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Blackwood Institute and the Wider Parahuman Underground

Character Advancement Testing

Following our recent perk system overhaul, we had players rebuild their characters to test the enhanced power descriptions and new leveling mechanics. The goal was to evaluate balance and player satisfaction with the more detailed power listings.

Updated Character Builds:

Josh (Tommy Oliver) – Agile Skater

• Perks: Super Speed (Level 3), Phasing (Level 2)
• Quirks: New Kid, Conspiracy Theorist, Visible (new addition)

Larrett (Jimmy “Christoph” White) – Crafty Country Kid

• Perks: Regeneration (Level 1), Energy Constructs (Level 4)
• Quirks: New Kid, Language Barrier

The Visible quirk addition for Tommy reflected how his powers now manifest with glowing eyes and energy auras – a perfect limitation for his high-level abilities. Jimmy’s advancement to Energy Constructs Level 4 (property-scale, 300-foot radius) made him a powerhouse while maintaining clear limitations.

Sessions 4-5: Expanding the World

The Blackwood Institute

These sessions marked a major expansion beyond the local D.C. area, introducing Tommy and Jimmy to the Blackwood Institute – a secretive mountain school serving as a sanctuary for young parahumans. This gave players their first glimpse of what organized parahuman support could look like outside government control.

Dr. Blackwood was particularly impressed with their teamwork during a confrontation with Prometheus Initiative operatives – a corporate recruitment scheme that proved not all parahuman threats come from government agencies. The encounter showcased how the enhanced power system created meaningful tactical choices:

• Tommy’s Level 3 Super Speed (neighborhood-scale) allowed complex battlefield positioning
• Jimmy’s Level 4 Energy Constructs (property-scale) provided both offensive capabilities and protective barriers
• The Visible quirk forced Tommy to be strategic about when to use his powers
• Jimmy’s Language Barrier created interesting communication challenges during high-stress situations

The I-287 Incident

The drive home became its own crisis when the duo encountered Taylor Kim, a teenager whose gravitational powers had spiraled completely out of control during a family argument. This scenario perfectly tested the game’s core tension: exposure versus helping others.

Jimmy’s creative solution – using his Level 4 Energy Constructs to fabricate a fake meteorite at the center of the destruction – provided local authorities with a barely plausible cover story. This demonstrated how high-level powers can solve problems in unexpected ways while maintaining the secrecy that defines the setting.

The Corporate Angle

The Prometheus Initiative introduced a new faction beyond government agencies and anarchist Liberation Fronts. These corporate recruiters represented the capitalist approach to parahuman exploitation – offering money, opportunities, and “legitimate” careers in exchange for abilities. This added another layer to the moral complexity players must navigate.

System Performance

Enhanced Power Descriptions

Player Feedback: “Everyone said they enjoyed the changes and more detailed power listings. Balance seemed to be on point.”

The overhauled perk system successfully addressed earlier balance concerns:

• Level scaling felt meaningful without becoming overwhelming
• Detailed power descriptions eliminated ambiguity about capabilities
• Clear limitations prevented game-breaking combinations
• Quirk integration provided natural checks on powerful abilities

Memory Manipulation Resolution

The controversial Memory Manipulation power from previous sessions was refined based on playtest feedback. The new version requires specific, plausible memory alterations rather than wholesale personality changes, maintaining story consistency while providing useful utility.

Campaign Manager App Enhancements

Threaded Messaging System

The campaign management app received significant updates based on playtest needs:

Enhanced Session Notes: The basic note system evolved into a full-featured, threaded messaging system allowing direct replies and clear conversational threads.

Private Communication: GMs can now create private notes visible only to themselves with options to securely share threads with specific players. This proved essential for managing secret information and individual character developments.

Interface Improvements:

• Collapsible sections (Dice Roller, Players list, Notes) reduce visual clutter
• User preferences saved between sessions for personalized layouts
• “NEW” flags clearly mark unread threads
• Delete functionality allows permanent removal of notes and replies

These updates directly addressed playtest feedback about managing complex storylines with multiple secret factions, individual character arcs, and the need for private GM-player communication.

