Archive for Bigger Picture

Wheels Are In Motion

Deep One / 2012/01/26 / No comments

My partner and I have tried to do art stuff together. As anyone who read TRANSLUNAR (available for FREE here) knows, most apes have more innate artistic talent than I do. I’m still trying to draw, but I know I’ll never be great at it. So my partner makes these fabulous things in like, five seconds (view them here or on Twitter as @evilbob_mt). In the time it takes me to draw a crude interpretation of a poorly shaded sphere, Evil Bob makes around 14,328 really great ink over pencil sketches.

Lately, it’s been chibis, those little stylized things that punch you in the neck with their cuteness. We got to talking, and came up with an Idea. You can tell it’s important, because the “i” is capitalized. That lead to an evening of character design, scripting, and arguing about the relative shapes of goblin heads. Also, horny viking jokes, but that’s not that far out of the ordinary.

Evil Bob’s recap of the evening made me think that I should say something about it, because I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll be far too busy scripting for a while to really maintain Fishy Intent. It took a lot not to immediately open up Google Docs and start going when I sat down. But I promised to keep you guys in the loop, so here we are.

When we know more, I’m sure you’ll be the first to know. Now excuse me, I have to counteract the cuteness of the chibi style with some good old-fashioned psychological horror and graphic violence.

Category: Bigger Picture, Comics / Tags: , ,

Why The Hate On Starfire?

Deep One / 2011/09/26 / 2 comments

This week was a tumultuous time for the DCnÜ. Several explicitly sexual comics came out. I’ve already talked about Catwoman (short version, it was bad), but people are quite up in arms over Red Hood and the Outlaws. Specifically, there is a lot of hate out there for the treatment of Starfire.

DC Women Kicking Ass was disappointed that she had been relegated to Jason and Roy’s fuck buddy, while Laura Hudson of Comics Alliance had quite a bit more to say. It’s a thoughtful analysis, and I have to say, in general, I agree with it.

It’s the specifics that bother me.

When I read a comic with aliens in it, I put on my sci-fi glasses. I want aliens to be more than just superficially different than humans. It’s part of the reason I’m almost never happy with alien/human hook-ups. Aliens should think differently than humans do.

You know what? Starfire does. Is she drawn in a hypersexualized way? Yes, and that is a problem. Does she have casual sex with people? Yes, explicitly (unless she and Roy decided to just cuddle). But throughout the comic, she is shown as thinking fundamentally differently than humans.

One of the big complaints I’ve seen about the new Starfire is her “amnesia”. She doesn’t remember the names of the Teen Titans she’s served with, or even the names of people she has had sex/relationships with.

Remember, though, that earlier in the issue we establish that humans are little more than sights and smells to her. So, asking her about someone’s name isn’t all that useful. Had Roy been smart enough to ask her if she remembered someone who smelled like metal and oil, she probably would have remembered Cyborg. Asking about the guy who smelled like bat guano? Robin. She obviously doesn’t process things the same way we do.

Now, on to complaints that Jason and Roy treat her like a sex object.

Starfire’s transformation into a promiscuous tabula rasa who can’t even remember the names of the men she sleeps with, and seeks out emotionless sex with both of the two male main characters while they essentially high five about it.

Read More of Laura Hudson’s analysis

I’m not sure how aggressively seeking out sex partners qualifies you as a blank slate, especially given her fairly bold statement that she is “free to do what I want when I want.” As a fanboy, I’m sure there are a lot men out there who would jump at the chance to have casual sex with Starfire, but I think also that she might take issue with them trying to fill that slate with their expectations.

Oh, and Jason and Roy giving each other high fives? That just didn’t happen. Jason spends a lot of time early in the comic bragging about having sex with her, Roy is just disappointed that she didn’t say hello. Jason is a bit of an ass. Roy makes sure that he’s not being the bad guy when Starfire propositions him.

In short, here’s my take on this comic. Starfire is an alien who doesn’t feel especially wanted here on Earth. She doesn’t remember names, and no one bothers to figure out a way to get around that. She has sex, without love. She’s drawn in a lot of ways for fan service.

I don’t have a problem with any of that.

