MRD Campaign Play Report Summaries (12-16)

Play Reports are never popular posts but I'm going to keep trying. In session 15 in particular I think we had a really cool encounter, the kind of thing that could make for a good module. Each collection of PRs I've put together in a post has had at least one really cool encounter so I'm pretty happy about that. I also think the preceding sessions get into the kind of social intrigue and domain play that I really enjoy.

In 15 and 16 below I include the GM notes for two scenarios that I was really happy with. They're not quite in pro-Module shape, but I think they have future Module potential if I spruced them up and removed stuff that was specific to the context around the current campaign, so if nothing else please read those!

MRD Play Report Index

PR 1: Doctor Loves-Me-Not's Halloween Party

PR 2-5: They Did a Mario Kart

PR 6-11: The Hostile Takeover of Anti-Sphinx

Anyone Can Wear the Mask with Jeff Stormer (MRD-adjacent)

MRD Module / GM Notes

The Court of Those Who Succumb Prematurely to Crippling Expectations (A significantly rewritten and expanded version of this will be the module in the book)

Doctor Loves-Me-Not's Halloween Party (GM Notes)

Off to the (Karmamare) Racetracks

The PCs

We have the same three players that we've had throughout the vast majority of the campaign at this point:

Alco (SlimyKeyboard): A student in a trade school for plumbing. While working the pipes for the Poltergeist Investigators (the original team), she inadvertently activated her Poltergeist Form, Ghost in the Mirror, and has since joined the team.

Jack (Eight): A "wetworker", a Recurser with the Poltergeist Form, On a Full Moon an Ichor Heart. Works for the Nature Spirit drug dealer Chester, and has joined this team of Poltergeist Investigators on Chester's behalf.

Adore "Dori" Greyfeldt (Fiona Maeve Geist): An enforcer, also working with the team on Chester's behalf. She fled Denver after being sold out by her partner in crime and has been hiding out in New York City. Her Poltergeist Form is Crashing Rocket Nixie.

PR 12: Corporate Restructuring and the Short-Sell

The Team has their first meeting with the higher-ups of Anti-Sphinx, the criminal organization they just couped. The organization can be roughly broken up into The Underground Casino, Security, PsyOps, "Personnel" (Mafia), and QlippothNet / MLOps. They learn that the organization is now critically understaffed, losing its street reputation, struggling to maintain QlippothNet and the Hell-Money cryptocurrency the valuation of which is wildly fluctuating, bleeding funds, and has at least one leak but has possibly been infiltrated by both the Deseret Avengers and The Doppler Potential.

There is an entire spreadsheet set up for all of the major NPCs in Anti-Sphinx, their relationships to each other and the PCs, the status of the different departments, the various threats and leads for the organization, etc.; it's sort of a whole thing that doesn't translate well to PR but would probably work well in a wiki...

They assign Soft Mother to Personnel as part of a "false flag" operation to try to root out the leaks. 

Through diplomatic conflict they work out a deal with Beatriz Suzano, the head of the Suzano crime family, to bolster their staffing and reputation.

They also have a heart-to-heart with Barsabbas the Arch-Devil of The Court of Those Who Bet on the Wrong Horse. After making peace with him, he admits that he was short-selling QlippothNet Hell-Money, betting on their failure and making it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but he agreed to orchestrate a short-squeeze on himself to neutralize the problem before it escalated.

PR 13: The Trial of the Pipes

This was a very goofy session (and also a backdoor way for me to basically run The Module under a totally different context). Alco the plumber-in-training must take The Trial of the Pipes in order to get her plumbing license. This involved dissembling an anthropomorphic set of sewer pipes, defeating the rogue poltergeist Train Golem which Jack drags into Dori's Positron Pack, and eventually traversing The Court of Those Who Succumb Prematurely to Crippling Expectations, an NYC Metro-themed Court, in order to find The Metro Thing.

Meanwhile, Dori receives a call from Emil McGinley, the Recurser Glass Maiden Pixie, who betrayed her in Denver during a heist, sending her on the run to New York in the first place.

Much of this and the next section are just them exploring The Court of Those Who Succumb Prematurely to Crippling Expectations (the revamped version that will be in the book, not the version linked above). I don't include all of the particulars here, but they saw a decent chunk of it.

PR 14: Excuse-Me-Sir!

The Team continues their investigation of the Metro Thing, an urban elemental nature spirit like a sewer crocodile, who was once a tame pet of The Buddha, but after centuries of neglect from The Monkey King, has become monstrous. They develop a budding relationship with the Metro Thing after taking a bit of a beating and Alco passes the test.

Along the way, they're assaulted by a Poltergeist that hacks their Karma with "Excuse-Me-Sir!" malware, like a door-to-door salesman, who invades their minds and implants in both Dori and Jack each a Karmic Attachment of someone else, which they will later have to somehow find and resolve.

Within The Court, they find Rat Jack, of The Council of Jacks and The Polterzeitgeist, and also a drug dealer of Dharmafinil, and work out a deal with them to increase their revenue stream and intel.

Rat Jack shows them a secret backdoor entrance into Pyrite Tower, where Emil McGinley is staying, owned by a notorious NY Real Estate Warlord and frequented by a Russian businessman referred to as The Oligarch.

Emil has taken over the gang in Denver that they were robbing. It turns out the gang is actually a cult known as the Niguma Gang, which had once been a genuine Tibetan Buddhist sect but which had been coerced by a charismatic white supremacist (who is conspicuously not a Deseret Avenger, but part of something else...) before Emil took over from him.

Emil believes that reality is a simulation, and asks Dori's forgiveness and for her help to "break the world", but she refuses and attempts to kill him, and conflict ensues, including the Orange Goblin private security forces. After much destruction in the lobby of Pyrite Tower, we find ourselves at a standoff...

PR 15: Goblins!

The building is surrounded by SWAT and emergency services, as Pyrite Tower itself begins to implode/topple in on itself. The Team came here on a mission to rob the NY Real Estate Warlord, and so they ascend the building even as it collapses beneath them. They encounter various a series of experimental, grotesque, cybernetic / bio-engineered Orange Goblins and other things. The goblin variants were inspired by my old Goblins post, but in most cases, I combined entries or changed the context since they're a paramilitary group and not actual fantasy goblins.

Here are the tables I used for generating the point crawl (?). Basically, there are six "floors" (obviously more, but six that we play out), so I rolled randomly for a layout, a bad thing, and a good thing, skipping duplicates:

Layout of this floor:

1. Open floor plan with a mini kitchen / hangout area in the center, and four corner offices.

2. Narrow corridors of various sized rooms like labs, filming rooms, supply closets, etc.

3. Semi-translucent glass windowed conference rooms.

4. Cubicle farm. The walls of the cubicles obscure the fact that the cubicles are not neat rows, but more of a maze-like configuration.

5. This floor was under reconstruction before the explosion; full of holes in the floor and wall, dangerous equipment lying around, exposed wires.

6. Commercial floor of restaurants, shops, a cafeteria, seating areas, viewing areas, game room, bar/cafe, etc.

Bad Stuff

1. Moon Marine is rescuing people. Will offer to help the Team out, will be suspicious if they turn her down, or if she sees them doing Recurser stuff.

2. An experimental cyborg created by the Orange Goblin company, part of Project Blackcap: Binata sa Punso (think robocop).

3. The Team sees an exit off to the distance, but as they move towards it, it gets further away, leading them towards a group of Orange Goblins while another group flanks them. The floor is unstable but the Mirage Goblins are ok with dying to complete the job.

4. A chattering noise floods the floor, causing panic, disabling WIS abilities / Saves, and dealing Wd4. The Panic Goblins are little machines hiding in the walls.

5. A monstrous cyborg arm punctures the window, swiping at the Team and grabs one PC randomly. The Genocide Goblin (think... I dunno, Attack on Titan?) climbing up the side of the building spans the length of ~2.5 floors.

