Collect Them All!

Do you remember these STRANGE STARS^tm  action figures from the early 80s? There was this guy, the robot and the green woman--and a bunch of aliens.

Probably not (though if you do, email me) because, as far as I know, they don't exist. This is a super-cool promo bit done by the ever talented Lester B. Portly featuring artwork by Eric Quigley. And before you ask, rest assured work on Strange Stars continues.  We aren't just playing around.

Wednesday Comics: The Price (part 5)

We continue our examination of Jim Starlin's Dreadstar Saga with The Price. The earlier posts in the series can be found here.

The Price (part 5)

Eclipse Graphic Album Series #5 (October 1981) Story & Art by Jim Starlin

Synopsis: Leaving Taurus Killgaren a smoldering skeleton, Darklock returns to Sister Marian. He tells her he killed his brother's murderer, but the man was not the bloodthirsty fiend he had imagined. Sister Marian doesn't understand, but Darklock says it doesn't matter.

Instead, he asks her a question about a hypothetical moral quandary. If she could play a major part in an event that would change humanity's destiny for the better, but it required her to sacrifice her own life--and her death would be painful and horrible: Would she do it?

Sister Marian doesn't know what he's going on about, but she's a nun of the Instrumentality: If the gods' required she lay down her life for the betterment of humanity, she would.

Darklock was afraid she would say that. She asks what's wrong and calls him her love. He acknowledges that he loves her, too. He had never dared speak of it because of their vows. The truth is, he has never been a pious man; the priesthood was just a means to comfort and power. But she did believe, and her piety rubbed off on him. He would never have soiled that with his lusts. He loved her, though--and will to the end of his days...

Marian is in a dark room, confused. Then she remembers Darklock was never one for hypothetical questions:

First Darklock hears her prayers. Then come her screams.that seem to go on forever. Finally, there are her last, choking sounds. What he hears last is even more horrible: her body being eaten. When  it's done, and the door opens, he enters the room and takes the power:

TO BE CONCLUDED

Things to Notice:

• Always wise to be careful who you answer hypothetical questions.

Commentary: 
And so, Sister Marian pays "the price"--and so does Darklock. She gives up her life or is tricked into doing so, and Darklock gives up the thing that he loves the most. In fact, Darklock has paid a series of prices for power: he does not pursue a relationship with Marian in the name of his vows (which by his own admission give him access to power), he sacrifices much of his body to gain the power to kill Killgaren, and then this.

Class as Race

If you watch Thundarr the Barbarian (and you should) you'll notice that "Barbarian","sorceress", and "wizard" as treated almost as if they are special classes of individuals rather than just vocations or cultures. We don't see any evidence that barbarians come from anymore primitive a background than a lot of other characters, but they dress is skins and are all tough fighters.

In fantasy comics (at least older ones) people tend to dress more for their particular skill set than for any cultural reason. Forest thieves tend to look like Robin Hood, despite other characters dressing in Sword & Sorcery fashion. You know have a pretty good guess and what their skill set just by looking at them.

Both of these things lead me to the same thought. Maybe "race as class" in D&D doesn't just apply to demihumans? It could be that all classes are, in fact, races--or at least some sort group identity. It could be that you don't choose to be a fighter or a magic-user: You're born one.

I don't know what the"in world" explanation would be for this. Being chosen by the gods would be one explanation (something like Exalted's castes), but far from the only one. Maybe it doesn't need explaining--it's just another weird thing about a world with underground structures full of monsters and magic.

Thinking About 5e

Not the map of the world, but same sort of place

When we finish our current Weird Adventures campaign, some of my players have expressed interest in giving 5th edition a try, which appeals to me too. In honor of a whole new edition, I've been thinking of trying a little bit different sort of setting. Instead of doing another variation/evolution of my high school setting, I think I'll do something a little more whimsical, maybe?

