Why I Play Female Characters

Hey, readers!

While I have a huge backlog of session reports that I need to update on here, I thought it would be nice to take a little aside from that and do something more of an article/editorial kind of thing. Hope you enjoy it!

This is a topic that usually isn't brought up all that much. The reason for that is, I think, a level of awkwardness inherit in the subject matter. Most of the time, the assumption when making characters for a role-playing game is that one will follow their own gender, yet there often are those who bend and do the opposite. It's hardly ever brought up afterward when this happens, and things usually proceed, twinged just a little bit in awkwardness. The other players would never ask, of course, but the question remains: why?

I'm going to do my best to explain using my own personal experience.

I am one of those male role-players who often opts to make a female character. I've been doing it that way ever since I started this hobby many years ago, and to this day I continue the tradition. This is not to say I don't play male characters too, but I do it less frequently and, in my view, with less success. Those who have gamed with me before are used to it by this point, but every time I join a new group and character creation is brought to the table, I find myself back to that question: why?

For myself, I've broken it down into a few key points.

The Sausage-Fest Preventative:

Let's face it: tabletop role-playing is a hobby that is more often played by men than women. I'm no expert on the numbers, but I would give it a 70-30 split percentage-wise. Now, if you expand the definition of role-playing to non-tabletop, those numbers would change based on the vast community of teenage girls on the internet role-playing as their favorite anime characters in forums, but I digress.

In a group of all-male players where everyone follows the standard character creation paradigm of 'play someone you'd want to be/is awesome', things quickly develop into a sausage fest. It's no wonder Lord of the Rings is used as the bottom-line basis for almost all tabletop role-playing! A bunch of guys run around going on adventures.

Tolkien's work not-withstanding, most groups of protagonists in fiction have female representation. You can argue in feminism all you want about their roles and exposure, but the fact is, they are there, and it adds another dimension to the group dynamic. Now, granted, you could have a group of three men be just as interesting and dynamic as a group of two men and a woman, or two women and a man, but each set-up brings something new to the table. At least in my mind, it makes things more interesting.

So, one reason I play female characters is to break up the sausage fest, as it were. Variety is the spice of life, and even in a cast filled with a dizzying number of people of various classes and professions, more diversity is never an issue in my book.

However, this reason alone doesn't hold up if there is a female character already in the mix, so let's continue.

Female Characters are More Dynamic and Engaging:

This is a matter of personal opinion, but it is one I share with another friend of mine who thinks similarly as I do, and I will be paraphrasing him through some of this explanation.

A lot of this goes back to cultural expectations and current social conventions, but let me explain what I mean by the fact that female characters are more dynamic and engaging. In our current culture, which has dissolved down into our fiction, women have a wider range of socially acceptable means of expression. A woman can be violent and tough, or demure and sweet. She can be sensitive, emotional, cold, angry, sweet, or evil, and the character will still be acceptable in our current views because all of these emotions and states fit into the view of what it means to be a woman. They are tough enough to endure the pain of childbirth, but also sensitive enough to deal with people on an emotional level.

Now, as a contrast, let's look at what our current cultural definition of being a man is like. Men are expected to be physically fit and intelligent, to deal with situations with few emotions, and to be ever-capable. Weakness and failure in any area is looked down upon severely. A male character that is frail, dim-witted, sensitive, or emotional is usually played for comedy in our society because they are viewed as failures of the paradigm, and thusly, funny. It is the same with male characters in role-playing games. Think of your last campaign and try to find me a male character with some of these 'flaws' that was taken completely seriously. It's harder than you think.

Basically put, female characters have more acceptable and expected range, and I personally find that much more fun to explore than trying to fit the mold of the ideal male hero like everyone else.

The Other Side of the Fence:

Role-playing is all about fantasy and imagination. Through this genre of game, you can explore new worlds, have strange encounters, and experience the life of any character you can think up. There is a lot of freedom in that, and through this journey, one could learn a lot about both themselves and others. Countless questions with theological, moral, and philosophical implications can be raised in this collaborative exercise of the mind, and part of the mostly unnoticed joy is to explore them in a safe and friendly environment.

This implies that you can experience something akin to what it's like to be an Elf in Middle Earth, or what kind of stress Iron Man goes through. You can also explore the question of 'what is it like to be the other gender?' By changing your perspective in such a personal way, you are forced to subconsciously answer a multitude of questions during various situations that defines a lot about yourself and your perception of the other gender. This widens your mind, and adds a layer of complexity and depth to your personal role-playing experience.

Sex and gender are two incredibly interesting topics to me, and to many people out there. Exploring themes like gender, sexuality, gender roles and the like can be just as interesting as exploring themes like corruption, the cost of power, and the like. I like to play women because I can explore some of these themes for myself and others, and I get to examine situations from a perspective I'll never experience in the real world.

Conclusion:

Those are my big three reasons for gender-bending in my role-playing games. I could probably come up with more, but they would likely fall into the latter-two categories to some degree and I would be rambling on and on. My hope is that this explanation could open your eyes some to how I feel and how perhaps other people you know who do this feel.

Now, granted, you could probably ask the follow-up question: why does your character's gender matter so much to you? Bottom line is, well, it doesn't. My philosophy is that a character shouldn't be defined by their gender to the point where that becomes the focal point. This is where I feel many authors and feminists fall apart to some degree. They care so much about creating or displaying the 'realistic, believable, likable' female character that they lose sight of everything else that makes the character feel realistic, believable and likable.