I can see how this could be problematic from a feminist lens. The art is over the top, way overly sexual. That is a problem. I hope that it gets toned down. But the other critiques don’t sit well with me. Like I said, I read aliens from a sci-fi lens. Starfire’s actions are better than most of the aliens in the DCU from that perspective. She’s different, and thinks differently.

I hope that we see these differences expanded on. I hope that Scott Lobdell plays on them, as Roy and Jason figure out that she ain’t like Earth girls. I hope that she doesn’t become another alien who is just a human with a different skin tone. I hope that she keeps enjoying sex. I hope that people can begin to understand that sex without love does not mean sex without emotion.

Honestly, I hope Scott Lobdell reads Nate Cosby’s Tumblr, which I’ll quote here:

I lust. It is the Tamaran way.

Since coming to Earth I have been told that I “freak people out.” That I am “intense.” I do not intend to make humans uncomfortable…but there were dark times when my life was worse than any Hell you can fathom.

I lust for love, for passion, for living. I do not lust for war, but if war comes then I lust for victory. My people believe every moment of all days must be experienced to their absolute maximum potential.
I lust. And I don’t really give a damn if that freaks you out.

Category: Bigger Picture, Comics /

Call It What It Is…

Deep One / 2011/09/21 / One comment

UPDATE:When I wrote this originally, I forgot to mention a few things. I enjoy Catwoman as a character. She’s strong, willful and doesn’t take shit from anyone. She and Batman’s love story is one of the few in comics that doesn’t feel contrived. I object to how Winick tells it in this incarnation. /UPDATE

I’ve been with you so far, DC. The relaunch has done some good things, some things I don’t like, and some things I just don’t get. Today, well, it pissed me off.

This is a dirty, dirty book, and you’re going to enjoy it.

Judd Winick said that at San Diego a while back, when the relaunch was new and shiny. This caused a minor internet uproar when people rightfully pointed out that no title with a dude as the star was being billed as dirty or sexy.

So, here’s a brief synopsis followed by some analysis.

TRIGGER WARNING: EXPLOITATION, RAPE

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Catwoman’s house blows up, but she escapes while only wearing half her costume. Guillem March likes to draw bras. Seriously. They are everywhere. Mostly on Catwoman and the “sorority of prostitutes” (yes, I’m quoting the comic book) that are a big feature of the first issue. Catwoman’s bra appears on seven pages of the book, and gratuitous ass/crotch shots fill another four pages. When I say gratuitous, I’m not counting ones that are actually relevant to the story. So, half of the book is basically soft-core porn. Not that I’m against soft core porn, but it’s getting in the way here.

Anyway, back to the story. Selina needs money for a new house, so she meets her fence (a pleasantly plump woman, I must say. She had meat on her bones.) to discuss a job. Enter the Russian mob. She spies on them (witnessing the aforementioned sorority of prostitutes) and discovers that there is a painting she can steal and get money. Also, some mysterious figure from her past shows up. We get a flashback of Selina witnessing someone’s murder.

She tracks this guy to the bathroom, vamps it up to get close to him, then beats the shit out of the guy, almost as if she can’t control herself. Then escapes back to an abandoned penthouse. Where she rapes Batman.

You read that right.

Here is a transcript (emphasis mine). All dialogue is Catwoman:

Page 18
Panel 1: I don’t think he knows who I am. Although he is the master detective. So, maybe.

Panel 2: But I sure as hell don’t know who Batman is.

Panel 3: And I don’t need to know.

Page 19
Panel 1: This isn’t the first time.

Usually it’s because I want him. Tonight I think it’s because I need him.

Panel 2: Every time…he protests.

Then…gives in.

Panel 3:And he seems…angry.

Panel 4: But that doesn’t slow either of us down.

Still…it doesn’t take long…

Page 20
Panel 1: …and most of the costumes stay on.

Yes, Selina, he looks angry. He told you he didn’t want to have sex with you. But you did it anyway. That’s called rape.

The fun of this book is getting back to what Selina Kyle’s always been about.

This suggests to me that Mr. Winick thinks that Selina Kyle has always been a sexual predator. AND THAT THIS IS SOMEHOW FUN.