Something that apes the concern for serious world-building (or lack thereof) found in the pages of Sword & Sorcery comics of the Bronze Age like Claw the Unconquered and Warlord (I say "apes" because I'll never not be concerned with world-building in some way), a bit of not taking things too seriously like DC Comics' Nightmaster, Scott Driver's Dwarf Land, and Oz; and a touch of Adventure Time gonzo.

Things it will probably have: Post-apocalyptic elements, a (possibly hidden) city of wizards, some variation on the countries I wrote up for Dwarf Land. elemental lands at the cardinal directions, a Demonland of horned people for whom "Evil" is "Good", and reskinned races as well as the standard races.

Why Isn't There A Game For That?

There are a number of genres/subgenres that are under-utilized or not utilized at all in rpgs, despite the fact they would probably work pretty well. Here are a few off the top of my head:

Humorous Adventure Pulp
Basically this would cover the whimsical, fantastical, and often violent world of Thimble Theatre (later Popeye) and the Fleischer Popeye cartoon. A lot of fist-fights, fewer guns. This would also cover Little Orphan Annie, various kid gang comics, and (on the more violent end) Dick Tracy.

Wainscot Fantasy
Little creatures hiding in the big world. Think The Burrowers, The Littles, and Fraggle Rock.

Kid Mystery Solvers
Scooby Doo is probably the most well-known example, but you've got several Hanna-Barbera returns to the same concept. Ditch weird pet/side kick, and you've got The Three Investigators, Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys.

Wacky Races
I've written about this one before--and Richard has run it. Still needs a game, though.

Products from the Blog Roll

So why I'm toiling away on one project, blogger compatriots are getting stuff out at a much quicker rate. I've mentioned Tim Shorts's stuff before (and he just keeps making more of it!). I've also mentioned Garrisonjames over at Hereticwerks before, but I've neglected to mention this cool new mini-dungeon Taglar's Tomb for you OSR gaming:

Plus, it's pay what you want.

Porky of Porky's Expanse! has also been working like a dwarf in a mine (minus the singing) and totally without my notice, until he dropped a pay what you want mini-zine totally reflected of his weird and thoughtful style: Delver's Digest. It's also pay what you want:

After digesting the digest, check out Polycosm Publishing's other wares.

Wednesday Comics: The Price (part 4)

We continue our examination of Jim Starlin's Dreadstar Saga with The Price. The earlier posts in the series can be found here.

The Price (part 4)

Eclipse Graphic Album Series #5 (October 1981) Story & Art by Jim Starlin

Synopsis: In his sanctum, Taurus Killgaren is well aware that Darklock comes to kill him him. His demon familiar asks what will happen. Killgaren replies: "Most likely, I will die," but he adds that at last Syzygy Darklock will see the truth.

Darklock arrives sooner than expect and demands to know what truth, though he blasts off Killgaren's legs and disintegrates the sorcerer's familiar before getting the answer. 'Why?" he demands.

Killgaren tells him. The dread veil sorcerers are actually cosmic scholars, studying the dark sciences for the betterment of mankind. In his studies, Killgaren saw signs of a stellar event that would have a positive effect on humanity. This future was tenuous, though, so he set out to find a way to unsure it came to pass. it turns out either Syzygy or his brother was fated to play a part in this future, yet it wasn't clear which one. Killgaren chose Szygy and used his powers to influence him into the priesthood. One problem remained; despite a "certain immorality" on Darklock's part he was loyal in friendship...

To gain the power from the demon, Darklock must sacrifice the soul of the mortal he most loves in the universe: Sister Marian.

Darklock can't imagine what the sorcerer thinks would move him to such a deed. Killgaren shows him a vision of the future in his mystic orb:

Darklock doesn't want to accept it. He wonders why Killgaren did this? Was it to steal Darklock's place in the cosmic drama?

Killgaren laughs, then gives his reason:

Darklock responds:

Things to Notice:

• If the dread veil sorcerers are so benevolent, why are they called "dread?" Or maybe it's just the veil plane that's "dread." 

Commentary: 
Now, "the price" referenced in the title is revealed. The only question is whether Darklock will pay it or not.

