Category: Campaigns

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This Looks Like A Job For…

This month’s blog carnival, hosted by The Chatty DM, is on the theme Super Heroes in RPGs.

Superhero RPGs are actually one of my favorite genres, though my current game group….well, let’s just say that our last couple of attempts didn’t work out.  I don’t want to be pointing any fingers at Badger Lord (Master of the Super-Sonic Tunneling Vampiric Badgers) or Kikko-Man (chinese food delivery bicyclist with the power to create illusions…of chinese food), but it’s never really clicked as a campaign.  I’ve had much better luck with one-shots where the PCs have super-powers, but the setting doesn’t assume any of the standard superhero tropes.

In the past, though, ah, the glorious past….

I believe our very first super-hero campaign, back in High School, used Superhero 2044, the very first superhero RPG ever, but we played them all at one time or another: Superworld (one third of the Worlds of Wonder),  Villains and Vigilantes, Champions…I don’t really remember much about it, although I do recall that it had a somewhat unusual setting (it all took place on an island nation in the year 2044) and that my brother Alex’s character in that, a super-speedster called Silver Streak, was carried over into successive campaigns as we tried new systems.  I think that was also the original home of an NPC hero that reappeared in campaign after campaign of mine, PyroMan of the International Agency Command.

The next one we tried was Villains and Vigilantes, which I remember mostly for its generation of super-powers via rolling on random charts.  Thus was born one of my only PC super-heroes of that era (since I mostly GMed): Kodiak, Bear Detective… a private eye who could shapeshift into a bear and had laser-beam eyes.  I decided that the bear form was actually his real one, and his power let him shapeshift into human form.

Somewhere in between Villains and Vigilantes and Champions, I created a home-brew system, and most of our super-hero gaming was done in that, though towards the end of High School we did some gaming with Champions.  I liked it a lot, but most of my gaming group didn’t want to be bothered with the bookdeeping, either for character generation or playing out the combats.  They were much happier with the freewheeling style of my home brew.

Notable characters of that period include:

  • Silver Streak: super-speedsters, perrenial in every system
  • Thunder-Fist: martial artist with kinetic energy absorbtion powers that gave him an “Iron Fist” like attack.
  • Defender of Israel: an Israeli Captain America, played by my brother’s Israeli girlfriend
  • The White Princess of Oz : I think this was played by my kid sister…
  • Megaman: powered suit that gave the user one super-power at a time, based on Ultra Boy of the Legion of Superheroes; this was about 7 years before the Capcom game…

In college and beyond, I played a lot of Champions, but that’s a story for another time…

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Clerics and Religion in Elves & Espers

There are none.  The Gods all died a long time ago.

Notes: Why?  Well, it’s much more common than not for whiz-bang SF to be so secular that religion isn’t mentioned even to dismiss it unless it’s the religion of some primitive society the protagonists encounter, but religion so permeates D&D and most derivative fantasy that being an atheist is a form of delusion. (Which reminds me of the bit in Terry Pratchett about the lightning-proof atheist…)  So rather than inventing a bunch of wierd and futuristic Gods for E&E, or a bunch of old D&D-esque gods and coming up with wierd and futuristic ways for them to be worshipped, I decided they existed but were all wiped out during and after the Apocalypse.  So that means no Clerics, since I’m not going to reintroduce the Mentzer D&D concept of Clerics merely representing a cause.

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New Ark City

New Ark City is the only surviving (non-hidden) arcology from before the Apocalypse.  In the centuries since the end of the Time of Troubles, the city has outgrown the original confines of the arcology, which now forms the base of the towers that stretch into the sky.  The towers are clustered into five groups, imaginatively called North Spire, East Spire, South Spire, the Broken Spire, and the Tower of Ark.  The spires are further subdivided into regions, each of which amounts to a town in its own right, such as Zep (the Zepplin docks), Witchtown (the bohemian magical crafts area), or Poisonville (the sewage and chemical/industrial factory area).  Monorails connect the spires high above the roof of the arcology, and the air teams with countless magical small craft and people with their own means of flight.  Generally speaking, the higher off the ground, the higher status of the area.  There are slums outside the base of the arcology called the Middens, where the cast-off of the city subsist on its cast-offs, and outlaws hide.  Once the arcology carefully recycled everything, but now much is thrown away as not being worth the energy it would take to break it down for re-use.

