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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Boosterrific.com welcomes you to the first day of Mayfairstivus, an 8-day celebration of Mayfair Games' DC Heroes Role-Playing Game from the 1980s. (Before you ask: yes, the timing of Myfairstivus to coincide with Hanukkah is entirely intentional.)

The DC Heroes Role-Playing Game was first released in 1985. The game proved popular, and a second, expanded edition was printed in 1989 that incorporated changes to the DC Universe following the Crisis on Infinite Earths. This second edition added significantly to the rules of play as well as updating the pre-constructed licensed characters, including Booster Gold who received his own "illustrated character card" as one of the 75 included in the second edition box set.

As Mayfair Games changed ownership over the years, the rights to the game have become a tangled mess, harder to unravel than Hawkman continuity. While the game may be lost to time, it is certainly not forgotten. We will be exploring Booster Gold's role within the game in coming days during this grand Mayfairstivus holiday!

More Booster Gold Mayfairstivus goodness to come tomorrow. Meanwhile, celebrate Mayfairstivus season with these other fine DC blogs:

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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