Music Monday: "Batman"

Does anyone know enough French to translate the extra lyrics they're singing?

A to Z - retrospective

Well, I did it.  Wasn't certain if I would be able to, to be honest, but in the end I'm pleased to say that I did indeed make my way through the A to Z April blogging challenge in a timely fashion.

On the upside, I had a lot of fun doing this, even if it was at times rather hectic.  I enjoyed the challenge of creating various supercharacters using the V&V rules.  I wanted to hit a wide range of characters; some good, some bad, some in-between, with a decent variety of powers and motivations, that other gamers could drop into their own V&V games with a minimum of fuss and effort.  I like to think I succeeded in this.

It doesn't hurt, I suppose, that I got a bit of an increase in traffic (almost a 50% boost from the previous month), and the number of people willing to risk social scorn by actually being willing to publicly follow this blog almost tripled; in Old School blogging terms I jumped from 2nd to 4th level (clearly, much XP was earned).

On the downside, unfortunately, some of the stuff I normally post about (Trollslayers, comic book and Rush reviews) kinda went on the back burner a bit during the last month.  That wasn't entirely because of the A to Z challenge - it's been an odd month, in not so good ways - but I would be lying if I said or implied that it wasn't a factor.  I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove with my regular stuff in May.

Overall, I think it was a positive thing, even if I'm not certain I would do so again next year. If nothing else, I showed to myself that I had the discipline needed to follow through on it. And hey, creating all those characters was a lot of fun; I just might continue to do so, if at a less-hectic pace...

V&V A to Z: Zarthwyn

Character Name: Zarthwyn     Secret ID: "Mark Fisher"     Side: Evil

Gender: Male     Height: 5'9"     Weight: 175lbs     Age: unknown

        

Physical Description: A dour looking male with blue eyes and black hair with the occasional wisp of gray, appearing to be either in his late 30's or early 40's.  As a businessman, he favors classic three-piece suits with a conservative flair to them.  If he is expecting trouble of a magical nature, he will be wearing a dark blue ceremonial robe inscribed with various yellow magical sigils.

STR: 11     END: 15     INT: 23     AGL: 13     CHA: 21

Level: 11th     XP: 66,334     Basic Hits: 4     Hit Points: 14     Healing Rate: 1.6/day

Movement: 39"     Power: 62     Carrying Capacity: 248 lbs     HTH Damage: 1d6

Damage Modifier: +3     Accuracy: +1     Detect Hidden: 16%     Detect Danger: 20%  

Inventing Points: 3.3     Inventing: 69%     Reaction Modifier: -4 good/+4 evil

Training: INT  

Powers/Talents/Spells

Unaging - although susceptible to normal injury, Zarthwyn is immune to the ravages of time, and does not age (or at the very least, ages very slowly); as a side benefit of this, his END is effectively doubled when resisting disease

Eldritch Bolt: Damage and range as per Power Blast, but attacks as per Paralysis Ray

Eldritch Shield: Acts as the Force Screen aspect of the Force Field ability; 1” radius circle, range 1”

Heightened Charisma A: +8

Heightened Intelligence A: +10

Heightened Expertise: +4 to hit with all magical attacks

Animal Control (cats)

Astral Projection

Darkness Control

Emotion Control (fear, radius attack)

Flame Power (attack only ("fireball"), PR 2, 26", 1d12 damage)

Heightened Senses: Feline Clairvoyance (can see through the eyes of any cat within 42" (CHR x 2) range)

Heightened Senses: Magic Awareness (21” range, automatically works in most cases (unless somehow shielded), PR 1)

Illusions (type A, visual/audible/odor/taste, PR 4)

Invisibility

Noxious Cloud (attacks as Chemical Power, 2d8 damage, range 22", PR 8, 4" radius)

Weather Control

Animated Servant

"Molly" (iron golem, appears as a young woman due to permanent illusions cast on her form, does not speak, follows Zarthwyn's verbal commands and will otherwise attempt to protect him at all costs, STR 15, END 15, AGL 9, weight: 1200 lbs, basic hits 24, CC 2,925 lbs, HTH Dam 1d12, HP 61, Invulnerability: 10, 4th level)

Equipment

Ring of Protection (grants Invulnerability: 12 and Heightened Defense: -4 to be hit to the wearer of the ring)

Cloak of Flight (flight 165" - 38 mph) 

Areas of Knowledge

Magic/Occult, History

Character Notes/Origin/Personality: Very little is known about the background of the wizard known as Zarthwyn.  It is believed that he was born somewhere in Europe at some point during the Middle Ages, but more than that is unknown except to the wizard himself, and he prefers to give as little information about his past as possible (partially not to give his arch-enemy Khronos any more information, and as a wizard he is reluctant to give out his true birth name anyways).  The first known historical documentation concerning the magician is a passing reference in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which it is implied that by that point he is already a few centuries old.

