Kingbeast's Lair

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 8th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play. The narrator is shown in italics.]

In this hair-raising adventure of Tesla’s Power Corp you can follow the exploits of the following heroes:

Ghosts Of The Past

After getting some coffee the Corp members head to the Metropolitan Museum to see why Trubee Davison, the curator, needs their help so early on a Sunday morning. When they arrive Trubee leads them into the Chinese Wing of the museum. There the group finds a police investigation in process. According the Trubee there was a break-in at the museum. The thieves not only took a jade artifact but also killed one of the museum security guards. After speaking briefly with a police detective Trubee asks the group to investigate the scene. Miles and Mike start by examining the body of the guard. The guard has been smashed in the head and right shoulder by something about the size of a basketball. At his side was his revolver with two shots discharged. Mike finds one shot in the wall and makes a supposition that the guard could have hit his attacker with the other shot. On the hand of the victim Miles finds a freshly burned scar. The scar is a Chinese character over three lightning bolts that converge together at the bottom. Miles makes a careful sketch of the symbol in a notebook. Next the group investigates the broken display case. Tommy takes the lead using his skills as a thief. Tommy discovers that the case was broken by a large object. Inside only a jade artifact is taken. Other valuables in the case have not been disturbed. The closest rear door appears to be the sign of entry. It is smashed open at the door jam with something spherical in shape around the size of a basketball. At this point Miles, Mike, and Johnny ask Trubee about the stolen item. Trubee takes them into his office and gives the trio a folder with details on the artifact. The details include a picture and a brief history. The item is piece of a jade pendent roughly 6″ across and 1″ thick. The piece shows part of a claw and scaled tail. Trubee explains that the artifact is from the first reign of the first emperor. Legend has it that the amulet is a dragon’s heart ripped from an evil dragon on orders of the Emperor. Of course Trubee believe this to be “poppycock”. Miles goes back to the case and detects the presence of an ancient magic. While the trio are inside Tommy looks for a street person who may have seen something. After some searching he finds a homeless man on the front porch of the museum. With a bribe of a hot dog and some coffee Tommy get the man to relax and open up. The man explains that he saw three men break in through the back door late last night. One man was really huge and was carrying a large stick. He was wearing a “sheet” and had a large tattoo of a lion on his shoulder. The other two men where smaller and were wearing “pajamas”. As Miles is not an expert on Chinese symbolism the group decides to head over to a friend of Mike’s to get some advice.

Mike’s friend from the army, PFC Eddie Chang, owns a Chinese restaurant known as The Golden Bowl. After knocking on the back door Eddie emerges. To the surprise of the Corp he tells them that trouble follows Mike like a shadow and wants them to leave. After some convincing Eddie ushers them into the empty dining room and takes a seat. The group shows him the symbol from the notebook. Eddie says the symbol is that of an ancient Chinese figure called Lo-Peng. Lo-Peng is a sort of Chinese bogeyman that is used to scare kids into being good. The symbol means literally, “He who lives forever.” He does not know what the lightning bolts mean except that they are referred to as “Lo-Peng’s talons”. As he hands back the picture it floats out of his hand then erupts in green flame and smoke. In the smoke the group can vaguely see two green eyes! As soon as the eyes dissipate, ghostly Chinese warriors emerge from the floor and start attacking! Eddie and Johnny jump for cover while the rest of the group goes into combat. Quickly the group finds that the ghostly warriors are nearly immune to normal weapons and are only barely affected by Mile’s deadly spells! As Tommy tries to move Eddie to safety he yells to Mike that the Spirit Warriors are only affected by bamboo. With that advice Johnny grabs a bamboo display and throws sticks to Mike and Miles. Tommy starts throwing chopsticks at the Spirit Warriors to deadly effect. Mike starts using two sticks in a pounding flurry! Once they are all dispelled Miles reaches out with his mystical senses. He discovers that the Spirit Warriors were summoned and quickly looks out the front door. On the street he spots a Chinese man in a black trench coat moving quickly away from The Golden Bowl. He alerts the group and races off in pursuit. Johnny quickly gains the lead and chases the man over an alley fence where he sees him enter a martial arts dojo.

