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Delegating and Why It’s Important

Delegating and Why It’s Important

(or “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Loved Asking For Help)

This one is kind of going to hit on both a meta- and gaming-specific level. Because one thing I’ve often noticed is that awesome, creative, ambitious people tend to be really bad at asking for help. Which is a shame. Because awesome, creative, ambitious people often make the best GMs, and the best people to go into business creating a streaming network with. But then, you find yourself getting frustrated because they promise a lot of amazing things, and then aren’t able to deliver on all of them.

And of course they can’t! No one can. These people usually have ideas and thoughts that, while amazing, are far beyond what any human being has time and energy (or spoons) to accomplish.

Case in point? I wasn’t the one who was supposed to write this week’s blog. Today’s topic came from a list that Alex had laid out at the end of 2023 as a road-map for 2024, designed to make sure that we had new content on both the blog and on our Patreon (are you supporting our Patreon yet? You can, at patreon.com/UntoldStoriesProject.) If you know Alex, you’ll also realize that he had filled out topic ideas for the first six months of the year, week-by-week, and that he had the first four or five posts ready as of January 1.

You also know that Alex is the Line Developer for Mutants & Masterminds at Green Ronin Publishing, and they’re in the middle of a pretty significant project (namely the Kickstarter and launch of Valiant Adventures, which I’ve heard a few people call Mutants & Masterminds Third-and-a-Half Edition). He’s an author, working on the next book in his Titan City Chronicles series, and several other projects related to Titan City. He runs one of our weekly shows here at USP, and runs the stream and plays in another. He also has a day job, and a wife, and several other side gigs.

In other words, he literally doesn’t have enough hours in the day to do everything he wants to do. But he’s ambitious and creative (and awesome) and wants to do it all.

The problem there is that when you promise a bunch of stuff, and then realize you can’t carry all of it, you end up dropping things. And then you have people wondering why the thing was dropped, when they would have been happy to carry it for you.

All of which is why I jumped in to write this blog post. And you’ll see that across USP – we want to give you much more than we’re able to do. And occasionally we need a reality check. But we could also ask for help from other people.

But this is also good advice around the gaming table, for GMs and for players.

Most GMs (me included), want to make our campaigns as immersive as possible. We have ideas for maintaining calendars, and maps, and information about all aspects of the campaign world, and lists of loot that the characters have gathered, and information about all the NPCs that they’ve met (or know). And it’s way more than anyone can maintain – especially in the middle of the session where you’re running a game.

We can delegate to our players. If I (Aaron) am running a game for Brandon, Calvin, Deuce and Everly, rather than trying to do everything myself I can break the work out.

So, a traditional awesome, creative, ambitious GM might look at the division of work as such:
A – Write the game, run the game, prep the stat sheets, keep notes on all NPCs, maintain in-game calendar, keep track of party loot

B – Have fun playing!

C – Have fun playing!

D – Have fun playing!

E – Have fun playing!

All of which works for one or two sessions, and then the GM burns out and doesn’t want to run another game for six months.

Perhaps a healthier model might be one in which the division of labor is:

A – Write the game, run the game, prep the stat sheets and have fun running!

B – Keep the campaign journal with an overview of the sessions, and timekeeper, noting when things happened, and have fun playing!

C – Keep the list of all of the loot and figure out each person’s share, and have fun playing!

D – Keep notes abut NPCs the party has met, and have fun playing!

E – Coordinate who is bringing snacks, work on art resources for the campaign, and have fun playing!

But this idea can also apply for players and how they can delegate to the other players. In some games, especially superhero games where characters can be hyper competent, there can be a desire to make sure your character can do something about any given problem. These are the characters with variable powers, huge skill lists, etc. On the one hand, these characters are rarely completely unprepared, but one thing they can do is make the other heroes in the party feel redundant.

This is a place where a Session 0 can be incredibly helpful. Make sure when designing your character, you don’t have to figure out how they can do it all. Figure out the things that your character is completely unprepared for, and talk with the other players and make sure everyone has a niche.

In a typical fantasy adventuring party, you don’t want five fighters, or five wizards, or five rogues, or five clerics. Ideally, you want a mix of a front-line fighter type, an arcane magic specialist, a divine magic/healing specialist, and a trap-finder/disarmer, and then the fifth character can either double-up or be a pinch-hitter for one or more of the other roles (perhaps a bard). And while you can perhaps have a competent party with five bards, you still really want those bards to specialize their focus.

Gaming is fun and a great pastime and a way to stretch your creative muscles. And we all want to enrich that experience for ourselves and the other people at the table. But if we’re willing to delegate some of that work to the other people engaged in it, we can accomplish a lot more for a lot longer.

Happy gaming!

USP Earth-Prime Tarot

USP Earth-Prime Tarot

The Tarot have fascinated people for a long time, and the intersection of comics and the Tarot is nothing new. In some ways, the cards of the Tarot make their own little comic every time they are laid out for a reading – and the story of the Fool as he makes his way through the Major Arcana is its own narrative. There have been superheroes and supervillains who have used the Tarot, and there are commercially available Tarot Decks using characters from Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Vertigo.

With all of that in mind, I thought it might be fun to assign each of the Major Arcana to characters from our own Earth-Prime universe. So, with that in mind, we’ve prepared the following list.

Before we begin, it’s important to note that the Tarot and its meanings can be subjective. Similarly, characters in role-playing games are interpreted not just by the person playing them, but also by those who sit at the table with them, and in the case of these characters, the audience observing their adventures. So, while I tried to take the thoughts and opinions of the creators of these characters into consideration, this list represents my own personal biases.

0 – The Fool

Crucible

Meaning Those new to tarot could mistake The Fool as a card of silly, uninformed actions on the horizon. This Major Arcana holds a much more positive meaning, though. The Fool represents fresh starts and new beginnings. You may be about to embark on a journey with a child-like wonder. Take this card as an indication to stay in the present and have a hopeful attitude in your endeavors.
Why was this character chosen? Crucible isn’t a fool, but he certainly appears to be one. Ethan’s life is one focused around fresh starts and new beginnings – he is leaving behind his home, his family’s expectations, and his college major to focus on the things that give his life meaning – a relationship with Khione, being a hero, and following a career of social work. And while this is frightening, Ethan approaches it all with a sense of wonder and excitement.