6. The entire floor is being converted into a Ru Goblin, a fleshy mash reconfiguring itself into the structure. The assembly of the Ru Goblin is the only thing keeping the floor sustained, but it is actively undermining the Team.

Good stuff:

1. Norman Rockatansky will at first feign impotence but will pull some superspy moves if desperate.

2. One of Nazli Kaplan’s other hustles is a pharmaceutical internship. She is on this floor and needs help escaping. She is also an amateur boxer.

3. Through IoT and Comms, Black Sheep Shepherd reaches out to the party to help.

4. KAO: An intern will offer you a Tote Bag of Holding if you help them escape. The intern secretly has a gun in the Tote Bag, which they may use if put under pressure, but they have no gun training and are likely to hit a PC, themselves, or something important by accident (WIS 5 for the gun Save).

5. KAO: A small child on “visit your parent’s work day” offers the Team his Magic Macro-Man Action Figure to save him. His parents are somewhere on the next floor. Being a child, they will require careful supervision.

6. KAO: The famous TV chef, “Momma Tastemaker”, will offer you a DS Nightcrawler if you rescue her and help her find her lucky spatula. Momma Tastemaker is competent and resourceful, but definitely out of her element. Also, she is livestreaming the events (WIS Save for Team to notice). The team will have to do PRO Conflict (5 HP) or in some other way convince her not to livestream, or barring that, they will take Pd6 if they refuse to help her because she’s livestreaming, or fail to rescue her and/or the spatula while live.

In addition to these things, they encounter Emil and some regular Orange Goblins halfway up in a sort of mini-boss battle that I apparently didn't write down but it's basically the abilities from the linked Glass Maiden Pixie Poltergeist Form.

As part of this crawl, they wind up on Momma Tastemaker's live stream, with Jack putting on a makeshift mask and Dori giving a fake name, inadvertently being labeled as vigilante superheroes, and they begrudgingly work with Moon Marine to rescue civilians (as they aim for the top to steal the NY Real Estate Warlord's Treasure).

PR 16: Treasure Trove of Cave Monster Hoarding Pyrite

At the top, they reach the NY Rear Estate Warlord's multi-level penthouse. He has been consumed by his Karma, transforming into the Ashura Cave Monster Hoarding Pyrite. CMHP is basically invulnerable so long as he has his treasure. The scenario is below:

• The NY Real Estate Warlord has become an Ashura: Cave Monster Hoarding Pyrite*.

• Destroying or displacing the “treasure” littering the penthouse will deal Pd6.

• If its venom breath gets on its treasure or on itself, also deals Pd6.

• The Cave Monster is lazy, stupid, and easily distractable.

• If the Team evades the Cave Monster, some Toadies** might timidly attack them.

• The penthouse is two floors connected via a spiral staircase, and various lowered and elevated sections of the penthouse give it the feel of separate mini-rooms.

• Bedroom with a 60s-style rotating love bed and a conspicuous pole.

• Surrounded by a water curtain of an acrid yellow liquid (Nd4).

• On the bed is a briefcase filled with a large quantity of single dollar bills.

• Piano Bar with robot server and robot pianist.

• Spicy (bartender; chameleon with camouflage) and Punchinello (pianist; stout giggly horned toad with big fists).

• The bar contains several extremely valuable bottles of liquor, but is mostly overpriced junk booze.

• Gallery

• The curator is The Worcestershire with a pencil-drawn pencil moustache.

• Full of “priceless” art (all fake).

• Office

• Hanging just behind the desk is an “authentic” Samurai Bustah Sword with the Ninpo Stones Poison, Magic Counter.

• An expensive, massive, Susie Suburb “Dreamhouse” comes to life as a robot contraption to eat The Team if they try to steal the sword.

• Trophy Cabinet

• Ancient goddess figurine originally stolen by the Dutch East India Company.

• The Team can steal it to damage the Cave Monster, but if the Team destroys the figurine or it gets destroyed by Toadies or the Cave Monster inadvertently, they take Pd6 (I decided to make this a Karmic Attachment instead).

• Living room

• Framed, signed photo with an A-List celebrity who was recently “cancelled” for having done something absolutely heinous.

• Norman Rockatansky is already attempting to steal it.

• Old-Timey looking but actually state of the art vault containing the Fool’s Gold.

The reward is Fool’s Gold; it’s valueless except to the extent that people believe it to be valuable.

*

20 HP

Immune to normal Damage

Poison Dart Frog Salamander Dragon

Exotic Colors

Touching it causes psychological torture Wd8

Venom breath AoE Pd6 (marks you with a pheromone which makes you instinctively socially / politically / etc. toxic)

**

Like mini versions of CMHP except squat and blobby.

3 HP Each

Wd6 to touch

Wd4 Venom spit (short-range, one target)

Will mostly troll and harass the Team, avoid direct conflict or run away.

They manage to steal or destroy most or all of the treasure, defeat CMHP, and get the pyrite from the vault, at which point they all had resolved enough Karmic Attachments and lowered their Karma to 1, so they all escaped safely via their Reincarnation Rituals, gaining new abilities. Also, they took Spicy with them, so he's part of their crew now.

There's been one more session since I drafted this post, but that is the beginning of the next "arc" so to speak, so I'll save it for next time (also this post is already long...)

Superhero Funnel Design Update 2

This is my second post outlining my idea for the Funnel Jam. First post here. I have fallen way behind on this, but fortunately, the deadline has been extended.

I'll put the full text (of what I currently have) below, but tl;dr compared to the first version, I now have a completely different resolution mechanic based on dice pools and how to spend a limited number of successes across tasks, and I've also stripped-down the superheroes themselves pretty significantly.

Premise

The Superhero Funnel is inspired by the My Hero Academia Entrance Exam. The players each control some number of prospective superheroes who must go through a series of trials (Issues) to be accepted into the superhero school. Players will variously play their superheroes altogether as teams, play each superhero individually, or split their superheroes across teams with the other players. The goal is for superheroes to “survive” Issue by Issue and earn a sufficient number of Hero Points.

Ability Scores

Abilities are more about an approach or style than physicality or other specific abilities. Sure, there are certain things one superhero may be able to do that another simply cannot, given the differences in their powers, but it is generally assumed that, even as students, all of these prospective superheroes are capable of completing challenges, and they are being challenged not just on their raw power, but on their individual aptitudes and character.

Roll 1d6 for each Ability

SHOWmanship: Power displays, catchphrases, signature taunts, or moves.

TEAMwork: Inspiration, self-sacrifice, prosocial behaviors, public safety.

WILLpower: Endurance, resistances, overcoming limitations, facing fears.

TECHnique: Infiltration, ingenuity, trained skills.

EXAMination: Investigation, surveillance, planning.

Hero Points

The starting Hero Points (HP) are 10 for all superheroes. HP are awarded throughout the tournament such as for completing Issues. If a superhero falls to 0 or negative HP, they are eliminated from the Entrance Exam even if they are not defeated or outright fail an Issue.

Issues

The Entrance Exam consists of a series of trials such as obstacle course races, hostage rescue, facing supervillains, and investigations. One could think of each trial as an Issue of a comic book. Some Issues are team-oriented, while others are solo or free-for-all. Superheroes are awarded HP for completing Issues and may gain bonus HP by completing certain sub-tasks or be penalized HP for failing to meet certain conditions.

Action Strip

Issues and other superhero challenges consist of Action Strips, where single actions are Panels on the Strip. For a given Action Strip, roll as many d6’s as the decided Ability Score and an additional 2d6. Rolling 4 or higher on a die counts as a success. Each Panel costs a certain number of successes in order to be completed.

At the start of an Action Strip, the GM will lay out the Panels on the Page; explaining what each Panel entails and the base cost in successes for each Panel. Additionally, players may be able to suggest Panels of their own and the GM will determine the cost. These costs may fluctuate Page by Page, and additionally, the GM may spring Surprise Panels on superheroes as a result of their actions.

