Rehashing a 5e-ish Soldier class...to get me rolling...

Man...I had a nice little blogging rhythm going for a brief span...which I guess was easy enough when I was just doing irregular work from home.  Now that I'm back to "the grind," I'm a bit disappointed in how easily I've let the million and one blog posts I want to write get repeatedly pushed off to another tomorrow.  (I do have kind of a cool job though...where I scan my fingerprint to get into the lab and have to unironically say, "I can't tell you that," when folks ask about some of the details of my work.  It's honestly nothing all that exciting, but it's fun to play important government contractor sometimes...maybe I'll work that into a post at some point...)

Image from Joepedia

So, I need to do something to give me a nudge back into action, to help me maintain my delusion that I'm getting closer and closer to finishing some of the projects I've started over the years, then left to barely keep a heartbeat through a trickle of attention here on Monstrous Matters.  I'm finding that, sometimes, I want to post about something specific, but then I think, "Wait, that'd be better if I ALSO posted this character with it..."  Which then leads to, "Oh, if I'm gonna post that character, I need to outline this class first..."  Which quickly devolves into "How can I write up this class without first finishing that other class I need to compare it to?"  And by that time, I'm well past thinking about whatever post idea prompted the whole chain of events, and the cycle gets to start all over again when I read a science article or see an action figure I want to pick up.

This is (hopefully) a post that's going to make it easier to write down the stuff I want to, when I want to, IF I actually have the will to.  Now that I've posted some thoughts on classes for my fantasy heartbreaker, I want to revisit the Soldier class that I scribbled down a couple years back (with action figures in mind) so that it'll fit the simplified, OSR-inspired, 5e-ish form of Monstrous Heartbreaker classes.  The basic fighting class for the game is The Warrior, which is essentially just a simple set of rules that boost a character's effectiveness in combat in different ways.  I think The Soldier should be similar but give a bit more of an impression of formal training in things besides dealing and taking damage.

As for balance...?  I definitely don't want to end up with comparisons that make one class better than another in every reasonably conceivable RPG scenario.  BUT...I'm also a believer that anything different about two similar components of a game is an opportunity for scenarios where either one can outshine the other.  So let's see where that puts me with...

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Image from Joepedia

The Soldier

Hit Points: [5 + CON] per level  (Hit Die: d10)

Proficiencies
Armor: All armor, shields
Weapons: All simple and martial weapons
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Skills: Athletics, Survival

All characters have had a life leading up to becoming a 1st-level adventurer, and many have hobbies and interests outside of their main profession.  Decide on some of these details for your character, and select one additional Skill (from the Skill list) and two Tools and/or Talents to represent the proficiencies gained from these activities.

Equipment
Begin with a set of campaign-appropriate equipment (per DM).


Tireless
Beginning at 1st level, you treat the effects of exhaustion as one level lower than usual.


Military Specialty
You have trained for one specific role above others. At 2nd level, choose one or two of the specialties from the following list of items in bold. You gain the underlined items (skills, talents, tools, weapons, and/or languages) as proficiencies. If you already have the proficiency from another source, you gain expertise.

Asterisks (**) indicate the "cost" of each specialty. You may choose one ** specialty, two * specialties, or one * specialty taken at the level of expertise (does not stack with expertise otherwise gained).

Airborne (Athletics, Parachutes) **

Artillery *

Chaplain's Assistant (Perception, Persuasion) **

Cook *

Communications (equipment) *

Diving *

Dog Handler (Animal Handling, Dog Training) **

Electronics *

Hand-to-Hand Combat Instructor (Unarmed Combat, Perception) **

Heavy Weapons *

Intelligence (Perception, Deception) **

Interpreter (Choose four languages) **

[Biome] (Arctic, Desert, Jungle, etc.) Warfare (Nature, Survival) **

Medic (Medicine) *

Pilot (aircraft) (Flying, Aircraft Repair) **

PT Instructor (Athletics, Perception) **

Radar *

Rifle Instructor (Two-handed Small Arms, Perception) **

Sabotage (Insight, Demolitions) **

Small Arms Armorer *

Transportation (Driving, Ground Vehicle Repair) **

Action Surge

Starting at 3rd level, you can push yourself beyond your normal limits for a moment. On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible bonus action.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. Starting at 17th level (seriously? good luck to you...), you can use it twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn.


Ability Score Increase
When you reach 4th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1.


Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

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Image from Marvel.com

The idea with this class is definitely to have the skills of a "typical" member of an infantry as the core (so that many members of the Joe team fit the model, and to feed the mechanics of action figure campaign play), but I wouldn't mind having it flexible enough to also cover similar roles like those taken on by the drivers of the Wheeled Warriors' Lightning League, or MCU Sam Wilson's work in the Air Force. The list of options is definitely a work in progress...as I tried to get the ball rolling by looking through some early G.I. Joe file cards and adapting what I found there, but it's surely an effort that could use a deeper dive into that source material, and maybe even a little more reasoning around the balance of specialties (yeah, even after scoffing at the idea of balance up above).

But now that I'm "free" to stat up Soldiers to my heart's content, I suppose I'll see how that all works out...

Thanks for reading!

It's time to get graphic with Grozz...

And now, for something completely different...!

(Sort of.)

I've mentioned my good friend Art (AKA Grozz) before here on Monstrous Matters when I wrote a bit about the boxing microgame Ring Doctors that he inspired me to try creating.  Since then, I've learned that (1) his name is, indeed, Art, and (2) we share many interests beyond the tabletop sports sims that were at the center of our meeting back during Covid.  I'm not even completely sure what he knew about me that led him to take this specific approach, but it was somewhere around the time he left a random voice text that was just a selection from Rorschach's journal (read in character) that I was like, "Yeah, I think this dude is weird enough that we'll probably get along pretty well..."

Grozz

As we talked comics more, I realized that Art took the time...seemingly after every comic he read...to put together concise but detailed reviews of the work he had just made his way through.  As in...it seems to be part of his process...like a comic isn't fully digested until he has it summarized in review form.  And he was about to take a journey through a list he found of the top 100 graphic novels ever.  It's the kind of thing that I would want to share here on the blog if I were ever organized and methodical enough to do it for everything I read.  But, y'know.  I'm not.

BUT...I also thought it'd be cool to collect his reviews in one place.  And since I have a blog about nerd stuff...I have that power.  And so, today I introduce to you a new section of Monstrous Matters...Gettin' Graphic With Grozz.  There's a permalink up there on the menu bar below the header; I'll try to post when new entries are added.  The plan is for them to be collected on that page as long as Monstrous Matters is plugging along as an amorphous expression of my life and interests.  As a bonus (for me)...I've just started a new job and have fallen off of the blogging schedule I managed to build up for a little while there, so this gives me something to make me feel like I'm tending my little corner of cyberspace a little more than I actually am... ;)

I definitely appreciate Art "trusting" me with his reviews!  Obviously, this isn't exactly a hub of internet nerddom, so I'd be a little surprised if the overall number of eyeballs on his work is actually increased significantly by appearing here in addition to the other spots on the web where folks post reviews...

But, hey...you never know.  And to all of you readers/victims of the usual Monstrous Matters content, I hope you enjoy!  It's all definitely a work in progress...please let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions for making this feature worth even more of your time.

(Oh!  And in case it needs to be said:  Art's opinions, on comics or anything else, are not mine, nor do my opinions = Art's.  And the opinions expressed in "Gettin' Graphic With Grozz" are not the official stance of Monstrous Matters.  I suppose you could say that my opinions actually are the official stance of Monstrous Matters, but that view implies a level of perceived self-importance that makes me pretty uncomfortable, so I'm not gonna be the one who says it.)

Now...first up:  Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness!

Wheeled Wednesdays: Maybe, someday, in 1:18?

When I was growing up, 3.75" action figures (AKA 1:18, AKA God's scale) were understood to be the default size for any new toyline coming out, especially if the line included a fair number of vehicles.  This is thanks to G.I. Joe and Star Wars, of course...and while there were certainly some iconic action figure lines that deviated from this scale, if they were going to do so, they needed to have a reason.  It has been a lot of fun as a grown-up kid to see characters that weren't originally available in that size (or weren't originally available at all) make their way into 1:18 form through lines like Super7's ReAction Figures.  Several years back, Hasbro even released a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive set that featured characters from brands that spent the '80s in another scale (e.g. MASK, Rom, Visionaries) brought in line with the 4" G.I. Joe figures of the era.

Official product shot, found with this review at the Transformers Wiki Community

Much like MASK, the 1980s Wheeled Warriors toys were released in a much smaller scale than G.I. Joe and Star Wars (and even smaller than MASK, for that matter), which allowed for an extreme focus on cool vehicles without vaulting the toys out of the price range of their target audience.