Expanding the Campaign World

Network Building

Sessions 4-5 successfully expanded the campaign beyond local threats:

• Blackwood Institute provides ongoing sanctuary/training opportunities
• Corporate interests add new faction complexity
• Interstate incidents demonstrate the national scope of parahuman issues
• Emergency contact networks connect PCs to broader underground

Moral Complexity Evolution

The Prometheus Initiative encounter forced players to consider:

• When is corporate recruitment better than government conscription?
• How do you help someone without exposing your entire community?
• What level of public deception is acceptable to maintain secrecy?

These questions built naturally on earlier Liberation Front conflicts while introducing new stakeholders and motivations.

Looking Forward

Character Integration

With Raven, Hope, and Jack temporarily sidelined, these sessions allowed deep focus on Tommy and Jimmy’s partnership. Their contrasting backgrounds (urban conspiracy theorist vs. rural outdoorsman) created natural character moments while their complementary powers (speed/phasing vs. constructs/regeneration) made tactical combat engaging.

Campaign Scope

The successful introduction of interstate travel, corporate factions, and institutional sanctuaries proves FREAKS can handle scope expansion without losing its core teen drama focus. The characters remain grounded in personal relationships and moral choices even as the world around them grows more complex.

System Maturity

The refined power system, enhanced app functionality, and successful faction diversification demonstrate FREAKS reaching mechanical and narrative maturity. Players can now engage with street-level personal drama or regional-scale political intrigue using the same core systems.

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Next Steps

With the power system balanced and the campaign world expanded, future sessions will focus on integrating the full group and exploring the consequences of their growing reputation within parahuman circles. The Blackwood Institute connection provides a natural avenue for bringing in new players while the corporate threat offers ongoing antagonist potential.

FREAKS continues to deliver its promise: authentic 80s period detail, meaningful moral choices, and collaborative storytelling that makes every player feel both powerful and vulnerable.

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FREAKS: 80s/90s Teen Parahuman RPG uses the Tricube Tales system and is active development at G33k Pub. The companion Campaign Manager app continues evolving based on actual play feedback.

Our Red Shadows playtest campaign has been delivering exactly what we hoped for—and teaching us valuable lessons about collaborative storytelling in the process.

The standout discovery? Our players create the most engaging scenarios when they help build them. The campaign’s opening “dodge ball incident” came from the group working together to establish how Hope’s power incontinence accidentally created an illusory fire, drawing unwanted government attention. That collaborative energy was so effective we’ve now built it into the game.

The Mad Lib Session Opener

We’re adding a structured collaborative opener to the GM section—a “Mad Lib” style tool that gets everyone invested immediately:

“It all started during _______ at _______ when _______’s quirk caused their power to _______…”

The beauty is in the details players add. When they choose whose character caused the problem, what went wrong, and who witnessed it, they’re automatically invested in dealing with the consequences.

Real Playtest Impact

Three sessions in, and we’ve seen:

• Raven’s signature “hair-cutting punishment” for defeated enemies
• Jimmy accidentally killing an opponent, forcing moral choices about lethal force
• Complex relationships between WWII-era parahumans and modern teens
• Memory manipulation proving potentially game-breaking (balance notes taken!)

These discoveries led to major revisions this past week—rebalancing the entire system and massively expanding the Perks descriptions with detailed progressions and useful GM guidance. When players show you what works (and what breaks), you listen.

The system handles teenage superhero drama beautifully, but the real magic happens when players help create the world they’re exploring.

FREAKS is shaping up to be exactly what we envisioned: coming-of-age superhero stories where the hardest choices aren’t about saving the world, but figuring out who you are when you’re fundamentally different from everyone around you.

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More playtest updates coming soon. The Cold War paranoia is just getting started.

FREAKS Playtest: Red Shadows – Sessions 2 & 3

Digital Underground and Liberation Front Revenge

Player-Character Key:

• Sydney plays Raven LeBeau (Agile Gymnast with Power Duplication)
• Josh plays Tommy Oliver (Agile Skater with Super Speed)
• Cassidy plays Hope Beauchamp (Crafty Artist with Illusions)
• Kyler plays Jack Simmons (Crafty Intellectual with Mind Control)
• Larrett plays Jimmy “Christoph” White (Crafty Country Kid with Energy Constructs)

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Session 2: “Digital Underground”

With Ritsy away investigating the parahuman situation with old contacts, our four teens discovered the hidden world of parahuman communication through 1987’s cutting-edge technology – a BBS (Bulletin Board System).