1 – The Magician

Alexandrite

Meaning The Magician is the card of manifestation. Most decks show a man with one hand to the ground and the other to the sky, representing his abilities to turn dreams into reality. Pulling The Magician is a sign you’ll be able to create what you desire with hard work and a bit of imagination.
Why was this character chosen? Alexandrite is the GemStar of magic, which makes her a perfect fit for this card in a literal sense. But more than that, she is a woman who has literally brought dreams to reality. She broke a cycle of enslavement and destruction that Shadowfall embodied, and with her friends, saved Leifandi and brought it to a different reality.

2 – The High Priestess

Muse

Meaning The High Priestess is all about divine female intuition, which every one of us possesses, regardless of our gender. She rules emotions, mystery, and psychic ability. This card is an omen that it’s best to step back, meditate, and get in touch with your intuition before making any major decisions.
Why was this character chosen? Muse isn’t female, but they also aren’t male. The High Priestess represents a connection to the divine, and Muse’s magic is about the combination of magic, music, numbers, true names, all seen through the lens of their connection to divine magic. While they’re very studied, they also perform their magic intuitively through the playing of their instruments.

3 – The Empress

Trinity

Meaning The Empress is a card of sex, fertility, and beauty. She also represents beauty and self-care, reminding you of the importance of making time for yourself. She wants you to get more sleep and even pamper yourself with a spa visit.
Why was this character chosen? Trinity fully understands the need to take care of yourself (or yourselves). Just as importantly, an additional meaning of the Empress is about bringing disparate groups together – which Trinity does literally with the three sisters, but is also something she managed with bringing the crew of the Marian together.

4 – The Emperor

Professor Cephalopod

Meaning Rules and regulations drive The Emperor, but — don’t worry — he governs fairly. Drawing The Emperor could indicate the advantage of adding more structure to your life. He wants you to keep in mind that if you’re embarking on a new project or relationship, you should take your time, and focus on getting all of the details right.
Why was this character chosen? Have you met Cyrus? Cyrus is all about rules, laws, order, structure. He focuses on details and precision, and in many ways, he is the leader of the Stormbreakers. Others may not like the rules he lives by, but he implements them fairly.

5 – The Heirophant

Morganite

Meaning The Hierophant is the masculine counterpart to the High Priestess, but remember, we all contain masculine and feminine energy. Consider The Hierophant as the card of institutions and collectivism. Pulling it may indicate it’s time to organize your workplace or become more politically involved.
Why was this character chosen? While Morganite doesn’t seem to have much in the way of masculine energy to her, the fact that we all contain both masculine and feminine within us is deep within her. But just as importantly, Morganite has embodied the need to get more involved in the world, and for people to come together.

6 – The Lovers

Orpheus & Eurydice

Meaning The Lovers card is pretty self-explanatory. Although it depicts two people happily in love, The Lovers also emphasizes the importance of honesty and communication in your relationships. Finding a partner is one thing, but having the emotional maturity to keep the spark alive requires dedication and hard work.
Why was this character chosen? Sometimes, the obvious card is obvious. Orpheus and Eurydice are the archetypal lovers, but the duo also embody the other meanings of this card. Honesty and communication, and dedication to keeping relationships alive is what they are all about.

7 – The Chariot

Chimera

Meaning The Chariot is an emblem of willpower. When this card appears in a reading, take The Chariot as a sign that you can accomplish your dreams — but only if you keep going and take action. You may feel frustrated and tired, but success is just within reach. Be brave, keep your head up, and keep fighting.
Why was this character chosen? This may seem like a strange one. After all, Chimera has no dreams, and does not get frustrated. Except… he does. Chimera has a spark of humanity inside of him, and his journey is one of willpower and overcoming limitations.

8 – Strength

Doctor Irons and Ruby

Meaning The Strength card typically depicts a woman taming a lion, which represents animal instincts. Rather than let fears or passion control us, she reminds us that we are in control, and can use these powers for good and to our advantage. Drawing this card might make you more aware of your personal power and how you can use it to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Why was this character chosen? Ruby and Carol both are women who found themselves in a position where their fears could control them, but instead managed to find the inner strength to take control and use that power to protect themselves and those they care about. It also doesn’t hurt that either one of them is capable of lifting up a dumptruck and hurling it several miles.

9 – The Hermit

Sodalite

Meaning Sometimes, The Hermit represents a teacher or a healer who we can learn from. Most times, it symbolizes the importance of retreat. We live in a world that demands constant work and action, but the reality is rest and taking social media breaks can make us healthier, happier, and more productive in the long run.
Why was this character chosen? Sodalite – or whatever other name she is using at the moment – is a hermit. She is isolated, and keeps to herself. But she also has a great deal of wisdom to share, and she is learning how to use her isolation as a strength, and how to overcome it herself when the time calls for it.

10 – Wheel of Fortune

Wild Card and Emerald

Meaning What goes up must come down. The Wheel of Fortune reminds us that the only constant in our lives is change. When things are going well — perhaps if you’re making money or madly in love — make sure to enjoy every moment because, at some point, something bad is going to happen again. Sorry to sound like a downer, but this is just the reality of life. On the other hand, if you’re having a hard time and struggling, the Wheel of Fortune promises life will not always be this way, and before you know it, you’ll be on top again.
Why were these characters chosen? The only thing constant is change. And when either Emerald or Wild Card are around, one thing you can count on is your fortune changing. Reality isn’t always real, and lucky breaks (or unlucky ones) are a constant possibility. Emerald and Wild Card both remind us to live life in the moment, and to be ready for things to be different tomorrow.

11 – Justice

Bowman and Bolt

Meaning Justice is the card of karmic balance, reminding us that cutting corners, taking advantage of people, and lying rarely work out in the long run. If you’ve been duplicitous, your actions will catch up with you. Don’t expect to get away with them. If you’ve been dedicated and caring to your work, though, don’t think Justice doesn’t notice. You’ll receive love and acknowledgment for your honorable nature.
Why were these characters chosen? Our vigilante duo embody justice. Both Fletch and Jason are only able to be heroes because they didn’t take the easy way out – they had to train their minds and bodies and carefully craft their equipment to be the match of those gifted with superpowers. Similarly, as the normal mortals among demigods, Bowman and Bolt focus on the little crimes, and those who think that their actions are beneath the notice of the city’s heroes.