Continue reading “New Ark City”

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Arcane Background: Trooper

This is a new Savage Worlds Edge for the Elves & Espers setting:

Arcane Background: Trooper

Arcane Skill: Spellcasting (Spirit)

Starting Power Points:10

Starting Powers: 3

Troopers are powered-armor wearing shock troops.  Their focus is a MultiGun, capable of throwing various destructive magic.  They are also allowed to wear Powered Armor, though they don’t necessarily start with it.  Firing the MultiGun requires a SpellCasting roll that doubles as the Shooting Roll.

Troopers may take the Special Edge Powered Armor.  Each time they take Powered Armor they can upgrade their Armor with another 5 points of powers according to the power costs in Necessary Evil.  This starts from a base of 0, so the first thing they will probably do is buy several points of the Armor power.  Powers must make sense as coming from Powered Armor (albeit magic powered armor) so, e.g. Deflection would be ok, while Construct would not (donning the Armor can’t change you into a construct).   Powered Armor automatically has the Device limitation applied to every aspect of it, so gets no additional discount.  Other limitations applied to specific powers (e.g. Requires Activation, or Partial Protection) may be applied as normal. The Powered Armor Edge can be taken once per rank.

Backlash: On a roll of 1 on the Spellcasting Die (regardless of the Wild Die), the Trooper experiences magical backlash and is Shaken.  This can cause a wound.

Bonus: The Trooper automatically gets a discount of 1 Power Point (as if the Trooper had the Wizard Edge and rolled a raise) whenever he fires a single normal damage (2d6) Bolt from his MultiGun.  He must have at least 1 Power Point left in order to activate the spell, even though it will end up costing 0.  (So if he runs his power completely dry, he can’t keep firing forever.)  This doesn’t stack with the Wizard Edge should the Trooper have it.

Notes:

This Edge represents what the Trooper class was about in the previous incarnation of Elves & Espers.  Mechanically it’s pretty much identical to AB: Magic, except for the new special Powered Armor Edge it allows access to.  I’m a little concerned whether the Powered Armor Edge is too powerful (since it introduces powers from Necessary Evil, which is geared towards Super-Hero levels of power), but I’m hoping that by halving the initial points and making the Troopers worry about splitting their advances between making their MultiGun more effective, improving their Powered Armor, and anything else they might want it’ll be about on par with other characters who can specialize more.

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Arcane Background: Roguechemist

or should that be Rogueomancy?

This is a new Savage Worlds Edge for the Elves & Espers setting:

Arcane Background: Roguechemist

Arcane Skill: Spellcasting (Smarts)

Starting Power Points:10

Starting Powers: 3

Roguechemists create magical potions, which they can then deliver with their gun, called a Caster.  Their primary devices are their Caster and their Bandoleer, which serves as a portable lab.  It takes an hour per spell rank to craft a potion, and the power points aren’t recovered until the potion is used or destroyed, at which point they return to the caster at the usual rate (generally one per hour).  The potions are actually powered by imps bound to the bandoleer, which is why the Power Points are consumed until the potion is actually used or disposed of so the imps can recover the power.

Roguechemists spells are limited to things that plausibly can be done with potions: armor, blast, boost/lower trait, etc.  No summoning, creation, or the like.  Also, no potions that duplicate purely Esper effects such as Telepathy, or Clairvoyance.

Backlash: None

Bonus: Roguechemists can use their Casters to deliver potions, giving them the range increments 12/24/48 (instead of 3/6/9 for a thrown potion) and using their Shooting skill.  Spells that have a range of Touch or Self must be drunk or smeared all over, and cannot be delivered via the Caster.

