For today's update nobody really cares about, here's my character origin for the Emerald City game we'll be starting shortly.  I spend way too much time on these things.  This one takes the form of a fluff piece in a local magazine.  I used a Seattle skyline since I didn't have an Emerald City one.  Close enough.

As usual for me, there are tons of subtle little pop culture references, and at least one reference you'll only get if you live in my town.

Emerald City’s favored son, Jon Clark Nedor has long been loved from afar, traveling the world, frequently alone, sometimes assisting parties as varied as Doctors without Borders, Books without Frontiers, and the U.S. State Department.  He’s often known as the Renaissance Man of the new Millennium: a true polymath, scholar, and inventor.  Recently, he has returned to the city of his birth

EC caught up with Jon, who the press has dubbed Mister Amazing, for an interview.

EC: Thank you for your time, Mr. Nedor.  Lots of people want to know more about you.  Pardon the humor, but you’re pretty amazing.

JCN: It’s my pleasure.  Ask me anything.  I might even know the answer.

EC: Since you’re known as the seventh smartest man alive, I certainly hope so.

JCN: <laughs> That was totally a joke, and now it follows me everywhere.  I don’t really know where I stand, or even if you could really make up a list that wouldn’t just be “my favorite geniuses.”

EC: Well, you’re our favorite genius.  And a certified one.  Besides multiple advanced degrees, three well-received books, and a Centurion prize, you’ve developed some really impressive technology.  Of your inventions, which is your favorite?

JCN: They’re all my favorite, at the time.  I mostly build things I see a need for, and once I have it I move on to the next challenge.  I guess my favorite is the skybike.  I mean, seriously, it’s a flying bike.  Who wouldn’t love that?  The core of them all, of course, is the Deep Energy Converter, which remains held up in litigation with the Department of Energy.  I have a Congressional dispensation to build them for my own use, but not to distribute them or use them for “public provision of energy.”

EC: But you’re not bitter, right?

JCN: I’m pretty solidly bitter.  Deep Energy stands to free the world from its fossil fuel addiction, reduce pollution, and improve quality of life for billions of people.  But instead, I have four converters, one running my home, one in the skybike, a little one for my force pistol, and one for emergencies.

EC: What can you tell us about the case?

JCN: I can’t really discuss pending litigation, and I won’t express an opinion of the merits of the case, scientific or legal.  The scientific literature on Deep Energy speaks for itself, and anyone with an internet connection can find out all they need to know about the legal case.

EC: You’ve been abroad for over twenty years.  For quite a bit of that, you were completely off the grid.  What were you up to, and why did you come back now?

JCN: My father always pushed me to excel, not in an adversarial way, but he encouraged me.  He gave me the tools.  He paid for the best tutors, made sure I had the best opportunities.  He never made things easy for me, but he always told me I could do anything I put my mind to, and he’d be there to catch me if I fell.

When I was eighteen, I felt like I’d reached the highest point I could reach at home and it was time to go see more of the world, and it was time to see how I could do without my dad there to back me up.  I sort of went on walkabout.  I studied for a few years at a monastery in Tibet, and spent about a year as a fugitive of the Chinese government.  I traveled to the Middle East and Africa.  I attended Oxford.  I did a fellowship at CERN.  Mostly, I just went wherever I felt like and did whatever seemed to need doing.  I tried, as much as I could, to avoid dropping my dad’s name or use his connections.  It didn’t always work out that way.  Several times, people who were connected with my dad needed my help.

Eventually, I figured out that dad would always be a part of me, but that didn’t mean I was letting him carry me.  Then, in the past year or so, I came back home a few times, more and more often.  Last month I decided to stay.  Dad loves this city, and so do I.  I thought it was time to give something back to the city that has done so much for our family.

Wow, all that sounds really self-aggrandizing.  I don’t want people to think I was running around like some kind of superhero who needs no one and nothing.  I had a lot of help at every turn.  I wouldn’t be here today without the aid and sacrifices of many good people.

For that matter, I’ve met a few superheroes, and they don’t need no one and nothing either.  They’re people with some really stressful jobs.

EC: Now that you’re back in town, what are you going to do?

