darth_flanders

Hello

2009-01-03T17:46:55Z

Well I survived both if you were wondering.. More to follow.

Stalled

2008-01-11T00:09:32Z

Not much to write. I'm recovering from shingles and scheduling oral surgery. I'm also looking at retraining my dog who is turning into a real SOB these past few days.

That's all trivia I guess.

I'm pondering whether to take time off from RPs entirely or throwing myself into writing them full force. The question remains, if I do quit the habit what will replace it? drawing and model building are logical candidates. I could get more into writing my novel. Anyway that's where I am these days.

darth_flanders @ 2007-11-29T20:08:00

2007-11-30T00:12:30Z

So after getting engaged I found a little time for writing. this is the result. Any comments would be appreciated.

Chapter 1

Bomber Kelso was getting old. It was about time he thought. He’d looked and felt about 45 as long as he could remember. Now he was over a century and the oldest mystery man in the business. As he put it he was the oldest hooker on the block. Looking younger than his years deprived him of a measure of respect he felt he was due. Of course, so did his drinking, smoking and chasing anything in heels.

Sitting on a rooftop overlooking the park, Bomber a rest break in his nightly patrol. Actually it was a smoke break. He lit up a Torchlight, unfiltered because he wasn’t a ‘weak sister’, and took a long drag. Behind him was a billboard selling condos in Beckton. It was a clear and quiet night. The borough of Steeltown was spread before him and he had a good view of the skyscrapers that marked the Core District of Victory City to the south. Farther south the Beckly Tower rose lit by red and blue lights and Bomber blew an expertly formed smoke ring in that direction.

“Beckton,” he thought. “A one hooker burg and she’s half starved to death.” There was no way Bomber would buy a condo there. He noticed a small figure flying among the buildings of the Core and wondered if it was anyone he knew. This time of the evening it was probably Magnoman. He was one of the few new guys Bomber liked. Not one to sit in judgment over a colleague for starting a hamburger chain or writing some unflattering memoirs or having a belt now and then.

A car alarm went off a few blocks away.

Bomber frowned a moment before dropping his half smoked cigarette and stepping on it. “Ain’t that always the way of it?” he grumbled. Then he turned and jumped to the next building easily hurling across the street below him.

Bomber wasn’t impressive until he moved. Standing still he was a slightly pudgy man with a broken nose. He wore an old aviator’s jacket over a black bodysuit and a leather helmet with goggles that hid most of his face and head. No capes for him. It was a fairly conservative costume for someone fighting for justice. But if he wasn’t a super hero it would still mark him as a head case anywhere but a science fiction convention.

But now he was moving and his true nature was obvious as he leapt the twenty yards between the buildings. Physically at least, he was more than human. He could bend pennies with his fingers, leap tens of yards and was known to flip cars (and once a truck) over. He could heal serious wounds in minutes and often did.

But he liked jumping the best. Dropping down in crooks was his trademark and how he chose his name. He was especially good at landing on car roofs and imploding them. And landing in front seats after smashing through sunroofs.

Right now he was just ignoring gravity a few seconds at a time. His goggles did an excellent job of keeping the wind out of his eyes. Once he also wore a scarf to add to the aviator theme of his costume, till the Black Moth stuck the ends in a auto-gyro engine and nearly choked him.

Bomber landed on a roof overlooking an alleyway lined with the backdoors to shops and takeout kitchens. He knew as he landed it was not the kind of place you parked your car. Trash pickup was in an hour and the waste removal truck needed that entire alleyway to service the businesses. The locals would have raised hell immediately and gotten any trespassing vehicle towed. Bomber realized this a moment before he landed an immediately fell into a crouch as the alarm cut off. He scanned the rooftops a moment and wished his powers included night vision. He weaved to the side as he heard the faint scrape of a sole on the asphalt behind him but then relaxed as he heard a familiar chuckle.

“Damn. I still can’t get the drop on you,” his stalker complained. The man stepped from the shadows away from a large air conditioner his black cape seeming to flow out of his way. Few people could get this close to Bomber. The Dark Avenger was one of them, in spite of what some considered a pretentious name. The Avenger an arm showing a gunmetal gray armguard and pointed to a small speaker grill.

“Sound effects generator: car alarms, sirens you name it, I mimic it. It even plays music,” he explained. “I caught sight of you a few blocks back but I couldn’t keep up with your leaps on a swingline. I figured the car alarm would draw you out.”

Bomber came up from his crouch and opened his fists. He scowled a little and muttered, “It might have drawn God knows who else too.”

The Dark Avenger smirked a little. His helmet covered his upper face but the smirk was obvious. “A car alarm? No one checks out car alarms these days… except us.”

Bomber had to agree.He grinned a little, stuck out his hand and the two shook.

“What brings you to Steeltown, Skip?” Bomber asked trying not to sound suspicious. He watched his colleague for any reaction but the Avenger was hard to read behind his helmet. It was why he wore it of course. The Dark Avenger, Skip to his friends shrugged. He answered slowly, “I get around.”

The Dark Avenger was a lousy liar with his friends.

Bomber snorted derisively. “’Ain’t many of you young guys bother with me anymore. Don’t strain our mutual respect with a load of bullshit,” Bomber said. The Dark Avenger pretended to adjust his equipment belt. He considered his reply for a few seconds.

“Vengeance,” Skip said softly.

Bomber nodded knowingly. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Vengeance… yeah he’s turning out to be a bad one. I can reach out to the other masks in Steeltown. Dr. Bones, the Red Mask, maybe even the Jackalent for this. We could form a new Midnight Brigade. We could rein him in fast and maybe get him some help or at least lock his ass up,” Bomber said talking a little too fast. Some excitement was showing in his voice. Never mind he was pretty much the sidekick to the brigade in the thirties and barely tolerated. Supposedly the original Red Masque shot him at least once but it didn’t take.

The Dark Avenger folded his arms and looked uncomfortable. “I talked to them already. I was… I meant to ask you to think of taking a rest… for a while… till we catch this freak.”

Bomber slowly clenched his fists again. His face colored a little and then he finally said, “Fuck you.” He opened his mouth again but after a moment shut it again. Then he leaped across the rooftops into the night and was gone.

The Dark Avenger was tempted to remove his helmet to rub his temples for a moment but secret identities had to be protected. Finally he removed a small comm.-stick from his belt and said, “It didn’t go well. I’m returning to base.”

No title for the WIP yet.
All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
(Replies to postings remain the intellectual properties of their creators.)

darth_flanders @ 2007-11-22T11:58:00

2007-11-22T16:04:38Z

I was going to post some stuff about gaming but....

I Got Engaged!!

What else can I say? The days of lying and sneaking around are over. Of course I only did that stuff for a month to surprise her with a ring.

darth_flanders @ 2007-11-10T17:56:00

2007-11-10T21:57:04Z

Well so far my Pay Pal account has shown no increase for October so I guess that means no HFGSSS .pdfs were sold last month. That means I sold 20 total. So much for fame and fortune doing this.

On the other hand that means 20 people liked my stuff and bought it out of all the RPGNow offerings. Pretty good. I also have a friend who wants to run the game for me using my setting. That never happened before!

On my ow I am working on a system that's slightly more complicated than the 1PG engine. I don't think you need much more than that to run a campaign of decent length. The crux of the system will be determining degree of success for actions and you can fine tune it to be as crunchy as you want.

It'll probably be for supers simly because if you can scale those characters in you can apply a system to darn near anything.

The MEGS system was sort of ike that except it had failings dealing with vigilantes but I don't intend on scaling the game for uer characters like Superman.

