Midnight Men Trailer

Jamie, a member of our group, is a smart cookie and for fun likes to dabble in 3d rendering and has even made his own D&D themed video game.

He created this video for the Midnight Men and we thought it was great.  He mentioned recently that he is working on another one and we are looking forward to seeing it!

So, grab some popcorn, sit back, turn up the volume and watch the action packed trailer for the upcoming motion picture (no set release date) of...THE MIDNIGHT MEN!

Icons: Issue #2 - The Midnight Men... His name is Genocide!

Pencil and ink by Chris.

This is the story of Genocide:

The Midnight Men were looking for the missing children from issue #1 when a space ship was seen in the sky above Stark City. Genocide then appeared near a park and started wrecking buildings prompting the Midnight Men to soon arrive. Genocide is supposed to be a Darkseid type figure: really tough and powerful. Our Gamemaster created him to teach us a lesson and put us in our rightful place, making sure we knew others were above us on the food chain. Or, at the very least, to pose a challenge for us to beat.

Things however, did not go according to plan. Unfortunately for our GM, being new to the game he miscalculated on how tough to make him. 

Big G stood before us and gave the usually speech:

I am the Revelation. The trigger-force at the core of all things. When you cry out in your dreams, it is I that you see! Your world is now mine. Bow to me and worship your new lord and master..Genocide!!! 

Initiative was rolled and Genocide gave Black Bolt and Masked Justice each a pretty hard slap but it didn't put them down. It was then that Genocide bought a ticket to the pain train and hopped on. The onlookers who witnessed what happened next are still traumatized to this day by the sheer brutality of the beating delivered to Genocide. Within two rounds he was stunned and after that the only fighting that took place was between the Midnight Men - fighting over who was going to hit him next. 

We passed him back and forth, like Kurt Russell at the end of Deathproof. Despite his pleas to stop, more slams and stuns followed as he was sent through cement walls, had cars bashed over him then his head was dribbled across the basketball court and spiked through the hoop a few times. When it was all over, Genocide was left a broken heap on the ground lying in a chalk outline.

Afterwards, a beam came from his space ship and lifted his prone form back aboard and within a half second it warped out of our solar system. 

That day, Genocide's plans for planetary domination came to a screeching halt. On his ship he probably has a map of planets to subjugate but the Earth now has a big red X over it. And we figure his crew is always reminding him about that day - "Hey Genocide, remember when you tried to take over Earth and got your ass kicked?"

Maybe we'll meet him again. Who knows? Villains have a way of reappearing. After years of physio he may want to take another crack at the Earth. But if he does he'll have to face its protectors once more; That group of heroes that are called upon when it's past the 11th hour, the world is dark and all hope seems lost..The Midnight Men!

 

The Midnight Men - Icons Superpowered Roleplaying

These are the members of the Midnight Men, our supers group. The team would best fit into the Golden age of comics (1938-56). The characters are pretty tough by Icons standards. 

Dr. Midnight (Dr. Daniel Faust) is a gadgets guy and when needed can pull a kitchen sink from his utility belt. He usually uses power gloves to beat punks down into pulp. He's smart and has all around solid physical stats. His tech skillz are leet and is generally the groups leader and communicator. Dr. M's base, SW of Hubertville, serves as the teams headquarters and is where he builds his equipment and gadgets to protect not just Stark City, but the world over.  His Qualities are: Obsessive, Up to the Challenge and Don't Worry, This'll Work.

Next is GateKeeper. He's a magic guy that has a demon in him who's power he harnesses. One day we suspect he will go all "Dark Phoenix" on us. His on-hand spells are magic blast, illusions, force shield and teleport. He has a high awareness and mental resistance. In addition to having a bizarre sense of style, GateKeeper has a lot of utility with spells that take more time to prepare. His base is an old mansion that needs a good carpenter and is located on Angel Point.

He has an Occult Speciality (skill) of 3 which allows him to perform stunts and rituals. His qualities are: Master of Deception, The Demon Seal and Know the Unknowable.

Origin: Last in long line of Aetherian sorcerer heroes, GateKeeper uses his mastery of the magic arts to protect the world from dangers both natural and supernatural. As a bearer of the Demon Seal, he also keeps the elder demon Azmathaen, imprisoned safely away within his soul, offering him an additional source of power in his war against darkness. 

Such power comes with a price, however, and GateKeeper must remain ever vigilant to prevent the escape of the demon and his vile influence onto the world.

Next is Masked Justice. His jet pack (oddly missing from this picture) sends him hurtling through the sky at the speed of sound while protected by a specially designed suit. His knuckle dusters send teeth flying and he packs a high powered heater for those who the scales of justice have weighed and found wanting. His favourite attack is ramming into scum at high speeds like a human bullet. He's very quick and has an extensive military and law background. His base is an abandoned and secret underground subway station in the heart of Silver City. Qualities include: Justice Will Be Served, Determined and No Quit in Me!

Origin: Masked Justice (aka Turk Broda) is a former lawyer who could not overcome the corruption in the legal system. The bad guys had the money and resources to manipulate the courts, pay off judges, and intimidate the juries. 

He became resolved that the only way to give the innocent true justice was to take matters into his own hands - or fists!

He then used his intellect and past military experience to secretly train and become a weapon for justice.

And last is Black Bolt. He's super strong with electrical powers and his golem body makes it near impossible to kill him. BB lives in an old mausoleum/ crypt located in Cloudview Cemetery. He considers his fists his most persuasive form of diplomacy. Black Bolt possesses the strictest code of ethics of the group, and will not retaliate if shot at by police or attacked by others who he regards as innocents. But, if they have chosen a path of evil for themselves, then God help them. Qualities include: Man Or Monster?, Rage In My Heart, Sworn To Protect and Lighting Born.

Origin: Rain poured down that dark and stormy night and up in the castle's highest tower, when lightning struck the conductor and surged into the golem's body... Black Bolt was born!

He was created by an unknown villainous mastermind who used selected human body parts to make a monstrous servitor of destruction. Even though Black Bolt's visage is that of a hideous monster he somehow managed to maintain his humanity through his creation.

In a rage, Black Bolt broke his bonds and escaped into the night. He now tries to punish evil even though his appearance causes terror in those he has sworn to protect.

Icons: Issue #1 - The Midnight Men...It's Clobberin' Time!

We've been playing Icons for the past while. It's a superhero role playing game by Steve Kenson. Looks simple and straight forward but under the hood it can get more complex. One feature of the game is to try "Maneuvers," that involve describing what you'd like to do and how it will effect things. An example is using your combat ability to throw a villain off balance to help give your team a bonus to hit. There can be quite a bit of abstract gaming involved, like using Qualities and Determination which can slow down play a bit to figure out, or it can just be "roll to hit." 

Fights can end be pretty quick in terms of rounds or pages if slams and stuns are rolled. You can also try to find weaknesses to use against villains, or vice versa, by discovering Qualities. This also helps in giving the game that comic book feel. 

We've all been putting an effort into making comic covers for these games and this is one of the primary reason I wanted to blog. We all take part in their creation. Chris, who does the pencils & ink, is not a professional artist, but we love his work and the effort he puts into it. We've been playing for a while so lots of covers to come. 

So here we go - issue #1 of The Midnight Men!

Pencil and ink by Chris

MM#1

Top left to right is GateKeeper, Black Bolt, Masked Justice and Dr. Midnight on the bottom.

In our first issue we were searching for missing children which led us to abandoned warehouses in Geartown where we found a villain called .50 -.50 and some of his cronies. 

Here's what .50 -.50 looked like before the fight.

Then after.

No kids were found but clues led us to the Wellington area of Stark City next.