Forte Update for June '08!

What’s new in the world of Forte this summer?

Most of the additions are Forte 2000-related this time around. Let’s start with the F2K Gallery, since art’s always the most fun! We’ve got all color shots this round, and all from two different returning artists – Kevin J. West and Dennis Martin Willman. First, Kevin West continues his Forte 2000 team head-shots (I’m working to collect ‘em all) with shots of Dyna Girl and Rainier. Next, Mr. Willman jumps in with a big grab bag of colorful Forte awesomeness. First, “The Dark Lord Anubis” gives us a look at the full headmask look of one of Forte’s greatest villains. Next, “The Plotting of Erebus” shows us a scene of the mystic menace called Erebus with villainous thoughts of Phantashia on his mind. “Mr. Dusk” is a moody shot of Nicholas Ares’ mysterious right-hand man. “Dyna Girl” rather speaks for itself, a gorgeous look at F2K’s petite powerhouse. There’s a beautiful shot of “Savannah”, the tragic villainess who’s appeared in a couple of F2K tales. And there’s the amazing photo-quality “Seahawk” shot, designed, in the artist’s words, to look like it came from “Seahawk: The Movie”. Perhaps the most completely mind-blowing addition is this stunning (and suitable for framing, for crying out loud) shot of a trio of F2K bad girls – “Prowler, Toast and Blue Dragon”. And we have an eye-popping shot of “Bobby McMillan”, otherwise known as Max, but out of costume and in suit and tie. And speaking of out of costume, we round things out with one simply called “Cincoflex in Repose”. As you can see, Mr. Willman didn’t just hit it out of the park with this collection, but didn’t even seem to know the park was there. Enjoy.

On the Forte 2000 story front, the origin tale of Seahawk continues in “Seahawk: Number Zero (Part Two)”. When we last left the story, we were back in 1999, in a time before the new Forte team formed when Seahawk had just gotten started as a new Seattle solo hero. In this chapter, we pick up where that left off, but we also take a further leap back to 1998, to a time before Jared Banks even became Seahawk, to look in on his first meeting with someone who would come to play a big part in his (and Forte’s) future. Don’t miss this chapter filled with intrigue, emotion, suspense and action! The pre-history of Forte 2000 continues!

And just for something, as they (over)say, completely different, the Forte 2000 page proudly presents the Forte 2000 Soundtrack! There have been a group of songs that have been inspirations for Forte 2000 stories and characters for some time, but finally that collection has been put together and posted up on iTunes. If you have iTunes, you can click on any of the songs, right off the Flash display on this page, and sample them (or even buy them). Or just use the text on the page itself to check out the song list (where there are notes on the usage of each track) and pluck those songs from whatever other MP3 outlet you use. Either way, we hope you enjoy some of the sounds that inspire the adventures of Forte, and hope they’ll increase your enjoyment of these stories, too.

But on the non-F2K-front, there’s a brand new Forte Universe page that’s just gone up! This awesome new addition is called “K.C. Ryan’s Forte Universe”, a page dedicated to the non-Forte stories of the hero universe Forte inhabits—written by the universe’s creator himself! Here you can currently check out recently-written tales of Captain Thunder, Angel Flight and Hornet, but can also jump into the brand-new Justice Squadron story called “The Rule of Law”. This page will be the home base of K.C.’s continuing tales of these other beloved heroes, and soon will add the adventures of The Four Aces and the Enforcers. Keep checking back for more!

And we’ll see you next time.

New for February in the Forte Universe

Got some new goodies up at the Forte Universe for y'all.

First, there's some new art on the Forte 2000 Gallery. Check out Dyna Girl and Nightsable shots from newcomer Jason Pyke. And there's a Seahawk from illustrator Andy Fish, and a stylish Nightsable by his partner, Veronica Hebard. A couple of gallery favorites return as the dynamic T.G. Sangalang gives us his rendition of Moondancer, and the always-stunning David Enciso brings a Forte 2000 villain to life...Masterpiece (whose first and only appearance thus far has been in the story "Stakeout". Based on this look, I think we need to see more of her (though there's not a whole lot more of her to see...).

And we have tales. On the Forte 2000 Adventures page, we jump back in time (like it's 1999) to a pre-F2K story involving Seahawk. We meet him here for the first time, get to know his life, and get a look at what was happening in Seattle just a few months before the fated new foursome joined up and re-started the Forte legend. "Seahawk: Number Zero (Part One)" begins the tale of Seahawk's first adventure, one that lays the groundwork the latter-day Forte tales to come.

