Victorian Supers

[gwindel]

order99 said:

..brainstorming a MS&PE Supers supplement(tentatively entitled "The Gilded Age" and I may actually FINISH it one day!

(Inserts IV from Coffee Pot into arm)

though this is a little different from what you have in mind, a guy has made figures of super-heroes in a victorian style.
They look quite right for old-style heroes.
I like them a lot:
home.insightbb.com/%7esillof/customfiguresGASLIGHT.html

[order99]

Gwindel, that is...sublime. Those costumes are just as period for early Pulp as for Victoriana, for the most part-have an Exalt!

BTW, if I EVER have time to finish Gilded Age to my satisfaction(get it typed up in Text instead of Post-its on my desk ) I suspect it will do Victorian Supers just fine. Pulp literature was a direct outgrowth of Victorian Penny Dreadfuls anyway-from the Detective to the Crime Shocker to Horror to Adventure novels. The only thing Americans did was add Western Dime Novels into the mix...

[gwindel]

I really hope you find the time to finish your supplement. If I can help (making some illustrations for exemple...), let me know...

[order99]

When I get it fully realized and even half edited i'll let you know-promise. Also, i'll need to contact "that guy" at that time-no need to bother anyone until i've actually got a product, right?

Speaking of which, does anybody know off the top of thier heads whether or not "that company" has the same deal to print MS&PE products as they do T&T ones? I ask because Mike Stackpole created MS&PE from a T&T derivative, and i'm not sure who has the rights at this point-I know FBI still releases the original game and supplements, but there might be some problems i'm not aware of...

None of this would prevent Gilded Age from being released of course-it's rapidly becoming its own system, and aside from all my houserules is still quite recognizably T&T. It's a standalone game in its own right-nevertheless, i'd like to be able to market it as a supplement for MS&PE just as T&T Superheroes was both a "supplement" and a self-contained game...

I'll worry about that after I get back from work-ten hours of bending hundred-pound doors should give me time to do some mental editing...

[apeloverage]

Have you seen www.heromachine.com?

I'm not sure what the rule is about using characters created with this utility, but you could at least use it as a design tool.

[order99]

Grrr...AAArrghh...

(!coffee!)

Lord what a night-I hope I have enough AP to Level up soon, i'm just about due for an Aging Roll...

Heromachine is a great brainstorming tool. Beats me if you could use it for publishing, but I suspect it would give things too "generic" a look anyway.

I'm taking some time to attempt a Text file in the next few days...in the meantime, here's a few Victorian Supers for Gwindel using GA Alpha Test. These folks are actually conversions from a VERY Houseruled Masque of the Red Death campaign back in the late Nineties-they look MUCH more like the Players described them to me in a T&T-style format! I'll post until the Coffee runs out, then slip into a coma for about a day or so..

Neccesary Background Rules:

Skills- PCs start with 5 skill points +1 for every 4 pts IQ, round up. Skills use the 1+2+3 format, ie a 3pt Skill=6 Skill Points. Unlike MS&PE, Combat Skills never add Dice to a combat-only Bruce Lee can laugh at a swordsman!. They 1) Modify SR checks/Stunts 2) add to Combat adds and 3) can be used Defensively to provide Armor in Melee. Missle Skills cannot be used Defensively but can Modify First Strike when applicable(fast-draw etc.)

SPD-using the Monsters! Monsters! format of Slow, Medium, Fast...makes Athletics/Running Skills more important.

Combat Rounds- ten seconds for Fast&Furious action!

Types:

Heroic Normal-get 10 extra starting Skill Points. Luck is raised to 14 if less than that. In addition, they are the only Type able to Press Thier Luck-when failing any SR roll, they may "spend" Luck Points(reflecting resourcefulness and daring). Naturally they use the lowered Luck until it returns-at one per hour.

Prodigy-get 10 extra Skill points. Choose one "Meta-Skill" at +10 and a Special ability related to the skill...
Examples-
Lung Ho Weng, Exalted Dragon Kung Fu(unarmed) +10 ( Weapon Master, +5 to Armed Melee combat-nunchucku, knives etc.)
John Bull, the Fighting Englishman, Master Boxer +10 (One Man Army, gets +1 Combat Add for every extra opponent facing him-but only him!)

Unnaturals- choose two Unnatural Abilities, or roll randomly for three. Any Unnatural Ability may be Upgraded by placing a Limiter upon it (a bit like the Hero System but without the number-crunching).

Hindrances-any PC may choose one or more of these to start. Hindrances may be physical, psychological or social...they provide NO benefits at all. However, any time one affects the PC in a serious way during the game, the GM grants you a quick 40 AP!

Advancement-when gaining a Level, the PC may pick 1) 2 points to attribute(s), 2) 5 Skill Points or 3) 1 pt to Attribute and 3 Skill points.

That should be background enough.....