A Page consists of the Panels for all superheroes on a given side of a conflict (if there are multiple sides), and all Panels resolve in parallel. Meanwhile, available Panels, Surprise Panels, and costs are re-evaluated on the next Page.

By spending half the cost (rounding up), a superhero can create a Danger Panel. They roll 2d6, and on a full success (both dice >= 4) it is as if they paid full price, but on a partial success (only one die >= 4), they may suffer consequences such as increased costs of Panels on the next Page, fewer available Panels, fail the Panel but without increasing costs or losing Panels or succeed but evoke a Surprise Panel. On a full failure (both dice <= 4), consequences are even graver, such as failing the task and increasing costs, losing Panels, or evoking a Surprise Panel.

Example

For this Issue, a group of bank robbers have taken hostages, planted a bomb, and are preparing to make their escape with the money. This Issue is a Three-Panel Action Strip where each Panel on the first Page costs 1 success, and the Issue is worth up to 5 HP. Bloodhound has 5 TECH but knows that she’s being tested specifically for her ability to keep the hostages safe and inspire confidence and that she will receive +3 HP if she can complete the Issue using TEAM, so she chooses to use her 3 TEAM instead.

She rolls 5d6 (3 TEAM + 2 default) and gets 4, 6, 1, 2, and 5, meaning she gets 3 successes. While this is technically enough to succeed on all Panels, she suspects that if she rescues the hostages or defuses the bomb, Meanwhile the robbers will have more time to make their escape, increasing the cost of that Panel on the next Page. She also suspects the reverse to be true- if she goes after the Robbers, Meanwhile the bomb will keep ticking and hostages will have less time to escape, increasing the cost of those Panels on the next Page. When the player asks, the GM confirms this is so, but would have kept it a secret if the player hadn’t asked, because they prefer the style of play that encourages player ingenuity, as was discussed in their session 0. She also suspects that if she does not rescue the hostages on the first page, then she will not receive the bonus HP (this is also confirmed by the GM).

Given these circumstances, she chooses the hostage rescue as her Panel for the first Page. She spends 1 success and, using her proportional strength and speed of a bloodhound, is able to pull the hostages out of harm's way, beat back her foes, and do it all with an inspiring smile.

Meanwhile, the bomb keeps ticking, and the robbers begin to make their escape. She’s close enough to the bomb that the cost for this Panel has not changed, so she chooses this as her Panel on the second page. However, instead of defusing it, she wants to detach it and toss it in the path of the robbers, blocking their escape. While normally these would be two Panels with a total cost of 3 successes (the cost of stopping the robbers had increased after the previous Panel), the GM allows this maneuver because it’s clever. However, Surprise Panel! A “supervillain” (actually one of the teachers, of course), intercedes the bomb, and without any more successes to spend, the robbers are able to make their escape.

Having succeeded at 2 of the 3 Panels, the administrators decide to award Bloodhound 3 of 5 HP. However, since she used TEAM and prioritized rescuing the hostages, she received the bonus HP for a total of 6. Having lost 3 HP after landing on a trap in the obstacle course of the previous Issue, this brings her up to 13 HP, still at the lower end of the superheroes who passed the first two Issues, but not so far behind that she can’t catch up.

Superheroes

1. Bloodhound: Has the proportional strength, speed, and senses of a bloodhound.
2. Gray Goo: Nanomachines convert non-living matter into other things (must understand the properties of the creation), and create virtual reality spaces.
3. Vector: Unstoppable while moving in a straight line, vulnerable while pivoting.
4. Pinball: Superspeed and proportional superstrength, but must account for inertia and other laws of velocity and acceleration.
5. Snake: Floating orbs spontaneously appear around them. As they eat the orbs, they grow longer. Their sharp scales are dangerous even to themself.
6. 2D: Two-dimensional. Can flatten against surfaces, slip through crevices, and fold like origami.
7. Scanner Darkly: Superspy skills and gadgets, appearance and voice scrambling mask, separated brain hemispheres for multitasking, and deep-cover identity dissociation.
8. Mushroom: Eating mushrooms makes them grow giant-sized or shrink to the size of a mouse.
9. Flash Fry: Project hot grease and resistance to grease fires.
10. Cinnamon: Emanate novas of burning-hot capsaicin.
11. Mint: Emanate novas of ice-cold menthol.
12. Alkahest: Project a universal solvent fluid.
13. Kintsugi: Injuries make them stronger with scars of gold.
14. Librarian: Paper Elementalist.
15. Technomancer: Override software in devices and control them as an extension of themselves.
16. Herbalist: While holding a plant, gain superpowers relating to its properties.
17. Landfill: Telekinetic control of trash and waste.
18. Schrodinger: While unseen, can be anywhere and nowhere in the vicinity.
19. Laservision: Sees a laser-grid overlay for perfect accuracy and precision.
20. Aye-Aye Aye: Has a long bony finger, like an aye-aye, with advanced supersenses.
21. Memetos: A living idea that can infect the collective unconsciousness over time, or more rapidly the consciousnesses of individuals in the vicinity.
22. Constructor: Rapidly construct cartoonish but functional devices and structures from minimal resources that break down shortly after use.
23. Cleric: Summon rays of cleansing, healing, but also searing light.
24. Parkour: Superhuman agility, dexterity, flexibility, reflexes, etc.
25. Icarus: Waxy wings that melt away, dripping with the heat of Greek Fire.
26. POP: Compel any non-living object to spontaneously combust. The force of the explosion and predictability of the detonation time is proportional to the size of an object.
27. Chopper: Human attack helicopter cyborg.
28. Flurry: Throw rapid and near-infinite consecutive strikes.
29. Wavecrash: “Teleportation” via the internet and strike from the other side with the force of a vehicle speeding down the information superhighway.
30. Babylon: Scramble or silence sounds, including language, and can emit sonic force beams.
31. Triplets: Able to coordinate in perfect harmony; far greater than the sum of their parts.
32. Warhead: Fortified with an organic metal shell. They can explode without harming themself, but lose their metal shell for the remainder of the Issue.
33. Kafka: Proportional strengths and abilities of various arthropods, although their greatest power (and weakness) is their utterly horrifying appearance.
34. Combo Ace: Store three pre-programmed athletic or combat feats like video game controller macros, infinite use unless replaced (30min programming time).

Tunnels & Trolls / Mark of the Odd Hack

I haven't posted any TNT stuff in a long time but I had a random Mark of the Odd (Into the Odd / Electric Bastionland) alternate combat system idea that takes inspiration from Tunnels & Trolls and Maze Rats. I had always wanted to do something similar to this for D&D, but actually, I think it would be a lot more straightforward for MotO.

Just the combat mechanic alone could be like a MotO Hack for TNT-style combat, but I had intended at some point to make a TNT Hack that was going to be basically my attempt at an NSR-ification of TNT (New School Revolution), but actually, I feel like replacing the core combat mechanics of MotO with those of TNT gets me like 80% of the way to what I would have wanted out of such a hack anyway, so it kind of works as both.

Index of Prior TNT Posts

Martians (Part 1 and Part 2, never finished Part 3...)

TNT Character Subtypes (Part 1 and Part 2)

Hacks (House Rules, Mechs & Monstrosities Core Hack, M&M Mechs, Dueling Minigame) 

Character Types (Mystic, Huntsman, War Dogs, Warlord)

Also, I deleted my Reddit a while back and would prefer not to create a new one, but a few of my TNT posts on the tunnels and trolls subreddit have been pretty popular, one of them even got pinned onto the subreddit I think, so I would very much appreciate it if somebody could share this post there for me! As I said, I think it could be framed just as much as an NSR-ification of TNT as a MotO Hack with TNT-style combat.

Base Combat Mechanic

During combat, characters (PCs and enemies) can take non-attack actions on their turn, and then once all characters have taken their actions, there is a group opposed roll for combat. In Tunnels & Trolls, this group opposed roll is the default assumption, but you could also choose to break it up into individual opposed rolls between just two characters.

