That's That... Or Is It?

So with sessions 12 and 13 done, the Zenith Universe is rebooted.

What does this mean exactly?  It means that I have run a darn fun story arc that taught me a lot and in the end cleared up a lot of what I need to do (and not to do) with the Zenith Universe.

With the reboot, a new campaign is forming that will focus less on global occurrences and grand conspiracies, and more on local city level heroing, with occasional forays into the larger scene.

Another big change that will be happening will be the advancement of the timeline from 1964 to 2010, with appropriate changes of course.

This was an overwhelming choice from the players, and I agree.  The reason being that unless we were focusing on say the Cold War aspects of 1984 it didn't really play a big part of things, except making references to era related setting things (Regan as president, etc).

Stay tuned as more information about the new timeline/setting starts to arrive.  I have worked up a broad strokes narrative timeline and hope to make a more point based one off of that.

Also plan to start doing articles called "The Encyclopedia of the Zenith Universe" where I can put in interesting characters, items, events, etc...

All this while continuing to develop roster books (first one is in layouts now!) and the seemingly never ending work on the Zenith Comics rpg!

Cheers!

Setting Idea

So Bashman suggested my compiling all my setting information into a source book, presumably for BASH! but certainly could be stated for other games as well.

Now I have plans to release roster books of villains for $4.99 on pdf each, but now I am considering this in stead.

There are a few points to consider as I think about this;

1] My campaign is designed and set in 1984. While I can ignore this with roster books, not so much in a setting book. Is there a market for a 1984 set campaign universe? Really?

2] Art. Right now I have some irons in the fire to get characters drawn up in static poses for roster books, but to do it as a setting will require more "action" or "scene" art. That's a lot more involved and not sure how to get that for cheap or profit-sharing.

3] I originally made my setting as a full world, then as a city and now I am not sure. I think global settings are lacking and that Freedom City, while great, is too focused for my tastes. That said the success of the project cannot be denied.

So, any thoughts on this train? ;)

Zenith Comics Universe: The Golden Age

This essay is taken from the book "The Golden Age; A Collection of Essays on the Heroes of Yesterday" by Tribune Press, from 1981. These are the thoughts of Air Force Major Amanda Reese, the first female pilot to engage in a dogfight with enemy fighters. Her call sign is "Lady A" after her favorite superhero and role model Lady America.

1. Before The War

The Golden Age, as it has been called by historians, is the age wherein the "Super-Hero" or "Mystery-Men" first appeared. It's official staring date would be 1935, when the Masked Avenger broke up a Chicago gangland gambling den and killed Mob Boss Victor Sciscenti in retaliation for the deaths of nine Chicago police officers. He never took a name, and in fact was given the moniker the Masked Avenger by the papers, based on eye-witness accounts. Although the Masked Avenger was enigmatic, he did from time-to-time come into contact with other members of the Golden Age elite, but her never joined a team, and no one ever found out who he was under the mask.

Within one year of the Masked Avenger's beginning exploits, there occurred an explosion of super-heroes and mystery-men across North America, and in a limited sense overseas. Perhaps some of the most notable of the time were Golden Gloves and Sunboy, who would go on to become Sunman later in the early 40’s. Golden Gloves was nothing more than a boxer turned crime-fighter when the Irish mob began terrorizing non-Irish immigrants in Hell's Kitchen, New York city. Sunboy was the promise of what tomorrow would bring, he was just a teenager from the Mid-West who was imbued with the powers of the Sun, of course he could operate at night, but then only at half power due to the reflected sunlight of the moon. These two set the stage for the rest to come. They were in fact the models that all others would be based for awhile.

The first collection of supers as a team was not heroes, but in fact a group of villains calling themselves the Supergang. Lead by a man named Black Eagle, these villains perpetrated scores of crimes, only ever being stopped, and never captured by super-heroes of the time.

The response to their teaming was the formation of a team of mystery men called appropriately enough, the Gangbusters. Made up of a half dozen of the union suit vigilantes of the day, they would stick together until the war and keep the streets of New York City as safe as could be.

The is also a story that suggests that during the war, Supergang and members of the United Sentinels of America (hereafter: USofA) teamed up to stop a team of 5th columnists called the Swastika Seven from destroying the then Boulder Dam. While there is no proof to back this story, those surviving members of the USofA have never denied it.

