New Blogging Arc - Epic Adventures!

   By special request I am doing an arc on epic adventures. To prepare for this I have spent a few days talking to current and former players about the adventures they felt were the biggest, baddest, and most epic. From them I have picked a few examples and will use them to describe how you can run the sorts of sessions that players talk about 30 years later!

  To pass this along I will start with a few posts and podcasts about examples of epic adventures. Then I will discuss the elements I think are required to make an epic adventure. Then some discussion of the options that can take the epic to the unforgettable. Finally I will wrap up with a live Q&A about adventure design. 

  Stay tuned for more details!

Play report: Blackstone

   On Black Friday we had a long, involved session set in Blackstone, my AD&D 2e Players Option campaign, which is 14 years old ('the new campaign').

The party:
Disco (6th level fighter, master of the battle axe) [Alex]
Joan (6th level cleric, front line fighter) [Jen]
Albrecht (6th level mage, creator of the School of Healing) [Jack]
Alazne (7th level thief, assistant guildmaster of East Port) [Sam]
Lawrence (6th level mage, master of Song magic) [Nick]

Atlantaverse: Massive Update

  Hello, all! Over the last 60 days we've done about 12 Champions sessions from San Mateo to Atlanta to Teens. Some of these had play reports on the Discord, others for Patrons only, and a few will be in upcoming podcasts. Here are some of the highlights.

Operation SKYBROOM: Off screen many NPC heroes and 2 PC heroes are involved in a United Earth Space Defense project to clear out low-orbit debris to make the launch of new orbital gear safer and to make more frequent trips to and from Bifrost Station (the low orbit UESD station) possible.

The San Francisco Bay Supervillains: The heroes of San Mateo are contending with a new team of supervillains, many with mental powers. A series of fights in Sacramento recently occurred and seemed to be draws each time.

Major Battle in Seattle: A new team of supervillains appeared in Seattle in November and stunned the area by defeating Amazing Lass II! The Amazing Family has not issued a statement.

Teen Champions: The teen heroes fo Atlanta finally defeated MasterMind and his minions, rescued the supervillain Cricket from blackmail (she is now in rehabilitation training with ICICLE). While taking out MasterMind they learned he was using gear from the vault of a long-abandoned WASP nest. Inside they found a stasis tube and opened it, freeing Amazing Man, Jr, a sidekick who vanished in 1971! Amazing Man, Jr is now at the Atlanta Temporal Displacement Counseling Center and, like Cricket, will be with the Teen Champions for a while.
  Meanwhile TechnoShaman has access to a WASP computer node and will attempt to transport the team into cyberspace in a bid to be the first people to ever hack a WASP computer system!

The Champions of Atlanta: Their War Against WASP might be entering the final phase! WASP sent an elite strike team consisting of 20 flight troops, 30 heavy troops, and the supervillains Iron Wasp, Steel beetle, Tarantula, and Killer Bee after the team. No avail as the Champions defeated the WASP team (after a long slug fest of epic proportions, Truly a Jack Kirby Two Page Spread worthy fight!). In an amazing blow to WASP the Champions were able to figure out that WASP computer nodes are based on alien technology. Working with a team of trustworthy superheroes they have sent what they know to ICICLE. ICICLE is now working on a program in their lab on Asgard Station (the geosynchronous UESD station over the Greenwich Mean Line) and believe they will be able to access the WASP Net within weeks! Animus is standing by for a major data breach attack on WASP ASAP.
  Operation: SKYBROOM is a cover mission allowing as many space-capable heroes to be in position to defend Asgard as possible.

Next Session: The Teen Champions enter Cyberspace!

New Wandering Monster Podcast: Rolemaster Fantasy RPG

 It can be heard here.

Psychotronic Gaming: Multiple Characters per Player

   One of the things I have been writing about for some time is the positive impact of every players having multiple characters available for play. They can be if widely varying levels, but in my experience by the time you are on your 5th or6th session as a group of players everyone should have at least 2 characters each.

  But how do you manage this?

Play Report: Atlantaverse Cleveland

   As a change of pace the crew decided to play villains for a while! We started off with the following:

Sam is playing Singularity, a cyborg with an special senses and built-in weapons and a huge chip on his shoulder about how he is 'the future of humanity'. Not always in touch with reality.

Nick is playing Electron Davis, frustrated candidate for the city council who has sworn to use his new electrical powers to make the citizens too dim to elect him pay the price for their foolishness. Underwent tricky procedures to get powers and he isn't quite right anymore.

Jack is playing Captain Claw, whose father, grand-father, and great-grand-father were all professional henchmen to supervillains. Between his own 2 years henching and the gear, trophies, and loot of his family he's been able to cobbled together a decent costume and weapon, the Claw. He hopes to become the first generation of his family to have henchmen rather than being one.

Atlantaverse: Blink

   I finally get to play a new Champions character!

Meet Blink