Even Heroes Bleed is Back!

 The “Even Heroes Bleed” (EHB for those legions of fans) campaign has been revived, with the possibility of new heroes! 

Continuing my road trip through old school games, EHB uses the BoHSE (Blood of Heroes Special Edition) rules, which is a 2000 retroclone of DC Heroes 3rd Edition from the now defunct Mayfair Games.

It has come to be my super hero game of choice. It does so much which modern claim to offer as new, such as narrative control, meta-currency, rules for social interaction and simple resolution mechanics. I have used it for over 2 years in regular play. Until schedules changed, and it stopped.... May, June I think. 

But now it has resumed with a lead-off solo session with the indomitable Olympian. This adventure falls right after the conclusion of “The Sinister Secrets of Starhold”, and featured Olympian turning his attention to the continued attacks by magically -embued EE’s running riot in Capitol City. Not being magically inclined, the Kordarian Paragon of Power stopped at the last scene of a serious magical attack; the Hunniford Library. There is a librarian knowledgeable in the occult at the library. He hopes to get answers which will help him track down these threats. 

But first he checks in on Donna Hannah, the late Dr Avery’s granddaughter, and now a living elemental of air. She is no longer staying at the mansion, preferring to lead a “normal” life back at CCSU. Everything being all good on the home front, the librarian and super hero concoct a means to track the “Lance of Unending Pain”, the artifact stolen by Black Paladin. But it is going to take a bag of cats....

I love the fully realized campaign games I have been playing since returning to ttrpgs. Without one the blog and podcast seem relatively pointless. Because the general purpose of this blog is to chronicle my journeys into fully realized campaign games I never managed as a kid. Counting them off they are pulp sword & sorcery, age of sail, black powder Cthulhu, B/X D&D, Traveller/Space Opera, and now supers. 

The line up appears to be the Olympian, Mettle, and Pirlvag. Mr. Zoozoo and Bug have scheduling conflicts, and a new player in Vietnam is hungry to join in. The dooms which stalk the peace of Capitol City is about to go to 11!  

Capitol City Crime Journal - The Red Report

The Even Heroes Bleed supers campaign continues to be a new, dynamic experience for me. Once again I turned over the Game Master reins to Mettle's player Mike to run an adventure of his own devising. When I get a chance to play instead of run I use my favorite vigilante-NPC of the game, Ultra-Rosa. A gun-toting, martial arts master and gadgeteer wizard with red body armor, an array of firearms and a specially modified red 2018 Chrysler 300. Paid off. A female version of the Punisher basically. 

Today she got to team up with our newest PC hero, the Olympian. He is a flying brick from another world, a human enhanced alien. Straight up Superman vibe except he is way cooler than the Man of Steel, just saying.

We, as a group, took this detour because the PC hero Mr. Zozo couldn't make it. In a couple of weeks I can't play, so then we are looking at the Olympian and Mr. Zozo teaming up. Making me pay attention to the campaign calendar. With all these side quests going on where everything begins to occur has meaning. Since old-school gaming encourages emergent play the game group is getting a wider world to play in and everyone at the table (including the two co-GMs here) do not know where this all leads and what dramatic outcomes await. My strategy is now no matter who can make the game session we have episodes/issues which can always be played.

To keep the story threads in order I've broken the run so far into several "comic book" series. The main comic line is Even Heroes Bleed. All other story lines have to acknowledge this story line as the main story of the campaign. Every PC hero in the game has had to walk the stage in this blockbuster line. Bug, Mettle, Red Runner, Ultra-Rosa, Olympian, Mr. Zozo.

Mike took us on the campaigns first side quest with the Capitol Point Casino Adventures. These adventures (and today's session) are going to fall under the Capitol City Crime Journal: The Red Report. We have had 10 issues now of this vehicle for Ultra-Rosa's exploits when she is being run by me as a player. The Olympian has had a single issue. This was the episode where I ran just him in an adventure against some visiting galactic bounty hunters.

Now, since I cannot make next session we are going to try and continue the adventure we started today (investigating the New Revelations Church and a string of murders) in Mr. Zozo's own comic book, Road to Redemption, featuring the Macabre Mr. Zozo. Pretty nifty. The game is getting really dynamic and all the PCs feel their efforts make a notable difference in the campaign world. The only thing the game suffers (and this is common in all ttrpgs) is how long it takes to play involved adventures. There are so many potentials and intriguing avenues for rich drama, we will never see them all played out. Ah, the frailty of an rpg world. Only so much of the game world gets told, only so many tales will be spun before life changes our real destinies. And we don't know yet what those will be!

EHB Issue #31 (part 3)

Part One Begins Here;

The rain was coming down in fistfuls by the time they pulled into the front parking lot of the Family Tree In-Home Health Care Companions, a retirement home in an expansive colonial house, three stories, with heavy brown wood siding and green trim. The place had a thick yard, un-mowed for some time, and the shrubs running along under the window sills and hanging flower boxes stood untrimmed. The glow of lights shone through the front door panes from the lobby. The rain was streaming so rapidly the age-old gutters could be seen spilling over everywhere. The manor house streamed waterfalls from the multitude of overhangs and window bays.

After telling the Uber driver not to go far, "We may not be long." said Mettle, handing over a three twenties to the driver, they bolted out of the car and under the short roof over the entry doors. They could see lights on in the lobby. The door was unlocked and they both walked in. Worn wood flooring creaked under  the woven rug in the middle of the room.  Mettle discreetly rung out her cap.

Nobody was in the lobby but swinging doors on the other side of the room blocked any further look into the home. A door stood closed in each wall to the left and right of them. The walls were mostly covered by a grey and blue wallpaper with antique-like scrolling , a bit yellow in places, and white chunky plaster moldings crowned the tops. A reception desk sat in the northeast corner of the room. A set of stairs going up to the second floor.  Began right behind the desk.

