Excalibur PbP

[arthurfallz]

When it comes to running games, especially super-hero games, I think the old adage "write what you know" applies here. The comics that really hooked me to collecting a series were Excalibur, specifically the first dozen issues or so. What I'd like to offer is an Excalibur game, following a loose chronology of that "early" feel.

A recap for those interested;
Shadowcat and Nightcrawler are recovering at Moria McTaggerts on Muir Island in Britain. Kitty and Kurt were both mortally wounded in the Fall of the Mutants Event, and have been recovering, but their powers are both still crippled a little. As well, the X-Men are thought dead, and the two feel isolated. They are in a different country, and their friends are dead.

Captain Britain and Meggan are living in Brian's lighthouse headquarters in Britain. They are in a romantic relationship, but the alcoholic Brian is beginning to feel hemmed in by Meggan's childish affections, with a healthy does of loathing and doubt turning the man inside out. His grief at loosing his sister (Betsy Braddock, aka Psylocke) is not doing anything to stem this.

Rachel Summers, lured into the Mojoworld by Spiral, has made her escape, and is coming back. Her thoughts are locked onto the mental presence of her friend Kitty Pryde. On her heels come not only the deadly Warwolf hunters, but also a new, strange alien menace interested in enslaving the Phoenix Force...

These heroes find common ground in defending the UK and friendship, and form a team, called Excalibur. I'll be positing datafiles as soon as I create them (perhaps by the weekend). Right now I'm looking for players who can commit to;
a) at least 5 posts a week (one each weekday is best)
b) some knowledge of some of the heroes and the comics, or the interest in going forth to research them

The PBP will be held either here (if that's allowed), or over Google docs. Looking to see what interest there is, and offering myself up as Watcher. This won't be my first Forum-based RP, but it will be my first shot at running MHR as a PBP.

[Macguffin]

I always loved that series too. Kind of lost track of it once they left Earth though.

Anyhoo, I'm in if you are still looking.

[arthurfallz]

I am still looking actually. I'm working on the Datafiles and the Event (it's been slow going, sinus infection d8 has struck me). Anyone else who is interested, post a reply or send a PM and we'll organize.

[arthurfallz]

It's been months, but after a summer of sniffing other pastures, I've come back to MHRP with the intent to stay put for a while. And with this, I've been keen to try and boot up this idea again. I'll begin posting some of my ideas here about the Excalibur team.

To be clear, this is the original team (Captain Britain, Meggan, Phoenix, Shadowcat and Nightcrawler). It's going to be more bronze age in tone (my favourite comic era), and follow the initial dozen issues or so (with the possibility of a Cross Time Caper Event to follow).

Captain Britain
Affiliations: Solo d10 Buddy d8 Team d6
Distinctions: Thick-Skulled Braddock, Proper Brit, Personal Demons
Power Sets
Champion of the Britains
Superhuman Durability d10, Supersonic Flight d10, Mystic Resistance d8, Superhuman Stamina d10, Godlike Strength d12
SFX: Invulernable. Spend 1 PP to ignore Physical Stress or Physical Trauma.
SFX: Temper Temper! Step up or double any Champion of the Britains power for one action. If the action fails, add a die to the doom pool equal to the normal rating of your power dice.
Limit: Oh Britannia! While absent from Britain, step down a Champion of the Britains power and gain 1 PP. Do this for each Transition scene outside the British Isles. Recover during a Transition scene while back on British soil.
Limit: Confidence of a Hero. Shutdown any Chapion of the Britains power to gain 1 PP. Recover power by activating an opportunity or during a Transition scene.
Specialties
Combat Expert d8, Menace Expert d8, Tech Expert d8
Milestones
Hero of England
Brian is the noble champion of the British Isles, but he frequently wrestles with his charged duties. A personal tragedy and a weak will often tempt him to give up and despair. Can Brian overcome his doubts to embrace becoming a true hero?
1XP when you work with the British authorities to put down a menace to the British people.
3XP when you are hailed as a hero by the press, or you get the chance to stand up to an uppity Yankee for British principles
10XP when you are called upon by the Queen, the Prime Minister, Merlin or other British authorities to stop a major threat to Queen and Country (or greater)
Need Help for a Second Milestone

This is a rough draft version of Captain Britain. More to follow. Note I am basing him off his powers and style in the early issues of Excalibur. Later and previous version of this hero clearly had little bearing in the comics.

[Cam]

So that's Godlike Strength d12, yes?

You may want to put the "only in the British Isles" Limit separate from all the SFX. It'd be interesting if you could have it be "Gain 1 PP when your connection to the British Isles impairs your powers." Then you can play up the erratic nature of his powers when he leaves Britain, just as it was in the comics.

Cheers,
Cam

[arthurfallz]

So that's Godlike Strength d12, yes?

Ahem, yes. Fixed.

You may want to put the "only in the British Isles" Limit separate from all the SFX. It'd be interesting if you could have it be "Gain 1 PP when your connection to the British Isles impairs your powers." Then you can play up the erratic nature of his powers when he leaves Britain, just as it was in the comics.

I thought about that. They depicted Brian having a slow and steady drain of powers the longer he spent away from the British Isles, and his costume was part of what stored the energy of the Isles. When his costume was destroyed in the Inferno Event, he rapidly lost his abilities over the course of a few days. The entire costume things was never well explained (he seemed to need it to recover once home, but also never seemed to need it on at all times to use his powers).

Perhaps something to the effect of "Shutdown Champion of Britains while away from Britain to gain 1 PP. Recover during a Transition scene." And then make sure the player knows the conditions of how those limits function. Him finding his old costume in the museum sounds like a Transition scene recovery to me (he found it while hiding from the enemy as I recall).

[Darth Mauno]

That looks very Brian-y, and the Thick-Skulled Braddock distinction and Temper Temper! SFX are especially fitting. However, I think his specialties are missing a few things - at least Cosmic Expert should be there since Cap's been dealing with all kind of weird stuff for a good while. Also, since he *used* to be a scientist, Science Expert would be applicable as well, even though this facet of the character doesn't really show up in Excalibur.

As for the second milestone, maybe something to do with his troubles in the personal relationships department? With Meggan, Courtney, Jamie and the honored dead - parents & Betsy - there's plenty to play with...

[chaosnet]

Wasn't Brian Covert-y at one point in his career? Maybe early on when he had the staff and the amulet.

He has gone through a number of iterations and it brings up a question for me: If through a character's adventuring career they dont use certain Specialties, would the specialty be considered "defunct" and taken off of the datafile?

For example, Bubble Boy (my favorite example character) was a scientific genius early in his career, which led him to becoming the hero that he is. He has been with his team, The Guardians which consists of Quick Girl, Strong Boy and Mind Boy. Well, Mind Boy has Science D10 and Bubble Boy has rarely used his science specialty in years. Would a new event's Bubble Boy not have the Science Expert reflecting how he operates in the CURRENT event?

[arthurfallz]

I personally think you have to make the Datafile to reflect the current reality of the character. For more obscure heroes (like Captain Britain) who've undergone a lot of narrative redevelopment over the years, it would only make sense to keep the datafile trim to the "Event Reality" they are designed to operate in. Brian's Covert and Cosmic Specialties, for example, don't tend to come up often in Excalibur, so I would simulate those through PP expenditures. Or, if the player wanted to bring that point of the character back up, some XP expenditures would make sense.

[Spatula]

I had written up some datafiles for the team circa this period, you might find them useful for some inspiration in your own efforts.

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