Villains & Vigilantes Ownership Battle is Over (Mostly)

Villains & Vigilantes (V&V) was the first non-D&D rpg I played and thus has a place in my heart (even if I've never played it since). There was a long running dispute over who controlled the rights to the game. The original creators Jeff Dee and Jack Herman wanted the rights back from Scott Bizar of Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU), the original publisher.

When Jeff Dee and Jack Herman published a new edition of V&V in 2010 (using their company Monkey House Games), a lawsuit claimed they had no right to do so. They counter sued claiming that FGU no longer was a legal company, because they had ceased publication, and thus the rights had reverted back to them. In July of 2012, Jeff Dee and Jack Herman lost a case and were ordered to put up official public notices denouncing certain comments they had made (or potentially had made), such as this one found on their official website for Monkey House Games.

20 months later the lawsuit has finally been decided by the judge and the original creators, Jeff Dee and Jack Herman, have the rights to the game back. It looks as if Monkey House Games has the right to produce new material for the game, whereas FGU can only sell the print copies of the rules. Scott Bizar has filed an appeal, so a final final ruling may take longer, but for now Monkey House Games has the rights.

A link to the court ruling.

[source]

Yes, It Is An RPG Game

In my endeavors writing the ENWorld column, Pretty Darn Fun (A Weekly Look at New PDFs), I've seen a wide range of role-playing games. Many look awesome and make me wish I had more disposable cash. Some make me scratch my head wondering what the target audience is. While I realize people are diverse and have a wide range of likes, here are a few RPGs that leave me wondering...

Maid the Role-Playing Game

This is a Japanese import and billed as the first Japanese rpg to be released in English. In it the player characters play, well, maids to the master (the GM). Not just any maid but the "fetishized modern maid" (their words, not mine). And then giant robots and ninjas kidnap the master and the maids have to rescue him. To complete the game there are rules for playing in different time periods, adding romance and seduction, 11 adventures and an equipment section that gives the PCs wonderful costumes. To keep things fair there are also some rules for butlers.

Roller Girls Vs.
This is a supplement for QAGS (Quick Ass Game System). It is about roller derby girls...fighting "cannibals, dinosaurs, hyperintelligent apes, Nazi time travelers, fratboys, and zombies". And for those of us who don't know the rules for roller derby they have been included. Interesting thing is that one of my former gamers is a Roller Girl and she had heard of this product already...but she has yet to kill zombies at a derby match.

'45: Psychobilly Retropocalypse
"HE was a mutant with a gift for the guitar and an eye for the ladies. SHE was a hotrod-racing bombshell on the lookout for love. IT crawled from the wastes of Nashville crater, seeking human victims."..."All the cool cats dig '45 daddy-o, are you hip to the scene? '45 is so cool, it's radioactive, man!"
First they take some over-the-top charactrers and then throw them into a nuclear bombed out WWII where B movies are the setting. I don't even know where to start such a game, but I'm sure the game would be so bizarre it would have to be fun.

Panty Explosion Perfect
Not to be outdone by Maid, we have an rpg about highschool girls with psychic powers that have to balance their grades with killing ghosts and demons. All with an anime look and feel to it. However, the publisher of the game, Atarashi Games, is not one to rest on their rpg laurels, no, they have a full gamut of games available. First, they have Panty Explosion Classic, the same game but with their first edition rules (yes, apparently this game demanded a second edition). Second, they have Classroom Deathmatch a game where you play one of 50 highschool students forced to fight in televised deathmatches...with bear traps and grenade launchers; but, its ok, when you die you can simply play one of the other 50 children.

Intergalactic Cooking Challenge
This science fiction rpg transports the player characers to the far reaches of the universe...so they can cook...against alien chefs...to the death. To keep things interesting the PCs need to scour the space lanes for rare ingredients all the while avoiding the intrigues of rival chefs. It looks like the designers have gone out of their way to allow this game to be run as a full-blown campaign instead of just a one-shot. Think of the possibilities!

How to Cheat at Worldbuilding: Tip #14

One of the ways to enhance a world setting is to include unique locations. Think about Middle Earth for a minute...

Hobbiton - All of the homes are underground.
Erebor - A mountain alone.
Weathertop - A watchtower.
Barrowdowns - A vast burial ground.
Dead Marches - A vast swamp where an ancient battle took place.
Laketown - A town built over a lake.
Helm's Deep - A mountainside refuge.
Isengard - A ring of rocks with a tower at the center.
Mount Doom - An ever-active volcano.

All of those locations evoke memories of the trilogy. They were unique and sparked the imagination. They also helped to make Middle Earth feel different from our own world, thus helping with the fantasy aspect of the setting. And yet...they aren't all that alien to our own world. It was all in the presentation...and the fact most of us do not live down the street from such a location.