Giving Alex a raised eyebrow, Mettle crossed the room and looked over the reception desk. There was spiral-bound notebook on top of a pile of miscellaneous papers and delivered mail. Alex kept his hands in his pockets but moved closer to the swinging doors. 

"Its a feeding schedule for 30-40 residents." Mettle murmured.

"What are they serving?"

"I don't know. Its just numbers. Like Abraham Mercer is getting a number six today. Mabel Gerard will be having number one..." 

The sound of something being moved, or slammed stopped Mettle short. Both looked towards the swinging doors. The sound came from that direction, muffled, as if it had come from down a hall or other room out back. Mettle set the notebook back down and followed Alex as he pushed open the doors and went into the hall beyond. Well lit, a wider hall crossed perpendicular in front of him. An exit sign pointing in their direction was fastened above a fire extinguisher. The halls smelled of floor cleaner, but no further sound could be heard. At the intersection Alex called out.

"Hello, anyone there? Hello?" 

Nothing, except the murmur of the furnace and the falling rain could be heard. It rang against the leaded glass which looked out to a central patio where all the inner rooms seemed to face into. 

Alex flipped a coin and turned right. A greater common room was to his right. Where the hall turned north again doors to the kitchen and dinning room code be seen.  Striding through the hall Alex stopped at the first door and opened it. A darkened room, shades drawn. The glow of a heart monitor could be seen and the bed was occupied by an elderly gentleman, bald, breathing and asleep. Mettle turned on the light. The sleeping man did not stir. They proceeded down the hall, opening each door they passed. More residents, elderly, in bed sleeping, hooked up to a heart monitor. Alex, at one point, opened up an old lady's eyelid and clicked on his cigarette lighter. He waved it back and forth. Nothing.

"I don't know what is wrong with these people," he said. 

"I don't think we should touch them," said Mettle. "Forcibly trying to wake them up, I don't know? Could cause them harm."

"You agree this isn't normal, right?" Alex inquired. 

"Hell no! There is definitely EE activity behind this and it is not for the good. You can bet on that." Mettle answered. 

The end of the hall turned again into a perpendicular hallway extending to their left. You could see the end of the matching parallel hall that way. More doors to the rooms of residents lined each side. To their right the hall stopped short at a fire door, presumably leading outside. In the north wall, ten feet before the fire door was an open door. Light spilled into the hall and the sounds of a radio could be heard. 

Alex called hello again and walked up to the door. It was an office and it was unoccupied. the radio playing was perched on top of a file cabinet. A computer on the desk was still on, and a cold cup of tea sat untouched. 

"To hell with it, I'm going to try and wake one of these elderly folks up. I need more information." Alex announced while the two poked around the office. 

"I don't advise it, but I won't stop you. I'm going to go through some of the files and rifle the desk."

Alex stepped out and went down the hall three doors and opened the fourth. This one had a large, heavy set man with a good start on a beard. Under the sheets he was naked. The heart monitor indicated he was alive, but the breath was shallow, you had to lean close to hear it. He examined the mans arms. Injections had been given to his right arm on a regular basis and he had a tattoo just above the elbow and needle marks. Alex stood up, walked over to the door he had left open and swung it closed. On the back was a similar mark as the tattoo carved into the back of the door with a knife. Alex snapped a picture with his phone. He turned the doorknob to leave, but just then the old man sat up.

"Hello, you all right? Do you know where you are?" Alex asked, one hand still on the doorknob. The old man didn't reply but swung his legs off the bed and stood up on shaky, spindly legs. His crotch was obscured by the his prodigious gut. Drool flowed out of his mouth and he lunged for Alex. Alex quickly stepped out of the room and closed the door on the man. The old man started tugging on the doorknob. 

The other doors in the hall began to open. Out stepped additional elderly, naked and vacant eyed, all turning in Alex's direction and walking towards him.

He backed up to the office where Mettle was taking some notes and stuffing some papers into her pockets. "We got a problem, the old folks have woken up and they are coming at me here."

"What?" Mettle stepped into the hall with Alex. "Getting weirder."

"Welcome to my world," he replied. "I can't restrain them all without hurting some of them."

"I got this." Mettle replied. She lifted up her arms and with the force of her magnetic control ripped the exposed pipes for the fire sprinklers from the ceiling and pulled them down to create a make-shift barricade. The crowd of elderly crushed up against the pipes, oblivious to the water which now sprayed all over the hall from the ends of the ripped pipes.

"We should leave," Mettle said.

"Not yet," Alex replied, "I found some marks on them, and the doors. Not sure for who or what but it is an Infernal mark. Possession and corruption. Now I know what I'm looking for I've located the source. Its below us. In the basement, I reckon." 

"We leave by the fire door. We can then double back to the front door. Behind the reception desk there is a door under the stairs. Got to be stairs to the basement."

Mettle pulled more pipes down and reinforce the barricade. There were easily twenty or more souls by now clawing at the pipes in attempt to move them. Still, they made no noise. The fire door was locked.

"That's not to code." Mettle mentioned as she forced it open with a flick of her hand. Her magnetic power making the thrumming sound it always does when she used it. They found the front door had now been locked, "Someone was here, we just missed them." They both agreed.

The front door was easily forced with more magnetic manipulation and they crossed the lobby again, accessed the cellar door and descended. It was a damp concrete basement with the cement walls painted white. Partitions had been built to create storage spaces, but one padlocked door opened into a larger, unfinished space. It looked like the oldest part of the cellar. Granite rocks, joints smeared with old, crumbling concrete made up the foundation walls and the floor was dirt. In the middle of the floor was a small obelisk, Three feet tall. It once was plastered, a small ring remained near the bottom. There were marks on the plaster. These marks were matched with more being carved into the rough sandstone where the plaster had worn away a long time ago. 