One other person of note would be the first woman to don a costume and take up crime fighting. Although she would be the first to retire, in 1942 with a spinal injury causing her to lose the use of her legs, Night Woman was a figure-head for the other women heroes to come. She was in fact the widow of a man who had decided to try and fight crime as Night Man. After about 2 months of action, he was shot by the mob and barely managed to get home, where he died in his wife's arms. Enraged, she chose to extract a measure of revenge on the mob for the murder, and copied her husbands plans and desires. On January 10th, 1940, she made her first move, smashing up the book-making offices of the mobsters who killed her husband. This brought her to the attention of the Masked Avenger, with whom she teamed for almost the rest of her career. Night Woman suffered her injury at the hands of the Mafia connected hitman Hammer Hurricane (who would later gain powers under less than noble circumstance) during a battle in the Bowery section of New York City. Lucky to be alive, she retired and faded from the stage, and was never heard from again. Still she had broken ground and paved the way for other such notable heroines as Silver Sparrow, Grass Hopper, Lady Luck and Miss Liberty, all of whom would have a major impact on the Golden Age, each in her own way.

Silver Sparrow and Grasshopper were the first America supers to battle Nazi saboteurs, In New York on December 21st 1941. This action caught the attention of local newspapers and soon their names were well known to Americans. It is sad how many texts on the time still credit these two as being the first super-heroines, as Night Woman had a very quiet career and disappeared relatively quickly. It is equally sad how Grasshopper, a Japanese-American, was interred during the war, a black spot on our nation’s history to be sure.

The concept of Lady Luck and Miss Liberty was cooked up by the War Department as a way to sponsor war bonds. A talent search was held, and the two ladies who won had their visages plastered all over America. They became an overnight sensation, and did more touring than crime-fighting, but still they managed to make a huge impression and develop a following. An interesting side-note is that neither woman was super-powered in any way, and aside from gymnastics training, neither had any combat related skills to speak of. Still they were invited to join the USofA after the war. In light now of how their lives ended, they may have been on the greatest losses of the aftermath of the Golden Age.

2. Heroes At War

The war was the next major event for the heroes, and it produced the newest form of super-hero, the patriot. Contrary to popular opinion the first flag-wrapped hero did not come from America, but in fact from it's northern neighbor Canada. Already involved in the war, before the Americans, the Canadian Government, along with British support, began a project to create a super-hero under controlled conditions. They labored for a year, and on January 21st, 1940 they struck success by bonding a strange energy to a man who would become the Red Ensign, the carrier of the flag, and the first official super-hero to do battle with the Nazis. The Red Ensign was also without a doubt the most powerful hero of his day, he could lift in excess of 20 tons, rifle rounds bounced off of him and tank shells only knocked him to the ground. He could fly by controlling the winds around him and seemed immune to aging and disease. Only later would it be discovered that the energy that had been fused to him was in fact an air-elemental, and that it was slowly taking over his body.

Although this was the first allied hero, the Japanese, Italians and Germans already had super-powered soldiers in the field. Hengeyokai, Yokozuna and Tsunami lead the charge for the Japanese in 1931 against the Manchurians. Imperator crushed opposition for Italy during the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and Übermann, Überfrau, Herr Vulture, Wotan and Stuka were unveiled by Hitler in 1938. While these were to be the first Axis supers, they would not be the last, and even benefited from a Soviet super by the name of Vikuz, although she left and joined up with allied supers after Hitler's betrayal of Russia in 1941.

America was not to be left behind in the super-hero race, and astounded Commonwealth scientists by producing not one, but three super-powered soldiers only one year after their success with the Red Ensign. Using a technique that is perhaps still one of the closest guarded secrets in the world, the War Department was able to take four normal people, one man, one woman, a young boy and a teenage girl, and enhance their physical attributes to the peak of human conditioning. The three were rushed into intensive training, and emerged as Major Victory, Lady America, Kid Victory and Spangle.

