New Friday Game: FR3@k$!

I've been itching to run a homebrew campaign recently. It's been years since I've run something of my own devising. I had a brainstorming session with my wife and Ed Doolittle. I'm at my best when I can bounce ideas off people, and Ed made a great addition to the usual team of Veronica and me. Ed has been requesting more time with Savage Worlds, so we made that decision first. Then we started talking about what I find interesting recently, since I'll be GMing.

Last Black Friday, Vern and I picked up a Blu-Ray of the movie Push for five bucks. I know the movie wasn't a hit, but I'd heard it was a great gamer movie. Turns out we really liked it. Further, it reminded us of the TV show, Alphas. This was a good start, so I decided to revisit it. I also thought Heroes, Mutant X, and the last couple seasons of Smallville would provide more ideas. All these things have one major theme in common: government interference with people who have powers.

I'm also a fan of the action/horror influence from shows like Angel, Grim, and Supernatural--and to a lesser extent, Being Human. They all deal with monsters, but rather than the black and white of good and evil, these monsters live in shades of gray--vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night, trying to turn over a new leaf. I thought there should be a darker side to the world we'll be playing in, so perhaps the same source that gives power to humans could give it to monsters. Not sure yet where this is going, but I want to keep it in my pocket just in case.

What follows is the setting document I delivered to my players:

FR3@K$!: HUMANITY EVOLVED

You’re human, but you’re more than human. You have power, but you’ve learned not to flaunt it. You’re a freak. You’re not alone, but it’s tough to find others like you. The obvious ones tend to disappear.

This homebrew setting uses the Savage Worlds Deluxe core rules and the Super Powers Companion. The setting takes it’s cues from movies and TV like Alphas, Heroes, Push, and Smallville. While the characters have powers that seem super, no one runs around in a cape and tights.

The premise for this campaign is one of discovery. You and your conspirators have formed a paranormal investigation agency in the hopes of finding others like you and to discover why you are the way you are. Players begin the campaign acquainted with each other and already working together. The how and why of your relationships will be determined during character creation.

Setting Rules 

The following Setting Rules from the Super Powers Companion are in play: Street Heroes (p. 8), Inherent Power (Total Power, 15 PP, p. 9), Knockback (p.10; note the limit from Street Heroes), and Unarmed Defenders (p. 11).

Creation Rules 

All characters are human. In addition to the free Edge available to humans, they begin with Arcane Background (Super Powers) from the Super Powers Companion, with 15 Power Points for selecting powers. There is no mechanical way to increase the number of starting Power Points.

Hindrances: The following Hindrances from the Super Powers Companion are not available to player characters: Alien Form and Distinctive Appearance.

Edges: The following Edges from the core rules are not available to player characters: Adept, Champion, Gadgeteer, Holy/Unholy Warrior, Mentalist, Mr. Fix It, Wizard, and all Power Edges.

Powers: When selecting powers, note the Device modifier is not available—powers must be inherent to the character. All powers in the Super Powers Companion are available except the following: construct, extra limbs, flight, growth, headquarters, invent, minions, shrink, swinging, undead, vehicle.

Thoughts on the @ReverbGamers Master List

I found the master list on January 3rd, so I started late. And aside from the one hiccup, I managed to post daily, even when I had other things to talk about. My goals were to: 1) increase readership of my blog, 2) be forced to post regularly, 3) reveal stuff about myself as a gamer, and 4) use the momentum to keep blogging regularly. I definitely met the first three goals. We'll see how goal 4 goes.

Most of the questions were good, but some were stinkers. My lamest post was the one about NPC creatures, but that's mostly because I thought it was a dumb question. I'm sure it was meant to be playful, but it just didn't do anything for me at all.

Posting daily was a huge pain in the rear sometimes. I mitigated some of it by answering multiple questions at once, when I could, and just scheduling them out on their respective days, but I still found myself scrambling to write a post here and there.

In addition to my goals I got to take multiple trips down memory lane and learn a bit about myself. And that was a Good Thing (TM).

Overall it was a good experience. I don't think I'd do this again, but it was fun.

We now return you to my regular ramblings on this blog. Hopefully they will be more consistent.

