Scott Ruggels

I've always thought of Magic The Gathering as a cancer on the TTRPG Hobby since it's debut in 1993 Worldcon. It's a curse, that crippled the hobby for about a decade, until Paizon figured out a formula to avoid it, but that caused a bump in CCG's that just sucked money out of the hobby.  MTG is Hasbro's  flagship at the moment, as it's on of the few activities they still sell that makes money, and does not require a screen to play. For what had been a toy company, that produced GI-Joe, and then later Transformers, the loss of Toys-R-Us, as well as a general shift to screens for kids, meant that their options had changed and CCGs were it.

At what degree?  A Nuclear Exchange wopuld cause a lot of problems, maybe up to extinction. But a Civil War would depopulate the large cities, but leave the countryside mostly intact. Governments would be severely weakened, much as Duke's scenario does. but travel would be hampered, Distrubution would be expensive or non existant. Local governments would be either the province of strong men, or strong ideologies, or hopefuly strong institutions/oprinciples.  A lot of Mend and Make Do. 

Read it, and played it, with lead 54mm Soldiers, and these Matal cannon with spring slap fire breeches, suitable for firing a toothpick or a length of piano wire. Turns weren't quick, but it was fun turning the living room into a battlefield.  That  lead me into wanting to try Fletcher Pratt's Naval Wargame, but we never did.

I am with Doc D (which, honestly, is not unusual in most things):  you are setting up a bleak, must-lose-and-endure-anyway campaign, and as a thought exercise, it can be a lot of fun.
 
As a gaming experience, though, it's kind of depressing.  Most choices will be centered on minimizing attrition by horrible means, and victory conditions are "continuing to inflict the horrors of the world on as many people as possible for as long as possible," even while knowing that the survivors probably won't stay alive anyway.
 
It's hard to get stoked for.
 
However, the last couple of decades have seen a shift in society that makes me crave societal collapse through global peasant uprising, wherein the richest world controllers and other cash sinkholes are stung up by the ankles and beaten like stainless steel pinatas, followed by a mass exodus from business, reliance on anything,that costs money they will,never have, etc-
 
People start ripping up pavement and planting food.  Society is for the middle,and,upper class, and built,on the backs,of,the day-to-day grunt.
 
What happens globally,when they have all had enough of supporting the non-contributors, and simply stop?
 
Besides, they have better odds of living through this one.

Funny but I disagree with all the points you made at the top of the quote. The fixed initiative is such a relief compared to die roll randomness. Most combat is sort of planned or at least has objectives. Champions was a Wargame of superheroes. The chaotic randomness is a product of melee or martial arts fights, when ranged combat is more planned out, or at least rules based. A lot of this chaos and randomness seems like a desire for more of a fiction forward flavor.  My preference is not to mess with Champions RAW. 

I definitely have to agree with you. There is no reason for randomness as there are plenty of things a character, or villain, can do to keeps things interesting. Many people don't realize that just because you have a DEX of 25 you do not have to go at DEX 25. Many times it is a good idea to hold off to see what your opponents are going to do or to allow you to work with one of your team members. In addition, just because you go in Phases 3, 6, 9, & 12, it does not mean those are the only phases you are allowed to act in. You can hold your Phase 3, to phase 4 or 5. Once again this can cause opponents problems because you are not going in the same phase or will allow you to better work with one of your teammates. Heck, when I use VIPER, I definitely have the agents not acting in their regular phases, that way if there is a number of them they can be attacking the heroes in every phase, not just 4, 8, & 12.
 
Note: I do know this is something I have said before but I believe it is something that can be said twice as I have seen a lot of players, especially new ones, who do not realize this is available.

Funny but I disagree with all the points you made at the top of the quote. The fixed initiative is such a relief compared to die roll randomness. Most combat is sort of planned or at least has objectives. Champions was a Wargame of superheroes. The chaotic randomness is a product of melee or martial arts fights, when ranged combat is more planned out, or at least rules based. A lot of this chaos and randomness seems like a desire for more of a fiction forward flavor.  My preference is not to mess with Champions RAW. 

Pathfinder : Hell's Rebels : Stone Cold Crazy
 
It’s a pity we’re so busy now the Rebellion has gone overt, because Civilla never got around to investigating what a Soul Anchor is. That sounds important. Terzo’s also been too busy to privately ask Civilla who ‘Cizmerkis’ is, but he’s unlikely to be happy when he finds out.
 
Terzo OoC: You see this? This isn’t my angry face. This is my disappointed face.
Rajira OoC: As opposed to his confused face, which we’re used to.
 
Civilla: It can’t have been the Green Hag we killed, I still have her head in a bag. 
Rajira: This one doesn’t have a head.
Civilla: Ah.
 
The reason she HAS the head is probably something else Terzo doesn’t want to know. It might be related to the ‘Founder of Dynasties’ feat Civilla acquired, and her relationship with fellow changeling Shimza.
 
Terzo OoC: So we are going to find out what purestrain Changelings are like? Hopefully nothing like Purestrain Genestealers.
 
The Skinsaw Cult would seem to be a priority, now. 
 
Civilla: PEOPLE are DYING.
Terzo OoC: Well yes, we’ve got an entire cult of Buffalo Bills running around Kintargo skinning people.
 
Norgorber’s cults are very secretive under the best circumstances, and the worship of Norgorber in his aspect as Father Skinsaw even more so. Happily Civilla can interrogate the city’s bird population for information now, thanks to a spell she learned off the Tengu, and corvids are very bright birds. It would seem the cult is operating out of a building we’re quite familiar with - the Fantasmogorium. At least they won’t have access to the waxwork of Kintargo’s most notorious serial killer - god knows what they could have done with THAT. Of course then there’s the question of what Civilla can do with it. She’s had it in her possession for months. Anyway, time to plan a commando raid.
 