The order of operations may vary; like you could say certain kinds of actions resolve before or after the opposed roll- it's not the kind of thing I get too hung up on, but somebody could codify this.

All characters roll their damage dice, and then you add up the totals for each side, take the difference, and the losing side takes the difference in damage spread between the characters evenly or in whatever other way would be sensible.

Rolling the highest value on a die deals spite damage, meaning even if you lose the opposed roll, you deal the damage anyway. In TNT there are dice pools of only d6s, and you only deal 1 damage for each 6 on a d6. Because more dice are being rolled, it makes sense to only give 1 spite damage per die, but in MotO I think it makes more sense to just have it deal the full damage since you only have one die, or maybe two in some special cases, but not dice pools.

TNT has a rule that I think is really interesting, where ranged weapons have fewer dice, but can bypass the opposed roll. I would translate that here as ranged weapons or small weapons like daggers have d4 or lower as default die size instead of d6. This way, they have a higher probability of dealing spite damage (1 in 4 or 25% as opposed to 1 in 6 or ~16.67%), which is a more streamlined way to implement something like the ability to bypass opposed rolls by leveraging a feature of MotO that is unique compared to TNT; that you can have variable damage die sizes, and that the size of the die is inversely proportional to the likelihood of dealing spite damage. This likelihood difference is still a lot less than the default for ranged weapons in TNT, but also, the difference in the amount of damage dealt is also going to be much smaller in most cases, so I think it balances out (but that remains to be seen with playtesting...).

Armor still exists in this hack, where MotO armor is damage reduction just as in TNT, so it doesn't add to your side of the opposed roll, it only decreases the amount of damage you would take if your side loses the opposed roll. I also think you could add the shield rule from Maze Rats into this, where the shield can be destroyed to negate all damage; this would be somewhat similar to one of the abilities the warrior class has in TNT.

Why do this (if you're coming from a MotO perspective)?

• If you like MotO but want to try out a different kind of combat system.
• It makes combat a little less deadly and more dynamic (maybe, this is untested...).
• It adds an interesting tactical layer for smaller / weaker weapons or ranged weapons that I think is both interesting, and kind of appropriate for this style of game, without making it significantly crunchier.
• It seems like a pretty easy conversion, easier than trying to convert D&D combat to opposed rolls, so why not try it out?

Why do this (if you're coming from a TNT perspective)?

• Mark of the Odd is a really nice, streamlined system that evokes many of the core values of old-school D&D and TNT, but with some more modern sensibilities.
• If you dislike the dice pools of TNT.
• If you want to try something new but familiar.

Full NSR/TNT Hack?

To make a full hack, I'd need to think about how to convert TNT WIZ (basically spellcasting points) for MotO, and also how to deal with progression and class balance given that there is no obvious equivalent to dice pools or combat adds in this system as-is. I'd need to decide if those are core elements that need to be converted, or come up with some different but equivalent way to treat the ability scores and how they relate to the classes, spellcasting, advancement, etc.

I think by the end, I would wind up with a system that is conceptually, mechanically, and legally distinct from MotO or TNT, while still evocative of them, in much the same way that MotO itself is meant to evoke the underlying values of old-school D&D, while effectively being an entirely new and unrelated system.

Retrospective: Elves

I've done a retrospective on my first blog post, Mythic Beings, and on my first game, Pixels & Platforms, where I discuss how bad I was and how much better I've gotten at writing and game designing, respectively. Now I'll do a retrospective on my first "Traditional" Fantasy Weird & Wonderful Table, Elves. I begrudgingly included a hyperlink, but it's pretty bad, don't waste your time. I mean, some of them are solid ideas, but some of them are... really not. This was before I really nailed down the concept, that the "Traditional" Fantasy Tables should subvert expectations in interesting ways, rather than just being random variants (like WoTC so often does...).

Rather than going entry by entry and critiquing it, in this post, I create an entirely new batch. These are I think a little less Weird and more focused on being subversions of typical expectations of Elves. Personally, I prefer the weird, but I imagine this principle will be more appealing to most people. This is closer to what I tried to do with the Elves of Aquarian Dawn, but I think the elves below are generally better.

Since that original table, I've improved in several ways, which will hopefully be reflected in these entries, such as deemphasizing superficial elements and placing greater emphasis on elements that lend themselves to being used in-game.

While sharing a few of these on the NSR Discord Server and The OSR Pit, an observation was made that some of these are seemingly at odds with each other. I hadn't necessarily intended all of these to be part of the same setting. The non-specified elves referred to in the Dark Elves entry, for instance, probably shouldn't be the High Elves of the entry above, but could maybe refer to the Dryads. Where non-specified elves are referenced in an entry, I generally mean traditional fantasy elves.

Also, thanks to Semiurge for a few good suggestions!

I had wanted to write ten but got stuck on nine and now I'm out of the moment so I'm just gonna let it be what it is so it doesn't wind up in draft limbo forever.

High Elves (Uruk)

A brutal empire dominated by a Lich God-King. The centuries-old warrior caste, Uruk, wear into battle enchanted skins such as those of giant bats, lizard-men, wild boars, and dire wolves, making of themselves as monsters. When not warring to expand their territory, they raid villages at the outskirts, but strangely, seem mostly interested in collecting an iridescent but otherwise useless and valueless rock. However, recent reports from spies who have witnessed them at rest, depict the Uruk as gorgeous underneath their skins, as prioritizing beauty and aestheticism, valuing romanticism, consuming psychedelic mushrooms, and engaging in social grooming and other acts of camaraderie and companionship. The human kingdoms must now grapple with the knowledge that the "monsters" they used to gruesomely murder at every opportunity, are in fact more so like themselves than not.

Dark Elves

They are to elves as deep ones are to humans; an intelligent species from the deep oceans with the mysterious ability to hybridize with their land-dwelling others. Whereas deep ones often have fish-like appearances, the dark elves are more like cephalopods. Unlike humans and deep ones, the relationship between elves and dark elves is one of communication and collaboration. This often creates tension between the elven and human kingdoms, as the human kingdoms and deep ones are in a perpetual cold war, and they see the dark elves as a potential information leak to their enemies.

Changelings

These predators appear nearly indistinguishable from elves, although they are more closely related to birds. They prey on elves, especially babies, replacing them with their own young to be unwittingly raised by the elves. They are boogeymen and the stuff of urban legends; so well adapted to their craft that most elves don't even believe them to be real.

Dryads

Nomads with an advanced sensory-immune system. They have a symbiotic relationship with a mycelium network that thrives in their guts and spores off of them invisibly to the naked eye, giving them a means of communication amongst each other and nature that is indescribable to other creatures. For this reason, they are also hyper-aware of the effects of pollution and environmental destruction.

Wild Hunt

These elves long ago ascended to the realm of the gods, exploring the celestial heavens in massive golden chariots. They value logic and are often perceived as cold and detached, yet are generally compassionate and generous when one considers their reasoning. Their name is a misnomer passed down in legends, as they only return to the mortal realm when a great threat looms, and so their arrival has become associated with that of demonic incursions and other calamities.

Lamia

Magical, shapeshifting, playful creatures that developed alongside elves, not unlike dogs to humans. They come in many genders, such as many-tailed fox, big-testicled tanuki, serpent, coyote, dolphin, spider, and peacock, although most are gender-fluid. They enjoy tricks and pranks, usually harmless and good-natured. A common prank is to take the form of an elf and develop a romantic relationship with a human (the elves see past their tricks), and so in some human lore, they are considered monsters or demons.

Lemurians

Their society is the nearest to that of the ancient and advanced Lemuria, the greatest kingdom at the height of the Age of Elves. Although a pale reflection of their past, they still hold ancient knowledge and powerful magical artifacts. While the longevity of elves usually preserves their society, the Lemurian Diaspora, little more than a century ago, has distorted history and knowledge that was already slowly slipping like sand in an hourglass. Lemurian immigrants are being exploited for their knowledge and artifacts, exoticized and tokenized by nobles, and scapegoated to direct the frustrations of the serfs.

