Category: GM

DINOSAUR ISLAND – A Twilight: 2000 Campaign Expansion

In the shadow of a forgotten war, something older stirs…

South of the Pacific dead zones lies Isla Virelia, off the maps, out of history, and teeming with Cold War secrets. Bombed, abandoned, and overgrown, this classified Soviet research site now hosts something terrifying: dinosaurs. Real, living, hunting dinosaurs. Remnants of the Jurassic and Triassic, here to hunt you down.

Your squad isn’t here by accident. Whether you’re the first team in, a rescue unit, or hired guns sent to steal raptor eggs for a biotech firm, one thing’s certain, you’re not at the top of the food chain.

Inside you’ll find:

Tactical campaign arcs: First In, Search & Rescue, Capture & Cull

– Fully-statted dinosaur profiles and action tables
– Hex-crawl rules, weather hazards, and encounter generators
– New gear: tranq rifles, elephant guns..
– Merc teams, corporate rivals, and apex predators

Dinosaur Island is a survival horror sandbox for Twilight: 2000 4e, where the past never died… it just adapted.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/528890/dinosaur-island-rebirth-jurassic-remnants-to-challenge-your-players

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Twilight Tangents 2.0 – ZOMBI

So, we decided to change some things.

  1. Twilight Tangents is by far our best selling book. People just love zombies in Twilight: 2000. It’s probably been tempered by the release of The Walking Dead but it’s still a solid seller.
  2. I had a load of writing for Zombi stuff that I wanted to use but it seemed out of place in with the psychic powers stuff.
  3. Twilight Tangents is also my oldest supplement by a country mile. It was the first thing I put together for the Free League Workshop so its update was well overdue. I mean it’s been up there for about four years!

We’re splitting Twilight Tangents into two separate books – so if you previously got it you won’t lose access to anything Zombi-like or even the rules for Psychic Abilities. You’re getting the Twilight Tangents upgraded Zombi content for free and retaining all of the previous book.

Twilight Tangents: Zombi warps the cold realism of Twilight: 2000 into a fungal nightmare of paranoid aggression, plague-scarred survivors, and walking corpses born not of mysticism, but bioweapons. Set in a world where Agent INFERNO, an engineered mould, has twisted fear into fury and death into zombification, players navigate a crumbling civilisation where trust is deadlier than bullets and infection is only a breath away.

This sourcebook reimagines the apocalypse with horrifying biological plausibility: zombis driven by neural-hyphae infestations, panicked survivors clutching to faith, violence, or denial, and institutions turning to the dead as weapons of control. It’s not survival horror. It’s a war against your own instincts, played out across ruined cities, quarantined zones, and overrun compounds. With new campaign options, adversaries, factions, life paths, and grim narrative hooks, Zombi doesn’t ask if you’ll survive, only how much of your humanity you’ll lose before the end.

We will be following this up later this year with two new books. Twilight Tangents: Espers and Twilight Tangents: Lycanthropes. I’ve not started writing them yet but the summer is coming up and I’ll have plenty of time to put stuff together.
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Twilight Tangents: Espers

The Mind Is a Weapon – But Who Pulled the Trigger?

Twilight Tangents: Espers tears back the veil on a secret war fought not with bullets, but with thoughts sharp enough to kill. Born from classified experiments and the shattered psy-ops of The 23rd Letter, these are the invisible soldiers of the Twilight War; remote viewers, psychic assassins, telepaths embedded in command bunkers, and precognitive assets burned out before their twentieth birthday.

The Twilight War didn’t just scorch the Earth. It ruptured the human psyche. This supplement brings full psychic warfare to Twilight: 2000 4th Edition, revealing how nations cultivated Espers to manipulate battlefields, undermine leadership, and rewrite reality one mind at a time. Players step into a world of neural blacksites, psionic backlash, mental conditioning, and conspiracies so deep they were never meant to be remembered.

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Twilight Tangents: Lycanthrope

We didn’t create them. We just stopped giving them a reason to hide.

In the smoke and chaos of the Twilight War, something older than humanity emerged from the forests, the mountains, and the ruins. Not a bioweapon. Not a myth. Something that had always been there, watching. Waiting.

Twilight Tangents: Lycanthrope is a savage expansion for Twilight: 2000 4th Edition, introducing werewolves not as fairy tale monsters, but as apex predators whose packs have turned warzones into hunting grounds. These aren’t cursed peasants or Hollywood beasts. They are strategic, feral, and organized and they remember what humanity has forgotten: how to stalk, how to kill, and how to survive.

From black-ops werewolf handling units to insurgent packs tearing through the last enclaves of civilisation, this sourcebook explores lycanthropy as a battlefield reality. Inside: new lifepaths, rules for transformation, hunting instincts, and feral politics. The beasts are real. And they’re not hiding anymore.

New books!

We released two books this month.

PERMAFROST for Twilight 2000. – the horrors of the nuclear winter d66 Horrid Things in an Abandoned Storage Unit
Permafrost is a battlefield where the cold itself is the deadliest enemy. In a world stripped of sunlight and warmth, survival is a desperate dance with the elements. Every step leaves a trail in the snow that can lead to rescue or betrayal. Soldiers fight not just the enemy but the creeping numbness in their fingers, the exhaustion that sinks into bones, and the isolation that whispers doubts into every sleepless night.

In this frozen world, every choice matters. The line between survival and surrender is as thin as the ice beneath your feet. Trust is a luxury. Supplies are lifelines. Every day the wind grows stronger, the silence deeper, and the darkness colder. This is the world of Permafrost, where the cold always wins.

 In this system-neutral supplement, you’ll find:

  • 66 meticulously unnerving items, from taxidermy mistakes and coded journals to whispering hearing horns and boxes of cadaver teeth.
  • Creeping lore that unfolds across entries—clues, contradictions, and recurring figures like the forgotten doctor J.H.T.
  • In-world artifacts, notes, and final confessions that suggest something in the unit is waking.
  • A perfect resource for horror RPGs, investigative campaigns, or unsettling one-shots.
Discount Link Discount Link

New Year Game: Star Trek Adventures in the 2270s

The premise for this game is the post Star Trek the Motion Picture era, but before 2278 when the new red uniforms arrived. Starfleet and the Federation are mid-transition to the militaristic 2280s and resumption of the hot war which results in the conflicts around Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

The basis for the game is the new 2nd Edition of Star Trek Adventures which has simplified and streamlined a lot.

The game will be run face-to-face at the WARS club in Floriana, Malta. I’ve got a couple of Trekkers already interested, which is cool, though how they will react to the era is interesting. It’s set after Discovery and Strange New Worlds, after the Original Series and in the aftermath of the Motion Picture.