Notes:

This Edge represents what the Rogue class was about in the previous incarnation of Elves & Espers. Other than the special perk of ranged delivery with the Caster, Roguechemists operate just like AB: Alchemy from the SW Fantasy World Builder’s Guide.

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Arcane Background: Robomancy

This is a new Savage Worlds Edge for the Elves & Espers setting:

Arcane Background: Robomancy

Arcane Skill: Spellcasting (Smarts)

Starting Power Points:10

Starting Powers: 1

Robomancers build and manipulate magical robots.  Their primary device is called a Workbot, a toolkit on treads that they use to create and control other robots.  Each Robomancer power is a separate device, generally a robot, but perhaps a remote or a tool; each power comes with its own Power Points equal to the inventor’s Power Points.

Robomancer powers must all make sense it terms of robots and gadgets, and may not duplicate any purely Esper effects such as Mind Reading or Puppet, though something like Clairvoyance in terms of a mobile spy-eye would be permissible.

Backlash: When a Robomancer rolls a 1 on his Spellcasting die (regardless of his Wild Die), the device has malfunctioned and cannot be used again until he repairs it, which requires a succesful Repair roll and 2d6 hours worth of work.

Notes:

This Edge represents what the Engineer class was about in the previous incarnation of Elves & Espers. It is essentially the AB: Wierd Science with new trappings.  The first Power that a Robomancer will usually take is Summon Robot, which is a new trapping for Shapechange as suggested in SW Fantasy World Builder’s Guide.  Instead of shapechanging into the creature, you summon one that will obey you for the duration of the spell. In the Robomancer’s case, they snap together a modular robot that has the abilities equivalent to the target creature and enough power to run for the duration of the spell.

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Arcane Background: Technomancy

This is a new Savage Worlds Edge for the Elves & Espers setting:

Arcane Background: Technomancy

Arcane Skill: Spellcasting (Smarts)

Starting Power Points:10

Starting Powers: 3

Technomancers bind imps into devices in order to create magical technology.  Their primary device is called a Pentacorder, a slab about the size of a paperback book, with a pentacle permanently carved in it and an imp bound to it to cast spells at the Technomancer’s behest.

Backlash: When a Technomancer rolls a 1 on his Spellcasting die (regardless of his Wild Die), he is automatically Shaken. This can cause a wound.  In addition, if the Technomancer was casting a non-Divination spell, if the spell failed (after the Wild Die is taken into account) it costs an additional Power Point; if that would take the remaining Power Points below zero, there is no effect.

Bonus: Imps love to spy out secrets.  When a Technomancer gets a raise on any Divination spell, the cost of the spell is reduced by 1 Power Point. If the Technomancer also has the Wizard Edge, there is no additional benefit for Divination spells, though non-Divination spells still get the discount.

Notes:

This Edge represents what the Scientist class was about in the previous incarnation of Elves & Espers: Spock-like scanning and analyzing the world.  Other than the special perk for casting Divination spells, which are any information gathering spells, and penalty for non-Divination spells, this is the same as the AB: Magic in the core book.

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Elves & Espers: The Concept

Elves & Espers was inspired by some of Jeff Rients’ posts on Encounter Critical and other “faux retro” games, and is my take on “What if D&D had been an SF game instead of fantasy?”   There would be Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, and all that Tolkein stuff, but instead of going into dungeons armed with swords and magic, killing things and taking their stuff, they’d be going into dungeons armed with blasters and psionics, killing things and taking their stuff.  The technology of the setting would actually be based on magic, or at least Clarkean (sufficiently advanced to be indistinguishable from magic) tech with old school Thrilling Adventure Stories SF trappings.  You know: jet packs, space suits with bubble helmets, boxy robots with claws for hands carrying off Earth women, psychic powers without any of the mystical mumbo-jumbo, blast pistols and Giant Electronic Brains running cities.  With Elves.