Why explain all of this then? Mostly, my goal is to dispel some of the awkwardness. My secondary goal would be to have in a written format things I've always believed since I started this hobby but never really thought about or put to paper.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this little walk into my psyche! If you didn't, here's a funny picture.

-Wes  
   

Marvel Origins - Avengers - Session 2 Report

Hey, readers!

It's been quite a while since I've thrown up my session reports, and I have quite a backlog of interesting content to inform you of! I'll be going in order of appearance here, so we will start with the second session of my experimental, universe building project, Marvel Origins: Avengers edition!

Just in case you've forgotten, our cast consists of the following:

The Sentry: A Japanese immigrant who was taken into a camp by the Americans, Bob had latent super powers, and in return for his family's protection, the government turned him into a super soldier of unspeakable power to fight on the front lines.

Doctor Strange: While serving the military during World War I, combat medic Stephen Strange discovered some occult paraphernalia in a German bunker. This began his journey to accrue as much mystical knowledge as possible, joining with two other mystics to form the Triad.

The Sub-Mariner: Prince Namor, upon hearing of the advent of the Axis powers and the danger they posed to his kingdom, decided to aid the surface dwellers in repelling the threat. This fell upon deaf ears with his fellow Atlanteans, and he now ventures alone to protect his planet and secure his supremacy. Imperius Rex!

The Vision: Formerly known as 'The Human Torch', a robot with the power to shoot flames was captured and experimented upon by one Baron Zemo who was attempting to use him as a gateway to another dimension. Upon recovery, the robot's new powers of intangibility and hyper density were readily apparent. Fearing Nazi reprogramming, he was wiped and given the personality of one Bucky Barnes and renamed Vision.

When we last left our heroes, they were preparing for D-Day! Let's jump on in.

Session Report:

Things begin with a briefing with everyone's favorite three-star general, Ross, as he gets the team up to speed on the latest intel and their specific assignment during the invasion. They have been assigned to Utah beach, where they are assigned to take out the modified mounted machine guns along with an advance unit about an hour before the rest of the invasion hits. They are also to release the Hulk on the unsuspecting Nazi troops as well to sow chaos among their ranks and thin them out so that the invasion forces have a better chance to meet up with the rest of the army.

Of course, the team is uneasy about herding around the Hulk, but Ross assures them that this is the best strategy for breaking up their ranks. In order to get the Hulk, however, the team has to go prepare Steve Rodgers, who is in the lower levels of the base in a protected, sealed off area. Everyone except Namor elects to go below and inform him of the impending mission.

When they get down there, they are greeted by the scientist in charge of monitoring Rodgers and his buxom, blonde assistant.

Sensing no danger in the air, they calmly discussed things over with Rodgers. The Sentry appealed to their similar conditions, of having a darkness inside and being used by the government for war. With his assurance that things will be alright, Steve leaves his protected room, only to be shot with a dart laced with adrenal-enhancing poison by the buxom assistant!

Steve transforms into the Hulk, surprising everyone in the room! Using his super-speed, the Sentry takes charge of the situation and immediately grapples the beast with his super strength and takes him as far away from the base as he could manage. Isolated, Bob is able to talk Steve down, and he transforms back without incident.

Meanwhile, back at the base, both Vision and Dr. Strange try their best to capture the escaping spy! Dr. Strange tries his best to strangle her with chains, but she quickly wiggles out of them, blasting them apart with some sort of untold power! Vision tries his best to grapple with her, preventing her from escaping, but she is too tough for the robot. Hearing the commotion, Namor decides to help out the incompetent surface dwellers, only to find the beautiful woman trying to leave. In an act unmatched, Namor delicately grabbed her hand and pulled her into a kiss. She melted into his arms and was no longer a threat.

Feminists would likely say a lot of stuff about how this is terrible, and how the fact that our team has no women is also terrible, but that's how the dice rolls. Can't argue with the dice.

Anyhow, the general demands an interrogation, and Namor happily volunteers to ask the questions. However, to keep the horny Atlantean in-line, Vision is also requested to be present in the room. She is hesitant at first, simply declaring that the invasion will fail by the power of the Skrull. Namor asks for five minutes alone to change her mind about revealing information, and Vision complies. When Vision returns, the Skrull spy, revealed to be named Lyja, is much more willing to talk! She explains that a Skrull ship bearing prisoners from a galactic war crashed on Earth after some mechanical failure. Their leader, a Skrull who is known to human beings as Schmidt, was taken to the leader of the area, Hitler. Seeing an opportunity for greater glory, he and his forces allied themselves with the Nazis and have been supplying them technology.

(Not bad for a Skrull)

While this news is distressing, the invasion has to proceed as planned. Lyja is kept captive at the base while the rest of the crew prepares to move out. When the assault begins the next morning, it seems that things are stacked against the Allied forces. The machine guns are devastating, and there is a ready and able regiment standing between them and victory. However, our team of Invaders make quick work of both the machine guns and the Nazi soldiers. Namor launches himself from the sea and smashes things! Vision takes out a Nazi officer, only to transform into him and order the troops to retreat. Dr. Strange rides in on a dragon he summoned and proceeds to tear apart the landscape. The Sentry works with the Hulk to tear Nazi soldiers limb from limb with his laser-katana...

However, ill-tidings come to bear as the fight winds down. Out from the sky, a giant robot of obviously alien origin lands in the midst of the battle and prepares its weapons! At the same time, Bob loses control and shifts into the Void!