Mid Life

2007-10-25T02:08:37Z

Work... what can I say about work?

I think I'm having my midlife crisis. I have no heart for this anymore. I thought I could continue because I had good things happening otherwise to me. But I keep waking up dreading going to work. Not a good sensation. I'm not connecting with the kids and... I don't care anymore. I hope this feeling will pass but it's been steady for three days now.

If I had some fulfillment teaching the kids I could deal with the deranged people on staff. But the kids do not want to learn. I've tried everything I still reach maybe four of them at a time. I'm tired of being treated as irrelevant. I feel like a damned fraud. I can't get first graders to fall in line. I found out my colleagues feel that way at least once a week. I don't think anyone went on feeling it three days straight.

When parents won't send their kids to school on time with supplies and return notices what the hell do they expect us teachers to do?

My supervisor gave me a lecture because one child came into my early tutoring session out of seven. She told me to grab any other six to meet department goals. Am I responsible legally for the other kids until the start of the school day officially? Does my contract specify I have to do this? I never hid behind my contract but when you can be written up for missing one trivial mandated poster up on your wall I find myself unsupported and unwilling to give any further support to this school.

I was berated because too many kids in my class were not going on a trip today. Never mind I had the others safely placed with my colleagues. The other teachers going on the trip were told to take my students while I stayed behind with the kids who couldn't go. The teachers refused because they did not know my kids and who would behave or not. My administrator sprung this on me last minute and berated me for not telling her what was really going on. This after I gave her a complete write up of who was with who.

Oh she said I didn't have a list of library books on my wall also. Obviously if you haven't got all the mandated charts up you aren't teaching.

Work sucks.

darth_flanders @ 2007-10-14T13:56:00

2007-10-14T18:15:42Z

Work continues to suck. The Department of Education is obviously trying to move beyond micro managing and into nano managing. I've pretty much decided to ride the current administration out. eventually al these corporate types will lose interest and go to other jobs and indulge their thirst for power elsewhere.

I finished the second Hero Force expansion, no title as yet. I'm firmly back in writing and even playing a game! I ran Hero Force for my old gang last night and it went all right. I feel terribly rusty as a GM though. Another session might change that.

I had four players who took the following character types:

Deuce Makina- a demigod who was severely trashed and became a cyborg.

Mystique- a Spellcaster (new character type from the next supplement. Basically she uses spells to imitate Universal Powers, magic sense and a small dimension she access to ppear and disappear.).

Duster- a pilot who gained telekinetic and mind reading powers flying into a freak electrical storm (Telekinetic Master from my next expansion).

Sue- a Divine/Immortal air elemental who can turn to air and control wind and temperature.

We played Evolution Gone Wild.

<<<<<Spoilers Follow>>>>>

The game went as follows

The characters stopped to intervene at a traffic accident when the drivers tried to kill each other with clubs. The police who arrested the men were almost as brutal. Duster read the minds of the drivers and though his powers were only enough for a surface scan he realized something was very wrong (Rage, unreasoning rage... hey bananas!). Duster quickly subdued another citizen beating his arms and hopping on cars and took a blood sample. With the sample in hand the four headed to Victory General Hospital.

On the way there an out of control tractor trailer nearly ran downa a little girl. Deuce the 'borg mad a leap into the street and realized he had no time to get out of the way. Instead he flung the girl into the air and Dster caught her with TK and set her down to scurry away

At Victory General they found a lab with notes from a doctor tracking the spread of the epidemic and notes on the condition (that degenrated into doodles of bananas). They realized the reservoir was the source of the toxin used to devolve the city. They also realized one of them should have taken Science skill.

At the reservoir the Rhesoid minions of Dr. Azoth began shooting at them. Mystique wrapped them up with a sorcerous snare. Sue let them waste ammo on her by going gaseous. Duster entered the control area and used his TK to shut the water valves and stop the flow of water into the city. Deuce contacted the National Guard and told them not to let relief forces drink the water. Sue interrogated the Rhesod and learned of Dr. Azoth looting the city.

Then the T-Rex attacked. Duster was concerned about his motorcycle getting stepped on and took off. The T-Rex pursued. Deuce shot at it with a rifle he grabbed fromone of the monkey men. Sue blasted leaves and dust at the dino's eyes as Duster used his TK to lift his bike into the air. The T-rex rolled a one and chomped down on the back wheel of the bike. Duster lost the rear wqheel but managed to pull the dinosaur into the reservoir. Sue learned she could freeze an entire reservoir and they left a soaked and suttering dino behind to head to the city.

They found Dr. Azoth without too much trouble, although watching the devolved Titan at giant size beating his chest at the top of the Victory Tower was a little disconcerting.

Mystique tried to make Dr. Azoth's loot disappear but missed her roll. Dster flipped the tank he was using over disabling it as Deuce smashed in the rear hatch and grabbed the mad doctor. Azoth's thoughts betrayed him (Those fools may have my antidote but they have no way to disperse it across the entire city in less than a few hours! Hahahahahahaha!). The group had a quiet chuckle and then Sue went over to Azoth and said, "Hi, I'm Sue, guess what I do?"

***WHOOOOOSH***

<<<<<Spoilers End>>>>>

The rest of the team cheered Sue (although several out of character and un-Silver Age remarks were made about what kind of a job she did and for so many people).

The day was saved and Titan shook their hands all around and made sure the new knew who did it. next week I'm asking them to name their team.

darth_flanders @ 2007-10-07T22:54:00

2007-10-08T02:58:43Z

So I'm putting together Hero Force supplement numbah 2. It's coming along. I learned a bit from the first one and have some confidence I lacked before.

The fellows on the forum and I were kicking around the old question all super rp'ers get to eventually, powers or skills? Do you want to play Superman and get to do all the heavy lifting or Batman and get all the exposition?

Batman wouldn't be expected to defeat an opponent that could give Superman a tussle and Superman could wade through Batman's entire rogues gallery while checking his email.

In spite of this disparity in methods and powers DC has printed a lot of books teaming the two up. How do you reflect this in a game?

Superman attacks opponents in a physical manner, Batman in a mental manner. He'll psych them out, get them to reveal clues and weaknesses. Even a heavyweight villain is going to split rather than giver up his plan of attacj etc. I'll have to think more on this.

The First Week

2007-09-21T23:01:29Z

Well my balloon is coming in for a landing. HFGSSS has dropped steadily and is now number 20 at RPGNow.com. Of course that means it still spent a week in the top ten. I'm perfectly satisfied with that and busily planning the next supplement. I'm going to strike while the iron is hot and produce another Hero Force expansion and pitch the Pulp era stuff after that.

It's a good feeling to have people want your work. It's also odd to have people ask me how to rule on this or that. My usual reaction is to say, "Do whatever works for you and is fun." At least it would be if anyone had ever asked me before I wrote this.

Omigosh!

2007-09-16T21:48:59Z

The Hero Force Giant Size Super Special was #11 of the top hundred games on RPGNow on Friday. By Saturday it was seven and today it is number four. Woot!

It's Here!!!

2007-09-14T15:05:36Z

The Hero Force Giant Size Super Special is up at RPGNOW.com. There will be no living with me for at least a week. I'm back in the (rp) game baby!

Kudos to James for a beautiful comicy layout and cover. I hope it meets with your approval or at least gets 3.5 stars.

Someone review it now, please?

Pulpy Goodness

2007-09-09T14:00:28Z

So the Supers thing is in the pipe. James Stubbs is doing an awesome job on the layout. Please check out Heyoka Studios. James does good stuff.