Occasional glimpses of Zarthwyn have occasionally been noted throughout the following centuries, but they have been relatively rare; he is/was a solitary figure for the most part, willing to spend years, if not decades (not to mention Invention Points) in search of learning and perfecting a new spell.  He has occasionally been seen battling the time-traveling Khronos; the nature of their feud is unclear to everyone else, but the loathing these two have for each other is palatable.

The 20th and early 21st century has seen more changes than Zarthwyn would have liked, but he has adapted reasonably well.  Thanks to the wonders of long-term investments, he is quite wealthy, and his current persona as "Mark Fisher" is that of a somewhat reclusive businessman who lets others handle the day-to-day work of running his various business interests.

Zarthwyn isn't a cackling, malicious sort of evil, but rather an amoral sort who thinks nothing of destroying lives to obtain some rare or obscure bit of magical knowledge.  He prefers to avoid dealing with superhumans directly, and will rather hire third parties to deal with any superhuman threats that challenge his interests. 

Campaign Use: PCs are not likely to encounter Zarthwyn directly, at least not at first.  If they are in search of some sort of magical knowledge or information, the PCs may encounter mercenaries hired by Zarthwyn to obtain that same information for him.  Zarthwyn may also discreetly manipulate the PCs to obtain something for him, and of course, he may try to trick them into attacking his hated foe Khronos.  Likewise, Khronos, or perhaps some other magician of great power, may try to have the PCs attack, and weaken (or even hopefully destroy) the centuries-old wizard.

Should the PCs ever knowingly face Zarthwyn directly, it most likely means one of two things: that they have managed to track him down, bypassing any misdirections and false trails along the way, to face a deadly (but not undefeatable) foe... or that they have become enough of a nuisance that he chooses to deal with them personally, at a time and place of his choosing, in which case their chances of survival and escape are somewhere between slim and none.    

Photodump Friday 4/29

Something I'll be doing periodically, clearing out the hard drive a few hundred kilobytes at a time...

V&V A to Z: Yōkai

Character Name: Yōkai      Alternate I.D.: Yukiko Yamashita     Side: Good

Gender: Female     Height: 5'2"     Weight: 120 lbs     Age: 14

        

Physical Description: A young Asian-American teenage girl with purple skin, black hair, green eyes, and small horns on her forehead . 

STR: 24     END: 26    INT: 12     AGL: 15    CHA: 14

Level: 2nd     XP: 2,034     Basic Hits: 3     Hit Points: 32     Healing Rate: 2.1/day

Movement: 65"      Power: 77    Carrying Capacity: 985 lbs     

HTH Damage: 1d10 Damage Modifier: +1    Accuracy: +2   

Detect Hidden: 10%     Detect Danger: 14%  Inventing Points: 2.4     Inventing: 36%

Reaction Modifier: +1 good/-1 evil     Training: Heightened Expertise in HTH combat  

Powers/Talents

Adaption

Heightened Endurance B: +15

Heightened Senses: Magic Detection (range 12”)

Heightened Strength B: +15

Invulnerability: 20 pt

Weaknesses

Prejudice (demon)

Areas of Knowledge

Inheritor, Religion/Occult, Student

Character Notes/Origin/Personality: Sadao Yamashita was worried. The behavior of his wife Izanami had grown increasingly erratic during her pregnancy; whenever he tried to talk to her about it she became distant and withdrawn. Finally, as the birth of their child was only weeks away, Izanami broke down and confessed to many terrible things, not the least of which was consorting with demons. Izanami feared that her unborn child would be a yōkai (demon).

Sadao was not certain if he actually believed this, but he had not become a multi-millionaire by ignoring potential risks needlessly. He called in both a local priest, and a retired hero-magician, to help oversee the birth of his daughter. As it turned out, this had been a wise move; dark forces had shown up at the child's birth to claim the girl. Both the priest and the mother died during the conflict before the magician could banish away the demons, and it is believed that their sacrifice helped to purify the soul of the newborn girl. Her non-human appearance had clearly been the result of demonic influence, and yet the magician could find no trace of demonic energy on the child.

Sadao was determined that the sacrifice of his wife and the priest would not be in vain, and vowed to raise the girl, whom he named Yukiko, as his own. Out of necessity the girl would be raised away from other children for the most part, home-schooled by private tutors. Sadao did his best to instill his daughter with a strong sense of ethics and morality, all the while trying to allow her to, as much as possible, grow up a normal girl.

His efforts would seem to have paid off. In terms of personality, Yukiko is not unlike other young girls her age; she worries that her clothes are horribly out-of-date, spends way too many hours a day on Facebook, and obsesses constantly about the Jonas Brothers and Justin Beiber.

Unlike most other girls her age, Yōkai (as she is sometimes called) has had to deal with multiple attempts to either kill her, or kidnap her to be used for dark purposes. Yukiko doesn't go looking for trouble, but when it shows up, she doesn't run away from it; she's learned the hard way that such threats are best faced head-on.