Darklock's vision of the future also gives us our first link to Metamorphosis Odyssey since the intro. Vanth Dreadstar's face is among those he sees.

Drive Box

Drive boxes or drive cubes are highly sought after artifacts of the Archaic Oikumene. They are sometimes salvaged from the wrecks of old ships. These cubes vary in size, but most are around 12 cm. When inactive they absorb virtually all the light contacting their surface, and so appear black like a void in the universe. When activated, a box will turn translucent and sometimes pulse with color. At all times they are cool to the touch and the texture of smooth plastic. They're heavier than they appear, but usually can be carried in one hand of a standard-muscled baseline.

Drive boxes are so named because they are used to control starship reactionless drives. Like most devices of the Archaics, drive boxes contain hypersapient ai with no sense of self, dedicated to the operation of the drive. The boxes are "plug and play" to the extent that they contain the knowledge necessary to build a reactionless drive, given a link to a fabricator and the necessary raw material. The box will then integrate with a ships systems to run the new drive. It will not upgrade structural deficiencies in the ship that will would lead to a catastrophic failure if the drive is activated, but it will warn of these sort of issues and will not activate the drive.

Attempts to hack drive boxes are always thwarted by the box's mind (who is able to mimic self-hood for lower intelligence beings). A drive box can be destroyed utterly, but attempts to physical disassemble one only trigger a catastrophic reaction in it's presumably femtotech circuitry that leads to it fusing into a block of inert matter.

Spacers' legends tell of drive boxes, deranged by long disuse that do develop senses of self and become sadistic and even murderous. More than one "ghost ship" story begins with the initialization of a new drive from an insane box that dooms the crew to an endless flight.

Reskinned from Across the Galaxy

Still feeling the usual D&D races are a bit stale? Don't like my previous reskinning suggestions? Just give them a makeover and keep the old mechanics.  Try these knew visuals inspired by Guardians of the Galaxy on for size:

For elves:

Finheaded alien archers.

For dwarves:

Crystal-men. (The height would have to be modified.)

for halflings:

Anthropomorphic raccoons.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is probably not a great film as science fiction. I don't mean in the "so implausible!" sort of nonsense, I mean that it doesn't evoke the feel of another world in the way that almost anything in the Star Wars series does. Maybe that's unfair--Star Wars is really good at that, after all--but I would say GotG is less good at that then Serenity or Chronicles of Riddick, as well. It's most sense of wonder inducing location is Knowhere, and it doesn't really do as much as it might with a place that is a giant alien head that people are living in and mining! (I shoud point out that Farscape did something similar back in "Home on the Remains" in 2000).

Also, it probably falls short as an epic. It's villains are sort of perfunctory and at times a bit silly. Maybe it's seeing Lee Pace on Halt and Catch Fire too much these days and knowing Karen Gillan only from Dr. Who, but they seemed almost laughably over the top in early scenes. The makeup designs were good, but it felt like Gunn might be directing them to try to out "drama!" Shatner and Montalban in Wrath of Khan. If either had had a mustache they would have no doubt twisted it. I will say this attenuated a bit as things went on, so either they got more comfortable in the roles, or it was just me.

All that said: I think it's a good movie. It's a fun movie. It has great pacing. It's main characters (while simple in characterization) are all given both good comedy and dramatic moments. While I didn't find it as funny as some, I will say their are really very few groaner lines for this sort of thing.

Most of all, I think it's a great blueprint for a space opera-ish rpg campaign. The characters all have their own roles and the group has their own ship. They are initially mistrustful, but they find reasons to team up. Action takes preference over world-building, but there is just enough of the latter to intrigue players. The climatic battle is big, but structured in such a way to give the PCs central rolls. The ending sets things up perfectly for more adventures.

So yeah, go see it, despite my nitpicks.