In this timeline, V’GER continues on it’s evolution through the galaxy but returns many of the beings it “stored” before departing. The space station, Epsilon IX, is returned to it’s previous location but there are unforeseen changes. Commander Branch will be recalled to Starfleet and a new command crew will be sent out. These will be the PCs.

Much later in the timeline, Epsilon IX is the location of a secret science project in 2369.

The Crossing

The Wanderer rocked violently, a fragile speck in the vast, storm-beaten waters. Spicer, the captain, stood barefoot at the helm, his wiry frame braced against the ship’s shuddering frame as waves slapped mercilessly at the hull. A deep-set grin carved into his face despite the danger, he looked more at ease here, at the edge of disaster, than he would lounging in a courtly bed.
“Wizards,” he muttered under his breath, eyeing his three passengers who clung to the mast in various states of distress. “Fools, more like.”
Makaira, the once-was court wizard, clutched the tail of a line in a white-knuckled grip, his cloak pulled tight against the biting spray of seawater. He had wrapped this line three times around his waist. He was a tall, fussy man, ill-suited to the hard edges of the Wanderer and already regretting every boast he’d made. “I tell you,” he had declared to King Frey, “I shall find a dragon, speak with it, perhaps even bend its will to serve you.” And now, barely a day out of Saaland, he feared it would be the waves he’d bow to instead.
Beside him, Joy—a newly appointed wizard who had only recently left the comforts of her study—wavered on her feet, clinging to the mast with one hand and her hat with the other. The wind had whipped her dark hair into a frenzy, and her face was pale, her eyes darting between Spicer and the horizon, as if uncertain which held more danger.
And then there was Shei, a bard whose life of small misdeeds and worse luck had somehow landed him on this ill-advised voyage. Lounging near the prow, he had hooked a leg under a plank, securing his weight. Even as waves broke over the sides, he hummed with a half-hearted bravado, masking his own unease with a forced grin.
“We’ll be fine, Makaira,” he said, though his voice shook. “Spicer knows these waters, don’t you, Captain?”
Spicer chuckled darkly, his eyes fixed on the storm-laden sky. “Know of them, aye. But that don’t mean they’re kind. The Crescent Isle’s just beyond this fury,” he added, as if that knowledge alone would steady the groaning timbers of his ship.
Makaira shifted uneasily, his pride deflating with every lurch of the boat. “You assured me this crossing was… challenging, but manageable. I had no notion it was—”
“I didn’t reckon you’d care to know just how many bones lie beneath this stretch.” Spicer’s gaze was unforgiving. “These waters don’t welcome travelers lightly, wizard.”
As if summoned by his words, the waves grew fiercer, rolling over the Wanderer and crashing against the deck. Joy lost her grip and stumbled forward, barely catching herself before falling overboard. Shei lunged, grabbing her arm with a quickness that betrayed his deftness.
“We’ve made it too far to drown here,” Shei muttered, helping her steady herself. “And Makaira’s got dragons to charm, remember?”
Joy gave him a weak smile. “If we make it to the Crescent Isle in one piece, it’ll be a miracle, let alone finding a dragon.”
Spicer’s laughter cut through the howling wind. “If dragons hear you coming, they’ll laugh just as hard, I’ll wager.” He pointed to the horizon, where a shadowed line of cliffs was barely visible through the mist. “There it is—the Crescent Isle.”
Makaira’s eyes brightened. “At last! There, do you see it?” But his excitement faded as the waves grew more chaotic, as if some unseen force stirred them into a frenzy. “Captain, are we safe to approach?”
“Safe?” Spicer snorted. “No one’s ever ‘safe’ here, wizard. The Crescent Isle’s got a hunger for men and ships alike.” He glanced at Shei, who had gone back to picking his fingernails, his expression tight. “Shei, best play a tune for luck, if you know one.”
Shei shook his head but began to sing, the faltering notes wavering over the chaos of the sea. Makaira muttered incantations under his breath, his fingers tracing symbols in the air. The wind shifted, and for a brief moment, the storm seemed to calm.
But then, as if mocking their efforts, a monstrous wave rose, its peak foaming with rage. It crashed into the Wanderer, sending Joy tumbling and nearly knocking Makaira from his seat, though the line held fast. Shei was drenched, the notes silenced, and even Spicer looked grim as he fought to keep the boat on course.
Makaira clung to his staff, his eyes wild. “Can’t you do something, Captain?”
“Against the sea?” Spicer barked a laugh, though his knuckles whitened on the wheel. “Not even your dragons could tame these waters.”
As if in response, the shadow of a cliff loomed closer, jagged and unforgiving. Crescent Isle had them in its grip, pulling them forward with an invisible hand. And then, as they drew near, the waters abruptly stilled, the fury of the storm falling away into an eerie calm.
Joy looked up, her face pale. “Did… did we make it?”
The Wanderer drifted forward, its timbers creaking in the silence. The air was thick, almost oppressive, and the island loomed ahead, dark and foreboding. On the shore, shadows shifted, half-seen shapes flitting between the twisted trees.
Makaira’s voice was barely a whisper. “This is… Crescent Isle.” He shivered, feeling the weight of the island’s silent watchfulness. “Captain, I… I thought there would be… people.”
“People?” Spicer’s grin returned, sharper than before. “This isn’t Saaland, wizard. The Crescent Isle’s folk don’t welcome strangers. You wanted dragons, did you not?”
Makaira’s bravado faltered, his gaze flicking to Joy and Shei, both as uneasy as he was. But he forced himself to nod. “Yes. We’ve come to parley with dragons. To serve the King.”
Spicer’s laugh was hollow, echoing over the silent waters. “Then you’d best be prepared, wizard. For the Crescent Isle holds no love for fools, nor for those who seek to stir its ancient spirits. Remember,” he said, as they began their slow approach to the shadowed shore, “dragons don’t bargain. They devour.”
The Wanderer drifted closer to the land, the shadows deepening, and the ship slipped silently into the protected lagoon of the Crescent Isle. The air thickened with a silence that held not just menace, but an ancient promise of ruin for those foolish enough to seek what should never be disturbed.
Spicer set an anchor and then collapsed onto a pile of nets. “Now we wait,” he warned, “No-one sets foot on this Isle without invitation.” The other three peered at the silhouette of the land before them and there was no-one to be seen.

New Release: Through The Silver Gate – a new alt-campaign for Twilight 2000

Through the Silver Gate is a new alt-campaign for Twilight 2000 cementing it as a flexible and practical modern task and combat resolution system.
It sits alongside Here Be Dragons and The Gloom as possible alt-campaigns for T2K on the premise of “what if it wasn’t the Soviets….”
This means it’s perfectly possible to play T2K and not be as concerned with the current situation in the world.

So, saddle up, grab your packs and get to the front line. The Orcs have all but taken Virginia and are moving North. Tales of Dragons flying over the Appalachians and a large silver sphere has materialised on the front lawn of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Let’s take the fight to them!

