Yes, you probably have not heard of Shadow's Inc. In fact, I'd be surprised if you did - then again, if you had - it might have been due to the possibility of your being a role player and either had the opportunity to share RPG time with me... or quite simply, you've heard some urban legends about it. Not that I'd say there were urban legends - but who knows?
So what's there to revive? You see, Shadow's Inc. (or SI for short - way before I started thinking of SI as Sports Illustrated, and of course and its swimsuit editions) was a RPG game being run using the Advanced Marvel Game system around... oh, the mid-'80s. I happened to be the Game Master and with me were Deke Amador, Johnny Alegre, Bing Syyap, Adrain Martinez and just about anyone else who'd find the time (we seemed to have a lot more free time then) to show up on the doorsteps of the apartment I lived in at a regular pace of every wee-end.
The premise? What if we had a detective agency being run by mutants - but not super-powered mutants, mind you... not high flying, beam wielding heroes. Nope, instead, we'd have low key, crime noir cum horror genre, low key adventures. Our heroes would blend in, and in most cases, just as easily pass off as human... with just one particular power... and possible extensions of said power. To make matters more interesting, I'd bring in a few cameo appearances - and these need not be limited to just one comic universe - see, as an RPG, we had little need for considering copyright laws on who could pop-up into said adventures. I, however, limited these cameos - after all, this was SI's adventures... not (insert hero's name here) guest starring Shadow's Inc. Nope... it was supposed to be the other way around. So cameos were just to add spice - not the main course.
what made this RPG campaign (you heard it right, it sort of morphed into a continuing adventure) different? Well, the noir feel, for one. The capability of the players to adjust to whatever situation was thrown to them - I'll have to give them that. The love for the game, respect for the heroes and villains (no loose canons trying to see if they're stronger than this guy or not - they know they may not make it out of that situation), a fair GM (a.k.a. Watcher - it was the Marvel set-up after all); and no, this is not a biased opinion by me... I'm just quoting my players, and the interesting characters they came up with.
So who are the characters? Let me give a rundown on these guys:
Anthony Baker, 40 something, recently divorced LAPD cop - left all his belongings to alimony (not contested) basically for his wife and daughter, and just went to New York to start fresh. Has a dour viewpoint in life, due to his recent experiences - but not too jaded to be a perennial loner or just giving life up altogether. Tony (imagine a rugged, not too tidy Britt Reid - Green Hornet a.k.a. Van Williams) has one special power... invisible to everyone else, and has helped him in the past, with his job as a cop - the ability to see 'post-cog' images wherever he concentrates on. It allows him to see clues - but obviously, not win any lotteries.
Derek Lone, mid-30s, an arms reseller, adventurer - probably wanted by some countries, but a man with a good heart (though he won't admit it), hidden in a relatively rough exterior (imagine Harrison Ford in Blade Runner). Lone does not have any need for romantic interludes - and maybe its because he sees it as distractions to his way of life. Yet being a merc has lost its appeal to Derek, and he also looks to having a more or less permanent place to call home in New York. Lone is suspected of carrying a lot of firepower wherever he goes - but has never been caught packing heat... a mystery that the local authorities (and government agencies) have not solved. And why should they, when Lone's power is has ability to tap into a pocket dimension portal, and store inanimate objects within - on call whenever he needs them. He apparently simply needs to just think of what he wants and it appears within his grasp... no groping at all.
Callie Stewart, early 20s, fresh graduate from the police academy, and raring to go on her first mission as a rookie. Her uncle - the only family she has, is a commissioner in the NYPD, and he has guided her where he can. Callie's becoming a cop, is not his doing - though you might say, her love and admiration for him could have inspired her to follow in his footsteps. Callie, though has one secret she's kept from her uncle - she has the sight taht allow her to see different frequencies... infra-red, ultra violet and of course, her normal vision. (I can't exactly recall how she looks; meaning who we patterned her looks after - but she was a blond model) Callie was one very smart lady, so definitely no dumb blond jokes for this campaign.
These three were basically Shadow's founders... others would soon follow, but the fourth member of this strange band would be...
Benjamin Templeton, late 20s, a character who joined SI coming from another campaign. His prominent feature being that he looked like a lead singer of a band (Spandau Ballet, actually) but with a prominent limp - Ben is a master of the Martial Art known as Aikido - and he has mastered the use of his Chi to the point that he can extend its use in many ways. He is searching for his missing sensei (mentor), who is inexplicably missing. His search has led him to New York city.
I'll leave it at that for now... and return to the reason for this entry. Why revival? Because one of the things we experimented on during those days, was to scribe our adventures... in other words, I've got them written down (back in the day, we used to use Wordstar... man I feel ancient) and just waiting to read again and again. We've, of course, gone our separate ways... Deke's in Canada with his family... Johnny's still in Manila, though his days are now focused on Jazz music, with his band 'Affinity', Adrain - last I heard, works in the call center industry. No real news about him these days... though I know he still is relatively active in RPGs, Bing is a home-body, basically caring for my mom. But Shadows is not them... its the adventures they created. I'll be editing them - then posting here.
