Invisibles Friday: Poor People Gonna Rise Up...

So, every Friday now I am going to post about an issue of the Grant Morrison comic The Invisibles. Part of me wants to just pick issues at random and talk about them, but I'll be good and stick to talking about the run in order. I'm going to be honest, despite having loved comics like The Doom Patrol and Sebastian O, I was not a huge fan of this comic at first. The first story arc  just didn't connect with me like some of Morrison's previous work had done.

I read the first story arc and decided that the book wasn't for me.

Then months later I read about the controversy surrounding the book in the comic press (back in the days when we read magazines to find out about what was going on in comics). DC Comics had some dialog changed in the book, in one case a line spoken by the Marquis de Sade was changed so that it would not sound as if children were being "used" in the story, and in another case a reference to Walt Disney was blacked out. What is interesting is the fact that both bits were restored to what Morrison intended in the collected editions.

However, the article that talked about the censoring also talked about the second story arc Arcadia, and the article intrigued me enough to pick the book back up and start reading it again. I didn't stop until the book ended its run.

The Invisibles has received a lot of press and critical thought over the years. I am not sure what this series is going to contribute to that body of work, but we will see. My intention isn't to be scholarly or to compile annotations. I am just going to go through each issue, give my thoughts and impressions and talk about what I saw in that book. Breaking down all of the magical symbolism will probably take a stronger mind than mine.

Beetles and Beatles play an important role in this first issue. Beetles play an important part in the symbolism of birth and rebirth, and that is the running theme of this first story arc (and most of the run of The Invisibles as well). Dane McGowan must be reborn into his role of Jack Frost in order to save the world from Armageddon. This is a theme that Morrison uses often. His JLA run dealt with the Earth's super-heroes running up against the ultimate Armageddon in the form of the sleeping God Weapon Mageddon. This wasn't an unusual theme around the millennium.

John Lennon is the other Beatle toplay a part in the story. Dane see him talking with Stuart Sutcliffe on the banks of a Liverpool river, a moment of soft time when the past and the future were able to touch. Later in the issue Lennon is adapted in Chaos Magick style into a psychedelic Godshead and summoned by King Mob as an augury of the future.

Is Lennon actually being summoned, or it is just a metafictional trick of King Mob's unconscious mind, telling him what he already knows to be true? In a book like The Invisibles the answer can go either way.

For a lot of people, Grant Morrison is a fairly incomprehensible writer. He certainly doesn't write the typical comic book stories, whether he's working on a book like The Invisibles or comics like New X-Men or JLA. He has a certain psychedelic style (of which the above page is fairly representative) and an enthusiasm for the medium that I find contagious. I may not like everything that he does, but when he is on I think he is one of the best writers in comics.

The antagonists introduced in this issue show two of Morrison's influences writ large: Williams S. Burroughs and H.P. Lovecraft. The reason that I use the more generic term of "antagonist," because I am not always convinced that King Mob and his Invisibles cell are always the hero of this story. Even as the "good guys," they do a lot of things that don't set them that far from the antagonists.

Control is bad. Freedom is awesome. It is Michael Moorcock's Law versus Chaos, D&D great, eternal conflict, done up in comic book form. This isn't anything new, really. DC Comics has used a version of Moorcock's Law vs. Chaos for decades in their book. This won't be the only time that Moorcock's influence will show up in this book.

I think that for me, a big part of the appeal of this book (once it really had my attention) was the fact that it took a lot of the things that I was interested in: Moorcock, Lovecraft, Burroughs; and wrote about them in a new context. Throughout the run we will see visits from the Divine Marquis, Borges and P.K. Dick on the evolving story as well.

One thing that I will likely get to in one of these posts was the Grant Morrison Versus Warner Brothers story that happened, as Morrison claimed that the movie The Matrix took some of the concepts of The Invisibles without crediting him for them. As we will see, the theme of initiation (so important to occult thinking) will be important to this first story arc, and as initiation is a fairly universal literary/mystic theme it is not unusual that stories that deal with the theme will have some points of commonality.

Corridors are an important theme as well, as they are symbolic of journeys and traveling. This is something that will pop up more than once as we go through these comics.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty. How did this comic hold up? I almost wish that I hadn't read these comics in a long while, so that I could come at them with a fresher perspective. That said, I do still think that they hold up fairly well. Grant Morrison's The Invisibles is part of a British cultural "invasion," not all that different from the invasion lead by The Beatles in the 60s. Morrison's work represents a comic/literary aspect, falling in step with musicians like Blur and Oasis, of a movement that took the popular culture of the past and synthesized it into something that was representative of the (then) current times. A lot of the fears and insecurities that The Invisibles comments upon are still plaguing the world as well.

With The Invisibles, Morrison gives us a millennial view of Britian in comic book form, not dis-similar to what Jamie Delano gave us in the 80s with Hellblazer, the first John Constantine solo comic. Both of these comics are an attempt to look into the psyche of the nation of their respective times. In a way, it builds upon the British comics culture started by magazines like 2000AD and creators like Pat Mills.

As we will see, more even than mainstream books like JLA or even Aztek, The Invisibles will show us the heights and depths of Morrison's powers as a creator. Some of his greatest storytelling is going to happen in these pages, and we are going to go along for the ride.

Why should you read The Invisibles if you haven't already? Well, if you like any of the authors that I have listed as being influential on this comic then you might like this comic as well. If you are looking for a comic that makes you think, is more than just a passive form of storytelling, and that deals with more than just comic book super-heroes, you should check out The Invisibles. Sometimes horror, sometimes fantasy and sometimes science fiction, this comic is most likely the story that Morrison was meant to tell in comics. So, even if you have only read his work on Batman, or Action Comics, check out a couple of the early issues of this on Comixology or pick up the first trade from your local comic store (or your preferred internet seller) and give it a try. There's a lot in here for gamers to find as well. If you're looking for something new for your modern horror or adventure campaigns, you could do much worse than to tap into the energies of Grant Morrison's The Invisibles.

Next week we will be back with a look at the second issue.

Now, since music was an important influence on Morrison's writing I am going to close with an unrelated music video. I think that it ties in well enough with the story of Dane that I named this post after a quote from it.

We're talking about a revolution...

A Dorkland! Interview -- Mutant Chronicles 3rd Ed. with Chris Birch

Despite running a wildly popular Kickstarter, Chris Birch of Modiphius Entertainment still managed to find some time to answer some of the questions we here at Dorkland! had about Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition and its Kickstarter.

