Shadow Angelus

[Edsel]

It's pretty much official. I will be borrowing heavily from this data on Mike's site to run an Urban Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Horror game. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

IMO it's an excellent choice. I'm sure Michael will be flattered.

 

For anyone wondering what Edsel is referring to: http://surbrook.devermore.net/worldbooks/shadows/shadowsindex.html

[AlexShinjo]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I know I am looking foreward to what ever Edsel comes up with!

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

IMO it's an excellent choice. I'm sure Michael will be flattered.

 

For anyone wondering what Edsel is referring to: http://surbrook.devermore.net/worldbooks/shadows/shadowsindex.html

 

That's not my creation. Well, actually, Ross Watson based it on my Kazei 5 material, but it was heavily inspired by Silent Mobius as well. So I had a hand in creating it, but only in a limited fashion. Also, a lot of the credit needs to go to everyone else involved in the game -- Ross, myself, Steve, Nestor, Yar, Josh, and Grady. Well all came together to make Shadows Angelus an amazing gaming experience.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

IMO it's an excellent choice. I'm sure Michael will be flattered.

 

For anyone wondering what Edsel is referring to: http://surbrook.devermore.net/worldbooks/shadows/shadowsindex.html

 

Also look at Shadows Angelus II for more ideas: http://surbrook.devermore.net/worldbooks/shadows_2/shadowsindex2.html

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

That's not my creation. Well' date=' actually, Ross Watson based it on my [i']Kazei 5[/i] material, but it was heavily inspired Silent Mobius as well. So I had a hand in creating it, but only in a limited fashion. Also, a lot of the credit needs to go to everyone else involved in the game -- Ross, myself, Steve, Nestor, Yar, Josh, and Grady. Well all came together to make Shadows Angelus an amazing gaming experience.

Well, thanks to you all. I am borrowing heavily from the stuff you have posted but of course I am filling in the blanks on my own and adding my own twists. I am pleasantly surprised how well my gaming group is embracing this idea. Their input (their character concepts and backgrounds) are causing me to expand on a lot of stuff. The group seems pretty pumped I think it will develop into a splendid campaign. Our earliest possible start date is April 18th.

 

Fortunately I am the only one in the group who has read through all of the Shadows Angelus stuff (I & II) and I can rely on my players to steer clear of the area. I will be using some of the scenario ideas as well as some stuff from other sources.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Yeah, showing people the 90+ stories written for the 1st campaign might scare some of them.

 

Oh, and we're still writing epilogues for SA II....

[watson]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Whoa, this is totally AWESOME.

 

I can't wait to hear what you have got going in your game, Edsel!

 

Thanks for taking a look at Shadows Angelus, and I am super-glad it has inspired you!

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Yeah, I'd say I am pumped to be playing in this game. I've even gone through the extra trouble of creating extra characters and reading up on all the Silent Mobius stuff so that I can nail the flavor of anime Espers, Cyborgs, and Mages.

 

Right now we are hammering on the details of Angelus. I am a mapping nut so the first thing I wondered about was "is there a map." I think between me and Edsel we'll find a way to produce a nice one. PS - could someone provide me a direct link to the map so I can see it? I don't want to snoop around inside the Angelus site and come across something that would ruin some of the fin.

 

I spent most of today looking at how a floating city could be built and what kind of resources it would need and coming up with some pretty amazing images that I'll hand over to Edsel when I think about uploading them to our private files area.

 

I really think this has potential to be a damn fine game based on the 20 pages we've seen so far.

 

The funniest thing is... I hate anime.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Yeah, I'd say I am pumped to be playing in this game. I've even gone through the extra trouble of creating extra characters and reading up on all the Silent Mobius stuff so that I can nail the flavor of anime Espers, Cyborgs, and Mages.

 

Right now we are hammering on the details of Angelus. I am a mapping nut so the first thing I wondered about was "is there a map." I think between me and Edsel we'll find a way to produce a nice one. PS - could someone provide me a direct link to the map so I can see it? I don't want to snoop around inside the Angelus site and come across something that would ruin some of the fin.

 

I spent most of today looking at how a floating city could be built and what kind of resources it would need and coming up with some pretty amazing images that I'll hand over to Edsel when I think about uploading them to our private files area.

 

I really think this has potential to be a damn fine game based on the 20 pages we've seen so far.

 

The funniest thing is... I hate anime.

 

Map of Angelus:

http://surbrook.devermore.net/worldbooks/shadows_2/backgroundata/sa_map.html

 

The funniest thing is... anime isn't this monolithic genre of big-eyed lesbian school girls in sailor suits piloting giant robots versus tentacled alien invaders. It's a medium... and there are a wide variety of genres to pick from. I think what people "hate" is the art style (which has certain conventions, just like most superhero comic art has certain conventions), and the fact a lot of the stuff imported into the US is just too 'weird' for most of us. Shadows Angelus pulls from a lot of sources, and certain anime is among them, much like Kazei 5.

