Wednesday Comics: Absolution

Here's the next installment of  Jim Starlin's Metamorphosis Odyssey. The earlier posts in the series can be found here.

"Absolution (Metamorphosis Odyssey Chapter IX)"

Epic Illustrated #6 (June 1981) Story & Art by James Starlin

Synopsis: Using the talisman which holds the secret to the Infinity Horn's location, Aknaton performs a ritual, casts a spell. He reaches out into the void to find something greater than himself. And his call is answered by a being the awestruck Aknaton calls "Ra."

By whatever name, Aknaton begs the entity's help. The entity replies that the need of his worshipers is the whole reason for his existence: what does Aknaton need? Well, Aknaton needs advice--about what he's planning to do.

The entity is aware of the Osirosian plan to destroy the Milky Way. Does Aknaton want to know if it will be successful? Or does he want aid, perhaps?

Neither are Aknaton's desire. He is fully confident in the success of the plan (though the entity points out that in giving the sword to the Byfrexian, Aknaton may have created a variable beyond his control) and he needs no aid. He wants to know if what he is doing is right.

The entity shows him the horrors of the future where he doesn't act. After these visions he asks: "Is the question, do you have the right to play god? Or is it, do you have the duty to play god?"

Aknaton awakens alone, unsure if he actually communed with a god, or did part of him merely conjure the experience for reassurance? No matter:

Aknaton returns to the others. Vanth confronts him about his plans. Aknaton suggests he wouldn't question the plan if he saw the face of Zygoteism--and the future it will bring.

Things to Notice:

• "God" is a pretty standard Starlin cosmic entity.
• Finding the location of the Infinity Horn (the stated reason for this episode seems almost an after-thought.

Commentary: 
The purpose of this chapter seems to be to show the Aknaton's internal conflict regarding what he must do. Starlin chooses to dramatize this in his signature cosmic style, though he toys with the literal reality of the situation and the "god" in a way that is not far off from the sort of thing that might have been seen in a Verigo comic a decade later.

It all comes off as a bit of a cheat, perhaps. Does Aknaton earn his "absolution?" There aren't really any pros and cons to weigh--only pros are presented. The horrors of the Zygoteans are worse, we're told again and again. No additional evidence is really presented here to convince the reader Aknaton is right, though perhaps it makes him a bit more sympathetic by showing he's conflicted.

Biosculptor

A biosculptor is a limited form of bio-assembler, made for the purposes of plastic surgery. It's alterations are not as extensive or as customizable as those available with a trained technician and a full surgical suite (for instance, genetic alteration only of the grossest sort can be performed), but it has the advantage of being portable and easy to use. 

The biosculptor can reduce mass (up to 40%), but not add it appreciably (5%). It cannot create new subcellular assemblies (like chloroplasts in a nonphotosynthetic organism), lay down neural pathways involved in complicated behaviors, or alter body plan extensively (e.g. four-limbed to six-limbed). In general, it's changes will not alter attributes (GM discretion).

The biosculptor folds up to about the size of a briefcase, and self-extends as soon as it's booted up. The operator simply chooses the desired template from the devices library (or downloads another template) and uses the key pad or voice command to add further specifications.

Once that's done, the patient enters the biosculptor and applies the appropriate sensors. The unit anesthetizes the patient and fills compartment with a gel-like nanotech solution. The nanites begin the task of disassembling then reassembling the patient's body into the desired form.

[Inspired by the device appearing in the images above from the comic Lost Horizons by Juan Zanotto.]

Audience Participation: The Next Illustration

As I've shown hints of here, artists are diligently at work on material for the Strange Stars book. The only problem is, I can't decide on some of the species and cultures to have them illustrate!. So, I thought I'd see if you guys have any preferences. Here's the list of possibilities with links to refresh you memory:

Atozan - Keepers of the Great Library
Caliban - Vicious sophontophagists
Circean - Psychic witches
Kosmonik - Space-adapted travelers.
Minga - Slave race out to covertly conquer the galaxy
Phantasist - Dream-merchants.
Quicklings - Tiny, fast-living humanoids
Sisterhood of Morrgna - Cloned Amazons.
Virid - Photosynthetic humanoids from a sophont biosphere.
Zhmun - Wealthy invertebrates.