Once the war was under way, many felt it was important for the heroes to come to the aid of their government and fight in the war, but that would not be. Excluding an elite group of heroes and mystery men, code-named the Victory Squad, put together by the Allies for that purpose, the majority of heroes and mystery-men would never leave North American shores during the war. The reason for this was the belief that the Axis Supers would be drawn into the fray and many lives would be lost. The Victory Squad’s purpose was simple, neutralize the Axis supers. To this end they were joined by a number of European supers, and even an supposed Atlantean called Mermaid. There would be two more mystically inclined supers to join up; from England, the English Knight, a man who claimed to wield the magical sword of King Arthur, Excalibur, and from Greece, Aegis, whose sword, helmet, shield, armor, bow and sandals were supposedly gifts from the Olympian gods of old. Whether that fact was true of not is irrelevant to this text, both men would face foes who claimed to be their mystical antithesis. For the English Knight there was Sir Blood, who claimed to be a vampiric knight empowered by Morgan LeFey. While it was never proven, Sir Blood did posses abilities classically attributed to such undead creatures. Aegis though faced an even older threat; according to his own testimony, Imperator was granted magical artifacts of war by Ares, the Olympian god of war, who wished to see the struggle in Europe continue. While there is much debate as to whether or not these claims were true, most who witnessed the clashing of these titans agree that they did in fact wield powerful artifacts.

Certain heroes even hung up their cowls and joined the armed forces, wanting to fight for their country. Some even ignored the decision from the War Department for them not to engage the enemy and headed overseas anyways. The war certainly was a test of fire for the heroes, as they spent the majority of it protecting the home-front against subterfuge and terrorism perpetrated by the enemy. The largest collection of these heroes and heroines would be the USofA. Formed by Golden Gloves and Sunman, by the war's end almost every home-front hero would be a member. Still, the names of the originals are perhaps the most important of the day, they were Golden Gloves, Sunman, Dr. Dynamite, Grasshopper, Silver Sparrow, Thunder-Man and Doc Titan. These seven would form the backbone of the team and remain loyal to it's ranks until the very end.

Another home-front team that did not fair as well were the Mysterymen. Only three strong, The Mysterymen fought against saboteurs and fifth columnists on the west coast. Comprised of the enigmatic Silver Squid, the hulking Stone and the quantum powered Schrodinger Kid, the team met its end when they were forced off a sea-side road during a high speed chase with Nazi agents, crashing more than two-hundred feet to their deaths. Never incurring much press or media, they still managed to provide an example of all American's desire to what they could during the war.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the war was the loss of a number of heroes in battle at Castle Fear, near the war's end. Lead by the Victory Squad, every Allied hero and Axis super in the European Theatre were there. While the details remain sketchy and classified, it is known that during the battle the USofA arrived to lend a hand, which helped to turn the tide in favor of the heroes. Of the losses, it is known that the British super Hawker was killed by Stuka, Canadian hero Grizzly by Wotan and Spangle was killed at the hands of Überfrau. The falling of these heroes seemed to unleash the fury of the Allied supers against their enemies and more than eight fell on either side, including Major Victory and Kid Victory. Oddly enough, there are reports that some sort of advanced robot, housing the brain of Hitler emerged from a spatial vortex and aided many of the Axis supers in fleeing. While the American government nicknamed this robot the Iron Fuhrer, they did not honestly accept its existence as a reality. Other than the heroes and villains who witnessed the event there is no proof to collaborate their testimony. Regardless of these rumors, the battle broke the will of the Axis supers who were routed, many escaping into the Alps. Those that were captured would go on to stand trial at Nuremberg.

All-in-all the war time took it toll of the population of heroes with some deaths, some disappearances and some retirements, but for the most part they went on strong. In 1949 the USofA held it's last meeting, and official disbanded. Many recall it as a tearful day, and the press covered it almost as much as the day the war ended. For many an era had come to an end, but it was not so, as soon enough many villains, including the Supergang returned to threaten the world. The American people called for their heroes again, and they returned. On a cold October night in 1950 the USofA returned to battle Supergang one last time. Lead by Sunman and Golden Gloves, they were heroes to millions and seen as the only heroes who could stand for all that was good about America. It was not to last.

