Spectrum Games
Spectrum Games is the trading name of a small company that designs role-playing games (RPGs). It was founded in 2000 (as Spectrum Game Studios, which is still the company's legal name) by Cynthia Celeste Miller and Sabrina Belle (the latter of whom is no longer involved). In 2002, Eddy Webb was brought into the fold and soon became vice-president. Two of the products created by the company have been nominated for the Indie Game Awards, Origins Awards, and the ENnie Awards. {, class="wikitable" , +Products !Product !Description , - , Cartoon Action Hour , CAH is an RPG that emulates the adventure cartoons of the 1980s, along the lines of '' Thundarr the Barbarian'', ''Transformers'', '' Thundercats'', ''Masters of the Universe'', ''G.I. Joe'', ''M.A.S.K.'', '' Visionaries'', '' Bravestarr'', ''Silverhawks'', etc. This is easily the company's most well-known product and has spawned a handful of supplement books. The game enjoys a small but rabid fan base. , - , Omlevex , Omle ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Role-playing Games
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. There are several forms of role-playing games. The original form, sometimes called the tabletop role-playing game (TRPG), is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing (LARP), players physically perform their characters' actions.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique features: (a) The players physically embody their characters, and (b) the game takes place in a physical frame. Embodiment means that the physical actions of the player are regarded as those of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Omlevex
''Omlevex'' is a superhero role-playing game supplement published by Z-Man Games and Spectrum Games. The game mechanics are compatible with ''Champions'', ''Silver Age Sentinels'', and ''Mutants & Masterminds''. ''Omlevex'' is set on the fictional Atlantic islands of Metazon. The game presents itself as the proprietary universe of a Silver Age comic book publishing company, complete with fictional authors, first appearance dates, and full page issue covers. ''Omlevex'' contained Hero System conversions. Heroes of Omlevex The major heroes of the ''Omlevex'' universe consist of: * Drake Einstein - An actor who became a superhero to get movie roles * The American Gargoyle - A patriotic mutant who resembles a gargoyle * Cliffhanger - A former spy turned superhero * Lacie Delmont - A heroine who fights the supernatural * Freedom's Trio - A superhero team that banded together to protect the universe The future of Omlevex After the Z-Man Games book officially went out of print due to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cybernetics, juxtaposed with societal collapse, dystopia or decay. Much of cyberpunk is rooted in the New Wave science fiction movement of the 1960s and 1970s, when writers like Philip K. Dick, Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny, John Brunner, J. G. Ballard, Philip José Farmer and Harlan Ellison examined the impact of drug culture, technology, and the sexual revolution while avoiding the utopian tendencies of earlier science fiction. Comics exploring cyberpunk themes began appearing as early as Judge Dredd, first published in 1977. Released in 1984, William Gibson's influential debut novel ''Neuromancer'' helped solidify cyberpunk as a genre, drawing influence from punk subculture and early hacker culture. Other influential cyberpunk ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Film Noir
Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ''film noir''. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression. The term ''film noir'', French for 'black film' (literal) or 'dark film' (closer meaning), was first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, but was unrecognized by most American film industry professionals of that era. Frank is believed to have been inspired by the French literary publishing imprint Série noire, founded in 1945. Cinema historians and critics defined the category ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dick Tracy
''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''Detroit Mirror'', and it was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. Gould wrote and drew the strip until 1977,webpage notes villains and includes short bio of Chester Gould. and various artists and writers have continued it. Dick Tracy has also been the hero in a number of films, including Dick Tracy (1990 film), ''Dick Tracy'' in which Warren Beatty played the lead in 1990. Tom De Haven praised Gould's ''Dick Tracy'' as an "outrageously funny American Gothic", while Brian Walker described it as a "ghoulishly entertaining creation" which had "gripping stories filled with violence and pathos".Walker, Brian. ''The Comics: The Complete Collection''. New York: Abrams ComicArts, 2011. (pp. 189-191, 226-231, 259, 370) Comic strip Creation and ear ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Silver Age Sentinels
''Silver Age Sentinels'' is a superhero role-playing game (RPG) published in 2002 by Guardians of Order, creators of ''Big Eyes, Small Mouth'', an anime-themed RPG. History Guardians of Order moved into the d20 market beginning with their new superhero role-playing game, ''Silver Age Sentinels'' (2002), which was written by Mark C. MacKinnon, Jeff Mackintosh, and Jesse Scoble, with Steve Kenson and was developed by Lucien Soulban. ''Silver Age Sentinels'' was produced in both a Tri-Stat edition in July 2002 and then a d20 edition released at GenCon 35 later that year. James Lowder, who had experience with packaging fiction for Green Knight Publishing, moved to assembling book packages for other game companies, including some ''Silver Age Sentinels'' fiction for Guardians of Order (2003-2004). After Guardians of Order went out of business in 2006, White Wolf bought the IPs for some of the company's games, including ''Silver Age Sentinels''. White Wolf's ArtHaus imprint holds t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Champions (role-playing Game)
