Mayfairstivus concludes as Booster Gold #39 and Justice League: Generation Lost #15 are scheduled to hit stands today. You could buy them both and make Skeets happy, but don't worry if your busy schedule prevents you from reaching your favorite Local Comic Shop today. Mayfair Games already has you covered:

Thanks to all these fine DC blogs who celebrated Mayfairstivus season along with Boosterrific:

The Anti-Didio League of America
The Aquaman Shrine
Comics Make Me Happy!
The Continuity Blog
DC Bloodlines
Diana Prince as The New Wonder Woman
Doom Patrol: My Greatest Adventure #80
Firestorm Fan
Flash: Speed Force
Girls Gone Geek
Green Lantern Corps: The Indigo Tribe
Hawkman: Being Carter Hall
Justice League Detroit
Martian Manhunter vs. The Idol-Head of Diabolu
Once Upon A Geek
Power of the Atom
Subject: Suicide Squad [Task Force X]
Supergirl Comic Box Commentary

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No role-playing game set in an alternate universe would be worth playing if it didn't at least attempt a rule system to explain the behavior of the "supernatural" powers and abilities of the universe's inhabitants. Of course, DC Heroes used MEGS rules to control the interaction of the players within the artificial environment. That means that every person, place, and thing that the players may encounter within the artificial universe of the DC Heroes universe must be adapted to the MEGS rule system. The Mayfair game designers did not let the players down.

Several sourcebooks were published to explain and expand the DC Heroes environment. In addition to new ready-made characters, these books contained rules, equipment, and locations designed to replicate the bizarre and sometimes impossible nature of the DC Universe as found in the comics. Of specific note to Booster Gold fans is the 1993 DC Technical Manual.

The DC Technical Manual, written by Jerry A. Novick, was an extensive look at the equipment used by the science-based heroes of the DC Universe. It includes such a variety of items as Deadshot's Wrist Magnums, Starman's Cosmic Rod, and the Blue Beetle's Bug. And it also spotlights Booster Gold's futuristic equipment, both in flavor text and some simplified, technical-style drawings.

The sourcebook, subtitled the S.T.A.R. Labs 1993 Annual Report, presents its supplementary information from the point of view of a 20th-century scientist. While this makes the sourcebook a more interesting read, it also makes it a less useful role-playing tool. As a result, the book offers very little insight into the actual workings of Booster Gold's futuristic equipment. It is not, however, without it's merits.

Equipment detailed in this sourcebook was considered an update to previously printed material. For example, Booster's powersuit, which was detailed in the All That Glitters module, but here it is twice as strong and sturdy as previously presented. In keeping with rules updates, all of Booster's equipment now has a Reliability Number (R#), indicating how durable that equipment is. The lower the number, the more reliable the equipment. Not surprisingly, all of Booster's equipment has a Reliability Number of 2, the lowest possible number.

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Boosterrific resumes the Mayfairstivus celebration with the most important supporting character in the life of Booster Gold: his robot sidekick Skeets!

Skeets is included as one of three ready-made Player Character in the All That Glitters game module. Skeets is fast, smart, and tough, everything a good sidekick needs to keep up with a hero like Booster Gold! And Skeets comes with a built-in support network with the 25th century Space Museum. (You really never know when that sort of thing might come in handy.)

The other ready-made characters for the module are Jack Soo, Vice-President of Research and Development at Booster Gold International, and Trixie Collins, BGI receptionist. Who wants to role play as the receptionist, you ask? Don't worry, the game developers thought of that: "NOTE: For the purposes of this Booster Gold adventure (and only this adventure), Trixie has once again adopted the Goldstar role" [pg.6]. Problem solved.

Like Jack and Trixie, Skeets would be left behind once Booster moved from the BGI mansion into the JLI embassy. At least Skeets would be revived a few years later, and has since resumed his role as Booster Gold's number one fan.

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Booster Gold's role in the DC Universe is unique, but not because of his powers or abilities. After all, other heroes are invulnerable and have energy rays. Booster's contribution to the tapestry of the DCU is his unusual personality: part well-intentioned hero, part greedy cad. It is these characteristics more than anything else, that mark his value in a role-playing environment. And the game developers at Mayfair Games recognized this.

Well before Booster Gold was included as a character card in the second edition of the game, developers recognized the potential of this newcomer to the DC scene. Booster was made the star of his own game module in 1987, scant months after his comic book debut. The module, titled All That Glitters after the common misquoting of Shakespeare, featured Booster Gold struggling "with the dilemma of battling villains at the cost of losing valuable merchandising contracts." The module designer, Greg Gorden -- also one of the chief architects of the Mayfair Exponential Gaming System, went so far as to create rules, board, and pieces for the fictional Mayfly Games' Booster Gold Board Game featured in the game module. It's a clever bit of verisimilitude that further draws RPG gamers into the DC Universe. (The Booster Gold Board Game has been adapted into a single-player Flash-based game here at Boosterrific.com. You can find it here.)

The 1987 game module When a Stranger Calls by Ray Winninger also features Booster prominently. The module's scripted subplot is a crossover with All That Glitters and hinges on Booster's decision whether or not to temporarily abandon the Justice League International to continue on the promotional junket for the Booster Gold Board Game as detailed in All That Glitters. Whether the always-capricious Booster stays or goes is up to the player. Neither choice is out of character, and therein lies the role-playing enjoyment that Booster Gold represents.

BONUS BOOSTER GOLD!: Booster Gold is scheduled to make an appearance on tonight's episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, "Darkseid Descending!", on Cartoon Network at 7:00 PM EST. The episode features Booster and the rest of the Justice League International.

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The Mayfair Exponential Game System (MEGS), developed for the DC Heroes Role-Playing Game uses a logarithmic system of Attribute Points for tracking character's powers and abilities. In an attempt to simplify the rules, the MEGS Attribute Points are used universally for all powers and abilities for each character and object in the game. This makes comparison between characters fast and relatively easy.

For example, Booster Gold's Dexterity score of 6 means that thanks to his augmented powersuit, Booster is twice as agile as a hero with a Dexterity score of 5 (such as his teammate Fire), and 16 times more nimble than a normal, untrained human with a Dexterity score of 2 (such as Maxwell Lord). This system allows characters like Booster Gold, whose powersuit has a Strength score of 7, to play in the same game as characters as comparatively weak as Blue Beetle (Strength 4) or as powerful as Superman (Strength 25!).

The above image is the reverse of the Booster Gold character card that was included in the second edition box set of the DC Heroes Role-Playing Game. These stats and abilities represent Booster as he appeared in Justice League International. By this time, Booster has already lost his fortune and deactivated Skeets. This is clearly represented by a Wealth score of 3, indicating that Booster had an annual income of $10,000, low by even 1989 standards. How the mighty had fallen!

Interestingly, Booster Gold was given the Secret Identity drawback. This is a common drawback for DC Heroes; the rulebook even suggests, "Nearly every Character in the DC Universe has this Drawback." In Booster's case, this drawback indicates his morally questionable past. Though Booster Gold has only one identity in the 20th century, if his background as a gambler and thief were publicly known, it would compromise his heroic reputation considerably.

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