12 – The Hanged Man

Cassian

Meaning The connotation of The Hanged Man card isn’t as sinister as it may sound; the figure on the card is actually upside down in a state of meditation. You may be under a lot of stress right now, but the best thing you can do is surrender. Pulling this card can be a reminder to take a break, let the universe do its thing, and trust you’ll end up where you need to be.
Why was this character chosen? Cassian is on Earth because the universe yanked him from Leifandi to Earth-Prime. And his reunion with his sister is only going to happen because of his surrender. He fought against becoming a hero, he wanted to fight to return home. But by relaxing into his roles and responsibilities, he’s become reunited with Morganite. Cassian shows us that by accepting what the universe has in store for us, things will work out as they need to.

13 – Death

Mortis

Meaning Speaking of things that sound terrifying but aren’t, this is one of my favorite cards. Death is a harbinger of transformation. Just got broken up with? Well, this card knows you’re hurting, but it also knows it was for the best. Now, you get to build yourself back up with the help of your friends, dye your hair a fun new color, and come out happier than you were before.
Why was this character chosen? Once more, the obvious card is obvious. Mortis absolutely fits the imagery of the Death card – but he also fits its meaning. Death isn’t literally about dying, it’s about transformation and rebirth. By that token, Mortis shows us that death itself is just a step through a door. Through the Crossroads, Mortis walks from one state of life to another at will. And his engagement reminds us that death can be a change – not an ending.

14 – Temperance

Resonant

Meaning Temperance usually appears during a stressful time to tell you to take it easy. Maybe it’s not a good idea to take on extra work just for the sake of distracting yourself from how you’re really feeling. If you’re going through a hard time, this card encourages you to be patient. Just as the Wheel of Fortune promises, change is coming.
Why was this character chosen? One might have expected Resonant, as a Master Mage, to appear in the role of the Magician. But she truly embodies the ideals of Temperance. Although Gemma absolutely understands the importance of hard work and pushing through difficulty, she is also the heart of the Freedom League Dark, and is most often the voice who tells the others not to judge themselves so harshly.

15 – The Devil

Dr. Henry Bearister and Eddy Bear

Meaning Some interpretations of The Devil point to unhealthy vices, such as problematic drinking, but it generally focuses on indulging in pleasurable things that make you feel good, like consensual kinky fun, a night out dancing, or downing a pint of ice cream. For instance, in the original Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, the card is illustrated with a man and a woman, much like The Lovers, standing by the Devil with a chain around their necks. Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice the chain is very loose, and the couple can remove it anytime they please; they just don’t want to because they’re having a good time.
Why were these characters chosen? At first, Eddy would seem to be the reason that this duo was chosen for this card, but allow me to posit that both Henry and Eddy give in to the things that make them feel good. Henry certainly sees Eddy as a literal devil, but Eddy is also his outlet for anger and destruction. Similarly, Henry pursues his own pleasures even when they are destructive. And as recent episodes have shown us, Henry isn’t all good, nor is Eddy all evil.

16 – The Tower

Portal

Meaning Destruction and sudden endings are The Tower’s cornerstones, and there’s no way around that. In most decks, a lightning bolt hits a skyscraper, sending people flying out of the windows. It’s terrifying but will appear in a reading when a doomed relationship is on the rocks or you’re this close to quitting a job in a toxic workplace. The ending will hurt, but the card assures it’s for the best.
Why was this character chosen? Portal might seem like an unconventional choice here, but again it is important to remember that the Tarot can have many different meanings. The Tower is about a sudden ending and destruction, but one that is ultimately for the best. Portal could only be set on the path of becoming a hero by being rejected by family and friends and being sent to jail – which is absolutely a form of destruction. It was only through that experience that he could have a new beginning where he has found purpose and meaning.

17 – The Star

Captain Flynn and the Marian

Meaning It’s no mistake that The Star comes after The Tower in the Major Arcana lineup. After stress and destruction, The Star asks you to take time for self-reflection, to heal your wounds, get back in touch with yourself, and then, get back out there.
Why was this character chosen? In much the same way that Portal embodies the Tower, Captain Flynn is the perfect match for the Star. Flynn’s past is also one where there was stress and destruction, but Flynn is currently with his chosen family because he has reflected on his past and who he is, healed his wounds, and he is literally back out there among the stars, finding purpose and joy in life.

18 – The Moon

Elara & Ersa

Meaning As pretty as The Moon card may be, it can call out unresolved trauma and past pain that’s still causing problems for you today. For instance, if you had an absent, unfaithful father, dating can understandably stir up trust issues for you. You deserve healthy love, so this card encourages you to work with a therapist to work through what’s ailing you on an emotional level.
Why were these characters chosen? If I hadn’t chosen the Moon-moon twins to represent the Moon, I think I probably would have been lynched, just for the obvious symbology. But Elara and Ersa’s tale is one rooted in past pain that still causes them problems. They both deserve better than what they have endured, and deserve love. Hopefully, they will be able to put aside the abandonment issues and hurt of their past and find that love in the future.

19 – The Sun

Centuria

Meaning The Sun carries warm, fulfilling rays of sunshine. Take account of its optimism and joy. If you pull this card or simply feel the happiness radiating from you, embrace it with everything you have.
Why was this character chosen? Centuria hasn’t had an easy road, but despite her occasional flashes of anger and judgment, she remains a bright presence in this world. It is, in some ways, ironic that she is here to fill the card of optimism and joy, or happiness radiating out from her. But while she may not always be filled with those feelings herself, it is undeniable that she brings them out in those around her.

20 – Judgment

Amber

Meaning After a time of spiritual growth and renewal, The Judgement card can appear. You’ve probably been working hard to grow, heal, and become a better version of yourself. Now, you’re ready to start dating again or go after your dream job. Treat yourself for making such important progress.
Why was this character chosen? The former Grue who became the Gemstar Amber had to do a great deal of spiritual growth to become who they are. From a mindless drone and an extension of the meta-mind, they have become a person with feelings, emotions, dreams, friends and family. Braelin is pursuing their dreams not by denying who they were, but by overcoming what their past has meant.