 

Dorkland!: Have you learned anything new from the Mutant Chronicles Kickstarter and what might that be?

Chris Birch: Good question - well I would say that there are so many massive Mutant Chronicles fans who've just been waiting for the return of this awesome game. I keep being surprised every day as more and more join in the Kickstarter - it's like people are coming home!

DL: You've run a very successful Kickstarter before and are currently running another very successful one -- what do you feel is your reason for such success?

CB: I think it's about the huge amount of ground work we do before we get to the Kickstarter - building up the fan base, talking to them, finding out what people really want, not just what we think they want then using that to steer our cool ideas. We already knew what we were going to do with the story, but learning what products people wanted to see first, and what aspects of the Mutant Chronicles universe were more important was a huge help in shaping the releases. We had been playtesting with over 400 groups over 6 months so once you get to those kinds of numbers you can have a great start to the Kickstarter. But then it's about keeping up the hard work. You don't just sit back; you are constantly talking to people, responding, giving feedback, creating new graphics, art and sculpts to show off to keep the excitement level high. So many people think they can stick their new idea on Kickstarter with no backup, no research, and no effort day by day - and that's why not every project succeeds. We're often up till 3am working on the Kickstarter, but also the day to day business of Modiphius and it's really hard work - which is why not everyone is willing to do it. I will say though it's such rewarding work - as you see the response of your efforts almost immediately and get to talk to people who are as passionate as us. 

DL: Mutant Chronicles was created in the 1990's and the old editions show it. Will you be doing any updates to the setting to bring it more in-line with modern technological sensibilities? If so, how? Or, if not, why?

CB: The setting was actually very diesel punk although they called it techno-fantasy. The techno-fantasy is still there but we're defining the tech levels before and after the outbreak of the Dark Symmetry - what do the ships look like before the computer systems fail, and what do they end up looking like. We've drawn together all the disparate stories and timelines in to one, worked out the backstory, filled in some of the odd gaps and answered questions left hanging so people are going to discover all of this through the books. The big thing about the setting is it sits nicely in the diesel punk genre that's appeared which is where it's a 1940's/50's era of technology, everything's bigger and chunkier than it needs to be, engines are massive, vehicles huge, shoulder pads bigger! This all works with the 90's era of design they had at the time, and as we develop the looks of the worlds, buildings, ships and more it will all fit nicely with what has gone before as we'll be reusing the classic Paul Bonner art alongside new artists and the point was to bring the rest of the universe to life, not reinvent it for the sake of it. 

DL: The rules will be undergoing a change, what are some of the changes? Will it still utilize the roll-under method?

CB: Yes it's still a d20 roll under, we're making a big announcement about the rules on Monday the 17th of February, so people will know a lot more about the direction we're taking then and we hope to have a revised beta available about a week later (or before the end of the Kickstarter at least) for people to test out. It's being designed to be a really cinematic system though, allowing to you do all the crazy stunts you always imagined you should be able to do in Mutant Chronicles, without the GM suffering under a weight of stats and modifiers etc. 

DL: One of my favorite parts of the older Mutant Chronicles game was the background cycle during character creation -- what is going to happen to it in the 3rd edition?

CB: Yes, the Lifepath character generation was one of my favourite parts too, and we intend to expand on this, bringing a lot more flavoured events in to the process. It will really help you shape a very cool RPG character, but we'll also have a points buy system for those who have a specific concept they want.  

DL: Why combine the Algeroth and Ilian Guide books into the Dark Soul book?

CB: Well, actually what I should say is that the core book will contain a lot more info on all of the Dark Legion Apostles and then the Dark Soul book will expand on this for each of them as well as covering Pluto, Nero, the Dark Legion's history and much more. The idea was to bring together Ilian's and Algeroth's material in from the two books and enhance it with the rest of the Apostles. We also wanted to show how different they each are - so there will be more defined strategies and the creatures properly broken down, so each apostle has different types of heretic and creatures. The creatures and heretics are all described by how they try to attack - what their tactics are. 

DL: Will all of the original Guide books be given the 3rd edition treatment, even if their stretch goals are not met? What exactly is going to be done with the Guide books? Will they differ from the previous edition?

CB: Yes, we're bringing back all the original guides, though the Freelancer supplement is now included in a specific more detailed guide of Luna for example, and yes we'll be publishing all the books regardless of whether they get unlocked through the Kickstarter. They will be re-written, fleshed out with new material, expanded to be major geographic sourcebooks so, for example, Capitol is also the guide to Mars. There will be a lot more insight in to the organisation, gear and resources, character options etc. 

DL: What is some of the new, expanded content going to be? Are we going to get new Guide books?

CB: There's a lot more storyline to include, the histories and relationships of the Corporations, more cool gear, ships, more guide books detailing things like Mutations (which is will be a growing theme through the storyline - don't worry, no talking rabbits!) rules for spaceship combat, running your own corporation or shipping company - a great kick off for adventures, loads of new content on the Dark Legion

DL: Three campaigns are planned for 3rd edition -- will these relate to the Venusian Apocalypse adventures in any way? Will anything be done with the Venusian Aplocalypse books? If not, how easy or hard might it be to convert them to the 3rd edition?

CB: We plan to convert the Venusian Apocalypse for 3rd Edition and bring it up to date with more artwork, maps and, allegedly, there was an Episode 4. So, I have a feeling that will be really exciting as you'll be able to find out where the storyline was planned to go. There will be a major campaign book (which also reveals some of the secrets) set during the first Dark Legion War starting days after the Pluto landings, leading right up to the final climatic assault on the citadel. The second major campaign book focuses on the 2nd Dark Legion War and is more epic in scale and power. Whilst the third campaign is set during the Dark Eden period (which is still part of the 2nd Dark Legion War) and has a big focus on Earth. 

DL: Lastly, there are a lot of very interesting facets to the Mutant Chronicles universe -- what are your favorite parts of it? What are the aspects that really get you excited about this game and setting?

CB: I think it was the techno-fantasy but with the grounding in the civilisations we know - it's kind of near future, recognisable designs and styling, but the techno-fantasy element lets us do anything. The universe is full of extremes, massive guns, bigger shoulder pads, insane battles and stories. It's the final stand of humanity and I love stories that deal with the epic heroism possible in such extremes.

We here at Dorkland! would like to thank Chris Birch for his time and wish him the best with the ongoing Kickstarter. If you would like to know more about giant shoulder pads, Dark Symmetry, and corporate life, be sure to check out the Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition Kickstarter page or Modiphius Entertainment's website.