"This thing is radiating infernal energy. For those who know the right incantations they can unleash its corrupting energy and create dangerous effects." Alex explained. “You’ll find the marks I was mentioning on the back of the door.”

Mettle examined the back of the door. “Yup, you got some strange symbols carved all over it. Can you stop it, stop this?”

“Yes, but we are probably going to have a lot of confused old people when I am done.”

“We’ll deal with it. I found some info from the office. Whoever is behind this has bought a lot of ammunition. The hell I’m going to let anyone turn Capitol City into a warzone again.”

“Okay. This might freak you out.” Alex began rolling up the sleeves on his rain jacket and he loosened his tie.

 

EHB Issue #31 Hope You Guess My Name (serialized, part 2)

 [Find part one here] The note helped. But it was the picture which convinced Mettle there was a serious chance an Enhanced was involved. If regulars are saying the saw Jacob Bronson up and walking two days ago then Mettle wanted to know what happened to him between then and dead. The transformation into a malnourished husk of a corpse was too unreal to be anything else. 

"You want to go out to the bookstore, see what he was after?" 

"Yeah, but I don't have a car. I flew into Capitol City." Alex answered. The man in the wrinkled raincoat said his name was Alex. 

Twenty minutes later the pair was heading up 72 northwest through a steady rain out of the city and towards Huntsville Village. It was not difficult to find the only occult bookstore in the busy suburban town. It was off Macy Street in a busy commercial block, tucked between a furniture reupholstery store and another retail space unoccupied and for lease. A two-story building, painted multiple times with cheap paint to cover over split wood and old brick.  The Fated Souls bookstore had lights on and was open. The windows stacked with all sorts of witchy-wicca-new age occult paraphernalia. Crystals, triangles, books, hand-crafted wands and homeopathic "medicines".  Inside the "investigators" found overcrowded stacks jammed with books, worn carpet and the smell of incense leeched from the walls.  Yellow was the predominate color, bookshelves, ceiling, trim. 

Mettle discreetly scanned the place with her magnetic abilities, but everything about the place appeared mundane and normal. Near the back the two found a raised platform with a ladder. A desk and more bookshelves threatened to spill over the shaky wooden rail. A woman occupied the desk. Brown haired, pleasant smile. 

"Hello," she said waving her hand lazily and put down her pen. "What can I help you find this afternoon gentlemen?" 

"Actually, we are looking for a guy we believe was in your shop four days ago. He was here to purchase some medicine I think?" Mettle started the conversation. Seeing as she was the local one she felt obligated to take the lead. Alex, water still dripping off his coat, was thumbing through the nearest bookcase. 

"I get customers all the time in here for their apothecary needs. May I ask why you are looking for this person? I'm not beholden to HIPPA or anything, but still, what is this all about?"

"We have a friend, he was very sick, willing to try anything." piped up Alex. "He died just after coming to your store, we want to know what he bought." He stopped thumbing the books and stuffed his hands into his raincoat.

"Are you saying I sold him something that killed him?" The store clerk was naturally offput by such a thought. She stood up while saying this. She had to hunch over because she was very tall and the platform was raised enough to walk under. More glass cases with goat horns and bone flutes displayed. 

"No, no, no." Alex took a hand out of his coat pocket and waved it back and forth. "He was afraid of somebody, we think. The fact he died while being sick, I think he didn't die of natural causes, and the cops aren't going to look into it further. His name is Jacob Bronson and I just want to know what he was afraid of. He thought your store could help. We are hoping you might know what he was so afraid of he would, you know, what might make him try untested stuff."

She blinked back, paused and climbed down the ladder and stood in front of Mettle and Alex. She was easily 6'4". Business slacks and a white blouse. Her horned-rimmed glasses were stuck into her hair. She was freckled and pale. 

"You think he was poisoned?" she asked curious. 

"Maybe."

"So, he was in your store." Mettle jumped in. 

"Yes, Jacob Bronson was here. He asked for a tincture of one of our best sellers. Excellent for the indigestion, irritable-bowel syndrome, and is believed to flush the system of toxins." The clerk put her finger against her chin. "He did not look good. I was happy to make him up the prescription, but it would take a day to prepare. I suggested he should see a doctor as well. Odd you say he has died."

"And why is that," Alex asked. 

"Because he called this morning asking to have it delivered. Said he wouldn't be able to pick it up." 

"And this was... ?" Mettle asked, letting the question hang there. Hoping the leading question would get the clerk to elaborate.

"The Family Tree In-home Care Facility. Just over in Huntsville Center. Not far from here. I was about to get it out in the drop-box across the street."

The two thanked her and  Mettle got on the phone for another Uber. As they waited by the front door of the shop they debated their next move.

"Follow the breadcrumbs, I guess." Said Alex.

"I agree, but before we go forward, mind telling me why you are really interested in this guy Bronson?"

Alex didn't seem to mind the question. 

"Do you believe in ghost and demons?"

"Believe it or not, I'm the kind of girl who has seen some pretty strange shit, go on."

"I've seen them. I've interacted with them. I've fought them. Whoever killed Jacob Bronson knows how to kill people like a malevolent spirit does. Or is a malevolent spirit. Either way, whoever it is is running loose with dangerous abilities and is effectively out of reach of "traditional" law enforcement. I'm interested in who killed this loser because know one else does. Or knows how to do something about it." Alex was definitely not embarrassed to talk about such things. He was matter-of-fact about the bizarre subject matter.

"Okay, I can get behind that." Mettle tapped her finger on Alex's chest. "But if you turn out to be some strange creep thinking about messing with me, I'm the kind of girl who can handle yourself, get it?"

Alex spread his arms wide, revealing intricate tattoos wrapping his wrists as they poked out of his raincoat. "I'm just trying to find and stop the very real possibility of some lunatic out there possessing unnatural abilities killing people who annoy them and getting away with it. Lets go, the Uber is here. Alex pushed the door open and walked out to their ride. Mettle followed after him.