Cliffhanger!

My Reactions:

Not too much I have to say on the GM side of things this session. Giving myself props, I think this particular session was very well paced. In fact, the action was about the length of a typical comic book, with a cliff hanger to boot. On that end, I was very pleased. I am also pleasantly surprised by my players almost at every junction. I wasn't expecting Lyja to be captured with a kiss of all things, but that's one of the awesome things about this system. In a system like D&D, in order to end a fight with charm, you'd have to roll incredibly high. Here, you just need a good dice pool and a suitable complication and you're gold!

The only thing I wish could have gone better was the Hulk incident. One of the most fearsome characters in MHR was taken out in one roll by Sentry, and that seems a little... Meh. I mean, yes, I could have spent Doom Dice to increase his reaction, but the Hulk isn't very good at resisting being talked down. I suppose it did work in a narrative sense, but the image of Rodgers smashing the base up was a little too good to resist.

Coming from a long view perspective on things so far, the Hulk is a bit of a quandry. He's a super-powerful being, and an important plot point that was worked into the whole backstory of things, but since his player left the project, he's just sitting there more as a tool rather than a fundamental part of the story. Of course, this is partially my fault, but what else can you do with Hulk other than send him to smash or try to get him to stop smashing? I may try to find a way to write him out temporarily, if the players don't mind. We'll see!

Otherwise, things have been going swimmingly! Next session report, you'll get to hear about the fabled 'Fight of the Sentry!' Hope you enjoyed this post. If not, here's a funny picture.

-Wes

Wolverine's Post M-Day Journal - Entry #4

Entry 4:

Shit finally hit the fan, and we got covered in it.

I knew this was gonna happen. All of these targeted attacks, heading for well-populated areas, we weren't gonna catch each and every last one of 'em. No one has that kind of power, not even a God. We're just one team. A big fuckin' team, but we can't be everywhere. Sooner or later we were gonna miss one.

Just our luck, it was Stamford.

Six hundred people dead. Almost a hundred of 'em were kids. That ain't counting the injured, or the property damage. I saw the mess with my own eyes. I smelled the ashes, the death that hung in the air. We tried to do our part to fix things up, to somehow apologize for this fuckin' mess. They don't need an apology. That's not gonna tuck 'em into bed at night when they think about their kid incinerating or being buried in the remains of the family home that has stood longer than they have.

I told Stark that he shoulda seen this comin'. He did, but he didn't take the steps to prevent it. Typical. That's the attitude of the day, ain't it? We know that a society run on celebrity mishaps, diet soda, and mindless entertainment ain't gonna last. What do we do when we see the city burning around us?

We grab a fiddle and head for the hills, unable to cope any other way.

But that ain't me.

I cope by sinkin' my claws into the mother-fuckers responsible. Lucky for me, the asshole that blew up Stamford is common knowledge. Nitro. I told Stark while he was drinkin' his troubles away that I was going to kill the son-of-a-bitch, and I wasn't kiddin'. He knows I don't joke around, and didn't try to stop me. Deep down, he wants Nitro dead too. I could smell it, past the alcohol. He just doesn't want to dirty those rich little hands.

So, now I'm on the road, trackin' down clues. Couldn't follow the bastard's scent. Too many other ones, stronger. I heard from a somewhat reputable source of mine that Nitro hauled ass into the back of a truck and tried to make himself scarce. I ain't a detective, but I know plenty of 'em. My nights have been spent in seedy bars and alley-ways, but that ain't nothin' different.

Funny thing happened one afternoon. Was drinking a beer, tryin' to beat out my healin' factor, watchin' the boob tube over a sweaty guy's head down the bar-line. A lady who lost her kid in the incident was drummin' up a rally so prestigious that they even got Cap himself to speak. 'Cept that wasn't who I was watchin'.

I was watchin' my clone, and somehow, she was lookin' right back at me with the stare I know too well.

For once in a long while since the mess began, I cracked a grin. Looks like hatin' Scott Summers and bein' locked up in the Xavier Mansion was hard-written into my DNA. What was she doin' there, exactly? Lookin' for me?

She of all people should know by now, I don't do public appearances.

One of my contacts finally turned up the truck company that carted my target away from the scene of the crime. I broke into their New York headquarters and started doin' some pokin' of my own. Threatened a few guys to death, barked and waved the claws, but eventually got enough to start tracking 'im across the country.

Before I left, I made sure Summers knew where I was goin', and what I was plannin' to do. Half-Pint met me at the door, goin' on about this great plan she had to partner up with Stark. Personally, I think the girl had another partnership in mind. Either way, the meetin' didn't go well. Slim made his case about not wantin' to get involved with this bill and stayin' on the fence, and I ignored him. Emma threatened to wipe my mind, but even she ain't brave enough to start workin' through my head.

On my motorcycle, I had the weirdest feelin' in my gut. Things are movin' in ways that they shouldn't, and somethin' messy is just peakin' over the horizon. 'Cept I'm gonna be the one to find out who's behind all of this, and sink my claws in. Deep.

Marvel Mondays - Civil War - Session 5 Report

Hey, readers!

Before we dig into the meat of this article/report/review/thing, I would like to say that Marvel Mondays is now relegated to every-other Monday once again. For those of you who were following the X-Men series of reports, our GM has decided to switch directions to something... Not Marvel. It looks like we are going in a Star Wars direction, so be on the look out for those reports in the coming months.