3. The End Of The Golden Age

The end of America's Golden Age heroes was not one that befit all that they had accomplished. Mired down by paranoid-anti-communist fears, they were soon turned on by those they had sworn to protect, and many voluntarily went into retirement to protect their families. In 1952 the Golden Age truly came to an end when Dr. Dynamite was shot and killed while fleeing police who were under orders to arrest him due to the Superhuman Loyalty Act.

4. Last Notes

I would go into details on the events that ended the Golden Age here, but it is really a tale more fitting the Silver Age. I say this because while it was the close of one age, it was instrumental in the formation of the next. Also, for very personal reasons, I find it hard to write objectively about what I and many others see, as the betrayal of America's greatest heroes, and I shall leave it at that.

I hope that this short treatise will serve to further this document on the history of super-heroes, as it culminates over 25 years of research. My prayer is that perhaps, in these darker times, people can take hope from the past and maybe understand why more than ever the world needs heroes. I hope you enjoyed it and more importantly share it, we must never forget.

Amanda Reese, April 4th, 1981.

Zenith Comics Universe: The Ages

The Ages

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide a very quick overview of the period of super-humanity in the 20th century. This time is divided into 3 “ages” based on the classical Greek Ages of mythology. While those ages in legend refer to better times, we make no claims that the previous ages of heroes were better or worse than the next, it is used simply as a handy way of measuring the distinct times.

The Golden Age

The Golden Age started in 1928 when the Masked Avenger first made headlines in his one man war on organized crime. He may have been the first, but he was far from the last. His actions seemed to herald a tide of mystery-men and women who would first spread across America and then the world.

Colorful circus strongman and wrestler costumes were the order of the day and most wore masks to hide their identities and to avoid prosecution by some over zealous District Attorneys on charges of vigilantism. In time though the Police and most cities came to accept the costumed crusaders in their midst and even work with them.

The first costumed criminal was also the first super-powered being of the Golden Age and also the leader of the first super-team, though it was a villain group called the Super Gang. The Black Eagle had tremendous large black wings and carried a raygun that could melt steel. He would clash with almost every hero of the time, but his primary enemy was Golden Gloves, a non-powered mystery man who used boxing to thwart crime.

When Hitler unveiled the first Nazi super in 1938 the world held its collective breath. Die Ubermann changed the face of international politics and as he would prove in North Africa, modern warfare. The mad dash to match the super human arms race started by the Germans would lead to many a great hero and some truly tragic accidents.

By the time America joined the war in 1941, there were dozens of heroes on all sides, villains to match and the catch term for the day went from “Mystery Man” to “Super Hero”. For reasons never revealed, after one brief excursion into German controlled territory, the most powerful super heroes were sent to protect their home lands, leaving essentially the non-powered mystery men and women to man the Allied strike force, the Victory Squad. At home the remaining heroes were unified under the flag of the United Sentinels of America by order of President Roosevelt.

By the end of the war, though many supers had died on all sides, a significantly large number survived and returned to their prewar crime-fighting activities. While some were able to make the transition to civilian crime-fighting again and some were not, the American government wasn't either. When the United Sentinels of America refused to deploy to the Korean theatre, some within the government soon where asking “Why masks?” and “Could the Scarlet Streak really be a Red?” When the orders came down they were direct and simple, unmask and sign loyalty statements or be considered vigilantes and be hunted. Scores of super heroes vanished over night, refusing to unmask for the safety of their loved ones. Some fought on, but when Dr. Dynamite was shot to death by Police in a botched arrest attempt in 1952, the Golden Age came to an end.

The Silver Age

There is some debate as to when exactly the Silver Age began, but for most the starting point is 1958 when the flying luxury liner SS Titan was saved from crashing by Captain Comet and his Rocket Rangers. Their daring rescue of the first and only flying liner got world wide coverage and rekindled the heroic ideals of Americans.

The Silver Age was also about something else that may have always been present, but really came into its own, the notion of space. Science and space played such a large part of this time that some think it should be renamed the Space Age. Certainly the Golden Age saw plenty of space and science related heroes and villains, but this age was swamped with them.

Not long after Captain Comet's appearance, like the Masked Avenger before him, a new wave of heroes and villains began. Space men, super spies and the ever present mystics, made up the lion's share of these men and women. Hope for tomorrow and a brighter future drove these colorful costumed folk on and the public was happy to have them, but then the 60's came and the world began to change again.

