Podcast Notes: Here at Vigilance Press, we were lucky enough to secure an interview with Steve Kenson (Mutants and Masterminds, Freedom City, ICONS) for our first Vigilance-cast.
Thanks again to Steve Kenson for taking the time out of his schedule to talk to us.
Dan Houser’s Zazzle Store (where the Mighty Saguaro mug came from)
Mutants and Masterminds Third Edition
Mike’s Libation of Choice - Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon
The dog barking in the background about 2/3 of the way through is Tara, the Vigilant attack corgi
Colophon
Recorded on Pamela using Skype, mixed with Audacity.
Intro music was titled It’s Crime Fightin’ Time. It’s by Bailey Records. It’s available from RPGNOW at this link
The worst of the worst are incarcerated in U.S.H.E.R.'s Rock City prison on Alcatraz Island. These are the 22 most dangerous men and women alive, criminals only one jail could hold.
The Terran Insterstellar Marine Force is the toughest
branch of the Unified Earth Military Command. In their storied 200 year history
as the infantry arm of the Terran Expeditionary Fleet, the Leathernecks had
battled the feral xenomorphs of Rigil Kentaurus, stormed the asteroid
fortresses of the Void Pirates and eradicated an uprising of the savage native
Vrish who threatened the Pleiades Colony. But
they had never faced a foe like the Fyr'Toll
Background: It is the year 2268 and mankind is locked in a bitter war of extermination with the Fyr`Toll, a frightening, inhuman blend of man and machine. Their first attacks came without warning and decimated the most powerful nations on Earth. The United States of Africa, the Indian Conglomerate, the Pan-American League and the Asian Coalition all lie in ruins.
Earth refused to surrender and after a desperate first year of conflict, managed to match the Fyr`Toll’s technological advantages through a series of daring boarding actions, capturing and reverse engineering enemy vessels. Once parity was achieved however, the war seemed to drag on indefinitely and has just entered its 25th year.
On a deep-space survey mission thought to be far away from the front lines, the player characters served on the UASS Johannesburg, searching out resources vital to the war effort. It is then they run across a Fyr`Toll survey ship, the Kra`Tep. After a brief, vicious firefight, both vessels crash on an uncharted planet below.
Two enemies, stranded on one planet on the edge of space. Neither able to overcome the planet’s natural magnetic field to call for help and watching as a fast-growing jungle constantly threatens to overrun their ruined vessels, as predators kill their crew one by one.
After several firefights, their numbers dwindling, the captain of the Kra`Tep meets with the senior surviving officer of the Johannesburg and suggests the two sides join forces to get free of the deadly planet. When the pact is announced, approximately 25% of the humans and Fyr`Toll strike out on their own, unable to overcome the hatred each feels for the other.
These attack each other, the opposing side and even their fellows, all in an
attempt to “convince” them that cooperation with their worst enemy is pointless
at best, dangerous at worst.
A game of exploration: This is the campaign of “stranded on a different star”. A hostile alien world must be explored and possibly tamed, at first for simple survival but eventually with the monumental task of pooling resources for a return voyage.
A game of character interaction: But the planet isn’t the only challenge players in the game will face. Can they manage to hold their unstable coalition together and overcome the hatred bred by decades of war? Can they bring their dissidents back into the fold?
A game of discovery: And even when the planet has been explored, there are mysteries left to solve. What about the planet hinders technology? What secrets wait to be discovered in alien ruins? And how closely will each side honor their agreements? If a powerful alien weapon is discovered, will its secrets be shared or will the discovering side try to hide it for return to their side in the war above.
A game of community: Stranded on a Distant Star will be financed by the “ransom” system, where gamers interested in the game will finance it and guide its direction.
If the $1,500 donation threshold is achieved, patrons will gain access to a special discussion group, where they will see advance drafts of the game and comment on its direction. The game will be designed by veteran OGL designer Charles Rice and its mechanics will be 100% OGL, though the setting will remain the property of Vigilance Press/Charles Rice.
Once the game is completed, the game will be made available for free on RPGNow in PDF form. All contributors will be credited in the final PDF copy.
Contributors of $20 or more will receive a POD-print copy of the game.
About the author: Charles Rice is an Ennie-nominated writer with over 100 credits. His books currently in print include: Modern20, Supers20, Darwin’s World (True20 Edition) and the Two Worlds RPG, included in the collectors edition of the Two Worlds X-Box 360 game.
Learn more or donate at the Vigilance Press blog, RPGDesign.
Old-School Psionics takes a "what if" approach to psionics, presenting an alternate set of rules to those found in the original core rules.
If you'd like to bring psionics into your game without the need for complicated charts and attack matrices, Old-School Psionics presents the Mentalist, a new character class dedicated to psionic abilities, which are detailed similarly to spells and broken down into seven levels of power. Psychic abilities are broken down into four disciplines and dozens of new abilities are presented. Old-School Psionics also brings back several classic psionic monsters including the Aboleth, the Duergar, the Brain Mole, the Doppleganger and the Duergar. Some new monsters are also included such as Men (Astral Wanderer) and the inscrutable Unseen Masters. Finally, a brief campaign sketch is presented that takes place in the Astral city of Nexus, gateway to the planes, which includes random encounters and sketches of several alternate prime material planes for characters to visit.
An emissary from Atlantis has come to warn the city of a dire underwater threat that is quickly approaching. His warning may go unheard as trigger happy police have mistaken the aquatic diplomatics for supervillains and opened fire!
Can the heroes stop the chaos before it's too late to heed the Atlantean's warning?
Mecha Omega: Destiny Station provides some new occupations and NPC mech pilots, written using the Modern20 rules. It also has some new Mech equipment.
It's a lot of material in a small package, at a low price. How could you go wrong?
Or buy the Mecha Omega Complete Bundle+