This book contains:

  • A new set of extradimensional enemies (Orcs, Goblins, ….and Elves…kinda)
  • A dual purpose campaign of resisting or invading the alien world
  • A whole new magic system, based on Fantasy Magic
  • A tie-in to future books about Dimensions

This is particularly inspired by a few sources including

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Janissaries, by Jerry Pournelle
Cannibal Halfling: The Forbidden Stairs
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
The Long Stair, a very long thread on RPGnet.

You might see some other influences from the Del Toro movie Cronos, to TORG.

Discussion

One of the issues I’ve seen raised repeatedly is the current state of the world. That Twilight 2000 represents something a little too close to reality with the current conflict in Ukraine. It’s kinda hard for some of us (old, aged, seasoned) GenX to fully understand as we grew up in the shadow of constant potential nuclear devastation from the USSR in the height of the Cold War. That’s when Twilight 2000 was birthed, in the state of existential worry.

But things are different now. People are more informed, possibly better informed, but certainly more. However there’s never been more uncertainty in the world.

This is the result of masticating this idea, in conjunction with others, on how to use a modern, tactical ruleset without the potential triggers it might cause. And this was born the idea of Twilight Dimensions or, in other words, alt-campaigns for Twilight 2000.

GDQW did this first with MERC 2000, where they took away the apocalypse and made the game more about mercenaries in a more milsimmy-way. But I’m more interested in other things. Like what if there was an interdimensional invasion? Or what if the minions of Cthulhu rose up and took over the world. And this book is a part of that.

Tales of Distant Lands Playtest: Group 2, Session 2 – AP

Once she was sure that everyone was asleep, Joy crept from her stuffed straw pallet and slipped out of the room. She was sure no-one would have heard her move because of the constant put-put-put from Makaira’s snoring. But even as she pulled the door closed, she wouldn’t have seen a pair of eyes flick open.

Once outside the room, she muttered some words and felt a flush of joy as the magic coursed in her, and she became invisible to the world, yet fully visible to herself. for not a moment did she consider if her spell had worked, she just was confident in its working.

She padded down the steps towards the open door and stepped out into the night. A cat hissed at her passing and she wondered at the strangeness of those creatures and their keen senses.

From an upper window, Shei gazed out upon the yard, wondering if Joy would be leaving but as nothing came into view, they curled up on the straw and listening to the rhythmic snoring of the older mage, fell back into their nightmare.

Joy could hear the last of the town revellers as she crept along the dirt streets, doing her best to stay in the shadows. One could never be sure if the invisibility was complete and she had seen too many pranks go awry at the Guild when an inexperienced apprentice had forgotten to mask their own shadow as well as their body. Joy would make no such mistake; she had practiced the art of invisibility for slipping off into the woods and watching nature for hours on end.

Finally she arrived at the strange fish-shrine in the town. Someone had left two burning candles there, to the fish-effigy was wreathed in an ethereal flickering light. The trapdoor was still secured.

Outside, across the square, one of the many porthole taverns were closing their trade. Porthole taverns represented the roughest of places – where the clientele wasn’t even trusted to enter the hearth but instead were passed drinks through a small window. She crept closer, careful not to disturb any stones and then she spotted the three unpleasant men she’d spoken to earlier. One, the ringleader, seemed very much the worse for wear and he coloured the air blue with his language.

All three sloped off into a small cul-de-sac and then parted ways, the leader shuffling into a one room shack. As she peered in the window, she could smell only man sweat and fish work and all she could see was a lone table and chair, a poorly tended fireplace with a pot hanging above it and poking out of a dark alcove, two grubby feet.

She debated whether to investigate further but was wary – these were rough people “of the knife” it was said. Feeling slightly defeated she returned to her lodgings and crept back inside.

As she opened the door to their room, she heard Shei hiss “and where have you been”

Shei questioned her at length, knowing the dangers of snooping around at night, and berated her for carelessness and how they’d be sick with worry if she did not return. Makaira made a loud snort that seemed to indicate he was still asleep but then he spoke “Do I have to lock fast your jaws to make you stop wittering through the night?”

Joy related her journey to them both and Makaira surprised her by standing up and starting to dress. Even moreso when he did not put on his ceremonial garb that he went everywhere with. Makaira was not the sort of Wizard to be seen about town so unadorned yet here he was, beard and hair uncombed, ready to step out into the night.

The three made their way in darkness, not bothering with invisibility or any form of camouflage until they arrived at the Shrine. It was now Deepnight and it seemed that anything that had occurred here had long since departed. The candles were burned down to their wicks.

Makaira nudged Shei towards the locked trapdoor and Shei, taking the meaning, obliged. The lock was simple, only two tumblers, and Shei picked it expertly but the mechanism wouldn’t release. “It’s held fast by magic”. Joy wondered at the implications of this when Makaira stood to his full height and uttered a single word “Haba”, which means Raze in the True Speech. Instantly the trapdoor itself was rendered to splinters which hung in the air for a moment as if surprised, and then fell into the darkness of whatever was below the door.

Clicking his fingers, Makaira summoned a magelight which he tossed into the blackness and then stepped into the hole.

Below, lit by the eerie magelight, was a small pontoon at the end of a long cave. There was some evidence it had been used due to the marks of feet on the greenish slime so common to caves and harbours but there was nothing else to be seen. The cavern waters carried the smell of the sea and they all surmised this must lead to some secluded opening on the coast. Joy recognised this a s smugglers hole, not uncommon when folks wanted to avoid taxes or move good unseen.

With nothing else to be gleaned here, they climbed out of the hole. Shei expressed some concern at the trapdoor which lay in fragments, but Makaira ignored them and bade Joy to lead them to the ringleader.

In this odorous little shack, standing above it’s owner, Makaira spoke quietly into the darkness. Both Joy and Shei recognised some of the words. Shei saw them form as certain musical notes which they had used many times in attempts to sway the minds of others. A reminder of the kinship between magic and song.

With his mind utterly enslaved, the ringleader confessed all. He was part of a clandestine gang who were moving people in and out of the lands unseen. He personally was responsible for the deaths of at least six people. Their motives were partly about money but there was a revolutionary aspect to it that left Makaira very uncomfortable. He sent the man back to sleep with no memory and then the three returned to their lodgings.

Rising fashionably late, they decided to inform the wizard Alaric of the goings-on. He again displayed considerable prepared relaxation but promised them he would take action. Uncertain of his sincerity, they made their way down to the port to find the ship they awaited.

The Wanderer was a sleek vessel, narrow of beam but quick on the wind. It’s master, Spicer, was a lean Osslan who inspired confidence and strength. He agreed to their haggling for the trip to round the top of Saaland and out to the West.

