Now I can finally start looking at the many adaptations of Watchmen to see how other creators interpreted Alan Moore’s work. Of course, I’m using the word “adaptation” quite loosely with the first projects I’m looking at. But I don’t really have a better word for it. Additions? Non-canonical supplemental adventures? Eh, I won’t worry about it.
Before Moore and Dave Gibbons had even finished their 12-issue story, DC began working on two modules for their DC Heroes role playing game. The first, written by Dan Greenberg, was called “Who Watches the Watchmen?” (I’ve never played DC Heroes, but I am experienced with Dungeons & Dragons, so I get the concept.)
Greenberg had a difficult task of turning these deeply flawed, unlikable characters into something players would like to be. His solution was to set the story back in the 60s, when the Watchmen were young and most closely resembled traditional superheroes. Of course, these characters really didn’t do much together as a team, so Greenberg cleverly found a good excuse to bring everyone together.
The story takes place shortly after Captain Metropolis’ failed attempt of uniting all the major costumed vigilantes of the day. Someone close to each of the Watchmen has been kidnapped and Captain Metropolis coordinates the rescue mission. But none of the players realize that Metropolis was behind all the kidnappings in a desperate attempt to unite the heroes and frame Moloch.
It’s a pretty straight-forward mission, if a little “railroady.” I’d imagine it’d get rather redundant having to investigate seven separate kidnappings. But the neat thing is how the campaign handles the true mystery. It’s entirely possible for players to rescue all the hostages and capture Moloch and have no idea that Captain Metropolis was actually behind it. Of course, most players should be able to put the clues together by the end. Wisely, Greenberg recognizes how sharp-eyed players would be suspicious of Metropolis right from the beginning, so he recommends coordinating with another player ahead of time to play Captain Metropolis and present him as just another character in the game.
The biggest obstacle is Dr. Manhattan. Out of a sense of obligation, I suppose, Greenberg did include the off-the-chart statistics for Dr. Manhattan. But he included a stern warning to only use him if absolutely necessary, as he can easily break a game like this.
A slightly smaller obstacle is the fact that it’s still rather odd to imagine anyone wanting to be Rorschach or the Comedian or even Ozymandias. Greenberg tries to allay these concerns by saying things like this adventure takes place before Rorschach went fully insane, and the Comedian wasn’t quite as ruthless and violent as he later became. And all the players are supposed to pretend they don’t know that Adrian Veidt has secretly begun his work to cause Armageddon. It’s all a bit of a stretch, but I think it’s the best anyone could have done with such an assignment.
Gibbons drew the cover (a rather boring image, if you ask me) and he provided a few new sketches for inside. But most of the art is bland stock images, presented in mundane black-and-white. I have no idea how well this was received, but that’s not really the point. The point is that DC recognized they had a massive hit with Watchmen right away and sought to capitalize on its success every way they could imagine — even if that meant making slightly awkward role playing games.
On a whole, I feel like Greenberg followed Moore’s vision rather faithfully. It could easily be inserted into the Watchmen story without disrupting anything. And I especially liked the twist of making Captain Metropolis the villain. After all, in the main series he was portrayed as a racist, closeted homosexual with a naïve, regressive worldview. I fully support any story that reminds the audience that these characters are not really the good guys.
No comments:
Post a Comment