… there are quite a few cultists in the building.
 
GM: Normally they’d come at you in waves, but you just HAD to come to them…
 
At least Terzo has brought a friend - one Bertuscio Corvus, a barrister who has become so incensed by the actions of the Dottari, Hell-knights of the Rack, and the militia in general, that he goes out at night and teaches them a lesson about  judicial overreach. With a whip. 
 
Although Terzo laughed til he cried when he heard that detail. But refused to explain why it’s so hilarious.
 
Terzo: It’s related to why I trust him. And why neither of us ever got married, actually.
Civilla: OH MY GOD THEY WERE ROOMMATES!
 
And there’s the added advantage that even though Bertuscio is going around as the vigilante The Silver Fox, his actual surname is yet another confounding factor in any divinations seeking the Silver Ravens. Terzo doesn’t know that Bertuscio is actually a Kitsune - there was more than one thing they had long practise at keeping private - but does observe that while Silver Fox is one potential description of Bert, a better one is ‘polar bear’, especially now he’s aged out of his formally ginger Beard of Awesome.
 
Civilla tests the cutists' alertness with Luster the homunculus, and an Invisible Stalker.
 
Civilla’s player: Can Terzo and his…
Terzo’s player: Friend.
Civilla’s player: Terzo and his ‘friend’ even roll under 6 on a stealth check? Actually I don’t know what the relationship between Ayva and Portia is. 
Ayva’s player: We’re not partners.
Civilla’s player: Oh good, so I don’t have to say ‘the four couples sneak forward’. Actually, I don’t want to know about the cousins.
Rajira’s player: Mahat and I are worshippers of Calistria. We can avoid that question.
Civilla’s player: I note you said ‘avoid’.
Rajira’s player: That’s the advantage of being a follower of Calistria - you always have options.
 
Civilla hits the oblivious cultists with Hungry Earth, the description of which reads: "The ground attempts to pull creatures beneath its surface as if hungry for the flesh of mortals."
 
Ayva: Bloody hell.
Civilla: It’s like I said - Everything I do should be more or less terrifying.
 
In fact, a cult that prefers to attack from ambush, in pairs, is completely ill-prepared when surprised by an enemy with the same tactics. Especially when some of us can cast Walls of Fire to stop them running away. And Black Tentacles, so they’re doubly grappled. And on fire.
 
Bertuscio: Part of me is wondering whether this can really be justified as ‘killing in self-defense’ when they’re so thoroughly outmatched.
Civilla: This isn’t ‘killing in self-defense’ - it’s ‘killing in defense of the city’.
 
It’s questionable whether the rest of the cultists have even heard the commotion yet.
 
Cultists: Those.. those don’t sound like fun screams.
Avya: Don’t we WANT them to run into the killzone?
Civilla: We kinda do, actually.
Ayva: I’m going to have to do a painting of this soon. As a warning to others.
 
Given some of the tentacles are writhing under the door into the next room and the floor is making disturbing gobbling noises, the other Skinsaw Cultists might be reluctant to rush in.
 
Cultist One: We have to get in there!
Cultist Two: You first.
 
One of the cultists we have cornered manages to yell for help.
 
Civilla: What does he yell?
GM: Mostly inarticulate screaming at this point.
 
Terzo doesn’t have much to do, other than stroll along after the slaughter and occasionally check over his shoulder in case anybody is about to attack us from behind.
 
Terzo: *somewhat faintly* Well, this seems to be going … well. Given Bert just wrapped his whip around that cultist’s neck and his head came off. 
Rajira: No it didn’t, he didn’t get a Decap Critical.
Terzo: With the amount of blood that just sprayed around the room, does it really matter?
Rajira: Not really. 
Civilla: Don’t worry, in a few seconds the floor will have eaten them and you won’t have to look at it.
 
It’s already eaten most of the prone and screaming cultists. Their friends are probably going to be upset about this, so we’re kind enough to hit them with a Euphoric Cloud. The surviving cultists flee to try to get around behind us. They’ll have to go out the main doors and around the entire building, since we made our own entrance to avoid any such ambushes first. And unlike the party they don’t know the old museum is built like an IKEA with secret passages everywhere for the staff. 
 

Necromance if we want to.,,,
 
We can bring dead threads to life....
 
Threads arent dead- when they'e twenty years dead-
 
Well that's my favorite kind....
 
 
 
 

Trying to ID dragonflies Weldun and Sundog saw
 
Arram’s player: Six weeks of work and it turns out to have a Twix wrapper caught in an updraft
 
The players have also been discussing cultivating Brown Mold, for its spectacular heat-draining abilities, to make a walk-in freezer or even a refrigerated warehouse.
 
Kernel’s player: kinda icky, but it certainly works… why does it feel like brown mold is an automatic thermal regulator that escaped from one of the crashed spaceships
 
At least we should be able to get back out of the old monastery basement, if we only use the very edge of the stairs out. There’s also a bunch of doors down here that invite checking. Of course nobody bought door spikes or ten-foot-poles, because, as previously noted, we are not adventurers.  Happily, the Monastery doesn't seem very monstery, at least for now. The only signs of life down here is the mold that ate the stored food, then starved to death itself. Happily, it wasn’t Brown Mold.
 
Kernel: That’s well beyond Purify Food and Water. Interesting fact, if you cast Purify Food and Water on cheese you still get cheese.
Gonno: But what happens if you cast it on Casu Marzu?
Skave’s player: *looks up Casu Marzu* DRHOZ. I WAS EATING.
 
The next room used to be someone’s office.
 
