Technohol 13: Marvel Super Heroes RPG (Classic & Saga) Material
Thursday, June 22, 2017
(posted June 9th, 2017)
Welcome to yet another monthly installment of Technohol 13: the Atomic Drink!
Contrary to how I thought things would go during this Technoholic year, I have managed to keep up with a daily update schedule thus far. I assumed that all of the time spent at work and helping to maintain a household would get in the way of this, but somehow I seem to be squeezing in just enough progress during my breaks that I can keep the ball rolling. Which is good, since there is still so much to do.
For instance, the rehabilitation of my custom rules material. Almost everything I have written for the Universal Heroes (my customized Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Game) rules, the Saga System 13 (my customized Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game) rules, the 4C System: Edition 13 (my conversion of the Universal Heroes material to the 4C System) rules, and a fourth, top secret rule system is now modernized.
The only piece of that puzzle which is lacking so far is the Powers document - or rather, all four versions of it. Since last month, I have completed sixty percent of the work required to wrap up said puzzle piece, though it would appear that I hit something of a snag. One of the powers I had always meant to fine tune, but never quite got around to, was Attenuation - and all of its various variants.
I finally managed this, but then a series of mishaps with file sync between my desktop computer, my laptop computer, and the actual web site host has caused me to repeatedly lose my work on these things. Which has put a serious damper on my forward progres, as I have spent all of this week trying to figure out what I had screwed up, what I had overwritten, and what I still need to do. So that's ongoing.
Nonetheless, I am on the verge of having everything done through the letter 'P', which isn't at all bad considering that this is almost the two thirds point. As I hadn't even started the process of cleaning up the Powers document(s) until the end of January this year, I am exceedingly happy with my progress. I thought this would take me years, after all, so even if I burn out temporarily, progress has been made!
On top of that, in order to preserve my sanity, I have also been working on the Condensation process for my GI Joe reference. I could be working on one of the eleven remaining expansions for the Book of Magic that are pending, but I think the Powers work is enough rules-y goodness for the time being. That and I can't seem to translate what's in my head into rational text for the Paraprobabilitism school. Sigh.
Anyway, I have completed my work on the 1983 Joes. Again. While I suppose I could just Condense each entry into one document for each game version of each Joe, Cobra, and device, I am also proofreading them one last time. This because I've changed how I builld character descriptions since I last touched these guys, and I still have a few of my older, more irritating textual tendencies that need a purging.
But, with the '83 Joes done, that leaves the '83 Cobras to go before that year is finished once and for all. Er, again. I already did one of the easier entries, the Cobra Viper Pilots, but when a gigantic hole in my schedule opens up here next week, I am going to try and grind out the rest of these guys. Destro in particular will be hairy, but needs doing. But after that, I can write one new Cobra description!
This fellow is Billy, the Cobra Commander's one and only son. Who eventually wound up becoming a cyborg. And a ninja. And has died in every single comic book universe that he has inhabited, I believe. I'll have to research him proper, since his story diverges wildly between the IDW and Devil's Due resumptions of the original comic book series, but I have a pretty good idea how I want to put him together, so that'll help.
So there. Now you know what I have done, and can likely infer that I'll be working on the Powers document(s) and the 1983 Cobra character descriptions over the next month. And if you couldn't, well, there you go! Assuming I finish the latter, I will start up on the 1984 GI Joes, and if I ever actually sort out the problems with Attenuation, Power Attenuation, and Psionic Attenuation, I may make more Powers progress!
Incidentally, if you haven't 'liked' us yet, why haven't you? That horrible site is pestering me to get one hundred people to give the 13 the thumbs up, and at this point I don't really have time to engage in social engineering or search engine whatsits or even word of mouth to help my schemes of global conquest. Mind you, that would require there being a forum I like, one not overrun with bigots and trolls. Sigh.
Anyhow, I bid you adieu - at least until next month!
Antisocial Media!
What's New?
I've added plenty to the 13 of late, including the SEA Legs, Cobra's Trojan Robots, the MASS Device, Cobra's Transport Helicopter, the Missile Command Headquarters, Perceptor, Roadbuster, Cosmos, Doctor Manyac, the Green Flame robots, Skids, Basil Drake, Mor the Mighty, Antons, Prince Omei, Vagabond, Uridezu (Tanar'ri), Doctor Lorrof, Onees, Gnorrkin, Megatron, Gnorr, and Rumble!