That being said, I will miss playing Rogue terribly. And I just got myself an awesome Rogue shirt on discount from WeLoveFine, too...

Anyway!

As always with Civil War, you can watch the session yourself here!

Everyone was in attendance this time, which is a first, I do believe. By now, you should be familiar with the characters, which is awesome, but now we have some new ones! Joining our cast are Speed, Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Wiccan, and Wonder-Man! More will likely be adding on as the rest of our troupe, myself included, picks a third character.

So, pull on the spandex and let's jump on in.

Session Summary:

Things begin in the aftermath of the Stamford explosion. The small town is in ruins, with buildings collapsing, people trapped under rubble, and fires spreading across the area. Each of our heroes arrive in their own spectacular fashion and have to deal with the emotional distress of seeing all of the destruction. Oddly enough, the two characters with trauma (Iron Man and Wolverine) aren't as affected as the rest of the crew, which includes a group of Young Avengers, Dr. Strange, Wonder-Man, and the two above mentioned heroes. Everyone does their part, which includes handing out Stark-Emergency Response Kits (SERK!), using spells to highlight trapped individuals, tearing through houses to find people, and using super-speed to rescue others at a rate none can match.

Though the emotional toll is high, the heroes manage to bring things under control. Iron Man returns to the bottle, and Wolverine informs him that a conspiracy is likely in the works and that maybe the team wasn't well enough prepared for something slipping past their radar. He takes off, saying that he's going to kill Nitro and hunt him down. Meanwhile, Speed is shouting back at some anti-mutant protesters that have gathered outside the gate, not making things any better for the already strained community.

Meanwhile, back in New York City, Ms. Marvel leads a team to re-capture Moon Knight. Being the brilliant strategist that she is, she figured a full moon would be the ideal time to apprehend a criminal whose powers are strongest at the full moon. The team consists of Hulk, Thor, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman and Spider-Man, with Ms. Marvel leading, of course. Sounds like they should have no problem, right?

Using their covert contacts, the team manages to locate him at a penthouse, and springs the attack. Unfortunately, Moon Knight was prepared for every eventuality and rigged the place with traps to target each team member. Ms. Marvel starts the assault, trying to slam him, but gets hit by a large object in the attempt. The two of them trade blows when the unheralded arrival of a squad of Atlanteans makes things... Confusing! Even Moon Knight was expecting them to come to his aid.

The Hulk slams down, weakening the floor, but taking out a good number of the under-water goons. Spider-Man attempts to web up Moon Knight, but gets trapped in his own web! Spider-Woman tries to use her covert training to take out the traps that line the room, only to get tripped up herself... With a cord? Anyway. Luke Cage comes down and does some Sweet Christmas damage to the leader of the Atlanteans, Janus, and Thor nearly ends the conflict by slamming his hammer down, taking out the floor beneath them all! By some trick of chance, the Moon Copter arrives, and Moon Knight escapes, again, with Janus in tow while the Hulk takes out the floor, burying the team in rubble.

Our final encounter of the evening had to do with Master Pandemonium. Dr. Strange was contacted by the powers that be in order to investigate how he was able to escape their multi-dimensional magic prison. He takes an unlikely team, consisting of Iron Man, Wiccan, Wonder-Man, Tigra, Hawkeye, and... Wolverine. Yeah... I'll get to that.

Anyway, Wiccan is able to ascertain the involvement of something mystical when Loki, in a nearby cell, opens his big mouth and tries to make a deal with the team. Everyone banters back and forth a bit, Wonder-Man tries to encourage Loki with some less than savory torture-type stuff, which Iron Man disproves of, and things come to a close when Dr. Strange erects a force-field that prevents any sort of communication between the parties and Loki. No one speaks with Loki, apparently.

Tigra sniffs out some Asgardian influence on the cell, and the session wraps up there.

My Reactions:

Initially, my reactions to this session were very positive, but as the week wore on, my feelings sort of coagulated and became mixed. Hind-sight is 20-20, they say. That being said, I'm going to go over the positives first, and then discuss the things that sort of mixed and soured in my mind.

The Stamford Incident played out very well, I think. It gave everyone a chance to see the gravity of what happens when heroes fail or aren't there to prevent disaster, and it was cool to see the emotional toll along with the various creative ways to coordinate the rescue effort. I even managed to squeeze out some genuine character interaction between Wolverine and Iron Man which went off rather well, in my own humble opinion. Seeing that this group is not really accustomed to that sort of thing... I felt that if I wanted it in the game, I needed to take some initiative, so I did.

(Running out of Moon Knight pictures! >.<)

I also thought the Moon Knight fight scene played out really well. Mechanically, it was interesting to see how formidable a 'villain' can be when played by a player, especially with an optional, forum-rule that, during PVP, a player being acted against gets first dibs to opportunities. While I don't agree with that ruling, it certainly made things interesting and worked in this particular instance. The Moon Knight sub-plot is rather entertaining, all things considered, and I'm glad it showed up.

Finally, on the positive side of things, everyone continues to be great players. Good ideas, funny moments, the whole she-bang. We have a pretty awesome group.

This session wasn't perfect, however, and some things are really being brought into light in my mind that should be elaborated on.