I’m not hard-core enough to take it all the way back to white box D&D, despite that being where I got my start in RPGS, so I settled for Mentzer Basic D&D era mechanics.  I rejiggered the classes into Troopers (StarWars stormtroopers), Scientists (Spock), Rogues (Han Solo), Monks (Jedi), Espers (serving the MU and the healer role), and Engineers (Scotty).  Every class had some spell-casting ability, generally through a focus: e.g. Scientists were equipped with Pentacorders, which were boxes with an imp bound into a pentacle that functioned something like a tricorder.  Troopers had their MultiGun, letting them cast destructive spells like Magic Missile and Fireball.  Etc.

So what happened?

We played a couple of times.  I made an introductory scenario where the party were all exiles from a hidden domed city called the Enclave which dated back to pre-apocalyptic days (more or less ripped off from The Vault from Fallout, which I’ve never actually played but Doug once used as the basis for a disastrous campaign).  They were kicked out for having psych profiles that indicated that they were too restless and adventurous for the static social order of the Enclave, so they were teleported via a one-way gate to the outside world.  There was also some froo-fra about time running differently in the Enclave, so even if they found a way back in, everything they knew would be long gone.  (I’ve found that with my players, it pays to shut off avenues like that well in advance to keep them from getting any ideas.)  They appeared in the middle of a valley that had been the site of an ancient battle, the entire floor of the valley covered in the wreckage of vast war machines and bones..mostly human, elf, and hobbit, but with some unrecognizable types mixed in.  They had some adventures, first fighting off some Giant Sonic Caterpillars, then exploring a wrecked tank that was still active enough to toss ball lightning at them, and finally delving into an abandoned power-station.  And then we stopped.

There wasn’t any specific reason or incident, but I was finding it a bit of a chore to GM because I was trying to use an incompletely-baked hybrid of Classic D&D (hit-points, THAC0 and the like) with the SF elements and a more consistent trait test mechanic and I’m the only one in the group who really has any interest and enthusiasm for the retro systems and not just retro-ish settings.  It didn’t seem like helping me playtest my franken-classic rules was entirely fair to my players; if they were going to suffer through teething pains of play-testing a system, it really ought to be for something where the end result would be a system they’d actually want to use.  So we never officially ended the campaign, but each week as we decided what to play, Elves & Espers wasn’t coming up.

Recently, though, I was looking at my setting notes and deciding that I really liked some of the stuff I came up with, so I decided to try it again with Savage Worlds as the system.  SW seems to be poised to become our default system of choice.  Our group more or less divides into those who care about the mechanics, and those who only care that they don’t get in the way (and will just punt and tell somebody else to roll for them if it gets too involved).  So far several of us quite like SW, and nobody has any strong objections, but we’ll see how it holds up once that shiny-new-system smell has worn off.

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Elves & Espers Character: Tank McSplatter

Tank McSplatter, of the Hobbit McSplatters

Player: Doug

Agility d6
Smarts d6
Spirit d6
Strength d6
Vigor d8

Edges:
AB: Trooper
Powered Armor (5 pts)
Fortunate (+1 Bennie)

Hindrances:
Small (-1 Pace)
Loyal
Heroic
Quirk

Skills:
d8 Arcane Casting
d6 Climbing
d6 Fighting
d4 Healing
d6 Intimidation
d6 Repair
d4 Shooting
d4 Survival

MultiGun Powers:
Bolt
Blast
Stun

Powered Armor Powers:
Armor +3
Flight (2 pts = Pace)
 
Items:
MultiGun
Powered Armor
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Elves & Espers Character: Bongo

Bongo

Human Enforcer, male

Player: Elyssa

Agility d8
Smarts d4
Spirit d6
Strength d6
Vigor d6

Edges:
Quick
Quick Draw
Danger Sense

Hindrances:
Heroic
All Thumbs
Loyal

Skills:
d4 Climbing
d8 Fighting
d4 Intimidation
d6 Notice
d8 Shooting
d4 Survival
d4 Throwing

Items:
Blast Pistol
Longsword
Bow
Needle Rifle
Kevlar Vest