Some of you are now busy saying “Dude, guys can’t get raped by chicks.” You are wrong. It can and does happen. It’s happened to at least one person that I know. Some statistics, courtesy of National Center for Victims of Crime, an advocacy group:

  • About 3% of American men – a total of 2.78 million men – have experienced a rape at some point in their lifetime (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006).
  • In 2003, one in every ten rape victims was male. While there are no reliable annual surveys of sexual assaults on children, the Justice Department has estimated that one of six victims are under age 12 (National Crime Victimization Study, 2003).
  • 71% of male victims were first raped before their 18th birthday; 16.6% were 18-24 years old, and 12.3% were 25 or older (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006).
  • Males are the least likely to report a sexual assault, though it is estimated that they make up 10% of all victims (RAINN, 2006).
  • 22% of male inmates have been raped at least once during their incarceration; roughly 420,000 prisoners each year (Human Rights Watch, 2001).

Some of you are saying “Dude, he must have wanted it. Catwoman is hawt!” Except that “every time…he protests.” That’s just a fancy way of saying “Every time, he doesn’t want to.” No means no. It does not mean yes. Say it with me: NO. MEANS. NO.

Look, I have no vested interest in who Catwoman has sex with. She likes to have sex in costume, that’s fine. I object to her forcing others to have sex. I don’t care if it’s Batman or anyone else. No on deserves to have that happen to them. Rape is one of the most heinous crimes I can think of. It’s a crime of power – I have the power to do whatever I want to you.

Take a look at the few events I described in the issue. Her house blows up. She has nowhere to go. She sees someone who scares her and attacks him, putting herself at risk. She has no power. Then, Batman shows up. She has power over him. She uses it.

Some of you probably think I’m overreacting. I don’t think so. Let’s say that this scene played out with different characters. Let’s imagine for a second that it was Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Now imagine if it was Green Arrow who was explaining his actions.

Page 19
Panel 1: This isn’t the first time.

Usually it’s because I want her. Tonight I think it’s because I need her.

Panel 2: Every time…she protests.

Then…gives in.

Panel 3:And she seems…angry.

Panel 4: But that doesn’t slow either of us down.

Still…it doesn’t take long…

Read that again and tell me it isn’t at least date rape. Tell me it isn’t someone justifying their actions. If these events had happened between Ollie and Dinah, with Ollie initiating, this never would have made it past editorial. The writer might not even have a job anymore.

I don’t know if DC can fix this. I’m not sure if I trust them anymore. I hope that this is a tempest in a teapot, that Batman will clarify that he actually did want to fuck Catwoman’s brains out. (I actually hope he says “Man, Catwoman, I really wanted to fuck your brains out. That was awesome.”) I doubt it.

Rape is rape. I’m writing DC to let them know how I feel about this. Not because I’m a guy, but because I’m human. I’ll say it again, no one deserves to be raped.

Category: Bigger Picture, Comics / Tags: ,

Excelsior! It’s Contest Time

Deep One / 2011/08/21 / No comments

Hey, comic people! Stan Lee needs our help!

Well, okay, Stan probably doesn’t, but he does need writers and artists. He and MTV Geek are putting together a new comic. Called THE SEEKERS, it revolves around (of course) an alien conspiracy to blow up the Earth, and the archeologist and newswoman who are trying to stop them.


Stan and MTV want to give new folks a shot, so they put together a contest. Stan wrote a 10 page treatment, and from that, prospective artists or writers can submit, well, art or writing. MTV will then pick what they feel are the 20 best submissions from each category.

Then, the crowd-sourcing begins. The collective wisdom of the Internet™ will be harnessed through a process of voting to determine the best writing and art. Winners get to meet Stan, and are given the opportunity to make THE SEEKERS in a work-for-hire arrangement (meaning that the writer/artist gets a paycheck, but no rights). The final product will be a 110 page graphic novel.

Full contest rules and the entry form can be found here.

I am so going to enter this one. Not because it’s writing a Stan Lee character (though that is really, really cool), but IT PAYS. Up to $10,000. And I sure could use $10,000, and some professional publishing history.