Campaign Use: Yōkai should hopefully prove to be a sympathetic ally for the PCs – she would love nothing better than to have a 'normal' life, but that is not to be. Younger PCs might find her friendship a welcome thing, as someone their own age who can hear of their various adventures without weirding out about it.

Out of necessity, Yōkai has learned a great deal of occult lore, and could prove a useful ally if the PCs have to deal with demonic foes.

Happy birthday, Ken St. Andre

Just wanted to wish a happy birthday to the Trollgod himself, Ken St. Andre.

If it wasn't for Ken's work on Tunnels & Trolls, I wouldn't be writing Trollslayers, and as a result I probably wouldn't be bothering with this blog.

So happy birthday, Ken, and hopefully you'll roll lots of doubles today!

V&V A to Z: Xonox

Character Name: Xonox     Alternate I.D.: n/a     Side: Evil

Gender: Male     Height: 6'4"     Weight: 260 lbs     Age: 39

        

Physical Description: An alien humanoid with orange skin, purple hair, and an equine-looking face . 

STR: 15     END: 23    INT: 26     AGL: 21    CHA: 13

Level: 5th     XP: 15,291     Basic Hits: 6     Hit Points: 73     Healing Rate: 3.6/day

Movement: 109"    Power: 85    Carrying Capacity: 738 lbs     HTH Damage: 1d8 

Damage Modifier: +4    Accuracy: +4   Detect Hidden: 18%     Detect Danger: 22%  

Inventing Points: 0.5     Inventing: 78%     Reaction Modifier: -1 good/+1 evil     

Training: INT  

Powers/Talents

Animal Powers (Mammal)

     Heightened Agility A: +11

     Heightened Endurance A: +11

     Speed Bonus +50"

Heightened Intelligence A: +13

Vibratory Powers (range 42:, 2d8 damage, 30% chance to destroy devices on special attack, PR = 5, PR =2 to walk through walls and use as a defense)

Willpower (type A)

Weaknesses

Diminished Senses – like all of his race, Xonox is color-blind, seeing his surroundings in a gray-ish monochrome.

Areas of Knowledge

Research/Technology, Science (physics)

Character Notes/Origin/Personality: Far from Earth, on the planet Sionneq, there evolved a race known as the Keltarrians.  Physically impressive, they are on the whole a fairly gentle and non-violent people (if also a bit xenophobic).  Xonox was a great scientist among their people, a physicist who was studying the intricacies of kinetic motion.  One day, a short-circuit in his lab caused an explosion with the machine he was using to study kinetic energies.  The explosion somehow granted him the ability to project waves of kinetic force, as well as the ability to alter his own personal molecular pattern, allowing him to walk through physical objects without effort.  Unfortunately, the explosion also altered his brain chemistry, and eventually drove him quite mad.       

The killing spree that Xonox went on was unlike anything Sionneq had seen in recent memory. Over time, Xonox realized that even he could not stand against an entire world by himself. Stealing a starship, he did not entirely manage to escape the wrath of his people – a shot from a pursuing starfighter damaged the computer of Xonox's ship, and when he attempted to enter warpspace, the navigation system was destroyed.

Several harrowing days later, the ship came out of warpspace, and proceeded to crash into Earth's atmosphere. The ship itself was destroyed by the uncontrolled entrance into the atmosphere, but Xonox managed to escape the craft's demise via a small emergency escape vessel.

Landing in a small, secluded town on the Atlantic coast of Canada, Xonox gleefully killed several dozen of the soft, ugly inhabitants of this primitive world, torturing some while learning the local language. He soon learned that while functional starcraft weren't exactly common on this world, neither were they completely unknown, and that other starfaring races had on occasion visited this mudball of a planet. He wanted to acquire such a craft and to leave this pitiful world, but he knew such a task would not be an easy one.

Shortly thereafter, Xonox was contacted by representatives of Intercrime, who made him an offer. He would be able to use the organization's substantial resources to pursue his goal, in exchange for working as a science adviser and inventor. Xonox agreed.

Now, Xonox works for Intercrime, working on whatever pet project they assign him to, while he closely monitors any sign of non-terrestrial starships (fully aware that Intercrime would also greatly value such a prize, and that they are in no hurry to lose his technical skills). He greatly despises these smelly, repulsive 'humans', but then, these days he's not that enamored with his fellow Keltarrians either, so its kind of relative. When he is able to leave Earth, he plans to leave several 'gifts' behind, which he hopes will severely depopulate this hated planet.

Campaign Use: Xonox can fit many roles in a superhero campaign; walking plot device for high-tech toys that the bad guys may have, a complication in dealing with a downed alien spacecraft, and last but not least, a superpowered psychopathic mass murderer. He's good at multitasking that way.