Amphibion

Here is Amphibion, in all of his glory (click on each image to enlarge). I'll upload all of the character sheets once we're happy with the builds!

Character Sheets

I was really excited when I saw Weis Productions had created a .pdf character sheet with editable boxes. Link: Margaret Weis Publishing

That is until I tried to use it. The font size in the SFX/Limit section isn't editable at all. Instead it is set at HUGE. Same thing with the back of the sheets. They don't allow much room for history, personality, and abilities/resources.

I guess I am just spoiled because my brother is such an expert of graphic arts. After seeing the sheet he made for Amphibion, their's is laughable.

A Little on Roles

One of the interesting aspects of gaming to me recently has been the evolution of pre-defined roles in creating characters. I'm not sure if it has been an entirely natural progression, but it is useful. I think in many ways the Crimebusters have always had this inherent in their design. Think about the various members and how they fit into the structure.

Screechor was the archetypical face of the group. He was a leader and inspiration. His presence alone guaranteed the group would behave heroically. In combat he had abilities to circumvent being attacked directly a lot of times, but had a dangerous ranged attack that brought down the mightiest foes.

Taurus was the big guy. He was impossible to bring down, stronger than anyone in the arena, and once he got a full head of steam a force unleashed. He was also the sensitive one, the member of the group that protected everyone else. He would lock on to the biggest target and tie them up simply because it is his job to take the biggest threat.

Amphibion is the controller. He was definitely versatile. He could strike as hard as anyone else, was durable, was tactical leader, and often the glue that got things going. He could get us out of beleaguered discussion like no one else. His ability to spur us into action, get to the point of things, or move us in the right direction is legendary.

Sectaur filled a rather interesting niche. He is the puller. He was often the one to sneak in and gather reconnaissance. He is the one to call out initial targets, start a fight, or pin someone in a tough position (though sometimes it was members of his own team). He is remarkably durable, hard to hit, and lends support to the other members.

Tigerpaw is a striker. Quick and deadly, skilled beyond combat with stealth and speed. If you need someone to take down someone fast or with finesse, he is the go to guy. Out of combat he was just as dangerous, the charismatic one. He was the one people didn't ignore all swagger and bravado.

Timberwolf was the wild card. Need a striker, he can do that. Want him to control the battlefield, he can do that too. If the chips are on the line, Timberwolf would always stand toe to toe with the most dangerous enemies. While he doubted his leadership ability, he never avoided his commitments to the group. His emotions ran deeper than anyone else, but it wasn't his nature to reveal too much unless seriously provoked.

Going to be interesting to see the gang all together again, I have high hopes and some good ideas on working these roles a little more into our character creation process.

MHR Characters

The new game from Margaret Weis Productions is called Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (MHR from now on out) and has a lot of concepts that will be new to our group, but should be easy to pick up once you've used them a few times. This is the first in a series of posts to introduce some of these concepts and make the transition into the new game easier. First up will be a look at MHR characters...

The first thing you'll notice are NO ABILITY SCORES. unless you have super strength or agility, there won't be a mention of it on your character sheet.

Heroes (and villains for the most part) are defined by five main categories:

1. Affiliations: There’s a long-standing tradition in the Marvel Universe that some heroes just do their best work when they’re working with others, while others have a reputation of being loners or fighting crime with a partner. Many heroes are well known for fighting crime with a partner. This game represents these varying situations with Affiliations - traits that embody a hero’s comfort level, capability, and confidence with others or alone. Affiliations are the core of your action in any situation and will be important any time you are called on to roll dice. Your character will be rated in three Affiliations: Solo, Buddy, and Team.
2. Distinctions: What’s the essence of a super hero? You might think it’s his super-powers or his astonishing skills and training. But those things can change or come and go. If you want to take a snapshot of a hero’s personality, background, and attitude, you need to look at his Distinctions. Distinctions are traits with two sides. They’re catchphrases, significant personality types, and interesting backgrounds that can both help and hinder your hero in his efforts. For this game, Distinctions are used to capture the essence of a Marvel super hero - they also give you as a player a way to earn Plot Points (more on these in a later post). Your character will have three Distinctions.
3. Power Sets: A Power Set is a collection of super-powers, special effects (SFX), and Limits on those powers. Power Sets are always grouped around a common theme, source, or manifestation. A Power Set might represent innate super-powers, special gear, or any other extraordinary group of effects that can’t be represented by a Specialty or Distinction. Your character will normally have one or two Power Sets.
4. Specialties: Advanced training and skill often define a super hero more than super-powers. Specialties cover a variety of broad skill sets commonly used by super heroes in the comics, and they represent a degree of training that exceeds the standard amount that’s otherwise expected. A Specialty is rated at either Expert or Master level. Your character will have 2-7 Specialties, depending on your background.
5. Milestones: Heroes don’t exist in a story vacuum. They’re tied to the Events that unfold around them, to other heroes, to villains, and to the important supporting characters in their lives. This game tracks these story threads with Milestones. Each Milestone represents a significant decision point in your hero’s life—one that’s a culmination of choices you make as a player. At the beginning of an Event, you may choose to pursue one or two Milestones. You can use one or both Milestones provided with your datafile, or you can ask the Watcher if there are Event Milestones available - these connect you to the ongoing story of the Event, which can be a lot of fun. Once you have begun tracking two Milestones, you must complete one (earn XP - again more on that in a later post) before choosing a new one.