So are any of these guys worthy of illustration? If you have a preference, let me know in the comments.

Worlds of the Vokun Empire

by Arve Sellesbakk

EBEN: (Primary: Ushkalish, F9.5) The homeworld of the ibglibdishpan--or at least where they are found currently. Eben is a highly ordered world where everyone knows their place, assigned by aptitude testing in adolescence. The importance of their service to the vokun is stressed in all facets of ibglibdishpan life.

by Sam Mulqueen

UTU-AN: (Primary: Matari ) The watery world of the aquatic Dragon Mothers and their human worshipers/pets the kuath.

Art by Fernando Rodrigues

YANTRA: (Primary: Suryana, G7V) The paradise (before the arrival of the vokun) inhabited by the primitive humanoids called the Yantrans.The vokun occupation has been plagued by a number of unusual setbacks.

Wednesday Comics:Sunrise on Lartoprez

Here's the next installment of  Jim Starlin's Metamorphosis Odyssey. The earlier posts in the series can be found here.

"Sunrise on Lartoprez (Metamorphosis Odyssey Chapter VIII)"

Epic Illustrated #5 (April 1981) Story & Art by James Starlin

Synopsis: Aknaton has brought his group together. Now, he's got to unlock the secrets of the amulet so they can locate the Infinity Horn. Unfortunately, that sort of secret can't be discovered "on a plane of existence such as this one" or in the company of others, so Aknaton leaves them for an appropriate place.

With him gone, Whis'par, Za and Juilette are able scrutinize the newcomer. They are not much impressed with Vanth and his beard. Za starts to check under Vanth's hood to see if the little man is hiding special powers there.

Vanth storms off to keep watch on a nearby ridge. Za, rubbing his head, opines that "Master chose well." Juliette asks Za why he calls Aknaton "Master." Za replies that Aknaton saved him from death. Save him from himself.

"What did he save you for?" Juliette asks. Za isn't sure. "Maybe a better death," he replies, finally.

Whis'par finds Vanth. She apologizes for their testing him earlier thanks him for not hurting Za. She says they were nervous, but she recognizes Vanth must be as well. He agrees. He doens't know why he's here.

Whis'par knows--and she thinks Vanth does too, really. His eyes have death in them. Aknaton needed someone who could understand the Zygoteans. Vanth realizes she's right:

He wonders what he's gotten himself into. "Death," Whis'par says. "On a scale undreamed of." She can't believe he doesn't know, that he hasn't guessed. Vanth begins to get angry at her obscureness. She realizes her people have had a long time to become inurred to the horror of "Aknaton's madness." She surmises Vanth just can't accept the truth.

Vanth still isn't buying it. Everybody's talking about death and destruction, but nobody is saying when or where or who. Whis'par reminds him there has also been talk of suicide.

The Orsirosians couldn't defeat the Zygoteans. They looked into the future and saw the galaxy enslaved by their foes. They devised the Infinity Horn, the ultimate doomsday weapon:

Things to Notice:

• "Pulsar sucker" is another space insult.
• Starlin has the Infinity Horn here and later the Infinity Gauntlet when he returns to work at Marvel.

Commentary: 
After all the hinting and circumspection, Aknaton's plan is finally revealed: He's going to destroy the galaxy to get rid of the Zygoteans. Whis'par describes it in negative terms, though she is clearly going along with it. It's unclear at this point how much Juliette and Za know, and we don't get to see Vanth's reaction to the revelation this chapter.

Five Worlds for Space Opera

Genres run on tropes (or cliches, if you're less charitable).

Planet of Amazons
Whatever strides the future will have made in terms of gender equality, there still always seems to be some place out there with warrior woman who are either hostile to men, find them fascinating and strange, or both. This is perhaps just a variant of the Woman Dominated Planet (where men are present but second class citizens, and the women aren't necessarily a warrior race) with less cool a name.
Examples: Queen of Space (1958), Star Maidens,  Buck Rogers "Planet of the Amazon Women," Space: 1999 "Devil's Planet," Omega 3 in Starstruck, the Femizons from Marvel Comics, Lyrane II from Second Stage Lensmen.