Arram: ‘Day 300 - The cult is going well  - no one suspects a thing’
Skave: ‘Day 301 - Oh no they found me out. AEIEEE’
Eddison: And yet he had the wherewithal to write that out.
 
There’s a pair of magical climbing gloves in one of the monk’s cells. And some really nice silverware in the kitchen. 
 
Eddison OOC: Might be platinum. Or aluminium. Sorry, in fantasy language ‘mithril’.
 
In fact he’s so distracted by the servingware that the dining room full of zombies is a bit of a surprise. 
 
Skave: Don’t mind us, we didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner! *slams the door shut again*
Arram: We can do some comprehensive looting once we’re sure nothing is trying to kill us. 
 
At least we haven’t been attacked by Vargouilles yet. Of course, that might mean the monsters are lurking somewhere in the country around Selversgard. Not that we have any shortage of monsters in the old chapel of the murdered god Aroden - more zombies led by a Zombie Lord.
 
Zombie Lord: You …are not…welcome here. This is … the temple… of our dead Lord.

Some frantic in-party communication ensues by way of waggling eyebrows - we decide we can probably get away with a few questions before we have to run.
 
Skave OoC: Knowledge Religion Check, Are there any gestures of supplication for Aroden? Hand movements, Gang Signs?
Eddison OoC: GANG SIGNS?!
 
Zombie Lord: Vargouilles… do not concern me. Trespassers… on holy ground…concern me.
Eddison: The Vargouilles prey on humans.
Zombie Lord: Humanity turned… its back… on our Lord. Only we remain.
Eddison: Ah. A cult of Undead worshiping a dead god. 
Zombie Lord: If you do not leave… then you must stay.
Eddison OOC: Another visitor! Stay a while, stay forever!
 
Skave: Okaysorryaboutbotheringyouwe’regoingnow (Quick, bunch them up by the door!)
 
They’re not just zombies, they’re zombie MONKS, and they’ve remembered their Monk abilities, such as Stunning Fist. It’s just as well we have all kinds of special abilities too. 
Eddison Finally takes down the Zombie Lord with a Mystic bolt, leaving a single zombie writhing in a Web spell. 
 
Skave: *Critical fail attempting to shoot an immobilised target with his crossbow* Sigh. Gonno? He’s all yours…
Gonno: *flying kick with appropriate Wuxia sound effects*
 
Time to check the upper levels of the monastery. We take considerable care - we don’t want to fall through rotten timber again and plunge through multiple levels until we’re in the basement again.
 
GM: You come across a ruined office. You may make a Perception check.
Arram OoC: It’s OK, I like surprises in my life.
GM: There is a buzzing sound from the office.
Skave OoC: Well, give one to the IT Staff, All this time and the servers are still running!
Kernel OoC: It might be a Zombie SysAdmin and we’ll be be f***ed.
 
Unfortunately, it’s wasps. A lot of very angry wasps.
 
Both Skave and Eddison throw Alchemist’s fire flasks at it, to little effect. At least we establish that despite their reputation, wasps are not Evil, because if they were our attacks that do extra damage to Evil things would be more effective. Perhaps the wasps had been provoked by the Vargouilles in the next room. THEY are definitely evil. 
 
Skave, Loudly: FINALLY! My mutagen just ran out!

Kernel Summons an Aggressive Thundercloud next to one of them.
 
Thundercloud: Grrr. argh! *thunder rumble*
 
Skave Manages to take one out in a single shot. 
 
Skave: Wait, what?
 
He’s then promptly paralysed by another’s Shriek.
 
Skave: ZART
 
Gonno intervenes and uses one of the Vargouilles as a Speed Punching Bag, until it explodes.
 
Gonno: WHACKITAWHACKITAWHACKITA - I think I broke it.
 
Skave breathes a sigh of relief as his paralysis fades.
 
Skave: …Is that all of them?
Kernel OoC: Famous Last words of a horror movie victim…
 

waits, and checks his watch.

I had forgotten about "gods". The local priest/priestess, monk/nun, or whatever they might be called who serve a god, and do the bidding thereof will do the healing for the tithe of worship. I had only considered magic and its practitioners. To live is to learn, thank you Lone Wolf. When you factor in the existence of active deities the circumstances  change dramatically. I had not, I had only considered the nature of man, not the possibility of something beyond the nature of man. 

Just got back from Godzilla Minus One....my spoiler free review from FB....
 
Movie Review: Godzilla Minus One (2023); The latest Godzilla movie in the franchise is a period piece. Taking place on the tail end of WWII, this follows the lives of regular people as they try to rebuild their lives after the war only for Godzilla to appear to crush their hopes. At two hours and 5 minutes, this is one of the longest Godzilla movies in the series. Much of that run time is devoted to the human drama. Luckily, the main cast is engaging enough so you can keep watching while waiting for the big G to appear. I have to give out a special kudos to the incredible FX work. FAR better than 2016's Shin Godzilla; this Godzilla has some life and personality in him. Better half said that this was the best Godzilla film they've ever seen. I'd try to catch this in theaters....especially in IMAX...so you can take advantage of the amazing visuals. If Toho can maintain this type of quality, I look forward to what comes next. Nuff said.