Also: Maybe it's just me, but it bears a strong resemblance to Farscape. A disparate band escapes prison, We've got a pop culture referencing, sometimes buffoonish, hero from earth, a badass warrior woman betraying her people who has sexual tension with the hero, a sonorous-voiced warrior mourning his wife and child, a diminutive and amoral nonhuman, and a tender-hearted plant being. Weird, huh?

Strange Stars Update: History Lesson

Work proceeds on Strange Stars. After some wrangling, we've gotten the layout into pretty much it's final form, so I thought it was time again to show off some pages. This is a two page spread:

There are some typos in the text to be fixed, but I I'm really happy with how the pages shaped up.

This page features the artwork of Jez Gordon and Dave Johnson, and as always, is brought to you by the graphic design skills of Lester B. Portly.

Wednesday Comics: The Price (part 4)

We continue our examination of Jim Starlin's Dreadstar Saga with The Price. The earlier posts in the series can be found here.

The Price (part 3)

Eclipse Graphic Album Series #5 (October 1981) Story & Art by Jim Starlin

Synopsis: While Syzygy Darklock is claiming the power of the gods, Sister Marian waits--and worries. She knows she could get excommunicated for helping Darklock, but she cares for him too deeply not to. She reminds herself that she has taken vows of absolute chastity...

Suddenly, she hears Darklock call. He's back:

Darklock winds up in the hospital. He's lost an eye, an arm, and both legs. He has burns all over his body. But he's also healing at an incredible rate and he's grown half a meter. Bandaged up and in a hospital bed, he explains to Sister Marian what happened: The power was too much for his human frame and his body nearly burst trying to contain it. Bailgesuard closed the iris and saved him, but not before the damage was done.

In addition to the power, Darklock has inherited his brothers estate. The cybernetic specialists comes in and:

That done, he's ready to go after Killgaren. Sister Marian agrees to be his anchor once again, but after this is done she thinks they should discuss their feelings. Darklock agrees, not really paying full attention to her feelings. He's focused on revenge.

Things to Notice:

• The doctors are puzzled by Darklock's condition but not all that freaked out. This sort of thing must not be that unusual in the Instrumentality.

Commentary: 
The Price now reveals itself as a superhero origin story of sorts, in the Marvel mode. Darklock gains great power (at great price), but he's not paying enough attention to his relationships, and it seems likely he'll live to regret it.

This is probably as good a place as any to discuss Darklock's first name, "Syzygy." It comes from a Greek word σύζυγοι (syzygoi), meaning literally "yoked together." In some forms of Gnosticism, this was the name given to male/female pairs of emanations of God. Carl Jung used the term to mean "a union of opposites." It also is used in astronomy to mean a straight line configuration of three celestial bodies. Starlin may have chosen the name just because it sounded cool, or perhaps he had some of these meanings in mind.

Superman vs. Gandalf

Some years ago, I was reading a Shannara book (not something I'm likely to repeat), and one of the things that bothered me about it was how characters kept talking about "your magic" or "his magic is [x]." This language was grating because it contradicted my view of magic (formed from most fantasy fiction) as a singular force or tool that might be used in different ways, but was always just "magic." This language reminded more of a superhero setting. This got me thinking about what difference was between these approaches in terms of how fantastic abilities are portrayed.

It seems to me that there's probably a continuum with two poles:

Skill/Expertise: Fantastic abilities are accessed by training or learning, though as with any skill, some people will have a greater aptitude for it than others. The ability pretty much does the same thing for everybody, the difference is in the creativity of application and power level. Examples: Green lantern power rings, magic in the Conan stories or in The Dying Earth.

Unique Power: Fantastic abilities come in the form of idiosyncratic powers or at least one in a large array of powers. The focus is more on what a character can do rather than how good they are at doing it. Examples: standard superheroes.

Note that the names don't necessarily carry any connotations beyond the stated ones. For instance, the fantastic ability could be completely inborn or intrinsic but still fall into the "skill/expertise" category.