Deadworld Monday: The Original Walking Dead Comic

Today I start my series of commentary and criticism on the DeadWorld comic. I am going to be focusing mostly on the original run of the series, published originally through Arrow Comics and eventually finding its home with Caliber Comics. If you want to read along, you can pick up this issue of DeadWorld through DriveThruComics for only 99 cents in electronic form. Yes, that is an affiliate link, I hope that you will support both the original creators and the blog.

Warning, there are spoilers.

As a disclosure, I really wasn't a fan of DeadWorld at the time that it came out. I was a late comer to the comic. A few years ago, when I was part of another RPG publisher, I approached Caliber publisher Gary Reed about the rights to Baker Street for role-playing, unfortunately they weren't available but as we talked about his other properties we came to DeadWorld. We talked and made a deal to bring DeadWorld to role-playing, but (as with many things in this business) it did not work out. Caliber Comics published some incredibly rich world, and hopefully one day they will end up in a role-playing game from someone.

The short version of this story is that, while researching the book for the writing of the RPG, I came to be a big fan of DeadWorld. While I am going to be talking about the classic run, the book is still out today through IDW and you can probably still find the Image Comics edition trades in comic stores.

What made DeadWorld so cool, right out of the gate? Two words:Vince Locke. The cover from the first issue of the comic almost lets you know what what you are getting in for with this comic. Zombies, of course.

The story starts in Louisiana. We don't know why, and this is mostly because the main characters don't know either, but the dead have risen and the world is in chaos. Fans of the original Night of the Living Dead will recognize this set up. In fact, this first issue has George Romero's finger prints all over it. The characters are fighting for survival. The geography is very limited. Characters get hurt. However, it manages to keep above being a pastiche and rapidly becomes its own thing.

Right off the bat you start to get an idea of who the characters are, and some of their social relationships. While some of these people were friends before the zombies came, some of them were also thrown together out of a need for survival.

In this page we have the introductions of Dan, Donna, Mickey, Joey (Spud), and Dan. In just a few panels Stuart Kerr, the writer, gives each character a personality and starts to set up the interpersonal dynamics of their relationships. We know that the dead rising didn't just happen, but it is still recent enough that no one really knows yet what to do about things.

One of the things that fascinated me about this, coming to DeadWorld after the fact, was the fact that this is a world where the internet did not yet exist and where the media was not as ubiquitous as it is nowadays. This actually adds a layer of authenticity to the comic for me, and helps support why people don't really know what happened. There were no embedded reporters going down to the zombie onslaught on live television, or streaming internet video. This makes DeadWorld almost an alternate past of what the world could have turned into, if zombies had destroyed civilization 30-some years ago.

And then, of course, zombies attack:

For many, this is going to be the meat of the comic. The thing is that it isn't. To be honest, particularly in hindsight, a horde of attacking zombies isn't any big deal. The really important part of the story, the thing that was scary and intriguing for me, came a few pages before the zombie attack.

That's right. These zombies are organized, and their leaders cannot only talk...but they cane think as well. These panels gives us our first look at King Zombie, an important character who will come up in future issues (and posts). And not only can they talk and think...they can ride motorcycles.

How metal is that?

Of course, the motorcycle-riding zombies scare the hell out of the characters, who have never seen or heard of such things. This is also, for me, what sets DeadWorld apart from other zombie comics out there. They weren't afraid to do things that you wouldn't expect. Over the course of these posts we will see more of these intelligent zombies, their plans and their actions.

Kerr and Locke hit the ground running with this first issue of DeadWorld. We already have an idea of what the world is like (the characters are forced to scavenge and forage for food and materials, zombies are pretty prevalent in the world, society's infrastructure has collapsed) and then they pull the rug out from under the readers and the characters by showing that there might be an intelligent force behind all of this, guiding things.

So, this is our first DeadWorld Monday post. I may periodically supplement these with gaming related posts as well, but mostly I am going to talk about the comic, what makes it cool and why I think you should find it for yourself. Go back up to the top of the post and click on the link and buy your own copy of the comic.

Dorkland Interview With British Comics Force Pat Mills

Pat Mills is a force in British comics, and one who may not be as recognized as a name in the States despite the fact that he created or co-created such important and seminal characters as Judge Dredd, Nemesis The Warlock, Slaine and Marshall Law. He is also responsible for starting the British comic magazine 2000AD, which is still publishing today. I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Mills because of the upcoming reissue of his Accident Man comics from Titan Comics. Here is how it went...

Dorkland: Thank you for taking the time for this interview. Before we get to talking about the reprint of your Accident Man comics, can we set a little of your biography for those who may not know about it? You started out developing magazines and comics for D.C. Thomson and IPC, but for many one of your greatest, and lasting, creations was the 2000AD magazine. How did this come about, and what made you want to create a predominantly science-fiction magazine?

Pat Mills: I'd successfully produced Battle and Action so now IPC wanted another comic for the boys market. Science fiction was about to go big with Star Wars so an SF comic was the logical choice. 2000AD  was very successful when it came out. The film Star Wars followed a few months later and - surprisingly - our sales went down a little. Possibly because some readers went over to Marvel's version of the film.  For me, personally, I could probably adapt to a Western, Crime, or Horror comic. Basic drama and storytelling remains fundamentally the same.

DL: While with 2000AD you’ve created what are probably some of the most enduring characters of modern British comics in Judge Dredd, Nemesis The Warlock, The ABC Warriors and Slaine. Which of these characters are still your favorite, and what makes them still of interest to you as a writer?

PM: That's tough.  Probably Slaine because I'm in the throes of a new Slaine saga with Simon Davis which I'm really enjoying.  It's called A Simple Killing and is set in Britain and is part of a new story arc The Brutania Chronicles.  It holds my interest because there are still things i want to say about Slaine. The relationship with his father, for example, which was never explored in earlier stories. I also enjoy the sense of a character having real longevity and making the later stories every bit as strong as the early ones.

DL: You have created two of my favorite comic characters in Nemesis the Warlock and Marshall Law. Like most of your characters, neither of them are stereotypical comic characters. What qualities does a “Pat Mills” protagonist have to have, and what drives you to create these sorts of characters?