When JFK was killed, Lady America was reported as having been assigned to guard the Vice-President that day. When she later questioned why she had those orders, stories say LBJ gave her a dressing down in the Oval Office. She was later deployed to Vietnam, seemingly as a punishment.

The Vietnam war and the Civil Rights movement were not to be spared the touch of the super hero or even the super villain, but in the end these events were their own and certainly not overly affected by the actions of the costumed set.

As the 70s came in things began to change, the heroes were growing darker and more ruthless. Soon many were openly carrying guns and other lethal weapons. There was a shift coming but first a shorter age would have to be passed through. The Silver Age slid into the Bronze Age in 1975 with the arrest of Captain Thunderbird for the murder of two Chicago mobsters.

The Bronze Age

The world had changed, the OPEC Crisis, the Watergate Scandal and rampant inflation was changing America and slowly it was changing her heroes as well. More and more stories were surfacing about heroes being more aggressive, not accepting surrender of criminals without a “finishing blow” and even killing their enemies.

For 10 years the media ignored this and slowly the public began to become suspicious of the heroes and their behaviors. The premiere hero group of the day, the Guardians did their best to uphold more noble ideals, but theirs was a battle to be lost. The self indulgence of the 70s and the greed of the 80s were just not instep with upright, moralistic, old school thinking.

The Bronze Age can therefore been seen as one last gasp of a previous generation to hold onto something that was a bit nobler than their times, but the times were calling for a new type of hero.

In 1979 Dr. Walter Van Jove, the foremost expert on superhumans in the world wrote a book entitled “The Shape of Things to Come: The Super Future”. In it he predicted an explosion in the population of superhumans globally within the coming decade as well as major leaps forward in technology, pioneered by what he termed “Super Geniuses” whose only powers would be to invent, improve or develop new technologies.

In late 1983 something happened that shook the world. The Guardians were attacked in their base by a team of anti-democratic and despotic themed villains called the Axis of Evil, lead by none other than die Ubermann. They destroyed the satellite base of the heroes and when all was said and done the leader of the Guardians, considered to be the World’s greatest hero, Guardsman was dead.

On a cold January 3rd 1984, Guardsman was put to rest at the Heroes Hill cemetery in Capitol City. The crowds lined the streets as his funeral procession went by, thousands deep. The funeral itself attended by heroes from all corners of the world, 3 former Presidents and the current one as well. It was televised globally to millions of viewers and it sent a powerfully dark message to all. The world they had known was forever changed.

Afterword

Some say that the death of Guardsman marks the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of an inevitable Iron Age. Still others say that it is just the midway point and the Bronze Age may yet not be over. Whether or not this is the case, many wonder if Dr. Van Jove’s promised wave of supers and technological advances will come to be or is simply a pipe dream.

According to EAGLE files there are over 500 known superheroes and villains globally and an estimated 200 more who have powers but do not “suit up” to coin a phrase. There has also been an increase in the number of governments that are employing superhumans in their militaries and other agencies. Some have speculated that this many superhumans will either lead to a new dominant form of humanity or a culling of the herd in some sort of crisis.

While the future remains unclear, for now superhumans are here to stay, for good or bad.

I'm Living In the 80's!

I had made a passing comment on wanting to set my new Ultimate Guardians game in 1985. I never expected my players to like the idea, but so far a couple of them do and now I am looking at it realistically.

I am rereading Watchmen and the Elementals to get myself back into that 80's superhero headspace.

I am also reading a bunch of alternate history stuff to see if there are any events I want to change, ala Watchmen-style.

Of course the big upside to this is that in 1985 I still have my Soviets! The 60's weren't so long ago. Lots of heroes can have tours in Vietnam in their backgrounds. Oh and the music Rocks!

So any ideas or suggestions you might have to make this even more fun would be very much welcome.

Cheers.

Campaigns of 2010

As the new year is upon us and on the 16th of January the Ultimate Session of Book 1 of the New Dawn of the West (wow that's a mouthful) will be occurring, I have to think about what 2010 will mean roleplaying wise.