How to Cheat at Worldbuilding: Tip #14

World Heritage Sites

Use real-world locations in your own world setting that are unfamiliar to the populace in general. This list of World Heritage Sites includes 962 unique locations spread around the Earth. The linked wikipedia page gives a list of all the Sites by world region.

How to use this resource? When writing up a section of your world find a Site that is similar to the area you are working on. For example, if you are working on a desert-like region pick List of World Heritage Sites in Libya. That page gives some Sites in regions environmentally close to what you are working on. You now have a list of interesting locations you can plunk into your own world setting that will feel unique. Best of all there are often pictures (sometimes multiples of them) that you can print out and show to your players when they get to those locations. In addition, many of the Sites have a fascinating history and may give you some solid ideas for adventures that can be placed at the location.

RPGs Meets Real Life

Many modern games are set in New York City...and the tunnels underneath them. RPG games love their dungeons and tunnels under the city meet those requirements. But how realistic is using tunnels beneath the city? Pretty realistic and getting that way even more. There is currently a huge undertaking going on called the East Side Access project; projected cost is $8B, it has been ongoing for decades and is expected to be finished by 2019. Here are a bunch of pictures...

The Foundations of Geek: My Story

The Wasted Lands blog has thrown down a blog gauntlet: Tell us YOUR formative experiences, and what brought you to the wonderful world of Geek culture!

I was born in Germany and moved to the US when I was 7 (1973). Unfortunately, I don’t remember much in the ways of specifics other than…

-Doing some hikes up some mountains. I have always had a grasp of the wilderness.

-Seeing the old-world architecture. While nothing specific has stuck with me, I have always loved the look of old architecture.

-Two languages. While my German is no longer functional, growing up in a bi-lingual house helped me understand other cultures.

-Struwwelpeter. This is an illustrated book for children wherein the stories are exaggerations to showcase proper behavior. Many of stories and pictures are fantastical, such as cats crying and putting out a burning girl and monsters that cut off the thumbs of children who suck their thumbs. Here is a link to an English version of the book.

At 9 years old (1975) we were assigned to read Watership Down. Before that point all my reading assignments were done to complete the school task. I devoured Watership Down and then realized that books could be for enjoyment. From there on, reading became a joy and something I still actively pursue. Lord of the Rings clinched my love for fantasy. Throughout high school my group of friends would devour books and then recommend them to each other; it was almost a challenge to see who could find the next awesome series.

Also at age 9 (1975) I went to see the Apple Dumpling Gang at a drive-in. It is a western comedy that had me falling in love with movies. Later in 1976 I first saw 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on The Wonderful World of Disney. It captured my science-fiction/fantasy interest and showed me how it could be done visually. While I love all movies, that was my first “science-fiction” film. I still go to see a movie usually once a week, with science-fiction/fantasy/action being my favorites.

Sometimes in the late-70’s I started reading comic books. I’m sure I had read some before (certainly I remembering watching the Super Friends TV series on Saturday mornings), but the X-Men (post-Giant Sized X-Men #1) really captured my imagination and got me to increase my comic book intake. Soon I was reading a large number of lines. Eventually the cost became too much and I had to stop; I haven’t picked up reading comic books since then but the pull is still there.

At age 13 (1979) I played my first D&D game. From there a group of us played all the time; at lunch, at each other’s house – we even skipped school one day to play all-day at the local park. We started with D&D and quickly moved onto other games such as Gamma World and Villains & Vigilantes. Since then I’ve played in many campaigns and with many rule systems. It’s hard to describe how much role-playing games have defined my life but that is when it all started.

A few things I remember are…using a bazooka to kill a rust monster trapped in a pit, making Wolverine as a Gamma World character, making copies of the rule books for my friends.

At age 14 (1980) I gained access to the computer at our high school. From there I became a computer geek, playing the games the computer had on it and then writing my own. I remember at lunch times going to the back room of the computer center, loading up the cassette player and playing the text-game Adventure trying to get a bit further than the day before.

This love of computer games reached another point in 1988 when I bought the Pools of Radiance computer game. I ended up going out and buying my first personal computer (a Tandy) just so I could play this game. Since then computers have been an integral part of my life.

At age 22 (1988) I was talked into going to a LARP event by a couple of my players in my ongoing D&D campaign (that ran 11 years of real-time). Before this I had vehemently avoided going to live-action events because I felt that was crossing a line from imagination to reality and the potential dangers therein (and I had heard rumors of SCA people sacrificing chickens to evil gods at their events).  However, I went (to a light/boffer game) and had a blast. I’ve been going ever since, averaging about 20 events a year).

At age 34 (2000) I was talked into playing Everquest by a couple of my D&D players. Again I was hesitant as I feared the gameplay would be sub-par (internet gaming was in its early stages) and the time consumption issues. I eventually tried it out and ended up playing. While I no longer play Everquest, I have played an on-line MMO ever since (World of Warcraft currently).

My geekness runs a wide gamut. Yes, I am a geek but I’m okay with that.