I really encourage anyone who wants to be a comic writer/artist to think about this one. It’s a paying gig, and quite a bit of exposure to boot. Plus, you get to meet Stan the Man! Writers only have to do 10 pages of script and a two page treatment on where you see the story going, artists need only produce five pages of sequential art.

When the time comes, vote for me! Excelsior!

Category: Bigger Picture, Comics / Tags: , , , ,

May You Lead An Interesting Life

Deep One / 2011/07/03 / No comments

So, the other day, one of my coworkers decided that he would only respond to the name “Hopsing the Great.” At first, he wanted us to call him “His Benevolence Emperor Hopsing the Great, Ruler of the XIVth dynasty”, but that was just too fucking long to use in a commercial kitchen environment.

This was the day after I spent four hours in a public park chasing hobo kids away from my delicious pork ribs. I was smoking them (the ribs), you see, for a potluck, and the kids (who insisted that they were not hobos, but rather travelers) wanted food but didn’t want to have to work for it.

We had a discussion, as I was protecting my pork, about what being a traveler meant. Near as I can tell, it means you decided work was hard and the world owed you pork and cigarettes and free music downloads, all without having to actually do anything. It rained on us the whole time.

When the rest of the potluck showed up, I thought about how strange it was that I was sharing meat that I cooked with what amounted to a bunch of people I’d met online, and how stranger danger theory said that AT MINIMUM, at least two of these people were serial killers, and the others would probably just as soon steal my kidneys as look at me.

Several of them are coming to a barbecue at my house tomorrow.

Some people would think that dealing with pork thieving hobos and Hopsing the Great was pretty weird, but I’ve learned to take these things in stride. True, for the last chunk of time (a couple of years, give or take), I’ve been craving predictability. But that’s made me dull. Unwilling to take risks.

Now, without any sort of real plan, I’m putting together potlucks and writing an open ended zombie survival story in the format of a fucking blog (details later) and generally trying to figure out how to put some fun back into things. No, I’m not gonna go be a traveler, mostly because I know that the world owes me precisely fuck-all, but it’s time to upset the apple cart.

xkcd #308.

Fuck those people, indeed. I’m going to have an adventure.

Category: Bigger Picture, Bloggy Crap / Tags:

A Friend In Need

Deep One / 2010/12/13 / No comments

Kendra Holliday is my friend. She doesn’t know that, but it’s still true. She runs The Beautiful Kind, a website that promotes sex positivity, offers advice, funny stories and gives folks an online community. From the about page:

The Beautiful Kind

  • embraces sexuality and is not ashamed;
  • realizes that talking about sex and other sensitive topics will change society for the better;
  • believes LOVE is the most important thing in the world.

    • She’s in trouble. Her ex is suing for full custody of their daughter, and she needs cash money bucks to fight the legal battle. You can read her version of the story here. The short version is that her ex is using her sex positivity (for those not “in the know”, that means she thinks that sex is a good thing, however it is consensually done) as a weapon against her.

    SO NOT COOL.

    Kendra is doing something that takes guts, conviction and chutzpah. She’s telling the world that it’s okay to be different, to be a woman who (gasp!) enjoys sex, has kinky thoughts and in general wants other people to enjoy sex (or not having sex – there’s no shame in asexuality). She’s out there on the front lines, empowering people to do the same. She’s not hiding who she is, or, near as I can tell, trying to sell the One True Way To Good Sex™.

    I’m pretty sex positive myself, and I can only worry that someday I might be in a position like hers. I wish I had the chutzpah to go out believe as hard as she does. I’ll be sending some money her was as soon as I can.

    So, if you can, give a little to help out someone brave enough to fight for what she believes in. You can donate here, by clicking on the donate button at the bottom of the page.

    Category: Bigger Picture / Tags: , ,

    Go Buy This Now

    Deep One / 2010/10/18 / No comments

    Kinetic (aka Gaming Legend Jay Peters) over at One Year mentioned the Doctors Without Borders Bundle at DriveThruRPG this morning. It’s $700 bucks worth of product for $25, all of which goes to Doctors Without Borders to help out flood victims in Pakistan.