21 – The World

Overdrive and Speed Demon

Meaning As the final card of the Major Arcana, The World focuses on completion. Seeing it in your spread should bring you a feeling of wholeness, perhaps in a healthy relationship, or satisfaction after finishing a creative project. Take time to celebrate, and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. You’ve earned it.
Why were these characters chosen? No one is able to complete tasks faster than our resident speedsters. Both Vincent and Dave are able to look at those completions and take satisfaction with them. However, they also represent the reversed meaning of this card. Their great speed means that sometimes they never come to the end of anything, because they move on to the next task before the first one is done – and those tasks aren’t always physical acts, but sometimes represent relationships and personal growth.

Meanings of the cards were taken for this blog from Allure.com

Cardstock Tokens

Cardstock Tokens

We’re in the height of convention season, and with that, people are running lots of RPGs at gaming conventions. We at USP just got back from a crazy week of events at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. For me, at least, a part of running events at conventions is presentation. Good presentation won’t save a bad game – I don’t care how nice your handouts and miniatures are if the GM running the event or the scenario as written aren’t top-notch – but it can definitely elevate a “good” game into a memorable one.

I like to use miniatures and battle-maps as part of my games, and to be honest, good miniatures for superheroes are about impossible to find. You can kit-bash a lot of them out of HeroClix or using custom 3-D prints, but they’re still a lot of work. But cardstock tokens? Those are much, much more doable, and based on the amount of “Pathfinder Pawns” that Paizo manages to sell, there’s clearly a market for them. So, today, I’m going to share with you two methods I use for making cardstock tokens for my superhero games to fit onto battle-maps with 1″ squares (that are supposed to represent 5′).

First off, I’ve used two different methods over the years. One of which is much easier than the other, but requires one extra key supply.

Ingredients

To make cardstock tokens, you will need the following:

  • A list of characters you need to make tokens for
  • Digital images of those characters (for the sample file I included, I used images of the Freedom League taken from my PDF copy of the Freedom City sourcebook for Mutants & Masterminds, but you can take images from anywhere)
  • A word processing program (I use Microsoft Word, but you can get by with Google Docs or LibreOffice or just about any other program of your choice)
  • Access to a printer (preferably in color)
  • Cardstock to print the tokens onto
  • Scissors
  • Tape or glue
  • (Optional) Pathfinder Pawn Bases from Paizo or a third-party equivalent

Cardstock Tokens without Access to Pathfinder Pawn Bases

This is the first method of creating tokens that I used, and it has the advantage of not needing to carry a bunch of extra pieces of plastic with me.

  1. After collecting all of your images, open your word processor program.
  2. Create a 6 column, 5 row table with the following dimensions:
    • Column Width (all): 1″
    • Row 1 Height: 1/2″
    • Row 2 Height: 1.5″
    • Row 3 Height: 1.5″
    • Row 4 Height: .5″
    • Row 5 Height: 1″
  3. Format rows 2 & 3 so that text and images are centered both vertically and horizontally. If your program supports it, and if you want to create tokens that have an obvious “front and back” change the text orientation of row 2 and 3 to vertical instead of horizontal.
  4. Import the images you wish to use for the first figure. Do not import it directly into the cells of the table – most programs will warp the table to fit the image, which will distort the whole thing. Import the image outside of the table and then use the crop and resize features. Personal preferences will vary, and specifics of how to crop and import will be different from one piece of software to another. But your final image should be no more than 1.25″ in height, and no more than .9″ in width.
  5. Cut the image from outside of the table and paste it into cell 2 and/or 3. Since I like having relative facing for my tokens (and it’s easier for me to keep track of generic mobs that are labeled things like “Zombie 1” and “Zombie 2,” I will only put the image in one of the two cells, and in the other cell of that column, I’ll put the character name. If you want to put an image in both cells, that’s fine too. Just make sure that one of the two images is rotated 180 degrees (you want both cells 2 and 3 to treat the vertical line separating them as the “top” of the token.
  6. Repeat the process for each other column in the table (for as many tokens as you wish to create). You may need to create additional pages with copies of the same table on it depending on how many tokens you want.
  7. Print your pages onto cardstock.
  8. Cut out the tokens. Cut the tokens apart by column, but do not cut any rows off the tokens. Trip off the excess white space of the document.
  9. Fold the tokens along each line separating the rows.
  10. Row 1 will become a part of the top of the “base” of the token. Rows 2 and 3 will form the visible parts of the token. Row 4 will become the other part of the top of the base of the token, while Row 5 will become the bottom part of the base of the token.
  11. Tape the token together – you will want to tape Rows 2 and 3 together to remove any gap between the pieces, and you will tape Rows 1 and 4 to Row 5.
  12. When completed, you should have a token 1.5″ tall, 1″ wide, with a 1″ square base.

Cardstock Tokens with Pathfinder Pawn Bases

This is the the much easier method of creating tokens I currently use. It does require bringing along plastic token bases, but it also creates tokens that are much faster to make, require much less construction, and are easier to store.

