My alter ego joins the fray in IHMN

Red Airship, artist unknown, according to io9

First I saw that Craig and Charles had period alter egos, and then, somewhere along the way, Craig published their stats. (This was over on the Lead Adventure Forum.)

Then, in a series of exchanges, Craig addressed me as both Sir and Captain, even giving me the nickname "Jackanapes."

A character began taking shape in my head. One who is pretty much me, or the me I'd be in my Brass & Blood setting. 

This creative cogitation also led to the birth of a singular vehicle that is a character and a setting in its own right. 

Thus I present to you, me. Sort-of me. Steampunk me, I suppose. 

Allow me to introduce Sir Christopher L. "Jackanapes" Sheets, captain of the Fretful Porpentine. 

The Fretful Porpentine and its captain, 

Sir Christopher L. "Jackanapes" Sheets

The Fretful Porpentine is the first aethercarrier, a gargantuan experimental airbase on a flying platform held aloft by a combination of multiple dirigibles, rampant steamtech, cutting-edge Tesla-based arc technology, Martian lighter-than-air materials and, if rumors are to be believed, some few necessary forms of ritual magick.

In addition to its methods of staying aloft and navigating the skies, the Porpentine has mounted beneath it two cyclopean temporal drive screws, allowing it to alter its position relative to the current history or timeline dominant in the realspace around it. Members of the Watch report that the Porpentine has long been circling above London and is chronally anchored in or around the year 1898. 

It is unknown who commissioned the Porpentine, or when. Its current captain, Sir Christopher Leopold* "Jackanapes" Sheets, is mum on the subject. 

While he continues to answer to the title of captain, Sheets has, since seeing the premiere of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera "The Mikado" in 1885, taken to signing official documents and communiques with the title "Lord High Everything Else." 

While Sheets is the source of the neologism "aethercarrier" to describe the Porpentine, he has expressed regret that the description "quadrigible," which he also coined, never became part of the common parlance.

To comprehend the true size of the Porpentine, consider this: Sheets has boasted that he commands the only known craft that has its own horizon. 

The Fretful Porpentine began as a simple refit-and-repair dock for the various airship crews lucky enough to learn of its existence. The cantina aboard became a popular feature with aircrews and sky pirates, who then let valuable secrets, information and rumors flow out as the rum flowed in.

The cantina does have a name, though few know or notice it. There are no signs on the building’s exterior. Inside, a small plaque is screwed to a supporting post over near the kitchen. It bears the single sentence, “You Meet in a Tavern.”

Since its early days, the Porpentine's features and fittings have grown into a worthy port of call, boasting all the functions of a small town. It provides neutral ground for those visiting it, and it is not uncommon to see sworn enemies drinking and singing together within the confines of the cantina. 

Sheets says his hardest task is finding a suitable command crew, as the unique systems of the Porpentine require, at a minimum, a set of psychically linked quadruplets to handle her navigational demands and a chief engineer capable of repairing technologies not yet invented. 

Sheets claims, by training and heritage, to be an initiate of several mystical and priestly orders. He is, at least, a veteran of several esoteric encounters aboard the Porpentine, though whether his success has been due to some praeternatural skill or sheer luck is a matter of some debate.

Captain Sir Christopher L. "Jackanapes" Sheets
Pluck 5+, FV +0, SV +0, Sp 0, Armor 8, Cost 70
Talents/Powers: Erudite Wit, Inspirational, Leadership +2, Intervention, Bless Person, Bless Weapon
Basic Kit: Faraday Coat, English All-Electric Truncheon, Arc Pistol, Breath Preserver, Monocular Targeting Array

* It should be noted that Sheets' middle name is in a constant state of flux. Usually he reports it as Lee, but it has also been recorded as Leopold, Leonidas, Llewellyn, Ludwig, Lehrer, Latson, Lane, Laurent, Lake, LeFebvre, Loeb, Lyzbet, Lechkov and once, unbelievably, Lickspittle.

*          *          *

I find it a measure of my vanity that the character based on me costs as much as Craig and Charles' characters put together. In my defense, those gentlemen have actual experience with weapons and can shoot and fight just as well as their stats say. I can also shoot and fight just as well as these stats indicate, which is not at all. Thus all the skills designed to keep him alive!

