New Salem: Renaissance Mechanics - Morale

Yesterday we took a look at how Alignment and Charisma worked in Villains & Vigilantes 2.1 Rules As Written (RAW) and the answer was "very differently from my experience of Game As Played". Even by the time I started playing it in 1983 the idea of Charisma being predominantly the social stat where the bonus applied to most interactions in an ad hoc way was well entrenched, as opposed to how the game was actually designed. 

The next step in these interaction rules were the rules for Morale, which I am posting here for clarity.

Friday Book Recommendations (Feb 2)

This Week's Reads

E-Man: the Early Years by Joe Staton and Nick Cuti: Yes, I read these in reverse order, doing the 1980's series first. That really made the things I said in my original Goodreads review stand out: "Nice, clean cheesy fun. OK, this is very second string publisher 1972 stuff and doesn't hold a candle to First Comics' 24 issue run in the 80's but there's no denying the goofy charm of the character. He is so straightforward in his presentation, so cleanly done and so good-hearted that he's instantly iconic. The introduction's description of him as being CC Beck's Captain Marvel mixed with Jack Cole's Plastic Man are spot on. I keep missing this sort of fun in the modern comics market, and am happy to have more of it on my own shelves"

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: This was just wonderful. The idea of the children returning from Portal Fantasies is not a new one for contemporary fiction, but McGuire's loving presentation of them being not just metaphors but examples growing up non-cis-het is delightful. I will admit a bias here as my own daughter is an Ace Romantic like the protagonist, so she and I both loved that representation. 

The Trouble with Girls by Tim Hamilton, William Jones, and Gerard Butler: I have a strong sense that this is a "you had to be there" book given exactly how much of this is a way over the top send up of the Regan-Era, 1980's iteration of the Men's Own Adventure Stories genre. Parts of it hold up very well on their own, but for the rest if you don't know that the creators are actively mocking the story cliches being presented - and have a lived in reference to the time/place in question -  then this is going to fall very flat. Its the problem with this sort of mockery: any distance from the zeitgeist and the send up just looks like a far edge example of exactly what you're poking fun at, and the whole soap bubble collapses because when you're making over the top references to offensive things to mock them, you're still putting them on the page. If this sort of attack via mockery on the Reagan 80's works for you, this is a recommended, otherwise you should probably steer clear. 

New Salem: Renaissance Mechanics - Alignment & Charisma, Reactions & Loyalty

Anyone familiar with the history of RPGs and their mechanics are familiar with the dual oddities of Alignment and Charisma. 

The former exists as an outgrowth of wargames (which side of the battle are you aligned with) that was codified into game fantasy based in significant part on Pohl Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions where Law (organization, works of the forge and the mason, Christianity and other things chivalric) was the bulwark against chaos (capricious and dark magic from the faerie realms that destroyed humanity's bodies, minds, and souls), to the 3x3 grid of law and chaos, good and evil that indicated not just which side you fight for, but how you lived and thought... in D&D anyway. Most other games long since gave it up as this weird restrictive thing. 

The latter grew out of there needing to be a basic attribute that governed Henchmen/Hirelings - how many could you have, how loyal were they - because hiring NPC companions was a big part of early D&D resource management. Extrapolation said that if you were strong or weak at that you could also influence the randomly determined first contact interaction with creatures in the dungeon: a good roll means you're not fighting those goblins, you're breaking bread and trading maps with them. As RPGs moved from Old School emergent play into Story Game narrative play, both of those uses faded away and Charisma became just how charming you were, and your odds of fast talking the goblins. 

So here we are in 1982 Villains & Vigilantes, which has decidedly old school uses for both. 

Weekly Cooking Report February 1: Lemon Possets

My wife recommended this one as something dead simple and incredibly delicious, so order a pizza or make some pasta with a canned sauce for the main meal and then amaze your family when you whip these out for dessert. 

The recipe for this one comes from Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen so I can't link you to their article due to paywalls and stuff. That being said, I have gotten lots and lots of great stuff from CI over the last 13 years. 

When I say dirt simple I'm not kidding. One Pint (that's two cups, or one of the smaller cardboard containers) of heavy cream, 2/3rds cup of granulated sugar, and 2-3 lemons based on their size. That's it. 

First up, zest the lemons to get a tablespoon of lemon zest...it'll take 2 small lemons or one big one, more like than not. Then squeeze the lemons to get 6 tablespoons of juice. for me that was 2.5 small lemons. Amounts may vary. Set the lemon juice aside, you don't need it yet. 

Pour the heavy cream into a medium saucepan, then add the sugar and the lemon zest. Set the heat to medium and bring it to a boil. THIS CAN TAKE A WHILE. The heavy cream was in the fridge at 35F a few minutes ago, and you don't want to risk scalding it. Stir it every few minutes to help the sugar dissolve. Once it come to a boil, let it boil for 10 minutes. If it starts to boil over briefly remove it from heat. 

After a 10 minute boil, take it off heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let it sit for 20 minutes. then pour it through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl (or, ideally a glass 2 cup measuring cup with a bit of a lip). This gets all the zest out of it now that you've extracted its lemony goodness. You should have about 2 cups, give or take of liquid. 

Split the mixture into however many servings you want. The recipe says 6, but if you want 4 bigger servings I'm not there to stop you. Refrigerate uncovered for 3 hours and serve to a grateful family. 

(Or wrap with plastic wrap and they keep for 2 days. If you want to be extra fancy add some raspberries or blueberries to the top when you serve, but it ain't hardly necessary.) 

New Salem: Renaissance - System Mission Statement

For now, at least, I'm moving this project to some daily discussion of game mechanics. While it will be obvious that I'm leaning heavily on Villains & Vigilantes for these designs it's likely going to end up being a complete game on its own. I strongly recommend that you pick up the Monkey House Games V&V 2.1 for your own enjoyment; there are reasons why I recommend that one. 

As an aside, there's this lovely note on the back of my copy of the Hobbit: "This paperback edition, and no other, has been published with my consent and cooperation. Those who approve of courtesy (at least) to living authors will purchase it, and no others." Fascinating historical note there. 

Anyway lets take a look at how we want to structure this game. We'll start with an Introduction, which is essentially our mission statement: 

New Salem: Renaissance is a super-hero role playing game designed to emulate the feel of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year 1, which was in turn emulating early super-hero and crime comics. In doing so it is aiming for a play style similar to the NSR, in which the action is player-driven, consequential, and emergent. There is no "story line" and no plot that the PCs look for to thwart the villains. The villains have already one. You're bringing the plot to them. 

The city of New Salem is woefully corrupt both amongst its wealthy classes and in the existence of the Syndicate, a powerful organization tying together the city's various criminal enterprises. With the legal and law enforcement systems too compromised to protect its citizens, the player characters must act as costumed vigilantes to investigate, fight, destabilize and hopefully dismantle the Syndicate, while also reducing corruption amongst the citizenry by acting as points of light proving it is possible to fight and reform a corrupted system. 

It is there job to bring a Renaissance to New Salem. It is not guaranteed. And it will not be easy. 

I think that gets the basic point across. 

Tomorrow we're going to tackle Alignment and Charisma, what it meant then and how we intend to use it now.