As they loaded their belongings aboard the Wanderer, Joy spotted a commotion in the square. A large crowd was gathered. Spying through the eyes of a seabird, she saw the ringleader being hoisted to a pillory. The Wizard Alaric must have made good on his promise. The Wanderer slipped it’s moorings and headed East out into the open sea before turning Northeast. After a day at sea, it rounded the northern horn and set a course due West for Alben.

Spicer took great delight in teaching anyone who would listen about the sails and lines. Makaira spend most of his time in silent meditation with only the occasional snore but Shei and Joy were quick to follow instructions and soon were able to tack and steer without supervision.

Alben came into view a day later, a town brightly lit by greenish magelight. It was clear the place was wealthy, maintained by the lucrative Ironworks in the region. The Wanderer slipped quietly into the dock with Shei and Joy securing her to the harbour wall and Spicer off to unload cargo and collect supplies for the next leg of the journey.

Here Be Dragons – a new enemy for Twilight 2000

Here Be Dragons – A new Enemy for Twilight 2000
[Scenario][Game Aid][Paid]

Here Be Dragons is a different look at the post-apocalyptic world after a awakening of an ancient enemy brings our civilisation to ruin. This reign of Draconic Rulers brings down a Rain of Fire and destruction by tooth and fang.

Smoke fills the air, the taste of burning is on your tongue and in your nose. Your belly rumbles as you’ve not had enough food these last three days and forever you have one eye on the horizon and one ear listening out for the beat of wings.

On Monday, the 24th of August, 2000, the world ended.

An enemy that had laid dormant for over a thousand years, clawed its way out of deep pits and took to the air. Their time had returned, their world for the taking.
With claw and tooth and fire, they razed entire cities to embers, picked off the thousands who ran and created vast nests in the high places.

The Earth had brought forth Dragons.

Get it at DTRPG

New and Shiny: Enhanced: Super Soldiers in the Twilight War

We just released Enhanced.

This one has been a long time in the making and, due to the amount of art (all done by humans), the most expensive book we have produced to date. Remembering that all of our books are about recouping costs so we can pay more artists!

Enhanced is a supplement for Twilight: 2000 4th Edition.

Enhanced provides a framework for super soldiers in the Twilight War, based on alien particles discovered in the aftermath of the Tunguska Event. From these mutagenic agents, the Americans build heroes at their secret base in Raven Rock and the Soviets build monsters which roam the forests of the Urals.

In the light from a hundred artillery explosions, I could see the rain lashing off Skipper’s helmet as she peered out of our foxhole.
“I can’t see shit”, she spat.
Somewhere out there, among the ruined trees and scarred fields was the Enemy. Cloaked in an unseasonable storm that seemed as if the elements were angrily punching their fists to the air in protest against our intrusions.
A barrage of rounds whizzed above our heads and we ducked reflexively, too late of course. If they had been on target, we wouldn’t have heard them, only felt them as they thudded into us and tumbled turbulently through our slippery innards.
“We’re pinned here. If they have armour…” She didn’t need to finish the sentence. If they had armour, they’d roll those tanks right up over us and we could do nothing about it. What was worse was I knew they had armour, I’d seen the menacing blocky shapes in the fog earlier. I decided not to mention it, fearful of ruining the optimistic mood.
We settled into a sullen silence, just waiting for something to happen because inevitably it would.
Maybe it was an hour, maybe two, when we first heard something, Footsteps. Quiet footsteps.
I hissed “Red?”
A moment later I heard a confidently spoken “Rum!” and a slightly built young woman dropped into our little foxhole. She said her name was Malt.
For the next hour, Malt kept us company. Her humour was infectious, her confidence like a gentle breeze. She made us breathe again, right until we heard the rumbling of heavy machines. Armour, I realised with dread.
Malt stood up, all 160 cm of her, and faced the mechanical monster as it trundled towards us.
“Time to earn my crust.”
She smiled and we were immediately blinded by a baleful light that came from her body. Refracted a million times by raindrops, I could feel the peril from it. The light sliced through the tank, like a hot knife through butter, and the air was rent with screams of dying men and machines.
When our vision returned, she was standing alone and half-melted tanks steamed and stank around us.
“Let’s go!” Malt sang as she skipped forward. Like an elf she raced across the battlefield towards the enemy, When something reared up to spit death, that terrible light would appear once more leaving only smoking ruins.
We hit their trenches like a hammer; Skipper’s uncanny accuracy found its mark every time. I followed, mopping up as we went.
We collapsed into a shelter and wiped the sweat and rain from our faces.
“We just made 100 metres.” Malt grinned.
She stepped back out into the rain and beckoned us.
“We can do a hundred more.”
I strapped my helmet back on and grabbed my weapon just as Malt’s left eyeball exploded and I heard a single shot ring out, showering us in gore and skull fragments. Skipper swore. I was speechless.
Malt’s body fell, in slowed motion, to the bottom of the trench and the chalice of her brain pan started to collect muddy rainwater. We could hear voices now, speaking in short, staccato bursts, in a foreign language. We’d come too far.
“We gotta run,” Skipper shrieked. She leapt to the top of the trench and sprinted back towards our lines. Even through the rain I could see her ducking and diving as fast as her Enhancement would permit! And me, I couldn’t move. I wasn’t as fast as Skipper. Didn’t have Malt’s light to clear the way.
As the voices closed in on me, I remembered a line from a book or movie. I spoke steadily into my radio, giving coordinates as accurately as I could and finished with that line as I called in the artillery.
“Let it rain. Danger close.”

This rule set is compatible with Twilight: 2000 4th Edition, Blade Runner, ExSanguine, De Occulta, The 23rd Letter 3rd Edition and Rise of R’lyeh. It is directly compatible with other Year Zero Engine (Step Dice) games.

2300AD

A recent surge in interest in 2300AD at The Pub has me peering at the BladeRunner RPG as a possible shim to run it. Ditching the promotion and humanity rules of course.

As I tend to run my games a little ‘narratively’, I don’t feel the need to rewrite rules for no reason. I mean, I’m not going to worry about the spaceship rules. I think that owning a space ship is not the desired campaign I’d go for. A colonist campaign would be interesting so I’m telling myself to read Building Better Worlds (the ALIEN RPG supplement) before getting started.

Other than that…it’s really about converting the Kafers. The Kafers would be an interesting addition to the ALIEN universe as well.

So, here’s to another game I’ll plan and not get a chance to run.

KAFERS (YZE-Step)

Kafers have an imposing humanoid presence, standing over two meters tall (and therefore taller than most humans other than Spacers) and are heavily muscled (emphasizing their difference again). Their torso is large, encased in a hard, spiny carapace and their skin elsewhere is tough with short coarse bristles. Their heads are relatively smooth but when their mouths open, revealing multiple structures for biting, manipulation, tearing and shredding, most humans would recoil in horror. Even worse when witnessing them feeding. Kafers are descended from a carnivorous scavenger species and their heads and mouths are designed to feed ‘head first’ into prey carcasses. Their mouthparts are also useful for ‘cleaning’ their entire head of food remnants. Their eyes are deep set with articulated ridges which again have a function in protecting the eyes when a head is plunged into a carcass.