New Player Introduction: Kyler joined as Jack Simmons, a socially awkward but brilliant student from Stonewall Jackson High School – the same school attended by Raven, Tommy, and Hope. Like the others, he’d found a mysterious note directing him to “Dragon’s Gate BBS” and the promise of “real D&D.”

The Lincoln Memorial Meetup

The session’s climax brought all five characters together at the Lincoln Memorial for their first face-to-face meeting with other local parahumans. Despite attending the same high school, the PCs recognized each other but had never actually met – a perfect detail showing how even in the same building, different social circles rarely intersect.

Character Progression: Since Larrett was absent, Jimmy missed this crucial meetup, setting up his outsider status for the next session despite being part of the same school community.

Liberation Front Confrontation

Just as the teens were getting acquainted with the local parahuman network (Sarah, Derek, Amy, and Marcus), the Liberation Front made their dramatic entrance. The older teen anarchists wanted to force parahuman revelation on the world.

The fight showcased FREAKS’ collaborative combat beautifully:

• Jack immediately took control, using Mind Control to force Echo to “flop on the ground like a fish”
• Raven duplicated Jack’s power and humiliated Riot by forcing an “accident”
• Hope created a flame illusion barrier to contain the fight from tourist eyes
• When Vertigo tried her gravity powers, Hope trapped her head in an illusory fishbowl filled with water
• Tommy’s super speed became key – he clotheslined Riot at high speed, ending her fear-inducing emotional control, then pelted Blackout with quarters at 60mph
• Marcus (the BBS sysop) used Technopathy to disable radio communications in the area

The Liberation Front was soundly defeated and retreated, but not before Raven straddled the prone Riot and used her pocket knife to cut off her ponytail – a humiliating punishment that would become a recurring theme. “This is for messing with my friends,” Raven declared.

Character Advancement

Each player advanced their character, showing the meaningful choices between specialization and diversification:

Raven: Advanced Power Duplication to Level 2, gained Busy Signal Rage quirk
Tommy: Advanced Super Speed to Level 2, gained Conspiracy Theorist quirk
Hope: Advanced Energy Constructs to Level 2, gained First Time Everything quirk
Jack: Added Memory Manipulation Level 1, gained Uncontrollable quirk
Jimmy: Added Control [Element/Force/Energy] Level 1, gained Language Barrier quirk

Session 3: “Marked”

The Liberation Front’s revenge campaign began immediately, targeting each PC individually at Stonewall Jackson High School and their workplaces.

The Systematic Hunt

Monday Night – Tommy’s Capture: The session opened with immediate consequences when Josh rolled a critical failure during Blackout’s attack at the movie theater. Tommy was captured and taken to a remote cabin, setting up a rescue mission.

Tuesday – Hope vs. Vertigo: At Stonewall Jackson High, Hope took a direct approach when Vertigo tried to expose her powers during art class. She grabbed Vertigo by the hair, slammed her head into a table, then dragged her to the bathroom for interrogation. The ensuing fight destroyed bathroom fixtures as Hope used energy constructs to give Vertigo a swirly, ultimately knocking her unconscious and dumping her behind the school.

Tuesday – Jack’s Memory Manipulation: When Echo approached Jack at school (having infiltrated Stonewall Jackson as well), Jack used his new Memory Manipulation power to alter Echo’s memories of Saturday’s events, making him believe Jack was a different person entirely. Echo left confused and unsuccessful.

Wednesday – Raven vs. Riot: At Wright’s Bookstore, Raven faced Riot’s psychological manipulation by duplicating her emotion control powers and turning them against her. She then duplicated Sleep/Dream Control, rendered Riot unconscious, and took her prisoner to Ritsy’s basement.

The Hair Cut Punishment Continues

Once Riot was secured in Ritsy’s basement, Raven wasn’t finished with her humiliation. She gave the unconscious Riot a severe bowl cut, completely ruining her stylish appearance. Again, Raven declared: “This is punishment for messing with my friends.” The hair cutting had become Raven’s signature way of marking her defeated enemies.