(to be continued...)

Even Heroes Bleed Roster Change

 A new player is joining the tribe and it seems appropriate to reflect on the last year of the campaign and how now it is about to change. 

As I’ve mentioned before, the most affordable and complete text of Mayfair’s MEGS mechanics which make up the game engine is the retroclone from Pulsar Games, The Blood of Heroes Special Edition. DC Heroes 3^rd Edition is really good, but I think The Blood of Heroes has all the optional rules ever made for the game beneath its covers.

Anyways, the superhero trio of Olympian, Bug, and Mettle returned from their trip to Belize with the subdued Dr. Good (now calling himself Doctor Draconis) in tow. They deposited the criminal scientist at FBEE headquarters and considered what their next priority is.

This is when Bug’s PC announced he could no longer make our game sessions, and a new player popped up. Big changes in one day!

Bug and Mettle (with assistance from Red Runner) can list shattering the biggest mobs and gangs in Capitol City and, for now, getting them to back off on the street violence, or else! The mystical EE Wotan who was leading the Civil Guard was also banished from our earthly plane. This banishment took the aid of the strange EE called Voodoo, who disappeared with the vanquished Wotan.

These victories did come at substantial cost. Innocent lives were destroyed, and the Baltimore was burned down. The blood toll was so high the young Red Runner hung up his suit and returned to civilian life.

Next, they took on sex-traffickers running out of an Indian reservation, exposed them and got them arrested. After much fighting and punching of faces.

Their next accomplishments were stemming the outbreak of drug-induced violence from the bizarre drug known as BAM! and uncovering the secret experimentation done by the US Government beneath the Pawnsville mine. This lead them on the trail of a criminal mastermind, Dr. Good, which as I have mentioned ended with Dr. Good’s capture.

The new player has a hero who is a person possessed by a demon. Imagine Etrigan from DC Comics and you are not far off the mark, as far as character concept goes. Mystical attacks and strength. Probably a good compliment, team wise. Mettle can manipulate metal and Olympian is a Superman-type heavy hitter. Eye beams, flight, etc. And now a demon who can cast magical spells and rip peoples limbs off. Works for Capitol City from where I'm sitting!

The List of Intriguing Loose Ends is long and subplots too specific to be of interest here in this blog. Here are the major ones I can think of.

The Cockroach Brotherhood, believed to be living in the sewers. Their actual origins are uncertain as well as their motivations. The heroes have been meaning to look for these weird EEs and find out what their deal is, but bigger issues seem to get in the way.

The Roadkill Wrecking Crew. This gang of EE’s has managed four successful high-tech robberies. Why and for what purpose is still unknown. One of their members, Croc, is currently in custody. 

The Congress of Truth. A shadowy organization seeming to continue the work started by the government at Pawnsville. Seems their endgame is delivering utopia through world domination.

Capitol City Mayor. A dirty, racist, power-hungry white nationalist who is responsible for letting loose a serial arsonist on minority neighborhoods. He is making a killing off of subsequent real estate development deals on the burnt property and pays off the heroes each month, so they don’t come at him. But this impasse can only stand for so long before one side or the other makes a move. The Mayor is eager to reassert organized crime as the law of Capitol City, not those damn superheroes!

Deep Ghost, who, what, and where is this guy? Motives unknown. Controls and effects things through internet, cellular, any electronic communication really. Accessing and distributing information seems to be his chief interest. A blackmail expert?

List of criminals in custody due to the heroes actions are;

Croc,

Dr. Good,

Os-M’nog,

Big Man,

Jury,

Lt. James Santavy.

Pulsar, the Perfect Super Hero Roleplaying Game is in Production

 I'm chewing through the powers right now, I think I'm in the "M"s. Pulsar is my attempt to create a legal retro-clone of DC Heroes 3e. 

Besides used copies for this out-of-print game and its first retro-clone, The Blood of Heroes, there is no legal way to get this great superhero system in print. What I am after is MEGS, Mayfair's Exponential Game System. The engine and internal logic which drives the game. Stripping out all intellectual property is not much of a chore. In fact, I have the rules, combat and gadgets complete. Middle of the Powers right now like I said (limitations, bonuses, etc. completed) so the next big chapter to write is Mysticism. Don't need to include any setting material, this is just a rulebook. There still are DC Heroes adventures you can find in the usual places, but you should pass on those. From my experience, super hero modules are fairly derivative an rarely stray far into the realm of unique or original. Game Masters are best creating their own stuff. Poach villains from anywhere. MEGS is simple enough to do conversions. I've wrote up one for Icons myself and posted it on the blog. 

The art is not going to cost me anything either. I'm adding in my drawings from the actual MEGS campaign I've been running for over a year. When I mull over the previous session I like to capture a scene that sums up the action and doodle away while I daydream. So yeah, we got art! 

Layout, the original rule books were built inefficiently. I believe this is due to all the optional rules available to add to the base rules. And these are littered throughout the book. Fortunately I am not taken with much, if any, optional rules the game has so that is the first clutter to go. The only other real change I am doing in layout is putting character creation after "The 8 Ideas". the rules, and combat. This is so the GM can go to the front of the book and be confident of finding the rule they are looking for, not go to several places piecing the answer together. I will do something simple, like run a black header all the way to the edge of the page, in the Powers section of Character Creation chapter. This gives you a black "section" you can see looking at the edge of the book.  When making a character you are going to go to this section many times, this should speed up getting there. The way BoH is arranged I would end up in the combat chapter when I'm looking for player information and always ending up in the Powers section looking for Knockout, or Falling rules. So rules first, then character creation. 

I'm wishy-washy on the Gamemaster section of the book. I write genre-centric rule books for my games and I write for people who know what they want and the campaign they want to run. Pulsar, the Perfect Super Hero RPG will be built the same way. I'm going to toss that section, except for Standard Awards. How to gain additional Power Points will need to be known so PCs can be, well, heroic.