First of all, I would like to talk about troupe-play. It was an optional way to run the game, as outlined in the beginning of the Civil War book, and for those of you not in the know, basically says that you can have multiple characters, swap 'em out, and share XP/PP between them as you go along. My guess is that the designers supposed that, with an event like Civil War, people are going to want to play it from various angles, particularly Pro-Reg/Anti-Reg with different heroes. This sounds pretty good on paper.

In execution, at least from what I'm seeing, it makes things a cluttered jumble, especially with a group size that we have and the set-up that's going on. We have so many heroes in this event right now, and the how's and why's of their presence and involvement are becoming lost to me. Initially, the justification was that this was the entirety of the Avengers, which, at about fourteen heroes is still a bit of a stretch, but it worked. Now that the GM has opened up a third slot with a wider range of options, things are breaking down in my head at the overall narrative. For example, a group of our players have taken Young Avengers characters, which is helpful that they have a reason for sticking together. Some of them showed up to help at Stamford. They apparently arrived separately, which doesn't make sense to me considering they are a team, and what about the rest of the Young Avengers...? More puzzling still, in the prison for mystical stuff, Wiccan is brought along without the rest of his group, even when Kate Bishop would probably want to see Hawkeye. Since the transition between scenes is pretty much dealt in the way of, "So-and-so contacts so-and-so about such-and-such, who's coming?", the logic and justifications start to break down in my head.

Now, granted, this is comic books. People show up in random places for no reason all the time, both of my characters included. How many series is Wolverine in now? And every single event with multiple heroes has Spider-Woman show up in the initial 'Everyone's here!' panel, and she proceeds to do nothing after that. I get that. My question becomes this: does every scene need every player involved in it? I bring this up specifically because of my situation. I haven't selected a third character yet. With Spider-Woman under a building, Wolverine was my only option for the final scene, but narrative would state that he is hunting down Nitro, on his own, right now. Why would he give a shit about how Master Pandemonium escaped? It was a question of, 'Do I want to be the one left out, or do I want to stick with what my character would narratively do?' I went with the first, and regret it, since he didn't do anything in that scene.

(See?! There she is! Pointing!)

The final issue with troupe play, especially with this many involved, is character development. With potentially twenty-one heroes in the works here, there is almost no room for it to happen to every character, and it makes it more difficult for individual characters as well. How can I complete the arc I had in mind for Spider-Woman, where she makes a good friend before the whole Civil War thing erupts and has to make a very hard decision about where she stands (as detailed in my milestones), when there is almost no inter-character interaction beyond the business at hand, and people are shifting around so much that relationships can't grow? And, when I tried to inject some of this sort of emotional stuff between Iron Man and Wolverine, it felt awkward to ask for, and was sort of ignored in the entire scheme of things.

I'm not asking for the spotlight, if that is what you're thinking. By no means should Wolverine or Spider-Woman be the stars of Civil War. All I'd like to do is create some character arcs that enrich the game, so that when the big action stuff blows up, it has weight beyond, "X amount of people died/stuff got blown up." I dunno. Maybe I'm asking for too much. Maybe I should just flow with the majority and forget about adding some depth in the way that I am. Curse my writing and acting sensibilities.

The second point has to do with some narrative order of operations and focus. In my humble opinion, Stamford should have been the last scene in the evening's line-up, and the other two scenes should have been dealt with first. I understand that the GM has some sub-plots he is trying to saddle onto Civil War, and this is perfectly reasonable, and even encouraged. However, when you are dealing with the 'inciting incident' of your entire plot, you need to focus on it, make it punch, make it matter. Steps to do this were taken, true, but having scenes afterwards/during that were in no-way related to your inciting incident weakens it. I already mentioned how Wolverine didn't give a shit about how Master Pandemonium escaped. In light of a huge tragedy that took a major emotional toll on the characters involved (according to the stress inflicted) and will start a media avalanche that leads to registration, I don't really see why the other characters would give a shit about that either.

As I said in a previous session report that got into deep discussions like this one did, I want to just put in the disclaimer here at the end that I am still enjoying myself in this game, I think the GM is doing a wonderful job juggling seven players and trying to tell a cohesive story, and I think all of my fellow players are great. Like anyone, however, little things bother me, and I wanted to bring them to light, as much for myself as others.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If not, here's a funny picture. (I actually remembered it this time!)

-Wes

Marvel Origins - Avengers - Session 1 Report

Hey, readers!

So, we have a brand new campaign to report upon here at 'Perceive Things', run by yours truly. Once again, it's another supers game with Marvel Heroic, so those of you looking for a little change of pace may be disappointed, but I'm sure that more games will open up down the pipeline in different systems/settings.

This particular game is a concept of mine put into action. It's an experiment that I'm running to create a version of the Marvel universe molded by a community and grown through gameplay. Thankfully, I have a handful of people ready to go on this merry journey with me to define the origins of the Avengers.

Now, I'm going to note here that I had no input on the campaign at the start. I gave my players three basic options: Avengers, X-Men, or Fantastic Four. Avengers won out in the majority, and the players choices and wants molded it to be set during World War II. From there, I thought it would be a cool idea to have the Kree/Skrull War bring the Avengers together, and thus our campaign was born!

Our characters are as follows:

The Sentry: A Japanese immigrant who was taken into a camp by the Americans, Bob had latent super powers, and in return for his family's protection, the government turned him into a super soldier of unspeakable power to fight on the front lines.

Doctor Strange: While serving the military during World War I, combat medic Stephen Strange discovered some occult paraphernalia in a German bunker. This began his journey to accrue as much mystical knowledge as possible, joining with two other mystics to form the Triad.