Over at the Forte Expanded Universe page, there's an exciting multi-part milestone tale, written by Forte founder K.C. Ryan himself, called "The Last Hornet Story". In the era of the Forte world before there was a Forte, a mysterious and driven heroine with an amazing family legacy hunted a sinister, dark semi-government agency called CHESS. Now, over two decades later, the final showdown between Hornet and CHESS reaches its explosive conclusion in the nation's capital, with ramifications that could spell the end of Forte...and the downfall of a the greatest country on Earth. Do not miss this dramatic, star-studded epic steeped in Forte-world history, and heralding the end of one of its first heroine's saga.

More to come. Keep checking the 'Verse!

Forte Universe Highlights

So much to see on all the Forte Universe sites! How’s a person supposed to know where to start?

Well, thought I’d make a few suggestions and point out a few highlights for those new to the F-Verse.

While the original Forte campaign has all the history, most of that history isn’t online yet. The bulk of the Forte material you’ll find is on the Forte 2000 site, since that “sequel campaign” was born on the web and all its content is on the page. That site contains the most graphically fun page in the Forte Universe, the Forte 2000 Gallery. That’s a great place to start, since there’s no reading involved. Just LOTS of art to check out! Note that it’s broken down into three sections – Character Art, Issue Covers and Wallpapers. Character Art contains all the art we’ve had gone for the characters (and you’ll find many of classic Forte characters there as well as the new ones, and it’s broken down by artist. So be sure to scroll all the way down to see it all). Also in there there’s an easy-to-miss link to a page called the Eryck Webb Art – Other gallery. Eryck is the most prolific F2K artist, and has done dozen of works, but not all for Forte 2000. He’s also done art and design work for other Forte world characters and teams, and some non-Forte stuff (like ConTinuum and Omniverse). This gallery collects those works as well. The Issue Covers page is fun, as it turns existing art into Forte 2000 comic book covers. And give the Wallpapers section a peek, too, and catch some neat desktop candy, most design by Aaron Storck.

On the Forte 2000 Adventures page, there are many tales to read. And they’re chronologically numbered, so of course, I’d advise that you just start with the one with the red “1” next to it and just go in order! But, if you’re lacking that kind of time…here’s a few suggestions. If you want to see how it all began, I’d recommend trying the origin story contained in Forte 2000 #1, #2 and #3. I think it’s a pretty exciting read. Just keep in mind it’s written in “game update”, not prose, style. A faster read is “The Keys”, a fiction piece taking place during the early adventures of the new team, one where they’re hanging out at the original Forte base. No combat involved in this one, just a fun character story. If you want character stuff AND action, and have time for some reading, I’d advise “The Storm” (parts one and two), a dramatic and suspenseful tale that takes place right at the end of the first era of Forte 2000 (before the new characters joined up). I wrote that one to feel like a big TV show season finale. I think you’ll really enjoy the “Hotline” series of stories. These are written in an unusual format – in phone call transcript format. So it’s all dialogue, which makes them nice and quick to read, and they’re a lot of fun (and surprisingly touching in some parts). Try to first one, and if you like it and want to see what comes next, the link to the next story is right at the bottom. Find out for yourself what happens when an average dude gets his hands on the phone number for a secret hero base. I also highly recommend “Family Matters”, one of Aaron Strock’s Dyna Girl-centered tales, but one that brings in all kinds of Forte world elements, with the new Forte characters and the old, Forte NPCs, Forte world guest-stars, and puts them all together in an action-packed Seattle adventure.

Over on the Forte ’05 page, you’ll find a handful of Forte stories set in 2005, mostly centering on original Forte characters. Most are prose, but I’d advise you try out one that, like the “Hotline” stories, is written differently. “The Dr. Jackal Interview” is the transcript of a radio interview with the Forte founding member, and gives you a nice little summary of Forte history. I think it’s a fun read, and the page that got built to house it (made to look like the web site of Import, the super-heroine/web radio diva of the Forte universe) is fun to look at. So tune in!

On the Forte Expanded Universe Page, a pretty quick and fun read is “A Hangover Far, Far Away”, starring original Forte hero Anvil and current Forte heroine Dyna Girl. In space. If you’re wondering why they’re in space, you can get the backstory first by reading "Forte Chronicles #1: Into the Realm”, which is the adventure that takes place before this story. “Hangover” is another zero-combat character tale that I think you’ll enjoy.

And if you REALLY have some time on your hands, head on over the Forge page and read the origin story – chapters one, two, three and four. This story is a novella, really, but turned out, I think, really well. Here, you follow the origins of a new hero team, every step of the way, and then get into all the many details that go into starting one. Rich in Forte history (five of the six characters are former Forte heroes, with one new hero thrown into the mix to shake things up), this tale lays the groundwork for the adventures to come, the tales of the first Forte spinoff team and the newest hero team in the Forte universe. If you can make it all the way through, I promise you an entertaining ride.

As for the Forte.com page, I can just say, I general, that you should just go there and start poking around. The page itself is a work of fiction – it’s meant to simulate what the actual Forte computer system looks like, so it lets you feel like a real Forte hero, logging in. There’s all kind of stuff to check out, but obviously, since it’s NOT the real Forte site, some buttons and links don’t work. But some do…so try everything! There may be an Easter egg there for you! Or, to make things easier, you can use any of the “help” buttons on each page to give you the “real world” facts on that page (like, what works and what doesn’t, or a little piece of pertinent Forte trivia). I’d advise trying the one (currently) working message board thread there (“Poker in the Rear”), for a fast, fun read. And also try the “Links” page and scroll through all the fictional Forte world web sites out there (and a few real ones mixed in). The whole thing’s designed to give you a feel for what it’s like to live in the Forte universe – and to be a part of Forte.

The Forte Online Chronology is a helpful tool, as it lists all the Forte tales from all the pages in chronological order (though not the classic Forte updates from the Forte Prime page yet – I want to get all of them online before including them). So if you want to get through EVERYthing in the Forte online universe, this is your roadmap (with handy links) for how to do it.

And as a reminder, new Forte stuff is generally added to coincide with new issues of the Clobberin’ Times Online, so you’ll mostly see new material being posted bi-monthly. The exception is Forte art, which usually gets added to the F2K Gallery as soon as it’s received, so always feel free to drop in there and see if there’s something new (and the new stuff is always posted at the top of the page in the “Most Recent Additions” area).

So if you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll step into the Forte Universe and browse around, try out a few of the tales, learn some of the history, and enjoy twenty years of super-heroic adventure along with us. Welcome!

Happy 20th, Forte

Twenty years ago today, four guys sat down at a dining room table in Roseville, California, to start a Champions game together. Three weeks later, a gal joined up with them, and all the pieces of the legend that would come to be known as "Forte" fell into place. And two decades later, it's still going on. In new forms, but with the same creative spirit, the same long-lived friendships, and the same old magic.

On this historic date, we have some new additions to the ForteUniverse sites to celebrate the occasion. First, Forte Prime has been updated to now include the first seventy-five Forte "issues", having added twenty-five more to the list. These new ones are where things really started getting good, issues that ushered in the second era of Forte, with new heroes, new villains, new tales and new surprises. I'd advise checking them out for yourself.

Also, to help us all look back on the past two decades of friendship amongst the Forte creators, we've added a special "Twenty Years of Forte" photo gallery. Prepare for good times, bad haircuts, questionable fashion choices and a fifth of a century of the lives of one group of grateful friends.

And the characters, like their creators, get a chance to look back at the road behind them in a story simply titled "20", one that takes place on the eve of the anniversary in the Forte world, and stars every living Forte hero. Find out how it's being celebrated, experience the memories and emotions of a band of selfless defenders who have saved the world, and the universe, together for so long, and be there with them to commemorate the milestone.

I had started a very large retrospective on the last twenty years of the Forte experience, which I'd planned to post up here, but it got TOO big and I wasn't able to finish it in time for the anniversary. Soon, once I finish it all, I'll be posting it here in several parts for your reading pleasure. The tale of Forte is the tale of all of us who've been a part of it, and I hope you'll enjoy reading it.

I've said what I needed to say to my Forte friends via email already, but once more here I'll simply say thank you to them all. We did good, guys. Like (most) of our characters, we all managed to make it this far. And along the way, we've created something we couldn't have imagined, together, and have had laughter and tears, good times and trying ones, and can look back it all with pride, a bit of awe, a few appropriate head-shakes, and a smile. Thanks to K.C., to Jeff, to Tim, to Kaye, to Kevin, to Randy, to Jim K., to Jim M., to Andrea, to Logan, to Ben, to Adam, to Aaron. All heroes of Forte. All friends for a lifetime.

Happy anniversary, Forte.

Mike

New at the Forte Universe - October

Here's what's been added to the Forte Universe site this time around.

First, I added and changed some character art on the index page, so feel free to check that out. I mentioned Forte Prime already, where those first 50 issues are up. Most of the content centers around the 20th anniversary. "Forte Forever", the 20th anniversary game, has a full write-up now on the Forte Expanded Universe page. Oh, and there's also a photo gallery up showing the events of the big Forte 20th Seattle weekend where the game was run.

I decided to take a look in on what's happening in the Forte world itself for the team's 20th year celebration, and you can get some of these details at the Forte.com site by checking out the latest additions to the Calendar and Message Board pages. And there's a special page that's been added (hasn't actually been linked up to any of the sites yet. I have to figure out where to put it...) off the Forte Museum page (there isn't an actual Forte Museum page at this time, so it's a 1-page mock-up), where you can find out the big media events happening in Seattle for the big Forte20 Week.

And a few new pieces have been added to the Forte 2000 Art Gallery as well, including the Forte20 group shot by Sean Harrington you saw in the previous post, three new works by Garrett Blair (Tinker, Passport and Serenade) and a Dyna Girl by Greg Moutafis.

The official 20th is coming up on November 5th. Wow. We're really old.

Live from Fake Seattle

"I DID IT!!!" -- Hiro Nakamura

Okay! I finally managed to get the first 50 ISSUES of the original Forte online! And build a whole new Forte website around them--Forte Prime--which will be the site of, hopefully, ALL the original campaign material.

You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?

If you're in the dark, I'd suggest you check out www.forteuniverse.com. In short, Forte is a super-hero team based in Seattle, one that's been around for 20 years now. It began as a Champions campaign (that's a role-playing game, in case you didn't know) back in 1987, and after lasting 8 years, closed up shop, only to be reborn as web fiction. There's a number of places on that site where you can read all about the history of all this, its characters, the people involved, etc., etc., so I won't go into all that again here. I'll go forward from this point assuming you know what a "Forte" is and just start blogging accordingly.

The occasion for starting this blog (something I've had in mind for some time) is the creation of the Forte Prime page, and the occasion for THAT is that we're about to hit the 20th anniversary of Forte. 20 years! I started playing in this game (run by GM K.C. Ryan) on November 5th, 1987, on its very first night. Through it, I made some of (still) my best friends in the world, and managed to be a part of creating a hero saga that's lasted two decades, and is still going. As you'll see by the sites, I still love everything about Forte, and all the characters in it, and all the endless stories it still has to tell with all of them.

Last month seven of us former Forte folks (the ones who could make it) celebrated the anniversary (just a bit early) by taking a trip to Seattle, the city of Forte's birth and life. We weren't FROM Seattle. We were all living in Sacramento when this game started. But it was the city K.C. chose to set it in, and over the years, through all the Forte adventures we've been in, it's become like a second home to all of us. So it seemed only fitting that we all go there to celebrate the big milestone together (one of us, Aaron, now lives there (nothing to do with Forte, but life is not without its ironies)). We had a great time hanging out, catching up, touring the city, and even getting the play the 20th anniversary Forte game. Good stuff. And a good reminder of how lucky we all are to have had an experience like this.

I mainly started this blog as a place to update future happenings on the Forte Prime page (I just didn't feel like building yet ANOTHER "News" page like most of the other Forte sites have), and thought this might a 1) more fun and 2) easier way to do it.

So, as for Forte Prime (the name I chose to set it apart from the other Forte sites, showing that it's the genesis site, the one based on the original stuff), it is now live. It's going to be the place where (over much time) I'll finally start putting up all the material from the original Forte game. The post-campaign stuff has been up for several years (and keeps growing), but the original material never has. Mainly because it's all photocopies and such, all created in the era before Word docs and scanning and the like. It's going to take some time to convert it to 21st century technology and get it up to share with the gaming world, but at least we're getting started. As official Forte historian (self-elected), I feel it's kind of my job. And I feel I owe it to all the friends who've been involved in Forte with me over the years.

For now, you've got an intro I wrote there, and you've got the first 50 issues (or "Forte Updates", the records of each run of the Forte game) to check out. I'll start adding more as I go. And each update has a link at the bottom marked "index" that will eventually take you to a fully functional Forte Index (read the page to find out what a Forte Index is). Right now, it takes you to a page that explains what's coming and shows you a sampling of what the original Forte Index looked like.

I'll use this blog to update on Prime, but I'll also probably use it to give other Forte news and just talk about Forte stuff in general. We'll see where I go with it. But right now, I haven't the time! I'm working a deadline here to get lots of stuff ready for the latest Clobberin' Times Online issue (check the link to see what that is), and the hour is late! Back with more.

If this is your first time diving into Forte, welcome! I hope you check out all the pages and enjoy the stories and art there. If you're a Forte regular, keeping checking back for more Forte rantings and such here.

Happy 20th, Forte! (Almost...)

(Oh, and by the way, I'm Mike. Dr. Jackal was my main Forte character, so I just made this Google account under that name, to keep with the spirit. Just so you'll know...)