Their hands consist of three opposable thumbs which makes using Kafer tech challenging for humans. Humans think of them as insects (hence the name in German, Kafer = bug) but they’re not remotely related to Earth insects. Probably important that in the Kafer language, they refer to themselves as “Vah”, meaning “the race”.

Kafers by and large are dull creatures, opportunistic and cruel (resembling a hyaena in play). This challenging behaviour is used in their society to make them more alert. When challenged, they release a hormone simlar to adrenaline which causes a change in their intelligence – transforming them into tactical geniuses. They’ll make use of any tactic while stimmed – and their intelligence will remain high for about thirty minutes after the conflict. Some Kafers are smarter than others and quickly are promoted to officer roles. Kafer commanders will often employ a club to beat their squads on the head and back in order to keep them alert and engaged.

Kafer expansion is about territory and access to resources. They can be highly motivated to expand onto garden worlds with indigenous life (things they can eat). They’ll pursue food and play with it, looking for a challenge that will, inadvertently, stim their intelligence. They will be dogged in their pursuit of prey (high Stamina).

Human expansion is coming to the rear of the Kafer territory and Kafers are expanding aggressively in other directions. Kafers have interpreted this as a tactical move by humans (nipping at their hindquarters) and have been enthusiastic to respond in kind. The threat posed by humans has caused a significant uptick in general intelligence among Kafers and a savage response. Retaliations in kind by humans in the French arm have been met and raised tensions accordingly. Observers would suggest that the Kafers have significant appetite for war.

STR d12
Force d8
Hand to Hand d8
Stamina d12
AGI d8
Firearms d8
Mobility d6
Stealth –
INT (d10 for officers or when stimmed)
Recon d6
Survival d6
Tech –
EMP d6
Command d12 (officers)
Medical Aid d6
Persuade –

CUF – or d12 when stimmed.
(natural reaction of unstimmed Kafers is to retreat. But 1d6 turns later, they become much smarter)

Armour: Kafers have Natural Armour of 2 for torso hits.

Kafer Talents:
KILLER
TOUGH

Kafer weapons:

Vved Ush ‘pistol’ – a heavy revolver with automatic fire
– ROF 3, Damage 2, Crit 3, Range 2
Vved Ach ‘rifle’ – with integral grenade launcher
– ROF 3, Damage 3, Crit 3, Range 5
– ROF 1, Damage C, Range 3
Vved kala’ach – a rugged laser rifle with grenade laucher
– ROF 1, Damage 2, Crit 2, Range 10
– ROF 1, Damage C, Range 3

EXCESSION: Session 1

Excession is a new low-to-mid powered superhero game using the Year Zero Engine.

Session 1

Excession is a privately owned non profit organisation that seems to have unlimited money and a private army.

Louis and Jana are two hard chargers for the Excession organisation. Louis is a German-American with a real love of animals and an equal love of his well groomed porn-star moustache. Jana is a matronly experienced soldier with no need to prove herself. They like to get in quick, hit hard and leave the nerds to come in and tidy up. They’re both relaxing in the Ready Room when they feel the whole building, all 19 storeys, shudder. A shadow falls over the building and over the comms there’s the sound of gunfire and panic. Both grab their webbing and weapons and bolt up the stairs as the Evac siren sounds and the office workers begin to spill out of the offices and to the stairwell.

Taking the steps 4 at a time, they arrive at the roof and take cover behind an aircon unit to see a tall (3 metres tall!) silvery armoured figure directing energy weapon fire upon a fire team on the roof. They’re pinned down behind a pipe. The energy weapons fire is coming from a suspended black disc, perhaps 3 metres wide. But above it, in a seeming haze, is the ‘impression’ of a much larger vessel, perhaps cloaked.

Louis bolts for the stairs and leaps over the bannister, plummeting two floors to the upper armoury and grabs a LAW (Light Anti-Tank Weaton) and an AMR (Anti-Material Rifle) and then starts climbing up the stairs again, meanwhile Jana unclips a frag grenade from her webbing and lobs it at the silvery figure. The grenade detonates with seemingly no effect. Arriving back up, Louis hands her the LAW and he cocks the AMR. Both take aim and Louis makes an abdomen hit while the LAW round hits the being in the chest. This seems to stagger the being so they signal for the fire team to depart. One of them isn’t so lucky, Hank gets grabbed by the being and thrown off the roof….

Jana reports this over the comms and luckily there are two Enhanced on their way up. One is codenamed Jade Dragon, a superlative martial artist withthe ability to transmute objects and people to jade. The other is Strobe who has limited control over his personal space time – in effect he can stop time for a few seconds. Strobe hears about the falling Hank and detours to a window, grabbing a firehose as he runs. He shoots out the window and dives out, stopping time as he begins to fall, allowing him to catch up to the plummeting soldier. He grabs him roughly and the hose goes taut, slamming them into the side of the building three floors lower.

Meanwhile Jana and Louis pump more AMR rounds into this thing and lob grenades – which seems to stagger it. It raises a hand and there’s a pause ….and then the black disc rains heat death rays upon the rooftop. Hair singed, they barrel into the stairwell and begin to descent the stairs as quick as they can as the plaster cracks and the glass melts. They’re met by Jade Dragon on his way up who can see that the whole top three floors of the building are going up in smoke. He leaps over the balcony and falls five floors before deftly grabbing a railing and throwing himself to safety.

The vessel, slowly moves off….

Fire marshals and first aiders are checking everyone at their assembly points outside the building and the four, Strobe, Jade Dragon, Jana and Louis are approached by an elderly man, one of the trustees. They know him as Arthur Joyce. He mutters that “They’re back….” and instructs the team to go find Zachery Ackermann. When they ask him how, he says the address is with his secretary…

Switch To:

November 1945. The back of an Army truck. Sergeant Roy James and Corporal Curtis Cox have been seconded to Excession. The third man in the truck is wearing a white suit and they know he’s a Brit by the name of Arthur Joyce who made his name in the SOE during the war. They’re driven to an airfield and put onto a transport plane which flies them to the heart of Kansas. Then two more hours of driving and they find themselves in the middle of a cornfield looking at a furrow caused by a fallen meteor. But this meteor seems to be made out of silvery metal. Joyce orders Corporal Cox to jemmy open the thing and he does while Sergeant James covers with his rifle.