HEE-YA!

Inside the dojo the man running from the restaurant appears to be reporting to a huge bald man and a group of martial art practitioners. The bald man is wearing a toga like tunic, is carrying a huge club with a large metal ball on the end, and is sporting a tattoo of a lion! He must be the killer! With that Tommy enters the dojo and asks the men to surrender. The large man says something in Chinese then they all move in to attack. Tommy jumps up onto a shelf over the office, Johnny lets loose with a pellet fire blast, Miles cuts loose with lightning bolts, and Mike rushes in with brass knuckles! The large man takes some swings but luckily does not catch Mike squarely. Realizing that the large man is his better he pulls his pistols and opens fire. The big man known as Ti-Lung takes the shots but is a bit taken aback. He then casts a spell that raises stone armor around his torso and laughs deeply! Mike continues to fire but it is not having much effect now! While up close Mike notices a scroll case on Ti-Lung’s waist. He yells to Tommy to grab it. Johnny lights the building on fire but goes down when several martial artists group up on him. In the back of the room Tommy spots some fireworks. He jumps down, grabs the scroll, then tells Miles to shoot the boxes. When a lighting bolt hits the boxes of fireworks they go up in a huge explosion of flame and light! Martial artists and Ti-Lung fitfully try to dive-for-cover! The members of Tesla’s Power Core grab Johnny and beat a hasty retreat.

Behind The Buddha

The scrolls from Ti-Lung says the following:
I have located two of three parts to an ancient artifact known as the Jade Heart. With it I will be able to return to my former glory. One piece is located in the New York Metropolitan Museum. Another piece of the Jade Heart rests near the Buddha Of Bamyan. Shen-Lung will be attempting to obtain that piece. It is imperative that you, my powerful Earth Talon, recover the fragment in New York. Once you have the item I will contact you for its delivery.

With that the group decides to head to the Buddha Of Bamyan which are near Kabul in Afghanistan. After a flight to the area Miles rents a jeep and hire a guide. The group then proceeds to the Buddha. Along the way they enter a small village that is holding a kite flying contest. The say hello then carry on to the site.

At the site they find three stone Buddha which are roughly 30 feet in height. After doing some magical detecting Miles says to look behind the head of the center Buddha. With that Tommy climbs up to take a look. Behind the head he finds a small tunnel. At the end of a short shaft the young thief spies a wondrous room full of wooden planks suspended on chains. At the far side of the room is a golden chest…

The remaining talons of Lo-Peng lead the way for the deadly immoral emperor to restore his lost power. Can the heroic members of Tesla’s Power Corp stop him?!? Stay tuned and find out!!!

-== What is it? ==-

Bulletproof Blues is a rules light superhero RPG from Kalos Comics. It was penned primarily by Brandon Blackmoor. Doug Sims, Greg Stolze, and Sean Weir are given contributor status on the product. It appears that the product was initially released in 2010 but then updated again in a second edition dated April 2013.

I am reading the second edition version of Bulletproof Blues in PDF format. The PDF has a color cover and a colored interior. Even though the interior is colored there is not a lot of artwork and essentially no layout. The layout is black text on white pages. The book is 7” x 10” and is 253 pages in length. I believe this is a standard comic book size. I have not played the game I have only read the book from cover-to-cover. I was given a complimentary copy of Bulletproof Blues for this review.

-== What I Like ==-

After briefly describing the setting Bulletproof Blues starts in on the mechanics. One of the early topics is a Plot Point mechanic that is similar to that found in other games. It reminded me a lot of Bennies in Savage Worlds. I like these type of RPG currencies in game settings.

One interesting aspect of the game is that the power levels do not scale evenly. There is a table that shows how scaling is done at various power levels, or Ranks, as the game calls them. The table runs from Rank 1 to Rank 14. For example, at Rank 4 I lift 900 pounds, at Rank 5 I lift 2 tons, at Rank 6 I lift 7 tons, etc. It feels like it would work well during a session.

