A Health Update

 Thought I would share a health update with all y'all...

After about ten rounds of chemo, at least fifteen rounds of Keytruda, and four rounds of a nuclear treatment, my most recent scans show that the nuclear treatment, Lutathera, has actually stopped the tumors from growing on my spine, ribs and pelvis, and may in fact be shrinking them. We're working on getting another round of Lutathera to see if we can make more progress, but the fact is that they have stopped my cancer from growing. My original prognosis was that I wouldn't be here today, but I've actually started to substitute teach a few days a week when I'm feeling up to it, and I have some hope for hanging around a few more years. Thanks again for all of the prayers and support that you've sent my way, and for the support you've all given Mary and Grace as well. We truly appreciate it.

Shout Out

I'll be posting a bigger update soon, but I wanted to give a shout out to Christopher Cortright and his supplement Five Foes for Stalwart '85. As a publisher, I'm not able to review or rate it (at least, I think that's why), but I'd gladly give it five stars if I could. Chris did a nice job with this, and I hope you support him.

Thanks!

Stalwart Phile #7

Stalwart Phile #7 is now posted. It started at 5 pages, then grew to 7, then to 9, and today I decided to add one more character that came to me in the middle of the night. I'd still like to knock out a Christmas-themed Stalwart Phile in the next three days, so we'll see if I can crush that. I have ideas for it, it's just a matter of putting it all together.

Happy Holidays to all if I don't get a chance to update again this week!

Power Creep and 1985

I'm working on Stalwart Phile #7, which is dedicated to technology and gear. I'm formalizing some bits about trick weapons and utility belts, and providing an alternate system for battle suit generation... I'm also creating a specific list of gifts that would be just for generating battle suits, and wanted to make sure I left no stone unturned. Therefore, I decided to check out the abilities of Iron Man's armor, and see what he can do (in current comics), to see if there was anything worth adapting. 

And... wow. The question isn't what can Iron Man do, it's what CAN'T he do? He has as much magnetic control as Magneto did in 1985. And he has as much strength as Hulk did in 1985. Maybe more. I mean, he's basically got everyone's powers from all of 1985 in one suit. I don't read any current comics, but I see this in online debates in the superhero groups on FB... can Flash beat Superboy Prime? Well, Flash can move faster than thought and can travel the Multiverse in a few seconds, but Superboy Prime can lift the entire universe and is strong enough to bend reality to his will, so it's a tough match.

I mean, really? Is this what we've come to? Thank goodness I don't read current comics. That's just stupid.

And it is impossible for gaming. I mean, you're trying to put Captain America on the same sort of scale with someone who can reshape the multiverse to his will in a heartbeat, and somehow they are on the same team? I'm glad that I set the game in 1985, because power creep was only beginning to set in. Back then, 100 tons was a LOT of weight to pick up. The heavy hitters like Thing and Colossus could lift about 70-80 tons. Now, Solomon Grundy can lift "200 quintillion tons". 1 quintillion has 18 zeroes. Mm-kay.

Plus, I just Googled this - Spiderman once held up the Daily Bugle. Um. I remember when Gladiator picked up the entire Baxter Building, and it was one of the greatest feats of strength that the world had ever seen. Now Spiderman can do that. Yeah. No. Sorry.

Anyhow, back to game design. I just needed this reminder that Stalwart '85 is set in 1985, which means that the power scaling is also set in 1985 (and specifically Marvel Universe 1985, because DC had already given itself over to ridiculous power creep, which was part of the reason for Crisis on Infinite Earths - to scale Superman back a bit, and to make him the upper benchmark going forward - that didn't last very long). Good for me, it's 1985 forever.

First of all, Stalwart Phile #6 is now available for download, so you might want to head over to DrivethruRPG and check that out...

In other news, my good friend Rob came over last night, and we had a grand time playing HeroQuest. It was my first experience with the game, and I really enjoyed it. It made me hanker for some solid solo play rules for Stalwart '85, but as I started to think about that, I immediately ran into the old bugaboo of supers RPG adventure design - the wide variety of powers that characters could have immediately puts up barriers towards concrete design. In a fantasy game, the heroes can ignore the trap, disarm the trap with a thief, or use magic to foil the trap; in a supers game, there are dozens of ways the trap could be foiled or even exploited, and a GM needs to be present to adjudicate the creative use of a power. HeroQuest always presented me with two or three viable choices in each situation, but it was only two or three - I could quickly sort through my options and pick one from a limited menu. Supers gaming theoretically blows that menu up and gives you an infinite number of options depending on your power set. Rob and I talked about cards, and maybe having a series of event cards to guide you through the adventure, but even there a supers game is wider in scope and scale than dungeon crawling; dungeons by their nature are limited environments with limited choices. 

It's something I'll puzzle over more, but it was great to sit with a friend for a few hours and roll some dice.

Aldo's Character Building Walkthrough

Aldo did a fantastic job of walking us through character building for Stalwart '85. I really appreciate the time he took to make and post this. It's really helpful, if you've had trouble wrapping your head around how character creation works.

Thanks, Aldo! 

Stalwart Phile #5

The Stalwart Phile #5 is now available, and it expands Doc's world into a new location, Port City, with a new central hero, the Skarab. While Echo City is a street-level city that is largely controlled by the criminal empire, Port City is a more 'normal' city, with a more garish and motley collection of villains. I was tempted to give Messenger a sidekick and expand Gap City, but decided instead to add a whole set of new comics to the mix.