Casino World
If your space opera setting doesn't have a world like this, where would Lando Calrissian play sabacc? There are probably very few whole planet casinos, but there might be casino cities surrounded by wastelands or casino space stations--bonus points if it's shaped like some sort of gambling device. There may be some overlap with the Pleasure Planet.
Examples: Buck Rogers "Vegas in Space," Cowboy Bebop "Honky Tonk Women," The Wheel from Marvel's Star Wars comic, Ventura the Gambler's World in the Legion of Superheroes.

Forbidding Planet
Some planets have secrets. Dangerous secrets. These worlds are usually desolate and hard to get to. Those who have sought their secrets before may have died for them--or maybe they've somehow become their guardians. If the secret is particularly dangerous, this might be a Hellworld is disguise.
Examples: Forbidden Planet (1956), Planet of Vampires (1965), Miranda in Serenity (2005), LV-426 in Alien (1976), LV-223 from Prometheus (2015); any number of worlds in the Star Trek series fit the bill, but Talos IV is probably the most archetypal; there are a couple of these in the Deathstalker novels.

Hellworld
Some planets just want you dead. Maybe they've got super-hostile sapient inhabitants, a deadly biosphere, or a poisonous atmosphere, the result is the same. It's going to take something of value to attract PCs to a Hellworld; this may be a natural substance or some person stranded there. As mentioned before, there is some overlap with the Forbidding Planet.
Examples: Aliens (1986), Star Trek "Whom Gods Destroy" and "The Way to Eden," Nu-Earth in Rogue Trooper, Lythyl in Legion of Superheroes, Spatterjay in The Skinner by Neal Asher, and of course Deathworld by Harry Harrison.

Pleasure Planet
Everybody needs a little relaxation and recreation, and a Pleasure Planet is it. This may be a fairly tame resort world, a place of supreme decadence and indulgence, or seedy planet with deadly secrets.
Examples: Doctor Who "The Leisure Hive," Wrigley's Pleasure Planet and Risa from Star Trek, Delirius from Lone Sloane, Raggashoon from Omega Men.

Summer Movie Gaming

With the summer movie blockbuster season upon us (even though it's only Spring), it's worth looking at the releases we know about and seeing what sort of summer gaming inspiration we can glean, thereby.

Godzilla
It's that classic tale: Giant monster meets city; Giant monster destroys city. This sort of thing could fit in several different genres/games. You can take the whole "military or scientist types dealing with the disaster" angle in something like WaRP, maybe. Of course, a kaiju could attack a D&D-ish fantasy world (Oriental Adventures did stat "gargantua"), so they could just have a slugfest with high level adventures. "Giant monster horror" (as suggested by Cloverfield) might suggest using a modification of the GUMSHOE game Fear Itself. Worth a shot.

You could also go for a Pacific Rim or Shogun Warriors sort of approach. For that, I'd suggest my own quick and dirty old school Giant Space Robot rules.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
A classic X-Men story-line finally gets a big screen treatment. I know I've generally neglected the comic book staple of alternate futures in my superhero role-playing. If you guys are the same, this film could be a corrective. Also (like X-Men: First Class it follows) it's probably going to have some retro-heroics in an earlier era. With comics relying so heavily on Golden Age versus Modern, I suspect a lot of people neglect post-WWII historic eras for games. I think that would actually have a lot to offer.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
If you can't see the gaming possibilities of virtually all of the ape films, you probably just shouldn't be gaming. Eden Studios even made Terra Primate, so there's a dedicated game to support your Planet of the Apes style adventuring. You could do this sort of thing just as easily in any post-apocalyptic game.

Guardians of the Galaxy
This one is the trickiest on the list; not because it's likely to be hard to get gaming inspiration from, but because it's a Marvel Studios superhero film ostensibly, but it probably offers more inspiration for cinematic space opera like Star Wars. Still, future/space supers is a common subgenre in the comics (Legion of Superheroes, Starjammers, and two versions of Guardians of the Galaxy) so this is a good excuse to give that a try, if you haven't.

Index Updated

A Blesh by David Johnson. Go to the Index to read more about it!

The Strange Stars Index has been updated to include the most recent posts. Check it out, for all things Algosian to Zhmun, and then some.