PM: Nemesis was the product of artist Kevin O'Neill and my Catholic  backgrounds. There's so much inspiration there. Torquemada is the embodiment of every racist and religious fanatic I've ever met or heard about.  Marshal Law originated because I have a huge admiration for genuine heroes who are usually ignored in fiction. I have little respect for super heroes who - in mainstream at least - are rarely heroes in the true meaning of the word. Usually they're pillars of the establishment armed with the magical equivalent of America's high tech weaponry which it uses to subdue the Third World. They ain't heroes. So Marshal Law's views and my own are rather close.  Thus  my heroes have to reflect my own experiences or views;  invariably they're under-dogs, often working class. It may be a catharsis for me to write them, but I think I also have a muse who drives me.   Who she/he/it is unknown but it's a powerful motivation and when I write traditional stories they invariably fail because my muse doesn't like them or motivate me.

DL: While Judge Dredd or Marshall Law are characters defined almost by moral absolutes, characters like Mike Fallon in Accident Man or Nemesis or Slaine are much more morally ambiguous. What is it that appeals to you, as a writer, about characters like that?

PM: They're all reflecting  truth. Accident Man kills people and makes it look like accidents. When you look at events over the last twenty years or more it's clear he's out there and kept busy. There was a time when heroes had to be moral in comics, but we've finally caught up with the rest of the media and have ambiguous characters, which reflect moral dilemmas in our own lives. That can be very absorbing to write and read. We need the comic equivalents of Breaking Bad.

DL: Humor is often a part of your stories, from biting satire to broader farces. How important of a tool is humor to you, as a writer?

PM: It's essential in comics. if it's all "straight",  it's probably a little tedious or worthy and readers will turn off. Even in Breaking Bad there's dark humour and so we need the same in comics. Satire tends to be my speciality. I think because the world is not the way it's presented to us and satire is a way of showing this. I grew up on humorous novels and satire - reading everything I could find that was satirical and that's doubtless reflected in my work. Books like Erewhon, Animal Farm, Gulliver's Travels and writers like Stephen Leacock spring to mind.

DL: One of my readers sent this question to me, to ask you: “With Judge Dredd having been made into a movie (twice!) are there any other of your characters that you would like to see adapted to movies or television?”

PM: Slaine, ABC Warriors and Accident Man would seem to be the most likely bets.  And we're looking at optioning Accident Man just now. So if we can wade through the small print in the contract we've been sent, that could happen. It also has the huge advantage of being low budget! It's been optioned before and I'm actually surprised it's never happened.

Charley's War: there is a lot of media interest  at this time because of the Great War anniversary. Hope I can say something more about that very soon.

Marshal Law we made it up to the Warner Brothers boardroom - just a few weeks before Watchmen came out. So that didn't fly - for reasons of timing and possibly the director and screenwriter assigned to the project. It's hard to gauge for certain. But we hope he's due another round.

American Reaper was commissioned by a film company and is a particularly cinematic story But often that's not enough.

Currently, my money is on Accident Man making it into the screen.

DL: If you could go back and give advice to the Pat Mills of the 70s or the 80s, what would that be?

I don't think I would do anything that different because of the pressures at the time.  But I wish I'd developed Misty - rather than just coming up with the concept - because I firmly believe there would be a strong  girls comic and adult female comic market now as a result. Stronger - or rather more popular culture - than it is now.

That's a big regret. But producing three comics was hard work and I really couldn't face another at the time.

DL: Let’s talk about Accident Man. Titan Comics is reprinting these stories in a large collected edition, and the preview of it that I have seen looks great. I was actually lucky enough to have seen some of this story in its original incarnation in your magazine Toxic! A friend brought a near complete run of the magazine back from a trip to the UK. What inspired the creation of this character?

PM: My writing partner Tony Skinner told me these guys really existed and elaborated enough to wet my appetite. Not only that, he had the technical knowledge to figure out how these "accidents" would be committed.  Rather like the way Agatha Christie weaved a whodunnit, Tony loved dreaming up ingenious accidents. We had so much fun writing him.  I wanted someone who was a reflection of the vapid, consumerist times we lived in and continue to live in.   A champion for capitalism, a shallow but very likeable guy.  And a piss-take, of course.

DL: Re-reading the preview of the collected edition, I was struck by just how timeless these stories are. What about Accident Man would appeal to the comic reader of today?

PM: Very little has changed. So we're hoping to put an Accident Man 2014 story on line soon. His hair is shaven now and he's ditched the Armani suits, but otherwise it's business as usual.  At the time we wrote him, I called him GQ Man and i was looking through GQ the other day, at the hairdressers, and the magazine hasn't changed. So Mike Fallon is still GQ Man!

DL: What is next for Pat Mills?

PM: I'm working on a Charley's War style series - Brothers in Arms - with artist David Hitchcock. Because there are so many aspects of World War One that haven't been explored in drama. For instance, government issue of cocaine tablets, a love of ragtime - early jazz - the rock and roll of its day, and widespread trading with the enemy.

DL: Thank you very much, for taking the time to do this interview. As a long time fan, it has been an honor to get the chance to talk with you.

PM: Cheers. Great talking with you, too.  Excellent questions.

Have a look at a preview of the re-issue of Mill's Accident Man comic, coming soon from Titan Comics.

 

Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition Kickstarter

Dark. That might be the best word to describe Mutant Chronicles. Modiphius Entertainment's Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition Kickstarter, however, is looking quite bright as it has long since obliterated its initial funding goal and has torn through several stretch goals already.

So, what is Mutant Chronicles? Well, here's an image that I think will help:

Apart from being some beautiful cover art, it shows off some elements that seem to be pretty key to the setting -- the man in the suit and sunglasses is very corporate, there are military forces (with spikes and skulls -- a must), and some alien-looking backdrops. Looking over the setting material briefly, the world feels like Shadowrun meets Warhammer 40k and that is something I find very attractive.

Modiphius is bringing in more than just pretty cover art, though, as they are using this Kickstarter to also re-design the rules and re-write the setting guides (along with adding new content).  So, what will it cost you to get in on all this dark-goodness?

First up is the Player's Guide PDF which you can get for £10. The Core Book PDF is £20. A printed copy of the Core Book is £40 (shipping is extra), or, for the same price, all PDFs that are unlocked during the Kickstarter, or the Core Book PDF and miniature sets (and shipping is extra). Quite a few options at the £40 level. (There are approximate conversion to USD on the Kickstarter page!)

For more information on Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition make sure to check out Modiphius Entertainment's website or the Kickstarter page.