    Go buy it.

    Category: Bigger Picture / Tags: ,

    New Character Blues

    Deep One / 2010/10/06 / 3 comments

    So, in our Monday night game, I’ve died twice. Now, both times, it was entirely appropriate for my character to die. The first time I did something stupid, and the second I was on the front line and didn’t stand a chance. Bearded Dork talks about a survivor’s perspective on new characters, but since I’m so experienced, I though I’d share the new guy’s take on it.

    When I make a new character, I try really hard to make sure that there is a decent reason to go do whatever the rest of the party is doing. I’m motivated to adventure/go on a shadowrun/whatever with them. Sometimes that’s as easy as the new guy is looking for vengeance against whoever the party is up against. Sometimes it’s more complicated. But it all boils down to having a back story.

    Back stories, also called backgrounds, are the single most important thing a player can think about. A good background give your character a reason to do stuff, it gives the GM an idea of what drives the character, and maybe even some tidbits s/he can use to fuck with you. It lets you do some roleplaying in between sessions of killing stuff and taking their shit.

    So, both new characters I’ve introduced have had backgrounds. Neither time has the background come up. “You look trustworty! Wanna kill goblins with us?”

    Now, I’ve gone out of my way to make interesting characters. The most recently deceased, for example, was an agent (many steps removed) of a corrupt and despicable tyrant. He was Lawful Good, yet wore a holy symbol of Asmodeus, the god of devils. He wore it because his position required him to do so. Other players noticed that, but never really questioned the behavior. The guy wore an evil (arguably the most evil) god’s medallion, but no one seemed to care. Of course, Pitr died before he could explain his deal.

    Enter character #3. He has no name, can’t speak, and has shown evidence that he’s quite the historian. He wields a glaive (a weapon featured in the hands of various statues we’ve run across, held in a sinister way each time) and wanted to go where they were going. When someone asked why, he wrote “It’s complicated.”

    You’d think that would raise some questions, right? Nope. “You look trustworthy.” I was given a name by another player (“I’m gonna call you Caleb”) and off we went to kill a demon. No one wants to know how I know as much about history as the learned wizard, no one questions my use of the weapon of what appears to be an ancient ruler. Hell, after 5 minutes, they were casting enough buffing spells on me and the other new guy that we could have slaughtered them without really trying.

    Now that I’ve had an adventure with them, I doubt it’ll ever come up again. I’ll never get to use the finely crafted story of how…well, never mind. Clearly, it’s not that important.

    I’d like to use the stuff I come up with, but the problem is tough. I can’t just soliloquy the shit (even if the character could talk), because I don’t want to hog time around the table. If someone asks, sure, I’ll explain, but if not, oh well. It requires that everyone at the table give just a tiniest nod to the fact that roleplaying is, at it’s core, a form of collaborative storytelling. It’s not a movie or a book. But lately it seems a lot like that’s what people are expecting, a sort of no-thought-required entertainment that is little more than kill the thing and steal it’s shit. Motivation isn’t considered in any public way. I know that other people at the table have backgrounds, but there is no venue to share them.

    I wish I knew how to fix that.

    Category: Bigger Picture / Tags: ,

    Rant: Rules Lite vs. Rules Heavy

    Deep One / 2010/08/22 / 3 comments

    You’ve heard me talk a bit about rules lite versus rules heavy. Well, you’ve seen my posts, anyway. It occurred to me that this needed a little more talking about, um, writing about. Whatever. Anyway, if you don’t like reading about my boring fucking origin story, you might want to skip this post. It’s got some of that, and a lot of my personal opinions.

    The Bearded Dork and I were having a discussion about this the other day. (Gaming legend Jay Peters and I have also discussed it, but I don’t remember the contents of the talk that well, and I refuse to disrespect the man.) The conversation turned, as it sometimes does, to the use of imagination in RPGs.

    Origin story time — like many gamers, I wasn’t a real popular kid. I was actually okay with this, most of the other kids I knew at the time were dumb. I regret to say that I can’t remember the name of the kid who introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons, (The basic version. Some of you might remember the red box it came in. And the crappy dice that you had to use a crayon to color in the numbers.) but we had a crapload of fun playing it. Eventually, I convinced my folks to buy the coveted Red Box for me.