    1. After collecting all of your images, open your word processor program.
    2. Create a 6 column, 2 row table with the following dimensions:
      • Column Width (all): 1″
      • Row 1 Height: 1.5″
      • Row 2 Height: 1.5″
    3. Format rows 1 & 2 so that text and images are centered both vertically and horizontally. If your program supports it, and if you want to create tokens that have an obvious “front and back” change the text orientation of row 2 and 3 to vertical instead of horizontal.
    4. Import the images you wish to use for the first figure. Do not import it directly into the cells of the table – most programs will warp the table to fit the image, which will distort the whole thing. Import the image outside of the table and then use the crop and resize features. Personal preferences will vary, and specifics of how to crop and import will be different from one piece of software to another. But your final image should be no more than 1.25″ in height, and no more than .9″ in width.
    5. Cut the image from outside of the table and paste it into cell 1 and/or 2. Since I like having relative facing for my tokens (and it’s easier for me to keep track of generic mobs that are labeled things like “Zombie 1” and “Zombie 2,” I will only put the image in one of the two cells, and in the other cell of that column, I’ll put the character name. If you want to put an image in both cells, that’s fine too. Just make sure that one of the two images is rotated 180 degrees (you want both cells 1 and 2 to treat the vertical line separating them as the “top” of the token.
    6. Repeat the process for each other column in the table (for as many tokens as you wish to create). You may need to create additional pages with copies of the same table on it depending on how many tokens you want.
    7. Print your pages onto cardstock.
    8. Cut out the tokens. Cut the tokens apart by column, but leave the two rows attached. Trip off the excess white space of the document.
    9. Fold the tokens along each line separating the rows.
    10. Rows 1 & 2 will form the visible parts of the token.
    11. Tape the token together – you will want to tape Rows 1 and 2 together along the sides (not the bottom) to remove any gap between the pieces.
    12. You will now have double-sided tokens 1.25″ tall and 1″ wide. Take your Pathfinder Pawn base, and slip the token over the two tabbed slots. The token will not be thick enough to comfortably sit inside the slots, but if you’ve taped it together tightly enough, it should firmly fit over the two slots, and be tight enough that the base won’t fall out when picked up.

To help you out, here’s a link to a Microsoft Word document with both varieties of tokens set-up for you to use as a template. Next time, I’ll show my method for creating full color battle-maps for use with these tokens. Happy gaming!

Running With a Tangent

Running With a Tangent

In addition to being a father, a technical writer, and GMing City of Destiny here for the Untold Stories Project, I am also a part of the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA). The Household I am a part of has an official motto that is about being of service. But our unofficial motto is “If you beat a dead horse long enough, it becomes funny again.”

And so it came to pass that I was watching the recap of Netherwar Episode 48: A Selection of Sacrifices and the jokes that arose surrounding the Ferroberg Four’s Kid-Kid, and all of the jokes that arose surrounding him, such as his pet, Dog-dog, his car, Car-car, and his mentor, Man-Man. What those of you watching the stream didn’t see was the calls in our private Discord Channel where my players in City of Destiny were asking to fight Man-Man.

Now, “Man-Man” is about as stupid of a superhero name as you can get. Following the conventions of superhero naming, it would be a man with the power of… a man? Not much of a power, really. But it set my brain to thinking…

Man-Man could be an “everyman” type hero. A man with the ability to be literally any human. Kind of the ultimate spy and infiltrator. But could that be an effective PC? I thought it could. And so, my brain went down several strange roads, ultimately landing on the following.

Man-Man aka John Dough

Man-Man (real name, John Dough) has 4s in all of his abilities. If you were to translate those 4s into the world’s most well-known RPG, that would translate to an 18, which is as good as a human normally gets, but isn’t superhuman. His defenses are bought up a little beyond that, giving him an 8 Fortitude and Will, and 10s in Dodge and Parry, with a Toughness of 8 including his Defensive Roll advantage.

As far as his powers go, Man-Man is a little light, with only 21 points spent on powers. And in this case, his powers allow him to change his body and face into that of any humanoid, and allows him to speak, read, and understand all languages.

It’s really in his advantages that Man-Man is made. Essential abilities for Man-Man include Beginner’s Luck, Eidetic Memory, and Jack of All Trades. Jack of All Trades allows him to make an attempt at using any skill in the game. With 4s in all of his abilities, that isn’t a huge bonus, but it’s more than enough to allow him to get by as an everyman. Eidetic Memory provides a +5 to remember things, including any and all Expertise skills, so Man-Man can get by with a +9 to most Expertise checks that would come up while impersonating someone. And his Beginner’s Luck advantage lets him spend a Hero Point to get a +5 to any skill for the duration of a scene (he doesn’t have more than 4 ranks in any of his skills) if he needs the boost. He also has Skill Mastery: Deception, letting him make a routine check for Deception under tense circumstances.

Rounding him out for combat, he has Improvised Weapons at Rank 5, Throwing Mastery at Rank 4, and both Close Combat, Ranged Combat, and Defensive Roll at Rank 4. This effectively gives him a +10 to attack checks at close range, a +12 at range, and an 8 rank damage effect as long as there is something close enough for him to grab to use as an improvised weapon.

That makes up the mechanical elements of “Man-Man”, but it doesn’t tell us who he is. In my experience, a character’s personality most often becomes revealed by their Complications. In the case of Man-Man, I thought that for a shapechanger who can be any person and knows a little bit about everything, it would be kind of interesting if he didn’t know who he really was. And so a background began to form. John Dough is an operative – I envisioned him as working for AEGIS, but it could be any group. His powers were granted to him by this organization, but they locked away his memories and his true identity, promising to restore them when he completes his work for the agency.

From a pure “game efficiency” point of view, Man-Man is a little underpowered both offensively and defensively for being PL10, but not so much so that he would be unplayable – and with a little experience, he could easily catch up. But Man-Man should also never be on the front line of a battle. He’s a spy, an infiltrator, and then has enough combat abilities to assist a team or get himself out of a scrape.

And of course, you could go a very different direction with the name. “Man-Man” could just as easily be the ultimate dudebro expression of toxic masculinity, full of stupid and muscles and beer.

It started as a joke, but the final character is one I would happily play in a “street-level” or vigilante campaign. I probably wouldn’t keep the name of “Man-Man,” but it was a fun place to start. All of which just goes to show that inspiration for a Mutants & Masterminds character can come from anywhere, even the stupidest of jokes. Your options are only limited by your imagination. Now, go out there and be heroes!

Inside MarsTech

Inside MarsTech

( Note that this short story occurs after Episode 32 “Stealing the Heart” of City of Destiny)

“Where are we on the PR front, Mrs. Blackwell?”

The 21-year-old wunderkind smiled brightly as Maximillian Mars turned his attention to her. Despite the smart-looking blazer and pantsuit she wore, with her blonde hair, buxom figure, and bouncy personality, she seemed like she would be better suited to be on a cheerleading field than inside of a board-room. But Mars prided himself on recognizing talent when he saw it. That she was related to Crucible, even if she didn’t realize that the hero was her step-son, was a bonus – but not the reason he kept her in charge of the hero team’s PR. Seated around the table in Mars’ office were a number of other highly trained professionals who were there to keep the CEO up-to-date on the status of the Storm Breakers.

