A Hope in Hell

I don't know about you people, but I am ultra stoked for the film version of "Hellboy," the greatest comic I never read by the nicest guy I've only met once. Typically, my hopes are consistently dashed by slapdash story and editing, overly-glossy special effects and stunted acting - but this review at CNN has raised my hopes. I quote:

"There's a lineage, a bloodline living under the surface of the film that recalls pivotal stories such as "Beauty and the Beast," those great Ray Harryhausen "Sinbad" films and more recent classics both gothic and adventurous. For a cynic such as myself, who spends his days complaining about the business, "Hellboy" a breath of fresh air, even if it may carry a hint of sulfur. For people starting to develop their own movie tastes, it just might be their "Jaws" or their "Ghostbusters."

Needless to say, but I am quite excited. Read the whole review right here.

Changing of the Guard

Well, as many of you know, Shadowforce Archer is now officially dead. Though I hadn't been a really big fan of SFA from the onset, my work on the line starting with European Commonwealth made me interested in seeing the story's resolution. I think 2003 saw SFA's return to the true "technothriller" genre, and the follow up book (the Russian Confederation) was to be mine, all mine, to write. Damn - I had such cool ideas for that book too. But this should reinforce to all of you out there paying attention to the state of the market - it still ain't good. Publishers, even bigger publishers like AEG, are being forced to make tough decisions about the viability of their product because of the slump/backlash that we faced over the summer right around the time of the release of 3.5.

So in short, if you like a line, please buy its books. No matter how much acclaim and hype a line gets, it's economic popularity will decide whether you can continue to enjoy it. On behalf of the companies, and of the freelancers that work for these companies, I thank you.

But on the brighter side, this is not the end for "weird stuff" for Spycraft. My friends over at Mythic Dreams have announced they will be producing their acclaimed modern mythological horror game Dark Inheritance as a Spycraft family product. Like SFA, DI has the factions, conspiracies and varied genres of play built right in to each of its allegiances - you can explore mystical martial arts and crime with the 8 Heavenly Dragons Triad, wage in espionage with genetically superior agents of Project: Titan, or protect the worlds for the scourge of Daemons as a Brother of the Iron Rose. DI also features a newly revamped system for mystics and spellcasting, which will allow you to access the broader spectrum of spells from all of d20 and take them to the streets! And for those of you keeping track, Scott Gearin will be the Mechanics Lead for these guys, so you know you're getting quality stuff, and I will be doing some freelance work for them as well.

So, while we mourn SFA, we can also look to the future with Dark Inheritance, for those of you SFA fans who still love the unique blend of espionage, high action and weirdness that SFA presented now have a new world to explore. Enjoy.

Weird Campaign Idea of the Month

Hey gang. So let's get realistic - I can't keep up any weekly feature on ye olde blog for very long, but once a month I can do. All the talk around the forums about this most recent one has got me thinking long and hard, and lamenting that Hasbro owns WotC. Yes, it's the game that most of us want to play when we think of other cool stuff to do with Spycraft. Get out your copies of Soldier/Wheelman Class Guide, The Hand of Glory Threat Book, Pan-Asian Collective and Mastermind, it's....

Campaign Seed: G.I. Joe
Before there was gaming, there was G.I. Joe. Growing up as a lower-middle class kid in the hood, I never had too much stuff, and there were few if any kids who lived in the neighborhood for long. The only things I had to keep me company most of the time were my books, my comics, and my immaculately preserved collection of G.I. Joe figures I had bought myself with a meager $2 allowance. Nothing made me happier as a kid than sitting down and re-enacting a climactic battle between the forces of the Joes and COBRA as they struggled for the fate of the world. Even better, the TV show has larger than life villains, cool vehicles, awesome specialists and lots of lots of action.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? G.I. Joe fits Spycraft's framework like the Baroness to Destro (or was it Major Bludd? That leather-clad tramp got around...). The G.I. Joe campaign needs only minor tweaks to work perfectly, so I will focus on a few rules changes that make this theme sing:

The GI Joe Genre
When running a GI Joe campaign, apply the following rules changes:

• Arsenal of Democracy: GI Joe agents have the best weapons and equipment the U.S. of A. can offer. The BP and GP received from mission budgets are doubled.
  
• Specialized: GI Joe operatives are chosen for their exception skills in a particular field. At character creation, select a field of expertise for your character, or a specific weapon or vehicle to specialize in. At 1st level and every 4 levels thereafter, you gain a +1 competence bonus to all Knowledge and Profession skill checks relating to your field of expertise, or to all attack rolls when using your selected weapon, or to all skill checks to pilot or repair your selected vehicle.
  Example: Boombox wants to be a pscyhological warefare specialist. When making any Profession (Psychologist), Knowledge (Psychology) skill checks, he gains a +1 competence bonus to his rolls for every 4 agent levels he has achieved.
  