Image from eBay

My renewed interest in these toys was spurred, at least in part, when I was thinking recently about what other lines or properties I would enjoy seeing with 3.75" figures, and I realized that Wheeled Warriors would be very close to the top of that list (if not at the very top).  I like the idea of having Joe-sized figures to represent the generic folks that came with the toys (like Drill Sergeant's driver above), but since Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors was a reasonably popular cartoon, some action figure customizers have naturally turned their attention to the series, and I'd also like to occasionally look at some examples of these creations here on Monstrous Matters.

The first set of awesome customs is from artist Chris Sizemore, who posts on Instagram as sizemore77customactionfigures and on the HissTank.com boards as Flint_rocks.  Four of the show's heroes, as well as main series baddie Saw Boss, are represented here in the updated (4") G.I. Joe scale.  I definitely recommend clicking over to this thread on the forum to see these in greater detail...!

From the HissTank.com forum

Wheeled Wednesdays: Let's go ahead and get this out of the way about Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors

Okay, after focusing last week on the greatest contribution of the Wheeled Warriors to 1980s pop culture (that theme song!), today we have to come to terms with some of the fundamental issues of the IP.  It's worth it to talk about these things now, so we can keep them in mind while evaluating aspects of the series and toys, and then set them aside as needed to get closer to fully appreciating the franchise.

Image from Wikipedia

#1 - The cartoon is remarkably disconnected from the toys.

This isn't completely out of line with 1980s standards.  With the onslaught of toy/cartoon one-two punches of the era, there were often discrepancies between the onscreen product and the items found on store shelves, especially if the toys included comics giving a glimpse into the world of the toys.  (See, for example, the early efforts of the Masters of the Universe toyline.)  With that said, there's a special kind of disconnect going on here.

The show is called Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, yet a Jayce figure was never released.  In fact, the figures that came with the toys weren't even given names and were essentially generic soldier-drivers onto which kids could paste whatever background they wanted.  Now, I actually think this is pretty cool.  I had tons of fun with my Wheeled Warriors (despite later trading them for a MASK Switchblade).  It's probably worth noting, though, that my little south Georgia town also didn't even have access to the syndicated show, so the only time I was able to see it (same with MASK, fwiw) is when we visited my grandmother in Florida.  My kid brain definitely conjured whatever version of WTF it was able to grasp when I did finally look through Grandma's TV listings and find this show about a dude named Jayce.

Image from the Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors Wiki

#2 - The cartoon's first episode...and arguably its entire premise...is a mess.

I really look back on the Wheeled Warriors fondly.  I like the idea of playing in that universe, especially in the form given to us by the toys, with a small army of freedom fighters who work to save the galaxy/universe from a cabal of evil plant-brains who are self-aware enough to call themselves the Monster Minds.  And I'd love for that form of the franchise to be tied closely to the cartoon that lots of kids presumably watched in the '80s.  And I've watched the first episode of the show multiple times, wanting to love it each time.

Unfortunately...it just has some issues that are so glaring it's practically impossible to ignore them.

Now...once you get past the first episode, if you just catch up later with where the characters are in their (sort-of) arcs, this isn't much of a problem.  The show is well known for the participation of J. Michael Straczynski in its writing (and world-building?), and that may be why it comes across as so much stronger after that introductory story.  In fact, the last couple of episodes are probably some of the best 1980s toy-cartoon tales I've ever watched.  (Seriously, just find out the basics of the universe and skip to the last couple of episodes if you want to start out enjoying the series...)

But that pilot...oh man...

There's no way I'm going to be able to do justice to this whole topic in one hastily-tapped-out blog post, so I'd like to direct you to some YouTube creators who have delivered excellent looks at the series.  First of all, the channel Secret Galaxy (formerly Toy Galaxy, and arguably the best channel on YouTube) has a really nice overview that you can find here.

Second...and I'll embed these here...the channel RetroBlasting produced a three-part series on the franchise that I would imagine has served as a pretty comprehensive introduction to the IP for many people in the nearly 12 years since its upload.  Let me note...and I'm not completely sure why I feel the need to note this...that I really became aware of the dude in RetroBlasting's pair of hosts when he had a weird online beef with another guy whose Masters of the Universe (and general toy industry) content I liked.  It gave me a weird view of the guy to start with (one that was potentially completely unfair, btw) and has kind of made me assume this fellow's general approach to...everything...is to act annoyed by it.  Well, whether that's the truth or not, that attitude is pretty perfect for looking at the Wheeled Warriors and dissecting the franchise's foibles.  (And either way, these folks know their stuff and make great videos...)

