Words and News from Yer Central Mailer for CTO #16
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Say good-bye to summer, gang, and hello to new shows (one word…”Reaper”!), crap weather and…come to think of it, you can say good-bye to your money, too, as the holidays are now rushing right at us. Now, try that and have your entire immediate family and a good portion of your friends all having birthdays within the next month, and you’ll get an idea of how much blood I’LL be selling… But for now, let’s focus on things money CAN’T buy…like a new issue of the ‘Times! Seriously, you can’t buy it. It’s free. And it’s extra-special this time around, because CTO
#16 is officially the Forte 20th Anniversary issue! That’s
right, this particular cycle of the ‘Times falls on November
number twenty since K.C. first started the campaign that would
not die, and now, the big event is finally here. And we start
our celebration with… Cover Lovin' …an awesome Forte 20th commemorative cover by Sean Harrington! I got this a while back, both as 1) a gift for all the folks making the Forte reunion in Seattle and 2) the cover for this issue! Those represent the best-known Forte characters of all the Forte gang who showed up to party like it was 1987 last month…they are (clockwise from top) Eclipse (K.C. Ryan), Anvil (Randy Auer), Dyna Girl (Aaron Storck), Tomarssuk (Jim Kletzing), Lightsedge (Adam Johnson), Dr. Jackal (me…like you didn’t know) and Vanguard (Jeff Baumgardner). Sean’s done some art for the Forte Gallery before and is a big Forte fan, and he jumped at the chance to do this for such a special occasion (and he did it in like two days. Damn). Great work, Sean! And a great little cross-section of the history of Forte heroes, too.
The Forte 20th Anniversary Seattle Weekend
Forte alums at the 20-year reunion in Seattle - K.C. Ryan, Jim Kletzing, Aaron Strock, Adam Johnson, Jeff Baumgardner, Randy Auer and Michael O'Connell Remember, remember, the 5th of November… It all started on November 5th, 1987, at K.C.’s dining room table. And not too long after that, it became part of the first issue ever of the Clobberin’ Times. The 20-year history of one of the greatest Champions campaigns ever run is inseparable from the ‘Times. The two grew, and grew up…and ended, and were reborn…together. Twenty years later, both Forte and the ‘Times are still ticking. Which makes being able to celebrate the game’s big milestone here so special. Back in Clobberin’ Times #1, I posted my character sheet for my new Champs character named Dr. Jackal. And now, in the Clobberin’ Times Online (online? What’s ‘online’ mean?) #16, I’m still talking about him, over this thing called the “internet”. The world, and our lives, has changed a lot. But Forte, and the CT, have always been there for us. You can read the full details about the Forte Seattle weekend (August 10-12, 2007) in both mine and K.C.’s zines this time around (and you can check out the whole big photo gallery, too!), but in short? Awwwwesome. Seven of the old Forte gang were able to get free of our lives and head to Seattle, the city where all of Forte’s adventures took place during the campaign. Aside from just the amazing chance to all hang out together in the same place again (we’re in a few different states, now, ya know), we got to tour the town that we all saved (and damaged…) so many times, and, best of all, got to sit down around Aaron’s dining room table, this time, as K.C. dusted off the old dice (okay, to be accurate, he couldn’t find his dice before leaving home so he borrowed from the rest of us…) and ran the monstrous 20th Anniversary Forte game called “Forte Forever”. Which, too, you can read all about this issue, as it’s now posted up on the Forte Expanded Universe page and part of Forte history. Most Champions games are lucky to get past a few runs. The really lucky ones may go a year. So for one to go as long as ours did, and then continue on online like it has, AND have the players all still be friends (more than one campaign has ended a few friendships…I’m sure you’ve all seen it happen) after two decades…well, let’s just say we all understand how fortunate we are. It’s been twenty great years of characters we all love, stories we built together and get such a kick out of sharing, and friends who you can go without seeing for months or years…and yet, when you’re back in the same place, feel like you’ve never been apart from. I like to think this is just the kind of things those early Hero Games creators had in mind when they published the first edition. Happy anniversary, Forte. And here’s to twenty more years
of it, and beyond. Founder's Day
The good news is? Tim is still in his 30’s! For one more
year, at least. Yes, today is the 39th birthday of ‘Times
founder Tim Watts! So be sure to drop him a line
and throw some birthday wishes his way. A very happy birthday
to our really, really, really, really, really, really old friend.
Yeah, I’m just enjoying the fact that he’s 17 days
older than me. Can you tell? Next Issue Deadline Deadline for the next CTO issue is December 1, 2007, for inclusion in the December 2, 2007 issue. Just put your stuff on a web page (or in a PDF) and e-mail the link (or the file) to me at: Happy Halloween, and Happy Thankgiving! Michael O’Connell |