I'll finish the book with a substantial appendix containing all the charts found in the game. Being able to scan Power Point Benchmarks and choose combat modifiers with this information side by side helps me during a fast and furious punch-up. 

This will be interesting, seeing how it is received and all. It is a dusty old system, but it kicks all sorts of supers ass. We will see, we will see.

A Vehicle Car Chase

 I  ran MEGS rules for vehicle combat paired with the traffic generators I made while watching my Rangers bet flame out this Sunday on TV. I'm preparing for a downtown city supers chase scene. I'm hoping I can parse the rules to create a dynamic running gun battle between supers and bystanders which will light up the mind like Hollywood lights up the big screen with their visual tools.

This is a solo roleplay example predicated on the next upcoming game session for Even Heroes Bleed so if you are in a player in VTP's current house game you should pass on reading this blog post till later.

To try and make sure I could run a credible chase scene I took notes and had  the BoH rule book open to their optional rules for vehicle dog-fighting.

I'm making no deviation to the MEGS existing mechanics, only adding my random generators to provide on-the-fly content while I roleplay the game action. The Universal Modifier Table used in most contested skill checks will be adapted and used as situations require. 

So the tools on the table are the Universal Modifier Table and the Optional dog-fighting rules with random traffic generators for scene details.

 On page 182 of The Blood of Heroes Special Edition rulebook are instructions for an optional Vehicular Combat system. The rules are intended to  adjudicate  maneuvering into place to intercept and or shoot at your opponent in another from behind, on an opponent's "six" and blast it to pieces, like in an aerial dogfight. This is a vehicle chase with an airborne superhero so we have an aerial and land vehicle engaged with numerous environmental factors presenting obstacles which can hurt either one of the combatants. Of course, in any type of vehicle combat there is the opportunity to fire on an opponent at any angle a shooter may be able to manage. The important concept to remember, from a game mechanics point of view, is that the combatants are each trying to gain an advantage in positioning which will either allow one to escape or the other to force the other vehicle to stop.

At the beginning of each combat phase, just after rolling for initiative, everyone involved in the chase makes a maneuver check. Each driver rolls against an OV/RV 0/0, adjusted by the speed in PPs they are driving their vehicle (or speeding along as the case may be). Any degree of difficulty because of extreme maneuvering, damaging gunfire, or other environmental hazard which may make the maneuver fail can be added to the OV/RV.

Okay, I lied about not deviating from the MEGS rules. Adjusting the Maneuver Checks by the actors current speed is my own idea. Really, just spring-boarding off the rules and making good use of them in roleplay. Perfect example of trad play. I'm condensing the table narrative into a contested action, building up interest an tension as we approach dice rolling time.

Any RAPs earned on this action check are then allocated to enemy targets in any fashion the driver wants. In order to "attack" an enemy, the driver must allocate more of his maneuver RAPs to the enemy than the enemy allocated to him. In the situation of a tie neither pilot can attack (hit, shoot, cut off, etc.) each other.  This seems convoluted as heck. This is why I took notes as I went about play, and once again for me the internal logic of MEGS snapped into place and I foresaw needing to refer to the rule book again and again to lessen. 

When an "attacker" has been established they make an Attack roll using their appropriate skill versus the defender's appropriate OV. Any success with the attack indicates they achieved the maneuver and/or attack they were trying to make. The GM adjudicates the result of any "damage" done and another combat round of the chase begins.

For example: Distress is trying to get away from Olympian in a green Ford Mustang GTO. Croc is leaning out of the passenger side window trying to shoot at the flying Olympian as they speed through downtown traffic. 

Distress has a DEX of 4, a Land Vehicle Driving skill of 8 APs, and a car with a max Running speed of 7. Olympain has a max flight of 6 APs and a DEX of 6. Distress makes a hard left through two lanes of oncoming southbound traffic as he attempts to drive west on 24th Avenue. Olympian will attempt to catch the fleeing sports car and use his tremendous strength to stop its forward movement. 

Distress really wants to escape the EE so stomps on the gas and burns 10 VP on his initiative roll. Distress has a base initiative of 11 so he will be rolling with an initiative score of 21. Olympian has an initiative of 18 and for now is content to stay on top of the thieves in their speeding car and will not add any HP to his initiative roll. Croc is going to spray his M4 at Olympian and will take his shot when most opportune. Croc will not burn any VP to increase his initiative roll. Final initiative rolls are C 19, D 24 an, O 26. Croc and Distress announce their intentions before Olympian has to decide what he will do.

Now, before Olympian can take his three actions for the combat phase both Distress and Olympian must make their maneuver checks. Distress is driving at a speed of 5 PPs and making a dangerous 90 degree left hand turn into oncoming traffic (here I am just making decisions on modifiers as a GM as if I was in an actual live game session). This costs Distress +3 CS to the difficulty of making a maneuver at 5 PPs of Speed. An AV of 8 vs. an OV of 5 results in a 9 or better needed to make the turn. The OV gets +3 CS because of the 90 degree turn for a final target number of 15 or better. Distress burns 8 VP to give himself an AV of 16. Now Distress only needs to roll a 7 or better. He rolls a 13, so not only succeeds but gets 2 CS in his favor on the Results Table. Cross referencing his Land Vehicle skill of 8 versus a RV of 5 and 2 CS leaves Distress with 5 RPPs.