The first episode here is largely a skit (that's actually pretty funny and demonstrates some of the fundamental problems of the IP well).  Part 2 covers the cartoon, and Part 3 hits the toys.  If you think they're worth a bit of your time, I hope you enjoy...!

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I'm still going to game-ify the Wheeled Warriors on here.  Soon.  Just a reminder, I want to be able to make a character sheet for this guy:

Image from eBay

Musical Monday: Seal sings "kissed by a rose on the grey," and my world is falling apart (a little bit)

"Kiss From a Rose" has to be one of the most well-known and well-loved pop songs to be heavily associated with a superhero movie.  Originally released in 1994, its inclusion on the soundtrack to 1995's Batman Forever (not a bad movie btw...something maybe suited for a future post...) is what vaulted it into the public...ear.  And it does work amazingly well with the Batman mythos, since Bruce Wayne's lasting emotional trauma after the death of his parents gives a simple connection to the song's rose on their grave(s).

Except I just found out yesterday that he isn't singing "grave," he's singing "grey."  And I'm not sure how to feel about it.  It seems to be a pretty commonly misheard lyric...I'm definitely not the only one to be shocked by it, and I found at least one person suspecting the Mandela Effect at play.

Which would make sense...I mean, we even see the Waynes' graves, and roses, in the music video, don't we?

Wait...don't we?  Wtf do I remember THAT from?

Hmm.  What else am I going to find out about all of this?

Wait a minute, Val Kilmer died?!

Okay, I'm leaving this and coming back to it...

The last skill list I'll ever need...

...because it'll work for everything!

Fantasy?  Check.

Historical?  Of course.

Modern?  Yup!

Superheroes?  Absolutely!!

TRON-style interprogram conflict within a computer system?  Uh...

Maybe not everything.  I guess.  But I do want to have one that I can apply across most genres I'll be playing...and potentially mixing into the games that sprout from my fantasy heartbreaker.

Well...I wanna create stats for Mutt from the G.I. Joe team, right?  So let me think through this...

The core of the game is D&D Fifth Edition.  It has 18 skills, which were kept identical in the transition from the 2014 to 2024 editions and which are used as-is by the 5e-forked rules of Tales of the Valiant.  They're a solid set for fantasy and in general hit a nice level of broadness (breadth? too weird a word for this use...).  Some of the really specific choices from 3e/3.5 have been absorbed by others, and we're left with a selection of nouns that feel more specific than ability/attribute descriptors, but that all could also be subdivided into more specific tasks.  So...no Use Rope.  They should all stay; here's our base:

• Athletics

-----

• Acrobatics
• Sleight of Hand
• Stealth

-----
• Arcana
• History
• Investigation
• Nature
• Religion

-----
• Animal Handling
• Insight
• Medicine
• Perception
• Survival

-----
• Deception
• Intimidation
• Performance
• Persuasion

And vehicles, FWIW, are treated as Tools, so a different kind of proficiency entirely.

Now, I consulted with a couple of modern takes on 5e to see how they deal with the skill list -- Everyday Heroes and Ultramodern5.  They're both worth looking at!  And since both games are pretty open and have SRDs just a search away, I think it's probably safe to talk about their skill selections pretty...er, openly.

So...both end up with 22 total skills.  Ultramodern5 does this by just adding four more on top of the 5e list: Computer Use, Demolitions, Engineering, and Sciences (all designated for use with Intelligence, although I'm not TOO concerned with that yet, as I think it might be best to just let every skill check have its associated ability determined at the time of the check).  And vehicles, once again, are handled by a proficiency separate from skills.

Image from DriveThruRPG

Everyday Heroes, meanwhile, also has a list of 22 but goes about it in a different way.  For one thing, as you might have imagined I would get to by my mentions of them above, Vehicles is a skill in itself.  The rules also drop Arcana, History, Nature, Religion, and Animal Handling.  Arcana is arguably gone just to fit the modern setting better.  It's also possible that it is simply taken up into the new skill Social Sciences, much as History and Religion must be.  Natural Sciences can then absorb Nature.  (Getting rid of Animal Handling is a little bit of a head-scratcher for me, though.)

Image from DriveThruRPG

The other additions are Endurance, Computers, Mechanics, Security, Arts and Crafts, and Streetwise.  (Oh...and if it matters, Medicine is moved from Wisdom to Intelligence as the standard base ability.  I do like it better with INT...)