I enjoyed SI, we all did... and now, as I place SI's adventures in this blog - I hope others will enjoy these same adventures too.
Enjoy...
So what's there to revive? You see, Shadow's Inc. (or SI for short - way before I started thinking of SI as Sports Illustrated, and of course and its swimsuit editions) was a RPG game being run using the Advanced Marvel Game system around... oh, the mid-'80s. I happened to be the Game Master and with me were Deke Amador, Johnny Alegre, Bing Syyap, Adrain Martinez and just about anyone else who'd find the time (we seemed to have a lot more free time then) to show up on the doorsteps of the apartment I lived in at a regular pace of every wee-end.
The premise? What if we had a detective agency being run by mutants - but not super-powered mutants, mind you... not high flying, beam wielding heroes. Nope, instead, we'd have low key, crime noir cum horror genre, low key adventures. Our heroes would blend in, and in most cases, just as easily pass off as human... with just one particular power... and possible extensions of said power. To make matters more interesting, I'd bring in a few cameo appearances - and these need not be limited to just one comic universe - see, as an RPG, we had little need for considering copyright laws on who could pop-up into said adventures. I, however, limited these cameos - after all, this was SI's adventures... not (insert hero's name here) guest starring Shadow's Inc. Nope... it was supposed to be the other way around. So cameos were just to add spice - not the main course.
what made this RPG campaign (you heard it right, it sort of morphed into a continuing adventure) different? Well, the noir feel, for one. The capability of the players to adjust to whatever situation was thrown to them - I'll have to give them that. The love for the game, respect for the heroes and villains (no loose canons trying to see if they're stronger than this guy or not - they know they may not make it out of that situation), a fair GM (a.k.a. Watcher - it was the Marvel set-up after all); and no, this is not a biased opinion by me... I'm just quoting my players, and the interesting characters they came up with.
So who are the characters? Let me give a rundown on these guys:
Anthony Baker, 40 something, recently divorced LAPD cop - left all his belongings to alimony (not contested) basically for his wife and daughter, and just went to New York to start fresh. Has a dour viewpoint in life, due to his recent experiences - but not too jaded to be a perennial loner or just giving life up altogether. Tony (imagine a rugged, not too tidy Britt Reid - Green Hornet a.k.a. Van Williams) has one special power... invisible to everyone else, and has helped him in the past, with his job as a cop - the ability to see 'post-cog' images wherever he concentrates on. It allows him to see clues - but obviously, not win any lotteries.
Derek Lone, mid-30s, an arms reseller, adventurer - probably wanted by some countries, but a man with a good heart (though he won't admit it), hidden in a relatively rough exterior (imagine Harrison Ford in Blade Runner). Lone does not have any need for romantic interludes - and maybe its because he sees it as distractions to his way of life. Yet being a merc has lost its appeal to Derek, and he also looks to having a more or less permanent place to call home in New York. Lone is suspected of carrying a lot of firepower wherever he goes - but has never been caught packing heat... a mystery that the local authorities (and government agencies) have not solved. And why should they, when Lone's power is has ability to tap into a pocket dimension portal, and store inanimate objects within - on call whenever he needs them. He apparently simply needs to just think of what he wants and it appears within his grasp... no groping at all.
Callie Stewart, early 20s, fresh graduate from the police academy, and raring to go on her first mission as a rookie. Her uncle - the only family she has, is a commissioner in the NYPD, and he has guided her where he can. Callie's becoming a cop, is not his doing - though you might say, her love and admiration for him could have inspired her to follow in his footsteps. Callie, though has one secret she's kept from her uncle - she has the sight taht allow her to see different frequencies... infra-red, ultra violet and of course, her normal vision. (I can't exactly recall how she looks; meaning who we patterned her looks after - but she was a blond model) Callie was one very smart lady, so definitely no dumb blond jokes for this campaign.
These three were basically Shadow's founders... others would soon follow, but the fourth member of this strange band would be...
Benjamin Templeton, late 20s, a character who joined SI coming from another campaign. His prominent feature being that he looked like a lead singer of a band (Spandau Ballet, actually) but with a prominent limp - Ben is a master of the Martial Art known as Aikido - and he has mastered the use of his Chi to the point that he can extend its use in many ways. He is searching for his missing sensei (mentor), who is inexplicably missing. His search has led him to New York city.
I'll leave it at that for now... and return to the reason for this entry. Why revival? Because one of the things we experimented on during those days, was to scribe our adventures... in other words, I've got them written down (back in the day, we used to use Wordstar... man I feel ancient) and just waiting to read again and again. We've, of course, gone our separate ways... Deke's in Canada with his family... Johnny's still in Manila, though his days are now focused on Jazz music, with his band 'Affinity', Adrain - last I heard, works in the call center industry. No real news about him these days... though I know he still is relatively active in RPGs, Bing is a home-body, basically caring for my mom. But Shadows is not them... its the adventures they created. I'll be editing them - then posting here.
I enjoyed SI, we all did... and now, as I place SI's adventures in this blog - I hope others will enjoy these same adventures too.
Enjoy...
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