[order99]

LORD DAIN - Heroic Normal, Lvl 3
(Hunts the Most Dangerous Game-CRIME!!)

ST 14
DX 13
IQ 11
CH 12
LK 15
CN 16
SPD-Slow
Combat +6
Skills- Survival(+3) Set Snares(+2) Train Animal(+3) Rifle(+2) Stalk Prey(+2) Pistol(+2) Athlete(+1) Cartography(+1)
Special- Press Luck.
Hindrances- Poacher's Bullet(in leg, hence the Slow SPD) Eye for the Ladies, Danger Junkie.
Standard Equipment- Webly Pistol(4D) Reinforced Leather Coat(1 pt Armor) Swordcane(2D+2) Loyal Wolfhound(Ferocity=2D+4, CN=12).

His Hunting Career cut short by a Poacher's bullet(leaving him too lame to be effective in the jungles of India) Lord Kevin Dain found solace in hunting down and capturing his foe. A new career opened before him...

[order99]

MR GRAVES - Prodigy, Lvl 2
( Mad At The Academy!)

ST 10
DX 13
IQ 17
CH 8
LK 11
CN 12
SPD-Medium
Combat +1
Skills- Sumerian, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, English(written& Spoken, 2 pts apiece. Yithian is native) Non-Euclidean Math(+3), Unnerving Smile(+2) Gourmet Cooking(+2) Medicine(+2) Brawl(+1)
Special- Mad Alien Science(+10) Special Ability-Improvise Parts(cuts inventing costs by 80%).
Hindrances-Former Bedlamite, No Fashion Sense, Curiosity Killed the Cat.
Equipment- X-fueled Horseless Runabout, Lightning Gun(2D6, target must make a Lvl 1 CN SR or pass out for1D rounds) Strange Humming Doorway in Basement!
Formerly known as Eric Gruener, the man known as Mr Graves is actually a Yithin-a member of the Great Race of Yith, able to propel thier minds forward in time and switch mental states with the inhabitants. Graves underwent a period of "adjustment" (incarcerated in Bedlam) and proceeded to interest himself in (stick his nose in) anything that caught his interests...

[order99]

THE IRON ROSE- Rose Erin Carter, Lvl 3 Unnatural
(Human Ironclad)

ST 16
DX 11
IQ 12
CH 10
LK 9
CN 13
SPD-Medium
Combat +4
Skill- Athletics(+2) Unladylike Brawling(+2) Diplomacy(+2) Nurse(+2)
Special:
Steel-hard Skin (Armor 12, Fireproof, weighs 250 pounds, ST cut in half for Swim checks)
Steel-hard Fists(2D weapons, DX-related skills cost an extra point/lvl due to loss of touch)
Hindrances-Bitter and Angry, Suffragette, No Patience for Fools, Roots for the Underdog.
Equipment- Lots of Cash(TRY stealing it!) First Aid Kit.

Kidnappedby white slavers and sent to Borneo, Rose was abused by a lunatic researcher and barely escaped with her life. During her stay she was treated with an experimental, blood-coppery metal found in a meteor crater near Kilamanjaro...since then, she has become as heavy and tough as wrought-iron, and developed massive muscles simply from carrying all that extra weight! Recently, Rose had the satisfaction of finding her original kidnappers and beating every one of them to death...

[gwindel]

Your Mask of Red Death campaign must have been a lot of fun! Did it last long?

[order99]

THE ACCELERATED MAN- Lloyd Carville, Lvl 2 Unnatural
(Who Was That Blur?)

ST 10
DX 19
IQ 13
CH 10
LK 12
CN 14
SPD-Fast
Combat +7
Skills- Pharmacist(+3) Athlete(+3) Fencing(+1)
Special:
Accelerated Physique-Fast SPD, +5 DX.
HyperSpeed-Vehicle SPD, 2 actions/attacks per round. Costs 1 pt from Power Reserve per round. Reserve=14, replenishes at 1/hour.
Hindrances-Painfully Honest, Reputation for being Bad Luck, Speed Kills(anytime Power Reserve=0, he takes 1D3 to CN from muscle strain, heart palpitations and friction burns).
Equipment-sturdy boots, goggles, thermos of piping hot tea and bottle of aspirins, often carrying Important Messages for extra cash...

Lloyd was fortunate enough to study under the famous Professor Gibberdyne-and unfortunate enough to be near the explosion of Accelerator Fluid which killed his mentor(the slightest motion created friction burns which killed him in seconds!!). Lloyd's exposure to the diluted spray left him capable of producing trace amounts of the Accelerator in his own body at will-enough to harm him at times...but with the risk comes the ability to outrace the fastest Arabian racehorses or Greyhounds with but a stray thought. Odd metabolism aside, Lloyd wishes he could get a decent Pharmacy job, perhaps open a Chemist's Shop-instead, the only man interested in hiring him claims that the Atom can be Split In Half! A Madman, but he pays well, and then there's that Lightning Ray of his...