Greg Stolze penned a section called Basics. This section runs for 11 pages and discusses newbie RPG topics like “What’s Gaming?” and “The Logic Of The Setting”. The tone of this material is very light and conversational. It is a nice set of material but it does feel a big long to me.

The Creation section is next. The section starts with some fluff but it quickly puts a focus on issues that drive the PC instead of the stats. The writing in this section is well done. I like the way the Origin section covers some of the world background in the text. The Archetypes, Motivations, and Complications sections are full of super-y goodness. 🙂 I like the way Complications are used to get the player more Plot Points during a session. In some ways this reminds me of Truth & Justice.

PC in Bulletproof Blues are constructed using a point buy system. There are some recommended power levels given to help in this area. The sample characters are great examples when trying to determine how the various power levels would be combined to create the character.

Skills are presented in a straightforward and clean fashion. An individual Skill is defined as a “group”, or broad topic, where the player can define an Expertise. The Expertise concept is elegant. It really impacts the way skills work in the superhero genre. I like it. 😀 Advantages are covered next. These are akin to Hero System Talents. Small little add on elements that are not really covered by Skills or Powers.

As might be expected one of the meatier sections in Bulletproof Blues is on Powers. Like the Hero System they utilize the concept of a Special Effect. You buy Blast then decide on whether it is a fire blast, lightning bolt, or laser gun. Powers have Activations, an associated Task roll, a Target, a Range, and a Cost. After the Power is purchased Enhancements can be added. These work like Hero System Adders. After the great list of Powers there is a discussion on Power Enhancements and Power Defects. Power Enhancements raise the cost of a power for some gain in effect. Power Defects reduce the effectiveness of Powers at a reduction in cost. These are akin to Hero System Advantages and Limitations except they are simple point additions or subtractions. This is followed by a discussion on how New Powers could be created. I wanted to see more examples in this section.

The next section in Bulletproof Blues is called Actions. This section encompasses all of the combat and environmental rules. Combat is divided into simple 6 second Combat Rounds. In each Combat Round a character may perform a Move Action, a Task Action (e.g. attack), and a Roleplay Action (e.g. soliloquy). A section on Rolling Dice comes next. If a task is unopposed then there is a target number. If the task is opposed it is 8 plus the defenders stat plus a circumstances modifier. Pretty standard stuff but it works. Bulletproof Blues also includes a system for avoiding rolls if the character has time and/or the result of a failure is not bad. In either one is true then the character can Take 7, or take a 7 on the die roll. If BOTH are true then the user can take a 12 on their roll. If the character has Expertise and gets 3 or higher then get an Extreme Success. This has varied beneficial effects depending on the skill. A subsection called Combat is next. Bulletproof Blues uses a standard initiative system. Characters act in order of the highest Perception, then Agility, then Willpower. Environmental effect always go last. Simple and it seems like it would work. I like it. 🙂 There are various combat moves and details on coordinating attacks, distractions, etc. Some of these are a bit complicated but most are simple and easily to enact. The Plot Point section is next. These are the fate mechanic/currency. Players get 1 at the start of a session and get them when complications come into play. 2 to 3 would be used in a single 4 hours session. These can be spent in a variety of ways. These include autosuccesses, inspiration, power boosts, etc. The last section covers Environmental Effects. I felt this section covered each entry in a bit too much details. There was also a section on pathogens and poisons that seemed like it could be entirely removed.

The World section comes next. As you might imagine it covers various aspect of the setting including aliens, corporations, government agencies, magic, laws, etc.

Bulletproof Blues continues with a section called GM Advice. This section was again done by Greg Stolze. It covers plot, hooks, rising action, climax, rules resolution, etc. Everything you would expect in this type of section. 🙂 I liked the GM’s Advanced Duties section the best. It seemed out of place to me (see below for details) and bit too long.