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 31

#31: How would your life be different if you'd never gotten into gaming?

Everything would be different. I have a gamer wife (and now a gamer daughter), most of my friends game, I podcast about games, I'm designing three games... See the point here?

I might have more money. I don't even want to think about how much money I have spent on games since that fateful day in 1984 when my friend Tony showed me AD&D. Of course is the money spent indicative to gaming or just part of my personality? Would I own a couple muscle cars or a dozen high-end radio controlled cars if those hobbies had stuck? Who knows?

I don't think I'd be as socially comfortable as I am. I think I became a gamer because I'm social, but I think I've excelled at the art of talking to people because I'm a gamer.

These "what if" questions are always so weird...

Would I go back and change it if I could? Oh, hell no!

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 30

#30: What lessons have you taken from gaming that you can apply to your real life?

I think this question is worded poorly, so I am going to have to answer it twice.

Is the question meant to be: "What lessons have you learned in-game that you've applied to real life?"


To answer it this way, which is the way I think it's meant, I'd have to say sort of. Roleplaying is a very social activity for me. So I've learned how to be more social. I've learned to take chances. And as a GM, I've been semi-forced into looking closely at why people do things and how do different people think. These are all useful things in "real life".

Is the question meant to imply that people who game are not experiencing "real life" when they do so?

I hope this is just a poorly-worded question because otherwise it would be a little insulting. To imply gaming isn't part of real life would be wrong-headed and ignorant. Roleplaying is a part of my life. I roleplay with friends, typically. When I roleplay in public--stores and cons--I make friends. So for me--at least partially--gaming is an activity I take part in as a vehicle for hanging out with my friends. It's very much real life. Have I learned things about "real life" while doing it? Sure. Because I'm talking with people.

@ReverGamers Master List Number 29

#29: What does the word "gamer" mean to you? Is that different than what other people seem to think it means?

I'll answer the second question first. The meaning of the word has changed within my lifetime. So I'll give the progression here.

When I was a kid, the word typically meant a person who plays RPGs and/or, to a lesser extent in the '80s, wargames (in the '70s there was a lot more overlap, I'm told). It was used to self-identify by gamers, and it was used in a derogatory way by non-gamers. "Oh, he's a gamer." I think it was derogatory, mostly to people who didn't understand it.

Today, the word has been co-opted by video games. If you self-identify as a gamer, people typically assume you play a lot of video games. I don't think being labeled a gamer is as negative as it used to be (geek chic and all).

I've taken to calling myself a tabletop gamer or pen and paper gamer or roleplayer. Then I have to explain it. I've also found people who play primarily board games use the term among each other. So essentially, if you are a gamer, and you're not a video gamer, you probably have to explain yourself--that is assuming it matters enough to you to explain.

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 28

#28: Do you have any house rules when you game? What are they, and why do you use them? If not, why not?

There are two house rules. The first one is pretty common. I believe the second one is becoming common.

1) Floor dice don't count. If the dice hit the floor they get re-rolled. This rule is an old one for me. I think it comes from worrying about people cheating when they pick up their die. I'm not so much worried about that today--if cheating is what floats your boat, and it's not negatively affecting the other players, go for it. These days, this rule is just tradition.

2) This rule is completely non-negotiable. Those who play in my house must be kid friendly. This rule is about eight years old at the time of this writing. My wife and I have a daughter. She can be loud and obnoxious. She's been known to interrupt the game on occasion. And we don't apologize for her. If this is a problem for you, you may game elsewhere. Our current weekly game consists of mostly parents and one kid friendly non-parent. The other parents bring their kids too. The reason for this is pretty simple. We want to game. And we would like for our daughter to look at gaming positively. To encourage this, we don't ship her off to a relative or babysitter when we game. It's just something that happens in our house.

Heck, these days, we game with out daughter on occasion.

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 27

#27: If you were an Ent, what kind of Ent would you be? Or, what other NPC creature would you be? Why?

If I could be a creature it would be a dragon, only I wouldn't have a compulsion for gold. I'd rule a large swath of land with benevolence. I'd fight off armies and protect my people.

And that is all.