For certain I have Ultimate Guardians on the plate, as well as my ongoing Final Age playtest group. The main thing though is that the Fortknights, the group that has been playing New Dawn of the West, are my oldest and primary group. One player has been gaming with me since grade 9!

So Ultimate Guardians for sure. Superheroes is how this group came together, and super heroes is still their favorite game.

I am also thinking of a Star Trek campaign, but I can't decide what flavour yet. I know for sure I will make a SAGA version of Star Trek though, using cards and such. It just seems like a natural mix to me.

I like TOS, but my "Trek Sweet Spot" is Star Trek 2 - 4 with cherry pickings from everything after. Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock and Voyage Home are the sweetest Trek trilogy ever and frankly my view of what Star Trek should be. Very FASA Trek I know.

That said there was a lot I liked about the new Star Trek (Abrams-Trek) and a lot I really really didn't. It is funny how when I walked out of the theatre I was simply blown away by that movie. Every subsequent review I have disliked it more and more. I find giant plots holes or logic-fails in the story (1 super nova is going to destroy the whole galaxy? WTF?) and like it less and less. I really hated the bridge and the "utility" look of the engineering. Arrgggh! I just reminded myself of more stuff I didn't like! Peh! Enough of that.

And don't even get me started on TNG.

So yeah TOS or Movie Gen? That is the question.

After Trek I need a third choice. One that works with a group of 6 players. Cyberpunk, while fun as hell, is not realy good longterm stuff for me. I kill characters far too easily and often for that to happen.

Horror rpging has never gone well with my groups. Smaller ones yes, but big groups no.

Western Horror might be fun though, some seriously toned down Deadlands could be a hoot.

Any suggestions?

25th Anniversary!

So with 2010 right around the corner, I realized something. This is going to be my 25th anniversary of roleplaying! I started way back in 1985 as a freshmen in high school and never looked back int he quarter century since.

Wow.

Unlike most people I didn't start with D&D but actually with FASA's Star Trek game. I quickly moved on to Villains & Vigilantes and then dabbled a bit in D&D.

Fantasy rping always took a back seat to Star Trek or Superheroes, that's just the way it was up until 1989. Then I discovered a game that made all others moot for me, it came in a minimalist black box and cost my $18 at Captain Quebec (uFLGS) and it was called Cyberpunk.

I ran Cyberpunk for years (both 2013 and 2020) and was considered quite a lethal referee. I still am. I have always warned players that all other games I run for them to have fun and explore the world... Cyberpunk I run for me. And I like shootouts, double-crosses and non-stop action. All of these things lead to very high PC bodycounts in Cyberpunk and I am quite fine with that.

The other two themes I have ran to death are Superheroes and Star Trek.

I was the only person in my circle of gamers who held onto MSH Classic (FASERIP) after everyone else had moved on to Mutants & Masterminds. I just never got into all that book keeping. Wasn't for me. MSH was elegant, fast and I could eyeball a threat/power level in seconds. I didn't need to then perform a bunch of caculations based on that eyeballing, all I needed to do was add some ranks and Bob's your uncle.

I have run homegrown campaigns, Marvel Universe campaings, DC Universe campaigns and a weird folded Universe that lasted a bloody longtime as well.

Star Trek is another game I have ran in almost every incarnation, though not the one that came before FASA Trek. I have run Next Gen Campaigns, Movie Gen Campagins, Post-Gen Campaigns and even my own Ultimate Universe version of Star Trek. I have run Prime Directive using the original rules and D6. I know my Trek, but surprisingly only became a fan after I start RPGing it. That is why the FASA Universe will always be in step with how I see Star Trek and as such Movie Gen being Trek to me.

So with my 25th Anniversary of gaming looming I plan to spend 2010 revisiting these awesome genres (as well as continuing work on Final Age) and really have some old school fun with myself. The only difference is that I will use SAGA instead of FASERIP for my supers. I don't know what I will use for Trek and I will use my melange of 2013/2020 rules for Cyberpunk.

It's gonna be a good year for gaming!

Hold The Presses!

I've always wanted to shout that at the top of my lungs.

I just did... in an empty house... highly overrated... moving on.

"Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear."

That quote from Empire Records has always been one of my favorites as it is pretty much spot on for how my creativity works on a fairly regular basis.