JCN: I’m starting a consultancy, bringing unique perspective and expertise to unusual problems.  It’s probably not really the kind of thing you can make a living at without a multi-million dollar trust fund.

What I hope is that my experiences will let me see things other people don’t see and my skills will let me do things that might otherwise take a host of separate experts.  At the same time, I want to help with the Nedor Foundation and volunteer with some local charities to help them make the most of resources and opportunities.

EC: Is there anything you don’t do?

JCN: I can’t make a soufflé to save my life.  My teacher at La Cordon Bleu despaired of me.

And really, there are a lot of things I can’t do.  People hear that I’m skilled in multiple disciplines and think I’m omnipotent.  I’m really not.  If I’m more skilled than other people, it’s because I’ve had more opportunities, and I’ve always been very focused on learning whatever the world could teach me.

EC: People do say you could do anything.  They say if you turned your hand to politics, you could be state governor in the next election and President in no more than twelve years.  You’re not just a celebrity, you’re a voice for change and unlike a lot of celebrity spokespeople, you really know what you’re talking about.  Experts in the causes you champion acknowledge your expertise.  If you wanted, you could be JFK, Bill Gates, Lee Iacocca, maybe all three at once.

JCN: But I don’t really want any of those things.  I enjoy helping people.  I love learning.  I thrive on solving problems.  Power comes with responsibility, or it should.  And money is just a tool to get what you want.  I pretty much have all the responsibility I can handle, and I have all the stuff I’ll ever need.

EC: Tell us more about these problems you solve.  Like the job you did for the State Department in the Congo.

JCN: I carried out negotiations, and when those failed a rescue mission of some hostages from the Sons of the Dark Earth.  That was pretty intense.  Despite what people think, I’m not usually an international man of mystery.  It got even more interesting when the SDE called up something called a Dark Totem.  The Freedom League even got involved to put the thing down.  Captain Thunder really is awesome to behold.  That was the first time I used a force gun.  I had cobbled one together as a proof of concept.  It was kind of big and failure prone.

While the Freedom League fought the Dark Totem, I helped rescue the hostages from the SDE compound.

EC: Was your life in danger?

JCN: Not really, although it was pretty scary at the time.  The Totem was at a temple several miles away, and there were only a few guards left at the compound.  And it turns out that other than all their crazy magical stuff, the SDE didn’t have much in the way of weapons – they were on patrol with AK-47s with just a few bullets each.

I’m still trying to figure out what the Dark Totem really was, maybe an energy-based alien trapped in a matrix of Element X, and the latent psychic energy from the terrorists was enough to free it.

EC: And what kind of problems do you solve now?

JCN: I hope less dangerous ones, although a little excitement is good once in a while.  Right now I’m working with a company that owns the old Forum Imperial mall and a group of Suquamish merchants and craftspeople, along with some Chinese Americans and an artists’ collective to revamp the mall into a cultural center.  They all really want the same thing, but they don’t always know how to communicate with each other.  I can’t talk a lot about specific details, but if we can iron out the kinks, it’ll make a lot of money for some people who really need it.  It’ll help revitalize a part of the city that’s currently suffering economic decline.  And it’ll be cool.

Since the alternative is that the mall where I saw all three Star Wars movies gets bulldozed and turned into warehouses or something, I think something cool is a much better alternative.

I’m also consulting with PrimaTech on a new aerosat design that will be able to help rescue workers in isolated areas and improve communications in the third world.

Before you ask, an aerosat is an ultra-high altitude dirigible with minimal payload that uses solar power and storage batteries.  Put one up, and it’s good for about a week to bounce data.  I’m helping them improve their batteries and power efficiency so they can stay up a little longer and have slightly more powerful engines so they’ll be more stable.

EC: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  What do you do for fun?

JCN: Work is fun for me.  Otherwise I’d do something else.  But I try to find some time every day to relax.  I like live music.  Emerald City is great for that.  On Thursday nights, I play jazz and blues with some guys at Sachmo’s down on Byrne and Claremont sometimes.  It’s kind of an informal jam session.

I like to build new stuff and test it out.  Sometimes I’ll do some surfing or diving.

 I still love to travel and see new things, so even though Emerald City is my home again, I think I’ll move around a bit, at least to visit friends.

For now, I’m trying to get reacquainted with my home.  I’ve been away too long.