As I mentioned above, I want to take the Ultramodern5 route and just keep the basic 18 from 5e, adding on what's necessary.  So, from what I see here...what's necessary?  Both games have a computer skill...that's a good one.  Demolitions?  Nah...I definitely had a phase where I thought Demolitions made sense as a skill, but that just seems so...specific.  It can be a Talent/Aptitude/whatever I end up choosing to call the proficiencies that work kind of like Tools but don't have to be tools.  Same with Security from Everyday Heroes.

I'm fine with just one Sciences skill and letting Nature hang around as a related but not identical set of knowledge that someone may have.  After all, quantum mechanics seems to be at the root of how nature works, but that's not what we mean when we say someone has an understanding of Nature.

Arts and Crafts?  It's broad enough to fit the theme, but just seems...unnecessary.  And do we need Streetwise when we already have Insight, Perception, Survival, and all the skills that describe characters' impact on those around them?  (I don't think so.)

Engineering and Mechanics hit a similar note for the games, and I'm definitely tempted to run with one of those...there is something a bit different about these approaches as compared to the more theoretical angle of the Sciences.  That's a tough one, though...especially since we so often think of the scientists in a story/RPG as the ones who come up with all the gadgets.  I'm leaning no, but with these and Endurance, I could still be convinced either way.

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Alright...uh, drumroll please...?  The WIP skill list for the Monstrous Heartbreaker stands at (and please feel free to check my math on this):

• Athletics

-----

• Acrobatics
• Sleight of Hand
• Stealth

-----
• Arcana

• Computers
• History
• Investigation

• Medicine
• Nature
• Religion

• Sciences

-----
• Animal Handling
• Insight
• Perception
• Survival

-----
• Deception
• Intimidation
• Performance
• Persuasion

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I think it might work.  And I'm definitely up for whatever criticisms you may have to send my way...!

Geeky SKAturday: Some love for Skapara!

For today's Geeky SKAturday, I wanted to look once again at Haruto Suzuki, the first agent known to be a member of the Agents of SKA (Sentinel Khrononaut All-Stars).  He was created/introduced back in February when I tried to highlight how much of an international phenomenon the ska scene is.  And then in March, Haruto got some stats and became the first representative of one of the SKA classes, the Three Minute Hero.

Born in Tokyo in 1981, Haruto has undoubtedly been greatly influenced by the multigenerational champions of Japanese ska, the Tokyo Ska Paradise Ochestra.

Image from TokyTunes

Formed in 1988, the band (often simply called Skapara) have become legendary over their 35+ year history.  They've played on video games, on tokusatsu, and at the Olympics.  Their sound is rooted in ska but influenced by styles from all over the map, and their musicianship is always top-tier.  It just seemed worthwhile to give them a bit of a shout out this week.

This year, they released a "best of" album, but they also continue to drop new singles.  I don't think this week's song of note is previously released, but I could definitely be wrong about that.  And for some reason, the YouTube video seems be blocked from embedding here...BUT, if you'd like to hear the track "Toi Toi," recorded with actor (and singer) Murotsuyoshi (Tsuyoshi Muro), just click here for it...

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I think the track does a pretty good job showing off their technical prowess and skill across genres.  I really wish I could embed it.  And I bet there's a way, and I just don't know it, which bugs me.  The GOOD THING, though, is there's a possibility I like the instrumental version even more (with apologies to Murotsuyoshi), and I CAN embed that one!  I could easily see myself using this in the soundtrack for an Agents of SKA game...

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So...for Haruto Suzuki, I really think I'd like to put together a custom action figure that will let him cross over from my SKA adventures to my POA (People of Adventure)...er, adventures.  I've never ordered from them before (and I think their website could probably be a little easier to navigate), but I'm thinking of grabbing a custom combo from Marauder "Gun-Runners."  This head and body combo looks pretty perfect for Haruto as a Rude Boy.  I can give him a few guns.  And instruments.  And if I can find a 1:18 porkpie hat somewhere, even better!

link

link

Marauder even has some pretty solid G.I. Joe cred after dipping into the Red Shadows faction for their own figures.  I'll definitely post here if I get Haruto put together and skanking...!

All the best on this Fourth of July

It has become a minor Linneman tradition to spend the morning of July 4 on Liberty Island, taking part in the 5k around the statue.

With all the ways that American iconography has been co-opted to represent division, opposition to "outsiders," and denying others the benefits we enjoy simply for being born in the right place at the right time (and if some folks get their way, to the right people), I love that the Statue of Liberty has been a tough symbol to peel away from its representation of a promise made to anyone who sincerely wants to take part in the American Dream^TM.