Olympian has a DEX of 6 and is flying at his max speed of 6. Olympian does not have to add any CS for difficulty because Olympian's flight power allows him to make 90 degree turns with ease. He only needs to roll an 11 or better to pass his maneuver check and stay on top of the speeding Mustang. Olympian burns 3 HP to give himself an AV of 9. He now only needs to roll a 7 or better now. He gets a 4 and fails, earning no RPPs. Distress has 5 more RPPs than Olympian and intends to spend them to increase the distance between his car and the flying superhero. Since Olympian cannot "attack" this phase he only gains 1 PP of distance on Distress (speed of the car 5 PPs vs. Olympian's flight of 6PPs. 20 feet. Just over the length of one car length. If we established the distance between Olympian and the Mustang at the beginning of the combat phase as 200 ft (4 PPs) than Olympian is now only 3 APs away, somewhere between 41 and 80 feet from the escaping villains, and due to intervening traffic (interpretation of Olympian's failed maneuver check) cannot take any action against them. 

Distress is up next and will attempt to swerve through different lanes of traffic trying to get Olympian to fly into a street light or large commercial vehicle, all in an attempt to increase the distance between them. Distress "attacks" with her Land Vehicle skill of 8. Once again she will burn 8 VP to give herself a land vehicle skill of 16. Olympian will burn 5 HP to raise his Flight power to 11. Since he did not have to use his Movement Power as a Dice Action this phase he can use it as his OV. 16AV vs. 11OV = 7 or better. 13! Success with 2 CS. 8EV (driver's skill) vs. 6RV (O's Dex) with 2 CS results in 5 RPPs. 5 is greater than 4 (once again GM decision/interpretation on the fly) so Distress is able to open the distance back up 1PP to 4 PPs of distance. The Mustang has shot through traffic and is once again 150 to 250 feet away from Olympian. Distress is driving through heavy downtown traffic at 50 mph (5 APs) while Olympian gives pursuit flying close to the ground at 75 mph (6 APs). 

Croc, since Distress won the "attack" for this vehicles maneuver check takes his shot against Olympian. Croc has a Dex of 6. The M4 has an AV of 4 so Croc will stick with his Dex. He uses 1 additional ammo point (the gun is an automatic) reducing Olympian's Dex OV by -1 CS. Croc sufferes +2 CS because of shooting from a moving vehicle (Universal Modifier Table). For a total of +1 CS in Olympian's favor. 6 vs. 6 = 11, plus 1 CS for a final target #13. Croc decides to make the autofire a Flailing Attack giving -2 CS to the OV. Croc now only needs a #9<, but will suffer +3 Cs to the RV in this attack. Croc rolls a 7 and misses. Automatic fire goes streaming harmlessly by Olympian. Croc ticks off an ammo expenditure of 2 and has 6 ammo points left. 

Another round of initiative. None of the characters involved in the chase decide to spend any APs on initiative. C 17, D 15, O 26. Distress declares another sharp hand turn north at the next intersection. Croc declares he will take another shot at Olympian if he gets a chance and Olympian decides he is going to try and land on the Mustang by pushing his Flight and close the distance of 4 PPs.

Time for the maneuver check. The GM decides to see if there are any hazards to be considered at this intersection. Using my Traffic Generator I roll for the type of intersection. It is a T intersection with the road continuing east and west. It dead ends north due to road construction. It is a serious excavation so there are numerous street workers ahead. Distress decides to waste no time and sail through the intense street construction. There are large cranes swinging large concrete vaults around and lowering them below ground for city services.

Speed of 5, hazards give +2 CS against Distress' Vehicle Skill of 8. 13 or better. 10, Distress fails. Olympian is rolling against a 6AV/6OV. 11 or better. 8 Olympian fails maneuver check as well. Distress drives out the other side of the road construction with Olympian still buzzing behind 100-150 yards. Croc cannot get a shot off because Distress failed his maneuver check. The ride through the road construction was bumpy enough to make shooting impossible. Olympian maintains speed so is able to close the distance to 4 PPs, somewhere between 160 and 200 feet (all this is GM fiat/interpretation of the dice rolls and what they mean for the current situation). 

Another combat phase begins. So far we have been through 8 seconds of chaotic action. In the next 4 seconds the north bound avenue changes angle 30 degrees to the right (random generator roll). There is a parked bus on the right unloading passengers. 9 people are crossing the street. Initiative is rolled. D 21, C 18, O 25. 

Distress declares his action, not giving one fig for the pedestrians safety, he stomps on the gas bringing hisspeed up to 7. Croc still awaits an opening to take a shot. Olympian is going to try and get between the speeding car and the innocent by standers. 

Maneuver Check. 8 Land Vehicle Skill vs. Speed of 7 PPs. 11 or better. Distress rolls a 10, failed. Distress will not get a chance to put any pedestrians in danger. Olympian is looking at an 11 as well, Flight 6 vs. Speed 6. Olympian wants to leave nothing to chance. He burns 5 HP bringing his Flight AV to 11. Olympian needs to roll a #5< to protect any pedestrians in danger. Olympian rolls an 8, success with no column shifts. Dex of 6 versus a RV 6 yields 1 RPP. Just enough to intercede! Since the pedestrians are all getting out of the way Olympian can launch his attack at the villains directly. With a speed of 6 it will take Olympian 1 second to reach the car. This gives him plenty of time to try and stop the car. He will attempt to get Distress to drive right into him. This is a "Trying to get Hit" combat manuever, -2CS OV/-2CS RV.  This gives Olympian an AV/EV of 6/15 (Dex/Bod). OV is Distress' Vehicle skill of 8 and RV is the Body of the car, 6. The Block modifiers leave us with AV/OV of 6/4. I see no reason why the GM should apply -4 to the cars RV so the RV stays at 6 for a final OV/RV of 4/6. Olympian needs a 9 or better and rolls a 3. Miss. Distress is able to weave around Olympian's Block attempt and goes sailing on by leaving paniced, but safe, pedestrains fleeing for the sidewalks. 

Olympian has been chasing Distress and Croc for almost 16 seconds through downtown traffic. Neither has been able to lose or stop each other yet. Fortunately for Olympian no one has yet to be killed in the mayhem. Perhaps he can put a halt to this madness before someone does! The GM rolls on random tables to see what the road ahead looks like...

