RPG Games of the past I’d like to have been a part of… that’s the sort of gaming I’d enjoy as a one or two-shot.
The Auditioners: References Available Upon Request: When Fair City’s top hero team disappears, only two words come to the minds of the other heroes—Job
Openings. Do you have what it takes to roleplay yourself into the big time? Enjoy lighthearted adventure along the lines of Mystery Men or The Tick.
TV Squad: The Visitors Are Our Friends: Will even the combined efforts of Manimal, Isis, The Greatest American Hero, The Master, and The Bionic Man be enough to stop the aliens of V? Enjoy a six-hour romp through the history of television history. Role-playing and a sense of humor are a must.
Justice Society vs. Godzilla: This six-hour game premiered at Gen Con 1999. In 1945, with Japan still reeling from defeat in World War II, an atomic monster attacks. Who is behind this giant lizard and how can they be stopped? Characters and impressive twist tie miniatures will be provided.
Forever Young 8: The Darkseid of Retirement: If you thought DC’s golden age heroes like Red Bee, Air Wave, and Doll Man were under-powered in their prime, imagine them 40 years later. A sense of humor and knowledge of DC’s golden age will be your only weapons. OK Apocalypse Here We Come!
Cereal Killers: Debuting Gen Con 1998, this game became a classic of the cereal icons as super hero genre. Play the part of Tony the Tiger, the Trix Rabbit, or other cereal icons on the trail of a cereal killer. This game requires a sense of humor.
Some of my fave Super-types I played at one point or another…
Greenpeace – 1960’s game, with a budding hippie taking on the new mantle of green lantern… (His powers were from the golden age’s GL, so instead of yellow being his weakness, it was wood, and all forms of plant life… his romantic interest was a ‘budding’ Pamela Isley…)
Le Grenouelle – Z-squad ‘it takes a thief’ style game… Convicted French Jewel thief who could shape-shift into a giant frog. (Ok.. not very ethnically sensitive… but it was fun.. he talked like Maurice Chevalier, and had quite a way with his teammates… one of his sidekicks was played by my pal Danny… a were-weasel who acted like a spastic Joe Pesci. Kathleen played an Icy-girl, and I don’t remember the other characters very well, because those guys stole the show…memory-wise)
Trism – Farm-boy Kidnapped by aliens during the attack on Grover’s mill in 1938, returned to earth, 50 years later, with the ability to teleport due to experiments… Most fun having a person from the ’30s adjust to the late ’80s and early 90’s… He hooked up with a fun group, Kyoko, a selectively desolid martial artist (only her hands and feet were solid when fighting, Leroy the Vet NPC (we assumed/ played at that he knew all the skills we didn’t have, because he was in ‘Nam… Think Rambo skills in a one-handed Danny Glover body)
There were others, but those three stand out as among the most fun… miniMAX, the scientist weirdness magnet who could shrink to mere inches and grow to a few stories tall, Piston, the private-eye/bionic man.. (who turned out to be just a machine), Zero, a man made completely of water, who could control other liquids telekinetically and raise/lower temperature.. (he could only pick things up if he froze his hands… had fish that lived inside of him)… Parabola, the only sane leader of Zero’s team… he was strong, and had amazing leaps… son of a rubber man, (like plastic man, or reed richards) he couldn’t stretch, but was incredibly resilient.