Well inspiration has struck once again and I now know what my new superhero campaign will be!

The problem is that I have done every kinda of campaign you can imagine, from Golden Age to actually playing in the late Silver/early Bronze Ages.

I have done Marvel campaigns, DC campaigns and fusion Marvel/DC/Whatever campaigns.

But none of it... not one moment of it has ever compared to the original Guardians campaign from back in 89 - 91. That campaign was magical and so fresh. It started with V&V and ended with MSH. It was the original line up to!

Doc - The mad scientist with the cybernetic arm, that he himself chopped off his perfectly good arm to add. What a dude! He had force fields, which would eventually be the end of him. He was a strange character played by a guy who wasn't into supers, but made the most of it.

Galvanos - The walking-talking Japanese Robo-Samurai. He was originally in the model of Goldorak but once the player saw the Ingram from Patlabor his look changed and never went back. For my money I prefer the original, though the player still doesn't.

The Osprey - The first character that this player ever played with me and frankly one of his best. A strange birdpowered man who was the comic relief of the team, in the vien of the Blue Beetle/Booster Gold hillarity of the JLI.

Cyberknight - A techno swordsman who was played by a friend who soon went off to the armed forces, but he played long enough to cut the power cables on Frostbite's icepack and set off one of the most oft repeated moments in any campagin thereafter.

Then there were two NPCs, Gyro and Cascade.

Gyro was my character in my buddy's V&V campaign in High School and I brought him into this game, warts and all. In modern vernacular he would be called a GMPC, but let me tell you when I killed him in the 3rd session, everyplayer confessed that's when they knew it was for real.

Cascade was from some GURPS Supers supplement, Super Scum I think, and was essentially an aquatic heroine. Truely the only thing that made her stand out as a character was her gentle nature and Australian accent.

That campaign world, Earth Alpha (which grew out of the aformentioned friend's V&V campaign which I inherited) would go on for 3 years and have some truely memorable moments. Characters would die, new ones take their place, other reborn... it was heady stuff for us in our late teens/early twenties.

And I have spent every campaign since then trying to recapture it.

Trying and failing of course. The only campaign that ever came even close was the PONY (Protectors of New York) campaign that last an unfortunate 4 or 5 sessions before I paniced and tanked it. Long story.

So if I look at the original Guardians campaign, what made it work? Well for sure part of it was the age and the times. The late 80's were an interesting time to be alive. For sure. But I suspect it was more than that.

Certainly the random character creation of V&V made a big difference as it forced the players to have to be creative when they made their characters. There were no "concepts" to be worked on, instead they took what was given, and formed a ccharacter out of that and then asked to reroll or change what they needed to as their character idea formed. That was an important part of old school campaigns and something that has been lost for the most part in modern rpging.

The other thing that contributed to it being an amazing game was that it was the first. The first long term campagin I ran. The first time I was the GM. The first time I was in control and not sharing a universe with another GM or just being a player.

So where does that bring me to today?

I can never, ever have that back. Those days are gone and I accept that. It is a hard pill to swallow but I will nonetheless.

But that doesn't mean I can't try something that is a little bit old, a little bit new and a little bit crazy.

The first rule will of course be the need for random characters. No matter what. That spark of creativity is what really pushed the original campaign and allowed for the players to help create the feeling of the team as a group and not in individual vaccums, with little or no contact with each other.

Second, it isn't the Silver/Bronze Age anymore. Hell it isn't even the Iron Age anymore. We have moved beyond once again where the Modern Age is falling in onitself and the next age is looming, but no one knows what that will be.

I think Marvel came damn close though.

The Ultimate Universe was a breath of fresh air, it had the costumes and the wow factor of the Modern Age but the grittiness of the Bronze/Iron Ages and right up to the end of the Ultimates series 2 it was perfect.

So there it is.

The Ultimate Guardians.

What does that mean? It means my old universe through the Ultimate lens.

The Golden Age came and went, there was no Silver Age.

This leads me to believe that BASH does not do what I need it to do.

I need that randomness and that anything-can-happen factor.

As it stands right now, Villains & Vigilantes does address that. I may just have to reconsider.

Arrrggghhhh! Damn my creative brain!