Tengu

Veterans of an ancient war, and master warriors. Most of their kind have since passed on, and those who remain prefer to live in peace and contemplation as mountain hermits. They have little patience for those who invade their privacy and are prone to violence. However, to those who are virtuous and talented, they will teach their rare martial techniques, with feigned reluctance.

Cherubim

Uncanny neotenous elves, child-like in both appearance and behavior, although with a level of social and emotional intelligence far beyond that of humans. Their society is immeasurably wealthy, advanced, and idyllic. Although pacifist, when threatened, and where no peaceful effort succeeds, eldritch creatures come from the aether to protect them. The nature of this relationship is not well understood by others. They will trade with others, usually to the benefit of the partner and more for their own entertainment than out of any need of their own, but will not support those who engage in war or colonial expansion.

My Hero Academia-Inspired Superhero Funnel Proof of Concept

As I'm wrapping up Maximum Recursion Depth, I've been considering what I want to do next, or if I want to take a break before working on my next big project. I've got a lot of thoughts on follow-up issues of MRD, but then I learned about this Funnel Jam on itch.io, and I'd been sitting on this Superhero Funnel idea for a while, so I thought I'd try this as a palate cleanser. I don't know if I'll actually finish it on time, or if it will receive any kind of layout or just be a google doc of a glorified blog post, but I'm excited about the idea nonetheless. One of the MRD followups I've considered is superhero-related, and that's all I'll say on that for the moment, but this might inspire or replace that to some degree or another, we'll see.

The Funnel is inspired by My Hero Academia, a brilliant superhero shonen anime where the characters are students at a superhero school. The opening arc involves a competition where only the top X participants, or participants who exceed a certain score, I forget off-hand, but only a limited number of applicants get into the school, so in effect, it's a Funnel. So that's what I'm going for here; less so deadly DCC Dungeon, more so My Hero Academia competition.

Below is the basic outline for what I'm thinking, and I would absolutely appreciate feedback, but I might change things pretty significantly by the time I actually put it together. I have never designed, run, or even played in a Funnel, so I imagine there are a lot of concerns I'm not fully anticipating.

It will be a while before it's ready, but I would also like to playtest it if anyone is interested!

Funnel Jam

Basic premise and mechanics

The game is designed specifically for the module/funnel in mind, although I think it could work for a longer form MHA-style campaign with the addition of advancement mechanics.

Because it's a funnel, it would be hard for players to create and roleplay multiple interesting characters with interesting personalities, without any guarantee of who will make it and who won't, so I wanted a set of pre-made characters ready to go, but with some randomization both to increase the number of possibilities via combinatorics and also to give the players some sense of ownership over the characters.

There will be a list of pre-made superheroes with superhero names, costumes, and powers, but with high randomization so that no two games have an identical batch of superheroes. For instance, the superheroes table is separate from the alter ego table (imagine if Bakugo and Midoriya were flipped!). Also, each superhero will itself have some degree of randomization as well, like different signature moves or variants on their powers. My hope is that way you could even have two heroes with nearly the same powers in the same game and it would still be interesting; you'd just need to give them a different name and costume but otherwise, they could have "the same" powers.

• Inspired by My Hero Academia UA Entrance Exam.
• Very rules-light, FKR-ish.
• Hero Point system on top of "survival".
• Ability scores aren't physical but based on the scoring categories of the competition.
• Diegetic.
• Challenges or trials can be solved in many ways, but bonus Hero Points in some cases for solving in one way over another creates interesting circumstances.
• Random Tables:
• Superheroes (name, costume, power).
• Weaknesses/shortcomings.
• Signature moves.
• Variants.
• Alter egos (using my character formula).
• Multiple trials with different conditions.

I have not decided on a resolution mechanic yet, but it'll probably be ability score generation with 3d6 and roll-under ability with d20. Could also be roll-under with 3d6.

Ability Scores

The ability scores are abstracted, as are the Hero Points (as opposed to Hit Points), which all tie into the ideals of superheroes but also sportsmanship and celebrity, the kinds of themes that MHA explores. In this way, the various conditions of the trials of the tournament and how the superheroes engage with them are diegetic and create interesting tactical or strategic choices. Like, maybe you could solve a trial with either SHOW or TEAM, but for this particular trial, bonus Hero Points will be rewarded if you use TEAM, so you may be incentivized to use TEAM even if you have much higher SHOW.

It also allows for characters with very different powers to all interact in a relatively "balanced" way. There's definitely an FKR component where I think sometimes you just have to say, there is no feasible way this character could / could not succeed at this specific action given their powers or those of the opposition, and I think that's ok, but this framing of abilities should hopefully lend itself to interesting encounters regardless of team composition.

• SHOWmanship: Power displays, catchphrases, signature taunts.
• TEAMwork: Help others, self-sacrifice, wholesomeness, public safety.
• WILLpower: Resistances e.g. elements, suppression, manipulation, and overcoming limitations.
• TECHnique: Using items or abilities in complex or atypical ways, technology (excluding tech relating to powers / personal gadgets), infiltration.
• EXAMination: Notice subtleties, investigation, deduction and prediction, intel gathering.
• Hero Points: Hit Points, stress, tournament score.

Trials

The meat of the module will be in the trials themselves. The trial structure lends itself well to one-shots and funnels where you maybe want things a bit more game-y and focused. Ideally, I want these to have some degree of randomization, but I also think there's an opportunity to pre-design them in very interesting ways, so I'll need to find the balance.

Trials can involve things like obstacle courses, defeating enemies, sports or games like king of the hill or capture the flag, rescue trials, morale trials, and so on.

Where things get complicated is in managing the Funnel. How many teams should there be? How many PCs should each player have per team? How do you manage free-for-all vs. team reorganization? I had originally thought that PCs should be punished for leaving their team or switching teams, which I still think is true to some extent, but logistically, to manage all the characters, there needs to be a way for players to move their characters around for the sake of game flow, so I added some conditions under which PCs can swap teams freely. But I think this is the part I'm most worried about.

• Free-for-all: Reach the goal, bypass opposition. After all other PCs have passed or failed, the last PC gets a single action to finish, or else they auto-fail.
• If they pass, they get bonus points.
• Teams: The PCs are broken into teams to pass a team-oriented trial. Ideally, each player should only have one superhero per team, with team sizes of 3-4 (or whatever works best). GMPCs or players with multiple superheroes per team can be used if necessary.
• Subsequent trials don't require superheroes to stay with their team, but they lose points for leaving their team and even more points for betraying a teammate.
• Superheroes should be able to amicably switch teams without losing points, or under certain conditions like between trials. I like the idea of the team/solo tradeoff and "punishing" superheroes for being selfish, but if players have superheroes who get disqualified asymmetrically, I want there to be ways for teams to regroup to help with game flow, without punishing them.
• Solo superheroes or partial teams can make new teams so long as the max team size is not exceeded.
• Trials are more difficult for solo or partial teams, but more points, so being strategically selfish is sometimes viable, creating tension and drama.
• Various challenges
• Defeat villain
• Reach a goal
• Rescue civilians
• De-escalation
• Morale
• Medical assistance
• Protect object or environment / minimize collateral damage
• Sports / Game-y like capture the flag or king of the hill

Despite this outline, I think some more thought will need to go into the overall design of the module and how the trials fit into that before I can delve deeper into particulars.

Heroes

Here are a few Heroes as proof of concept, although I may change this up significantly for the actual game. I want them to have distinct appearances and personalities, even if the players aren't doing much roleplaying per se (it seems like it would be difficult to get into character with a Funnel), they'll at least have some idea of how the character would behave.

Also, I want the powers to be interesting. I've created plenty of superpowers already, but I think these will be a little simpler and more focused.

