Evolution of a gaming product

Evolution of a gaming product

While working on my latest product I have to laugh at the way it has evolved and the way it evolved. My latest title started simply by me asking Jason Waters at hero games if I could use the Terror Inc. in a product. He put me in contact with Steve Perrin who owned the rights to the characters and he gave me permission to use them. So far, so good as it is said.

My plan was to make the product part of my S.I.D.s Report line. This line of products is small products that will introduce new villains and heroes for use with Champions. The characters powers and backgrounds are complete, though bases and vehicles are not usually included. This line was designed to simply be a small product that would introduce new characters while showing the difference between what is generally known about the character and the truth behind the character.

It wasn’t meant to be a large product or a campaign book or even a product that would greatly affect a campaign. I envisioned it more like the original enemies books where new characters were given and GMs took it from there. This was what I original plan for Terror Inc., to be included in this series of products. Plans to tend to changes though.

I mentioned on the Hero System Facebook page that I receive permission to use the characters. I figured that I couldn’t be the only person who liked the group and thought others might like to know. A few days later I noticed someone on the Hero Games forum mentioned the post. Through posting with them I realized there were others like me who would use the group. So I decided to make a thread and ask what they might like to see in the book. The posts and ideas start coming and I quickly realized that this was not going to fit in the S.I.D.s Report line at all. The information they were hoping for was not the information that is normally given in an S.I.D.s title. So a change had to be made to my plan and a lot more work was going to be needed.

Instead of an S.I.D.s title I decided to make it part of my Villainy Codex line, the second in the line to be exact. This line is a far larger and more detailed description of a group and the possible effects on a campaign they may have. The first product in the line was called Mutant Conflict and gave a description of a group that hunted down mutants. This group can greatly affect a campaign as can Terror Inc based on the information that I was adding to the group. With bases, vehicles and other information it was obvious that this was the product line for the supplement I was going to create. So the work started and through it all it was obvious that the book belonged in the series.

The work started and was progressing nicely the problem was the more I worked on it the more I added. The more I added the more Ideas I had for other things to add, so on and so on. The other thing I enjoyed about this title is the more I started working on it the more I discovered about the group. I’m not one to incorporate everything that comes out from Hero Games, or elsewhere, into my campaigns. However, there were things in 4^th edition that I didn’t even know existed for Terror Inc. I never knew that they had an island stronghold of the coast of South America. I knew they worked out of South America but never knew that there was an island fortress there.

I never knew there was an island city that they were in the process of taking over either. All this, and some new characters Steve Perrin added, was news to me as I used the team from Classic Enemies. Now when Steve Long had Scorpia and Fuer, as he was known at the time, try and kill Professor Muerte and then moved on to Eurostar I knew about. This is where I started building my Terror Inc. as well as the history moving forward and the past as well.

This is what the supplement evolved into a supplement that was far larger and encompassed for more than I originally planned. Of course I’m sure this is the same thing other game designers and story writers have found when working on their projects. You start with a simple idea and sometimes it expands into something you didn’t plan but ultimately embrace.

You can find Villainy Codex II – The Return of Terror Inc. for sale at RPGNow, my website at http://www.tigerseyemedia.com/tiger/product.html  , in the Champions section, and soon at the Hero Games Webstore

Dice Rolling And RPGs

There have been a lot of discussions, debates and arguments about dice rolling over the years. Perhaps the biggest is rather or not for a GM to hide his dice rolls from the players.

Well just for fun here is my two cents on the subject.

As a GM I have to say I favor hiding my rolls from the players. After all, this is why they invented the GM screen after all. I mean why make an item to hide what the Gm is doing if your not going to hide what the GM is doing. Yes the charts and information on the screen is useful, but you could have the same information on a sheet of paper without having a piece of cardboard in front of the GM.

Another reason to hide the rolls is so a GM can fudge them from time to time. Now as a GM I do fudge my rolls and will admit to it. However, the only time I fudge them in my favor is why my NPCs can’t seem to hit the barn they are standing on top of. I mean seriously, if the characters aren’t getting hit once in awhile where is the threat?

The main time I fudge them is in favor of the characters. While I have killed a character of twelve in my time as a GM, I don’t try to do so. If characters keep dying players loose interest. So, I fudge rolls when I know for sure the character is dead if I don’t. This is not to say I won’t kill a character, just try and help them.

I mean if I roll a critical hit on a badly wounded character; I’ll make it a normal hit instead. If I roll maximum or almost maximum damage on a character I will reduce the damage. I do little things like that to help the characters out.

Now if I hit the character again I may not worry about saving the, I mean yes I will help you but you have to help your self too. These are the fudges I will do and why I like to hide my rolls.

Another disagreement is should the GM make rolls for the characters. For the most part I say no, let the players roll for their characters. However there are some instances where it is better for the Gm to make the roll.

Luck; a character doesn’t know when his luck roll is made only when something lucky happens. Now of course them seeing the roll have little affect but it is “funnier” as a surprise.

A miss roll on the other hand can influence thieves. If a thief fails their find trap roll they will usually want to recheck. I will sometimes make the find trap rolls for a thief. The answer from the Gm is always the same regardless of the roll “You don’t find a trap” now the player can decide to check again or not. Of course the question the becomes “do you always check twice for traps”

So I think that they answer to both question is yes. GM should hide their rolls and they can and maybe even should make rolls for the players from time to time depending on the situation.

Just my two cents.

Role Playing Games

There are a lot of role playing games out there, one question asked  a lot is which one is the best game. The answer is solely dependent on who you ask and what your looking for in a game. To me the best game, hands down, is the Hero System published by Hero Games.

The system was created in the 80s for a game called Champions. This was and is a superhero role playing game. Several other games were created using variations of the system including Fantasy Hero, Espionage and Justice Inc. In 1989 the Hero System came out, a universal system that could be used for any genre.

The latest version of the Hero System, 6th Edition, came out in 2009 and various supplements have followed. This system follows the original with a few name, power and system changes.

A brief description of the system is your given a set amount of points to buy skills, talents, perks and powers for you character. You take a set amount of matching complication to complete the character's background. The point levels will depend on the genre your playing and the levels set by the GM.

I prefer this system to others because it's so flexible. You can use the system for any genre be it fantasy, superhero, western etc., with no changes to the system. You have everything you need, skills, powers or talents to create any campaign that you can imagine. While you may have to change a name of a skill, security system becomes find trap, the core rules have everything you'll need.

The other thing I enjoy about the system is creating the powers or items for a campaign. In some games you simply say that this item does this specific action. I.E. A bag of holding opens to a pocket dimension and that it can hold X amount of weight. In the Hero System you have to look at the powers and figure out the best way to create it. In this example you would use extra-dimensional movement to accomplish it. It take a little work and imagination. but it's just funner to me than just saying it works.

These are just a few reasons I like the system, I will be posting more about the system and various adventures in the future along with other rants.

Take care
Tiger