Role-Playing Information

My number two hobby has to be my role-playing, for which I will make time. If you are unfamiliar with role-playing, I can best explain it as a combination of improvisational theater and fiction novels.  Each of the players takes on a specific role in the game's setting.  The GameMaster (GM) is the one person who controls the setting, the atmosphere, the other non-player characters (NPCs) and so forth.

Recently, I embarked on my first attempt to run my own game as the GameMaster. I had tried this before back in high school with pre-written adventures in the Star Trek RPG (by FASA) and the Paranoia! RPG (long dormant, now being revived by Mongoose Publishing). Those experiences didn't go very well, but we were dumb, stupid kids and I don't think anyone was really trying to PLAY a ROLE; we just wanted to shoot, hack, or kill something.

For my new game, I am using the Fantasy Hero rules, part of the Hero Games' Hero System (Fifth Edition to be exact). The Hero System is a universal role-playing game system, meaning the same rules can be used regardless of genre. The Hero System can handle fantasy games, superheroes, science fiction, modern-day urban games, Pulp Era adventures, international spy rings, etc. In addition to the core Hero System rulebook, Hero Games has published fifth-edition genre books for superheroes (Champions), science fiction (Star Hero), fantasy (the afore-mentioned Fantasy Hero), and the modern-day, action-adventure genre (Dark Champions). My game will be set in the published setting of The Turakian Age, an award-winning setting book. The Turakian Age in the world of Ambrethel is a time of high magic and great heroes. This is a high-fantasy setting, in the style of Tolkein's Lord of the Rings or the classic Dungeon and Dragons setting. The current working title for the campaign is "The Westerlands" since I plan to confine the geographical scope of the game to the Westerlands region of the continent of Arduna. There is a color world map of Amberthel online if you are interested in that sort of thing. My game will be starting in the far western kingdom of Vestria.

I will post more information about this campaign once it gets off the ground and I can reveal some of the out-of-character secrets.

Web RPG Links

Here's a few links to roleplaying-oriented websites that I enjoy.

• Hero Games is the maker of the Hero System universal roleplaying system which includes Champions, Fantasy Hero, Star Hero, Pulp Hero, and more
• RPG.net

