Free Comic Book Day this Saturday

Not only do we get the Avengers film this weekend, but this Saturday is also Free Comic Book Day, as well.

You can find a nearby participating comic book shop here.

V&V Vednesday: C.H.E.S.S.

(something a little different here - instead of a new character created from scratch, this post details the changes I've made for my own campaigns to the classic organization used in so many V&V games)

Pawns represent about 99% of the overall membership of C.H.E.S.S.  Agents of this rank are almost never referred to by said rank (except occasionally when getting dressed down by a superior officer), and any agent not referred to by a higher rank is usually assumed to be a Pawn.  This includes non-combat support staff, combat troops, and secret agents.  Some Pawns (especially more experienced ones) chafe at being referred to as such, but those higher up in the organization figure a little humility can't hurt (given the egos that sometimes show up), and that rising above being a mere Pawn gives agents something to aspire to.

Rumors have run wild over the years about the robotic duplicates that C.H.E.S.S. uses in various operations.  C.H.E.S.S. allows the rumors to go (mostly) unchecked, figuring that misinformation about their capabilities can only work to their advantage.  In truth, there have never been more than a dozen of these in operational use at any one time, primarily due to expense.  The tendency for these units to seriously malfunction upon being damaged has been, for the most part, corrected.  That said, their use is fairly limited - the main ongoing use is as a duplicate for the King or Queen (see below).  These robotic servants also technically qualify as Pawns.

Bishops are operatives who possess some sort of paranormal mental ability, usually either telepathy, precognition, or postcognition.  They usually do not function as field agents, and most have little to no offensive or defensive powers.  Their primary role is to gather information, not to get involved in firefights.  Much of the success C.H.E.S.S. has enjoyed can be traced back to information gathered by their telepaths, or being warned in advance of some terrible calamity by their precogs.

A small sub-branch of the Bishops include those who deal with magical phenomena.  They are almost never actual spellcasters, but rather are those well-versed in occult lore, who can usually cast a number of various magical rituals if needed.  The psychics and the magicians haven't always played well with each other in the past, but the two groups can usually put aside their differences when needed.

Knights are the elite combat arm of the organization, wearers of a formidable powered combat armor.  There are only about a hundred or so of these suits in existence (they are hideously expensive to both create and to maintain), so there are usually only a few of these agents available in any given city.  Those who become Knights were usually at least 5th level as Pawns, and also usually have to display a decent amount of technical expertise before being considered for this rank.

Rooks represent the best in the organization, with usually between two to three dozen agents at any given time qualifying as such.  Pawns (and Knights who for whatever reason no longer wear the armor) must usually be of at least 8th level to qualify for this rank; Bishops who get more involved in field operations may qualify upon reaching 5th level.  All Rooks have individual code-names, and usually have access to whatever cutting-edge technology that C.H.E.S.S. may have available at any given moment.  Any superheroes that work with C.H.E.S.S. on a regular basis are often given honorary Rook status (but are not included in the number of agents listed above). 

King/Queen represent the current leadership of C.H.E.S.S., the exact title depending upon gender.  Congress must approve the appointment of any new King/Queen - in the past this has generally meant that those with more bureaucratic temperments were usually chosen, sometimes at the expense of those chosen actually having sufficient field experience.  Internal C.H.E.S.S. regulations now require any potential King or Queen to have served for at least two years in one of the non-Pawn ranks (in practice, Bishops are virtually never considered for the leadership role, as there would appear to be a slight bias against those with any actual superhuman abilities taking control of the organization).  Some have complained that this has swung the pendulum too far in the other direction, with the most recent Kings/Queens having too much of a 'cowboy' mentality.

CHESS Identicard design by Justice Carmon, based on Jeff Dee's fictional super agency presented in Villains & Vigilantes RPG

You can laugh if you want...

...but whatever else you may think about the x-rated parody of the upcoming Avengers film...

...it at least appears to have a better representation of female characters than the actual theatrical release does.

Music Monday: "Back On My Feet Again"

John Waite has had a long and varied musical career, both as a solo artist and with bands such as the Babys and Bad English.  "Back On My Feet Again" comes from his time with the Babys, from the album Union Jacks.

 

Before Watchmen

(Prologue: April has pretty much been a wash, posting-wise.  Between the main computer being taken out by a particularly nasty bit of malware, the wife and I both being laid low for a couple of weeks with a virus of a more biological nature, the last-minute rush to get our taxes done, and a couple of other bits of minor drama have pretty much drained away both the time and the desire to blog on a regular basis.  I'm now shooting for May as my 'get my ass back in the game' target goal.  That said, the following link below is, to my mind, too important not to share.)

For those of you who aren't a part of comics, you probably aren't aware that DC will soon be publishing various prequels to Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen, without the input of the consent of the writer, Alan Moore.  Watchmen is one of the seminal works of the comic book medium, arguably the seminal work in the field of comics.  And now we're getting these various prequels, under the collective title of Before Watchmen, that quite frankly no one was seriously asking for.

They'll sell, of course, and sell well, because there are a certain segment of fans who don't care about any moral implications regarding this fiasco (quite frankly, a certain segment of comic book fandom is narcissistic and amoral enough that they would shiv their own grandmother to get their comics fix).  But people should care, and Heidi MacDonald over at the Beat has written an extremely detailed article about why you should care as well.

Edit: thanks to Greg Hatcher for pointing out this article, which also touches on the same topic.

Music Monday: "Taxman"

Here in the U.S., today is the day when state and federal taxes are due, so what better choice for a Music Monday could there be than the cover of a Beatles classic by Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble?

Edit: as it turns out, Monday (the 16th) wasn't Tax Day after all - the 16h was a state holiday in Washington D.C., so as it turns out taxes are due on the 17th.

STILL having computer problems...

...and while I can post from the laptop as need (as I'm doing now), most of the files I reference for the various AS related blog posts are on the main computer, which I can't easily reference at the moment.  Until this is resolved, posting will most like continue to be curtailed.

That said, while skimming through the blogosphere I stumbled across Howling Tower, where Steve has posted a rather nifty little subsystem that deals with chase scenes, easily adaptable to your system of preference.  It's a simple thing, yet easily modified to suit you individual tastes or needs.  In short, it's too good not to share.