Just this once, can we be original?

I've been a gamer for over twenty years.  For the vast majority of those years, I've been interested in superheroes games.  There have been long stretches I didn't play D&D, because, let's face it, Tolkenian fantasy is only so interesting, and, some iterations of the game have had some serious flaws, but I always had some superhero game that caught my eye.  And there have been a lot of those, Two different iterations of Marvel Comics based games, the old DC heroes game, GURPS, HERO, Villians &Vigilantes, two White-Wolf based superheroes games, and two iterations of Heroes Unlimited have all taken up space on cheap bookshelves in my life before I picked up a copy Wild Talents.

So, believe me when I say I know the genre.  And, with that, I know the people who tend to play it and the sorts of characters you tend to see.  And, it's with that in mind that I ask why we as players have clung so tightly to boring tropes from the Justice League?  I know that seems almost painfully oversimplistic, but the vast majority of characters fit one of the following molds:  Brick (Superman/Wonder Woman), Martial Artist (Modern Batman), Gadgeteer (60's Batman), Speedster (the Flash), Blaster (Black Lighting), Magician (Green Lantern/Zatana/Dr. Fate), or Psychic (Martian Manhunter), okay, that last one is kind of a stretch--most PC psychics are either Jean Grey or Professor X--but he does read minds.

My problem isn't with these characters, they're classics of the genre who largely defined what four-color superheroes look like.  My problem is that there are myriad alternative models of what a superhero can look like, why aren't there that many models of what superhero characters in RPG's look like?  I understand that in the early days of superhero games, you had a shopping list of powers and those powers tended to push you into one of those molds, but, most modern games use some kind of point buy system like GURPS, HERO, or ORE.  In a point-buy system, there's no inherent reason to link powers thematically, nor to combine powers into those molds. 

To put it another way, if the power to ignore an attack is defined by effect, turning intangible and being bullet-proof are the same power.  In a world like that, there's no reason to connect travelling quickly to thinking and acting quickly (And certainly, there are classic characters who can do one, but not the other), nor is there inherent reason to connect invulnerability to inhuman strength.  But people still do that. 

My question is why?

My guess is that it's laziness.  There's no inherent reason to connect invulnerability and super-strength, there is a practical reason that a strong character should be able to take a hit or survive a super-fistfight, but there's no reason that the power making that possible has to be invulnerability, or that those two have to imply flight (Superman, Captain Marvel, and Hawkgirl, I'm talking to you).  It's just way easier to go there than to think about a more interesting combination.

Because I don't just want to be a jerk who pisses all over everyone's favorite way of making superheroes, I'll add that what most people are really doing with these is buying three powers, an offensive power (or two--usually one hand-to-hand and one ranged), a defensive power, and something interesting outside of a fight.  Certain hero types are weighted a little differently, but, really, it all comes down to those questions.

My theory is that, with a couple of very specific exceptions, or powers that fit multiple categories, all superpowers are really either:  An attack, a ranged attack, a defense, a means of moving quickly, or a means of doing something interesting outside of combat.  So, I'll provide a non-exhaustive list of sample powers, and characters who have them from comic-books based on that breakdown.

Melee Attack:  Super strength (Superman), Martial Arts Training (Batman), Fantasy-Style Weapon (Wonder Woman/Black Knight), High speed punches (The Flash), Pulling out Opponent's heart which then immolates (Evil Shaman from second Indiana Jones film)

Ranged Attack:  Shooting lasers/Energy Blasts (Superman/Black Lighting), Specialize thrown weapon (Batman), Throwing objects normal people couldn't move (Hulk), Telekinesis (Marvel Girl), Prehensile Hair (Medusa), Guns (Punisher), Archaic Ranged Weapons (Green Arrow), Gadget Ranged Weapons (Green Arrow), Illusionary/Telepathic attacks (Mastermind), Specialized Teleportation/Temporarily invoking demons (I made those up)

Defense:  Invulnerability (Superman), Intangibility (Shadowcat), Turn into a hard substance (Absorbing Man/Collossus), Invisibility (Invisible Girl), Shrink really small (Atom), Dodge (Batman), Martial Arts Defense (Batman), Specialized precognition (Midnighter), Regeneration (Wolverine), Illusion/Telepathic mind clouding (Mastermind), Create forcefields (Green Lantern), Shield (Captain America), Specialized Shapeshifting (The T-1000 in Terminator 2) Large quantity of Hit Points/Exceptional Toughness

Means of moving quickly:  Flight (Superman), Cool high-tech vehicle (Batman), Teleportation (Nightcrawler), Swing on webs (Spiderman), Astral Projection (Dr. Fate), Become intangible/out of phase (Shadowcat), Turn other people into you (Agent Smith from the Matrix movies)

Useful outside of combat:  Regeneration (Wolverine), Turn into something really small (Atom), Mind reading (Martian Manhunter), Tongues (Cypher--Maybe my favorite metahuman ever), Shapeshifting, Many mundane skills

So, next time, rather than make a super-strong character who is invulnerable and flies, consider a character with a sword, the ability to turn invisible, and the ability to walk through walls.  Or maybe don't do that, it's a little too "ninja" for my tastes, but, you get my point.

KublaCon Golden Gargant 2014 Final Standings!

Finally (I know; my fault, sorry) I've got the final results for 2014's Golden Gargant at KublaCon.

It's organized by win/loss record, then battle points. Ties were resolved via strength of schedule. Battle points were added straight into the total. Like the Frontline Gaming tournament system wins are worth 1000 points, ties 500, and losses no-points; I've also provided the win/lows/tie breakdown for the sake of completeness. For those who would like a PDF copy of the rubric you'll find one here.