I've already found a miniature to represent the good captain.

It's Isaias Cortez from Anvil Industries, and he's part of their sci-fi Afterlife line. A few modifications ("stick some gears on it") and it'll be right as rain. That ocular implant around his left eye is going to become an eyepatch (the good captain's monocular targeting array sits in his eye socket, under his patch, which he flips up when he's in combat. It's been linked directly to his optic nerve through a horrible surgical process which he prefers not to discuss, thank you very much.)

Some of this figure's cybertech on the back of his head will get smoothed or painted over. And that big gun in his right hand is going to become a just-for-looks grappling gun. Or maybe not just for looks. Of course, new gear would alter the good captain's cost. Hmmmm. Are there rules in IHMN for grappling guns? We did hash out those net gun rules that Craig said he'd likely put into Gothic ...

Anyway, that coat, the boots, the beard -- they're exactly the look I was hoping for.

I'll be mining this rich vein for a while, although I've left details of what's on the Porpentine intentionally vague so others may develop it as they wish. I've done some preliminary work on the command crew, but they've got to percolate for a few more weeks at least before I share them.

Next up is most likely the Plague Doctor, like I promised last time, The good news is that he's gained a couple of ancillary characters, so I may be writing up a whole Plague Doctor crew.

Copies of the character document, with a proper grid for stats and without all the introductory and concludary hoo-haa, are available on Google Docs or on Dropbox.

Back to the boards, everyone, and I'll see you across the table soon.

He Who Laughs

Today I bring to you another company list for "In Her Majesty's Name."

If you follow Craig's main IHMN blog, you'll have seen his list for a certain Dark Knight and his retinue. Every hero needs a nemesis, and the bat-winged one certainly has one in the guise of a psychotic killer clown.

Lovely sketch by Leonardo Paciarotti I found using Google's image search.

A few weeks ago I showed you the mini of a Victorian Villain sculpted by Vermis over on the Lead Adventure Forum. With two alternate heads, he can be the classic Man Who Grins or echo more recent manifestations of the Joker after having his face removed and reattached. 

A very crisp painted version of He Who Laughs (as I call him) that Vindice shared in a thread on LAF.

Also found on the LAF, this painted version of the Man Who Grins shows the alternate head.

(There's a thread following the development of what are hoped to be the next two figures, a "Dark Knight Returns"-style bat fellow and Spring-Heeled Jack.)

This was the original Victorian Vigilante figure from Vermis. Again, Vindice's paint job, and photo lifted from one of the response threads about the minis.

And where would the clown prince of crime be without his Harley? I had to stat up a version of her, seen through my particular screampunk lens. One of the Ronin figures from Malifaux is often given a Harley paint job, as is Lady Taelor (since she wields a big ole hammer).

From GMort's Chaotica, painting attributed to a "Matt,"
which could be Matt Slade, but I don't know for sure.

To fill out the company, I've gone with generic "Family" followers to account for the various thugs, hangers-on and crazy folks that Harley's puddin' uses in his schemes. Shades of Manson, as well. It is intentional.

Ditto on this paint job. GMort gave away a prize, and the winner chose the ME2 Viktorias from Malifaux and had his friend Matt paint them. We have  now exhausted my knowledge on their provenance.

So here are links to a pdf of the company list for the man I call He Who Laughs, the Smiler, and Mr. Sardonicus. I hope you enjoy. One is in Google Drive, the other in Dropbox.

Next up, I'll bring you my twisted (more like tangled) take on the Plague Doctor. I've already started writing.

So back to the boards, everyone, and I'll see you across the table soon.

It's Father's Day today, so to all you fathers out there, happy birthday!

The title is a paraphrase of the great Ralph Kiner.

My father is a great man. Whenever I hear those Old Testament Bible verses about there being "giants in the earth," I think of my dad. Not because he's descended from the Nephilim, necessarily, but because that's the kind of stride his life has had across the landscape of my own.

So I decided to write up some stats for him for "In Her Majesty's Name."

