From Supers Back To Swords

So we're shifting gears a bit.

Our group has finished the Golden Age part of our Icons Supers campaign (You can read abou the dazzling exploits here).  The next time we dive into Icons we'll be exploring the Silver Age, you know, intelligent apes, commies, alien invasions and cosmic encounters.

Right now, everyone is anxious to get back to the characters they love and our Swords and Wizardry campaign.  So the adventures around The Ruined Tower of Zenopus will be continuing in the next couple of weeks. I have no idea what's gonna happen.

However, tonight we delve into D&D Next.  Corey (who ran a number of the Icons adventures) will be running the Caves of Chaos play-test.  I took a quick peek at the rules this morning and at first glance I have to say it doesn't look too bad.  We'll see how it plays out and I'll have a full report on my impressions of the game soon after.

Vanguard 13: The Characters

We've played three sessions of Icons so far, our fourth scheduled for Monday.  Something that I feel was done perfectly in the game was the random character generation.  Sounds weird in a heroes game but as with classic D&D, the character is what you make of it not what you make your character to be.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with either approach, it's just that random character gen can give the players and the sessions some really unique situations.

With Icons there is plenty of room to 'flesh' the character out after the random rolls but I feel this process pushes your creativity in coming up with interesting characters that you might not think of coming up with or even playing.  Again, you need a good group of players to 'roll' with this concept and if you've read any of this blog, you'll know we have a pretty good gaming group.

So I'd like you to meet the Vanguard 13 circa 1942!

Automaton: The Mechanical Marvel

Lord Genovasis:  The father of Meta-humans

The Sponge:  A janitor

The Scarlet Hood:  The scourge of the underworld

Prophylactica:  The woman wonder of rubber!

King Cobra

Icons Session Issue 1: Vanguard 13

As promised, the session rundown from our first Icons game.

After a brief introduction that went something like this:

1942!

On a brisk spring afternoon in downtown Shore City, the grim populous goes about their business with the ever presence of the war in Europe weighting heavy upon their minds!

In a lecture hall on Tuska Avenue we find Professor Millicent Barnes giving a lecture on her theories of artificial intelligence along with the mechanical marvel of wires, vacuum tubes and pneumatics Automaton!

Professor Barnes: “As you can see, this marvel of wires and vacuum tubes walks on his own, thinks for himself and reasons! Much more 'evolved' that the cold and calculating Mr. Roboto!”

In Stan's Red Cup Cafe, a small coffee shop down the street, we find Nate Brown sipping at a cup of joe and reading the Shore City Chronicle!

Waitress: "Would you like me to warm that up for ya?”

While at not far away at the WEGG Radio studios we find that ace reporter Penelope Kirt interviewing Lord Genovasis, formerly professor Dickersham, the father of Meta-humans!

Penelope Kirt: “Don't you think it's the obligation of meta-humans to support the war effort?”

We got into it with three giant robots attacking the Old Mercantile Exchange on Tuska Avenue (see The Shore City Chronicle for complete details of these metal monsters!).

No sooner had two of the three robots burst into the building in a blaze of gunfire when another metallic being walked out of the Hogarth Lecture Hall across the street and engaged the villainous robot.

The metal being known as Automaton saved a number of citizens from the gunfire of the devious machine before it was taken down by what appeared to be a janitor named Nate Brown, aka the Sponge!

It was then that the infamous Lord Genovasis appeared on the scene.

While preaching his usual rhetoric of meta-human supremacy, he was attacked from behind by the two remaining machines leaving the Mercantile Exchange.

The battle lasted mere moments but the two machines were destroyed and the three mystery men were victorious.

However, the battered and fearful citizens turned their rage upon Automaton and began to attack him but were soon dissuaded by the twenty foot presence of Lord Genovasis.

Before more chaos erupted a convoy of military trucks appeared. After a brief discussion with Col. Buckler and the the three mysterious 'heroes' who were joined by Professor Millicent Barnes, they boarded a military truck and drove off.

The disabled machines were placed onto trucks and hauled away.

Col. Buckler and the trio of heroes arrived at Lord Genovasis' lab. There Buckler revealed that President Roosevelt had started a secret project called Operation: Vanguard. In it, groups of super-heroes would be gathered together to help with the war effort. Roosevelt wanted Lord Genovasis, The Sponge, and Automaton to be the thirteenth Vanguard group to work for the Government. Thus Vanguard 13 was born.

For their first mission, they were to discover where these robots were coming from and put a stop to it.

Automaton had earlier examined one of the defeated robots and found what appeared to be a type of homing device. With that they were able to determine that the robots were being called from a rural area 200 miles south of Shore City.

Hopping on a transport plane, they headed for the area and parachuted down.

They discovered an abandoned farm. Exploring the silo they found it to be just a cover for some kind of metallic wall. Wanting to keep they element of surprise, they entered the barn. Exploring the barn they found that there were grooves in the floor. Automaton found some wires and tried to hot wire the mechanism to open the trap door but was only somewhat successful. Moments later, though, the floor opened up. Nate Brown , aka, the Sponge, leaped away in time to save himself from falling in, Automaton grabbed hold of the edge while Lord G. fell through the opening. He quickly grew to his 20' height to cushion his fall. He helped the other two down into the darkness.

Once down, a mysterious voice crackled over a loudspeaker: “Typical witless Americans. You are no match for Der Fuher's war machines and no match for me, Baron Zero! Now face your end!” And with that, six panels opened on either side of the heroes and out charged Nazi Guard-bots firing machine-guns. The Heroes made quick work of these machines but they were soon joined by a speeding blur assaulting the heroes, Blitzkrieg, and her armored brother Panzerfaust!

The Sponge absorbed Blitzkrieg's speed abilities and soon she was unconsciousness. Her brother Panzerfaust shouted her name and ran to her aid firing his chest blaster at the group. Sponge, taking a gun from Lord G. and using his new found speed to fire round after round at the armored foe, eventually striking him in his only weak spot, his face!

The the two Villains defeated, they heard a rumbling sound as the mysterious Baron Zero took off in a Nazi rocket hidden in the silo.

Thus ended the first adventure of Vanguard 13!

ICONS Character Sheets

I just can't stop myself from making character sheets for the games I play. Perhaps it's a curse, dunno. So here are my ICONS character sheets modeled after my Mystery Men! Character sheets I put together a while back. The ICONS sheets have all been gathered together into one PDF file, 5 different sheets (one blank space to draw your own image from scratch for those so inclined).

Download ICONS Character Sheets

Enjoy!