An interesting note is that our four (soon to get a new codex) Ork players landed in every scoring bracket, from 3 wins down to 3 losses.

Thanks to everybody who came out. It was stressful because of a couple hiccups, but you guys made it an awesome event to run! Also thanks to the guys at Frontline Gaming for including us in the Independent Tournament Circuit, and to them and Powered play for providing awesome prize support!

Cheers and happy gaming!

~ Eddie

Workbench Wednesday - 6/5/14

Greetings! I'm actually making this post on Wednesday! Hooray for me. It has been a very successful and very fulfilling hobby week. After finishing my Medusas I was able to paint my 10 man Tactical Support Squad with Volkite Culverin in Mark4 armor. I have worked out an expedient way to paint my Death Guard, as evidenced by the fact that I finished a 10 man squad in a week! I'm waiting for the bases to arrive from Dragon Forge, after which I'll weather the marines with pigments and they'll officially be finished.

It should be a couple weeks, so in the meantime I'll be working on a 10 man Destroyer Squad with Jump Packs and two Apothecaries. After that will be  two 15 man Tactical Squads in Mark2 armor. I'll also be placing another Forgeworld order this week in which I'll be getting 10 more Mark4 marines to finish the second Tactical Support Squad, 15 Breacher Marines and some command elements. This project is proving to be as rewarding as I hoped it would be. Very inspiring. Hopefully I'll be on track to have a small tournament at the end of the year!

On to the pics!

Workbench Wednesday - 5/28

Greetings! I've had a very productive and rewarding hobby week. I am diving headlong into my Death Guard Legion. I finished my two Legion Medusas, and am really happy with how they turned out. I am really glad I practiced with the rhino and the drop pod. Without further ado, here are the pics!!

I forgot to put the soot on the exhaust stacks, which I fixed earlier today! I posted the Medusas to the Horus Heresy Painting and Modeling Group on Facebook and someone pointed out that I forgot the soot.  Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is just what a model needs to be finished off.  Like most hobbyists, I'm very critical of my own work, but I just kindof shook my head that I could miss something that seems so obvious!  If you are interested in Horus Heresy miniatures, I highly recommend joining the group.  There are a lot of very talented hobbyists in that group, and I am constantly inspired by their work.

Workbench Wednesday (Saturday) - 5/21

Greetings!! After finishing the Helbrutes and sorcerer, and not being able to attend Kublacon, I've shifted my hobby focus to my Horus Heresy Death Guard Legion. To this end, I painted up some test models, a drop pod and a rhino. I wanted to try out some new techniques, especially using an oil wash for the first time. Neither model will be in my Heresy army, as the rhino isn't a Diemos pattern and the Death Guard rite of war doesn't allow drop pods. I found a tutorial on Battle Bunnies Blog, at it turned out brilliantly!  They're test models, so no transfers and I'm still waiting to do the weathering powders, but the majority of work is done.

After finishing the test models, my attention has turned to my two Legion Medusas. They're in progress right now, and so far are turning out really well. 

Water slide transfers are a total pain in my ass, but I've finally figured out a system that works, and will do a brief tutorial in the coming week, hopefully. I've also prepped a 10 man Tactical Support Squad with Volkite Calivers as my next project. 

I also ordered my bases from Dragon Forge. I normally use Secret Weapon Miniatures bases, but for variety I decided to go with Dragon Forge. They're simply the highest quality resin bases on the market. The downside is it can take 3-6 weeks to get an order as they're hand cast, but it's well worth the wait. They're simply the best. I'm looking forward to this project a lot, and will share it with you as time goes on! 

I also can't wait for the new Ork release!!!! Orks were my first army when I was a kid and the first army I made when I came back to the hobby. I can't wait to see what GW has in store for them! Needless to say I'll be picking up a bevy of new Orks to add to my Waaagh!

Pre shading with airbrush:

Workbench Wednesday - 5/14/14

Greetings! Despite a busy week with the family I had a very productive hobby week!!! I finished weathering everything I've painted recently, and finished all the Scrap Yard bases from Secret Weapon Miniatures. The weathering really tied the models together and gave them the look I'm going for.

I hope this will be one of my last posts from my phone as my wife and I just got a brand new iMac! Yay for real pictures. 

Also, it doesn't look like I'll be attending Kublacon after all as it is a holiday weekend and a busy weekend for those of us in the service industry. Boo. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop working on this project, just that the urgency has faded a little. I am pretty close to just finishing every model I have for this army, which is a rarity, so that's good motivation in and of itself. Still to go are the 60 cultists, 6 spawn and Kazak. And the Chaos Warhound, which will be quite the project in itself. I'm really excited about that project, though I seem to be missing one of the toes. I ordered a tentacle maker from greenstuff industries to make different hoses and tentacles to augment the Titan, and to replace the toe if I can't find it. 

Taking away the minority of my hobby attention will be my Forgeworld Heresy Death Guard. I had a very sizable force but decided to sell them to fix the family car, which was painful but the right thing to do. I am reconstituting them now and am very excited about that project. I'll be blogging the whole army build and painting journey.  I'm going to be starting a gaming group in the South Bay and hopefully running a tournament later this year. 

Anyway, on to the pictures of projects:

More after the jump.

Workbench Wednesday 5/7/14

Greetings!!  I missed last week's post, though I don't have much to report since then. I finished a 'good enough' paint job on the Heldrake and finished painting the sorcerer's corpse cart bike. I've hit a bit of a wall with motivation, and assembled Kazyk the Befouled and primed him. I also have prepped some Secret Weapon Miniatures bases for paint. I think some weathering and basing, thus finishing some models completely, will help a great deal. I'll keep updating as I paint the spawn and Kazyk, after them it's just cultists until the cows come home.

Closer pictures after the jump.