Why? My dad's not a gamer -- he'll neither understand nor be able to appreciate what I've done here. It'll just join the other million, million things I've done during my life that he'll have to shrug at and go, "OK, if that's your thing ..."

I've left the era particularly vague. If you wanted to run him as a Victorian character, as I certainly do, he'll work, but you could just as easily drop him into his actual modern era using the stats and description I've written. My web fu doesn't feel particularly strong right now, but offhand I think the figure I might use for him as a Victorian mechanic/tinkerer would be Capt. Arland Strangewayes from the Cygnar faction of Warmachine. (Although then you'd need to up his Armor from jack/lined coat.)

The human field mechanik in the unit set might work as well, although Dad's not bald. He just has a mustache.

If you want to use him as a modern survivor, the nearest analogue as far as the kit he's carrying would be Raoul from Zombicide. Here's his picture. Just make him older and give him a mustache, but no beard, and that's a pretty close image for how my dad might face the zombie apocalypse.

Here's a Google Docs link to the pdf: My Dad

And in Dropbox: My Dad

So Happy Father's Dad, although I doubt you'll see this, unless one of your granddaughters points it out to you. Love you much!

"I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a midnight toker"

A while back I stumbled across this great thread in the Workbench section of the Lead Adventure Forum.

A group was rounding up orders for, or gauging interest in, a Victorian version of a certain nemesis of a caped nocturnal vigilante.

Well I was in for it immediately. The sculptor, who goes by Vermis but is, I believe, named Warren, was even doing alternate heads -- one based on Conrad Veidt, the star of the German Expressionist silent film "The Man Who Laughs," from the Victor Hugo novel (and a big inspiration for Bob Finger's original design of The Joker), and the other with the skinned and reattached face we've seen in recent comics.

There had apparently been an earlier drive to craft the Gentleman Vigilante himself. I opted not to purchase one of these, but they do look good.

So I had to get two of Mr. Grins, and they arrived at my secret base in the heart of a dormant volcano yesterday. And they are every bit as wonderful as anticipated.

Here's a pic of my two minis in the metal. These are really clean casts. There was one tiny piece of flash attached to one of the top hats, but I took care of that with a judiciously applied fingernail. The only mold line of any significance runs along the underside of the figure's right arm, but a file should get rid of that with minimal effort.

I don't exactly have a plan to slot him into the world of "Brass & Blood" yet, but it'll come to me, no doubt. I mean, every setting can use a psychopath disfigured by a Glasgow smile, right?

And the vigilante haunting Victorian smokestacks and alleyways to stop him is already in my collection.

This week's "Penny Dreadful"

Having now seen episode 5 of Penny Deadful season 2, "Above the Vaulted Sky," I don't think I'd amend anything in my company list based on any of this week's revelations.

(Unless there were a roll to put Barry White music behind everyone's actions. Almost everybody got to break off a little sumpn-sumpn.)

The only thing I might add would be giving Madame Kali/Evelyn Poole the Curse spell from IHMN Gothic, based on how she's got Sir Malcolm ensorcelled. It's a 12-point spell, which would push her total to 83 points. Given Madame Kali's age and apparent level of power in the show, I'm OK with that.

If you wanted, you could swap Curse in for the Chameleon Skin spell, which I gave her for consistency's sake with the other Nightcomers, but we've never seen her use that particular talent. That exchange would leave her as a 71-point character.

If you need them again, here are links to the company list: Google Drive or Dropbox.

Dreadful developments

As fans of the ever-expanding world of "In Her Majesty's Name" await the release of IHMN Gothic, we craft what we can from the delectable morsels of the work that Craig and Charles have released on the official blog.

One of the hottest properties in the Gothic genre right now is Showtime's "Penny Dreadful."

I loved the first season, and the second season is proving to be quite the roller-coaster ride.

So I have taken upon myself the task of converting the main cast into IHMN stats.

Please note that I have not tried to build them as a starting company with the traditional 250-point cost. I have tried to include or replicate their abilities as seen or hinted at on the show, taking some liberties here and there to improve their survivability in-game.

F'rinstance, I have given several of the characters magneto-static bodices, where other characters have no armor at all. This is almost entirely at my whim. In addition, I have given Victor a Faraday coat because it makes sense, despite the lack of arc weapons on the show.

