M Is for Magic, Mutants, and Martians
For the past twelve letters, the world of The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT) has been in many ways comparable to the real world of the seventh and eighth decades of the twentieth century. Here’s where things get a little bit weird. Magic, psionics, alien, and super-powers exist in BKotRT. In order to see how these fantastical abilities work within the context of the rules, we need a new sample character. Fortunately, Christopher wants to play one of these amazing heroes. He gets an index card, a pencil, and spends his points. Here’re the results:
Uriah Gandalfini
Kung-Fu d4, Brains d10, Cool d6
Progressive Rock Wizard d10, High-Brow Lyricist d6
With his Progressive Rock Wizard quality, Uriah is capable of a wide variety of magical feats that revolve around mythological references, strange key changes, and piercing shrieks. Let’s put Uriah in some situations to see how his sorcerous rock powers work.
A trio of goons chase Uriah across the rooftop of a hotel. Uriah sees the edge of the roof coming up fast. Darkness yawns on the other side of roof’s edge. Without slowing down, Uriah leaps, calling upon the wings of Icarus to assist him. Christopher rolls Kung-Fu plus Progressive Rock Wizard, or d4+d10. The GM sets the difficulty number (DN) at 10. It’s a long way down and across to the roof of the nearest building. Christopher just makes the roll, and Uriah flies on shimmering wings trailing rainbow sparks to land safely on the roof of the Chinese restaraunt across the alley. The goons skid to a halt at the roof’s edge above, none too happy about losing Uriah.
A few moments later, Uriah is on the street, head down and alert. He sees the swirling red and blue lights of a cop car reflected off the buildings ahead. Knowing that the corrupt cops he’s been investigating have been alerted, Uriah pauses. There’s nowhere to hide. He leans against a brick wall and hums the chorus from his song about Pluto’s cap of invisibility. The police in the car match their die roll against Uriah’s Cool plus Progressive Rock Wizard. Uriah wins, and the police pass by without spotting him.
The process for extended actions would work in a similar manner. Uriah could call upon the cacophony of chaos can attack a foe’s sense of decency. Rolls would be made, totals compared, and the appropriate damage inflicted. Mental and alien powers work in much the same as described above. A Grizzled Mentalist d8 or an Alien Intelligence Possessing a Go-Go Dancer d6 could use their respective qualities for various feats that fit those themes.
I’m considering making hero points part of the requirement for such versatile feats, but I’m also not convinced that’s necessary. Other qualities can be versatile as well, and it’s possible the instinct to impose an additional burden on supernatural/superhuman qualities should be ignored.