The Rescue Mission

Using Sleep/Dream Control to invade Riot’s dreams, Raven discovered Tommy’s location. The team (now including Jimmy, who had missed the D.C. meetup but was brought up to speed) loaded their prisoner into a car and headed to the cabin where Blackout was holding Tommy in chains.

Tommy’s escape attempt coincided perfectly with the team’s arrival. After nearly two days chained up, he used his super speed to slip his bonds and attack his captor just as backup arrived.

The Deadly Conclusion

The final confrontation at the cabin had devastating consequences:

• Hope saved Tommy from Vertigo’s gravity manipulation by knocking her unconscious again
• Raven duplicated Jimmy’s powers to create a “face hugger” construct that disabled Echo’s sonic attacks
• Jimmy accidentally killed Blackout by launching his energy construct (with Blackout trapped inside) hundreds of feet into the air and letting it crash down

Blackout’s death shocked everyone and forced difficult moral choices about the consequences of their actions.

Memory Manipulation Solution

The session ended with the team deciding to have Jack alter the surviving Liberation Front members’ memories, making them forget ever meeting the PCs and believe they themselves were responsible for Blackout’s death.

System Insights

What Worked Exceptionally Well

School Setting Integration: Having all the main PCs attend Stonewall Jackson High created natural opportunities for both individual targeting and group coordination. The shared environment made the Liberation Front’s infiltration feel more personal and threatening.

Character Signature Moves: Raven’s hair-cutting punishment became a memorable character trait that added personality to combat resolution.

Power Combinations: The advancement system created immediately interesting tactical options. Raven’s enhanced Power Duplication became a force multiplier, while Jimmy’s elemental control added new strategic possibilities.

Consequence Escalation: The Liberation Front’s revenge felt personal and realistic. Individual targeting created solo spotlight moments while building toward group collaboration.

Moral Complexity: Blackout’s accidental death created genuine player discussion about lethal force and responsibility – exactly the kind of moral weight FREAKS is designed to explore.

80s Authenticity: The BBS discovery and individual school targeting perfectly captured 1987’s technology and social limitations.

Power Balance Issues Identified

Memory Manipulation proved potentially game-breaking in its current form, allowing too easy resolution of major plot complications. This needs careful limitation in future iterations.

Power Duplication scaling showed both exciting potential and balance concerns as Raven became increasingly versatile.

Lethal Force consequences need clearer mechanical and narrative frameworks for when powers cause serious harm.

Player Feedback

The group unanimously praised the sessions’ pacing, moral complexity, and collaborative storytelling opportunities. The escalation from digital discovery to personal targeting to deadly consequences felt natural and engaging.

Key Quote: “Everyone thought the game was very enjoyable and can’t wait to play more.”

The combination of 80s period authenticity, meaningful power progression, and genuine moral stakes continues to deliver exactly what FREAKS promises: coming-of-age superhero stories where the real challenges aren’t just physical, but personal and ethical.

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FREAKS: 80s/90s Teen Parahuman RPG uses the Tricube Tales system and is in development. This playtest used manuscript materials and revealed important balance considerations for final publication.

The Setup

Our playtest of FREAKS: 80s/90s Teen Parahuman RPG launched the “Red Shadows” campaign, set in Fairfax County, Virginia in 1987. The cosmic Dark Energy transit has begun, and Soviet agents have a head start on recruiting America’s first generation of empowered teenagers.

Our players took on the roles of four high school students who had just manifested extraordinary abilities:

Sydney played Raven LeBeau – An agile gymnast with enhanced reflexes, senses, and the rare ability to duplicate others’ powers. A runaway taken in by her late mother’s friend, she works at a local bookstore but struggles with trust issues.

Larrett played Jimmy White – A crafty country kid who can create powerful purple energy constructs, but his glowing purple eyes make it impossible to hide when using his abilities. From a loving family with two younger brothers.

Josh played Tommy Oliver – An agile skater with super speed, regeneration, and the ability to nullify others’ powers. The “new kid” from a wealthy but absent family, working at the movie theater and looking for where he fits in.

Cassidy played Hope Beauchamp – A crafty wallflower artist who creates illusions and energy constructs, but her powers constantly “leak” at low levels. A dreamy single child from a wealthy family that keeps her background quiet.

