Re: Animated • Justice League “The Brave and the Bold” – Part 1

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jl14This blog takes a look at episodes from the Justice League animated series from a tabletop roleplaying game perspective, both in terms of game design and game play.

Obligatory Spoiler Warning: I will be discussing the events of the episode in the post. If, for some reason, you’re interested in the show and this blog and have not seen the show, go and do that first. The blog will make much more sense, and you won’t have your enjoyment of the show spoiled. You Have Been Warned.

“The Brave and the Bold” – Part 1

Long-time DC editor Julie Schwartz, in his autobiography “Man of Two Worlds,” describes the pedigree of gorillas in comics. So profound was the effect of having an ape on the cover on the sales of a comic book that DC editorial had to institute a limit on the number of gorillas appearing in any given month to stop everyone from doing it! So it’s no surprise that ape characters are a comic book staple. As the staff at Green Ronin Publishing is fond of saying, “Everything is better with monkeys!”

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ICONS: Second Edition?

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In the wake of the Great Power sourcebook getting out there in print to Kickstarter backers and buyers, the question has been raised: Why didn’t I just do a second edition of Icons, and when will there be one?

The primary reason Great Power happened before a new edition of the game is that Great Power was largely written when I parted company with Adamant Entertainment. Rather than start the lengthy process of developing a new edition of the game, I wanted to move ahead with putting out the book I already had; Icons fans had endured enough delays and waiting.

I also had very little information to base a decision regarding a new edition upon. I wanted to see what sales looked like, figure out about print runs, existing stock, and sell throughs, and try out Kickstarter with something a bit less substantial than a new edition. Great Power fit that bill nicely.

Great Power also offered the opportunity for some “1.5″ style revisions or updates to powers and hero creation, with some optional rule sidebars, making it a step forward, but an incremental one.

All that said, I’d say a new edition of Icons is fairly inevitable: The game’s initial print run will sell through. Once it does, I would want to keep the rulebook in-print-on-demand like Great Power, which necessitates revising it anyway. As long as I’m doing that, I might as well revise, update, and make whatever changes are needed along the way. Of course, I’d want to take the time to do it right, so it would be a solid foundation for the game for the foreseeable future.

There are lots of questions concerning production and playtesting to consider as well, like the length of time, open or closed playtests, free or paid access, Kickstarter or not (I’m actually leaning towards not, but that’s a different article), and the degree and importance of backwards compatibility with both the first edition rules and Great Power, which limits the scope of some revisions.

I will say that anyone hoping for all of Great Power to be folded into a new core book will be disappointed. Great Power was intended as an expanded powers book and has more detail than I think the core Icons rules need. Plus it seems unfair to come out with a sourcebook and then immediately follow it with a book that includes all that content and more! I’d like to see a new Icons that is a fairly slim volume (even in the smaller 6 x 9 in. format), with just the essential rules needed to play the game.

Right now, however, this is all just theory. I’ve got some other things to work on before turning my attention to the work of revising Icons for the future. If you have thoughts on the future of the game and what you’d like to see for it, feel free to add a comment or send me an email about it!

ICONS: Determination Damage

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Here’s a variant for handling damage and contests via Pyramid Tests for ICONS that ties in Determination:

Increase starting Determination to 10 minus the number of the hero’s powers (and abilities above level 6) with a minimum starting Determination of 4. Use the guidelines from the Different Damage article, except that the degree of success by the attacker subtracts from the hero’s Determination, as follows: 1 for a moderate outcome, 2 for a major outcome, and 4 for a massive outcome. If Determination drops below 0, the hero is defeated. Non-heroes (without Determination) follow the usual success guidelines from the Different Damage article. Heroes can use Consequences to negate the Determination loss due to damage.

This adds a “give-and-take” element to Determination, making it both the fuel of a hero’s success, but also the thing that keeps heroes going. Players will need to balance spending Determination to succeed and conserving it to deal with damage (and possibly other kinds of stress) in conflicts. It reflects the idea that “pushing” to succeed is draining, and fits the genre element of heroes giving all they have to pull off some massive stunt before losing consciousness.

This variant makes it more imperative than ever for the Game Master to award Determination (and create challenges) liberally, otherwise, even with the initial bonus “bump” players will run out of it fast. It also means heroes with fewer powers (and more starting Determination) can absorb more “punishment” than their more powerful counterparts: the dark detective or super-soldier type has more “hit points” than the superhuman powerhouse or cosmic herald!

If you give this option a try in your own Icons game, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email about how it works out!

Re: Animated • Justice League “War World” – Part 2

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jl13This blog takes a look at episodes from the Justice League animated series from a tabletop roleplaying game perspective, both in terms of game design and game play.