The capsule opens and there’s a rush of strange smelling gases. As the mist clears they see a hairless small baby, white in colour with no nose, looking at them. They tell Joyce it’s just a kid and he suggests they’ll have to deal with it. “After all, it’s an invader”. Corporal Curtis picks it up and as his flesh touches it, the baby shifts colour to his skin colour and develops a human nose and a patch of dark hair on its head. Within seconds it’s indistinguishable from a human child. Joyce again uses his horrible euphemisms about killing and the two soldiers take a stand. They ain’t killing a kid and, heck, even Nazi babies aren’t born evil – they reckon they can raise this kid. Joyce concedes and tells them to get married – if they can find a woman who’d stoop so low. Curtis asks what they’ll call the kid. Joyce interrupts, “Call him Zachery”.

End of session 1.

New Release: CONTRACTORS for Twilight 2000

It’s been a while and a lot of research but also a lot of fun.

CONTRACTORS for Twilight 2000

CONTRACTORS is a supplement for Twilight 2000 4th Edition detailing the operations of private military contractors in the years leading up to the Twilight War. It provides a slightly different backdrop to the game but could be an excellent introduction to the Twilight War for intrepid players who want a little more story before the war.

Build your ex-Special Forces team and then construct your Private Military Company. Choose from more than a dozen mission briefs and get your Merc team out into the world.

New Equipment. New Specialisations. New Rules. Just add Soldiers of Fortune.

The Lost & Found Ghosts – a Doctor Who story

As some of you may know, I write.

And I’ve written a few screenplays in my time. This is a Doctor Who screenplay short I wrote for one of my classmates in theatre school.

It’s a time paradox about a lost item. Just for a bit of fun.

The Lost And Found Ghosts (PDF)

All likenesses are belonging to respective copyright and trademark holders. No challenge is being made. But wouldn’t it be cool to write for Doctor Who, eh? (My style would be a bit darker than people are used to.)

Anyway. It would make a light hearted aside or intro to the Doctor Who RPG.

Return to Jorune

I am in the middle of a writing project (Twilight Invasion, if you must know) but this just means I have extra procrastination for other writing projects. I’ve written about Jorune before. There’s some activity on the Jorune Facebook page for a resurgence into the BRP version but honestly I don’t think I can face rolling a d100 again. It’s too heartbreaking.

From Wikipedia

“Skyrealms of Jorune was based on a science-fantasy background (of the planetary romance subtype) created by Andrew Leker, initially for a school writing assignment. The setting was somewhat comparable to the Barsoom of the John Carter novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, in that it was a barbaric fantasy world populated by sword-wielding heroes who encountered strange alien beings and technologies.”

What appeals with Jorune?

Jorune is a multi-layered tale. Humanity is shipwrecked and orphaned. An indigenous alien, possessed of dangerous quasi-magical species is passive and hostile. Complex narratives on bio-engineering and the sanctity of nature versus colonialism and cultural integration. And an amazing community of creators and Gas who have put together so much more than was originally envisioned.

What’s less appealing with Jorune?

The older rules sets are awful but the real elephant in the room is the status of the intellectual property itself. It’s been handed from pillar to post – the old creators aren’t interested and don’t seem to be friends and it’s languished for decades in a perpetual no-mans land.

Soooo…

So, I figured why not do what I’ve been doing with many of my other games and convert Jorune. Or at least provide a model for it.

Background

I can’t help you much here. There’s plenty of materials out there for learning more about Jorune. You can also still buy the older Jorune rules from Chessex.com which, frankly, I would buy again just to make sure I had a copy. The rules are outdated; the content is gold.

Over a thousand years ago, humans arrived on the planet Jorune and came into contact with the native Shantha. Jorune had had at least one previous colonisation attempt in the past and the Shanthas reacted gracefully. However a civil war on Earth cut off contact with the humans on Jorune and in their panic, they trespassed onto Shanthic sacred lands, sparking off a violent war between humans with advanced Earthtec and Shanthas with their devastating Dyshas. Everyone lost that war and the Shanthas retreated into a seclusion as a dying race.

Jorune is a unique world due to the ambient energy that flows through and around the planet, called Isho. According to the Shanthic religion, each type of Isho has a colour which they associate with the moons of Jorune and with the different capabilities of the Isho forms. Some can be used to hurt, some to heal and some to form shields or create warp gates. The Skyrealms, for which Jorune is most famous, are floating islands which move above the land on currents of Isho, held aloft by naturally occurring crystals which focus the Isho stream into movement. Isho is the fuel for Dyshas and dyshas are strongest in areas with high Isho flow.

The game is set much later when humans have settled into Jorune as their permanent home. Their upper class, the Drenn, are selected from useful citizens who have completed Tothis (a community service). There are three breeds of humans (pure, Muadra and Boccord.) Pure humans can use Earthtec with no issues. Muadra can weave Dyshas and Boccord can interfere with Dyshas.

In essence, there are multiple races, some native, some migrant and some uplifted. Some of them (Shanthas, Crugar, Woffen and Muadra) can weave Dyshas (magic) and some of them can Interfere with Dyshas (those who have that skill are called Hishtins).

System

The system I propose is similar to the SixSimple I’ve posted about before.

Keys and Flaws

Each character chooses 5 Keys. These can be chosen from background prose, written as a list or selected in play. A sixth Key can be chosen if the player decides the character has a flaw. No, it’s not very good game balance but who said things had to be balanced? Each Key is an advantage for the player in resolving conflicts. If choosing the Key in play, you must start with at least one.

Conflicts are abstracted into multiple rounds of a blackjack-type mechanism. The first to reach or exceed 21, wins the round though players are limited in the number of cards they can spend based on what’s in their hand and how many of their Keys they can bring into the conflict.

Unopposed conflicts

If a conflict is unopposed, the Referee may still require spending of cards, needing a target number for success. 7 for easy, 14 for hard, 21 for impossible.

Opposed Conflicts

Opposed conflicts can have the same target numbers, but now you have two characters trying to achieve the target number in the least number of cards.

Making a character

The Keys chosen are important. They determine species, culture, abilities, background, strength and weaknesses, family and resources. You can’t be good at everything and a Referee must be prepared to make ruling on whether a key phrase is too broad or too narrow.

Species: This makes a good Key as it’s really identifiable. It is possible to have species as part of the description but not as a Key. This would mean they don’t get an advantage based on what they are. For example, Woffen have cultural access to a single dysha color but cannot use other colours. This is only available if Woffen is taken as a key. If it isn’t taken as a key it’s assumed this Woffen didn’t choose to study it. Similarly a Bronth character who does not take the Bronth key would be recognisable as a Bronth but would not be able to use it as an advantage.

Example 1:

Drenn Cala Borg is an attractive and imposing woman who achieved Drenn in a relatively short period of time due to the connections of her family. Despite the accusations of nepotism within the Drenn system (which she undoubtedly benefitted from), she is highly capable, fairly skilled with the sword and has access to the family Earthtec cache. She makes friends easily and, possibly as a result of wealth, is generous to a fault.