On the ferry, with Ellis Island in the background

Laura's mom has a true-to-archetype immigrant story, arriving in the United States by way of New York Harbor, being greeted by Lady Liberty and processed through Ellis Island.  I hope we...and future generations...can maintain sight of this as representative of a foundational American value.  The American Experiment^TM has obviously had some pathways in need of course correction, but I thought this was one most of us could agree on.  Unfortunately, I don't hear many self-proclaimed patriots saying "Give me your tired, your poor..." anymore.

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But I can save some of that fretting for another day.  As it pertains to the usual fare of this blog, I should also celebrate the Statue of Liberty's role in this masterpiece of animation...

And here are Mutt and Junkyard enjoying a photo op on her massive left foot:

(I'll let you in on a secret, though.  That isn't really the foot of the Statue of Liberty.

It's a replica in the museum on the island.  I've had my picture taken with it too...)

I'm sure any scaling issues are...a perspective thing...

Hmm.

Anyway, happy Fourth, everyone!  I think I'll bring more Mutt and Junkyard to the blog this upcoming week.  Enjoy your weekend!

Wheeled Wednesdays: The start of something big(!)

I've actually done...eh, okay...in keeping up with occasional Geeky SKAturday and Meta Monday posts on here.  So...clearly...it's time for me to push my luck and start another series that will bring some consistency to the content found on Monstrous Matters.  My reasoning goes something like this:

1. At the moment, I am mildly fascinated by the 1985 toyline Wheeled Warriors, as well as the lore presented in its associated cartoon (which was profoundly disconnected from the toys themselves), Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.  (Looking for a Jayce figure?  Save the effort...there wasn't one!)

2. The alliteration in "Wheeled Warriors" is pleasing to the ear.  Both words start with W.

3. Wednesday, which occurs in the middle of every week, also starts with W.

4. That's just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Image from the Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors Wiki

So, as I work through this temporary obsession, I shall share thoughts related to the IP that I think are worth talking about.  On Wednesdays.  (Those are the Wheeled Wednesdays.)  In general, I really do believe this is a bit of nostalgia worth talking about.  And while there's a wiki, the toys and cartoon don't even have a permanent home on Reddit as far as I can tell.  Criminal.

When I was a kid, I cycled through these phases of intense interest in one topic or another, much as I still do as someone well into adulthood.  The focus was often a specific toyline, maybe with an accompanying cartoon, and I may or may not have even maintained the interest long enough to acquire any merchandise connected to it (so much depended upon the timing of my obsessions relative to my birthday or Christmas, y'know?).

Wheeled Warriors was one that lasted for a while, though.  I even "created" my own knockoff IP, "Wheeled Battlers," and wrote a little book about them for a third grade assignment.  And then in fourth grade...maybe for another school assignment(?)...I remember drawing a cereal box that had a Wheeled Battlers tie-in.  Crossing over school years is pretty big for one of my toy obsessions that wasn't among the pillars of my childhood (G.I. Joe, Star Wars, superheroes, Masters of the Universe, maybe MASK...?).  I even had three of the vehicles, although I'm not 100% certain which ones I had.  (Other than Saw Boss.  I'm pretty sure I had Saw Boss.)  BUT...I ended up trading all three of them to my cousin Leighton for a MASK Switchblade.  No regrets.

But I have to admit, it'd be pretty cool to still have those.

Image from the identification guide at Wheeljack's Lab

I'll keep things simple today.  If you look around for modern takes on the Wheeled Warriors, one constant reaction you'll find is that the cartoon's theme song absolutely rocks...literally and metaphorically.  It is, as the kids have said for probably decades at this point, a certified banger.  You'd better prepare yourself for this...

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Obviously I'm going to do my best to take these nostalgic (and quasi-nostalgic) reflections to the next level of nerddom by wrapping them up into gaming.  I'm not sure exactly what form that will all take, but I'm pretty sure it means I need to figure out how to make a character sheet for the guy the arrow's pointing at...

Image from eBay

My third season of competition in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

(Hopefully, that title is unambiguous enough that no one will be tricked into clicking into this post without knowing exactly what they're getting into...)

This post is about my third season of competition in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket (once more for emphasis), the mobile simplification of the IRL TCG that's been hugely popular since it came out last October.  I previously wrote about my journeys through the first two competitive seasons:  For the season designated A2b, my summary is here, and the season A3 recap can be found here.  As long as I'm trying to climb the ladder, I'm going to post about it here on Monstrous Matters for the few who might stumble upon it and take some interest.  There is definitely a chance that this will be the last entry for a little while; after hitting the Master Ball rank a third time, I now have enough emblems to fill in all three slots we're allotted to show off on our account...