Ryleigh stood as she began. “Things are going well. The team is well-liked, with favorability ratings in the polls in the 73-75% positive range. Portal and Khione, in particular, are very well liked among the under 35 set. There was a slight dip when we announced that Bulwark was leaving the team, but that was mostly with white people over the age of fifty.” Ryleigh gestured and the projector displayed graphs supporting her statements.

“As far as media coverage goes, it is overwhelmingly positive. It helps that the Mayor’s office and the ECPD have released numerous statements praising the Storm Breakers for their efforts to protect people and to limit property damage. There have been some critical statements made by Director Mitchell of AEGIS, but since the general public doesn’t know him all that well…” she trailed off.

“The Nightwatchmen host, Colin Hoke? He’s been bashing the team regularly, but that doesn’t seem to be affecting the public sentiment too terribly. But The Gray Ghost has reported a lot of positive actions by the team, even some that didn’t receive any mainstream press coverage, and those posts have gone viral – encouraged by the MarsTech Cyber Operations team, of course.”

Max Mars frowned. “How is the Gray Ghost finding out about those less well-known activities?” He turned his gaze away from Ryleigh, and looked to Regina Cross, his head of security. “Do we have a mole?”

“Unlikely, sir. But I will look into it.” With her hair in a severe bun and the glasses she wore, it would be easy to mistake the 43-year-old woman for a librarian. But she held multiple black belts and was an absolute genius when it came to security. Stealing her from KessKorp ten years ago was one of the better moves Mars had made.

As Ryleigh continued her report on various interviews that the team had conducted, Mars let his mind wander. It had been a long, strange trip that brought him here. It had been nearly thirty years since he had been a young man, wearing a suit of power armor, and facing off with the likes of Captain Thunder and the previous Lady Liberty back in Freedom City.

Those were the days, Maximillian Mars thought to himself, somewhat wistfully. True, the name “The Commander” was ridiculous, but it was a more ridiculous time. The stakes somehow felt smaller, less personal, less dark. At least they did until Omega.

The Terminus Invasion was the real turning point. He had already started turning some of the alien technology in the Commander Armor into commercial patents with the company that would become MarsTech, but it wasn’t until the invasion and his chance to fight alongside the League that the possibility of retiring from “super-villany” was really an option. That was a fierce time, and Mars remembered thinking more than once that he was going to die. Many did, and Mars was present when The Centurion fell. But his actions during the invasion were what lead to his Presidential Pardon, which in turn let him safely step away from costumed antics and focus on the growing business.

Of course, nothing could be that simple for long. No sooner had he moved his activities back to Emerald City than he was contacted by The Chamber. That collective of supervillains kept Emerald City quiet, but at the cost of an iron fist over supercrime in the city and an agreement to keep it quiet and low-key, so no superheroes would make their homes here for long. It was a strategy that had worked for them for decades, but it wasn’t one that Mars was comfortable with. He had been planning on sponsoring a superteam for nearly nine years now. The Silver Storm, and the Stormbreakers, gave him the perfect excuse to do that.

Mind you, that had its own complications. Professor Cephalopod had determined that the nanites that caused the Storm had originated inside Redshift Energies – a subsidiary of MarsTech. Mars knew that the nanites that powered the Commander battlesuit had been turned over to Redshift to look at as an alternate energy source, but he had still been unable to find a paper trail explaining where the truck full of nanites – and the explosion that spread them across the city – had come from. Papers had been signed, but by people who swear they never did so. It was like a ghost had taken control of parts of the company and set everything in motion – not that Mars believed in ghosts.

Mars pulled his thoughts back to the present as Ryleigh Blackwell completed her report. “Thank you, Mrs. Blackwell,” Mars said in a smooth voice that was the result of years of training with speech therapists. He turned to look back to Regina. “Ms. Cross, report on the security of the Emerald Tower? We’re preparing the Grand Opening in just a few weeks, and I do not want another breach of security. Especially not one that allows any unauthorized people into the Storm Breaker’s HQ.”

Regina nodded. “Understood, sir. We have purged all signs of Chessman infection within our computers and security systems. Biometric sensors as well as key-cards are required to access their floors from below. With Mr. Washington’s abilities, and the ability of Crucible, Khione, and Professor Cephalopod to fly, it’s exceedingly rare that anyone other than Mr. Moore uses the elevators to access their floors. I believe that their base is exceedingly secure,” she said.

“Excellent. That brings me to a final point,” Mars responded. He gestured to the clocks on the wall, which included clocks set to various times across the globe, and where the date was prominently displayed. “Today is Thursday. No one has seen the team since late Monday night. Where the hell are they?!?”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Although we know that we have fans (and cast members) located outside of the United States, the majority of us here at the Untold Stories Project are busy today celebrating Thanksgiving with our families today. So, no new blog post today, but come back next week for new episodes of Netherwar, City of Destiny, and our special Tales from the Loop one-shot and a new blog post on Thursday!

And in the spirit of Black Friday, if you’ve got gaming gifts to get anyone on your list, consider using our affiliate codes! Any purchases made at DriveThruRPG using our link will throw a little cash our way so we can keep making content for you to enjoy, as will our promotional code USPGR at Green Ronin’s Online Store will get you 5% off as well as a small kick-back to us to help keep our lights on.

So, until next week, Happy Thanksgiving and if you get any holiday gaming in, may all of your hits be criticals!

Aaron and the entire Untold Stories Project Crew

Ticking Clocks

Ticking Clocks

I’m getting too old for this… Callie Summers thought to herself as she reached for the controls of the Pegasus, flying away from where she had dropped Metropolis, Bowman, Centuria, Mortis and Resonant off in the sky. She knew that all five were among the most competent heroes on the planet, and she was unworried about their confrontation with Maximillian Mars. The man was dangerous, to be sure, but he had worked hard in the past few decades to put his life as a super criminal behind him. Why would he risk all of that now, and in such a public way? It didn’t add up.