Next up the Pulp Era. I could do a Victory City variant. But I pitched another idea.

Remember all those movies with an evil doctor hiding on a remote island? Remember all those lost worlds and ruins of Atlantis and R'lyeh? All those islands are part of the same chain.

It's called the Burroughs Islands in the South Pacific. See all those mad scientists needed somewhere to go after the Great War. Governments were less preoccupied and could now ask just WTF you were doing with that radium and the really good hiding spots in the New York subways and Himalayas were already filled or reserved by more cuatious guys in the Nazi Party.

Oh yes, there is going to be a lot of humor in this.

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
(Replies to postings remain the intellectual properties of their creators.)

Super Writing

2007-09-08T17:34:09Z

The supplement I've worked on is being laid out now. The title is Hero Force Giant Sized Super Special. Whee! I can't believe it.

I am now in the most enjpyable period of writing, pondering my next project. It will probably be Pulp/WW2 era since I've dropped a lot of hints abouyt it in this project. Those of you who have read the Victory City encyclopedia ;) know I wrote a whole history. I stuck bits of it through out the setting description. It's an old trick I learned DMing. Anyway it will probably be written up here before I do the supplement and pitch it.

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
(Replies to postings remain the intellectual properties of their creators.)

Starting a New School Year (ACK!)

2007-08-30T00:49:05Z

I heard from James Stubbs at Heyoka Studios and wonder of wonder he is interested in me doing a Hero Force supplement. That was part of the reason I've not posted in so long. The other reason was that I was taking accelerated grad courses this summer. I loved them. I got a lot of external validation about things I felt I was doing right in teaching and I'm going to work ready to fix the things I could do better.

I've spent the last three days trying to get my classroom together. So I'm starting my work year already tired, I guess I can sleep a little during the staff development workshops they give tomorrow. Sorry if I sound cynical. I learned more about my profession this past summer than I did in 11 years of workshops.

How does the Department of Education manage to do so much that is so wrong?

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
(Replies to postings remain the intellectual properties of their creators.)

darth_flanders @ 2007-08-11T11:26:00

2007-08-11T15:49:17Z

The writing project is not going well. It is going however. To make a long story short I decided to scrap the setting sections and character descriptions and use the space for alternate characters and optional rules to reflect different genres. With my grad course starting next week and work soon after I don't know when I can have this finished.

On the other hand there is no deadline and I feel I will do a better job now that I reassessed this supplement.

In other news Happy 84th Birthday to my mom (August 8). Happy Anniversary Milo, this marks one year since I took my dog home!

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
(Replies to postings remain the intellectual properties of their creators.)

Updates

2007-08-07T22:32:46Z

The writing project is going well. Milo is also well if his appetite, house training, napping and ability to get int trouble are any meters.

I have about 6000 words done out of 10,000 expected. I may go over and just start cutting stuff down. I have too many damned ideas. :)

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
(Replies to postings remain the intellectual properties of their creators.)

Apologies and Puppies

2007-08-04T14:58:25Z

First apologies to all those I've been spamming. thanks to BobP who taught me the use and responsibilities of the LJ Cut button.

There is going to be much super hero stuff for a while as I found someone who wants to help me e-publish it! So I'll be working up a (cut down) version of Vic. Glee!

In other news, while I was trying to train Milo a cute little Chihuahua pup came over and began playing with him. When we left she followed us home. Not wanting another dog for practical reasons (i.e. the one I have is enough work!) I spent an hour carrying the pup around the neighborhood until I found her owner and the owner returned home. Milo wound up the winner because I got the pup's owner to let me bring Milo over for a play date!

I went home feeling good for about a half hour before I realized that was a young puppy and young puppies sometimes carry Parvo virus. I'm pretty sure there's little chance of Milo contracting it but I'm going to wiki now.

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
(Replies to postings remain the intellectual properties of their creators.)

Something Completely Different

2007-08-01T23:19:58Z

I'm also getting set to run an online Space Opera game next week. The basic premise is that an egghead discovered a way to generate unlimited energy in 1939. Using this power source mankind explored the solar system and found it... inhabited. It seems your enigmatic aliens set up a huge cloaking device to make Mars, Venus and Earth appear like dead worlds to each other. Anyway this a campaign background sheet in the form of a dictionary of space flight.

Space Opera Glossary 1951 Printing

Artifact- An object built by the Forerunners. Many items they built still work after thousands of years. THE Artifact was a silvery metal sab about 9 meters long that orbited the Earth beyond the Moon. For thousands of years it projected an illusion that Mars was a dead world and Venus an oven and hid all signs of space travel from humanity. When the Prometheus I discovered the Artifact it immediately stopped working. Alltests shot it is a solid inert slab of unknown metal. It appears every planet had a similar Artifact orbiting it. Mars’ Artifact produced the illusion that Earth was a radioactive desert.

Asteroid Belt- The ring of planetoids between Mars and Jupiter. Some larger planetoids have a thin atmosphere and native life because their cores are incredibly dense. Space Nomads frequent the Belt.

Atomic Power/Weapons- A form power more efficient than chemical reactions but inferior to Q-converters and Quantium gas. The Martians use it extensively. The Third Reich was developing an atomic bomb at the end of the World War.

Battle for Luna- The decisive battle of the Martian invasion of Earth. After several retreats beyond lunar orbit the Earth fleet went into orbit around the moon to protect several bases there. When the Martian fleet attempted to break the orbital blockade they met heavy resistance. It was also the first time the humans used Quantium torpedoes. While the torpedoes were inaccurate and mostly missed the Martian saucers Nick Valiant in command of a cruiser squadron braved intense fire to close to point blank range of the Martian flagship and fired torpedoes from a few miles away. The spread of torpedoes annihilated the ship and the rest of the invasion fleet fled back to Mars.

Bazooka- A rocket launcher built by the Americans at the start of World Ward II. It was originally an anti-tank weapon but soon replaced with the disintegrator. It is still used by the Earth Defense Forces and sometimes the Space Patrol since it is safer to store than a disintegrator.

Blaster- Particle beam weapon. Blasters are usually handheld since a ship’s radiation shields can deflect them easily. They use a small amount on Quantium for power.

Brittlestone, Samuel- The inventor of the Q-Converter. Professor Brittlestone worked with Einstein and Tesla to create applications for his power source. In 1938 he traveled to the Moon in the Prometheus I and encountered the Artifact. In 1951 he left the Solar System in the Prometheus II.

Broadcast Energy- Working with Tesla, Professor Brittlestone developed wireless energy transmission. Q-Converters on Earth are placed well away from inhabited areas and their power beamed to city receivers or individual home receivers.

Cavorite- An anti-gravity metal produced on Mars through unknown means. Cavorite is repelled by gravity but does not work indefinitely. It may be related to Luftschwamm, used in Luftwaffe saucers.

Cheat Box- A light projector with hundreds of sliderule charts allowing quick estimates for navigation.

Clock- Slang for a robot. This dates back to late 1940’s when Tesla went into business producing electronic brains and said publicly his factory was producing timepieces. A clock denotes a robot very good at following orders.

Demeter- The accepted designation for the destroyed planet between Mars and Jupiter. Demeter was an Earthlike planet with rivers and seas and probably heated by volcanic activity since it was so far from the sun. This activity might have destroyed it.

Disintegrator- A heavy weapon that fires Quantium at a target. At high settings a man-sized target can be reduced to ash. Only Osmium steel can resist this. Disintegrators have a short range and have to be loaded shortly before use as the Quantium must be kept refrigerated.

Dynascanner- A sensor system that combines results from radar and energy scans.