Bulletproof Blues Second Edition Kickstarter

If there's one thing I truly love about doing Kickstarter articles for Dorkland it's the moments when I look over a Kickstarter and think, "Ooh, that's a good idea!" Well, the Bulletproof Blues Second Edition Kickstarter gave me one of those moments. Which I'll touch on at the end of this article (if you are thinking about creating a Kickstarter in the future, you might want to check that out).

First up, as usual, is a brief overview of the product -- Bulletproof Blues, a supers RPG by Brandon Blackmoor. There are a few things to know: the game is 'rules light', it takes place in the Kalos Universe (of Kalos Comics), and the first edition rules are free under the creative commons. So, any questions you might have rules-wise or setting-wise should be found within the game's actual rules. At least the first edition version of them. This Kickstarter, however, is for the second edition which is looking to expand upon the rules and create an even better book -- while still offering the rules up for creative commons. So your support would not only net you a copy of the rules (with any improvements made via the Kickstarter) but should also get more material out into the wilds -- for all to enjoy (or remove some excuses your players might have for not getting a copy of the rules, either/or).

That (somehow) leads us to: what can you get for your money?

For $5 you can get a copy of the first edition PDF (with some additional goodies). To get the second edition PDF will cost your $10 ($25 to also get the extra material PDFs unlocked in the Kickstarter). And a print edition will cost $45 (plus all the previous goodies). So, if you are fine with PDFs you can get in on this one at a reasonable price-point.

Finally, the bit mentioned in the opening paragraph -- that "Ooh" moment I had when first checking out this Kickstarter.

If you look at the funding point you'll see that it is fairly low -- just $1,500. Certainly, this isn't the biggest, most expensive RPG product around, but it is still doing something that I feel is very smart -- improving itself bit-by-bit instead of trying to fund everything at once. The base goal is to improve the art of the sample characters in the book. The next goal after that is for new cover art and so on. Using these smaller goals will allow them to fund (and as of this writing it's very close) almost assuredly -- meaning even if they don't garner many stretch goals, the book can still be improved to some degree. For smaller RPG developers I think that it is very important to get every bit of funding you can muster to create the best possible product. I am fairly certain I have seen this method used before, but still, it's something to seriously consider if you are looking to launch a Kickstarter.

Like always, if you want more information on Bulletproof Blues Second Edition, check out its Kickstarter page or Kalos Comics' website. 

The Old Order Changeth!!

For some comic geeks, the phrase that I used for the title of this post may seem familiar. It used to be used in The Avengers comics to signal that a change was coming to the team, that new members would be joining or other familiar favorites would be leaving. The source is from one of Tennyson's poems about Arthur, The Passing of Arthur (if you haven't read it, you really should):

And slowly answer’d Arthur from the barge: "The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And God fulfils himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me? I have liv’d my life, and that which I have done May He within himself make pure! but thou, If thou shouldst never see my face again, Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend? For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. But now farewell. I am going a long way With these thou seëst—if indeed I go
(For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)— To the island-valley of Avilion; Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies Deep-meadow’d, happy, fair with orchard lawns
And bowery hollows crown’d with summer sea, Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."

For us, here at the Dorkland! blog and related endeavors like the Geeky Voices Carry video blog/podcst, change is a good thing. Fresh blood brings fresh perspectives and diversity, and as we well know diversity is something that the geeky ways of life can't get enough of. And, yes, I just made you read a poem in order to get to the news portion of this post.

If you're familiar with our Geeky Voice Carry podcast, you'll know that every two weeks we record a new episode. We being myself, +Stacy Dellorfano, +David Rollins and +Josh Thompson. We each have strong, and particular viewpoints, and we aren't afraid to disagree with each other either. Geeky Voices Carry grew out of off the air discussions that we would have before our weekly Hangout on the Air game. Stacy one day suggested "We should do a podcast around our talks. It would be fun." That makes all of this her fault, in a good way.

I'm +Christopher Helton, the founder, lead blogger and editor of the Dorkland! blog and host of the Geeky Voices Carry video blog/podcast. That is my look of disdain for a lot of things on the internet (plus I just don't like getting my picture taken).

Honestly, when I started the blog back in 2003 and never thought that I would have a team of people as part of this blog or be doing a podcast. Heck, back then we didn't even have podcasts.

I started gaming at the age of 11 in 1979, when my family moved to a small town outside of Muncie, Indiana. You can say that it changed my life. Now I am the co-publisher of Battlefield Press, Inc., which has published the ENnie Award winning game setting City of Clocks, as well as the Victorian-era game Gaslight (which I will apparently be converting to Fate at some point this year). I designed the Open Core System and co-designed the d20 game Pulp Fantasy. I also have a few projects that should be dropping this year, including my Demon Codex and Paranormal Friction games and a new edition of the HeartQuest role-playing game.

I am the GM of our weekly Hangout on the Air games, and I like it that way. Considering what gets said on a weekly basis in our games, if you're afraid to play broadcast games because of what you say...I fear for what people are doing in their games that is so embarrassing. I am proud to be a geek, and gamer and to be associated with all of the people who write for the blog are a part of Geeky Voices Carry. My gaming, and my life in general has been enriched by all of you.

+David Rollins is a long time gamer and geek from Canada, in addition to being a professional photographer in what he quaintly styles his "real life." He also owes me a review. David has been a solid foundation in our weekly game. He has played a tough as nails Cleric in our Swords & Wizardry game, and he helped to playtest my strange, funky Magic-User variant for my Demon Codex game. He is a great player to have in a game, and he is good at looking at games from different angles. This skill has come in very handy on a number of playtests that we have run as a group. His perspective and insight have been invaluable to the podcast.

He is also playing a Ley Line Walker in our new Rifts game, despite the fact the the default language in game is American.

If you get a chance to have David in your hangout group for a one shot, or a few sessions...you should jump at the opportunity to game with this guy. I'm glad that I've been able to do so.

+Stacy Dellorfano is another awesome gaming dynamo that I am glad that I have had the chance to meet and game with. Hopefully, this summer that will extend to finally getting to meet her in person at Gen Con. In addition to being a great addition to our gaming group, Stacy is responsible for the creation of two incredible things the +ConTessa online gaming convention and the Randomocity gaming zine. With both of these, Stacy brings diversity and unique perspectives to the greater gaming community.

Stacy has been a lot of fun to game with because she brings a no-nonsense "Can I Kill It Yet?" perspective to the group. Not that the players really need any encouragement on that part. She has also proven, as part of the Geeky Voices Carry crew that she has opinions and she isn't afraid to use them in public.

