Everyone Is Welcome At Midnight's Lair

What kind of game do I actually wanna run?

In this episode of Midnight’s Lair RPG, I lay out my GMing philosophy — not as a list of rules, but as a clear statement of intent. This is a manifesto about high-trust play, meaningful consequences, rulings over rules, earned heroism, and characters who are more than combat builds.

If you’ve ever wondered why some RPG tables feel alive while others feel like tactical exercises, this episode is for you.

Last year, my dear, old Canadian pal Erik Ménard launched his own YouTube channel, Midnight's Lair RPG, for discussing roleplaying games, beginning with superheroes (you might notice the Acrobatic Flea makes an appearance) and gradually shifting towards fantasy.

Over the many years of our friendship, we've generally been in lockstep in our approach to gaming, but nothing spells that out quite as well as his most recent video (above), which explains his 'gaming manifesto'.

This is pretty much word-for-word my own thoughts on the subject (in a case of convergent thinking, Erik even echoes my recently stated ideas on what makes player-characters interesting).

I've known Erik for years, since discovering the gaming podcast he co-hosted waaaaay back in late 2006/early 2007.

Over the ensuing decades, Erik's always supported my various attempts to get a "dream" campaign off the ground, as I have his. This has been largely in the superhero genre as we're both fans of the classic Villains & Vigilantes system from back in the day.

At one point in 2016 we even 'teamed-up' online to test drive the Third Edition of Villains & Vigilantes aka The Mighty Protectors with creator Jeff Dee, when the new system was being Kickstarted.

• Erik has a very affordable Patreon to help cover the costs of running his new YouTube channel.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: When Jeff Dee Drew The Acrobatic Flea

Dreams do come true.

Over the years many, many amazing artist friends (and DC artist Des Taylor) have kindly turned my signature Villains & Vigilantes character into works of art.

However, I never could have imagined - when I was sketching out the character back in the early '80s for Steve's original campaign - that one day I'd be able to see him drawn by the definitive V&V artist (and the game's co-creator): Jeff Dee.

This came about as one of the rewards for backing the Villains & Vigilantes Third Edition (aka The Mighty Protectors) Kickstarter back in late 2016.

This incredible work of art arrived at my front door in August 2020 and I was as ridiculously pumped then as I still am today by it.

My favourite RPG character... drawn by Jeff Dee... world-renowned Dungeons & Dragons artist from the golden age of TSR modules, comic book artist, and co-creator of the game that Steve, Pete, Nick, and I played endlessly in our youth.

I still can't quite believe it.

They’ve Always Been Dead: The History Of Elementals

This video [from Strange Brain Parts] does a deep dive into the origin, history and tragic, exploitative decline of The Elementals, created by Bill Willingham and published by Comico from 1984-1997.

The initial volume of The Elementals was a foundational work for Steve and I during our early Villains & Vigilantes superhero games back in the day, because of the Bill Willingham connection to the game.

He wrote - and illustrated - two of the system's first adventure modules: Death Duel With The Destroyers and The Island of Doctor Apocalypse. Several characters from these scenarios would then appear in The Elementals.

It was only later that I discovered that Villains & Vigilantes' co-creator Jack Herman also wrote some issues on The Elementals.

The first edition of V&V came out in 1979, followed by a revised and improved edition in 1982.

Around that time, the game's creators Jack Herman and Jeff Dee were onboard to create a back-up feature for Willingham’s Elementals, when it was coming out from Texas Comics, but the company dissolved and Bill moved Elementals to Comico.

In a 2011 interview with Ain't It Cool News, Jack explains that his feature would have been based on "my first original V&V character, a superhero-versus-supernatural-horror sort of thing".

When Elementals took off at Comico, Bill Willingham started looking around for in-universe support features. Jack's submitted a story which was turned into a full-length issue and he began writing for the title regularly.

Again, quoting the 2011 interview, Jack said: "So, here's this guy who is now rightfully recognized as one of the best comics writers in America, and I was writing scripts for him!"

The Elementals Fight Saddam Hussein, Elementals #17, May 1991, script by Jack Herman,
pencils by Mike Leeke, inks by Dan Schaefer, colours by Julia Lacquement, and letters by Pat Williams

THROWBACK THURSDAY: I Think I Might Have A Problem... Or Could This Be Normal?

My collection of 10 Villains & Vigilantes rules books

I'm sure every 'serious' roleplayer has that one system that they own multiple copies of... for reasons.

My weakness, which should come as no surprise to readers old and new, is Villains & Vigilantes.

The other month postie delivered my latest eBay purchase: an original first edition of the game, in immaculate condition.

Sure, I already own my tattered original copy from the very early '80s, which is almost falling apart now, as well as reprint published by Monkey House Games in 2016.

Yet while I only recall actually playing this iteration of the game solo, before moving on to the elegant second edition, it holds a special place in my heart.

While all the books sport dynamic Jeff Dee art, out of the four different covers between the editions, I definitely have a strong affection for the original, even if my preferred rules are contained within the second edition.

The difference between first edition and second is striking, in much the same way that third edition (aka The Mighty Protectors) is a dramatic evolution from second.

I went all in on the 2016 Kickstarter to back the third edition because (a) I wanted Jeff Dee to draw to The Acrobatic Flea and (b) I wanted to support Jack Herman and Jeff Dee in their creative endeavours and help keep V&V alive.

And while I got to game with Jeff online, the fact that character creation required a spreadsheet had already made me realise this probably wasn't the rules system for me, however much I loved the game world. 

I don't regret pouring all that money into the Kickstarter because I still got some fantastic books (some of which include second edition stats as well) and got to play the game with one of my creative heroes... who also drew me an incredible illustration of my Acrobatic Flea.

The first edition of Villains & Vigilantes was my introduction to the idea of "superhero roleplaying games", which the next edition then solidified in my noggin and the rest, as they say, is history.

When sorting out my V&V rule books for the picture to illustrate this article it turned out I had more copies of the second edition (and 2.1) than I had previously realised, some well-read and annotated, one without a cover for some reason, and some pristine.

Why do I have so many copies? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. I think I just like to ensure I always have a version of the rules to hand, whenever I want to look something up or I have a wild idea for a hero or villain I want to stat up.

I certainly needn't worry about mislaying my copy of the core rules. 

My new purchase of an old favourite

Left to Right: My battered original, my new purchase, and the Monkey House reprint