Earth Defense Fleet- Arm of the Space Navy that defends the Earth and the Moon from attack. Most of its ships are belly-landers and designed to fly in an atmosphere for extended operations or even be seaworthy.

Forerunners- Advanced race that left various artifacts in the Solar System. The Forerunners probably modified Mercury, Mars and several planetoids to sustain life. They might have genetically altered humans into the different species millions of years ago. It is unknown whether they came from outside the Solar System or from Demeter.

Ferry- A vessel that can’t make landings on an earthlike planet. Ferries travel between space stations or to the moon. Most are dumbbell shaped and do not mount landing gear.

Ganymede- Ganymede is inhabited by humanoids who have built huge hothouse cities to survive. They have refused all contact with the rest of the Solar System. An unknown magnetic beam repels ships approaching.

Heat Ray- Infra red or UV optical maser. ‘Heaters’ are handheld or ship mounted. No one says ‘laser’. It’s a ray or beam. They use a tiny amount of Quantium for power.

Interplanetare Flotte- The fleet of saucers that evacuated the leaders of the Third Reich in 1940. The exact technology the saucers used is unknown as well as how the Germans developed them so quickly.

Jupiter- Fifth and largest planet. A few Earth ships have reached Jupiter using the Quantum II drive in a few months. The Space Patrol has set up several research outposts on its moons. The Stygians wiped out the first of these in 1950.

Luftschwamm- A bronze alloy used in Luftwaffe saucers. It may be related to Cavorite.

Lunar Lakes- Small thermally warmed lakes in deep lunar grottos and canyons. There is a thin atmosphere in these caves. The lakes might lead to an underground Lunar Sea. Some Forerunner artifacts were found around these lakes and they are home to unknown life forms.

Mars- Fourth planet of the Solar System. Mars is an old dying world. The Martians have had several civilizations rise and fall. They use an advanced form of atomic power and antigravity, both of which humans have failed to replicate. Q-Converters seem to be superior technology.

Martian- Any inhabitant of Mars. Note there are several intelligent species. The dominant species (for most purposes) is the Ancalma or Canal Martians. The Ancalma are about 7’ tall with felinoid features and olive skin. They attacked the Earth in 1948. Today with the threat of Stygia they are reluctant allies. Many Martians still want to conquer Earth.

Mercurian- An inhabitant of Mercury. Mercurians are slim and frail and stand about 6’ tall. Earth gravity is fatal to them in matter of days. Mercurians have pale skin and large eyes and see well in darkness. They are pacifists and incredible negotiators who helped Earth and Mars form an Alliance.

Mercury- The innermost planet of the Solar System. Mercury does not rotate. One side is always facing the sun and roasting, the other side is away from the sun and freezing. A small ring between day and night is habitable. Strong winds make it dangerous at certain times of year. Mercurians live in underground cities. Mercury is the source for energy crystals that have many uses in power generators and weapons. Huge crystals on the day-side reflect most of the sunlight back into space.

Needler- Martian sidearm that fires metal needles using a magnetic field. Bolt guns are heavier and resemble crossbows. Their bolts are explosive or carry special warheads.

P-Suit- A heavily armored spacesuit that resembles a can with rubber sleeves and legs. It is used in extremely hazardous environments.

Prometheus I- The first space rocket built by Professor Brittlestone (with the backing of the U.S. Army Air Corps). It used water for propellant and a Quantium reservoir. Lt. Nick Valiant was the pilot.

Prometheus II- The first human space rocket to leave the Solar System. It used a Superluminal drive created by Brittlestone and Einstein as well as a superluminal radio set for communication. It was lost one year ago after its only report.

Q-Converter- a total conversion energy source that powers Earth rockets and most of the planet. A converter can either produce energy seemingly from empty space or Quantium gas.

Quantium- an unstable form of hydrogen generated by Q-converters. At temperatures above 800 degrees it turns into energy with almost 100% efficiency. It becomes unstable at room temperatures after several hours. Smaller ships use it for fuel while larger ships mount their own Q-converters to generate it en route.

Robot- Mechanical man using a Tesla brain. Robots are large and cumbersome and not terribly bright. Automotive companies build most American robots. So you can have a Ford MGRC or a Studebaker X-1.

Saucer-An interplanetary vessel using anti-gravity technology.

Space Nomads- also called Space Gypsies. Space Nomads were originally inhabitants of Demeter who somehow survived its destruction. They are barbarians who scavenge technology from the ruins of Demeter and any ship unlucky enough to fall into their clutches. Nomads look human but have blue skin and only four fingers on each hand. They are naturally adapted to weightlessness. Nomads are organized into tribes and bands.

Space Patrol- Arm of the Space Navy charged with exploring the Solar System. The Space Patrol also gathers intelligence for the Space Navy, delivers mail packets and helps supply the deep space outposts. Most of its ships are small scout ships that land on their tails. The crews are small but over all the best trained.

Space Patrol Scout- A SPS masses about 500 tons. Two thirds is water for propellant. It can reach Mars or Venus in three or four weeks and the Asteroids in two months and typically carries a crew of 4-8 and six months provisions. It is a tail-lander but maneuverable in an atmosphere. Most scouts are armed with a turreted Heat Ray. They have only small electronic brains so the crew does the bulk of the course plotting or courses are laid in by radio from a command ship or station.

Space Pirates- Individuals attacking other ships in open space for profit. In the last few years piracy has increased in the Solar System and it is believed this is because of the pirates having a secret base and shipyard. The Space Patrol is charged with hunting down pirates.

Stygian Empire- An InterSTELLAR empire ruled from the planet Stygia by Emperor Zartos. Transmissions from the Prometheus II indicated the Stygians rule thousands of Worlds. The Stygians attacked the Solar System in 1950 and nearly overwhelmed the Space Navy and Mars Warfleet.

Tele-torpedo- A Quantium powered unmanned missile that is guided by television/radio signals. TT’s can also be unarmed probes. Used by the Space Patrol. Telebots are robot bodies guided by remote control.

Tesla, Nikola- Nikola Tesla was approached by Professor Brittlestone in 1938 and asked to help develop the Q-Converter. Tesla died in 1949 and saw many of his ideas made reality with Professor Brittlestone’s endorsement. In 1941 he sold a number of automated coastal defense systems to the U.S. Navy and this led to the development of the Tesla Robotic Brain in 1942. He also designed the basic blaster that is the main sidearm of the Space Navy.

Tesla Cannon- A very short-range beam of ions that shorts out ship systems or stuns people. It is usually ship mounted.

Tommy Gun- Automatic machine pistol built during World War II. Thompson machine guns are a favorite weapon of Space Pirates. They fire a huge amount of bullets but can’t penetrate bulkheads.

United Nations- The united government of Earth. Space defense and relations are handled by the U.N. Nations still keep local defense forces.

United Nations Space Navy- The multinational military force charged with exploring the solar system and defending the Earth. The Space Navy is composed of the Earth Defense Fleet and the Space Patrol.

Valiant, Nick- General Valiant piloted the Prometheus I in 1938 and led the Space Navy against the MartianPrometheus II in 1951. Warfleet in 1950. He vanished aboard the

Venus- Second planet from the sun and sister planet to the Earth. Venus is covered in dense clouds and perpetually foggy. Most of the terrain is swampy or hilly and native life is similar to that on earth millions of years ago. Animals are similar to Earth dinosaurs and cold blooded. There are some sign of intelligent life but the Space Patrol hasn’t established contact yet. Earth, Mercury and Mars all claim portions of Venus and are arguing over its fate.

