caris Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 I was wondering, if anyone else had ever run a game that had more of a feel like one of Vertigo’s more “super heroish†titles? For example Animal Man, Shade The Changing Man, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, or The Invisibles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeroGM Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Well first you must be a tortured writer who lived in England under Maggie Thathcher iron rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 I try to incorporate bits of surrealism as from the Doom Patrol and I've incorporated lots of the Dreaming ideas into the magical background, but nothing too overt. Most of the Vertigo stuff, even when done very well (as I think some parts of the Doom Patrol, certainly some years of Hellblazer, certainly Sandman, others have been), can be a bit heavy - even heavy-handed - for a campaign IMHO. EDIT?PS - oh but the living street that served as the sort of mobile HQ for the Doom Patrol was just brilliant! I've not used it in a campaign, not even sure if I would as it's just TOO good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caris Posted February 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Originally posted by zornwil I try to incorporate bits of surrealism as from the Doom Patrol and I've incorporated lots of the Dreaming ideas into the magical background, but nothing too overt. Most of the Vertigo stuff, even when done very well (as I think some parts of the Doom Patrol, certainly some years of Hellblazer, certainly Sandman, others have been), can be a bit heavy - even heavy-handed - for a campaign IMHO. EDIT?PS - oh but the living street that served as the sort of mobile HQ for the Doom Patrol was just brilliant! I've not used it in a campaign, not even sure if I would as it's just TOO good! It is that surreal element that was pretty much what I was talking about. I’ve used individual elements before, and have been in games that have incorporated specific elements (The Endless being by far the most common). The individual elements aren’t what I was talking about so much as trying to run a game that tries to incorporate the style/feel/ambience of the line. I agree that running a game that surreal (and I love the Doom Patrol for how surreal it was) would be difficult, but I’m not sure it would be impossible for the right group. How would you even describe a game based in that kind of sensibility? To be honest, it was thinking about one of my characters, and trying to figure out where he fits genre-wise. A friend commented that my character tend to suck the “four color†out of things, but he really isn’t very iron age either. I kept picturing the character as somewhere between the JLA and the Doom Patrol in sensibilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Some gaming based on UK-centric non-4-colour comic stuff such as previously described. Also featuring liberal doses of 2000AD influence. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug McCrae Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Grant Morrison's crazy creativity is wonderful, very inspiring though I've never managed to come up with anything quite like his stuff, so far. I thought the Flex Mentallo issues were the best of his Doom Patrol run - mystic body building is a pretty far out concept. Also loved the fight with the Brotherhood of Dada - 'You forgot the power to create escape proof spirit jars'. That issue of the Authority where Seth describes his superpowers - X-Ray Strength, Rainbow Breath, etc - made a big impression on me. I think it was the one GM wrote, though he's uncredited. I've wanted to do powers with that level of strangeness. I felt it had a dreamlike quality to it. Maybe that stuff what be more appropriate for dream heroes ie you have superpowers but only in dreams? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Wow! Another HERO gamer in Glasgow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 I'd love to be able to do more surreal elements in my gaming, but I don't think I could do it for an extended time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug McCrae Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Originally posted by ThothAmon Wow! Another HERO gamer in Glasgow! Hmm. Dark-haunted Stygia, eh? So that'd be Govan I'm guessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckB Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Most of the ones you mentioned were the good Vertigo titles , but I don't think they'd work as well as adventures. Most are pretty heavy-handed and not easily resolved through role-playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Re: Champions and Vertigo Originally posted by caris I was wondering, if anyone else had ever run a game that had more of a feel like one of Vertigo’s more “super heroish†titles? For example ... The Invisibles? Once upon a time, I started a campaign called Infrared/Ultraviolet that was definitely inspired by Grant Morrison's The Invisibles. Not sure I'd call it a superhero game though; characters were 200 points and a player could buy any power he wanted for his character, so long as he possessed (either owned himself, or borrowed from me or one of the other players) a published book that described the ins-and-outs of how the power worked -- in other words, the metaphysic behind the power, described in the kind of book found in the New Age/Occult section at the bookstore. The campaign lasted one game-session (pretty pathetic, I know), so I don't really know how it would've worked out. I'm trying to remember the characters -- there was a rich guy (ala Mason Lang) with no powers, but extensive contacts, bases, etc. who was hunting for proof of aliens. A Golden Dawn/Crowley guy with a Book of Thoth. A guy with a copy of Everything In This Book Is True... and its sequel that I don't remember the title of, nor do I remember what he could do (other than spout random kookiness -- maybe he could "rotate" into/through other dimensions or something). One more, I don't remember what was up with him. I wanted to have a mercenary with a copy of Behold A Pale Horse and another character based on a book I have on Occult Geometry... Concerning the surreal... I really think what Morrison did in Doom Patrol was very cool, but so much of surrealism is tied up with the visual, I find it difficult to really work into an RPG, or convey in a campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeroGM Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Ok, it's been done before but who cares. If you want to start the characters out in Vertigo style game try picking up a copy of FABLES and take a start off game from that. Come up with an original adventure but have the players write up their ideas what what Fairy Tale characters might be like in modern day according to them. Most players should have a small idea of Fairy Tales so saves on you trying to explain some of the back story. And Enemy called the Adversary has taken over all the Fairy Tale kingdoms. In order to escape many fairy tale characters live in the Mundy (mundane) world. Even the animals are around, living on "The Farm" in upstate New York. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Originally posted by lemming I'd love to be able to do more surreal elements in my gaming, but I don't think I could do it for an extended time. I don't think such things work on an extended basis unless you're just extremely skilled. I try to keep my surrealisms fairly limited for that reason, try to stay subtle and occassional. Of course I like it when the players get surreal (I really think I should have awarded more XP for that whole thing of turning Jonas into a dog). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McCarthy Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 I hadn't run it, but I thought the Cut-Ups from Over The Edge did a good job of being playable within a surreal Dada-esque framework. I'd like to put such things in Champions, but speccing out the surreal things in terms of powers seems to leave them flat (look at Mrs. Miggs from Creatures of the Night, or some of the beasties from Ultimate SuperMage/ USM Bestiary; cool and surreal, but the character sheet looks like just another character sheet, and they're sandwiched between straightforward characters with straightforward schticks, like Jean-Luc Picard Lamplighter). It's a shame Over The Edge never gets more attention; as a 'loose rules' roleplaying game, it's incredibly easy to teach to beginners and play around in. And the setting's strange enough that just landing at the airport will turn your characters on their heads. Oh, and I loved Warren Ellis's Planetary issue where they have the Vertigo-esque funeral and a Miracleman-like/Animal man-like character complains about how his entire life changed when he went from Silver Age to Vertigo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Originally posted by zornwil Of course I like it when the players get surreal (I really think I should have awarded more XP for that whole thing of turning Jonas into a dog). You'll get no objections from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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