--EC.

Next month, I'm going to be playing in an Emerald City M&M game.  So I've been in a supers mood lately, and have been playing with Fabrica de Herois again.

Yesterday, I got the idea of seeing how close to some published supers I could get.  I did three yesterday in amongst several original designs.

Captain America came out fairly well.  One big disappointment was that as far as I can tell, Fabrica 2010 doesn't have a shield you can use anywhere.  I would have settled for the kite shield design, but I couldn't find one at all.  I guess I could have put a round shield on his back by abusing the circular symbol, but I didn't think of that until just now.  But I managed to get the wings on his helmet by abusing a set of pointed ears, so I'm reasonably pleased.

The striped midriff was really tricky, by the way.
EDIT: And I just now noticed I forgot to put the scales on Cap's uniform.  Darn.



Spider-Man was remarkably easy.  I wish I'd used the option for a thinner body  But there was no challenge in the costume panels or the chest emblem.  His eyes aren't quite right.  I could have messed around a little more to get the black rings around the white lenses if I'd wanted to take the trouble.



And to represent DC a little, here's Captain Marvel.  He was dead easy, other than the cape.  There's not really a way to get the cape Captain Marvel really wears.  It's a very complicated half-cape worn across one shoulder.  I settled for the one you see here, which at least has the nifty gold cord.

And as a last treat for the day, here's the costume I'm probably going to use for my character in the M&M game: Mister Amazing!  (The "!" is part of his name.)



Mister Amazing is a pulp-type hero who's amazingly (heh) good at all kinds of stuff.  His mind and body are at the upper limits of human ability.  He's the master of dozens of esoteric disciplines, and inventor of new technologies.  Now he's turned his abilities to protecting his adopted home of Emerald City.

I've actually had the image, the text, and the stats since Monday.  I'm just now getting around to bringing them all together in one place.  This guy is a Novice level character, and pretty straight forward.  He flies around, hurts people, and breaks things.  Leveled up, I'd probably throw some more damage and modifiers into his attack, primarily.

Rattletrap
Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d4, Strength d8, Vigor d6

Charisma 0, Pace 6, Parry 6,Toughness 5

Skills:
Driving d4, Fighting d8, Intimidation d4, Notice d6, Piloting d8, Shooting d8, Stealth d6, Taunt d4

Hinderances:
Gloator (Major), Vengeful, Greedy

Edges:
Arcane Background (Superpowers), Deadshot, Power

Powers:
Armor 6 (requires activation)
Attack (ranged) AE 1, Knockback
Flight 12"
Earthquake

Small-time thug Bruno Maltese was one of several criminals involved in a raid on an experimental technology lab.  The job was to smash the place up and engage in a little good-natured arson to teach the squints what happens if you don't pay your protection money.

Bruno was merily smashing his way through a robotic assembly station when he found the suit - an advanced prototype power armor built around a unique microreactor.  He decided to take it as a souvenier.  And he really hit the jackpot when it turned out the damn thing worked.  The suit was made out of light-weight, very strong ceramic and carbon-fiber materials, and was a platform for a unique vibration weapon.  It could project waves of force or tear up the ground.

 Bruno decided to go into business for himself as an enforcer for hire.  Mostly, he still does contract work for his old boss, but he'll hire out to anyone who needs people hurt and stuff broken.  With the suit, Bruno could be a major threat, but he still has the mentality of a small-time thug.  Left to his own devices, he'd knock over banks or something, and swiftly end up in Dankwell.  As it is, he frequently has to work for employers who have the means to repair his suit and recharge its power source.  What loot he doesn't waste on booze and hookers generally gets sunk into black-market technology.  But he still dreams of the big score that will set him up for life.

He absolutely hates the name "Rattletrap," but can't decide on another one.

This week's blog update will be delayed slightly, due to stuff.

See, the thing is I've recently decided to give Savage Worlds a go.  I bought it at Gen Con along with the supers companion.  As a way to dig into the system a little, I've decided to rip off Theron Bretz' idea on his "My Dice are Older Than You" blog of posting supers characters (and maybe some other characters, as the mood strikes me).  But one thing is holding me back.