• Hordes of Glass-Jawed Minions: GI Joe operations teams frequently face down small armies in their pursuit of truth, justice and the American Way and come out without a scratch. The size of all minion sqauds are doubled, but all minons in the squad have no vitality points.
  
• Incompetence: Despite their intimidating-sounding titles (Copperhead, Alley-Viper, Dreadnaught), COBRA operatives are notoriously incompetent. The error range of all attack rolls and skill checks made by NPCs targetting or opposed by a GI Joe agent is increased by 1.
  

You also probably want to break out the following reading materials:

• Soldier/Wheelman Class Guide - This book is quintessential G.I. Joe. Many of the Joe team were specialized wheelmen (Cutter and Shipwreck - Mariner, Cross Country and Cover Girl - Slammer, Ace - ...Ace) or soldiers (Blowtorch, Bazooka, Roadblock, Rock N' Roll and Short Fuze were all Grunts; Doc and Lifeline were Medics; Spirit was a Hunter; Quick Kick was a Street Fighter; Torpedo and Wet Suit were Stringrays) and many Joe adventures centered around their cool vehicles. Lots of Joes also used the heavy weapon combat or terrain-type feats in their specialties. Additionally, the bizzare nature of many vehicles can easily be recreated using the Spycraft Vehicle guide in Chapter 4.
  
• Pan-Asian Collective - You can't have G.I. Joe without ninjas, and this book is the ninja's dream come true. The feats are the star of this show, with melee weapon and unarmed combat feats taking center stage. The infamous Raptor appears here too, and is the Snake Eyes prestige class - a techno ninja extraordinaire. The Martial Artist base class is also quite useful, and remember that when Joe wasn't fighting COBRA shlubs, they were usually battling ninjas - the Shadow Warrior and Martial Arts Mook NPC classes give these poor black-clad chumps a fighting chance.
  
• The Hand of Glory Threat Book - this may seem like an odd choice, but hear me out. First of all, it is difficult to deny the Nazi overtones of the entire COBRA organization - I mean, look at Cobra Commander's taste in fashion! What about their fixation with eugenics and the mystical, as we see with Serpentor? And did you ever notice that very often, COBRA bases were located in jungle type environments? Hmmm...sounds like HoG to me :)
  
  The book provides many useful tools for the GI Joe GC. Frogmen and Stormtrooper NPCs are excellent representatives of the COBRA grunts, the (insert specialty here)-vipers, and the Stormtrooper bundle is an excellent tool for their minions. Fringe science is also quite useful in representing the many screwball doomsday weapons COBRA always seemed to be getting a hold of during their exploits (especially Destro, that chrome-faced loon).
  
• Finally, Mastermind - Yes, I realize this is a tease, but this book has a ton of great information for making truly entertaining villains and organizations. The new NPC classes in this book fill the holes of previous NPC offerings, including one that fits the BATS to a tee - oh yeah - and there are lots of rules for alternate minion uses and cool feats designed specifically for minions. For henchmen, foils and masterminds, we have a range of new villainous senior agent classes that let them truly exploit their goons to their fullest. I know for a fact that I could make any of the main COBRA bad guys just using these classes and the SEH, so you could certainly do worse than getting this. Finally, if your players are like me, who as a lad loved all the bad guys cause they looked so much cooler, there is Chapter 4, which explains how to run a villainous campaign, complete with alternate rules for the villain genre, new eeeeevil prestige classes, feats and training programs, and lots of other wicked stuff. Oh yeah.
  

GAMA Amusements

Things have been a bit quiet lately, as everyone is astir right now as they prepare for the year's first big show - the GAMA Trade Show, hosted in scenic Las Vegas, Nevada. This weeklong event involves lots of new product announcements, major game releases, mergers, drinking, debauchery and general fun in Sin City. One service that GAMA has been providing is sending out helpful emails to industry professionals explaining the nuances of the show. While much of it is quite good for first-timers, still other tips are obviously the result of knowing one's audience. My favorite passage follows:

"There are a couple of other important pieces of equipment you'll want for the show floor. The first is breath mints. You'll be talking to hundreds of people, and you'll be trying to present yourself as a professional with whom they want to do business. Freshening your breath periodically ensures that speaking with you is a more pleasant experience."

Sad that this must be the first tip of courtesy, yes, but also true. So, so true.