Cala is a Human, but it’s not a Key. She’s attractive, but it’s not a Key. The words “highly capable> are too vague to be allowed as a Key. Generosity is also not a Key.

Example 2:

Hishtin Ler Mala:

  • Boccord
  • Cerebral
  • Hishtin
  • Reputation as dangerous
  • Strikes fear in the heart of Dyte Punks
  • Good with a spear
  • Gambling Debts

Ler Mala has Boccord (larger human subspecies) as a Key so it can be used when the larger size of the Boccord subspecies is useful. He is Cerebral, proving that he’s not all brawn but implying his intelligence is academic. His key of Hishtin indicates he will have Interference abilities. Having gambling debts asa Key not only means they’re serious but people know about them.

Example 3:

Vacy Desti-Sa
Vacy is a Dyte Punk. (Vacy’s player will pick more when she feels they’re needed in the story).

Vacy can choose Keys later at the Referee’s leisure. She might get into fight and choose the key “Scrapper”. She might need to squeeze into a chimney and chooses the key Contortionist. The keys chosen will indicate the type of character that Vacy’s player wants to play.

Now that you have a baseline for the character, how does the system work?

This system uses Cards for resolution (but these can be changed out for dice if you like). Each player is dealt 5 cards. The remaining cards are left in the centre as the card pool

When trying to achieve something challenging, a single card is selected from the card pool and has a face value. The player may add to this face value but explaining how their Keys help them in this situation. Any number of cards up to the maximum may be used but when used these are lost until the Referee moves to the next scene.

Example 4:
Vacy is angry at Ler Mala and fires a Desti dysha. Her player pulls a card from the pool, getting a 7. Ler Mala’s player pulls a 6 from the pool but not wanting to take a hit, decides to go all in with Hishtin and Strikes Fear into the Heart of Dyte Punks. This allows Ler Mala’s player to select two cards from his hand and add them to the pile. He choose a 4 and a 3 from his hand. They’re low value but they push his score up to 13. Vacy can still win though and adds her Dyte Punk keyphrase card – choosing a 10 from her hand and bringing her score to 17. She wins! She describes how a Desti bolt catches Ler off guard and knocks him off his feet. With no alternative in mind (and feeling a little foolish for being arrogant), Ler Mala takes a Dysha hit and loses 1 card from his hand. He’s down to 2 cards now, while Vacy has 4 in her hand, severely hampering his ability to retaliate. However, as Vacy’s player hasn’t chosen her extra Keyphrases, she’s can’t play her cards this scene unless the Referee allows her to take another keyphrase mid-fight. She watches as Ler Mala clambers to his feet, dusts himself off and inspects the scorch marks on his tunic. Ler Mala shouts “Right, you’re dead” in an attempt to intimidate. He argues his Strikes Fear and Dangerous reputation allow him to use the last two cards, two 8s, in his hand. He pulls a third card from the pool, a 7. This pushes him over the 21 he needs for an absolute success. Vacy is intimidated and decides to run for it….

Flaws are something that can be taken advantage of by other players. They can choose any opposing card which is relevant to their Keys and completely remove one card of their choosing from the deck without having to play a card.

Example 5:
Drenn Cala Borg has an advantage over Ler Mala because she has a Wealth key and he has Gambling Debt. Without playing a card, she can manipulate him and remove one of the cards he has in play without sacrificing a card in her hand. How this is done must be role-played.

Resetting Your Hand

The Referee will let players know when they can refresh their hand from the pool. Injuries still represent a loss of a card from the hand.

Example 6:
At the end of the Scene above, Vacy and Ler Mala are allowed to refresh their hand from the Pool. Vacy is allowed to have all of her cards back, Ler Mala’s hand is still reduced by 1 due to the Desti bolt injury he received. Until he gets that healed, he’s going to be at a disadvantage.

Advancement

There are two tracks for advancement within Jorune: Social and Personal.

Social Advancement comes from gaining Marks which, when they reach a certain level, allow a person to progress from Tauther (the term for someone trying to achieve Tothis) to Drenn. Marks are received by doing services for Drenn and impressing them enough that they will mark the Challisk of the character. In game, Challisk marks can be hoarded until the character completes Tothis and becomes Drenn or they may be spent as social currency. A Mark may be traded for a favour. A Referee has final say on this but it can be used to influence success on a challenge as well.

Example 7:
While she was still Tauther, Cala Borg needed help as she had been tasked with helping remove a stubborn tree by a Drone. She bargained with another farmer, to use his farm animals as lifters. She sacrificed a Mark for this, rationalising that she would get it back but also all of her group would still get their Marks. A net gain for the party.

Personal Advancement comes from receiving 1-2 points for advancement: one for experience and one for role-playing. The roleplaying is based on the assessment of other players. The Referee asks the players: Who roleplayed well? If a player is mentioned, they get a point. The second point, for experience, comes from the Referee asking the players themselves: What have you learned? This can be from successes or mistakes.

When they have the Personal points, they can use them to be improve their chances of success.

  • 10 points will increase the hand of the player by 1.
  • 5 points will allow the selection of a new Key or buy off their Flaw.
  • Personal points can be used in game to allow the player to refresh their hand (1 point = 1 card).

Isho

Isho is a Shanthic concept for life and breath. It’s generated by the planets crystal core (similar to the ferrous magnetic core of Earth). Native species on Jorune use Isho as naturally as breathing but even non-jorunn species can be sensitive to it.

There are seven Colors of Isho in the Shanthic religion.

  • Desti – Red – Isho related to electricity and lightning
  • Du – Orange – Isho related to heat and light
  • Ebba – Yellow – Isho related to force and motion
  • Gobey – Black – Isho related to shields, solidity
  • Launtra – Green – Isho related to healing
  • Shal – Blue – Isho related to minds and nerves
  • Tra – White – Isho related to warps

There are three other abilities which are relevant.

Tra-Sense – possessed by Shanthas, Muadra, Woffen, Crugar and most native species. this is the ability to see Isho ripples – including the shape of the land, the Color of others and perceive the world. Tran sense does not need light and it offers a 360º perception of the world.
Signature – possessed by Shanthas, Boccord and Bronth. This allows the user to see Isho use, including the ripples within an individual. It can tell the user when someone is preparing to use a Dysha, and what the dysha is.
Interference – possessed by Boccord and Humans. This ability allows the user to attempt to unweave any dysha they can perceive.

Shanthas and Muadra have access to all Dyshas. Dyshas are Isho-constructs that use the colour Isho to affect the world. A Desti dysha might be a lightning bolt, a Du dysha could be used to heat soup. Dyshas commonly have three shapes – auras, orbs and bolts.
Crugar have access to Desti bolt dyshas and Woffen have access to Ebba orb dyshas (but only if they have taken the appropriate Key)

A Muadra (with that as their key) has access to any dysha from any Color but that single card draw alone may not be enough for them. To get better at the individual Colors, they have to take them as Keys.