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Map of Angelus:

http://surbrook.devermore.net/worldbooks/shadows_2/backgroundata/sa_map.html

 

The funniest thing is... anime isn't this monolithic genre of big-eyed lesbian school girls in sailor suits piloting giant robots versus tentacled alien invaders. It's a medium... and there are a wide variety of genres to pick from. i think what people "hate" is the art style (which has certain conventions, just like most superhero comic art has certain conventions), and the fact a lot of the stuff imported into the US is just too 'weird' for most of us. Shadows Angelus pulls from a lot of sources, and certain anime is among them, much like Kazei 5.

 

I've tried watching several shows provided by Edsel and save for Appleseed I haven't been able to enjoy them. It is the art and the sensibilities - like the 2 minute rain pans in Ghost in the Shell. I always found myself thinking - "wow, look they are panning to show how cool the graphics are..." So, you nailed it with the art. Some of the stories may be pure gold but if my eyes are bleeding it will not hold me.

 

I really liked Appleseed.

 

PS - thanks for the map link.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

You tried Black Lagoon? That's pure Dark Champions action-adventure gold, right there.

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

You tried Black Lagoon? That's pure Dark Champions action-adventure gold' date=' right there.[/quote']

 

No, but it sounds like one I would like. I am going to see if Edsel will re-loan me Witch Hunter Robin or Silent Mobius to get a feel for the magic and/or Esper stuff.

 

Hey Edsel... When I come over Saturday....

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I wasn't too impressed with Witch Hunter Robin. My espers are more like Akira.

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Eosin, I can loan you Silent Möbius or Black Lagoon or Witch Hunter Robin or any of a hundred others. If you recall you saw the first Episode of Black Lagoon and I don't think you were very impressed.

 

I particularly recall Eosin didn't like the freeze frame action in the anime. Revy flying through the air in the bar fight not moving as she did. Appleseed and Appleseed Ex Machina he liked but then the CGI was fantastic and it was further away from anime style. I heard rumors a while back that the success of the two OVA was going to lead to a TV series but I haven't heard much else.

 

I am currently re-watching Silent Möbius to help keep me in the right frame of mind (and shucks I like anime). I am just about to start disk 5 of the 6.

 

As for Angelus itself Eosin and I have been trying to calculate a possible size for the island city. Agreeing with some of Eosin's calculations here: I think right now we'd go for about a 28 or 29 mile radius city with a population density of about 100,000 per square mile. Tall buildings can hold a lot of people and still leave room for parks and other areas. This would give a population that tops out in the 75,000,000 range. About 800 square miles of city.

 

I have also thought about making a map of the new west coast area of North America post cataclysm. Then I could plot the general route that the city follows north and south during the summer and winter. I could also plot out locations of artificial Islands and such in case I need that data during the game.

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

My espers are more like Akira.

Ironically Akira is one of the very few anime that did not appeal to me. I am not really sure why. I guess Akira and Full Metal Alchemist would the the two popular anime that I have never liked.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Eosin, I can loan you Silent Möbius or Black Lagoon or Witch Hunter Robin or any of a hundred others. If you recall you saw the first Episode of Black Lagoon and I don't think you were very impressed.

 

I wasn't impressed by the first episode of Black Lagoon IIRC. But boy does it pick up later on!

 

I particularly recall Eosin didn't like the freeze frame action in the anime. Revy flying through the air in the bar fight not moving as she did. Appleseed and Appleseed Ex Machina he liked but then the CGI was fantastic and it was further away from anime style. I heard rumors a while back that the success of the two OVA was going to lead to a TV series but I haven't heard much else.

 

I didn't like Appleseed, but liked Ex Machina. I didn't like Ghost in the Shell, but liked the sequel and liked what I've seen of the TV series.

 

I am currently re-watching Silent Möbius to help keep me in the right frame of mind (and shucks I like anime). I am just about to start disk 5 of the 6.

 

I have never watched my set of DVDs all the way through.

 

Oh, did you see that Udon is going to re-release Silent Mobius with all new translations?

 

As for Angelus itself Eosin and I have been trying to calculate a possible size for the island city. Agreeing with some of Eosin's calculations here: I think right now we'd go for about a 28 or 29 mile radius city with a population density of about 100,000 per square mile. Tall buildings can hold a lot of people and still leave room for parks and other areas. This would give a population that tops out in the 75,000,000 range. About 800 square miles of city.

 

I have also thought about making a map of the new west coast area of North America post cataclysm. Then I could plot the general route that the city follows north and south during the summer and winter. I could also plot out locations of artificial Islands and such in case I need that data during the game.

 

Ross never went that far. We knew the city was big and that was good enough. But I'd love to see your maps.

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I've been thinking about that map and I came up with several ideas. The one I like best is to take this...

 

 

Stretch the dimensions to get roughly 800 square miles and then merge it with this....

 

 

 

And end up with something looking like this...

 

 

There has to be massive water channels running through the city into desalination tanks and probably the hydrostabilizers(?). There would also have to be some huge waste reclamation area.

 

Divide the Marco Island map into city districts and run from there.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Yeah, Angelus has to be a seriously green city.

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I'm really looking forward to hearing more about your Shadows Angelus campaign, guys. I played Brogan (both of them: Malachi in SA1 and Mitch in SA2) and it was a blast.

