Death Watch Journal for Kevin Varga – DAY 60

Today I want to try and bring some lightness that has been missing from this journal as of late. I have been looking through my property to decide that is to be saved and what I shall throw out if I am executed. I have come across letters and pictures that I had forgotten about. I have smiled at some of the things that I have found in my possession. I have also come across some of the old stuff that went with my gaming days and the memories that came with it. I would like to share with you all one of the adventures that we played through, if it is alright? I will lay some groundwork so that you can more easily follow my story.

I played a character called a “Crazy.” That is a human who has been augmented through brain implants making them faster, stronger and all around better. The other members of the group one was a ”Juicer” he is a lot like the Crazies except they are augmented through chemicals. The Juicers are better than the Crazies. Now the fun thing about the crazies is that as they progress through levels they become more, well crazy! They pick up all kinds of things such as phobias and disorders and other mental problems. I love this as they bring about some interesting situations when the group must be serious the crazy may start a water balloon fight. Look at it like this, if you would, in a movie such as Scar Face when Tony is fighting for his life at the end, a crazy may have jumped out of the door and tried to pelt the emerging “bad guys” with those afore mentioned water balloons! Okay now after the Juicer there was a Cyborg. Picture the Terminator without his skin and that was exactly what you’d get. To finish out the foursome there was a dragon. I based my crazy (Murdoc) on the old character from the 80’s television show The A-Team’s “Howlin’ Mad” Murdoc, do you remember this guy? He was the guy who had to be broken out of the mental institution to help the team? Well the Juicer’s name was Speed, a hugely muscled guy with a heart of gold, he was the kind of guy who would blow the hell out of the bad guys one minute and then with his gun still smoking help rescue a kitten from a tree. Then there was Harry, the cyborg. He spoke like Clint Eastwood. Then Spitfyre, the dragon, she was in love with Harry and that made for some interesting times! The adventure I would like to share with you today is one of the Doomsday Mercs’ best! A bit of background on the gaming world here. This is called Rifts and is based upon an apocalyptic Earth in the future when magic and technology live hand in hand. At the time that this next adventure took place the Doomsday Mercs had been living where the Hoover Dam sits, in a community that is slightly water logged (funny thing about that was that before the game ever started Murdoc in a random roll of the dice was given the phobia of water!) well the town was called The Stys. We had adventured in a nearby cave system and then it was decided that we’d stay. One day as we slept a deep space spacecraft came in over the lake and sent down a huge hose and began drawing up hundreds of gallons of water. The town tried to speak to these aliens to no avail, so they turned to the DDM to fight off these water stealing aliens, well we get aboard their ship and fight for control of the ship, at one point Spitfyre ripped out all the hoses that they had been using to draw up the water. Then once we have command and control of the ship we discover that the hoses were drawing up the water to “cool” some malfunction in their ship! No we are faced with an eminent explosion that has the possibility to destroy the entire town!

I can remember so many details of that adventure, like I am remembering a favorite book or movie. Those characters came to life. Now as I sit here going through paper work I have discovered other just as loved characters from other groups. I want to live to play some of these characters again. Murdoc is my favorite character of all time and when I run the games for other people I often will bring in old Murdoc to help them out. I have had many of the guys who have played with Murdoc say that he is a memorable character. What more can one ask than to be remembered fondly? I close for today. I hope that I will be remembered as fondly as a fictional character has been.