Sorry Chris, the only fantasy not underlayed by the peasant/serf is modern-urban fantasy or renaissance-Victorian. All of the early fantasy game were based in the history of the middle ages, D&D, EPT, C&S and FH. This is not a surprise, they were all familiar with this world (history class in school, except for C&S Bakus + Zimbalist were experts having met in university history class, in fact C&S is based on German middle ages). The problem with education in North America both sides of the border is that virtually nothing is taught in history class outside of Europe, as 75% plus of the population is of European lineage this should be expected. I knew Wilf and were friends for 50 years before he passed, was part of his test team for C&S,I exchanged letters (snail mail) with Aronson for twelve [I was complaining about Greyhawk} years, and was an early player of Chainmail the grandaddy of the RPG. So yes the early games were European middle ages, and peasant/serfs were its foundation. It is an unpleasant world  for 2/3 of the pyramid but we play in the top 1/3. We play from the upper (sometimes middle) middle class and the nobility, our characters have the time to study, to practice to become good at something other than tilling the soil. We live a good life as compared to that bottom 2/3's but all the tales of the hero's like Arthur and Robin Hood begin as begin as folk tales told in pubs and around fires By The Peasant. For Arthur as aspirational wanting to be him, for Robin also aspirational but for tweaking the noses of the nobility. 

Alex Toth may be the biggest detectable influence on my art style. Back in the day I would be lying on the carpet infront of the TV watching these with a small sketch bad, and a handful of pens and pencils. He was drawing right up to his end, and did designs for shows up until the 90's, though he slowed way down after the death of his wife, who started as the H-B Receptionist.

For those who are not old farts, this may explain what the hell we are talking about:  
 

And here I thought that only happened in those crappy AIP Gamera dubs that got riffed on MST3K. 

I am pretty sure the argument about if Champions is just variations on superheroes is kinda pointless. All heroes in movies, roleplaying games, or even computer games are Superheroes. The fact that they may not wear a cape or have lazers out of their eyes is irrelevant. For example, look at any of the Die Hard movies, in real life he would probably be at least hospitalized, or even dead, at the first encounter of the movie. Hell, Conan the Barbarian was even considered a superhero in Marvel.

Okay. I should let this drop but my brain came back to it and I got a few ideas for a timeline. Obviously, I am no proper history student of Canadian history, so this is more conjecture, liberal skimming from various sources applied in a slap dash manner, and whimsy. All of this is subject to change and I am sure there will be much "Mmmmph that isn't how it would have happened" inserted by our Canadian allies on the board. And I'm good with that, but it's my hope some of these ideas will be considered worthwhile with a bit of tweaking.  Some I'm sure, will need flat out correction.
 
You may notice there is no mention of the War of 1812. Honestly? I could joke about Americans always forgetting that one, but I think the existing Canadian Champion source books cover it better than I could and I couldn't think of the best 'Northgate focus' on it.
As of this point, I've only gotten to the Golden Age
*******
 
Northgate timeline (History continued)
 
In 1741, the first Fort Bourbon was established, but due to “small pox” of unusual nature and virulence in the area, was later moved. Trade continued, of course, though Cree and French alike were careful to avoid the deserted fort for a decade and despite the promising river path now open for even greater exploration. Actual settlement in the area was discouraged for a time but eventually, the area would lure others who either were brave enough to risk rumors of curses and plague, or ignorant of them entirely.
 
 
In 1763, the British, victors of the Seven Years War over France led to the formal claiming over the area of Manitoba, and, a decade later, the famous North Brothers discovered that, contrary to outdated records, the area here was to put it in their findings “Uncursed, Unplagued and relatively unpopulated by civilised men”. True, there were Cree and Métis as neighbors, but they had avoided enough of the area to give a foothold for a settlement. Indeed, one of the North Brothers, overstepping his bounds, even brought some respectful tribute to the tribal elders. Some historians think that’s why things went a bit smoother for this settlement than they would for Winnipeg, at least at first.
 
While the brothers continued to explore and survey, somewhere a government official, in a hurry to get his paperwork done, simply labeled the proposed area for a settlement “North’s Gate” and this would, more or less, stick. It would be a long time before the name meant anything of importance to most though.
 
 
 
 
 
1783, The American Revolution was, in many ways, not of import to most in Manitoba, at least, not at first but the areas around “North’s Gate” would be affected by it thanks to one man named Philoman Portendorfer. A prestigious and wily conman, Portendorfer could see the panic in the eyes of the loyalists as they found themselves in a land where the ‘traitors’ had won. Philoman had taken no sides, but approached many a loyalist pretending to be one himself. He spun elaborate tales of the vengeful nature of the revolutionaries and how Loyalist land was to be seized by them. Why he himself was driven from his home, and it was “only by a kindlier god than an old sinner such as myself was fortunate enough to have land up north”. The loyalists who took the bait and inquired would be spun an elaborate story of land near the most beautiful river you ever saw, perfect for fishing, trade, and why yes, farming too.
Sure that they were about to lose their lands in the newly minted “United States of America”, more than a few loyalists give their land in exchange for the promised “Loyalist Utopia” to the far north. It was, of course, a swindle. It is estimated that roughly a hundred and twelve men, their wives and children, went North only to find the forged papers they had were as false as Fool’s Gold. By the time they arrived, Philoman, who had stayed behind to ‘help other true sons of the crown’ had sold their old homes and made quite a tidy fortune.
This particular group of settlers, sometimes referred to by those hunters and trappers in the area as “Portendorfer’s Pinhead Pilgrimage” had a rough time of cold winters, hard men who did not care what paper you waved in their face, and indigenous people who weren’t thrilled to have yet more pale strangers tromping around lost. Some turned back, some, well, they died, but a stubborn chunk actually made a go of it and held on forming their own small settlement that would be eventually absorbed by the city to come.
It should be noted that in modern Northgate, there is more than one statue of Philoman Portendorfer and he is seen more with interest and even a bit of admiration than old rancor. Nothing like a century or two to help develop a sense of humor in a people.
Of course, many loyalists moved to Canada without aid of swindle. This influx of newcomers would alarm the remaining French speaking residents who felt increasingly pressed. The tribal lands had to deal with an influx of colonizers who did not know, nor respect already agreed upon boundaries and behaviors. These seeds of tension would sprout and bloom in what would later be known as the Red River Rebellion.
 