    And holy shit, it turned out that we were doing it wrong. I read the rules cover to cover (and even played through the little choose your own path adventure they had) and realized that our imaginations had completely overwhelmed the rules. At the time, I didn’t think this was a bad thing. Somehow, by the time I moved to Montana, that attitude had shifted.

    I’d like to blame the AD&D second edition system. I can’t, though, so I’ll blame adolescence instead. If I could bend or break the rules, so could anyone else. It would be anarchy! (And not the good kind, like you want. Or don’t want.) The more rules you had, the better the game was!

    Only, that killed my imagination at some point. Sure, I had a lot of fun playing in and with imaginary worlds, but everything eventually came down to a rules call. I couldn’t find rules for doing cool, cinematic things in combat, so I just stopped trying. I used a bit of my brain’s imagination centers when interacting with NPCs (unless I was killing them) or the world, but let’s face it — a lot of games are excuses to imaginarily kill shit.

    This is a fine style of gaming for a lot of people. I guess I’m not one of them anymore.

    Let us take a look at the games I have been playing for the last few years. Shadowrun has been out a long time, but it is really, really rules heavy. The 3rd edition system has rules for every aspect of combat, and for many (if not all) social situations. You don’t have to role play out the quest for getting more money for a job, you can just roll some dice! D&D in any version has rules for everything. If you subscribed to Dragon Magazine, it had rules for even the most outrageous situations. Pathfinder isn’t much better. It did an excellent job of streamlining many rules, but they’re still there. Hell, they just introduced a new set of sub-rules for fighting dirty.

    BASH is rules light. If it isn’t in the rules, the person running the game makes a judgement call. There is little time wasted flipping through the 8.532 x 104 rulebooks normally hauled around by dedicated gamers. Hell, the BASH book is only 132 pages. Compare that to Pathfinder’s (which did combine the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide) 576 pages.

    Let me give you an example. Imagine that our heros are in an alley, fighting a single opponent who is pretty tough. I want to do something cool and cinematic, but I’m having a hard time hitting the guy. In Pathfinder, it goes something like this:

    Me: Okay, you said we’re in an alley with some garbage strewn around. Is there any kind of garbage can?
    GM: Let me check my notes. (Some waiting happens here. I’ve literally seen this happen.) My notes don’t say there is.
    Me: Um, is there a big piece of garbage? Maybe big enough to cover a dude’s head?
    GM: Probably. Make a perception check.
    (clatter of my trusty twenty sider)
    Me: Sweet! Uh, let me check my sheet…19!
    GM: Yeah, there’s a thing in a pile that could cover someone’s head. It’s in the pile on the…(dice clattering) left side of the alley.
    Me: A thing. Okay, I will take a move action to get over there, and another to pick it up.
    GM: Okay, next up is…

    When it gets back around to me about 10 minutes later:

    Me: Okay, I take the…whatever it is, and I’m gonna move up to the guy and throw it over his head.
    GM: What?
    Me: I’m hoping to blind this guy for a minute so he stops being so hard to hit.
    GM: Are there rules for that?
    Me: (Sigh) In the Advanced Players Guide. It’s the new dirty trick combat maneuver. I can give him a condition for a little while.
    Another Player: I thought we weren’t using that book!
    Me: I though we were cool with the feats, spells and combat stuff, just not the new race and class stuff.
    GM: I think I said no new stuff yet.
    Me: Dude, we talked about this. You said we weren’t gonna use the race and class stuff.
    GM: Um…
    Me: Fine, I just hit him. (Clatter) Does AC 21 hit?
    GM: No.
    Yet Another Player: Wait, if you didn’t have your sword out, how did you even try and hit him?
    Me: Fine, I miss him with some garbage.
    GM: That’s an improvised weapon. Unless you have the catch off guard feat, you provoke an attack of opportunity.
    Me: Nope.
    GM: (Clatter) Does a 24 hit you?
    Me: Sure does.

    IGNORE THIS TEXT

    Fun! Wait, no. Time consuming and frustrating.