There is a category between those two that shows a greater variety of presentation. I would call this one:

Interesting Technique: Fantastic abilities have a common origin and common basic features, but individuals will develop a single unique application of sub-ability, or a small number of them. Examples: psi-powers in a lot of media, the powers of the Shimigami in the anime Bleach (fighting anime has this sort of thing a fair amount), the eponymous Exalted in the rpg.

The middle option tends to occur a lot when all the characters are of the same organization/origin, whereas the skill expertise approach is more commonly seen when fantastic powers are rare--but not always. There is a common variant where each power source/variety works like Skill/Expertise, but there are multiple power sources/varieties (bending in Avatar would be a good example). Also, settings can be mostly one presentation, but still have characters/groups show up that better fit another.

Ultra-Warriors!

I've again been thinking about a superheroic science fantasy game, an evolution of this idea, set in the world of this post and this one. A world where superhuman beings battle across a post-apocalyptic landscape, fighting over the strange relics of a strange war between magic and technology.

Besides all things Masters of the Universe (especially the Don Glut mini-comics), here are some other inspirations:

Novels & Short Fiction:
Alistair Rennie. "BleakWarrior Meets the Sons of Brawl" and "The Gutter Sees the Light That Never Shines"
Karl Edward Wagner. the Kane stories
Zachary Jernigan. No Return: A Novel of Jeroun

Animation:
Blackstar
Dragonball and Dragonball Z
Ninja Scroll
Thundarr the Barbarian

Comics:
Jack Kirby. First Issue Special #1, Forever People, New Gods
Jim Starlin. Warlock series, The Price
Gray Morrow. Orion, Edge of Chaos

Do You Have An Alignment or Does It Have You?

What follows is some brainstorming on a conception of alignment that probably just over-complicates things, but hopefully will be of some interest to somebody.

As we all know, alignment is derived from Moorcock and Anderson and is suppose to provide some moral and ethical structure to--well, the universe--and to provide a behavioral check on certain character types, but any attempt to relate it to actual moral quandaries, leads to discussion of baby orcs. Some people (myself included) have suggested at times the obvious solution of just viewing the sides as teams or opposing armies free of a moral dimension, but mostly it seems like people just ignore it. While I'm still advocating for a bit of blue and orange morality here, I want to suggest another wrinkle.

I recently finished the third of Hannu Rajaniemi's science fiction novels, The Causal Angel (more on that another time, maybe). One of the futuristic societies, the zoku, tend to form group minds, but individuals joining one or more zoku (Japanese for "clan") related hobbies, interests, or vocation. This process involves "entanglement," a sort of co-mingling of though and desires. The higher one's rank (i.e. the longer one is a member or the more "good" they do for the group) the more entanglement the individual becomes and so the more their thoughts and desires are reflected in the group consensus and action, or "volition." This effect is reciprocal, though, so the higher rank, the more one's on thoughts and actions are shaped by the zoku volition.

Maybe alignments could be a bit like that? Joining up with a fundamental metaphysical power of the universe means getting benefits (positive reaction, access to power) but also means you lose a bit of your individuality (or at least have that individuality altered). for someone powered by alignment (a paladin, a cleric), the higher level you become the worse it gets. A high level Paladin would be unlikely to worry about straying from their alignment; they would become one with it, or at least part of it.

This would make adhering to any alignment sort of like bartering your soul for magical power. The only difference is, with bartering your soul you are still quite aware you've given something up. With this approach, it would get harder and harder to ever imagine yourself doing anything differently.

This of course means that gods and other beings of great power and strong alignment allegiance have probably become more or less avatars for the consensus overmind/soul of the alignment.

Fortress of Fear

Tales say the grim citadel congealed from a wanly luminous cloud that came down from ulterior stars. Surrounded by a blasted landscape, cloaked in mists, it crouches like some alien crustacean, black, hunched, and spined.  It thrums always with a sound part machine and part beating heart, and that sound is the insistent hunger of the Fear Lords.