Example 8:
Vacy is a Dyte Punk (a subculture of Muadra society). After a few more gaming sessions, she has chosen the keys Scrapper and Thief (which both reflect her character idea). She wants to get good at Desti and Tra dyshas ands the Referee rationalise that she has found a teacher and is permitted to take them as Keys. She just got a whole lot more dangerous. She can use three cards when using a Desti lightning bolt but also combining Tra means an extra card is used and can literally shoot thorough walls.

Regaining Isho

The advantage of Natural Isho for Shanthas and Muadra is that even after they have exhausted their cards, they may replenish their hand by spending their turn “gathering” Isho. Each turn, they gain one card back. Knowing your enemy is important as the Caji (Shanthic term for a Dysha user) is vulnerable during this time.

Isho Storms
Isho flows across the planet like weather and Isho storms are when a large concentration of Isho pours through a place. Depending on the Color of the storm, this can cause spontaneous dyshas which is dangerous but Muadra (including Caji, Copra and Dytes) have to be careful. During an Isho Storm, the referral may ask the player to make an unopposed challenge on the strength of the storm (usually 21). If the player fails, they and anyone near them (within 10 metres0 take a hit (losing one card from their hand due to injury). This hit can be healed using Launtra auras and orbs. If the storm is still raging an hour later, they make need to make another.

Crystals
Crystals store Isho belonging to one Color. If a Caji has a Desti crystal, they can expend it and get an extra free Pool Draw when using Desti dyshas. Once it’s gone, it has to be recharged.

Watchtower play test reflections

The recent posts about Watchtower were from a one-shot adventure I ran for my son’s gaming group. They’ve been playing (mostly) D&D together regularly for 3-4 years, and it was a good opportunity to test out the rules with a group that had no preconceptions. The players created Talos-class exotics (the middle of the three classes, which is still very powerful). A few things that I learned from this:

* We need to update our skills to reflect the Watchtower world
* Some power stunts are probably too powerful (looking at you, Chronatics)
* Definitely need to write the rules for Prototypes for high tech heroes

However, broadly speaking the system worked as intended, character creation was pretty quick and fun, and the game flowed easily. We’re going to attempt a variant using troupe play, where each of the players creates a trainee (sidekick?) Achilles-class exotic (the lowest class) to be paired with one of the other players, and in this way we get two different Watchtower teams, and the players get to try different powers and power levels.

Watchtower SF: August 4th

Bergs in the Bay!

San Francisco Chronicle

Meteorologists were shocked today when a massive iceberg several miles long appeared off the coast of Marin County, seemingly on a collision course for the Golden Gate Bridge! “This iceberg cannot be a natural occurrence,” said Dr. Karl Limewall, Professor of Climatology at Caltech. “Nothing that large could have traveled from either pole to San Francisco without being spotted.”

Indeed, the Watchtower seemed to agree, dispatching six agents out to the iceberg as soon as it was spotted. It became clear why Windrunner was added to the team recently, as all team members were transported directly through the air rather than via a helicopter as might be more customary. The Chronicle was able to confirm that a combination of extreme digging and strategically placed explosives were able to reduce the iceberg to smaller and more manageable pieces, which were then destroyed or redirected away from the bridge.

Conga-line … of Doom!

San Francisco Examiner, Op. Ed.

Icebergs are one thing, but why is nobody talking about the impromptu parade today that took place in the north of San Francisco? Over 100,000 people “just felt like dancing” and danced all the way up Highway 101 and onto the Golden Gate bridge, completely halting traffic and putting themselves directly into harm’s way. And where was the Watchtower during all this? 110 year old Dr “I’m not a robot” Automaton landed in front of the crowd and shot a few people off into the water, including fellow teammate and old-timer, Captain Crackshot! Seriously, why are our lives in the hands of these geriatrics?

Not that the youngsters were much to be seen, seemingly having to spend all their time flying back and forth to the city to get instructions from the Overmind, Jack Whyte, before blowing up the looming iceberg. Great, happy we didn’t ‘berg the bridge, but are we going to get any answers as to who is controlling the minds of all the so-called Bridge Boogie Brigade? And what is Watchtower doing about it?

Power Outage in Western San Joaquin County

The San Joaquin Valley Sun

Around 800 homes and farms are still without power, following an outage at a local substation earlier this morning. Local officials are working to get power up and running, and they are confident everything will be back to normal within 24 hours. The cause of the outage is being put down to a freak storm, which blew up out of nowhere, dumped a load of rain and lightning and dissipated as quickly as it came. County Sheriff John Watson stated in a press conference earlier today that there was no cause for alarm, and that Watchtower had been alerted as part of standard procedure.

Watchtower SF: some recent headlines

Whyte Buys Watchtower SF

San Francisco Chronicle, July 1st 2022

Jack Whyte, exotic and indestructible billionaire, adds Watchtower SF to his stable of Watchtower franchises. This brings his franchise total to four, starting in 2013 with the NYC franchise, and adding the Twin Cities in ’15 and Miami in ’19. “The San Francisco franchise of the Watchtower has a long history, with many beloved legends on the national and international stage,” said Whyte at press conference today. “I will bring the same level of oversight and investment as at my other franchises, and will work with local law enforcement to help keep the Bay Area and northern California safe from exotic crime.” He was joined at the press conference by several existing Watchtower members, all of whom confirmed they will be staying under the new management. This includes old-timers such as Captain Brian “Crackshot” Thomson, the bulletproof ex-cop; Dr Automaton, the robotic-bodied, long-standing leader of the Watchtower’s primary team; as well as some of the more recent additions like Tyrannus, our first visitor from another galaxy; and the shapeshifting, duplicating Primordial. No other personnel changes were announced. This correspondent hopes that Whyte’s experience, discipline and deep pockets can help prevent another tragedy like we suffered in ’99, when then-Watchtower leader Atomic III turned on the people he was sworn to protect and devastated the downtown area by using a commuter train like a missile. Maybe the new management will finally be able to determine what happened to that team back in the day? Either way, there’s a new sheriff in town.

Tower of Teens?

San Francisco Examiner, July 15th 2022, Op. Ed.

After buying his fourth Watchtower franchise in what is clearly a bid to control the whole company, Jack Whyte today announced that two local teenagers have been added to the roster. One who can control gravity, codenamed Windrunner, and the other who can control time, codenamed Kairos. Seriously, Jack? Are there not enough adult exotics to choose from that you have to employ kids? And do these kids’ parents even know what they are being exposed to? It’s long past time that we introduced laws preventing the exploitation of exotic abilities in people under the age of 21. What’s next, babies who can shoot lasers out of their eyes being used as mobile weapons platforms? The safety of our civilians shouldn’t come at the cost of our youth!