Charizard's replacement with another Master Ball logo will definitely prove my dedication to the game!

...and honestly, it probably wouldn't be bad for me to force myself to just not worry about being "successful" in this quest for a little while.  As I've hinted at previously, I'm not really sure why I'm so driven to get to that that top level (especially since it isn't really the top level, as that would be those who place highly enough to earn numerical rankings)...and it probably occupies more of my mental space than it should when I'm in the midst of the grind.  BUT...the new season (that started last Friday, after the new set dropped on Thursday) has already tempted me to get in a handful of games.  A generous handful of games.  It's my worst start yet, so the smart move at this point would be to let it rest this month.  I guess that means I'm probably in it for the long haul...

SO...season A3a!  Going into last month's matches, it didn't seem as clear where the biggest forces shaping the new format would come from.  There weren't any individual cards that were going to so obviously boost or burden popular strategies as the two high-impact entries from the last set (all individual card images are from Game8).

The focus of season A3a's new set ("Extradimensional Crisis") is the group of Pokémon known Ultra Beasts.  These visitors from beyond our concepts of time and space are actually kind of cool; I've always thought they had some Lovecraftian implications surrounding their appearance.  And for some reason, I've always dug the appearance of the Ultra Beast known as Buzzwole...

Sure enough, a couple of strategies focused on the synergy of Ultra Beasts and their related cards were probably the biggest additions to the metagame.  Darkness decks based on poison and Guzzlord as a finisher saw some success, and Grass decks running Buzzwole ex were pretty much at the top of the meta at one point.  And they all made use of Celesteela to cheat on the cost of moving Pokémon into and out of the active spot every turn.

As with the first two seasons, I jumped around with the decks I played, giving up way too soon on some that were generally strong but happened to hand me some bad luck for a few games straight.  And as with both of the earlier seasons, somewhere around the time it looked like I was doomed to endlessly spin my wheels on the treadmill of the ranked ladder (yes, I do realize that just one of those...spinning wheels or a treadmill...would do the trick...), I somehow "locked in" with a specific deck and was able to hit Master Ball.

The key for me was finally embracing the hard-hitting Stage 1 Pokémon Silvally, especially in combination with the even harder-hitting Stage 2 dinosaur Rampardos...

To make sure I'm in "full disclosure" mode here: I did not have a good record for the season overall (166-174-4).  But looking back over the portions of the run that I kept track of...which may have included all of the games I played pairing Silvally with a Fossil Pokémon...the results were pretty solid for those pairings (58.5% win rate with Aerodactyl and 66.0% with Rampardos).  I probably would have been smart to stick it out a little longer through some of the runs of bad luck I had with them (Rampardos especially) so that I didn't have to "rediscover" the deck in order to hit my goal.

But, I mean...there's always next season.  For good or ill, it's always around the corner...

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And now, of course, it's time to give RPG stats to a 'mon based on its TCG card.  Silvally and its pre-evolution Type: Null (yeah that's its name) are honestly pretty cool creations.  I don't know a ton about their lore, but as synthetic creatures designed with the express goal of battling the Ultra Beasts, they seem to be used as vehicles to explore some potentially interesting themes like trust and free will.  At some point I'll have to take a little time to learn more about them and their crazy Frankensteinian anatomy.  For now, I'll just whip up a simple take on Type: Null...

Type: Null

HD 2 (8 HP), AC 12

Type: Colorless

Weakness: Fighting

Attack: Quick Blow +4 (1d6 damage)

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The fantasy heartbreaker rolls on: Drafting a Thief class

Image from the Forgotten Realms Wiki

Listening to the Pomps' "World Full of Traps" this past weekend eased me into thinking about how a Rogue should be set up in this fantasy heartbreaker I'm currently dedicating my heart and soul to (eh, more or less). This is, of course, the skill class...the one that became an Expert in the True20 system and a Specialist in Lamentations of the Flame Princess.  So I have to really start working out the answer to two big questions if I'm going to make any progress:

1. Do I want a general "skill user" class, or one that maintains the old school Thief flavor?

...and probably more importantly...

