So, I pretty much lived a dream yesterday.

I've never tried to nail down a detailed "bucket list."  But if I did, one item that would surely hover near the top is the chance to be a costumed mascot.  Weird?  Probably.  But it's been a semi-obsession for a while now, and unfortunately reached that status in my mind well after it would have been a practical goal in my day-to-day life.

Until yesterday.  For reasons of the trade, I don't want to say too much, but I do want to note that this gathering of mascots at yesterday's Atlanta Dream game (no pun intended on the post title, by the way) was a pretty awesome deal for me...

Snagged this pic from Atlanta Pet Rescue and Adoption's Facebook page.  They're an organization worth checking out!

I was at that game.  I got to interact with some mascot greats.  I'll leave it at that.

Now...to pull this post closer to the blog's focus, I'll also reveal that perhaps an even weirder dream of mine has long been to develop a comic or RPG based on the concept of mascots as superheroes and villains waging a long-running war with each other.  Sometimes, the thought has been to portray the mascots as people in "costumes" that are actually carefully constructed battle suits.  Sometimes, it's been to actually have a bunch of anthropomorphic animals...and other stuff...that are working to defend (or conquer) our world.

For this post, I'm going with the latter.  Because I had a lot of fun with this week's Monster Monday, where I statted up a kaiju for an imaginary OSR game based on the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game, I'm also going to stat up a character for a similar game using this ridiculous high concept.  Heck, maybe it's the same game as the kaiju game.  You know what, yes...in this imaginary world where I play imaginary games, I'll go with that.

Here's Bango, the deer with no fear who pumps the crowd at Milwaukee Bucks games.  He may be best known for this playoff stunt from a few years back:

(The wider world of Bango was also featured on the excellent Hulu documentary series Behind the Mask...definitely worth checking out!)

Bango

Deer, Level 5 Acrobat (10,000 XP)

AC 14, 5d8-5 (18) HP

STR 15(+1)  DEX 17(+2)  CON 8(-1)  INT 12  WIS 10  CHA 14(+1)

Height 7ft (w/antlers)

Size Code 5 (human-sized)

Attacks:

2 punches (+3, d4+1 damage)

OR

Sumo slam (+4, d8+1 damage)
OR
By weapon (T-shirt gun, ball grenade, etc.)

As a 5th-level Acrobat, Bango gets his full level bonus to all DEX ability rolls, +4 to saving throws vs. falling and rays/missiles, and an Acrobatics skill of 70%.

(Here are a few more Bango highlights for those interested.  Which should be everyone...)