Technoholic Content
In the event that those expressive icons at the top (and bottom) of the page don't tell enough of the story for you to see what lies beyond them, here is a quick summary of just about everything on the site. I even added one or two pages that I didn't have room for in the navigation bar above (well it looks like I do, but there's more coming... oh yes.)
The New Universe: It was the world outside your window - at least, until the so-called White Event rippled across the face of the earth, leaving approximately two in every million people forever changed. With the dawn of the paranormal, the world would be forever changed - and for the worse - as various governments scrambled to master this new, uncontrollable power.
Gi Joe: a Real American Hero: Assembled from the very best members of the various armed forces, Special Counter-Terrorist Group Delta is also known by its nickname, Gi Joe. This group was created to handle all kinds of threats to democracy, but was forced to focus its efforts on Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world! Only Gi Joe stands between Cobra and its nefarious goal...!
Timely Heroes: The dawn of the heroic age, the 1940s were an era fraught with peril, both in the form of rampant fascism as well as villainous individuals of great personal power. The only thing standing in the way of their conquering the world were a loose band of stubborn, individualistic super heroes determined to protect freedom at all costs!
Transformers: hailing from a strange world and unknown and variable distance from our own, the Transformers are a race of mechanoid aliens who ceaselessly vie for control of their native Cybertron... and the universe beyond! Their misadventures described in countless variations, across television and comics and even live action film, the Transformers' battle is never-ending!
Variant Earth 13: Superficially reflecting the 'real' world, Variant Earth 13 is a nexus of sorts, a place that has an analogue of events in a multitude of other timelines. While the Powers That Be try to keep a lid on things and preserve the status quo, all manner of ascendant beings are quite active in the pursuit of their goals, and events are quickly spiraling out of control...
MSH Infinity: Built for adventures throughout a multiverse of possibility, the Planescape campaign setting featured a battle of ideas amidst incredible locations. The MSH Infinity reference will be an eventual translation of this incredible material into MSH RPG terms, allowing you to take your heroes on an adventure they won't soon forget - if they don't simply move in...!
Myths and Legends: Something of a new project I'm working on, Myths and Legends is an attempt to document, in RPG terms, a variety of obscure deities that most of you have never even heard of. Most of them will be from the land of Babylon, but others will be from additional places. Drop by and check out the divine when you've got the time!
Marvel Universe Miscellany: A place for those folks that don't quite fit into the sections above, the Marvel Universe Miscellany is a sort of repository for odds and ends that I've perpetrated over the years in statistical form, folks I don't want to build a whole reference for yet I wouldn't mind featuring on the site - since I did make them playable, after all.
Custom Rules: This is a compendium of the custom-built rules systems I have created for use by the general public. Currently, these rules are for the Universal Heroes Role Playing Game ('Classic' MSH RPG) as well as the 4C System: Edition 13 rules. I intend to eventually add Saga versions of all this material, as well as rules for one more game - but that's down the road some.
The Technohol 13 Master Roster: In the event that you are looking for a character you think I've covered in the past but don't want to leaf through the above sections to find him or her (or it), you can't do wrong to look here. This is a compendium of links to everyone I'm currently featuring on the site, in both their MSH Classic and Saga versions. It's huge but comprehensive!
Technoholic Updates: While I try to update the 'news' section above on a weekly schedule, more or less, I usually update the Updates page as soon as I've added something to the 13. Sometimes I'm working 'ahead' and sometimes I'm not, but that'll show you just what it is I'm up to at any given point in time, in the event that you're looking for the newest in Technoholic goods.
The Atomic Links: This is a collection of MSH RPG links I have assembled for you, either in a Classic or Saga flavor. The list seems to be dwindling rapidly of late, as AOL and now Geocities seems to be removing all their hosting services (or going under, as it may be). But these links nonetheless lead to additional MSH RPG material for your gaming use, so check them out when you're done here.
Technoholic Basics: This is a quick bit of information about the site itself, going a bit above and beyond what you see here on the 'main' page, and goes into my motivations for the site and so on. It's also where I've placed the Technoholic Color Changing Mechanism, in the event that you would rather pick your own color than go with the quasi-random Color Rotating Thingus I built a bit back.
Author Information: In the event that you'd like to know a little bit more about the author of this here web site (everything on technohol.com is written by me unless specifically noted otherwise), this is the link for you. Feel free to read about my sad little life and get to know me some, and if you have a burning need for even more Firebomb dirt, a link is provided therein.
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This site was born on April 9th, 1998, and last modified on June 9th, 2017.
