Vault 01 - Ishmael Technologies 1.56
about 3 years ago – Mon, Mar 01, 2021 at 03:50:15 PM

Sadly, Pepe Larraz hasn't returned my email, LOL! I bet Marvel keeps him pretty busy! I've spent the weekend looking at artists' portfolios. Folks inside and outside the RPG field. Incredible, fantastic graphics and comic work.  I can not tell you how Big Deal this is for me, getting to do this project. I wanted to be a comic book writer/artist right after highschool. I had it all planned out, I was going to the Kubert School of Art right there in NJ where I grew up. I had figured out how to fund it and everything...parents though. They were not amused!

 Most of the art here is from Tithi Luadthong. If I could, I'd do the whole book in this style! Anyways, let's rock out these last 52 hours! Spread the word! We have time to hit that Apocalypse World goal - I've not given up on it, or on Cortex RPG! I've talked with Cam Banks and right now, Cortex is still working through licensing in general. Cortex fan-based projects are fine. We'll see.

I leave you with another entry from Vault 01. 

 -Mad Jay

Two new milestones!
about 3 years ago – Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 08:31:02 PM

First, we're a "Projects We Love" on Kickstarter now! I'm NEVER giving this badge up!!

AND we're past halfway to hitting that Lifted Apocalypse World Zine stretch goal!

Two Netflix movies that are inspirational for me: Code 8 and Project Power.  In Code 8, pay attention to the open credits. They do a neat job showing how power-enabled humans help shaped history, particularly the industrial revolution. Then they show you how automation broke that and disenfranchised the power-enabled. The movie is a heist movie featuring metahumans at a personal-level of drama. Project Power is also a personal drama story.  Ex-military father looking for his kid caught up in a powers science experiment. Project Power has a drug that activates a person's power for a limited amount of time...with repercussions. Not GREAT movies, but good entertainment and a different take on powers and people.

In Lifted the mystery is why are people manifesting powers?  who gets powers, why? Why are some Lifted manifested under duress in destructive ways? World governments do not have a handle on this rapidly developing situation, but a few organizations and companies do --what are they up to? We will play to find out.

What I like about Champions Now is how it puts the characters' situations upfront and before powers. I have found play to be solidly character-driven.  We know this is true of Apocalypse World in its use of Hx and the playbooks to make situations personal.  

Until next update

-Indubitably!

Mad Jay

Vault 01 - Lifted Classifications 1.08
about 3 years ago – Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 06:10:06 PM

Thank you!
about 3 years ago – Sat, Feb 20, 2021 at 03:43:15 PM

 Origin Story

Champions was the first superhero RPG I ever played, the third RPG ever. I was already into comics, heavy into the X-Men, The Micronauts, anything Secret Wars! Marvel Superheroes RPG (FASERIP) was next, Villians & Vigilantes, Guardians, DC Heroes... Lots of takes and ways to play superheroes. Ron Edwards does a BANG ZOOM job with Champions Now RPG. I was fortunate enough to get to play with him during the early development -he also runs a mean game of Sorcerer!! Champions Now replaces Champions for me. I have run two campaigns so far with it and it's becoming a staple on my heavy run list -like Burning Wheel is! It's still a big dice, crunchy game - but it is a character-driven one. 

Apocalypse Now!

Our first stretch goal is bringing Lifted into the Apocalypse World RPG.  It will be very much like the Burned-Over. It's still gritty, and big stakes, moves still snowball, plus superpowers. AW: Lifted will play very differently than Champions Now, your stories will be different and I dig that.  Apocalypse World blew my noggin wide open the first time I played it. So evocative and visceral. Simple mechanics, yet fictionally heavy.  Nuanced, one might even say.  My top priorities for AW: Lifted are adding a little more crunch to combat options, push the use of tags in a manageable, gamey way. Add in Hx moves.  That's why Paul Beakley is onboard. He brings to the table an eye for the award cycles in games, how mechanics work and support the proposed play(or not), and an interest in pushing to see what else PBTA can do.

The Lifted: AW Hackbook stretch goal will also have online support for Role, Roll20, and other resources on lifteduniverse.com. This stretch goal is available to all backers.

Next time on Lifted

I'm working on a couple of surprises --waiting on responses... Also mad love to Jason Waters/Hero Games and Vincent Baker of Lumpley Games. 

Lifted, I hope, is the start of a rich setting that's easy to hop into and play with. If I have my druthers, there'll even be a Lifted Black-Hack version down the road!! 

 -Indubitably,

Mad Jay