Also, keep any eye open for Stacy's first game as a designer, Precious Dark, which is a fresh and interesting look at post-apocalyptic gaming. I'm really looking forward to seeing this come to full fruition.

Stacy plays "Shootit," a Catseye Hatchling Dragon, in our Rifts game.

+Josh Thompson, when not doing traffic reports during the morning drive time on Classic Rock radio station somewhere in the American South, is our resident mix/maxer and character optimizer. I think, for the first time ever in over 30 years of gaming, that this skill has proven itself valuable to our gaming. It has certainly helped when we've played in Competitive Dungeon Crawls, and in making characters for our Rifts game.

In addition to being part of the Geeky Voices Carry team, he has become the unofficial official Kickstarter correspondent for the Dorkland! blog. His interviews with Kickstarter project managers and analysis of Kickstarter projects will continue with the new year. Hopefully, I can convince him to pick up his Analog Pixels column, where he talks about the intersection of computer games and tabletop RPGs, and how you can inform one with the other.

Josh plays an Invincible Guardsman in our Rifts game.

Now, for the newest member of the team, I would like to announce that +Helen Yanolatos will be writing for the Dorkland! blog. She will be our first ever "regional correspondent," writing about geeky goings on in her home of New York City, and eventually writing reviews of things for the blog.

Helen is an avid fan of Doctor Who, Star Trek and comics (among other things, as well). She has also created her first game design, a mini-setting for the Fate Accelerated rules called Luxuria that will appear in the second issue of Stacy's Randomocity. Having seen it, it was mind-blowing and I can't wait to see how it is received by others.

Helen also plays in the bi-weekly playtest group of my Fate Accelerated-powered game Paranormal Friction. She throws herself into her characters with a passion that I am sometimes envious of. For someone who has been involved in gaming for a short time, it certainly does not show in her play.

So, this is the Dorkland! blog/Geeky Voices Carry team. A motley band, to say the least, but it is a group of people that I am proud to write and broadcast alongside of. I honestly don't think that there are many teams as strong as this one. I may be biased in this, but I don't really care.

If you have anything that you would like to see talked about by any of the bloggers, or on our podcast, please contact me at christopher <dot> helton <at> gmail and we can talk about it. Whether we ultimately would play the games that you play, or take the approaches that you may take, we all still feel that diversity and more choices among gaming are better than the alternative. We have opinions here, and we are not afraid to use them. The key is, that well-informed opinions that are backed with facts and honesty are better than rants or "opinions" that are meant only to harm others.

The Gold Key Universe Returns With Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

THE GOLD KEY UNIVERSE BEGINS HERE! Classic Characters by some of Comics Hottest Creators! - Turok, Magnus, Dr. Spektor and Solar! Dynamite is proud to present an all-new, ongoing adventure series from superstar GREG PAK (Batman/Superman) and incredible artist MIRKO COLAK (Conan)! Shunned from his tribe, a young Native American named Turok fights to survive, making a lonely life for himself in the unforgiving forest. But his hard-won cunning and survival skills face the ultimate test when man-eating THUNDER LIZARDS attack his people! Why are dinosaurs here? How have they survived? And will Turok use his abilities to save a society that's taken everything away from him?

 

A Dorkland! Interview -- Fall of Man

The Fall of Man Kickstarter has just under two weeks left at the time of this post, and we here at Dorkland! got a chance to interview the team over at Samurai Sheepdog about the forthcoming post-apocalyptic RPG.

Dorkland: Fall of Man is being created not for just one system, but with at least four different system conversions. Why do it up front and not set them as stretch goals, as other Kickstarters have done?

Samurai Sheepdog: We like this game so much, we wanted it to be available to play by as wide a range of players as possible right from the start. We knew we initially wanted it for the Pathfinder system, but after some conversations, we decided to convert it to the other systems (13th Age, FATE, Castles & Crusades) to expand the potential audience.

DL: How does your post-apocalyptic fantasy setting differ from others that are out there? What about it will really grab potential players and hold their interest?

SS: Fall of Man is not elves, dwarves and trolls in suits convening on who is going to do some virtual cosplay tonight.  Fall of Man pulls in the world of Gothos.  A world LITERALLY made from and created by man’s dreams, fantasies and nightmares.

The goal of Fall of Man is a game world where the GM and players have the opportunity to adventure in a setting which is dark and full of all the horrors we can imagine. Searching to find that little bit of hope and faith (and perhaps a semi-automatic or a bloodripper sword) just to survive.

We have devised the world so you can go very adult if you want.  Explore what it means to have faith and how that works (even crunch wise!). Play with and tweak to find the perfect blend of technology and magic for yourself and your group.  Is this a real world?  Is it a representation of the afterlife?  Was the Maul the Rapture???  (Note we the game designers feel real world faiths should be treated with respect.  The story is presented so the GM can choose what the force behind the one God is.)

Of course if you just want a world of twisted magic and technology in a post –apocalyptic setting, the crunch is there to work that as well.

Blood Magic and Blight Magic fight and exist alongside the power of the one God (an abstract presentation of the Jewish/Christian/Islamic influences combined for simplicity) and technology. People’s nightmares and even their very thoughts can manifest physically. There is a class at higher levels that as they get closer to death, literally start to manifest horrors around them (let’s hope closer to their foes than their friends).

And then there are those who are wholly fantastical. The elves, gnomes, dwarves and other races have all suffered through the transition. The anger of losing their own home and of the new physical deterioration and mutations of their own bodies consumes many of these new Earth inhabitants and dealing with these harsh new realities influences and guides much of their thinking.

We wanted a world where as adult role-players you could experience something a bit harsher and new, mixed with our real world.  Earth.  But we also realize that most GM’s want to be able to pull in content to what they are already doing.  Thus the game is designed to be compatible with Pathfinder and other systems.  And have easy mechanisms to bring players in…and out of the world.  After all, are we sure it was only Gothos that helped caulk up the cracks in our world?  The crunch is also easy to overlay for existing characters, to minimize the transition.

This is a world full of dreamwalkers able to manifest and twist reality (at first only subtly). Of Asphalt Samurai whose code allows for a mix of magic and technology that keeps them alive. Of undead player races who are ACTUALLY undead, gripped with sorrow and pain and the knowledge of their death.  Sparkling vampires have no place here. This is a world where characters with faith in their one God might see a man save some of his friends by beating a million to one odds of escaping a building that was just ignited on fire by a ball of magic from a rival Arcanist. This is a world where bullets are treasure and a good meal worth its weight in gas.

