickly and simply as possible is best.
 |
| Like this kind of...sort of. Such a killer picture |
"You have been recruited into a secret Gov organisation, you will be given abilities, you now hunt aliens, don't tell any one."
That's it.
if I told the players to come up with hero's and make up some origins, I would end up with wildly differing views of, "what is a comic book hero anyway?". That could cause friction in the game right from the start. I would much rather have personality friction among characters than conceptual friction within the game. That conceptual friction is like rats in the walls, it might not seem so bad at first, but it is, and it will only get worse.
So I have some ideas moving forward, much of it involves the NPC's in game and what their motivations for starting this organization really are. Conspiracies and Double crosses could be a thing. What I am really looking forward to is seeing where the players take the whole concept. Allot of different things could happen and the one constant is as GM's we never know exactly what the players are going to do . Which in the end is what sets this hobby apart from say video games, or Decoupage.
My real hurdle now is trying to brain storm exactly what the aliens are and how they will manifest on earth. I don't want to use "greys" like we see on TV all the time, Cthulhu clones, and I don't want Giger's aliens either. I need to think about it a day or two and hopefully strike on something interesting.I mean it's universe out there I can come up with something.
(my favorite alien race were the invid form Macros soooo... I might steal a bit form them, perhpas not)
In the end I guess you can say I'm using a super hero game to run a story I think is interesting even if it's not exactly the typical bronze age comic book tone I missed out on growing up with..
Thanks for reading.
Wish me luck
-Mark.
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