The Dodge Ball Incident

Using FREAKS’ collaborative opening mechanic, the session began in medias res in Principal Morrison’s office. The players built the story together: during gym class dodge ball, Hope had been daydreaming when her power incontinence caused her illusion abilities to leak, creating the appearance of a fire in the boys’ locker room. By the time authorities arrived to investigate the “fire,” there was no evidence because it had never been real. Their cover story? “It was just a firework.”

This opening perfectly demonstrated one of FREAKS’ strengths – letting players establish both their powers and the complications those powers create through collaborative storytelling. Hope’s Power Incontinence quirk created the perfect accidental incident that draws unwanted attention.

Under Surveillance

After the incident, each teen noticed they were being followed by mysterious individuals – a clear sign that their manifestations hadn’t gone unnoticed by hostile forces. The paranoia of being watched added to the Cold War atmosphere as the characters tried to figure out who was tracking them and why.

The Soviet Trap

The next day, the substitute teacher “Mr. Petrov” had the teens serve detention for the disturbance. He led them to an old storage barn to “retrieve equipment” – where four Soviet agents attempted to capture them.

The combat showcased FREAKS’ streamlined system beautifully. With their 3 starting perks (we used the optional multiple starting perks rule), the characters felt immediately capable:

• Jimmy’s Level 3 Energy Constructs created purple force barriers and weapons
• Tommy’s Power Nullification shut down enemy abilities while his Super Speed kept him mobile
• Hope’s Level 2 Illusions confused and misdirected attackers
• Raven’s Power Duplication let her copy and support her teammates’ abilities

Interrogation and Revelation

After defeating the agents, they interrogated “Mr. Petrov,” who revealed the secret history: parahumans have existed throughout history in 50-year cycles, the Soviets predicted this wave and sent recruitment teams to America, and the cosmic forces are just beginning.

The players loaded the defeated agents (with Sydney coldly cutting their Achilles tendons to prevent escape) into the Soviets’ own van and headed to the one adult they could trust.

Enter the Mentor

Ritsy Wilcox, Raven’s guardian, is a WWII-generation parahuman with shapeshifting, size manipulation, enhanced reflexes, and regeneration. A former Allied operative who’s spent 40 years in hiding, she was horrified by what the teens had brought to her door:

“I spent forty years trying to forget what I was. Then you manifest and drag Soviet agents to my doorstep. Do you have any idea what you’ve done? The Shop will come next. They always do. When they realize the Soviets found you first, they’ll assume you’re compromised.”

The Iron Wolf Arrives

As if summoned by her words, Major Viktor “Iron Wolf” Volkov arrived – a WWII Soviet veteran with ice control, super strength, enhanced senses, and decades of Cold War experience. Ritsy recognized him immediately, adding personal history to the confrontation.

The ensuing battle was a masterclass in tactical teamwork:

1. Jimmy immediately created a protective dome around the group
2. Viktor cracked it with his strength and tried to lift it bodily
3. Tommy nullified Viktor’s super strength through the exposed edges
4. Raven duplicated the nullification to help
5. They trapped Viktor with only fingertips exposed to maintain the power negation

Echoes of the Past

With Viktor trapped but able to speak, Ritsy addressed him directly. When he heard her voice, his eyes widened in recognition.

Viktor: “That voice… Rebecca? Rebecca Hartwell? I thought you died in Berlin.”

Ritsy: “Just hiding, Viktor. Like we all should have done.”

The conversation revealed fragments of their shared past – Allied and Soviet parahumans who had fought on the same side against Nazi forces, before the Cold War turned them into enemies. The teens watched as decades of history played out between two veterans who had once been allies.

Viktor: “You always were too clever for your own good. Even then, in the bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery.”

Ritsy: “And you were always too stubborn to know when to retreat. Some things never change.”

This exchange added layers of complexity to what could have been a simple confrontation, showing how the Cold War had turned former comrades into opposing forces.

The Test of Character

Before releasing Viktor, Hope used her illusions to test his intentions, making him believe he was free. In the illusion, he hugged Ritsy warmly and drove off with his men as promised. When released from the illusion and realizing he’d been tricked, he called Hope “sneaky” but honored his word anyway – hugging Ritsy for real and departing with the injured agents.