DL: How unique are your classes? What differentiates them from the standard RPG classes?

SS: They are very different. You have, for example the One God based classes, who have mechanisms which represent subtle changes in the game.   Passive DR and multiple dice to accomplish a task.  Things which emulate faith having real game play effects. 

You have dreamwalkers who manifest their thoughts.  Not in a psionic mind control way though.  It is that their fears (and in many cases hopes) become reality.  It is as though the game is their dream and they are aware enough in the dream to manipulate it.

You have the Face class which tends to be intuitive; able to discern things about the past and present, even manipulating situations with that knowledge in a “crunch” way.   They are of course master barterers and their skill-set helps keep the logistics side of the game for the party in better shape than any other class.

The Mechanist is a master at fixing things, and even at times, mixing magic with technology to achieve the end result.  They can get a tank running, maximize ammo, increase the range of weapons, fix jammed items, and tinker with things to make them better.

The Asphalt Samurai mixes guns, swords, tech and magic and lives by a code of honor similar to the samurai of the past.  Their meditation grants them a sense of hyperawareness, allowing them to move supernaturally quick and focused. Because of this, they seem to end up in the right place at the right time or they are able to do more with each moment than maybe others could.

Fall of Man also has its own take on some of the more classic archetypes. 

The Arcanist, for example, is based on the classic wizard but whose magic comes from understanding the new state of the world, and the boundaries between reality and thoughts.  Thus as time goes on, the Arcanist can take over constructs and even other nightmare and dream manifestations, grant items sentience or otherwise magically enhance them, and even pierce the fabric of reality itself.  However, it still maintains its base in classical spell casting. 

The Gifted is similar to a sorcerer, but their magic is almost always warped.  Maybe it mutates their bodies or minds. Or drains life from them or their allies, and when they can, their enemies. Or emits radiation or toxins as they expel their arcanic energy.

The Clerics of Many Gods have the classical abilities of clerics in other games, but also use the favor system outlined in The Hunt: Rise of Evil / Pantheon and Pagan Faiths books.  This favor (which other classes can gain to a lesser extent) grants them singular special effects which go outside the realm of normal spells, but require time and energy to regain.

The Scavenger is similar to a rogue/thief, but with adaptions for the new world.  In addition to some of the classic high damage output abilities, the Scavenger is hard to kill, can “lick their wounds” to effectively ignore the negative effects of damage (for a while) and gain “crunch” based advantages through the use of the terrain around them.

The Soldier is a well-trained warrior who is adept at the fine art of modern combat, with its roots more in D20 Modern than anything in Pathfinder or any of the other game systems.   But something really exciting is their ability to specialize in different classical solider roles; scout, assault trooper, communications, medic, etc.  Heck your whole party could be soldiers and do just fine (We are sure some of the enemies you fight will be this way).  An example of a bit of out of the box thinking on this is a communications specialist granting the party additional time to solve a problem or an officer specialization granting a number of points to hand out to other character’s roles or even allow a player’s turn to be “replayed” to represent tactical thinking.

Even our barbarian, the Wasteland Barbarian is different than other settings as they often mutant and evolve, often overtime, but occasionally on the battlefield!  Did your arm just get slashed?  What the hell is coming out of the wound!!!!

So yes the classes are a bit warped, but are designed to bring something different, not just in their fluff, but in their crunch.

DL: The races in Fall of Man are a mix of RPG regulars and some new races. At least one of the regulars (the gnomes) seem to be different than usual – are any of the other regulars different? And if so, how and why?

SS: One of the things Fall of Man allows for is leveling in your race, effectively evolving you.  This allows for tremendous customization and grants each race a greater level of characterization.  You’re not just an elf with pointy ears and a long lifespan. You could evolve the ability to see fey lines, lay lines and other sources of magic or divining influence and gaining greater ability when around living non-sentient natural things (trees for example).

We wanted each race to stand out as different.  The gnomes are twisted with something called “the bent.” As they level they gain disadvantages, but no so much as to make them un-fun; it’s about adding flavor.  Gnomes also excel at mixing technology and magic.

Halflings are lucky and love stories.  They have been the least affected by the transition to Earth.  However, now at times their stories, much like the dreamwalkers, seem to actually influence reality, granting unseen but tangible bonuses to them and those around them.
   The Reborn/Risen are PC undead.  Most were once humans before the apocalypse, a bit alive again after it.   As they level in their race, they become more and more like classical undead.
   We’ll leave the others as surprises in the future, but as you can see, the goal is to give a new feel to each race to represent their transition to Earth.

DL: On the Kickstarter page you mention: “This setting is based on the Pathfinder system on steroids.” How so? What might Pathfinder players find that is different from what they are used to?

SS: That is a great question. To start off, we worked this game from the ground up to “feel” like an RPG with strong tactical elements to suit the conditions the players must face. I think at the pinnacle of it “being on steroids” is the revamped combat system. It is brutal but not so much that the players stop feeling like heroes.  We have a great injury system that takes away the abstract view of hit points. If you get shot in the hand, you are very likely to drop what you’re holding or if you are stabbed mortally through the head then the result is death.  However, since magic exists as well, you can avoid some of the worst consequences and it is better than what it would be if no magic existed at all. We do this while also keeping the dice rolling and heart of the mechanics the same.

But it is not just the combat that drives the “Pathfinder on steroids” commentary. Even the barter system, which I outline in a short video, has an elegance that makes trade and barter very detailed while keeping it simplistic from a mechanics point of view.

The races and classes are definitely on steroids too. Gnomes for instance, crossed over from the world of Gothos in a bad way, becoming subject to a terrible taint called “the bent”. This is presented in a way that can have devastating effects on the character but not in a way that will cripple the character and make them unplayable. They are often called the Twisted.

Even Humans are beefed up. They have the advantage of free will and can adapt to use both tech and magic. In the “primal balance” of forces that rage against each other (magic vs science, the one God vs many, faith vs reason) that have become tangibly impacted in the merger of the two worlds, humans get to choose.  I could go on and on! The Elves known as “The Blasted” crossed over finding themselves in a lake of toxic sludge, mingling with their natural magic to form a race of elves only a wasteland would have. The Reborn, people of Earth that died and mysteriously came back but in a state of Undeath, with gaps in their memory and no idea what returned their spirits to their wasting bodies.