Even Heroes Bleed AAR Issue #27

 The audio for the GM (me) was not picked up last game session, though it was live-streamed at the time. The episode was interesting. Bug player wasn't able to make the session, but we had an action-packed episode nonetheless!

Subplots, or at least the one between Mettle and Mayor Umpstead, was given more flesh to the bone. The payoff to Mettle involved Jimmie Mac, Star Pulse pistols and the murderous vigilante Ultra Rosa showed up and got involved. She told Mettle her new bag of money was hers. She needed to finance her war on crime. It was the price Mettle had to pay for Rosa not killing the city mayor, for the time being. If Mettle was going to extort the mayor to not traffic in human beings and extort innocent people for peace and profits, she was going to need to be in the payoff line too.

Mettle reluctantly agreed and let Rosa walk away with a bag of money, $400K I think it was. 

Bisbee Sharp called in a favor from Olympian. Wanted the mighty protector to go with Special Agent Madhur during a security inspection of Fordhem ChemTech Monday morning. Three other high-tech firms near Capitol City have been broken into and had sensitive technology and data taken. These break-ins had no sign of forced entry and no evidence of the intruder has been picked up. The thief is a mystery, a ghost. Fordhem believes they may be next. Their work includes government military contracts, top secret stuff. The Federal Government wants to know Fordhem is taking reasonable steps to protect their classified R&D. Sharp sees it as a great PR opportunity as well as a chance to start figuring out who is behind the thefts.

Dr. Janet Shane, the researcher who greets Madhur and Olympian at Fordhem ChemTech Monday morning, is an upbeat and fun-smart person. She gives the members of the FBEE the nickel tour and speculates out loud the insurance company is what has made this security inspection really necessary, but she promises to keep the PC and the NPC entertained. She has some experiments prepared for Olympian. The highlight being a palm-sized titanium ball for Olympian to squeeze. Being a top-notch physicist she plans on extrapolating a bunch of data from Olympian's exerted force. 

Fordhem has impressive research labs with sophisticated access control, face recognition software screening personal, and 7' tall Security Droids monitoring the entire commercial building. The robots are designed to withstand EE's with enhanced strength, and resilience, and energy blasters built into their chests. 

Right on cue an intrusion of the most sensitive lab occurred and put the place in a code red lockdown. During the ensuing chaos it was determined an EE capable of de-solidifying and sliding through concrete walls and steel had possession of the the "Energy Harmonizer", the project Dr. Shane is working on. Olympian gets a fix on the intruder's location and seeks to confront the thief. Olympian encounter's the leather-clad intruder in an office hallway, but the villainous EE stepped through the building's wall and outside to freedom. Olympian Mr. Kool-Aided his way after the EE, but not before he had to tangle with a security droid. For some reason it fixated on Olympian and tried to use energy blasts to injure our hero. The security bot fumbled on the attack roll and burnt out it's electric brain instead.

Meanwhile Mettle who had  been watching nearby (she is a wanted person subject top arrest) stepped out of traffic and released her powerful magnetic control to try and cage the intangible intruder who had so demonstrated an ability to go through anything while carrying things along with them. Basically an ability to make themselves and anything else they want intangible. Her attack slowed the thief down, but did not immobilize him. Before she could push her abilities any further she is attacked by the airborne Power Disc. An EE who can focus a neutral electrical charge and projected it as a forceful beam. He uses pieces of technology he calls "Force Discs" to focus this energy he can generate. He scores a direct hit on Mettle and sends her rolling in her helmet and motorcycle suit 30 feet across the lawn. The thief jumps into a waiting black Dodge Charger and peels off, Power Disc covering their tail.

Olympian now gives chase but has to halt. Croc, an EE with a large, grotesquely fanged maw, tactical gear, and a loaded M4 gets out of a green Mustang GTO and charges in. Olympian punches Croc back into his car. Both car and Croc careen into traffic creating an instant traffic jam. Olympian turns back to the injured Mettle. She needs to be okay before Olympian feels he should fly after the fleeing felons. 

[Audio Sessions continue here]

MEGS works with the Traveller Scheme

 Traveller is widely known for the simple structure of a character, PC and/or NPC. The Universal Personality Profile is hexadecimal notation (letters and numbers) which makes prep super simple and scanning a character's abilities super simple. For example, in Traveller a basic, normal npc would have the following stats: 777777. Sevens across the board. 

MEGS/DC Heroes/The Blood of Heroes has nine stats instead of Traveller's six. Also, The stats are arranged on the MEGS character sheet follows a grid with each row and column having some significance. Anyways, here would be the stat line for a normal person in the MEGS power scale of stats,

2 2 2

2 2 2

2 2 2 

twos across the board. Here is how I would arrange them ala Traveller's UPP. [222-222-222], ini: 6.

Wala, anyone who plays MEGS is going to know what all these mean and how the grid is written out straight across (physical attributes, mental attribute, mystic attributes, etc.). I add the character's initiative total after the stat string. With attributes and initiative listed you really have all you need for any old NPC you need to make up on the fly!

Even Heroes Bleed #26, the Life Form released

 Now we got the crew back up to 3 PC Heroes; Mettle, Bug, and Olympian confront what lies beneath the Pawnsville Mine.

This episode features a monster unlike any they have yet fought. It will take all their ingenuity and dramatic run of 18's to survive the initial onslaught. 

Ascendent Review

[ADDENDUM] Ascendent plagiarizes a shit ton of content from write-ups dot org. So no attribution to the source material for this glorified heap built on past accomplishments.

  I have recently digested my pdf copy of the new superhero game Ascendent and here is my take;

The game is a rehash of TSR's Marvel Superheroes and Mayfair's MEGS system for DC Heroes which came out in the 80's. Somehow the authors of Ascendent have taken two of the greatest supers systems and mashed them into a horrible parody of what made each system unique and playable. Even the horrible art in The Blood of Heroes has more imaginative life than the generic line art in the book. The layout feels Champions 5e which to me is pretty lifeless. Give me my heavily highlighted, badly taped together, pages falling out BoH and the MEGS game system it contains any day over this.