Wheel- A torus shaped space station that rotates for artificial gravity. Some stations are inflatable.>

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Supplement Outline

2007-08-01T17:15:09Z

I'm tweaking my outline to make it similar to the Dime Heroes supplements. I also have a better idea of the contents. Again any reflections are welcome.

1 pages new powers for Vigilantes and Blasters at least.
Blasters: Energy Absorption, Decoys and Energy Body
Vigilantes: Martial Arts, Throwing Blades, Gas Bombs Stealth Suit, Vehicle.
Universal Gadgets: First Aid Kit, Commlink, Swing Line, Secret Pouch, Night Vision Goggles, Smoke Bombs, Utility Belt and Shield.
New universal Powers: Swimming, Tunneling, Snare and Barrier

2 pages on new character types a la Jungle Heroes.
Animalist- communicates with and controls animals and mimics their powers.
Cyborg- All kinds of shiny new parts.

4 Pages on the Victory City Setting: five boroughs with 2-3 typical heroes for each borough
Argent- Four color mixed with street level adventures
Steeltown- Pulp heroes and vigilantes
Black River- Cyber-noir neighborhood
Beckton- Golden Age overpowered heroes
Core- Where they all meet and match.

5 one page adventures each with a boss villain and henchman type set in each of the boroughs.
Argent- Someone is masquerading as a local hero and pulling heists. Can you clear his name?
Steeltown- Mr. Punch the demonic puppet is stealing souls for his puppet show. Can the trench coats put a stop to him?
Black River- Omnitech has hired a mercenary to destroy part of the city and make room for their developments. Can he be stopped?
Beckton- When a mage's chest of tricks is sold in a yard sale chaos erupts.
Core- Major Mayhem threatens the city with a giant robot wile the big guns are away.

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
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Life in General

2007-07-29T13:07:26Z

I finished my grad course and received an 'A' which felt kind of funny because a good part of my grade was based on a fact sheet I had to compose on a topic I chose. My topic was 'Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences'. For those of you who don't know the theory, Gardner said that humans had 7-8 different core intelligences that were discrete defining areas such as mathematics, linguistics etc (go Wiki it if you need to know more). Well in short I did an excellent short summary of the system and then spent the bulk of the paper explaining why it was not verified and probably wrong even though MANY educators still believe it You never expect to get an 'A' when you buck the status quo.

For my part Gardner's ideas make a great theory of learning and I still use it to prepare assignments and address children's learning needs. I just call it Multiple Modalities of Learning which IMHO is more accurate.

Still sick with this stupid cold and cough. Now I finally went to the doc and got some meds.

I was corresponding with Hegeyokai Studios about writing a Hero Force supplement. I think I came across as a noob because I asked a lot of questions to find out exactly what they were looking for. I border on OCD in this regard because the supplement I tried to write wound up in the trashcan because of failure to communicate. While I cannot control the other person's behavior, I can be as thorough as possible in finding out what they want.

Anyway my rough idea of the supplement goes like this:
13 pages total
1page new equipment including Universal Equipment (gear every super gets his hands on)
1 pages new powers for Vigilantes, Blasters and Gadgeteers.
3 pages of new characters
3 Pages on the Victory City Setting
5 one page adventures possibly a story arc

Obviously this written in gelatin at the moment. If anyone (especially from the Deep7 Forums) reads this I'd like your opinions on what you'd like to see in a Hero force supplement.

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
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More Hero Force Tweaking

2007-07-20T17:17:05Z

I am pretty pleased with my stunts and Vigilante gadgets and such. I did have a problem with AV and power damage ratings in that 2 levels of Invulnerability or Gadgeteer Armor can hold off three levels of Elemental or Blaster attack and damned near allVigilante weapons. this led to me tweaking the values for all the above. On reflection all I had to do was change the way Invulnerability and Gadgeteer Armor worked. At present each level of Invulnerability/GA gives 10 points of protection. I changed it in my setting to the following:

Invulnerability Level 1 10 AV (A weapon doing 16 damage does six damage)
Invulnerability Level 2 Damage that exceeds AV is halved (A weapon doing 16 damage does three damage)
Invulnerability Level 3 Damage that exceeds AV is halved and taken off UMPH! (A weapon doing 16 damage does three damage and it is taken as UMPH! I.e. a character with this level of Invulnerability can spring back after a brutal fight with some reduction in abilities).

You might want to consider awarding an Invulnerable character who bounced back after a fight only 1D3 Character Improvement points.

I would also consider super powers the equivalent of Era 8 when supers deal with vehicles and giant robots. In other words they get +2 AV or DMG depending on the power vs. vehicles. Super powers regularly blast cars and tanks but don't slay humans on the first attack. Movement powers use their level as MAN. A super with Level 3 Flight acts as a +3 MAN aircraft..

Next week I start an accelerated grad class to get a pay increase.... errrr better myself as an educator. I doubt I'll have time to pursue this LJ until 7/28. You have earned a reprieve.

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Writeups pt. 2

2007-07-18T14:34:21Z

I added a few rules to the Hero Force game. Not too hard because each major system of a 1PG game takes up one page. It's one thing I love about them. They are extremely tinker friendly. At any rate the vigilantes and emulators use some new stunts and Vigilante powers I whipped up.

Vigilante Gear and Stunts

Vigilantes use a combination of training and cutting edge gadgets and weapons to fight crime.

Gas Bombs: The character has one of these per level of Control. Gas Bombs stun a character for five turns per level. Characters can make a GUILE roll to hold their breath.

Throwing Blades: The hero can throw a number of blades or micro bombs or darts to great effect. At Power Level 1 the hero can throw 1D3 blades, at Power Level 2 the hero can throw 1D6 blades and at Power Level 3 he can throw 1D6+3. Each blade does 2DV. Each blade can also take down a henchman when the Vigilante

Makes a successful Shooting roll.

Stealth Suit: The costume of a Vigilante usually allows greater stealth than a body suit and cape in primary colors. A Vigilante can make a devastating attack at the start of a fight when he has surprise (I.e. makes a Stealth or Thievery roll). At Power Level 1 the hero does an additional 2 DV, at Power Level 2 the hero does an additional 5DV and at Power Level 3 he does an additional 10DV. This bonus only applies to one blade if more than one hits.

Martial Arts: The hero is no mere brawler but a master of unarmed combat. He can eliminate henchmen as if he has a super power. He makes a Control roll to eliminate henchmen.

Heromobile: The Vigilante has a cool set of wheels.

Era: 6

Crew: 1-2

MAN: +1 GR: -1 DMG: n/a AV: 0 SI: 10

Each power level improves one stat by one. A stat can only be raised once. A Vigilante can specify that a weapon from his pool be mounted on his car.

STUNTS

Improved Clubbing- The Hero does additional damage by using his super strength to utilize large objects (street lamps, fenders etc.) as clubs. The hero’s Super Strength multiplier is applied to a club’s damage of three. Clubs do damage based on Super Strength level as follows: 6/12/18.

Piercing Attack- The hero can find a weak point in any armor or defense. One of his attacks does a minimum of one point per level.

Going All out- By sacrificing a COOL point and making an Athletics roll the character can do double damage with a single attack. The hero is stunned for 1D6 rounds after.

Charging Attack- The hero can fly, run or use another movement power to deal additional damage. The hero does 2 points per level of movement.

Digging Deep- By sacrificing a COOL point the hero can regain 1D3 damage.

Danger Sense- The hero is especially alert. If he fails an Awareness roll in a dangerous situation he gets a second roll.