Strange Stars Art

The Strange Stars project moves forward. here's a sampling the artwork being diligently turned out:

This is a spacecraft approaching the a hyperspace gate as rendered by David Lewis Johnson.

Here's a face only an exowomb could love: a gnome of Dzrrn, again by David Johnson.

It's not all passing out literature and proselytizing for the Instrumentality of Aom. This spy drawn by Waclaw Wysocki serves their interests, as well.

Wednesday Comics: Delloran Revisited

Here's the next installment of  Jim Starlin's Metamorphosis Odyssey. The earlier posts in the series can be found here.

"Delloran Revisited (Metamorphosis Odyssey Chapter VII)"

Epic Illustrated #4 (Winter 1980) Story & Art by James Starlin

Synopsis: Aknaton and Vanth arrive on Delloran, a once thriving world devastated by the Zygoteans. Vanth doesn't understand why they're here instead of taking the fight to the Zygotean menace. He also hasn't heard Aknaton's plan for how they're going to defeat them.

Aknaton tells him that the Osirosians created a device called he Horn of Infinity. "When the device is activated, the threat of the Zygoteans will end." Aknaton doesn't know where the Horn is. To protect it, he gave it to an immortal, artificial being to hide, and that being will only reveal its location when a certain verse is recited to him by an Osirosian. The artificial man was ordered to await an Osirosian on Delloran.

Aknaton's mystic senses quickly located him amid the blasted ruins:

Aknaton tells Joenis he has come for the key. Joenis replies that he still has it. He has protected it for 100,000 years from pirates, demons, thieves, magicians, and Zygoteans. Many have died seeking the treasure. Through all that, Joenis has realized something:

"You know it's secret, then?" Aknaton asks.

Joenis says he does and he admits he thought about destroying the key at times. His programming was too strong, and too, after the destruction of Delloran, he came to see that Aknaton's plan was right. He gives the Osirosian the key, glad to be rid of it.

Aknaton turns to go. Vanth asks Joenis if he wants to go with them, but he declines. When the two visitors have gone, Joenis puts a gun to his head.

Vanth hears the gun fire. Aknaton tells him he saw the pistol in Joenis' bag.

Aknaton tells Vanth he prays that the Byfrexian will be half as worthy as Joenis.

Things to Notice:

• Again we get hints at the terribleness, but necessity of Aknaton's plan.

Commentary: 
Vanth continues to interact with Aknaton very differently than the rest of the characters. To Vanth, he's just another guy, not an object for awe, fear, or reverence.

"Joenis" is probably meant to suggest Jonas, a variant of Jonah. Jonah (Yonah) is the Biblical prophet famous for getting swallowed by a fish/whale. The name means "dove" in Hebrew. Joenis Soule is a "dove," a "peaceful soul" who kills himself rather than go along with what he knows is coming, what Aknaton is planning.

Old Soldier

The military of the Radiant Polity consisted of one soldier, and that man was named Hannibal Tecumseh Early. It was he who held the hyperspace nodes against the tide of 23 Enigma enraged hordes, saving the lives of thousand of moravec citizens; he who smashed the torture gardens of the Algosians and drove them back into the Expanse, and he who was vilified in the noosphere after his heavy handed tactics against the Aomist separatists of Wallach.

Early mostly appears as a steely-eyed, taciturn veteran of late middle years, but when necessary ten of thousands of versions of him were embodied in battleships and war fogs, spy drones and strategic minds. The Early war machine was manufactured to whatever size was needed, but at least one Early was kept in hibernation, as a reserve.

When the Radiant Polity began to disintegrate, Early's military might was turned against himself. Aomist hacks of Early fought to the death against secular ones. He performed interrogations on himself, knowing for certain at what point his resistance would break. In some habitats, memes and conditioned responses extracted from his mind were introduced into the psyches of the populace to ensure unwavering public support for the war effort.

When the Radiant Polity was gone, the Instrumentality of Aom thanked him for his service and requested his seppuku in recompense for his war crimes. Early did as ordered, a soldier to the last.

It's rumored that not all copies of Hannibal Early were destroyed. Balladeers claim that the old solider still hibersleeps in some remote location, his armor and weapons, arrayed around him, waiting.