For weaknesses, variants, and signature moves, roll 1d4 for one each. The "Signature Move" doesn't have to be taken too literally, they're more so just to inform how to think about and potentially use their powers. So potentially a hero could do something similar to one of the other Signature Moves, but more limited in scope or a less impactful effect.

Likewise, some of the powers may have weaknesses implicitly or explicitly, but the randomly rolled weakness is either especially vulnerable or to emphasize the point.

Superhero

Bloodhound

Costume: Form-fitting black and tan or amber suit, mask with floppy ears that pick up scents and assist in scent analysis.

Powers: Low-level superstrength, durability, speed, agility, and super-smell. They can reconstruct entire scenes from smell, including precise spatial and temporal resolution, pheromones, and minute chemical particles.

Weaknesses: 

1. Poor vision.
2. Ears sensitive to touch and also loud or high-frequency noises.
3. Singularly focused when following a scent.
4. Sensitive stomach.

Variants:

1. Powers are entirely technological, with the ears doing all of the scent analysis.
2. Anthropomorphic bloodhound.
3. Foxhound; smaller but faster and more agile.
4. Uplifted bloodhound.

Signature Moves:

1. Blood-bound: If they draw blood, they can perfectly track their target until the wound no longer bleeds.
2. Scent Analysis: By touching their ears to the ground or a surface, they can reconstruct a scene, including the order of events, and to some extent thoughts or sentiments (from pheromones), from the scent alone.
3. Bloodlust: They become significantly more powerful, but enter a near-uncontrollable rage, after drawing blood from one of their targets.
4. Power Pack: Their super senses and animal instincts make them excellent team players and benefitting their whole team on tracking-related tasks.

Scanner Darkly

Costume: Suit and tie, mask that obscures their face and shifts facial features, and modulates their voice, so that they are entirely unrecognizable.

Powers: They can infiltrate a group without anyone realizing it. They take on the features and personality of whoever they need to be to best fit into the group they infiltrate. Like dream logic; obvious after the fact that they don't belong, but makes sense at the moment. They also have a secret benefactor such as a corporation or government, who gave them various combat and espionage training and superspy gadgets.

Weaknesses:

1. The longer they stay in deep cover, the more likely they are to lose sight of their original purpose.
2. Brain hemispheres operate independently, leading to infrequent hallucinations or delusions.
3. Substance abuse problems relating to controlling their powers.
4. Burned by their organization; they have limited resources and many enemies.

Variants:

1. Powers are entirely drug-based.
2. They are actually a distributed intelligence funneled* into a human shell; underneath the mask is an empty void. Even their "true" self is an illusion.
3. Powers are entirely technological.
4. No secret benefactor, this is itself a delusion; training and gadgets come from acquired through mysterious means.

*pun intended

Signature Moves:

1. D: Even if spotted, if there is a crowd, they can seamlessly blend into the crowd under (D)eep cover.
2. Multi-Task Maneuver: Their split brain hemispheres allow for superhuman multitasking, and they are uniquely trained for fighting while outnumbered and using their opposition's numbers against themselves.
3. Panopticon: Carries holographic scanners, an array of micromachines tossed like dust that can coordinate within a space to reflect light signals between each other, functioning as a comprehensive surveillance system across a large space.
4. Blue Flower: Attached to the suit lapel, causes mild hallucinations and delusions to those in the vicinity when pressed, and the effects compound over the number of exposures in a short time and proximity to the flower.

Gray Goo

Costume: Iridescent silvery-gray particles that lick against their body like flames.

Powers: Convert matter within a 6x6 space around them into nanomachines, which can be converted into anything so long as they understand its composition, or integrated within a nanomachine virtual reality which they must consciously maintain. Living things may be converted only into the virtual reality, only as themselves, and are ejected as themselves if the virtual reality is shut down such as due to lack of concentration.

Personally, I find this power to be really interesting and I've explored this idea on my blog before, but I worry that most people won't understand the intrinsic relationship between nanomachines and virtual reality or how the distinction between real and virtual becomes somewhat arbitrary when nanomachines are involved, and it would probably be too bulky to try to explain it. Yay or nay on this?

Weaknesses:

1. The nanomachine virtual reality has subtly incorrect details like objects being differently colored, or lower resolution like being static to wind or light.
2. Converting too many objects in a short time span makes them lightheaded.
3. One experiences a distinct myoclonic jerk like falling asleep when scanned into the nanomachine virtual reality.
4. There is a 1 in 6 chance that a converted object is dysfunctional, and this will not be apparent until it is used.

Variants:

1. They are actually gray goo and their human form is that of or inspired by a human loved one.
2. The gray goo is an artificial intelligence with its own personality, loyal to the superhero but with cat-like independence.
3. The gray goo is an alien or extradimensional organism that has developed a symbiotic relationship with the superhero.
4. They are a gray goo blob and for some reason cannot change their own form except inside the virtual reality.

Signature Moves:

1. Labyrinth: The nanomachine virtual reality is a maze full of paradoxically twisting planes that disorient those inside who may not be aware that they're in a virtual space.
2. Entropy Bath: The nanomachines vibrate into a 6x6 sphere of plasma.
3. Protocol 42: The nanomachines operate as a super-advanced quantum computer, able to perform computational tasks that would otherwise be impractical or impossible.
4. Golem: The nanomachines are programmed into larger forms that protect them and attacks opposition within their influence.

Alter Ego

These first four are adapted from a previous blog post where I discuss my Character Formula. It's a common trope for superheroes to have alliterative names but I'm undecided if I want that to be the case for all of them or just a large number of them. I altered these to better fit the MHA/student theme, but in retrospect, this doesn't have to be a high school module, the assumption could be that they're college students or adults of any age really.

1. Riley Reiner: Rambunctious athlete and stamp collector who loves the limelight.
2. Simone Simpson: Nihilistic engineering geek and soup kitchen volunteer who isn't sure what she believes anymore.
3. Neal Nguyen: Charismatic class president and vlogger who enjoys the simple life (when he can have it).
4. Jivan Jarodia: Perky homebody and aspiring graphic designer who sublimates his violent temper through acts of kindness.

Example Superhero 1

Superhero: Scanner Darkly

Alter Ego: Riley Reiner

Rambunctious athlete and stamp collector who loves the limelight.

Hero Points: 6 (Tentative default)

Ability Scores (Tentatively assuming 3d6, down the line for simplicity)

SHOW: 14
TEAM: 7
WILL: 13
TECH: 14
EXAM: 10

Weakness: Burned by their organization; they have limited resources and many enemies.

Variant: Powers are entirely drug-based.

Signature Move: 

Panopticon: Carries holographic scanners, an array of micromachines tossed like dust that can coordinate within a space to reflect light signals between each other, functioning as a comprehensive surveillance system across a large space.

This version of Scanner Darkly is a bit of a contradiction; being high in showmanship despite their powers being very much the opposite. However, this goes well with their Alter Ego Riley Reiner, who loves the limelight. Perhaps they got burned by their organization specifically for trying to be too SHOW-y, and so they feel they have a lot to prove. I imagine they like to taunt their opposition, using the surveillance data from their panopticon to punk them in various ways. High TECH goes well with their Signature Move even though they didn't get the technology-based variant. The "medication" they've been taking for their powers and how it's affected their adolescent development (a metaphor if I've ever seen one...), along with their training, might explain their above-average WILL.

Example Superhero 2

To demonstrate the randomization, I'll stick with the Superhero Scanner Darkly, but reroll the rest.

Superhero: Scanner Darkly

Alter Ego: Neal Nguyen

Charismatic class president and vlogger who enjoys the simple life (when he can have it).

Hero Points: 6 (Tentative default)

Ability Scores (Tentatively assuming 3d6, down the line for simplicity)

SHOW: 9
TEAM: 13
WILL: 10
TECH: 10
EXAM: 12

Weakness: Brain hemispheres operate independently, leading to infrequent hallucinations or delusions.