Calling Card- The hero has an unnerving presence. His laugh, appearance or even shadow can frighten henchmen allowing him to frighten away henchmen by making a roll against Fame/Infamy. He chases one henchman off for every point he makes the roll by.

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
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Writeups pt.1

2007-07-18T02:14:21Z

The following character writeups are in the Hero Force game which uses the excellent 1PG system. Stats, skills and powers all range from 1-3. You can find out more about the game and others at deep7.com I made a few tweaks to the system, largely by including a few stunts for play balance. They'll be listed after the writeups. I did fudge some of the character creation rules. I do allow Vigilantes some access to universla powers. These are usually embodied in a gadget or maybe due to their nature (i.e. an Android Vigilante can leap great distances).

Character Write Ups

Black Nova (Vigilante/Construct)

Omnitech Prototype Type 1a

MIGHT 5 Athletics 1, LOOKS 1, GUILE 3 Stealth 1, BRAINS 2, Control 3, Sciences 1, Tech. Knowledge 2, COOL 4, GUTS 5, BLOOD 28, FAME 4, Powers: Vigilante Weapons Pool (Laser cannon, Laser Pistol, Grenade, Sword), Leaping 1 (50 meters), Armor 2 6 AV, Martial Arts.

After Jordan Colbert died and became the Cyber Ghost Omnitech acquired some of his equipment through dubious means. They used his designs to develop an android that shared Jordan’s dislike for Omnitech. This might also be a result of the Black Ghost hacking Omnitech’s mainframe. In any case the android became self aware and escaped from its laboratory. Programmed to repair itself and preserve its existence it armed and armored itself and then concluded it was better to hide in plain sight, as a vigilante.

The Black Nova can pass for human in dim light. Most of his targets do not get a good look at their attacker. It will call for their surrender and if total compliance is not forthcoming it will lay down heavy firepower. The Black Nova has shot nearly a hundred criminals in the arms and legs. It has intentionally killed one felon, a child molester who tried to discipline.

The Black Nova is not big on subtlety or human interaction. It will smash in a door rather than pick a lock. It will use listening devices rather than interrogate people for information. Its usual method is to stake out a couple of blocks around the clock for a few days and then follow up on any suspicious activity with more focused surveillance.

The Victory City police will not hesitate to open fire on the Black Nova given a a clear shot away from civilians. The Black Nova does no understand the logic behind this and has scaled back its activities until it can figure out how to lessen police interference. It is considering approaching other human vigilantes for help regarding this. It has already had one near run in with Steel Machine and wonders whether it could relate better to another machine. It is still running the odds in its head.

Omnitech has recently recruited several bounty hunters to capture the Black Nova. Several of Steel Machine’s hackers also want to bring in the android if only to lessen suspicion of Steel Machine.

Bomber (Blaster/Experiment)

Jonathon ‘Jack’ Kelso

MIGHT 4 Athletics 2, Brawling 2 Shooting 1, Endurance 2, LOOKS 1, GUILE 2, Stealth 2, Thievery 1, BRAINS 2 Control 2, General Knowledge 1,COOL 3, GUTS 4, BLOOD 25, FAME 3. Powers: Leaping 2 (80 meters) Regeneration 1D6 Invulnerability 1 10 AV. Bomber can use the Going All Out, Charging and Digging Deep stunts.

Bomber is the oldest active superhero in Victory City and maybe the World. He was a mechanic in the Army Air Corps in the thirties who volunteered for an experimental medical experiment. Though the program was regarded as a failure Kelso did receive latent powers. In 1940 he was caught in a fuel explosion at Fort Binder that killed several other ground crew. Kelso lived and even recovered. When he got out of the hospital Kelso discovered he could lift great weights, leap up to 80 meters and shrug off pistol rounds.

The Black Bomber's career was mediocre. Most of his 'arrests' were street crooks and he often tried in vain to become the sidekick of several heroes. For a time Dr. Atlas took him under his wing but then retired. He retired in 1946.

Kelso discovered he was aging at a greatly reduced rate. He married, retired to Las Vegas and opened a small pilot school. In 1969 his wife, Maxine, died and he returned to Victory City. In 1973 his son, Jonathon became the new Bomber. The 'Black' was left out. John was shot and killed by the Black Moth in 1975. Bomber revealed his identity and wrote his memoirs. In 1985 he returned to active duty and became a local media sensation. That lasted until the public discovered he was often drunk and chased anything in a skirt. He also was very very dated in his world views.

Bomber has continued patrolling Steel Town into the present day. Although his encounters with super-villains were rarely successful he has aided more modern heroes on several occasions. He has also helped in the arrest of hundreds, maybe thousands of street thugs and rescued hundreds of people from fires and other disasters.

He is currently campaigning for a statue in Hero Park.

Bomber wears a leather bomber jacket with an aviator helmet and goggles. Underneath he wears a loose fitting black body suit and climbing boots. His nose has been broken several times.

Mink (Vigilante/Training)

Robin Mendoza

MIGHT 3, Athletics 1, Brawling 2, LOOKS 3, Charisma 1, Fashion 1, GUILE 2, Awareness 2, Piloting –1, Stealth 2, Thievery 1, BRAINS 2, Control 2, General Knowledge 1, Sciences –1, Technical Knowledge –1, COOL 4, GUTS 3, BLOOD 20, FAME 3 Powers: Martial Artist, Armor 3 AV, Stealth Suit 2 +5 BLOOD in sneak attack/+2 Stealth. Mink can use the Piercing Attack and Danger Sense stunts.

Robin Mendoza is the great niece of Roberta Monroe, the Silk Veil. As the Mink she is a member of the New Victory Force formed in the last year. She was originally an industrial spy in Black River who used her looks and charisma to get secrets out of executives. When she overheard the plot to infiltrate Colbert’s workshop and terminate him she created the Mink identity to try and stop the plot without losing her reputation as a professional for hire. She failed to stop the fight that cost Colbert his life and unfortunately had no evidence beyond her own testimony. She trained intensively for nearly a year before becoming the Mink again to infiltrate Omnitech. She discovered the prototype android they were working on from Colbert’s research and accidentally activated it, creating the Black Nova.

After these failures Robin became a thief, having used her finances on her training and equipment but concentrated on jewels and easily fenced merchandise. After a few weeks she was brought in by Magnoman when she tried to rob the Victory Mutual Bank in the City Core. Magnoman thought at the time she was more than just a thief and attempted then to get her parole but failed.

After nearly a year in jail Magnoman appeared to ask for her help. A Dr. Felsten had set up a psychiatric practice and claimed to have a device that neutralized the affects of shards. Felsten insisted that shards made a person more reckless and less inhibited and contributed to criminal behavior. Magnoman and the police suspected something and wanted her to go undercover as a patient. Robin agreed in exchange for early release.

When she got to the hospital she soon discovered Felsten was actually Magnattack and was using a device to brainwash his patients to become his allies. She managed to get word to Magnoman and he and the police staged a raid. Magnattack got away in the fighting but all the patients were freed and returned to normal with data Robin stole from the hospital computers before Magnattack destroyed them. She was released from prison.

The Mink regrets her criminal career and is making the most of her second chance. For the moment she is staying with Victory Force though she doesn’t really feel she fits in. Magnoman continues to encourage her. Robin still wants to do something about Omnitech and their role in Colbert’s murder and track down the Black Nova before he kills an innocent person but she is keeping those motives secret for now. She mainly operates in Steel Town and Black river when not with Victory Force.

Robin does most of her investigations undercover and with a drink in her hand (ginger ale these days). She is a flirtatious and engaging woman in or out of costume. The Mink is not aware of it but she is a big morale boost to the members of the fledgling Victory Force.