1869-1870 The Red River Rebellion was a Métis uprising that lead to the creation of the province thanks to the Manitoba Act of May 1870. Despite having many demands met, the Métis would in time find themselves disadvantaged to the point many would move to the Northwest. Indeed, with Northgate far more prosperous in this timeline than the area would be otherwise, the pressure of an English speaking White population was even more intense. Nevertheless, a substantial and stubborn Francophone minority would always be a part of the area.
 
 
 
1876, The area was finally and officially incorporated as a city. It was named Northgate, in honor of the Brothers that explored the area a century before, as well as how fitting it was for the city’s growing purpose as a true trading passage to the north. Of course, the fact it also required minimum paperwork was, as many point out, just a byproduct of Canadian Common Sense.
 
 
1894, Steamship transportation had come into its own and then some, offering new opportunities for transport through Canada’s waterways. At this time, Northgate had a very prosperous harbour, called Colville Landing. It was run and operated by the HBC (Hudson’s Bay Company) which had quite the influence in the young city. Alas, one of the largest steamships of the time, caught fire while in in port, and a great blaze consumed the docks and many of the buildings on it. This crippled the economy for a period of time and Winnipeg benefited from Northgate’s loss but the river and rail trade were simply too valuable not to reinvest in and repairs went forward with gusto. The rebuilt district was renamed New Colville Landing.
 
It should be noted that, much like the great Chicago Fire of 1871 (albeit on a much smaller scale), the Colville Landing fire of Northgate lead to stricter safety codes, and a historically well trained department of Firefighters that the modern city would take great pride in.
 
 
 
1914-1920 The Great War/WW1 led to an action that would shape the demographics of Northgate beyond conscription. In the ‘War Measures Act’, the Canadian Government classified immigrants with Austro-Hungarian citizenship/heritage as “aliens of enemy nationality”. Thousands of Ukrainians (Among others) were interned at camps and work sites. One of the larger camps was in the then outskirts of Northgate. It was only after a year after the treaty of Versailles that this policy ended. However, many Ukrainian-Canadians (To use a modern term) would choose to stay in the area either lacking resources to move back to their old locales, or the desire.
 
While one can dwell on the sins of governments in war, Northgate would, a century later, make a kind of restitution by opening it’s doors to Ukrainian refugees (mostly women and children) fleeing Russia’s invasion.
 
1930s- While the first discovery of Uranium in Canada was actually in 1930 in the Northwest territories, a few years later studies of the areas near Northgate later on stumbled onto a much nearer supply of Uranium, Radium and some other materials that, at the time, defied classification. Unbeknownst to most, the great meteor remnants of the area, long altered by pressure and time, were just now being reached again. There would be ramifications.
 
Unfortunately, at the time, the Great Depression hitting North America was no kinder on Canada than it was the U.S.A. so slightly radioactive rocks were hardly of major concern. People wanted jobs, fair wages, and more. Long rivals, the workers of Northgate and Winnipeg united in great demonstrations and protests. Times were lean and hard. The pulp heroes appearing in other cities of Canada were absent in Northgate, leaving a sense of despair as crooked men sought to make bank on the misery of the time.
 
World War II – The second world war was a different kind of misery for all. Economically, it proved to be a shot in the arm for Northgate, as it applied itself to providing resources to the Allies overseas. But, it would also lead to the loss of several sons of the city. Even before conscription, it must be said that Northgate sent more than its fair share of young men for its size, earning Northgate the honorific “City of the Bold”, sadly with the honorific, came the sound of cathedral bells tolling in mourning. Yet there was pride when news of how more than one Northgate native helped free Holland.
Of special note, though often neglected in history, was the contributions of the Cherry Top Angels. The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps ended up with several volunteers from the ladies as well, women who signed on as Nurses to tend to the many wounded overseas, and at home. A military hospice for long term recovery was actually set up inside Northgate, a precursor of a medical industry that would swell in time, but those that would be known as the Cherry Top Angels were never too far from the front line, working in tents overflowing with wounded. Of course, that was not their official name, but they had been given berets of that hue and the name stuck. Perhaps the most famous of these nurses was Lt. Linda Diana Yardlie, who stopped a medical outpost in the pacific from being overrun by shoving a gurney down hill on an imperial Japanese squad coming up to capture or kill HER wounded charges. The gurney in question, being loaded with unpinned grenades, proved to be quite the game changer. She got a promotion, two medals, and five offers of marriage when news of her courage came home to Northgate. Of course her real contribution was the many lives she and her fellow nurses saved by care and healing, but the story does stick out.
 
A note on Golden Age Superheroes- During World War II, the Fifth column was quite infused with superpowered Axis members hoping to wreck havoc on this or that city in North America. Northgate was no exception. A Nazi saboteur dubbed Baron Von Verwüstung briefly became a major threat to Northgate’s factories and training centers. He was foiled by Northgate’s first superheroine Shadfly. Somehow possessing the powers of flight, super-strength, and shrinking, Shadfly routinely held any and all 5th Column foes from completing their plans, while also coming down hard on war profiteers and plan old criminals. Most assumed she took the alternative name of the short lived Mayfly to add extra insult to the Axis goons she protected to the city from, but in the end, it was revealed she’d chosen all too accurately. Born Victoria Garson, the daughter of a famous chemist and no slouch herself, She had developed a formula using local radium admixtures to grant herself superpowers, knowing that it would shorten her life span to a handful of years.
 
In May 1945, Shadfly pulled a sinking ship off the river to safety, and then finally died before the very people she had saved, the formula at last demanding its due. She took the secret of the formula with her to her grave, but there are rampant conspiracies that her body was dug up by this or that shadowy organization for study.
 