    Now, in BASH, it might go a little more like this:

    Me: Okay, you said we’re in an alley with some garbage strewn around. Is there any kind of garbage can?
    GM: That seems likely. Sure. (Pointing at the map) Right there.
    Me: Sweet, I grab it, move up and toss it on his head. Hopefully not being able to see will make him easier for us to deal with.
    GM: So, you want to confuse him?
    Me: Holy shit! Yeah! I’ll spend a hero die to get the confusion power! (pages turing) It usually goes off of the Mind attribute.
    GM: But you’re hitting him with it. That seems more like Agility.
    Me: That seems reasonable. (clatter of dice) 16.
    GM: That beats him. He can’t see, is confused, and it’ll take him a while to get the can off his head.
    Me: Git ‘em, guys!

    IGNORE THIS TEXT

    Now, take a few and read those both out loud, in your gaming cadence. Which one takes longer. More importantly, which one seems cooler? Both times, I’m trying to do something cool that’ll help everyone else. In Pathfinder, this takes a while, and is kind of boring. In BASH, it takes a minute, and is fun.

    Just to be clear, though, there is still some imagination in rules heavy games. I just see it a lot more in other systems. I want players, GMs, and everyone else in the hobby to get back to imagining things, instead of consulting a book. Maybe you don’t agree with me. That’s okay. Find the game that is right for your style.

    It won’t be the one I’m creating here, though.

    Category: Bigger Picture, Bloggy Crap / Tags: , , ,

    BASH

    Deep One / 2010/08/22 / No comments

    BASH is a wonderful game. I first played it at my MisCon, Montana’s Premiere Science Fiction Convention. Seriously, if you’re in Montana over Memorial Day weekend, why aren’t you at Ruby’s Reserve Street Inn? Four days of convention goodness. Plus, they have a horseshoe pit.

    Anyway, I’d promised myself that I’d play in some new games this year. I ran into a few problems with that. One, I don’t like board games. Two, some of the games I wanted to try had time conflicts with panels I wanted to attend more. Three, I’d rather have this happen then play 4th Edition D&D. It is not the game for me. Clearly, it’s fine for a lot of people, but it pisses me off.

    Then, lo and behold, I saw that (then) Ennies Judge and legendary gamer Jay Peters was running some sort of superhero game. I love superhero games. I love Mr. Peters (in a creepily platonic way). This was perfect.

    Long story short, I walked away amazed by the game, and with an autographed copy in my hands. Over the next few days, I familiarized myself with the rules while taking care of necessary bodily functions. I read and understood the rules in 10 minute chunks over three days! There wasn’t any “wait, how does that work?” moments.

    BASH is rules lite, so you can get creative without worrying that you’ll have to consult a table (and every time I’ve played the game, someone has). The powers presented run the gamut, and neither I nor Bearded Dork have been unable to create a clone of any major comic book character or villain. The powers can be used (with a little reconsidering in your own brain) as technology, magic, radiation caused mutation, or just being really, really good at something.

    It’s a point buy system, so dice rolling at character generation has NO effect on how bad-ass you are (in d20 games, I sometimes abandon characters whose stats are just too good). Leftover points convert to hero points, which help you out durning play by adding to your roll, or converting to hero dice, which allow you to do really cool things, including temporarily having a new power, not dying, or automatically succeeding.

    Having looked at it, many of the powers can be explained by mundane things, so even if the game defaults to baseline humans, you can still do an awful lot. Everyone has the same number of “hits” that they can take (unless you specifically play the really old or young character. Ties go to the hero. If two heros are doing something opposed, the tie goes to the one acting more heroically. The game’s creator, Chris Rutkowsky, routinely answers rules questions on the forums.

    It’s simple enough that when legendary gamer Jay Peters gave a copy to a couple of 10 and 11 year old kids I know, they figured it out and now play it almost every day. They then figured out that you don’t have to play superheros. So far, they’ve done heros, anthropomorphic cats (based on a book series one of them loves), Star Wars and have now gone on to superspies…in space.

    In short, it’s perfect for the game I want to run. You should go buy it right now.

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