The last section in called Characters. There are a set of sample PC and villains. The example characters cover the various types found in superhero comics (i.e. brick, armor guy, etc). I liked this section as examples are a great way to clarify the intended power levels and point totals.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

My biggest gripe with Bulletproof Blues is what I am going to chalk up as severe editing issues. Between sections written by various authors there is a distinct change in tone and feel. For example, after talking about the Core Mechanics there is a large section on gaming Basics that is written by Greg Stolze. Even though this material is light and fun to read it uses a light tone that is not found in other sections of the product. The order of the sections also seems like it could be adjusted. There is a section on Core Mechanics, then a Glossary, then a section on Basics in gaming, then a section on Character Creation, then later on the World, followed by GM Advice, then sample Characters from the world. Huh? Why not put stuff together when it makes sense.

There are some tables that are shown in a landscape fashion. For example, early on in the Skills section there is a chart showing chances of completing various tasks based on their difficulty. The tables go up the side of a portrait page in a landscape fashion. It makes the content in this area difficult to read and throws several PDF readers that I like to use. I would have preferred a separate page for these tables in portrait format.

The World section really felt neglected to me. The reason is the artwork. The company putting this out is called Kalos Comics. I felt that a comic company should have access to awesome artwork and this would be the section where I would expect it.

-== Summary ==-

Even though this is the second edition of Bulletproof Blues I came away thinking that they really need a third edition. Getting a professional editor and layout person involved could really make this product shine. If you are looking for a cheap rules light RPG designed in a very standard non-story game fashion Bulletproof Blues is one that should get your attention and dollars.

I give it 7 out of 10 paws.

You can get Bulletproof Blues for $4.95 at DriveThruRPG at this URL. You can get a print-on-demand version AND PDF at the same URL for $14.96. A BARGAIN! 😀

-== What is it? ==-

The Trail Of Cthulhu Resource Book (RB) & Keeper’s Screen (KS) is an accessory for Trail Of Cthuhu (TOC). The screen and resource book were primarily written by Simon Carryer with additional information from Adrian Bolt, Lee Valentine, and Kenneth Hite. The RB was published by Pelgrane Press in 2008.

The KS is three panels at 8.5″ x 11″ in portrait format. The three outside panels are in color. The three interior panels are in black and white. The KS is made out of a light card stock.

The RB has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 8.5” x 11” and is 68 pages in length. I am reviewing a print copy that I bought. I have used the RB and KS when I ran a TOC campaign.

-== What I Like ==-

The KS screen has very nice artwork o the exterior panels. In shows a picture of a group of intrepid explorers outside of a creepy looking sphere in a mountainous terrain that could be somewhere in Tibet. It fits perfectly with the main TOC book.

There is a good selection of tables in the KS. When running my campaign I found that most of the data I needed was on these charts.

The RB starts with a detailed look at all of the Investigative Abilities, General Abilities, and Occupations. The text has a lot of depth, includes examples of how Spends might be resolved, shows a LOT of research, and has GREAT box text. In fact this materials is so good that it almost feels like content that was edited out of the main TOC rulebook. Fantastic stuff.

Next is a section with NPCs that the Keeper can use during play. I love the layout of this section. Each NPC is given a quote, a summary, a sample stat block, some quirks, and hooks that include how the situation can be escalated. This layout for NPCs should be used by Pelgrane in other products.

The last section of the RB is a recap of the Sanity rules. There is a lot of great detail here in a very compact space. This section is very well written and should be cut into future version of the main TOC rulebook if possible.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

The card stock of the KS is not that thick. It bends quite easily. I would have liked to see it be a bit thicker.

I prefer to have GM screens in landscape format. I think it provides less of a barrier between me and my players. A neat option would be to have landscape versions available in the PDF version of the product.

The package also includes a link to a web site with period pictures that can be used during the campaign. I thought this was a really neat idea but there could be more pictures available.

-== Summary ==-

The The Trail Of Cthulhu Resource Book (RB) & Keeper’s Screen (KS) is a detailed product that really aids the GM in running a TOC campaign. I thought the material was well presented and evocative. This is simply a product that I think every TOC GM needs to own. Go buy it already! 🙂

I give it 9 out of 10 paws.

You can get a copy at Amazon for $17.02 at this URL. Noble Knight has copies at this URL for $18.95. Finally you can get a PDF copy at DriveThruRPG for $8.50 at this URL.