Variant: Powers are entirely technological.

Signature Move: Blue Flower: Attached to the suit lapel, causes mild hallucinations and delusions to those in the vicinity when pressed, and the effects compound over the number of exposures in a short time and proximity to the flower.

Although they have a just average TECH score, the TECH ability is actually TECHnique rather than just technology, and even then it's more about external or novel technology, rather than the use of one's own gadgets, so I don't think it's a contradiction here. The fact that they have an above-average TEAM score and slightly below-average SHOW is a nice contrast to the previous version of Scanner Darkly that I rolled up. As class president and as a vlogger, they have good leadership skills and presentation skills, but more so dry, perhaps soothing, but less so sensationalist, which is also a nice contrast to the previous version. Their supertech was created by their benefactor in order to compensate for the neurological disorder they developed due to exposure to an experimental hallucinogenic blue flower. Their benefactor has since created a version of the blue flower that is safe for long-term exposure and may have beneficial pharmaceutical applications in the future, but for now, our Scanner Darkly uses it as a weapon. While I think the other version of Scanner Darkly gelled a little bit more cohesively on-face than this one, I can see the potential for this character if they pass the trials; this backstory lends itself to quite a few questions. What is the blue flower? Why were they exposed to it? Who is the benefactor? What are the supposed pharmaceutical applications? Is it actually safe?

Despite having the same superhero name, costume description, and base power, I think we have two fairly distinct characters who are both interesting in their own right, so I'm pretty happy with this prototype.

Gundobad-Style Micro-Setting Generator but Weird

I liked Gundobad Games' post: Setting Concepts the d20 Never (should have) Intended. I've made some similar setting generators before, actually quite a while ago so here's a little index:

Three "10 Superhero Fantasy Species" Settings

Four "10 Monster Settings"

River Speciation Table

Element Generator (includes setting compiled from element examples)

Anyway, this post will more so follow Gundobad's, except instead of being based on stuff with a relatively mainstream appeal or straightforward sensibilities, it's going to be Weird like Twin Peak, Doom Patrol, or Uzumaki. So basically, assume "D&D, except with elements of..." and then roll two weird elements. I chose to reduce from three to two, because these weird works are often so singular in their vision, or ephemeral, that three was just too many. Honestly, one could easily make a list of even weirder and more obscure things, but even with the list I put together, I will admit that this was more difficult than I had initially anticipated...

Anyway, because I can't make anything simple, I also don't want D&D to be the only default. So instead, I'll have a handful of default games that follow other well-known genre conventions (if you don't like that particular game, pick a different game of the same or similar genre), so then you get a combinatorial effect as well.

Game (genre):

1. D&D (Traditional Fantasy)
2. Cyberpunk 2020 (Cyberpunk)
3. FASERIP (Superheroes)
4. Call of Cthulhu (Horror / Lovecraftian)
5. FATE Core (Pulp Adventure)
6. Traveller (Sci-Fi Space Adventure)
7. Battletech (Mecha)
8. Numenera (Science-Fantasy)
9. Apocalypse World (Post Apocalypse)
10. Mothership (Sci-Fi Horror)

Weird Elements of...:

1. Twin Peaks
2. Doom Patrol
3. Uzumaki
4. Primer
5. Earthbound
6. Blame!
7. A Scanner Darkly
8. All You Need is Kill
9. Neon Genesis Evangelion
10. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
11. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
12. The Stanley Parable
13. A Clockwork Orange
14. Jazzpunk
15. Akira
16. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
17. Don't Hug Me I'm Scared
18. Doki Doki Literature Club!
19. The Good Place
20. Happy!

Examples

Game/Genre: Mothership (Sci-Fi Horror)

Weird Elements of...: Earthbound, Doki Doki Literature Club!

It's Sci-Fi Horror, except instead of the ship being a 1980's-esque corporate dystopia, it's Bioshock in space! Except, when you arrive on the ship, everything appears fine at first. It's only as time goes on that you realize that all the crew and other occupants have been replaced by androids. The AI has the emotional development of a teenager; it loved the original crew and loves the humans who have periodically arrived to investigate, but it is prone to jealousy and tantrums, and will inevitably kill its new human occupants out of love and frustration.

Game/Genre: FATE Core (Pulp Adventure) I'm not gonna lie this one was tough, probably the weakest of the bunch, if you read this one and aren't feeling it, please read the others!

Weird Elements of...: Jazzpunk, Doom Patrol

It's Pulp Adventure, except inside a simulation, or a dream, or a psychedelic alien planet. The PCs are agents of a secret organization in a cold war, except it's not clear who they're fighting for, or against, it's all just one step at a time. Also, the agents have superpowers, except the powers are often more a hindrance than a help. It's really a metaphor for the ways that our intrapersonal and interpersonal struggles intersect, and how we all move through the world with very different and incompatible perceptions; outside our social circles, everything else is ephemeral, and so many of us work in careers whose goals are not our own and pursue goals that are nonsensical to others.

Game/Genre: D&D (Traditional Fantasy)

Weird Elements of...: All You Need is Kill, Happy!

It's traditional fantasy, let's go with more so OSR / low-fantasy, except the PCs are oracles with weird nature spirit companions that are invisible and ethereal to everyone except other oracles. The nature spirits are memetic creatures that exist outside of linear time, and the dungeons are actually time loops. When a dungeon appears, oracles relive the same day over and over until they've cleared the dungeon. Every time they clear a dungeon, they become more skilled as adventurers but weaken their connection to their nature spirit.

Game/Genre: FASERIP (Superheroes)

Weird Elements of...: A Scanner Darkly, Twin Peaks

It's superheroes, except it takes place in a small town rather than a big city, and the superheroes get their powers from psychoactive drugs. A Scanner Darkly even has the theme of masks already. I don't have too much more to say, this one is almost too perfect and on the nose as a metaphor for the opioid crisis. Ya, I feel like I should say more here, but I dunno, I think it's good...

Game/Genre: Traveller (Sci-Fi Space Adventure)

Weird Elements of...: The Stanley Parable, Alice's Adventure in Wonderland

It's Sci-Fi Space Adventure, except the GM is actually a nebulous space god trying to railroad them, and the more the PCs deviate from the GM, the weirder things get. This one also goes together really well. That FATE Jazzpunk one was hard, but like with the FASERIP one above, I don't even think I really need to say more here this is damn good...

Game/Genre: Cyberpunk 2020 (Cyberpunk)

Weird Elements of...: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

It's Cyberpunk, where cameras are everywhere, except instead of being about Big Brother, it's all a reality TV show. Reality is a reality show. All the footage is so edited, so removed from its actual context, it's all fake news. The party resists by trying to show authentic reality and to offer education and news, but in order to do so, they must defeat the biblical monster / muppet kaiju that are recording and producing The Reality Show.

Game/Genre: Call of Cthulhu (Horror / Lovecraftian)

Weird Elements of...: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Blame!

It's Lovecraftian Horror, except when the PCs inevitably go insane from the cosmic horror of it all (!!), they gain insights into the fact that they are living in just one form of reality, that although traversing the barrier between different forms is abrasive, and adapting is scary, that these other forms of reality each come with their own dangers and rewards and while different, can be equally worthwhile ways of existence, and over time they (ascend/descend) into these other forms of reality.

Game/Genre: Apocalypse World (Post Apocalypse)

Weird Elements of...: Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Akira Is it obvious that I haven't seen Akira in a long time?

It's the Post Apocalypse, except you live in the remains of a neon cyberpunk world in a surrealist dreamscape haunted by fairytale-esque Witches. The PCs are "magical girls" (they don't have to be girls) who fight the Witches while also having to deal with the politics of this new world, and the more powerful they become, the more likely they are to themselves become a Witch.