Banana Republics

I don't mean the clothing retailer, or even merely the political science term in its broadest since, but instead something matching O. Henry's original use to describe his fictional Central America country of Anchuria in Cabbages and Kings (1904). The banana republic then is a sort of sultry colonial companion to the Old World charm of the Ruritania: A fictional, politically unstable Latin American or Caribbean country under the thumb of foreign interests. In gaming terms, it might be the more cynical (and perhaps more interesting) result of the standard D&D endgame.

The real world prototype of the banana republic was Honduras in the late 19th to early 20th Century; a nation that fell more and more under the thrall of U.S. fruit companies. The mercenary army of the Cuyamel Fruit even toppled the elected government and installed General Lee Christmas as commander in chief of the Honduran Army and U.S. Consul. Guatemala in the 1950s shared a similar fate when the elected government was successfully painted as pro-Communist to the U.S. government because they were anti-the United Fruit Company. These examples have the banana republic essentials: greedy foreigners, downtrodden peasantry, passionate revolutionaries, corrupt oligarchs, violent mercenaries, and torrid jungle.

In real-life, adventurers (we could even call them murderhoboes) like William Walker set up regimes pretty much fitting the banana republic mold in the mid-nineteenth century. Unlike the Ruritanian Rogue, your foreign rogue in a banana republic might be a central player in the countries woes instead of just having to deal with them.

Here's a list of fictional Latin American countries. There were a lot of likely banana republics in 80s TV and film, though they weren't always potrayed specifically in those terms. Good examples include Costaguana from Joseph Conrad's Nostromo and Queimada from the film Burn! (1969). Though the Zapata Western (either in its Italian or American form) is always set in Mexico, its themes, roquish characters, and ample chili con carnage are good inspirations for a banana republic based game.

Odyssey Delayed

No new chapter of Starlin's Metamorphosis Odyssey today on account of illness. Catch up on the old entries and I'll see you next week.

Infinite Earths

This a diagram of "major divergences" of parallel realities in Mark Gruenwald's A Primer on Reality in Comic Books. Things have only gotten more complicated since 1977.

DC has always had more alternate earths, thanks to their desire to explain away continuity errors by saying they took place in another reality (Marvel No-Prizes were simpler), but then Crisis came and they got rid of them all. After a few more crises, they came back though. Check out a list of them here.

Marvel traditionally had very few and didn't give them number (too DC, I guess). In 1983, Alan Moore and Alan Davis did a story for Marvel UK where the main Marvel earth was given the designation 616. Fans ran with that, and from a throwaway line, Marvel parallel Earths got numbers, too. Find them here. Of course, this probably doesn't catalog all the dystopian alternate futures the X-Men wind up in. Those guys just can't catch a break.

Any, I'm sure all of this can be plenty useful for a superhero game.

Send in the Clones

Orphan Black returned for it's second season last night, and I watched a few episodes of the Netflix-only final season of Clone Wars, so I have clones on my mind. Here are a couple of clone-related campaign ideas:

Art by Julie Baroh

Clones Underground
Dungeon exploration is dangerous business, but lucrative. Some wealthy land, ruled by a wizard (or wizards) might contrive to save on the risk (and potential challengers to their rule) by raising alchemical clones of themselves and their own companions to deliver the treasures to them. Using clones easily allows for replacement of dead characters, and the wizard serves as both patron--and perhaps future adversary.

Dupes
As in "duplicates". Maybe. Mashup the Bourne Identity and Orphan Black and throw it into Night's Black Agents and you've got sleeper clone agents created by an occult conspiracy. The characters must unravel the mystery of their own identity while staying ahead of there pursuers.

Of course, any speculation about vampiric "soul clones" (as put forward by Chuck Loridans, inspired by the events of The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires) is left the GM to indulge in at their own discretion.

Plugs, Shameless and Otherwise

Christopher Helton, tabletop gaming writer for the entertainment site Bleeding Cool debuted his first post on self-published rpgs yesterday, shining it's spotlight on Jason Sholtis's Dungeon Dozen, Jack Shear's Planet Motherf*cker, and my very own Weird Adventures. It was great to be asked to participate. The primary result seems to be more traffic to the Weird Adventures Companion post.  All I can say guys is: It is coming, but I have no ETA. I'm planning to get it out the door after Strange Stars.