With the exception of Milestones, each category is defined by dice. When you want to accomplish an action, you build a Dice Pool by collecting a number of dice appropriate for the task based on your abilities. Your first die will always be your Affiliation die and will depend on your current group (or lack thereof) situation. Your next dice will be based on appropriate Power Sets and/or Specialties. You may gain additional die by tying the action to one of your Distinctions. Finally there may be extra dice included depending on the circumstances. At the most basic level of the game, you will keep two of the dice you roll to measure the level of success of your action, and one to measure the level of the effect.

Example - Captain America is going to layout a Hydra goon. He is on his own and has an Affiliation of Solo d6. He started the scene at a distance from the villain so the player states Cap is going to hurl his shield (Vibranium Ally Shield Power Set) which is a Weapon d8. Not pulling any punches, he also includes Enhanced Strength d8 from his Super-Soldier Program Power Set. Finally, Cap has a Specialty of Combat Master d10. None of his Distinctions are particularly appropriate for this situation. Captain America's Dice Pool will be d6+d8+d8+d10. Two dice will be totaled as the 'to hit' chance and one die will be used as the 'damage'. The result of the fourth die is discarded for the purposes of this simple example. Once the dice are rolled, Cap has 3+5+4+5. He keeps the 5 and 4 from the d8's as the 'to hit' number which totals 9 and keeps the d10 as his 'damage' die. The d6 and it's result of 3 are ignored. The actual outcome of the attack depend on the Hydra soldier's Reaction Roll...
      The Hydra thug as Solo d4 Affiliation. He also has Body Armor d6 and the Distinction Fanatic Killer which will give him a d8... his Dice Pool d4+d6+d8. With an average result, the hapless villain rolls 2+3+4. With no way to avoid getting hit, he uses the 2 and 3 as his 'to hit' roll for a total of 5 and saves the d8 to resist the inevitable damage.
      Captain America's attack beats the Reaction Roll and hits the Hydra goon for a d10 (Cap's 'damage' die, remember?)Physical Stress. This die isn't rolled for damage, but will be added to Captain America's Reaction Roll when the woozy guard tries to return fire...

There are LOTS of ways to modify these dice, but we'll get into that in a later post. I think this is long enough so we'll wrap up here and give everyone a few days to absorb this info. Questions or comments are welcome...

The Crimebusters

The Crimebusters were our first long running RPG team in the Marvel Universe, created not long after the release of TSR's Marvel Super Heroes. We basically played ourselves granted powers by mystical amulets that transformed our characters into anthropomorphic totem heroes. Characters came and went over the course of the campaign and included Amphibion, Kong, Schreechor, Sectaur, Synge, Taurus, Tigerpaw, and Timberwolf. These heroes have battled villains (and sometimes heroes) of the Marvel Universe for decades. We sometimes played new characters, but we often returned to the Crimebusters.

With the release of MW Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, we decided to bring back these classic characters, updated for the new rules. It seems difficult these days to coordinate all of our schedules for a weekly game, so my plan is to host a monthly session on the first Saturday of each month. That will be the monthly team comic. At any time during the rest of the month, players are free to get together when their schedules allow to run smaller groups or solo games. These adventures will be worked into the chronology of the campaign in the same manner that Captain America, Iron-Man, and Thor starred in their own books while also appearing in the Avengers!

I also plan for this shared world to extend not only to GM duties, but also to the maintenance of this blog. Every participant in the campaign will be given author rights to this blog to post details about their characters, chronicle adventures from their point of view, post original NPC Data Sheets, or simply talk about super heroes and roleplaying in general. Hopefully the blog will grow into a hangout to gather between monthly games.

The first Crimebusters game session is scheduled for May 5th and will consist mainly of creating the characters, talking about the rules, and maybe the chance to throw a few dice in anger!