The Sub-Mariner: Prince Namor, upon hearing of the advent of the Axis powers and the danger they posed to his kingdom, decided to aid the surface dwellers in repelling the threat. This fell upon deaf ears with his fellow Atlanteans, and he now ventures alone to protect his planet and secure his supremacy. Imperius Rex!

The Vision: Formerly known as 'The Human Torch', a robot with the power to shoot flames was captured and experimented upon by one Baron Zemo who was attempting to use him as a gateway to another dimension. Upon recovery, the robot's new powers of intangibility and hyper density were readily apparent. Fearing Nazi reprogramming, he was wiped and given the personality of one Bucky Barnes and renamed Vision.

We were also supposed to have a fifth player whose concept was to have the super soldier serum go horribly wrong with Steve Rodgers and create the Hulk, but he had to bow out due to other commitments. However, his concept of the Hulk is still canon.

Without further ado, session one!

Session Summary:

Things begin with a gathering of the Allied Secret Special Forces, a branch of the special forces relegated to beings or powers beyond that of mortal man to take care of highly sensitive or important missions. After a quick briefing with the unit's commander, one General Ross, the team is cobbled together and informed that they must go behind enemy lines near the coast of France to collect recon on the beaches of Omaha and Utah in preparation. They are to meet up with a resistance cell in a small town and collect any missing information.

After a little spatting between Namor and the Sentry, they parachute down into the French countryside. Able to dodge the German patrols going up and down the streets, they manage to slip into the town and see their contact, a man named Pierre who is wearing a red beret and has a terrible French accent. He leads them into the basement of a tavern with the rest of the resistance cell, where they receive a packet full of recon and pictures, however some of it is incomplete. Namor and Dr. Strange head up to their rooms in the tavern, and the good doctor consults with the spirits in the area, sensing a disturbance. The Sentry and Vision hang around the bar for a bit, chatting some while trying not to arouse suspicion from the German soldiers before heading to bed themselves.

In the dead of night, the senses of the Sentry pick up the sound of his door creeping upon, only to find Pierre with a gun! The Sentry lasers the gun out of his hand, and the noise rouses Dr. Strange, and summons a spell of chains to bind the fiend before he can get away. The entire crew is roused, and a quick mental inspection by Stephen Strange reveals that Pierre and a majority of the resistance cell are actually made up of German spies who are assigned to assassinate the Allied Special Forces sent to pick up the recon. He manages to rewrite his memories, telling Pierre to return to the group, telling them that the mission was completed.

(Pierre, the best spy ever)

Hoping to make-up the intel that they were supposed to receive, the team splits up. Dr. Strange digs a shallow grave and dumps his body there while his astral form travels across the beaches to get an eye on the defenses set-up. Namor takes to the seas, searching the beach for armaments and mines below. The Vision shapeshifts into a German officer, steals a jeep, and keeps Bob as a prisoner while the two of them scout along the beaches and try to gather their own intel. What becomes overwhelmingly apparent is that the Germans are ready for an assault. The machine guns mounted are outfitted with an unusual brand of technology that no one recognizes. Additionally, the Vision catches sight of a most unusual craft resting beside a command post.

With pictures taken and intel gathered, the team makes sure to cover their tracks by informing a German officer that the Allied agents were killed, showing them an illusion that Strange created of the shallow graves. With their tracks covered, the team flies off across the English channel back to base, only to find a squad of bombers going to make their run across London. The Sentry manages to laser one in such a way to send it spinning into another. Namor propels himself from the water and manages to eviscerate another. The Vision, with Dr. Strange riding in his grasp, tries his best to get above one, go hyper-dense, and smash it, but while he is successful, this sends the pair plummeting to the depths below. Dr. Strange is much to distracted by his impending doom to do anything to slow them down, even failing to lasso onto one of the planes above with an incantation. Finally, Namor saves the day by swooping down and carrying the pair to shore.

Namor makes a series of snide comments towards the Sentry regarding his uselessness. Compounding with all of the insults he had received earlier from this Prince Under-the-Sea, the Sentry decides to come to blows! The pair take to the air for a battle royale, the Sentry opening with an incredible laser beam directed towards the Submariner. Much to Bob's distress, Namor stands still, arms folded and shrugs off the blast, which demoralizes the Sentry to the point of passing out. Swooping down to save him as well, the team makes it back to base to be de-briefed.

Ross is not happy that the resistance cell was composed of German spies, nor is he happy about the strange technology the crew recovers. After answering questions and being overall stern, Ross informs the team that they are to remain on base until Operation Overlord, where their task will be disarming those weapons and making sure that their secret weapon, the Hulk, doesn't get out of hand. The session ends with the team preparing for the event at hand.

My Reactions:

Overall, I believe our first session went very well. I know two of the players from college, and two of the players were new to me, but they are good guys and welcome additions to our team. I think everyone had a solid time, I know I did. What is especially encouraging is that our campaign thus-far, even without trying, is following many of the same beats as the Avengers film, with inter-team conflicts and a looming threat bigger than all of them kind of forming at all the right moments. While I'm not seeking to emulate the summer blockbuster, it doesn't hurt to borrow a beat or two.