In other self-publishing news, Anthony Hunter (cartographer for Weird Adventures) has launched Sleeping Griffin Productions. He's putting out layered pdf maps various sorts for personal or small press use. Check them out.

Graustarkian Karameikos

The Grand Duchy of Karameikos is a small nation in the Balkans on the Adriatic Sea. It has a long history going back to ancient times when the Romans built a fort and founded a trading outpost at Specularum--now Karameikos's capital, Spekla. Since those days, Karameikos has been in the hands of a succession of empires: the Byzantine, the Serbian, the Ottoman, and briefly, the Austro-Hungarian.

The current ruler of Karameikos is Stefan III. He has retained the title of "Grand Duke" despite his nation's liberation from Austria-Hungary. Grand Duke Stefan and most of the nobility trace their families back to Byzantium, but rule over an ethnically mixed populace of Albanians and Serbs, as well as Greeks. The predominant religion is the Orthodox Church of Karameikos, though there are also Muslims and a small number of Roman Catholics.

Believed to be the only photo of the leader of the Black Eagle

One of the greatest threats to modern Karameikos is the terrorist group known as the Black Eagle. The group is vaguely related to Albanian nationalism, but its direct aims seem to be criminality and destabilization of the current government. It's leader is named either Ludwig or Henrich. As his name would suggest, he is said to be of Austrian descent. His primary advisor and bomb-maker is believed to be a former monk named Bargle.

The Mad Monk Bargle, while briefly in custody

This post relates to my previous Ruritanian ruminations--and of course to D&D's Known World.

Wednesday Comics: The Meeting

Here's the next installment of  Jim Starlin's Metamorphosis Odyssey. The earlier posts in the series can be found here.

"The Meeting (Metamorphosis Odyssey Chapter VI)"

Epic Illustrated #3 (Fall 1980) Story & Art by James Starlin

Synopsis: A shot from somewhere takes out two of the Zygotean thugs surrounding him, but Aknaton doesn't have time to think about that. He uses his power against his attackers, but he's not a warrior.

Luckily, a guy shows up who is:

The man exhibits super-strength and Aknaton realizes this must be Vanth. But then where is the sword?

Two of the mercenaries catch up with Aknaton. Vanth again comes to the rescue, but Zygotean reinforcements arrive and surround them both. Vanth drops his gun then raises his hands. He looks as if he might surrender. But suddenly he has a sword in it:

Vanth absorbs the blasts from the Zygotean weapons with the sword, then uses its power to destroy them. Aknaton is impressed. The sword was more powerful than even he expected in Vanth's hands. Even more powerful than he planned:

He asks where Vanth had it hidden. Vanth responds that he didn't hide it. It's a part of him, he can bring out when he needs it. Vanth is about to turn the blade on its creator who he still thinks may be in league with the Zygoteans.

Aknaton assures him he is not. He tells them he has a plan to destroy them, but he needs the help of a warrior to do it. Alone, the the Zygoteans would when, but together they can show the "zyg devils the true face of death."

Things to Notice:

• When he's not destroying planets, Aknaton isn't all that tough.
• "My forte is mass destruction," Aknaton says.

Commentary: 
"Vanth" is the name of a female chthonic figure in Estruscan mythology, who has been associated with the Furies in the past. It's unclear if there is any connection to Starlin's character, but it would be tempting to connect this Vanth to deities of vengeance.

Vanth is very different from the others Aknaton has recruited. Not only is he tough enough to save Aknaton more than once, but he's irreverent and slangy in his speech. In other words, Vanth is a rather standard American hero. It remains to be seen how he will change the dynamic of Aknaton's rather plaint group.

Old School Art That Isn't

Perusing old comic book fanzines, I found some art of the appropriate vintage and a close enough fit for the style that it made me wish Gary and crew had contacted so young or wannabe comics pros for some D&D art. Check these out:

Don Newton, 1976.

Robert Kline, 1969.

Skip Olson, 1971.

Dave Cockrum, 1972.