2. How the heck are skills even gonna work in this game?

For the first...as I noted on Saturday, I really think I want to go with a Thief in both style and name.  I like the idea of the class having an explicit connection to previous editions of D&D.  Calling it The Thief will certainly do that, as will giving it some of the classic Thief/Rogue abilities...the climbing and the listening and the backstabbing and the Thieves' Canting.  I'm fine with having some sort of Expert class as well...and in fact, that almost seems like it will eventually become a necessity.  BUT...I don't think it makes sense to have a character that's an expert in...well, pretty much any random skills that aren't related to thievery...and then carry on with, "Oh, yeah, and they're good at sneaking around and killing people from behind.  Just because."

So, for now at least, a Thief it is...

That second question is one that's surely going to take more actual play to determine if I'm moving in the right direction or not.  This whole Monstrous Heartbreaker is essentially 5e-based, with some quirks in how the modifiers are derived from ability scores -- and in how proficiency is treated -- that will hopefully make it suitable for older editions of D&D as well.  Fifth Edition has an interesting approach to skills in that most of them are REALLY broad...like they almost occupy a space in between the broad application of an ability score and the more specific skills that would be used in something like D6 Star Wars.

I want to build on that and also snag the approach that 5e takes with Tool proficiency...although classifying those proficiencies specifically as "Tools" has always felt a little too limiting for me.  I think the term should be open-ended enough that anything you want to work into a character concept is feasible.  I've been going with the word Talents for now (the name for skills in D6 Star Wars' predecessor, WEG's Ghostbusters).  Having recently realized that Tales of the Valiant uses the term Talent for an aspect of its rules, I may need to rethink that...but there really don't seem to be a lot of great options as synonyms.  I mean, I don't know, I've never had much of a knack for words.  You might say I lack prowess with vocabulary, so obviously I keep consulting a thesaurus to compensate for my lack of aptitude in this area.  But maybe something will come to me.

Oh!  Two other important things to note: (1) As in 5e, Expertise will denote a higher level of capability in a skill, and (2) The rules are going to be very clear in how to handle situations where both a broad Skill and a Talent (or whatever) apply.  This seems like it is bound to happen a lot, and it's another spot where 5e has just never felt quite right to me.

So, anyway, here's what I've got so far...

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The Thief

Art by David A. Trampier from the 1e Player's Handbook

Hit Die: d8

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor
Weapons: Simple weapons, swords, hand crossbows

Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma
Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Perception, Sleight of Hand, Stealth

Talents: Climbing, Lockpicking

To represent your experience up until Level 1, choose one additional Skill and one additional Talent; you gain those proficiencies.

Equipment

Begin with a set of campaign-appropriate equipment (per DM). This should definitely include what are usually known as “thieves’ tools,” which include lockpicks and instruments used to disable traps.

Thieves’ Cant

At Level 1, you are able to read, write, and speak in the heavily coded jargon known as Thieves’ Cant.

Backstab

Beginning at 1st level, you are exceptionally good at harming an unsuspecting foe. When you make an attack at an enemy’s back, and the target is is unprepared to be attacked from behind, you get a +1 Class Bonus to the attack roll and a +1d6 Class Bonus to any damage dealt. These bonuses go up to +3 / +2d6 at Level 3 and +5 / +3d6 at Level 5.

And do you really consider yourself a thief...?

At Level 2, you determine which of the many capabilities of the Thief you will take on as your specialty. This decision will file you into one of the following less-broad categories within the broad Thief class. However…I mean, hey, being called a Thief doesn’t even mean you’re actually a thief (just that you’re good at thief things), so being called one of these doesn’t define you as a character, either. (Unless you want it to...)

•  Assassin – You gain proficiency with the Talent Poisons and an extra 10% chance of achieving a critical hit. (For example, if a weapon normally provides a critical hit on a 20 only, you score one on an 18-20 instead.)

•  Burglar – You gain proficiency in Investigation; you also gain expertise in Stealth and the Talents Climbing and Lockpicking.

•  Cutpurse – You gain proficiency in Deception and the Talent Picking Pockets; you also gain expertise in Sleight of Hand and Stealth.

•  Scam Artist – You gain proficiency in Deception, Intimidation, Performance, and Persuasion 

•  Scout – You gain proficiency in Survival and the Talent Finding/Disarming Traps; you also gain expertise in Athletics and Perception.

Move Like Lightning

Starting at 3rd level, whenever you make a Dexterity saving throw, you only fail on a roll of natural 1.

Ability Score Increase

When you reach 4th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1.

Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. Only the first of these can be used to Backstab, as you will no longer have the element of surprise with your second attack.

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