What Worked Well

Collaborative Storytelling: The opening mechanic got everyone invested immediately and established both powers and consequences organically.

Quirks Drive Story: Hope’s Power Incontinence quirk created the perfect accident that started everything, showing how character flaws become plot drivers.

Power Combinations: The 3 starting perks rule created immediately interesting tactical combinations and made characters feel capable from session one.

Surveillance Paranoia: The mysterious followers established the Cold War atmosphere and mounting tension perfectly.

Generational Conflict: The WWII veterans’ shared past added emotional weight and historical depth to the confrontation.

Moral Complexity: Viktor wasn’t a mustache-twirling villain but a veteran retrieving his people, creating interesting moral choices for the players.

System Notes

The Tricube Tales foundation worked smoothly with FREAKS’ modifications. The karma/resolve system encouraged players to use their quirks for both mechanical benefit and narrative interest. Power advancement felt meaningful, with clear choices between specialization and diversification.

The Urban Legends public awareness level perfectly captured the 80s conspiracy thriller vibe – weird stuff is happening, but it’s dismissed as tabloid nonsense.

Looking Forward

With Soviet agents defeated, their mentor revealed, and a WWII veteran aware of their existence, the stage is set for escalation. “The Shop” – America’s parahuman program – will likely make contact soon, forcing the characters to choose between competing government factions.

FREAKS delivered exactly what it promised: the coming-of-age superhero story set against Cold War paranoia, where the real question isn’t whether you’ll be discovered, but by whom.

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FREAKS: 80s/90s Teen Parahuman RPG uses the Tricube Tales system and is in development. This playtest used early manuscript materials.

I’m excited to share the early development progress on the Freaks Campaign Manager, a specialized web application being developed alongside the Freaks RPG – a tabletop game about teenagers with supernatural abilities navigating the secret world of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Current Development State

The foundation is already taking shape with core functionality in place. Players can create accounts, log in securely, and begin building their parahuman characters. The character creation system allows players to define their teenage protagonists with period-appropriate archetypes (Agile, Brawny, or Crafty), concepts ranging from honor students to punk rockers, and supernatural abilities like telepathy, super strength, and energy manipulation.

The character sheets capture the unique flavor of Freaks, displaying not just powers (called “perks”) but also the complications that make these characters compelling – quirks like “Secret Identity Stress,” “Tech Phobic,” or “Cold War Paranoia” that reflect both the supernatural elements and the specific anxieties of growing up in the Reagan era.

The Complete Vision

When fully realized, the Freaks Campaign Manager will serve as a comprehensive digital toolkit featuring campaign management, enhanced character tools, collaborative dice rolling, shared campaign notes, and timeline tracking of historical events. The goal is creating a seamless bridge between tabletop play and digital convenience.

Maybe Putting the Cart Before the Horse?

I’ll be honest – building a web application while the TTRPG itself is still in development might be a bit backwards. 🤷‍♂️ But there’s something exciting about developing both simultaneously. As game mechanics evolve, they can be immediately tested in digital form. When new character options emerge, they get added to the app. It’s creating a feedback loop between analog and digital design that feels… well, very much in the spirit of the late 80s, when technology was rapidly changing how people connected and shared stories.

Technology & Approach

The app uses Node.js, MySQL, and straightforward web technologies chosen for reliability over flashiness – much like the Freaks RPG itself, which uses streamlined mechanics to focus on compelling storytelling about young people discovering extraordinary abilities during one of history’s most turbulent periods.

Both projects are being developed with the goal of launching together as a complete gaming experience. Whether this parallel approach proves brilliant or chaotic remains to be seen, but it’s certainly keeping things interesting.

Looking Ahead

For Game Masters preparing to run campaigns about government conspiracies and parahuman teenagers, and players eager to explore what it means to have incredible power when you’re still figuring out who you are, the Freaks Campaign Manager aims to enhance the storytelling experience from day one – assuming we can get both the cart and the horse moving in the right direction.

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Both the Freaks RPG and the Freaks Campaign Manager are currently in active development, with plans to launch together. Whether this simultaneous approach is genius or madness will be determined by future historians.