Selversgard Pt.18
 
Gonno’s player: It’s a pretty odd-looking weevil, but it has a certain charm. But then, weevils are highly charismatic insects. 
 
22nd of Kuthona, the day after the Winter Solstice. A very cold, but also very dry, winter. So lacking in snowfall, in fact, that Selversgard’s lumber interests have continued working well into the month since transporting the lumber is so easy. Eddison is at work at the Drowned Carp when somebody comes in looking for Mother Maybell - she isn’t in her office. Eddison suggests checking by the river - the River of Souls is a major feature of the Golarion afterlife. Apparently somebody at the logging camp is extremely ill. The aquatic elf suggests he try asking Silas of the Green next - he seems to know half the stuff that happens in Selversgard.
 
Eddison finds Mother Maybell first - she’s talking to a tall black man holding a spear taller than he is.
 
Skave’s player: Asking for context - Black as in African, or Black as in Salamander Space Marine?
Eddison’s player: I was about to ask the same thing - chocolate or sable?
 
The newcomer is one Djeketh. He’s going to need a room.
 
Djeketh: Pleasure to meet you.
Eddison: Believe me that feeling will pass.
 
Eddison passes on the news about the problem at the camp. Apparently disturbing things are happening to the head of the patient.
 
Mother Maybell: Well, let’s go past my office to collect my things and we’ll head out there.
Eddison: We?
Mother Maybell: I’m not going out there by myself.
Eddison: *sigh* I know, I know - It’s just ‘refusing the call’ bubbling up again.
 
At least he can send somebody to fetch Arram and Skave.
 
Skave: You want me to leave the Warren? In the middle of *winter*? We built central heating into the place for a REASON.
 
The patient is there. His head isn’t.
 
Gonno OoC: That seems inconvenient.
 
According to the other lumberjacks, the man was complaining of feeling unwell, and his ears started growing. When they went to check on him, his head was gone. There are definite signs of disease and stress on the remains. 
 
Gonno OoC: A really really bad migraine?
 
Skave recognises the symptoms - the missing head is pretty distinctive. The unfortunate man was kissed by a Vargouille, grotesque flying heads with bat-like wings, originally from the Lower Planes.
 
Skave: Oof, No wonder. Poor guy got a face full of Outsider Wing-Wong.
 
Vargouilles can also be Summoned, with distressing ease. It’s just as well they can only transform humanoids into more vargouille or Golarion would be overrun with them. But how did he get Kissed without him or anybody else noticing? He must have been a very deep sleeper. If they’re smart enough to chew holes in the back of tents, and can infect people that are merely sleeping, everybody in the camp and back in Selversgard is in danger. 
 
Skave: Welp, I’m done, I’m going home.
Arram: No you’re not, get back here.
Gonno’s player: Doesn’t the Warren have ventilation shafts?
 
As part Outsider themselves, Gonno and his wife might be immune, but it’s not worth the risk of finding out. 
 
Eddison: I’d rather be wrong about them NOT being immune, than be wrong about thinking they are.
 
How do Vargouille reproduce in the Lower Planes anyway? Is there some kind of indigenous humanoid there? Or is it like salmon reproducing far upstream, and they can only multiply after some idiot summons them to the Material Plane? And since they can turn a victim into another Vargouille in less than a day, we have to find and exterminate them all before a small problem becomes a very very big one.
 
Eddison: That’s the problem with geometric progression - you either deal with it early or you’re done.
 
On the material plane, these monsters usually occupy graveyards, ancient battlefields, or anywhere one can find remnants of death and decay. There aren’t many places that match that description around Selversgard, with the possible exception of the abandoned monastery of Aroden. Arram, Eddison, and Skave send a runner back to town to warn everybody, and fetch Gonno. 
 
GM: You’d probably like Miya here too, but she’s a bit waddly at the moment.
 
At least there’s one person at the logging camp who is almost certainly immune to the Varguoille’s Kiss, and Scream. Because he’s made of wood. Kernel is a wizard, an engineer, and a Wyrwood. Wyrwoods are self-replicating constructs created by a cadre of argumentative wizards who clearly hadn’t heard all the stories about such constructs developing free will and a very understandable grudge. Not that he has a grudge against the people of Selversgard - he’s very cheerful and friendly.
 
Gonno OoC: So, roughly, how many races out there exist because wizards wanted obedient slaves but hadn't heard of the Three Laws of Robotics? I'm not even going to try to count all the races that exist because humans can't keep it in their pants.
 
Eddison’s player: I really want to get Kernel a Khakkhara. That way I can call him Kernel Clink.
 
Skave leaves a few bottles of Polypurpose Panacea and Mwangian Marching Powder with the logging camp’s guards, just in case.
 
Skave: Be very careful with the powder, it’ll give you the jitters…
Eddison: Or, you know, you could just give them coffee.
Gonno OoC: Surely coffee is the base ingredient of the Panacea. 
 
When Gonno gets the note, his eyebrows practically climb off his head, but he sets out almost immediately. Not happily, but he’s the only person in Selversgard who can travel fast enough to get back to the logging camp before dark. 
 
Gonno: Once the sun gets below the mountains I am in considerable danger.
Eddison: Vargouilles have no problem with sunlight.
Gonno: F***. That’s worse.
 
Indeed, it is worse - because he fails his Perception and his Stealth checks, and falls in a giant trapdoor spider pit. Happily, there's only a spider in the pit, and not a vargouille. He pulps it, and continues on his way.
 