The past few decades…

That was the crux of the problem, wasn’t it? She’d been at this for decades now. And where some of her teammates had inhuman physiques, she was all too aware of her mortality. She was still fast, and strong, and nimble. Her morning workout routine would put several Olympians to shame. But when she looked in the mirror, underneath Raven’s mask, there were the beginnings of wrinkles and crow’s feet.

She thought about the rest of the team – both present day and from when she had started. Captain Thunder was retired since losing his powers. Daedalus was mostly off at Starhaven these days. Johnny Rocket had been active until he lost his speed just a few weeks ago. Beth had passed the Lady Liberty mantle on to Sonia. Siren was back to reserve status, spending most of her time on the Gulf Coast instead of in Freedom City. So, for all intents and purposes, the only members of “her” version of the League anymore was herself and Doctor Metropolis.

“And he’s a living embodiment of the city,” she muttered to herself as she put the Pegasus into hover mode a half mile away from the MarsTech campus. She put the VTOL craft into hover mode and activated it’s cloaking device as she descended and doubled back using her swinglines. She was going to do some investigation, but it was going to be in the MarsTech building. Her teammates would serve as a distraction while she looked into Mars’ servers and labs.

The Raven didn’t think for a moment that the Silver Storm had anything to do with Una. The possibility that it might be required that it be investigated, but something about it felt far too… mundane. As if anything capable of bestowing superhuman powers could be considered mundane. She hated to pull the Freedom League Dark away from their mission, but she wanted to get to Emerald undetected – and there were other motivations as well.

As she landed off her swingline and effortlessly picked a lock on the rooftop access, allowing her into the MarsTech buildings, she thought about the new members of the League. Along with the new Lady Liberty and Doctor Metropolis, Bowman, Centuria, Mortis and Resonant were essentially the core of the Freedom League. Thunderbolt was too unstable, and Star Knight was off-planet as often as she was on, so they were it. She wanted to see how they conducted themselves when confronting Mars.

Then there was the matter of Portal. Peter Washington was a good kid who had a rough start, which is why she had him turned over to her father for training after briefly serving his sentence. As Portal, he had joined up with some of these new supers in Emerald City, and it looked like they might be positioning themselves to be the heroes of the city. Raven wanted to check in on that as well.

She made her way to Mars’ lab and popped the lock when she heard the sound of combat over the comms. Metropolis had just attacked Mars, unprovoked? That’s not like him… she thought as she listened more intently. It sounded like Freedom League Dark picked up on that and were wisely choosing to contain the situation instead of attacking Mars. Oh… and Portal and his allies were there as well.

Raven grimly smiled to herself. She hadn’t gotten as far as she had in this role by jumping into things thoughtlessly. This might be the best way to investigate Mars’ involvement in the storm, and also see how Portal and his teammates handled themself, while also seeing if the Freedom League Dark showed the signs of being ready and able to take the reigns as the core of the Freedom League.

After all, she wasn’t getting any younger. Eventually, her reflexes would slow to the point that she wouldn’t avoid the next bullet. Being a hero was a younger person’s game. And as Beth had shown her, there were other ways to serve the city than in wearing a costume and a cape. Since Mayor Grant was gone, there was soon going to be a special election. Perhaps Callie Summers should throw her hat into the ring…

City of Destiny Player Character Preview

City of Destiny PC Preview

We launched City of Destiny, a new Mutants & Masterminds stream running the Emerald City Knights adventure series this week, and while we’re waiting on our official artwork to put up full character bios, we thought we’d give you guys a little treat with the character sheets of our heroes as they appeared in the first episode.

Bulwark

Bulwark is played by Howard. His real name is Marshall Carstairs and, at the moment, he doesn’t have a superhero name or costume picked out, but Howard is already paving the way for that.

Bulwark is a tank, but he’s not a typical brick. He isn’t designed to dish out a lot of damage, but he is designed to take it. As a result, he is seriously Toughness-shifted, with a total of 16 Impervious Toughness. There is, however, a catch. Bulwark has the Interpose advantage, and he loses 8 points of that Toughness unless he is using it to protect someone else.

In other words, he’s strong and incredibly tough by most standards. But he’s almost impossible to harm when he’s standing in front of someone else.

Bulwark is a Stormer – meaning he got his powers from the Silver Storm – the incident which happened in our first episode. That will likely have repercussions for the character down the line. He’s inexperienced with his powers, and also happens to be over 80 years old. So, being a grandfather surrounded by superhumans who are mostly the age of his grandkids is going to be an interesting experience.

Crucible

Crucible is played by Alex, and is the other Stormer among the PCs. In his case, he’s a much more typical new hero. He’s in his early twenties, and his power set is a fairly conventional power for the comics, being the control of magnetism.

What is setting Crucible apart is Alex’s ability to write detailed backstories that really work into the heart of the campaign. Ethan has a family and ties to several of the universities and businesses around Emerald City – all of which gives me great material to exploit as a GM.

Khione

Khione is played by Aunt Puppy. She’s the newest player at the table both to tabletop role-playing in general and Mutants & Masterminds in specific. But she’s creative and fun to have as a part of our team.

Her character is based on a character she played in the DC Universe Online MMO, but that made it easy to import her into M&M. Cindy doesn’t know why she has these ice powers (jokes about being Elsa’s long-lost cousin aside), and she’s adopted. She has traced her roots to Emerald City and hopes to find out more about her origins here. Of course, she happened to be here during the largest single outbreak of new metahumans ever, and if it wasn’t for the fact that she already had a costume, no doubt people would believe that Khione is a Stormer herself.

Portal

Portal is played by Brandon, and as someone who has gamed with Brandon for nearly two decades, he is very much the kind of character I’ve come to expect (and love) from him.

Peter Washington was a teenager who was kicked out of his house when his parents discovered his sexuality. Shortly after going on the streets, he discovered his metahuman powers – the ability to create portals from pretty much any two areas he could see (or precisely describe, such as “twenty feet that way”) to another. As a teen, he used his powers for petty theft, moving up to bank robbery before being stopped by The Raven. Raven realized that this kid was no hardened super-criminal, and while he did go to Juvie, he was then sent to Claremont Academy.

Peter is now out of Claremont and has decided to try to go to a new city to make a name for himself and redeem himself, with Raven’s blessing. Emerald City had been quiet for decades, with no superheroes who made the city their home, so it was the perfect place for him to make his stake.