I will stop there with one more thing (I could write a book about this segment). Gothos was the creation of human imagination, nightmares and dreams filtered into a state of reality through a powerful being. Now that happens on Earth too. There is a saying amongst the people of Fall of Man.

“Beware the sleeping child for in their dreams the stuff of legend and the darkest of nightmares are made manifest.”

DL: One of the aspects of Fall of Man that immediately drew me in was the artwork. How is the art being used in the book? Is it just in periodically for some color and flavor, or is it playing a bigger role?

SS: For me specifically (This is Doug Herring by the way), I am a very visual person. Art is critical to fuel the imagination of the GM and to give them the feel of the world the players live in. Art is part of the storytelling, which has equal if not more importance than rules and tactical combats. The story of Fall of Man, and its predecessor, Gothos (The Hunt: Rise of Evil), are rich storytelling worlds with deep histories and unique twists on old themes. We have yet to introduce a major element to Fall of Man which was the crux of the over-arching battle in The Hunt series; the factions of The Children of the Waking Dream and the Dark Walkers of Midnar. These cults lay hidden in Fall of Man and the ability to manipulate the stuff of dreams and nightmares has not yet come into its own in the time frame we have set for Fall of Man. It is this richness of the world, the characters, classes, and story which made The Hunt an award nominated setting and spawned many books. Art was the linchpin in the storytelling and this hold true in Fall of Man as well.

DL: Has the team min/max’d any PC’s yet and, if so, how about some tips for the future players?

SS: I will say yes, after a fashion. We have controlled min/maxing through things like the combat system and other rule sets (on-going injuries for instance). Even the most tested, maxed out character, can die from a head shot from a sniper rifle if they are not well prepared.

When I think of this and the gritty level of the world I liken a min/maxed character to Daryl on The Walking Dead. Clearly, he is a better tracker, better fighter, and (in a game term) higher level than most of the other characters yet, because of the gritty world and down and dirty fighting, he is still very vulnerable. He gets to have great heroic moments while at the same time we are afraid he might die.

This is the same in Fall of Man.  No matter the level, or how powerful a character, other players will cheer his heroics but the threat of death will always loom. With a “no hit point” system the character will always be challenged to stay alive and wits will always win out over min/maxing your character.

We here at Dorkland! would like to thank the team at Samurai Sheepdog for taking the time to answer our questions and wish them the best of luck with their Kickstarter! If you would like more information on Fall of Man or would like to support the Kickstarter be sure to check out the Kickstarter page and Samurai Sheepdog's website.

Jonathan Ross Wants Revenge

Griffin Franks was a joke in Hollywood. A washed up action-hero. Over the hill. Past it. A has-been. A barely-was. But now he IS The Revenger.

He’s a star. His movie’s a hit. His latest wife is hot. He finally has everything he wants. Just in time for someone to take it all away. Forever.

This special cover by Jonathan Ross of REVENGE #1 is only available through Forbidden Planet stores or online at Forbiddenplanet.com

Direct ordering link here: https://forbiddenplanet.com/115349-revenge-1-forbidden-planet-variant/

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: Call of Cthulhu Style

Last week +Helen Yanolatos and I spent an almost week in Las Vegas, enjoying our birthdays (and her first time in the city). It was a fun time and the bar was set high when we started the week off with a game of Call of Cthulhu with some locals and others.

This was the view from our hotel, it turns out that, not to be outdone by London, Vegas is going to get a Ferris wheel...a party Ferris wheel. But you guys don't want to hear about that stuff, do you? No, you want to hear the gory details of our game of Call of Cthulhu! Let me preface this by saying that I spent the better part of a day in airports, in three different time zones around the country. I started in Tampa. Then I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina. Then I flew to Phoenix, Arizona. And then finally I ended up in Las Vegas. My day started at 5am EST and I arrived in Vegas at 3pm PST. That was a crazy day, and I topped it off with running a game of Call of Cthulhu.

But before gaming came dinner, and I had this:

That's a tiramisu milkshake, by the way.

Yes, now I'm just taunting you. If you like burgers, and find yourself in Vegas...be sure to check out Holsteins Shakes and Buns. You won't be disappointed. Helen recommended it, after her sister had been there on a previous trip. It was some great food. I've always found that Las Vegas is a really good place to find some really good food.

And then, of course, came gaming. This group slowly gathered at the hotel:

Pictured, from left to right: Larry Dixon, +Helen Yanolatos. +Trentin Bergeron and +Caroline Pierce. If it turns out that Larry's on the Plus, I'll be sure to tag him in this.

After snacking and character generation, we got down to the brass tacks of gaming. For a while now, Caroline and I have talked over Twitter about a game of Atomic Age Cthulhu. It almost happened when she was down in Tampa last fall for Fetish Con, but it fell apart a week or so before hand (totally my fault on that). But I swore that I would run a game, and when this trip with Helen came through...I put the plans into motion. Luckily I have a girlfriend who thinks that meeting strangers for a game of Call of Cthulhu makes an for an excellent vacation plan.

In case you're not familiar, Atomic Age Cthulhu is part supplement and part adventure collection, dealing with the 1950s. There is some good information on the decade, for those who might not know a lot about the time, and the adventures are top notch.

I should probably review it sometime, formally, but I will say that the adventures in the book are pretty good. I ran the scenario based in pre-Union Hawaii (which I have run partially before via G+ Hangout). It is a really solid scenario, and it is easy to hook characters into it. I let them make up their own characters, and gave them a pretty free range on what they could do. Larry played a Navy mechanic who was also a car buff, Caroline played a lounge singer hoping that the movie being filmed would let her break into the big time, Trent played a Navy Captain (his rank fluctuated a few times during play), and Helen played a travel writer. Rather than try to shoe-horn them into the scenario, since a couple of them had very loose reasons for getting involved in a Cthulhu investigation, I told them that they were all there at the hotel where the movie's star (Hoyt "The Hips" Oakes) was staying and then had a planned riot draw them into the story.

This is right after Trent's character was throat punched by a female cultist that he tried to ask questions.

This is Larry during the character creation part of the evening.

The characters survived the night, through the judicious application of Marines to the end of the adventure. Which demonstrates that sometimes it is best to let the guys with the big guns deal with irradiated Deep Ones. Everyone had a lot of fun, and it was a great way for Helen and I to start our (too short) time in the city.

This is my new Greyed Out dice bag, among the growing gaming debris.. It made it through TSA and airport travel like a Boss, plus everyone commented on how lovely it was, as well. And then after we finished at 3ish am....we collapsed for the night.