Eddison: Is that silk on your fists?
Gonno: *nods, but doesn’t look happy about it*
 
At least everybody in the party has darkvision - a definite advantage if we don’t want to be surprised by Vargouilles swooping down on us in the dark. The ruins are roughly rectangular, and accompanied by some smaller outbuildings. The stonework is the only thing remaining after two hundred years. Skave hands out some useful potions and unguents, just in case. Arram remembers what he can of the layout, based on that map he found years ago - the main building definitely has a basement level, which we intend to check first. Edison casts Continual Flame on one of the torches Gonno brought with him. We stick close to each other - the Vargouille’s Scream has such a large area of effect that splitting up is unlikely to help. 
Unfortunately, we don’t even get to the main building, before skeletal limbs start clawing their way out of the thick undergrowth surrounding the old challenge circle. 
 
Skave: …. That is a lot of zombies…. *watching in increasing alarm*  HOW MANY ZOMBIES ARE THERE.
Eddison OoC: Look at it this way - more XP.
 
At least zombies are slow - we leg it for the exit to the compound, although Arram gets hamstrung by one as he leads the retreat.
 
Skave: Ysoki super secret special move: RUN!
 
Unfortunately Continual Flame can’t ignite all the tinder-dry undergrowth.
 
Gonno’s player: I think we’re going to be relying on Arram and Skave’s pyromania for a bit. 
 
We continue to withdraw, until the mass of zombies has been lured into one solid mass. Then we start applying our own Area Attacks. Or Flurry of Blows with his new Pummeling Style in the case of Gonno.
 
Skave: He poked it a few times and it exploded.
Eddison OoC: Ah, Fist of the North Star, got it. 
Gonno OoC: You are Already Dead.
Skave OoC: Well yeah, it’s a zombie?
 
We cautiously search the remains and the yard, but all we find is a slightly enchanted garden rake.
 
Kernel: Someone made a +1 rake?
Eddison: Monks are weird.
 
The monk that decided to meditate himself to death in one of the outbuildings probably was anyway. At least Arram and Skave recall enough about the religious practices of the church of Aroden that they can recommend proper funeral rites. We enter the main building, seeking the basement, whereupon Gonno promptly falls through the rotten floor.
 
Gonno: I’VE FOUND THE BASEMENT.
Arram: Well, I’m not leaving him down there on his own. Down I go.
Eddison: Sensible people move away from the danger. *Jumps down*
Skave: Come on, this is how you do it! *jumps in, lands directly on his tail* OW F***!
 
Professional adventurers probably wouldn’t all injure themselves falling or jumping into a ruined basement likely infested with Vargouilles. But as we’ve made abundantly clear over the last few years, we are not professional adventurers. 
 

Pathfinder : Hell's Rebels : Prog Rock Dinosaur
 
So which of this many jobs should we do first? 
 
Civilla’s player: Catch a pokemon, apparently.
Terzo’s player: Digimon, surely, with a name like Hetamon.
 
Hetamon Haace is a tailor and proprietor of The Devil's Threads in Kintargo, He also secretly operates a cult dedicated to the goddess Milani known as the Rose of Kintargo. Civilla was left a note from him some time back, urging her to concentrate on making allies rather than the usual revolutionary activities like assassinating arch-dukes or writing out Romani ite domum one hundred times. We check at the Devil’s Threads, but the building is shuttered up. There’s no sign of forced entry. It would seem Hetamon went to the Masquerade and didn’t come back. Lictor Octavio of the Order of the Rack suggests we use an improved version of the Locate Person spell, that the Order of the Rack used to great effect when seeking kidnap victims. It seems Hetamon is underneath the ruins of the Silver Star. Shensen’s ears certainly prick up - the Silver Star was her music shop and home, and one of the first buildings destroyed by Thrune’s agents. She wants to come with us, not least because she wants to see what happened to her home, but because she’s worried about her dinosaur. 
 
At least we have all those Hats of Disguise the devils at the Opera House were wearing. 
 
Terzo: So…a dinosaur you say?
Shensen: Yes, his name is Guttugger.
Terzo: I was under the impression that dinosaurs are generally… large… animals?
 
Shensen tells us she had an escape tunnel prepared - hopefully it’s still intact.
 
Ayva: … sigh, we’re going through the sewers again.
Terzo: So…you’re absolutely sure we can get this dinosaur of yours out through the sewers?
Shensen: … he’ll be fine. Erubdiya? Are you here?
Terzo: How many dinosaurs do you have down here?
 
Erubdiya is actually a Slime Naga - a 30ft long snake with the head of an old man. Rajira and Mahat bow deeply, while Terzo tries to get his heart rate under control. The Naga is pleased, but surprised to see us here - apparently Shensen’s old hideout is now occupied by the Naga’s new friend.
 
Shensen: Ah.. new friend? There’s still some stuff of mine that I need to pick up. And there’s apparently someone that’s been bought here?
 
The Naga immediately attacks her. Shensen is surprised by this.
 
Terzo: So am I - my adrenaline was already spiking, I’m not sure how much more excited I can be.
 
Shensen apparently concludes that her Naga friend is under some kind of enchantment, and attempts a Countersong - the mind control promptly vanishes. She’s a very good singer.
 
Erubdiya: Shensen? There you are, old girl, how have you been?
Rajira: You do remember what happens under a compulsion spell.
Terzo: Yes, but they’re not a YOUNG Naga.
Erubdiya: Wait.. Shensen? You have to get out of here, your hideout’s been taken over by some sword-wielding bat winged b***h. 
 
Apparently the b***h is a half-succubus named Natsiel, who wanted to corrupt Shensen’s shrine to Sarenrae. 
 
Rajira: That’s OK, I have an entire temple to Calistria. You should see how we dress it up on the High Holy Days.
 
Apparently the half-succubus also kidnapped her son.
 