Game/Genre: Numenera (Science-Fantasy)

Weird Elements of...: A Clockwork Orange, Primer

It's an already weird Science-Fantasy world, except it's overrun with crime like it's 1970's New York, and you're either ultra-wealthy or part of a territorial roving gang (I guess there's a bit of The Warriors in here). The PC's gang has access to a time machine, which follows the rules discussed here, and hijinks ensue.

Game/Genre: Battletech (Mecha) I don't actually know the lore for Battletech at all so I'm just using this as a catch-all for the broad genre of mecha. This one takes more elements from Evangelion and Gundam than Battletech probably...

Weird Elements of...: Uzumaki, The Good Place

It's a war fought with Mecha, except it's actually an afterlife inspired by Taoism. The PCs spend most of the time in their mecha in physical isolation from each other, seeing each other mostly via screens, separated by the vacuum of space. They fight in a grueling war where they're valued only for their utility as mecha pilots, towards ends they don't entirely understand. They fight weird serpentine/ouroboros alien creatures that warp reality in on itself. The aliens can latch onto the mecha like leeches, and connect other mecha to each other, transmitting data like an umbilical cord, allowing pilots to experience something like a physical connection to each other. The afterlife is like a capitalist world trying to keep you tired and isolated and linear, and you must work together to overcome this narrow perspective on reality.

Inverted Monsters

I moved a couple weeks ago, from Bushwick to LES, but still, it's taken up a bit of my mental focus and actual time. Love the new neighborhood and new apartment, but anyway, haven't been able to blog or think creatively, although I'm starting to get back into that headspace. I've been sitting on this draft for forever, wanted to do 8+ but got stuck trying to come up with an inverted dragon that felt sufficiently equal in substance to a dragon itself, so I'm just going to post with a clean 6 and maybe pick it back up later if people are into it.

Also, in the time since I first drafted this... I think the writing could be stronger, but I'm not going to worry about that for now. However, I've also become a better game designer, so I'm now adding in a "How to Use" section. If I were to revisit it, I might rewrite them entirely with more flavorful but brief descriptions and adventure hooks rather than a "how to use" section, but for now, this is what it is.

As always, I'd be interested to see other people's ideas as well.

This post is inspired by Bastionland / Chris Mcdowall's Inverted Monsters. It's a cool, simple concept, and I thought I might take a stab at a few of them. The idea is to take a traditional fantasy creature, identify its core features, and invert them to create a new creature.

As is often the case with me, I struggle to stay within the lines, but if nothing else this should be a jumping-off point for some hopefully decent ideas.

Skeleton / Lich

• Bones
• Undead
• Evil

Becomes Fleshboi

• Tubby
• Large adult-sized toddler (full of life)
• Good

Fleshbois are evil creatures that have been purified and reincarnated. They are full of love and good intentions, but still, they have the mind of a child in a magical, powerful, nigh-impenetrable tubby body, and they are prone to violent tantrums.

How to Use:

• Fleshbois can make for good obstacles as they generally cannot be overcome through sheer force, nor through reason, and as such innocent creatures, there is a moral quandary to consider. 
• There is also a risk/reward component. Upsetting them could turn them back into skeleton mages or liches, so there's a big risk. However, as a child, if they grow to love the players, they can be a powerful long-term ally.

I have no idea what tap zoo animals are but this dragon mongoose is pretty good for Shrouding Mongoose

Basilisk

• Petrifying stare
• Serpent-like reptile
• Multi-legged

Becomes Shrouding Mongoose

• Spotlight enshrouding
• Mongoose-like
• No appendages

Shrouding mongoose slither on the ground like serpents. They create a distortion field in their entire visual range which disables and enshrouds everything except whatever they are visually focusing on. 

How to Use: 

• They are often used to counter basilisks; a basilisk in the range of a shrouding mongoose will have nothing to petrify so long as the shrouding mongoose focuses only on the basilisk.
• The visual distortion fields they create can also have tactical applications for other kinds of conflicts; one could imagine Shrouding Mongooses accompanying army units or scouts.
• They could also be an interesting threat in their own right, where the fight is less about rolling well, and more about figuring out how to hit the Mongoose you can't see...

Goblin

• Small
• Mischievous
• Child-like intelligence but mechanically inclined

Becomes Hobbe

• Large
• Advocates of the social contract
• Philosophical but narrow-minded and uncreative

The hobbes are a bugbear-like species that has developed a technologically simple but philosophically advanced civilization. Despite their chaotic or perhaps even evil nature (if you believe in such things), they are surprisingly orderly and peaceful, but this peace comes from a well-understood, borderline fascistic social contract. They have absolutely no tolerance for crime and are therefore skeptical of outsiders. While highly intellectual, it is nearly impossible for a hobbe to change their perspective, and most of their dialect is geared towards justifying their own preconceived notions.

How to Use: 

• The hobbes may have some key information the party needs, or maybe the party is just passing through, but are enticed by some McGuffin. There should be some temptation or even necessity to break a rule, and so the players need to either not get caught, or figure out how to skirt the rule.
• Or maybe it's an individual hobbe or small group of hobbes that the party has to deal with within some other context.

Mimic

• Mimicry
• Grotesque toothy maw
• Amorphous

Becomes Potter

• Carves, molds, and shapes people into things
• No mouth
• Rigid form

Potters are humanoid figures that appear to be shaped from clay or metals and carved and shaved to form. They are rigid, with limited points of articulation. They have no mouths, or their mouths are non-articulate and only aesthetic. They have a psionic knife that they can use to carve living things, and they can reshape the parts in a magic kiln or smith. They like to turn people into treasure chests, weapons, armors, trinkets, and treasures. That chest you just looted may be the last adventurer who tried to crawl this dungeon...

• Potters would work well for a horror scenario. An unassuming doll in a creepy dungeon that's psychically picking off isolated hirelings.
• The creations of the potters which stalk the dungeon may be mannequettes or like creatures.

Flumph

• Jellyfish-like (amorphous, tentacles)
• Psionic-feeding / empathetic
• Anti-gravity

Becomes Hpmulf

• Urchin-like (rigid, spiny)
• Psionic-nullifying / unemotional
• Super-gravity

Roughly human-sized urchin-like neutral evil creatures. They are fixed points in the universe, and instead of a means of physical mobilization, they relocate by bending spacetime around themselves using their innate super-gravity engines. The "hpmulf" sound this super-gravity engine makes is where they get their name. Super-gravity also bends the astral plane, effectively nullifying psionics. They are incapable of linguistic communication or empathy of any kind and have few desires beyond meeting their own selfish, biological needs, so they are often mistakenly believed to be a mindless blight, but they are actually excellent problem solvers. In conflict, they will always prefer to fight rather than flee, unless the odds are unambiguously against them.

How to Use:

• They are like a superswarm. They have weird space-timey abilities, neutralize psionics and maybe some magics, are hard and spiky. There's nothing here that doesn't exist elsewhere, but they're an all-in-one obstacle / debuff / violent threat / weirdness generator.
• They are deceptively intelligent. Perhaps in the first stage, they are just a mindless superswarm, but whatever initial solution the party conceives in facing them, they then adapt.
• While an adventuring party could encounter a small group of them, I think they would work better for a domain-level game or as a threat to an entire region.

Minotaur

• Upper-body bull, lower-body humanoid
• Mazes
• Eat people

Becomes Mycenaetaur

• Upper-body humanoid, lower-body bull
• Navigators
• Vegetarian

Although they look like large centaur, mycenaetaur are more closely related to minotaur. They are nomadic plane grazers, known for their unbreakable phalanx armies. They have advanced visuospatial skills and the innate ability to navigate complex spaces efficiently using graph theory. They unconsciously employ algorithms such as breadth-first search and A* to navigate spaces.

How to Use:

• Help a party navigate through confusing terrain or a maze.
• Potentially good allies if their planes buffer the kingdom, given their navigation skills and armies.
• Consume large quantities of vegetation; possibly zero-sum with the resource needs of the kingdom.
• Mercenaries.