In costume the Mink is one of the best martial artists around able to hold her own against low powered superhuman opponents. She’s fought Bomber to a stalemate which she views as an accomplishment even if no one else does.

Vengeance (Vigilante/Alien)

Charles Packard

MIGHT 4 Athletics 2, Brawling 1, Shooting 1, LOOKS 2, GUILE 3, BRAINS 1, Control 3 Powers: Life Drain 2 1D6, Vigilante Weapons (SMG, Automatic Pistol, Sword, Stun Grenade), Armor 3 AV Note takes 1D3 BLOOD per round in sunlight. Vengeance gets a –1 to actions in bright light. He can only use Life Drain on a held character. He can use 3 BLOOD to raise MIGHT one point for 1D6 rounds. This functions as Super Strength i.e. five tons.

Before the Valknian Wall went up and the rest of the world was aware of the Vampire Problem Charles Packard’s mother Caroline, went hiking across Europe with her friends after graduating college. Camping out on a beautiful mountain slope in the Carpathians she received a night caller, one of the Stregoi of the region. This vampire had more than blood on his mind and Caroline had the worst nightmares of her life. When she returned home she discovered she was pregnant. Eight months later Charles was born. Caroline died of complications in childbirth and his grandparents, who did not know the circumstances of his birth, raised Charles. Charles was always a sickly child and suffered from anemia and albinism. In school he was a frequent target of bullies and he became an antisocial loner.

Both these symptoms grew worse till he was hospitalized as an adult. Massive transfusions of blood helped prolong his life but confined him to a hospital bed. One night Charles had a visitor, Lord Ruthven of Valknia was in Victory City on a diplomatic mission. Charles was only semi-coherent as Ruthven opened a vein on his wrist and let Charles drink his blood.

Ruthven’s blood restored Charles and the vampire lord explained the circumstances of his birth. Charles’ mother was seduced by a vampire outcast. Charles was half vampire himself, a dhampyre, and needed blood to survive. Animal blood would do temporarily but only human blood would keep him alive in the long term.

Charles left the hospital shaken but relieved to understand his nature. He created the identity of Vengeance to find criminals he could prey on. As Vengeance, Charles inflicts a lifetime of ent up aggression and animalistic fury on any criminals he finds. He often uses a stun grenade to take out a whole street gang and feed on them at leisure. Charles hasn’t killed anyone feeding yet. He is afraid of creating more vampires. In combat he uses swords or firearms because biting people will lead lynch mobs forming. There are some stories about him feeding finding their way to the press but a vampire bite closes in a few minutes and looks more like a mosquito bite than a puncture after an hour.

Charles is superhumanly strong when he feeds on blood regularly. His albinism has become severe and direct sunlight no damages and can kill him. Drinking human blood allows him to heal most wounds in minutes. His vampiric senses let him track prey through dark alleys and hear whispered conversations a block away. He still hasn’t mastered these abilities.

Charles realized he was becoming more bloodthirsty lately. In desperation he is seeking Dr. Bones’ help to control his rages. He has also encountered the Black Nova and views it as a dangerous machine that he might have to stop.

Vengeance is having more trouble dealing with his condition as time goes on. He feels isolated and ultimately doomed. He has considered going to Valknia to join the other dhampyres but fears making a journey like that alone and what the older vampires might demand in exchange for acceptance. He is showing less and less sense of self -preservation in his assaults on the gangs of Black River and Steel Town.

Vengeance wears a black costume with dull grey hourglass designs on the upper arms to symbolize time running out for his victims. He covers his face with wrap around eyeglasses.

The Red Mask (Mentalist/Divine)

Sharon Longacre

MIGHT 2, Athletics 2, Shooting 2, LOOKS 2, Charisma 2, Fashion –1, GUILE 3, Awareness 2, Piloting –1, Stealth 2, Thievery 2, BRAINS 3, Control 2, COOL 5, GUTS 5, BLOOD 25, FAME 4, Powers: Mental Blast 3 -3 to target's Actions Light/Sound Attack 2 Stun 10 rounds Carries a pair of .45's. Red Mask can use the Piercing Attack Stunt with her .45's. The Mask creates a reddish fog to use her powers. The fog can either paralyze or simply slow a target. She can incapacitate a crowd of normal adults (henchmen!) but more powerful minds must be dealt with individually. Without the mask Sharon’s GUILE, COOL and GUTS are only 2. The mask sometimes tries to make Sharon take a course of action. In this case she has to roll her GUTS at –1 to refuse or else spend a COOL point.

In 1999 William Gillespie, the Red Masque engaged in his final disastrous run in with the police while trying to save Sharon Longacre from being assaulted in Hero Park. Diving into the Canal to escape, he contracted pneumonia. Sharon Longacre was an aspiring advertising executive who was out jogging when she had her run in with the Masque. Gillespie was dying and decided that saving Longacre meant destiny had marked her as his successor. He had his mask sent to her.

The mask she received in the mail mystified Sharon. Eventually she wore it to a Halloween party. The spirit of the mask told her howit aided its previous wearers in seeking justice. After a few weeks of training she became the Red Mask. She was determined to restore the vigilante’s reputation. She has felt the compulsion of the mask to resort to lethal force but resisted it so far. This may in part be because she is the first female wearer of the mask.

In 2001 she made her debut and interrupted a bank robbery. Using a red fog to disorient the robbers she disarmed all five without firing a shot. Six weeks later she reappeared at Hero Park to try to head off a war between Back River and Steel Town gangs. This time shots were fired and four gang members were hospitalized with minor wounds. Since then she worked with the Dark Avenger several times as well as the Ideals.

Sharon creates the same smoke screen as the original Masque and carries automatic pistols The Red Mask wears a long duster coat and a red half mask made from a scarf that covers her head. She has long black hair that falls loose around her shoulders.

Sharon has begun a relationship with the Dark Avenger. This is an open secret among the Ideals. No one brings it up as long as the Avenger doesn’t give her the keys to the Clubhouse.

Sharon is a shrewd judge of people from her experiences in the business world. Since she has worn the mask her personality has become much more forceful and charismatic. She sometimes wonders how much of that is her and how much is Gillespie. It has sharpened her senses almost to human limits and made her in tune with magical forces.

Without the mask Sharon’s physical abilities are reduced. She almost always carries it on her in a secret compartment of her bag.

Recently Sharon encountered the Jackalent while she was trying to apprehend a car thief. The Jackalent demanded she respect his territory and let him deal with the young man. Sharon and he had a short fight ending in a stalemate. She felt a an odd attraction to him and realized his costume might have a connection to her mask.

Sharon also met Vengeance and despises his violent methods. She feels a strong compulsion to attack him. She has worked with Dr. Bines and can’t believe he associates with Vengeance.

The previous Red Masques will be covered at a later date.

Jackalent (Mystic/Divine)

Arthur Chester

MIGHT 2, Athletics 2, Brawling 1, Endurance 1, LOOKS 1, GUILE 3, Awareness 2, Con 1, Piloting –2, Thievery 1, BRAINS 2, Control 2, General Knowledge 1, COOL 5, GUTS 5, BLOOD 26, FAME 4, Powers: Summoning 2 (Tattered Souls), Forcefield 1 10 AV, Metamorphic 1 Chameleon/Blending in darkness -1 to spot. Jackalent can use the Digging Deep and Calling Card stunts. All the powers come from the Jackalent’s costume. Without it his BLOOD is 15 and his Awareness is reduced to 0.