Rajira: Shensen’s son?
Erubdiya: No, Natsiel’s son.
Rajira:.. What?
Terzo: Quarter-succubus, presumably. Wait, this son isn’t named Hetamon, is he?
Erubdiya: That’s him!
Rajira: … alrighty then. Let’s get in there and kill her. 
 
It would appear that Hetamon isn’t the only person Natsiel has been enchanting and bringing down here - Strea Vestori, of the Tiefling Rights organisation we helped with that Tooth Fairy problem months ago, is down here under the same sort of compulsion Erubdiya was under. Terzo breaks that one. 
 
Terzo: There's all kinds of ways to use countermelodies, contrapuntal themes, and deliberate dissonance to unravel an enchantment. But I can think of a much simpler way to derail a compulsion spell, using a musical trigger that's much stronger. SWEET CAROLIIIINE.
Strea: Ba Ba BAA-wait, what? Where am I?
 
Once Strea realizes where she is, she tries to flee, but we grab her before she accidentally alerts the half-succubus. Apparently Natsiel is mid-ritual to turn somebody into a guardian for the desecrated temple. We split up to attack the ritual room from two directions, preparing to keep the Hags and fiend off their feet and otherwise disabled, and if necessary Countersong from both ends of the shrine.
 
Ayva: A bard at both ends is a good idea.
Rajira: And sounds extremely rude.
 
The secret shrine to Sarenrae has been thoroughly desecrated and redecorated in honour of Mestama, the Mother of Witches and Demon-lord of Hags. There’s the body of a Green Hag floating in the once sacred pool.
 
Terzo: Isn’t that the green hag we killed earlier?
Rajira: Yes. 
Terzo: Did we ever find out if they were related to Civilla or not?
 
The GM starts setting up a Green Hag miniature.
 
Rajira: Greener than normal, they’ve been dead for weeks.
GM: No no, these are the ones that are still alive. 
Rajira: … Ah. Jealous of the dead one, they’re not as green
 
GM: Ayva Used Surf! It was Super Effective!
 
The half-succubus turns invisible, but only long enough for Terzo to hit her with Glitterdust. The now shiny fiend glares murderously at the poet.
 
Terzo: Just thought I’d Zhoosh you up a bit. 
 
One of the hags, bloodied, beaten nearly to a pulp, and prone, decides her best course of action is to turn into a tree. Her spell fizzles. It was probably a terrible idea anyway - Terzo was planning on setting them all on fire with Blistering Invective next.
 
GM: Did you just use Surf AGAIN.
Ayva: Of course I did, it’s Super Effective
 
Once her allies are dead and the corpse floating in the sacred pond pretty much pulped, Netsiel rolls herself into a Dimension Door and escapes.
 
Terzo: What a pity, I was going to criticize her decoration choices.
Avya: Don’t do that, some of them might be Shensen’s. ‘This picture is so tacky’ ‘’that’s one of mine’ ‘-but in a delightful way’
 
Civilla destroys the corpses with her Wand of Decompose Corpse. That should ensure the ritual can never be attempted in future. Then we all help Shensen clean the chapel and set up the reconsecration. And find Hetamon, who does not enjoy a good relationship with his mother.
 
Hetamon Haace: You didn’t kill her, did you?
Rajira: No - she teleported away.
Hetamon: Grr. Well, next time.
 
Rajira’s player: Tailor - check. Spy - check. Despised species - check. Manipulated by a parent - check. When did Garak become part of our Pathfinder game?
 
We also find Shensen’s dinosaur, who had barricaded himself into one of the other rooms, and bursts out and pounces onto Shensen.
 
Terzo: *eyeing the Deinonychus’ four-inch disemboweling claws.* Ah. That’s why you called it Guttugger.
Shensen: Yes!
Ayva: *eyeing the Deinonychus that’s babbling in Elvish.* Ah. It’s an AWAKENED Deinonychus.
Rajira: That’s horrifying. 
GM: No major comments about Shensen Having a freakin' Deinonychus Companion with the personality of a freakin Guilmon?
Terzo OoC: Oh, I have Thoughts about it - I’m just too polite to say them out loud
 
The gear Shensen had hidden down here includes an application of Stone Salve.
 
GM: The Irony is NOT lost on her.

Ayva: She has the salve because she insists on using a Rod of Wonder which can turn people to stone.
 
Or as happened during the fight, summon a mouse instead of the enraged rhinoceros you would have preferred.
 
At least Netsiel was Blinded pretty much from the moment we burst into the room - she won’t be reporting what we look like to her superiors. And now we’ve pretty much secured Jarvis End for the Rebellion - certainly the Tiefling population of Kintargo are ready to support us in any way they can. 
 

Careful with that, Sir.
 
 
Was it a year or so ago I got well-run across the coals for saying that as much as I detest it, D and D-- owing, I am sure, mostly to it'a complete lack of logic or reason-- excels at making magic feel like magic in a way that HERO just can't do with it's brick-by-brick Lego-style approach to building "powers."
 
I mean spells.
 
Sorry.  

I hear this a lot... but how do we reconcile this with playing in a system like Hero where our powers are quantified in terms of range, area, power, and so forth? 
 
As I also said up-thread, I do see magic as a science.  I lose immersion if it's not.  I lose interest in books where it's not, and I certainly don't want to play in settings where it's not.  If the characters in-universe believe it's not, I can maybe accept that... but if I want to play a character who believes it is, and tries to figure out how, and the GM shoots me down, I'm going to pack up my books and go home.
 
I'm still not exactly sure how you're supposed to play in a roleplaying game where magic isn't explained.  I'm not being rhetorical here; I literally don't understand how.  The GM at least needs to know the system behind it.