Obligatory Spoiler Warning: I will be discussing the events of the episode in the post. If, for some reason, you’re interested in the show and this blog and have not seen the show, go and do that first. The blog will make much more sense, and you won’t have your enjoyment of the show spoiled. You Have Been Warned.

“War World” – Part 2

J’onn’s quick thinking helps to save Superman from another (potentially lethal) volley from Mongul’s robot soldiers, rallying the crowd’s support to keep the alien dictator from executing the defiant Kryptonian on the spot, and demonstrating once again that many victories are won through means other than direct conflict.

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Guerrilla Seminars and Great Power Giveaway at Origins

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Sometimes I can be a bit too accommodating. Case in point: When arranging  my upcoming Guest of Honor stint at Origins this weekend, I offered a list of various topics I would be happy to build and host seminars around, rather than saying “I want to do these seminars. Make it so!” Which apparently led to all of my seminar slots at Origins being billed as “Q&A with Steve Kenson: An hour with Steve Kenson.”

Three slots. All the same:

  • Thursday at 3:00 p.m. (GCCC – C214)
  • Friday at 3:00 p.m. (GCCC – C214)
  • Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (just to mix it up, but still in GCCC – C214)

I only learned this myself upon reading the Origins Master Event Grid. Now, I’m not inclined to think the promise of just spending an hour with me is enough to fill seats, especially given all the other things folks could be doing with their time at Origins, so I’m going to see if I can sweeten the deal a bit, and turn my accommodating nature to my advantage, with two offers:

First, since the seminar slots are now “whatever Steve wants to talk about” I’m going to choose a lucky winner from the audience (present by the start-time of the seminar) to pick the topic and tell me what the seminar should be about. If, for some reason, we exhaust that topic in less than an hour’s time, I’ll pick another audience member at random to give us a topic, and so forth. It can be comic books, superheroes, game design, freelancing, what it was like to work on Mutants & Masterminds, Shadowrun, Earthdawn, ICONS (or any of the numerous other RPGs I’ve written for), when I’m going to do another Kickstarter, queer issues in the gaming community … whatever you want!

Second, at the end of each seminar session, I’ll choose one lucky attendee who has gone the distance to win a free print copy of Great Power for ICONS. I should have a limited number of copies with me; if, for some reason, the shipping gets screwed up, winners will get their free copy shipped to them gratis via RPGNow. Limit one winner per seminar and one book per winner (even if, thank you, you attend all of the seminars).

Plus! Dan “The Man” Houser, ICONS artist extraordinaire, has offered to sweeten the deal: One lucky winner at one of my seminars will also be chosen to have a character of their creation illustrated by Dan and published in the upcoming Hero Pack 5! Plus you get a nemesis custom-designed for your hero (or villain)!

So, if you have a subject you’ve always wanted to hear me expound upon, or a question you’re dying to have answered, or you’d just like a shot at winning some gaming swag, come by and check out my seminars. I have no idea what they’ll be about yet, but I promise I’ll do my best to keep them interesting!

Please feel free to “like” and share this post widely and get the word out. If you’re going to Origins, I hope to see you sitting in one of my seminars!

Great Power: Now in PDF & Print!

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IMG_0927After some wrangling, the print edition of the Great Power sourcebook for ICONS is now approved and available for sale on DriveThruRPG and RPGNow! Print copies are ordered for the Kickstarter backers and should be shipping out to them and I should have a very limited number of print copies of the book with me at Origins, if anyone is interested in taking a look. The print edition is $20 for the “standard” color format and $30 for “premium” color. Although is premium color is more vivid, the standard color is shockingly good, if you are on a budget. My standard color copy is now the go-to reference copy I keep on my desk.

Plus, when you order a print edition, you can download the PDF edition at no additional cost! It’s two versions of the book for the price of one.

Re: Animated • Justice League “War World” – Part 1

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jl12This blog takes a look at episodes from the Justice League animated series from a tabletop roleplaying game perspective, both in terms of game design and game play.

Obligatory Spoiler Warning: I will be discussing the events of the episode in the post. If, for some reason, you’re interested in the show and this blog and have not seen the show, go and do that first. The blog will make much more sense, and you won’t have your enjoyment of the show spoiled. You Have Been Warned.

“War World” – Part 1

An accident in space leaves Superman and J’onn at the mercy of alien slavers, who sell them to Mongul, the ringmaster of an interstellar bread-and-circuses show called “War World.”

The “teaser” section of this episode could easily be a lead-in to a superhero adventure: an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It’s a bit of a “bait and switch” scenario: Superman and J’onn think they’re dealing with one crisis, but end up in quite a different one! The asteroid’s unexpected detonation—and the heroes capture by the slavers—is clearly a case of GM fiat to get the ball rolling.

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