Characters I have played

• Leonard "the Cursed". Fantasy HERO. Leonard is a young blacksmith from the small medieval village of Rachmaninoff. He was a respected member of the local community and a loyal follower of the Holy Church of the High Talisman. The last few years were tough on him, losing his parents, his wife, and his young child, and earning the moniker of Leonard the Cursed. He has since learned that all may not be as it appears. There may be a big change coming that could affect all of humanity and the Church wants it stopped.
• Lone Star (Harold Winston Edgerton). Superheroes/Champions (inactive) . Lone Star is one of the new breed of costumed superheroes in America. In the 2010's, paranormals have come back into existence after a plague was thought to have killed them all off over 30 years ago. All of Lone Star's powers are based on his ability to teleport himself and items around item. His current group was assembled by a hero named Maelstrom. They have saved the governor's life and are working to make sure that paranormals are not feared or hated. (online character sheet)
• Joe "JT" Trehorn. Star Hero (Terran Empire Setting) short-lived PBEM game (inactive). It's 2581, and JT is an ex-cop, ex-army soldier turned bounty hunter. He has just recently busted a big crime boss and collected a 50,000 credit bounty on the whole deal. Now, he's spending some time travelling around to exotic (and unusual) spots, just to see the galaxy. His most recent trip has landed him in the spaceport of Cerebus III. (online character sheet )
• Druhar. Fantasy HERO (inactive). Druhar is the last known dwarf living in the lands of Lataria. His father was a paladin and follower of the goddess Celesta. Although he was raised by elves and barely remembers his true dwarf parents, he has studied the histories and legends of his people. He is the keeper of a legendary sword known as the White Lodestone.
• Martino Giovanni. Horror HERO (inactive). A four-hundred-something year-old Italian city-state prince from the Renaissance. He is now living in a marble body and working for the Giovanni clan of vampires and his uncle Augustus. He was last known to be living in Dallas, Texas, in 1994.
• Rigel de'Amberville. Amber and superheroes (HERO) (inactive). An Amberite, son of an Amberite father and a Jedi elf mother, lived nowhere for a while, since the destruction of the asteroid base. His fellow teenaged friends, including his sister Delphi founded the New Guardians in the year 2076. His father, Edward D'Amberville (also a Jedi), was Secretary General of the United Nations. However, in one day, both incarnations of Edward, the glowing dead Jedi and the pattern ghost ruling the planet, have died. The glowing Jedi form ran out of time and expired, and the pattern ghost gave his life stabilizing the pattern under Tokyo to save the citizens and hopefully stop Nyarlathotep. Edward wanted Rigel to continue the work he started in an attempt to possibly stop the ever-present threat of Bendani, the ultimate attack. Rigel has since walked the pattern in Wales in an attempt to stop the dimensions overlapping on the Earth. After saving Earth for the time being, Rigel was "retired" to NPC status and has settled down as the ruler of the planet.
• Veronica. Fantasy HERO (inactive). A graduate from the Graverobber's College and private mercenary and adventurer who was captured during the takeover of Homlett. She was sold into slavery until she and her companions escaped and stole a Mersian ship and became ruthless pirates on the high seas.
• Vernon d'Amberville. Amber (inactive). Son of Dworkin, younger brother of Oberon. Vernon loves to wander among the infinite shadows searching for adventure, excitement, danger, and sex. He is currently working with his brother Erland, his sister Zhanon, and his distant cousins, Francois (Rigel's half-brother) and Erien (Rigel's sister).
• Kalin. Fantasy HERO (inactive). Hill dwarf, from the a village north of Waterdeep in the AD&D Forgotten Realms world. He and his companions became the proud owners of a sailing ship and were searching for the dreaded Black Viper, a pirate of some reknown. Kalin is a merchant and an herbalist who can create healing medicines from any number of plants, if he could have just found some.
• Marok Gonchar. Fantasy HERO (inactive). A human (actually a Mazda, but they appear humanlike aside from the two opposable thumbs on each hand) from the southern territory of the Commonwealth on the planet Tutek, the same country (and campaign world) as Veronica. After the murder of his parents, he sold his family's assets, sent his sister to live with relatives, and enrolled in a local college to learn the art of sorcery. With his training complete, Marok sought out his parents' killers and exacted his revenge. He met his compatriots while fleeing through the southern mountain pass from the Commonwealth into New Mersia. This new gang took up the cause of the local peasants and "re-distributed" the local alcalde's wealth.
• Tempest (Jake Raynor). Superheroes/Champions (inactive). Son of the Green Lantern, Kyle Raynor, and a superheroine named Jade. Jake grew up in a space station called New Oa, which orbits the Sol system in the vicinty of the asteroid belt. Jake has been trained as a mage, but to complete his training he has been sent to Earth to join a group of superheroes and learn from the group's two leaders, Helium and Maggie.

• Alger Peach (Dan English). Alger is a young paladin, son of the defender of the multiverse and possibly the successor to that title. He has now decided that he needs to expand his experience by not limiting his cosmic powers to just the Earth.
• Erien (Susan Clegg). Rigel's twin sister. She is studying to be a rune-weaver, a type of spell-caster. She has designs on ruling Amber and ending the reign of Oberon and the false Adrienne. She excels in martial arts and has a high strength.
• Delphi (Susan). Rigel's younger sister. She was given the gift to communicate with fairies and summon them on command when she was a child. She also has many martial arts skills. She has since learned the ability to see many aspects of the world hidden to most people. When her body was destroyed in a recent encounter, she moved her spirit into the Red, and formed herself a body out of a rat. Her body was cloned back for her using some dead hair. She has been recently trying to convert Ebb Than, the Dark Star, to seeing more to life than just death. It looks like they are forming the beginnings of a relationship.
• Max Damage (Bob Chapman). The son of Ricard (a cosmic being known as the Ultimate Defense) and a supervillian known as Ten (named Sarah). Max has inherited the cosmic power of Uniqueness, meaning there is only one Max across the infinite dimensions. He has now assumed the title of the Grey Man, by possessing all five (5) cosmic powers. He now has Uniqueness, the Force, Chaos, the Logrus, and Pattern powers.
• Ebb Than (Ron Manns). A Dark Star, who has worshipped death and helped the cause of death across the multiverse. Delphi has since convinced Ebb to end his former ways. Ebb and Delphi have forged a strong relationship. Ebb knows that he will be hunted forever by the powerful Dark Stars for rejecting their ways and helping the New Guardians.
• Clark (Brad Allen). A Skrull alien who has now become the newest Green Lantern. Clark was raised by two former Guardians, Wolf and Alexis, in their orphanage on Earth.
• Mariko (Joe Kast). The daughter of two old Guardians, and possibly the successor to title of Sorceress Supreme of this dimension.

I hope you can understand how a guy can get messed up by all these far-flung characters scattered across the known Multiverse. :-)

Daniel Calhoun RPG Stuff
Last Modified: Thursday, 08-Feb-2007 08:39:14 PST