 

There was a note in the source material about the physical size of Angelus: In the essay from the SAII worldbook here the size given for Angelus is 20,000 square miles. (Maybe this should be kilometers?) Assuming it's roughly circular, that gives a diameter of approximately 160 miles. (or km.)

 

I'd take that with a grain of salt -- it may include the 'territorial waters' surrounding Angelus, and all of the smaller artificial islands which accompany it. OTOH, the city's support system is described as fusion-powered anti-gravity, so it might be one really big floating island.

 

Enjoy.

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

We did some talking tonight about characters...

 

1. Mage

2. Crusader (Religious Mage, sounds like one of the Celestial Choir from WOD)

3. Esper (an odd one without attack powers but we'll see how this develops)

4. Martial Artist with sword (magical?)

5. Gun-Bunny with enhanced senses

6. Probably a Cyborg

 

That is where we stand right now but not all of the characters are fully developed. I am playing the Gun-Bunny but I added some twists into the mix so that he fit with XSWAT. You know - magical rituals, dying children, and soul migrations. Heck, even I don't know what I really am. I know I left Edsel a hole big enough to drive an aircraft carrier through. I also gave him a pretty cool villain to use.

 

The players are being fairly secretive about their background but we might be able to start a thread with the character sheets when the game achieves lift off.

 

We also had a talk about Angelus - what makes it work and some of the unique problems that it might face (disposal of human remains, waste disposal, power, enforceability of laws, etc...)

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Since I have a good trustworthy group who have promised to not look at the stuff on Mike's website, don't be surprised when I borrow a lot of the plot material from the original campaign. I mean its a darn good story so if my players are completely unfamiliar with the plot it is silly not to take advantage of it. Of course how the players choose to deal with the various plots will likely cause the story to take different twists and turns. In intend to start off with the first plot pretty much as the campaign recaps portray it. I do have other material that I intend (at this point) to use for additional plots later on.

 

One thing that has amazed me is how some of the characters my players are planning have remarkable similarities to some of the characters from the original campaign. The closest is probably a female Crusader who is actually sounding very similar to Carpenter (aside from the gender issue). Eosin is basically running a highly talented normal with some interesting things I can exploit in his background. I need to work with the player who is wanting to be the Esper since it sounds like our views on how one should work are not jiving too well. The player in question is pretty new to the Hero System so I need to have a discussion with her about her character. One character will be a male sorcerer, another is likely going to be a male cyborg.

 

In summary it looks like the group will be 2 females (one played by a male) and 4 males. A crusader, an esper, a sorcerer, a cyborg, a very talented normal and one who doesn't neatly fit into a classical archtype. (Sort of a semi-mystical melee specialist, I worry that he and the Crusader may be too similar). Of course it is early and this is subject to change. One concern I have is that the group seems to be a little too heavy on the supernatural side and too light on the high-tech side.

 

1EyedJack (on these forums) has been running a Champions game for us. Since it seems that everyone is liking the set-up for Shadows Angelus we will transition to that game before too long. We only game once every two weeks. It will probably take our current GM a game or two to put his campaign at a good stopping point. This means it'll probably be May 2nd, or more likely May 16th before we launch the Shadows Angelus campaign. This is fine by me because the more I plan and figure the more I realize just how much work I need to do to get things setup the way I want them.

 

A final Note: Please be careful about posting links to the Shadows Angelus stuff on Surbrook's Stuff. I don't want to tempt my players or inadvertently have one of them learn something they shouldn't know.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I'll point out that SA uses the cyber and esper rules from Kazei 5. Also, I plan to mention SA as a possible alternate setting/set-up in the GM's section of the new Kazei 5 book.

[Susano]

Re: Shadows Angelus

 

It's pretty much official. I will be borrowing heavily from this data on Mike's site to run an Urban Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Horror game. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

I just thought of something -- Edsel, would you want me to create a third SA page so you can host all of your game data, maps, characters, art, and stories?

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I'll point out that SA uses the cyber and esper rules from Kazei 5. Also' date=' I plan to mention SA as a possible alternate setting/set-up in the GM's section of the new Kazei 5 book.[/quote']

 

Slaps self in head... And of course I have that book / PDF (purchased legally) and have been so busy with things that I forgot to look at the Esper stuff in it. But I'll certainly look at it now.

 

I just thought of something -- Edsel' date=' would you want me to create a third SA page so you can host all of your game data, maps, characters, art, and stories?[/quote']

 

That could be nice. I have a 24-page campaign document already though a lot of it was simply cut & paste from the first two SA books, then formatted nicely and saved into PDF. Of course there is some of our own slight modifications to things. I generally keep a campaign log for my games that are akin to the recaps you have for the first 9 sessions of SA I. All of the characters are required to have a background and history (technically not required but you can't earn XP unless you have them). I don't know how prolific additional side stories and the like will be. In my Dark Champions campaigns some of the players and me did an occasional foray into side stories but no where near the level of SA I.

 

Looking at the few "Start of Game" character sheets from SA I, It seems that the campaign was based on characters with 100 points + up to 150 in Disads. though it seems none of the characters took the full 150 points. Did I guess right?