The Gillespie mansion was untenanted after William died. In 2001 Arthur Chester, a petty thief broke in. Wandering the dusty halls and searching for some valuable that was light enough to steal he was drawn to locked trunk. Arthur broke the lock and found a blood red suit, possibly made of the same cloth as the Red Mask’s mask.

Chester took the cloth and returned to his digs in the Bowery section. In the next weeks he compulsively sewed more bits of cloth he scrounged onto the suit to create the Jackalent costume. Chester was a failed actor and a thief mainly out of necessity. After he began working on the Jackalent identity he began speed reading books from the local library and working out as much as possible.

He found a job in a small theatre company as a lighting technician. He still aspires to an acting career but it pays the bills. Chester chose the name Jackalent after a straw man that was a traditional Lenten decoration among the farmers in the Barens. During Lent people would throw stones at the jackalent to represent them casting off their sins. Chester became a magnet for the dispossessed in the Bowery, people who were wronged and could not trust the authorities for one reason or another.

The Jackalent made the news in 2002 when he assaulted a group of snakeheads ferrying illegal immigrants up the Canal into Black River. When the police responded he delayed them long enough for the immigrants to escape. In the weeks that followed that became his pattern. Poor people breaking the law to survive were aided in their escape while those victimizing them were left for the authorities. The police have ordered him brought in for questioning but realize they have little chance of catching him.

The Jackalent views the ‘Sties’ area in the Bowery as his territory and will challenge any other vigilantes entering it. Chester is settled into his role as a local Robin Hood and happy for the moment.

The Jackalent has no innate powers. His costume gives him a high resistance to injury. Low powered rounds cannot seriously hurt him. He can use the threads of the costume to create barriers and shields for others. The costume can alter its appearance somewhat to let him blend into his surroundings and disguise his outline. Finally he can generate ropy tendrils from the costume that will trap opponents and seem to fight with a will of their own. He calls these filaments ‘tattered souls’ but that is mostly for effect (he hopes!).

Doctor Bones (Vigilante/Training)

Wayne Johnston

MIGHT 2, Athletics 2, Brawling 2, Shooting 2, LOOKS 1 GUILE 2, Awareness 1, Con 1, Stealth 2, Thievery 2, BRAINS 3, Control 1, Sciences 2, COOL 4, GUTS 4, BLOOD 22, FAME 3, Powers: Vigilante Weapons Pool (Stun Gun, Stun Grenade, Club and Holdout Pistol), Armor 2 6 AV, Throwing Blades 1 1d3. Dr. Bones has the Calling Card stunt and can Hypnotize people who fail two contested COOL rolls with him out of combat. Spirits sometimes reveal themselves to him. He can’t control this ability and it is more of a plot hook than a power.

Wayne Johnston was an army medic during the Gulf War. He also served with distinction during the Nanite Invasion in ’96. Wayne saw a mysterious medevac pilot many times that no one else seemed to see. This mysterious figure would always linger near a patient about to die. Wayne realized he could see spirits and this being was a kind of spirit guide. When he returned home to the Bowery Wayne saw many spirits who were the victims of crimes. He created the Doctor Bones identity to help some of these folks.

Doctor Bones has no real powers. His spirit sense is something that anyone could develop with practice and the proper experiences. He uses hypnosis and science to create supernatural effects. He has implanted post hypnotic suggestions to trigger curses for example.

In an early outing Bones was caught and beaten by thugs who stuck his feet in cement and threw him from the docks. Luckily the cement wasn’t quite dry and underwater Bones slipped out of his ropes and freed himself with a metal rod he found in the bottom of the bay. This led to rumors Bones died and returned as a revenant to take vengeance on his killers. He is probably one of the best hypnotists in the nation.

Bones will not take human life. He views this as a violation of is Hippocratic oath. He may make an exception to save innocents.

Bones wears a black trench coat over body armor. He hides his features with a skull like mask that covers his entire head. His gloves contain built in tranquilizer injectors and he has used an electrified baton to knock out criminals. Against all odds, he has struck a rare partnership with Vengeance to crack down on the gangs operating between Steel Town and Black River.

Wayne Johnston is a psychotherapist in Black River. He works in the penal system and has a thriving private practice.

All original postings by the LiveJournal account holder are Copyright Robert Garitta 2007.
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I Lied!

2007-07-13T22:14:38Z

Okay, no slew of write ups. I've been sick these past two days. I will spare the gory details save I am swearing off fast food. Milo hasn't left my side for a minute, which is nice. He's even refrained from stealing my stuff while I'm off my feet. Usually.

I will use Hero Force from Deep 7 Games for the write ups. It's pretty simple and I'm pretty lazy when I'm well. I hope to write up this stuff for a game company eventually. So you faithful few are seeing it here first.

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Argent Behind the Scenes

2007-07-12T13:32:20Z

Behind the Scenes

When David Lamb encountered his shard he made the most of his new powers of super speed. Realizing shards usually fell in groups he managed to cobble together a detector and then criss crossed Argent a few hundred times. He gathered a dozen more shards and then doled them out to those he considered the right people. Since Lamb was something of an elitist, racist bastard the first group of heroes to appear in Argent were upper class white bread.

Oddly it seemed that David and his son, Alan, could share the shard David found though neither would be at full speed. They were required to touch the shard periodically to recharge their powers. Today Alan incorporates the shard in his costume. David only retains a fraction of his speed and mainly uses it to speed his mental processes.

David Lamb helped create Solar Man II, Flexo, Black Eagle, Ghost Fire, Ballistic, Merman, the Raven and the Deceiver. Together they formed Victory Force in 1987. The group still meets irregularly Lamb still has a degree of control over these heroes due to his role in creating them.

When the Ideals formed in 1993 to counter the Second Nanite invasion the first Hyperon declined membership to lead Victory Force against the invaders. Solar Man II left Victory Force and joined the Ideals in disgust over Hyperon's ego and arrogance. The Force failed to turn back the invaders and lost the Battle of New York. The Ideals later counter attacked and defeated the initial scout and production force in New Jersey with Solar Man's aid. Victory Force fell into obscurity after this.

Mark Scott was a gifted engineer in South Argent who had just gotten his architect license. Mark went to work for Wildwood Development in 1990 and soon discovered the firm was using substandard materials that would result in dangerous construction. he anonymously turned over evidence to the police. The firm had an informant in the force however and managed to cover up their actions by blaming the corruption on Scott. Scott lost his architecture license and spent the bulk of his savings in defense lawyers to avoid going to jail. He was sitting in his apartment toying with suicide when he found a glowing shard outside the window on the ledge.

The shard made Scott a phenomenal learner and far more daring. he went to Las Vegas for a week and returned with several hundred thousand dollars. He then shrewdly invested and became independently wealthy in less than a year. He then began building the equipment he'd need for his new identity as the Dark Avenger.

Scott is not a billionaire a lot of the Avenger's big equipment, such as his flycycle, is donated by people he has helped. He houses most of his gear in a warehouse near the Battery. The headquarters sits on an abandoned network of sewers that Scott has modified into a secret transportation system for himself. Unknown to the Avenger the tunnels eventually join the tunnels the Hackers use in Black River.

The Dark Avenger uses a safe house to hold meeting for heroes in South Argent. He also does consultant work for them. He has worked with the Badge, Dr. Arcane and the Silver Vixen and Super Swift. In 1992 he worked with Titan on several cases and the two often form a brawn and brains partnership. Titan offered him membership in the Ideals during the Second Nanite Invasion but the Avenger declined instead organizing the defense of Victory City. He did work closely with the Ideals during the Invasion and finally joined in 1998.

Next: Character Write Ups, a Whole Slew of Them!

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