I've included the math in adding up the character costs below each entry, so you can check behind me or more easily make changes for your own games.

There are two main changes I can see people wishing to make. One is upping the steampunk quotient, which I have tried to address in part in the optional armaments at the end of the list.

The other is dropping the points cost of some characters to something more "livable." Here are some suggestions to that end:

· Drop Sir Malcolm's Hunter skill and Hunting Rifle.
· Raise Malcolm's Pluck and lower his SV.
· Drop Ethan's Lightning Draw.
· Lower his hybrid form's FV.
· Drop Ethan's Bless Person power.
· Drop John Clare's Strongarm talent.
· Drop Dorian's Erudite Wit talent.

Again, these are things I included to be true to the characters from the show or to enhance their viability on the tabletop.

Here's a link to the list as a pdf on Dropbox and another on Google Drive.

Let me know how you like them! Back to the boards, everybody, and I'll see you across the table soon.

And we're back!

Today is the second anniversary of the debut of "Dispatches from the Rim," and it marks the blog's return from a six-week  hiatus as I've dealt with some serious health concerns.

Although I took a break starting in late May, my health issues came to a head in late June, when I apparently suffered a heart attack. I was hospitalized for nearly a week and am still at home recovering. I'm going to try to go back to work on the 17th, provided my cardiologist clears me.

I feel worlds better than I did prior to my hospitalization, largely because I'm acting like an adult and actually following my doctors' instructions. We've got me on insulin now, even though we're still titrating the dosage. I'm following an appropriate diet plan and the weight is dropping off, although that's largely my body coping with the edema. I feel really good, although I have at times overestimated just how much I'm able to do. Given that Georgia and Alabama are already flirting with three-digit daytime temperatures, it would be draining even if I weren't recovering from a heart attack. 

On the hobby front, all that has gone on for me was finally receiving my Relic Knights Kickstarter rewards (after two years) and I've pledged for the Zombicide Season 3 Kickstarter. That's about it. Oh, and "Sleeping Dragon, Rising Sun" came out for "In Her Majesty's Name." Couple that with the IHMN Gothic releases Craig's been posting on the official blog and I'm as happy as a clam. 

It's my birthday next week. I turn 46. In the words of David Niven, I believe, "If I'd known I would live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself."

Take care, everyone. I'm back, and I'll soon be plunging you back onto my steampunk London creations for "In Her Majesty's Name."

Back to the boards, everyone, and I look forward to seeing you across the table soon. 

Victorian Scrunts take to the streets

I've written a company list for (some of) the excellent Victorian Scrunts Bob Olley produced and that I showed off here a couple of weeks ago.

This list is very much a work in progress, and I welcome, indeed require, your feedback to improve it. Believe me, I'm good at taking constructive criticism.

The problems with the list as it stands (the version you're seeing is my fourth swing at it) is that these buggers are PRICEY. If you're playing with a starting 250-point list, that'll get you a Chief Engineer, a couple of Bangers (long-range fighters), a handful of Beaters (melee fighters), and maybe a Boomer (specialist weapons).

The Stout attribute I've ascribed to them means their standard move is 5 inches, and their run adds only 2 inches, instead of the usual 6 inches and 3 inches of most figures. I thought about making this a -1 point disadvantage, but for now I've left it at zero. It's what gives the list much of its character.

I've tried to make it an entertaining list, but I know with your help, we can improve it. There's also a thread over on the Lead Adventure Forum and a post in the In Her Majesty's Name group on Facebook.

Here's the list:

“Up the airy mountain

Down the rushy glen,

We daren't go a-hunting,

For fear of little men ...”

-- William Allingham

Victorian Scrunts

As London has grown, many ethnic groups find themselves migrating to the city’s crowded interior to eke out an existence for themselves. One of the latest such groups consists of short-statured men and women who exhibit their toughness, bravery and technical prowess in their trades. They conjure up images out of their neighbors’ childhoods and are often called by names from those people’s folk and fairy tales -- dwarves, svartalfar, tommyknockers. But they’ve taken to themselves a name first used against them in derision: the Scrunts.