I did wish, however, that the recon mission was a little more... Exciting? Stealth is not an aspect many RPGs convey well, Marvel Heroic included, and while I think it is a cool thing to bring into a mission or session, it always ends up feeling hollow to me somehow. Not that there was much stealth going on in the mechanics, persay, but regardless. It also wasn't terribly action-packed, which is just fine with me, but I am well aware that players have different likes and expectations than I do, hence the inclusion of the mid-air bomber fight which was a completely off-the-cuff, setting dressing turned conflict, encounter.

What I really like about these players is their ability to think outside the box and do things that I wouldn't expect. Vision using his shapeshifting to do cool things is one example, while Dr. Strange and his 'weird hobbies' lending credence to his spells is another. Namor's player hits all of the right notes with everyone's favorite Atlantean, and the very presence of the arrogant Prince is enough to put the right amount of spin to the inter-party conflicts, especially where the Sentry is involved. The highlight was, undoubtedly, the Namor/Sentry fight which was over in one blow.

We have already had our second session, which I will report on soon, but I have high hopes for the future of this game, and I just hope that my GM'ing chops are up to it. I hope you enjoyed this session report! If not, here's a funny picture.

-Wes   

Wolverine's Post M-Day Journal - Entry 3

((Hey there! This entry summarizes the events of the third and fourth session's of the game. It was not written between since the events ran together and our favorite feral mutant wouldn't have had the time to sit down and write introspectively! Enjoy!

Entry 3:

It's three in the mornin' and the only thing I can do to try and find some solace is write in this fuckin' journal.

I don't dream anymore. When the eyelids shut and sleep paralysis sets into my adamantium laced bones, a dark figure sits me next to an ancient film projector in a shadowy room. Try as I might, I can't get up, can't shut my eyes. The figure steps into the light on the screen. Sometimes it's Victor. Sometimes it's Mystique... Maybe it's always Mystique? Doesn't matter.

"Which film shall we watch tonight, Logan?" they say in the most irritating tone possible, "The one where you murder Itsu? A classic. If you're in the mood for romance, we could watch some Mariko. Maybe more Jeanie? Ah, but we watch those a little too often, don't you think? We could always play the bloody murder reel..."

Somethin' inside me is trying to stir up the guilt from a life of murder, and despite every attempt I make to keep a gruff exterior, it's startin' to work. I've ruined families, ended lives for no better reason than someone told me to do it, or I was lost in a rage. Every time I decide to make things better, to strive to fix some of the damage I've done, somethin' drags me right back down to my old ways.

That's why I can't be an Avenger.

We had a meetin', somethin' about a revision of the Mutant Registration Act that is gonna effect all of the other freaks of nature and vigilantes that put on tights and try to save the world. Stark wanted to present a unified front, under his own idealism, about the superhuman community tryin' to police itself. Some of the guys there even had the nerve to offer up the X-Mansion as a school for new recruits. Shows how ignorant they are about the livin' Hell we're goin' through over there.

There will be no more mutants. Every mutant that's left, whether they like it or not, has to be cooped up on school grounds, livin' out in tents like a fuckin' reservation. Charles is gone. Scott doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. Sentinels march around the grounds. The last thing we need are some two-bit amateurs walking in with big smiles ready to learn from a dying race.

Stark proposed an internal affairs branch of our... organization, and put up Carol to be in charge of that. Turns out we needed it faster than we ever would have thought. The Crusader shows up at the Avengers mansion with a Shi'ar bomb, guarded on all sides by Purifiers. My blood was boilin' to see those sons of bitches crawl out from the wood work, but I wasn't the only one.

Things go about as expected, with Stark and Banner disarming the bomb and the rest of us fending off the crazed religious fanatics. 'Cept Moon Knight was after some blood, and crippled Crusader. Slashed him right in the spine. If the poor sod lives, he'll be spendin' the rest of his life in a wheelchair, or worse. They clap him in irons and send him off to prison.

I can't be an Avenger, because before you know it, I'll be right in the next cell. I've killed, as an Avenger. Ended the life of Griffin in our first breakout fiasco, and no one cared then. Even though that was a wake-up call, what's to say my berserker rage won't lead me to that place again? My anger is welling up, and I'm liable to burst.

Hopped on my motorcycle afterward to help Stark present his case in front of Congress. Someone had to represent the mutants, but unfortunately, the conversation never turned in that direction. Instead, Dr. Doom is showin' footage of the lot of us tearin' through Doombots and Latverians on behalf of Colonel Nick Fury. Just like my dreams, there I am again, killin', and I can't help but watch.

Things didn't turn out so bad. Congress seemed impressed with Murdock's knowledge of law and the way we handled the Spector debacle earlier. Earned us a man on our side. 'Cept, what's one voice among the majority? Usually, jack-shit.

Next, I was sent to testify for the character of Luke Cage, who was accused of murdering some of the Purifiers, according to a pretty obviously doctored bit of footage. For some Goddamn reason, someone thought it was a good idea to bring in Marc Spector to testify. The bastard got away, after makin' a pretty solid point that the Avengers are a bunch of incompetent assholes. Apparently, someone hasn't let Konshu know that I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do isn't very nice.

Then the press showed up, and by this point, I was pissed. Really pissed. These assholes are never too far behind when controversial shit goes down. They don't learn. Apparently, a well placed 'go fuck yourself' doesn't send the message. I trashed some equipment, grabbed my bike, and went to a dirty pub somewhere to try the nightly game of tryin' to out-drink my healing factor.

I lost.