I didn't have room to get the stuff I bought at Gen Con into my bag for the trip home, so I sent Savage Worlds home with a friend who was driving.  (Thanks, LJ!)  I'll be taking possession tomorrow, if nothing goes wrong.

So I'll probably have something to show you on Monday or Tuesday.

If I feel guilty enough, I might upload the last few Gen Con pictures I have, but I didn't take many, and they're really pretty boring.

I don't take a lot of pictures, but I have taken a few.  Here they are, for your amusement and occasional horror.

First of all, a lovely picture of the state of Oklahoma.  I've never seen it looking better.



Here's Tim (DM Tim of Radio Free Hommlet)




Here's the Doctor Who collectables booth.  The TARDIS has been around for years, but the Dalek is new.




This was a small fragment of the crowd at the opening ceremony yesterday.  Thank GOD I got to be a VIG companion this year, and thus had no reason to stand in it.




The new sculpture for the alcove where the Westin skyway meets the convention center.




The villains of my childhood.  To simply look at them was to hear outraged screeching in the echoes of my memory.




That's just a little of the cool stuff I've seen.  I'll probably take a few more pictures tomorrow.

Hey Gamer Nation,

A day early and a bit short since I'm probably going to be crazy busy for the next couple days getting stuff squared away for Gen Con, here's the revised combat cards.

First, the PDF : Unisystem Combat Card Blank mk2.pdf (8.25 KB)

Second, the blank card .pub file : Unisystem index Blank mk2.pub (144 KB)

And finally, the black border version I use myself : Unisystem index Fill mk2.pub (145 KB)

I may not see you this weekend or next weekend, since I'll be at Gen Con.  Usually, I do at least upload a few pictures.

Hey all,

We just played our first session of Hyperseed, so I got to try out my shiny new combat cards.  A battle with four PCs and seven NPCs went very smooth.  There were only two little hiccups, which I will probably fix with revised cards.

Problem 1 is that for unnamed NPCs, there's no good place to label each instance of a character.  I had six soldiers with identical stats, and I had to squeeze in a little number for each one.

Problem 2 is that I've decided for my game at least, Endurance is important to track.  One of my PCs uses Mindheal/Mindkill, and the easiest way for him to be effective is to zap enemies with his Mindkill 3 pain effect and wipe out their Essence or Endurance, which both tend to be smaller numbers than Life Points.  (And less murdery)

My cards have no Endurance slot, since I needed room for Initiative.  That's okay for mooks and non-powered guys.  Their Endurance and Essence pools tend to be pretty close, so the Mindkill guy isn't unfairly penalized.  But the PCs will eventually be facing other psychics who have Essence pools considerably higher than their Life Points.

I think I'm going to shift Initiative to the top bar and squeeze in an Endurance slot.  This will probably also mean I split the Life Pool and Endurance Pool trackers into smaller boxes.

I'll see if I can get that done this week to keep my one update per week streak going.

Hi campers.  This makes three weeks in a row.  It's been a crazy-busy weekend, though, so this is going to be a pretty short contribution.

We just did Chargen for my Hyperseed game last week, which reminded me of something I don't totally dig about Classic Unisystem.  The skills get really fiddly.  It's realistic, but not particularly heroic.  But then again, it's also not totally necessary.

Take the basic melee skill.  The game says you have to specialize the skill, and based on the way characters are written, the idea seems to be that a fully-trained historical warrior would have three or four different weapon skills, one for swords, one for axes, and so on.

But you don't really NEED to do that.  You can use similar weapons at a penalty.  So if you want to be a rocking swordsman who's also competent with axes, spears, and numchucks, you're mathematically better off increasing your Sword skill by two than trying to buy three other skills up to a similar level.

Similarly, Science and Academics are skills you're supposed to specialize.  But rather than penalizing players who would like to play characters who are really well-read or trained in science (instead of being Navy SEAL ninja gunfighters), I think you could probably take one Science or Academics skill and just use the others at a penalty.

And to keep things simple, the penalty is either -1 or -2.  Mostly -1. That way, you can also just buy an extra Specialty and even your skills out if you want to play a guy who's generally competent with everything instead of an expert in just one.

So anyway, that's it for this week.  Happy birthday to my favorite niece.  (Her birthday was yesterday, but the party was this afternoon)

See you later.