While Scrunts are found in all walks of Victorian life, they seem to excel in the building and technical trades. Many Scrunt-owned enterprises have cropped up, but none are better known than the engineers and weaponsmiths at Stronginthearm Industrial Machines and Armaments. For reliable weapons and inventive ammunition, people from all walks of life dream of getting their hands on Stronginthearm munitions.

Stronginthearm regularly displays its wares (and reportedly tests new ideas and products) through its street teams, each led by a Chief Engineer. In addition to marketing and research, these companies also protect the interests of Clan Stronginthearm.

Most company members can be broken down into “Bangers” and “Beaters.” Bangers carry predominantly long-range weaponry, while Beaters are primarily equipped for melee fighting.

Others with more specialized weapon load-outs carry even more descriptive nicknames. Scrunts strong enough to manage heavy weapons single-handed are called “Boomers.” Bangers who equip themselves exclusively with arc weapons are called “Blasters.”

Engineers assisting the Chief Engineer are sometimes called “Buzzers,” given that they are usually tasked with lugging around the company’s Arc Generator.

Current Chief of Operations Vili Stronginthearm is also pushing the company into the handling of mystical forces or objects. As such, he has lured runic practitioners from their ancient homeland, to see how such forces will perform in the field alongside the firm’s technological creations. None has been so foolish as to give these runesmiths a nickname.

Stronginthearm Research & Development Team

Chief Engineer

Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
2+	+3	+3	+0	53	Tough, Stout, Engineer, Leadership +2	Faraday Coat, English All-Electric Truncheon, Arc Pistol

Engineer

Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
3+	+2	+2	+0	59	Tough, Stout, Engineer, Leadership +1	Faraday Coat, Arc Rifle, Arc Generator

Banger

Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
4+	+0	+4	+0	40	Tough, Stout, Marksman, Hunter	Brigandine, Carbine

Boomer

Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
4+	+0	+4	+0	41	Tough, Stout, Strongman	Brigandine, Flamethrower

Beater

Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
5+	+4	+0	+1	31	Tough, Stout, Martial Artist, Duellist	Brigandine, Fighting Knife, Club

Runecaster

Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
4+	+2	+0	+0	36	Tough, Stout, Medic	Runes

A runecaster may engrave, carve, paint or daub one rune per phase onto one piece of equipment held by a figure with whom he or she is base to base contact at the beginning of the movement phase. The effects of the rune last until the end of the game. Once a figure has received one rune, it may not receive another.

Available runes are:

   Ansuz, “gods”: +1 to shooting rolls

   Uruz, “aurochs”: +2 to armor rating

   Raidho, “riding”: +3” move

   Perthro, “luck”: +2 to pluck rolls

   Sowilo, “victory”: +2 to fighting rolls

Recently, the firm has been experimenting with the mechanized walkers as are turning up in industrial uses and on the battlefields across the world. The first of these, called the “Buster Machine,” is a light industrial walker fitted with steam fists. It can be upgraded to fit machine guns as well.

Type	Description	Speed	Armour	Weapons/Tools	Cost
Buster	Light Industrial Walker	9”	8	Steam Fists	22
Gunbuster	Light Military Walker	9”	11	Steam Fists/ Machine Guns	56

Stout: A full move for Scrunts is 5 inches. When a scrunt runs, it adds only 2 inches to the distance.

A Chief Engineer may upgrade his English All-Electric Truncheon to an Edison Arc Truncheon (+3 points).

An Engineer may purchase Explosive or Gas Grenades (6 points).

An Engineer may purchase a Monocular Targeting Array (7 points).

A Banger may exchange his Carbine for a Hunting Rifle (+11 points) or an Arc Rifle (+3 points).

A Boomer may exchange his Flamethrower for an Arc Cannon (even swap) or a Machine Gun (+15 points).

A Beater may exchange his fighting knife for a rapier (straight exchange) or a sabre/sword (+1 point). Scrunts lack the necessary height to use a sword (large).

A Beater may exchange his Club for a Nightstick (+1 point).

Any company member may purchase a Breath Preserver (2 points).

Here's a link to the list as a pdf:

Victorian Scrunts on Dropbox