My gut is tellin' me that there's something goin' on beyond just a bunch of random events. If anyone knows about conspiracies, it's me. I've been the instrument of more of 'em than I can count on my claws. Someone's trying to strike while the iron is hot, taking down the community through the system. Worst part? One of the smartest men in the world is missin' it, too absorbed by tryin' to run his little band of kids playin' cops and robbers.

I'll let him know. I'll tell him when I resign.

For now, gonna sit on the couch with a beer and watch the news until I fall asleep from boredom. Not like anything news worthy happens in this country anymore.

-Logan

Marvel Mondays - Civil War - Session 4 Report

Hey, readers!

Terribly sorry for the lack of activity here on 'Perceive Things.' We all get busy at times, and I have been involved in other things, like, lots of role-playing. So, I have a huge backlog of summaries to do, including a Civil War session that happened almost two weeks ago!

As always with this campaign, if you'd rather experience the magic yourself, the Youtube link has been provided.

We were missing quite a few people this session, but those involved were the following: Daredevil and Hulk, Iron Man and Thor, Ms. Marvel and Tigra, Hawkeye and Moon Knight, and myself as Wolverine and Spider-Woman.

Here we go!

Session Summary:

Where we left off last session, the team had just defeated a sinister villain in Washington DC and were just in time to be there for the Congressional hearing regarding the Superhuman Registration Act that was starting to tumble its way through the Senate. Being the world's premier super-team, Tony thought it was a good idea to present a unified opinion with the team and present their case for an internal affairs reworking rather than outright registration.

Of course, this sort of thing is always made more interesting by a surprise witness. Enter Doctor Doom, who wants to discredit our heroes with a neat little powerpoint/video depicting the lot of us slaying Latverian forces by the score during the Secret War. Why the government thought it was a good idea to let a known international terrorist who had just come back from Hell and was only recently trying to get a sword of the Apocalypse is beyond me, but I wouldn't put it past 'em.

So, our team begins to retort, showing some impressive shows of logic and reason that seem to baffle Doom and the congressional board. Tony Stark's hacking of Doom's presentation and a printer to pass out some crucial evidence along with a masterful explanation of law by one Daredevil (who has no association to Matt Murdock) had both us players and the characters in the game baffled beyond belief. If you watch nothing else of that video, go to 25:48 and watch the magic happen.

With all of that good and done with, we manage to score a friend in Congress that can help us out in the future, and we managed to out filibuster all kinds of government officials in the name of democracy! I would call that a pretty solid win for the side of justice. And stuff. Not really, but...

Anyway!

Apparently, after the whole Moon Knight fiasco last session, Luke Cage got slapped with assisting or murdering a guy somewhere. I mean, one could say racial profiling, especially when you had someone like Wolverine on the scene who was slicing and dicing like usual, but... We're going to go with the fact that Cage has a criminal record. So, like good friends/Avengers, we're called to testify for his character and give our account of the scene at the hearing before he gets slapped with anything official.

Now testify!...

Another surprise witness joins the scene as Moon Knight is brought in to give his account on the events. His player rolled a die to decide which personality was dominant in Mark Spector's head, and Konshu was the result. Awkward. Wolverine was stopped for quite a while at the metal detector. Funny since that was brought up in the movie that just came out, but... Yeah. More awkward!

Ready for the most awkward?

After getting a torrent of bad mouthing from the prosecution, Moon Knight is elected to speak first, since he's the surprise witness and all. He gets out of his chains, without anyone reacting or anything, and begins a piece on how Luke Cage could not have murdered anyone because he and the rest of the Avengers are a completely incompetent bunch who cannot serve the larger goals of justice. Once his piece was done, the Moon Copter shot a line through the window and he escaped from imprisonment.

Genius.

Before we had a chance to pick up our jaws from the floor, the press stormed in to tear us a new one. Hulk took some emotional stress and managed to Hulk out, showing an incredibly docile and photogenic Hulk who wanted to talk to the press. Everyone else tried their best to get away. Tony bought out a bunch of news companies and went around firing people. Ms. Marvel made a handy excuse and hit the road. Wolverine got pissy, destroyed some equipment, and went to sulk with a lovely d6 of emotional trauma.

Hulk walked home alone.

Before things were wrapped up, we got a nice little bit of narration as the classic "Stamford Incident" occurred. For those of you not in the know, basically a bunch of pretty amateur superheroes, the latest iteration of the 'New Warriors' were filming an episode for a reality show, pissed off some villains, and a particularly explosive crook named Nitro blew up and killed a whole bunch of people, including a group of children.

This is where things take a distinct turn for the worse, for the those of you playing at home.

My Reaction:

This was, by far, the best session yet. Everything worked out really well, we each had a nice moment to shine, and things progressed at a logical pace. There were some really good jokes, shows of character, and all that sort of stuff. It really made us eager to jump into the next session, which is coming up rather soon.

Unfortunately, this sort of showcases a point that I have brought up time and time again that smaller groups work better with this game. While each and every member of our group is awesome, less does turn out to be more in terms of flow and proper spotlighting. That being said, I am really looking forward to the other two members of our group returning this coming session to bring their own unique flavor and ingenuity to our game.

I don't have too much more to say besides that point, and there really wasn't anything negative on my end whatsoever. Next game, our character troupe's are opening up to another slot, so we'll start seeing some new characters thrown into the mix as we clean up after Stamford and try to track down Moon Knight.

That's my summary and reaction! Hope you enjoyed it. If not, here's a funny picture.

-Wes

(Wolverine journal coming up super-soon!)