[order99]

THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE- Alex Caine, LvL 1 Prodigy
( Did You Say Something?)

ST 11
DX 10
IQ 14
CH 7
LK 16
CN 12
SPD-Medium
Combat +4
Skills-Writer(+4) Research(+2) Locksmithing(+2) Gossip(+2) Knife Throwing(+1)
Special- Lurking About(+10) to all hiding/shadowing checks, Special Ability-Totally Unremarkable, hard to describe from memory.
Hindrances-Ignored, Lonely, Inquisitive, Romantic at Heart.
Equipment-Mariette Pepperbox(3D), a Knife or Two(2D-1) pencil and paper, whatever he wants to borrow or steal(who notices or cares?) Lockpicks.

Alex was a lonely child, often ignored. One day in his late Teens, Alex came home to find an entirely different family living there-his parents had moved. He stayed in the attic and raided the pantry for days before the new tenants caught a glimpse of him...hours later, he knocked at the door to apologize and was politely greeted-they didn't recognize him! Alex moved from job to job, doing competant work no one remembered to pay him for, so he'd take it from the till and no one would notice...he finally began a decent career as a writer of artcles for the London Gazette. The articles arrived by mail, the checks came to his address-it was a living, but not a life...
Finally, Alex found a group of Intrepid Adventurers, ones who actually remembered his existance! He has to shout to get thier attention sometimes(and they still have to use the Big Yellow Nametag approach) but a man who can wander blithely through Buckingham Palace or the Thuggee Temple as easily as shopping for groceries has his uses...

NOTE: This character was for a part-time player I had at the table about one session out of three...when he was there, he contributed and had fun. When he wasn't, the other players would find handwritten notes with valuable clues or painstaking research taped to the Icebox...it worked pretty well!

[order99]

YYAAaawwnnn....

Out of Coffee. I'll Post some more conversions from the old files later...

[order99]

Didn't mean to ignore you Gwindel, I was on a roll... ;D

Yeah, the Masque of the Red Death campaign started about 1995 and ran for a few months...sadly, some of us started tossing aside the Gothic Horror tropes and treating it like Ghostbusters:1889! You know, hunting Vampires with explosives-loaded Orphans, publicly challenging Jack the Ripper to a Bodycount contest(extra points for Most Gruesome!), things like that...

Finally, the GM had enough and started the quote which led to our next game-"Good God people! This is supposed to be a game of Gothic Horror, not the Legion of Mad, Bad Supervillians!!!"...

And then he got that gleam in his eye...next week, he showed up with his copy of Masque and the Gamma World Mutations Chart. That ran off and on for about three years(two games per month) and a tremendous time was had by all...best of all, the Final Episode had Our Heroes going all out to save the world-from our old powergaming Masque characters! Oh the GM racked up the Irony Points that day...

[order99]

Here's an original one, just to show the Alpha Test's versatility...

THE JACKAL- Avram Moussard, Lvl 1 Lycanthrope
(Even a Man Who's Pure at Heart...)


ST 12/30
DX 13/3
IQ 12/6
CH 14/ AAAAHHHH!!!
LK 11/7
CN 13/39
SPD-Medium/Fast
Combat +1/+10
Skills-English, French(written and spoken, 2 pts apiece, native is Arabic) Egyptian Legends(+2) Antiquities(+1) Track by Scent(+1 but at full IQ in both forms).
Special: Lycanthrope. Heals 7 damage per 10 min. unless the weapon is Gold-plated, Base Attack 2d+2(+Adds) in wereform, heals CN in human form 1 per 10 min.(MM rules).
Hindrances: Regretfully Celibate, Minority Status outside Homeland, Involuntary Change when Badly Wounded(!!!) Obsessed with Returning Grave Goods to the former Owners.
Equipment: Small, valuable gemstones and silver coins, Silver Ankh pendant, Gentleman's Cane weighted with a steel core(2D+1).

In Approx. 1660, an Egyptian Tomb Robber accidentally awakened a powerful Spirit, who cursed him "And All Your Descendants to feast upon Corruption...until amends have been made to Ra and all those who peacefully slumber in His Arms. BEGONE!!" A mute, Cursed Jackal fled screaming into the Desert...
Centuries later, the Curse is beginning to fade...though Ra's Metal sears him and the Beast lurks close to his skin, Avram Moussard has been blessed with the ability to walk in Human form. He worries his adopted parents with his quest to return Egypt's treasures to Egypt, his long treks alone in the desert(he goes to visit his semi-sentient littermates) and wish he would just find a nice wife and settle down. Avram would like this as well, but is terrified that he would found a line of Jackal Demons...

(pretty much a straight MM conversion-what do you think?)