''Champions'' is a role-playing game published by Hero Games designed to simulate a superhero comic book world. It was originally created by George MacDonald and Steve Peterson in collaboration with Rob Bell, Bruce Harlick and Ray Greer. The latest edition of the game uses the sixth edition of the Hero System, as revised by Steve Long, and was written by Aaron Allston. It was released in early 2010. Description ''Champions'', first published in 1981, was inspired by '' Superhero: 2044'' and ''The Fantasy Trip'' as one of the first published role-playing games in which character generation was based on a point-buy system instead of random dice rolls. A player decides what kind of character to play, and designs the character using a set number of "character points," often abbreviated as "CP." The limited number of character points generally defines how powerful the character will be. Points can be used in many ways: to increase personal characteristics, such as strength or i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mutants & Masterminds
''Mutants & Masterminds'' (abbreviated "M&M" or "MnM") is a superhero role-playing game written by Steve Kenson and published by Green Ronin Publishing based on a variant of the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast. The game system is designed to allow players to create virtually any type of hero or villain desired. History In the late 1990s, Steve Kenson had an idea for a superhero setting that he had been contracted to produce. Through a series of misfortunes, the project fell through and he was left with a partially completed manuscript. Shopping it around to various publishers, none were interested (superhero game popularity had declined at that time) until he talked to Chris Pramas (President of Green Ronin Publishing) about the setting. Pramas made the offer to publish the setting if Kenson would also create a superhero game system based on the d20 System. Kenson agreed and began work. Over time, it became clear to him that the game would need to be released only under the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Silverhawks
''SilverHawks'' is an American animated television series developed by Rankin/Bass Productions and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1986. The animation was provided by Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation. In total, 65 episodes were made. It was created as a space-based equivalent of their previous series '' ThunderCats''. As was the case with ''ThunderCats'', there was also a ''SilverHawks'' comic book series published by Marvel Comics under the imprint Star Comics. Plot A bionic space enforcer called Commander Stargazer recruited the SilverHawks, heroes who are "partly metal, partly real", to fight the evil Mon*Star, an escaped alien mob boss who transforms into an enormous armor-plated creature with the help of Limbo's Moonstar. Joining Mon*Star in his villainy is an intergalactic mob: the snakelike Yes-Man, the blade-armed Buzz-Saw, the "bull"-headed Mumbo-Jumbo, a weather controller called Windhammer, a shapeshifter known as Mo-Lec-U-Lar, a robotic card shar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cartoon Action Hour
''Cartoon Action Hour'' is a role-playing game (RPG) designed to emulate classic action-adventure cartoons, such as '' ThunderCats'', ''He-Man'', ''Transformers'', ''G.I. Joe'', '' Visionaries'', ''Inhumanoids'', '' Centurions'', '' Thundarr the Barbarian'', ''M.A.S.K.'', and '' Bravestarr''.{{cite journal, title=Pyramid Review: Cartoon Action Hour: The 1980s Action Cartoon RPG, url=http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/login/article.html?id=3349, last=Pook, first=Matthew, date=2003-04-18, journal=Pyramid (online), accessdate=2008-02-16 It was e-published by Spectrum Games as a PDF role-playing game in early 2002, where it garnered a sizable cult following. This prompted Z-Man Games to offer to publish the game as a hardcopy edition. The material from the PDF was revised and expanded upon for the 2003 print version. Season 1 ''Cartoon Action Hour'' implements a relatively simple ruleset. The core resolution system revolves around rolling a d12, adding a number to it, and comparing i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bravestarr
''BraveStarr'' is an American space Western animated series that aired 65 episodes from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication. The show was created a year after Mattel had released a line of action figures. ''BraveStarr'' was the last animated series produced by Filmation and Group W Productions before Filmation shut down in 1989. Reruns of the show aired on Qubo Night Owl from 2010 to 2013, and on the Retro Television Network from 2010 to 2015. Background The idea for BraveStarr began with Tex Hex, his chief adversary. Tex Hex was created by Filmation's staff artists in 1984, during the development of Filmation's ''Ghostbusters''. Lou Scheimer found the character fascinating and pulled Tex Hex from the Ghostbusters cast. He asked Arthur Nadel, Filmation's Vice President for Creative Affairs, and art director John Grusd to develop a science fiction Western around the character. As the concepts took shape, staff writer Bob Forward fleshed out the writer's guide and eve ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Knights Of The Magical Light
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Greek '' hippeis'' and ''hoplite'' (ἱππεῖς) and Roman ''eques'' and ''centurion'' of classical antiquity. In the Early Middle Ages in Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback. Knighthood in the Middle Ages was closely linked with horsemanship (and especially the joust) from its origins in th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |