Thundarr the Movie

As a life-long comics fan and a retailer with a quarter century of experience, I was today years old when I discovered that Buzz Dixon and Chuck Dixon were not the same person.

I found Buzz's blog and he talks about working on the Thundarr the Barbarian cartoon and a proposed feature film where it turns out the Sunsword and not a comet was the source of the great cataclysm mentioned in the opening of the show. Apparently it was being fought over by two rival alien species causing it to be hurled toward the Moon, which it splits, before crashing into our planet and destroying the world as we knew it in 1994. Essentially he replaced the comet with the very weapon our protagonist wields and the film would have been a prequel.

How metal is that?

In his blog post Buzz says this, "There are plot holes and logic gaps in Thundarr big enough to fly a fleet of Airbuses through wingtip-to-wingtip so if you’re going to have a future where indestructible handheld weapons shatter moons and wipe out civilizations as the result of an unintended impact, you might as well go all the way and pile the wild ideas on top of each other.”

Those the kinds of stories I want to tell.

Ashes Without Number

Even though my interest in the OSR has waned a bit I still really appreciate the work that Kevin Crawford has down with Stars Without Number, Worlds, Without Number, and Cities Without Number. Ashes Without Number starts crowdfunding in July and is an update and expansion on Other Dust a game about post-apocalyptic worlds and the struggle to survive. If you dig Gamma World, Mutant Future Planet of the Apes, Mad Max, Furious, Rifts, and zombie dead worlds this game has you covered.

He's posted the character creation section and like CWN classes are ditched for Edges and includes rules for mutations.

The timing, for me, is excellent because I've been thinking a lot about Thundarr the Barbarian and enjoying Fallout on Amazon so I've got an itch for this genre.

By It is believed that the cover art can or could be obtained  from the publisher or studio., Fair use, 

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=699389

I'm not sure I'm up for a campaign but I've been working up a setting and brainstorming an adventure or two.

If you want to check out the character gen section you can download it here.

State of the Planes April 2024

It's been awhile. I've been good and hope all of you have as well. I've spend a lot of time thinking about what this hobby and its industry mean to me. I think I'm at a point in life where finding time for my buddies is more important to me than the games.

Further, I'm not sure I like running games anymore. I know I prefer the games I run to have less and less combat and that they resource management of DnD and its many, many clones just don't do it for me. Honestly, the OSR showed me the resource management aspects and I think it's why I don't have much to say about running any of those games. I've really come to realize I prefer games about big damn heroes fighting the good fight and if there isn't any real danger for the characters I don't know what the point of combat is. I'd rather run games where the conflicts have different stakes these days and I know with 100% certainty that I don't want any part of a combat that lasts over an hour and if the tide of battle looks like an assured victory for the players I'd rather just end it and move on.

I also find myself wanting less rules. I don't want a 300 page rulebook or a 300 page adventure. I'm lucky that right now I play with two fantastic groups who prioritize fun over rules and I trust them to let the story drive the sessions.

Additionally, I've found that I am really tired of rolling a d20 and seem to favor d100 and 3d6s as resolution systems these days. I've been looking at GURPS, The Fantasy Trip, and the HERO System a lot. HERO was my first RPG and maybes its simply nostalgia? Along those lines I've been reading Green Ronin's Adventure Game Engine offerings like Dragon Age, Modern Age, and Fantasy Age. However, I've found myself finding more satisfaction from systems where you roll equal to or below your TN as opposed to  equal to or above. That is a major sea change for me but I think it has to do with wanting to think less about rules while at the table and putting the mechanics into the hands of the players.

The only drawbacks I have with HERO and GURPS is that I don't want a full blown point-based system so after reading through GURPS Lite for 3rd Edition I've been looking at merging B/X DnD or Gamma World with the bones of the HERO system replacing the skill system and combat system and GURPS standing in for armor and weapons.

Hopefully, I'll get back to posting again to showcase my ideas.

Monster Monday: Ork City's Chupacabra for Shadowdark

Welcome to Ork City!

In the middle of Ork City's Hatt Island is the Park, a wild and dangerous forest filled with all manner of nightmarish predators. One of the most frequent dangers is a creature about the size of a large dog that drinks the blood of its victims. It is quiet as death as it stalks its prey, listening to their heart race, smelling the fear radiating from them, and relishing the warm, coppery taste of the blood that sustains it. Few who come across a Chupabra live to relay the tale.

You can download a PDF here.

Ork City: Moorlocks for Shadowdark

Welcome to Ork City!

It is inspired by Gamma World, Numenera, Thundarr the Barbarian, Planet of the Apes, Roadside Picnic, Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth, and Mad Max and focuses on excursions to what used to be the ruins of New York City. I see it as a Point Crawl mixed with running dungeons that draws in those seeking fortune and treasure in this harsh and unrelenting world. 

Most of what is known about the Moorlocks come from the Veegabonds, those survivors who consider Imma Vee a prophet, who venerate her by following her path along what is left of the East Coast. 

You can download a PDF here.

Miscreant Monday: Crime Wave for Savage Worlds + the Supers Companion for Earth 72

Artwork by Storn Cook

Hamilton Fox, a con man and drug dealer, had dreamed of becoming an Olympic runner for as long as he could remember. Sadly, he was willing to do anything to be the best and was caught using performance enhancing drugs and banned from competing any further.

Blaming everyone but himself he fell in with the wrong crowd and began dealing drugs before being caught and doing time in the Holloway Detention Center on the outskirts of Opal City. It was there that he met Joseph Klein who took him under his wing.  When Klein was released he told Fox to look him up for a job when he got out. 

Hamilton did just that 18 months later when he found Klein working for the crime syndicate known as the One-Thousand and serving as a trusted right hand for the Mist who was in charge of operations in Opal City. Two years later, after proving himself loyal and reliable, the Mist asked Fox if he would be interested in an experiment that could give him superpowers and without a moment's hesitation he told her he was in.

The 1,000 had put a member of the Dominator species known as Gunther in touch with a new iteration of H.I.V.E.. Gunther had defected to Earth during its Invasion by a coalition of aliens. The Dominator's research involved unlocking the metagene and he and two other subjects underwent the procedure.

Hamilton was really lucky. He only had flu-like symptoms for a couple of days before his super speed manifested while the other two subjects died very, very painful deaths.

The Mist has been training Fox in the use of his powers and he has taken up the codename the Crime Wave. She's been having him operate in Hub City to save him as secret weapon when the time is right. Fox is running faster than ever and is enjoying the rush.

You can download a PDF for Crime Wave here.

I used the excellent Savaged.us to build him at Power Level II.

Miscreant Monday: DC Comics' H.I.V.E. Soldiers for Savage Worlds and Earth 72

H.I.V.E. is a mercenary organization that specializes in high-level contract assassinations, the training and even creation of metahuman operatives, and acts of terrorism. The current incarnation has begun operating in Opal City on the East coast of the U.S. and the Department of Extranormal Operations had identified its new Queen to be the brilliant and deadly Cheshire.

Here is a PDF download.