 

New Episodes Even Heroes Bleed Supers roleplaying sessions are up!

 Got some new podcasts of the latest episode up, issue #23 part one and part two. The heroes head into the sewers of North Elmview looking for the Cockroach Brotherhood which they encountered in the first game session of the campaign!  

So head on over to your favorite podcast software and fire up issue #23 of Even Heroes Bleed*.

*Powered by the fabulous old-school MEGS game system.

First Superhero Campaign Arc Comes to a Close

First post of the new year is about endings. Specifically, the first “campaign” arc of Even Heroes Bleed has concluded with a tacit acknowledgment of the fact opposed to some earth-shattering conclusion or epic battle.  In a sense, perfect for the moment.

Perfect in some significant changes have come to the campaign city because of the PCs actions and there are numerous plot hooks and adventure seeds trembling in the breeze waiting for the PCs to pursue. In no small order they are,

1. What is going on with Starhold? Two weeks ago saw the tragic loss of the Starhold shuttle during a regularly scheduled flight to the orbiting prison. Without a space shuttle for transport any EEs charged with criminal activity will have to be imprisoned on earth and earthly facilities have not been thoroughly tested against EE powers and capabilities. The recently defeated Troll is an example of such a conundrum. He is currently being shipped to the Starhold downport facility. Hopefully the building and personnel will be sufficient to keep the criminal EE incarcerated. Also, the passenger on board the shuttle when it exploded was not a nobody. It was the son of Dr. McKeever, the missing scientist on the federally funded COVID-24 task force and now believed to be an EE himself called Metereon (Me-ter-on). Knockout was also a member of the research team, and she is still missing, fate unknown.

Codename Wolf, McKeever’s son was carrying an alien meteor shard. The shard, found during an EE operation, was gaining mass hourly and Wolf was the only person capable of lifting it and moving it around. It was decided by the Feds the safest place for it was in the weightlessness of space on Starhold. With the shuttle explosion it can only be assumed the alien meteor shard will return to earth’s surface.

2. What is going to be the fate of BAM! addicts? With no more access to the drug these drug sufferers are experiencing terrible withdrawal and lashing out murderously. This would not be more then a mental health crisis but for the fact some addicts violently explode while others have gained enhanced abilities. Murderous drug fiends with superpowers loose on the streets may end up Capitol City’s worst problem yet.

3. What will the mayor do? Mayor Umpstead has declared all EE’s illegal within city limits, and he is aware the PCs know he is behind the arsons and real estate scam. Can he really maintain a truce with the PCS and conduct business as normal? One must think not.

4. What will replace the Baltimore? Bug had secured the North Elmview slum as a haven for the homeless, off limits to criminals and cops. Now that it is in ashes where will Bug and Mettle take their homeless wards?

5. Where did the black helicopter come from in this last episode? Yes, the classic black helicopter paid a visit over Endgame’s hideout launching Hellfire missiles and reducing the building to smoldering rubble. Military grade for sure, but who is pulling the strings on this weapon of death? And did Endgame survive the attack?

And finally, 5. What is up with those weird creatures from the first episode? You know, Creepazoid, Backtrack, and Leatherneck? Bug is convinced these strange beings are more victims than evil aggressors and our hero is wanting to find them and find out more about them. It will take a journey into the sewers of Capitol City to find answers to these questions.

 

 

The BoH Combat Record Sheet from the Champions Combat Record Sheet

 I was fucking around with the shitty Champions adventure Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth in an attempt to pull useful "stuff" for my current The Blood of Heroes supers campaign and the book has the utilitarian Champions Combat Record Sheet printed out with the stats of major NPC's at the back. King Cobra, Coil agents, lame-ass super henchmen, etc. Now one of the ways (and there are several) Champions failed my GM attempts was these GM aids didn't make anything easier. Smack in the middle of the form are the speed bubbles you can color in to keep track of the turn order during combat. All this form ever did for me was demonstrate how unworkable the Speed Chart, the organizing principle for combat turns, of Champions really is for me. It added no clarifying function which to help with my TotM (Theater of the Mind) impressions while gaming. In a superhero game this is kind of disconnect is terminal.

So I started penciling in BoH stats for villains involved in the campaign's current combat. Specifically I crossed out the Champions verbiage and replaced them with BoH stats. Not only does it work, it works, in my opinion, better for this system than the original intended. Fucked up, I know!

Take a look for yourself, here is a PDF of the rewrite. Everything in BoH is created with APs. Attributes, Powers, Skills, etc. The common stats referenced in combat are character's Dexterity, Strength, Initiative and Body. Mind and Spirit are important Resistance Values which can come up and a GM needs to be able to see everyone's movement capabilities in a glance. You also want a space for offensive and defensive powers. A character's perception, the Intelligence attribute, is another factor which comes up during combat on a routine basis. All these track easily to the  Champions game form and some busy work with InDesign has given me a great sheet for my preferred supers game! There is even a couple of columns left over for your own customization.  They are perfect spots for gadgets! Just write in the AV/EV, OV/RV stats and your good to go. Another example of how the MEGS system which undergirds BoH is a marvel of elegant design. Check out my current gang of NPC supers filling out this form, the Gulag Goons!

Super Hero Super Villain Name Generator

Very generic name generator Now with one of 14 intriguing origins story included in every name pack! for superhero/supervillain inspiration. I came up with 386 450 "words" which would be part of a decent supers name and created a table to randomly choose a word twice from the table. Not perfect, but it will spark your brain with ideas you otherwise wouldn't have spontaneously fallen upon.

So take the result, shave it into shape and then build your new Supers character!

Super Hero / Super Villain Random Name Generator