Or it would have been, had it not been for the Silver Storm…

Professor Cephalapod

Professor Cephalapod is played by Wiccy, and in truth, the concept started as a joke. When we did Something… Something… Mutants, and were having our Session Zero, someone commented on the intelligence of octopi. Wiccy had been considering several concepts (finally settling on Flashdrive) but commented about wanting to ditch the concept to play an Octopus in a Mech Suit.

When it came time to have the Session Zero for City of Destiny? She again came with a slate of possibilities, and the joking concept of the Octopus in a Mech Suit, at which point everyone else said “Dude, no, play that.”

We had some fun banter about the idea, including how to make it more of a character and less of just a joke. There was also a lot of jokes about what the name should be for said Octopus, especially since a learned individual with an advanced degree and the abilities of an octopus is already heavily trademarked by the House of the Mouse, and so the name Professor Cephalapod was born.

There’s a lot going on with the good Professor, and I really look forward to revealing it to our audience and players in the coming weeks and months. And that includes revealing some things to Wiccy that she may not be expecting. Because that’s what GMs do.

So, there you have it. A behind-the-scenes peak at the PCs for our newest streaming game. We hope you enjoyed it!

And Now For Something Completely Different

It’s game day. Time to sit down for session twenty-two of your long-running campaign. Everyone knows their characters inside and out, people are really falling into the groove of role-playing and using their abilities well, and the campaign is moving along well. The heroes have made their way from being a rag-tag band of misfit strangers into a well-oiled team, and they’re progressing towards facing the Big Bad.

And then someone has an emergency and can’t make the session.

What do you? I mean, you can certainly cancel the game entirely. That’s always an option, but probably not the best one. After all, everyone was psyched to play, there’s creative energy to be harness, and in non-COVID times, it’s likely that some people have even travelled some distance to get to the game. Also, if you’re playing the game for a streaming network or a podcast, well, you have an audience to satisfy.

You can play the game without them. Most people will understand and say “Sure, someone can NPC Johunk the Barbarian, just don’t get me killed,” when they can’t make a session. And most GMs have learned to essentially make the person an invisible companion during those times. But that’s also unsatisfying, especially if there are major plot points that are going to be dealt with that session, or something very specific to the character. Having Johunk the Barbarian’s ex-boyfriend show up with a grudge during a session when Johunk is an NPC is far from ideal.

The third option is “Let’s do something different for a session.” This is when you can pull out a board game, or another RPG, or another campaign from within the same RPG, that doesn’t require the missing player.

We recently ran into that on Something… Something… Dragons. We were going to be missing a player for two-to-three weeks, so we decided to divert from the Carrion Crown Adventure Path for Pathfinder, 1st Edition and instead we did a couple of sessions playing Mutants & Masterminds, 3e. One thing that worked out well in this case is that superheroes are, by their nature, usually able to have people come and go between “missions” in a way that works for Pathfinder Society play, but doesn’t usually fit into an AP. I can’t just have Elyris go missing for three weeks, but no one wonders if Lightray isn’t able to join the team for one mission with superheroes.

For this reason, I highly encourage people to have back-ups to play. It can be another RPG, it can be a board or card game, whatever. But having something else to do on Game Night when a player suddenly can’t make it will definitely help keep the fun and excitement in the group and keep anyone from feeling like they wasted their night.

Plus, the side-quest can do a lot to make sure that everyone is all the more excited to get back to the main story.

Something… Something… Mutants PC Preview

Something… Something… Mutants PC Preview

Our episode of Something… Something… Dragons that was going to focus on creating the characters for our side Mutants & Masterminds (3e) game ended up losing a lot of content because of some technical difficulties. Because of that, we thought we would share the completed characters here before the first episode with these characters is released on Friday, August 6th. So, without further ado…

Finn

Finn is played by Red. Red wanted to play something different from Azatha, so she decided to go with a physical, get-in-the mix kind of character.

Red started off by looking at the templates in the Quickstart Character Creator (found in the Deluxe Hero’s Handbook), and settled on the Totem archetype. We didn’t do random rolls, but she looked through the options and ended up with a character idea.
Finn is friendly and gregarious. He became a Komodo-Dragon Totem due to an accident while out in the jungle with his father. His father died in the incident, and Finn was sent to Claremont Academy as a ward of the state.

Flashdrive

Emery Harper is a technopath with the ability to talk to machines, use their senses, control them, and sometimes even reshape and convert them. Flashdrive is played by Orange.

This character concept was one of the more “out-there” examples, but since Orange was a veteran of Mutants & Masterminds, I didn’t worry too much about helping her conceptualize the character.

There will probably be some tweaks to the character sheet as Orange plays her, to refine the powers to work more the way that she wants them to. But we’re pretty happy with the first pass.

Neko Guardian

“So, Dad, I kind of want to play a Magical Girl. But one who is so tired of it. Can we do that?”

That’s how Blue introduced me to her concept for the game. And to be honest? I kind of loved it.

Neko Guardian has a fun concept – she’s a typical Magical Girl (like Sailor Moon) but one who hates all of the tropes associated with. Not with being a superhero – she’s fine with that part. But the activation phrase? The transformation sequence? The talking cat?

She is so over it.

The funny thing is that the character sheet itself is almost exactly taken out of the same Quickstart generator that we used for Finn. She’s just an Electrical Controller. But she doesn’t feel like anyone else’s electrical controller, and I’m here for it.

Possession

Green threw me for a loop. Her idea for a character came from an existing fan-created character based in the My Hero Academia world. No problem, right?

Wrong.

Possession’s powers were defined without game mechanics to support them, so I was forced to try to create a power in Mutants & Masterminds that fit for how she conceived of the ability. I’m not entirely certain I succeeded, but I think I came close enough for the one-shot. One thing that is difficult is that Afflictions in the comics usually just work, but in the game, they are often resisted. This can make it really hard to build a character around Mind Control or Webbing or any other common affliction.

So, there you have them. A group of newly minted teen heroes, enrolled at the Claremont Academy. What misadventures will they get up to? Find out tomorrow by listening to the podcast!