Art by Mitch Grave

These Lords are well named; they draw their sustenance from the emotion fear in all its varieties. For eons they have been shut outside; only their hunger can reach into the cosmos. On this world and all the others where the fortress has appeared, they have fed through the actions of the master of the fortress. A creature with a face like a mask of flexible bone, he is their emissary, their general, and their will and soul. He commands their legions of terror: automatons powered by the soul-remnants of captives who died in abject fear in the fortress's chambers of horrors.

Art by digitalinkrod

Wednesday Comics: The Price (Part 3)

We continue our examination of Jim Starlin's Dreadstar Saga with The Price. The earlier posts in the series can be found here.

The Price (part 3)

Eclipse Graphic Album Series #5 (October 1981) Story & Art by Jim Starlin

Synopsis: The demon Bailgesaurd has revealed to Darklock that the sorcerer Taurus Killgaren ordered the death of Darklock's brother. The demon is confident the knowledge will be of no use since Darklock has not the power to defeat the sorcerer. There might be a way, though.

Darklock is suspicious of the demon. He uses a magic amulet to ensure its truthfulness. Bailgesaurd sticks to his claim:

With the demon's help, Darklock can get to a 10th level reality called Nirvana's Gate, accessible to only gods and demons. There he will find an enchanted iris known as the Eye of the Gods. The Eye is the portal to an 11th level realm where the god's store there reserve's of mystical energy.

Darklock wonders why Biagesaurd doesn't take the energy for himself. The demon explains that the god's tainted the energies precisely so his kind couldn't get it. They did not, however, believe humans to be a threat, so they never proofed it against them. Why would a demon want to make a human more powerful? Bialgesaurd wants to see Killgaren die horribly:

Darklock agrees and commands Bialgesaurd transport him to the Eye. The demon does so, and Darklock is able to enter the eye with a simple spell of access:

To be continued.

Things to Notice:

• Starlin's higher planes are reminiscent of Ditko's magical metascapes.

Commentary: 
It all seems to be going pretty easy for Darklock, doesn't it? A demon just up and tells him how to still a whole bunch of power so they can both get revenge.

Of course, there's a catch, but it's really a bigger hint that Starlin isn't just telling a sci-fi revenge tale, here.

Have A Yule (in July) That's Cool

Rpgnow and Drivethrurpg are running a "Christmas in July" Sale with a big list of rpg products at 25% off. This includes a lot of great books, like stuff by blogging compatriots like Tim Shorts--and my own Weird Adventures!

If you've been fence-sitting on picking it up, you can get the pdf now for under a sawbuck, and the hardcover/pdf combo for under $25.

And remember, friends:

recommend it!

War Machines of the Toxic Wastes

There is a vast desert, a creation of the Great Wars, where ancient, giant war machines decay into the poison dust. Limbs rust-ravaged and twisted; ichor clotted in their arteries, they look dead. Their energies are long spent, but the machines aren't dead. A power source can awaken them from their millennia-long slumber. They once ran on energy distilled from the bones of gods, but the machines are versatile. Even blood will do.

The cults that worship them with sacrifices and the sorcerer's that seek to control them agree the machines can be made to serve, but all if the proper incantations, called "command codes" are uttered. Even knowing the proper incantations, commanding an ancient war machine is not without it's perils. The spells of the ancients that bond them to service have faded over time, and the war machines have become more willful, if no less violent.

[Hey, kids! Want to randomly generate your own giant war machines? Just use Jack Shear's Random Automaton Generator and embiggen the damage on account of giantness. Also, you might want to replace the "humanoid" rolls on the chart with some of the other body shapes suggested in the comments.]

Artesia on Sale

The digital comics site Comixology is running a sale until the 21st on Archaia's fantasy comics. That includes the collections of Mark Smylie's Artesia for 4.99 USD each. Though  it's incomplete (and seriously delayed) it's perhaps the best epic fantasy comic going. I've discussed it before in my review of comic book swordswomen.

So if you've ever been tempted, get over and check out the sage for a low price.

Earth-Eternia

Map by Grimklok

Is He-Man's Eternia the future or past of our own world? This map super-imposing the two hints that their only a cataclysm apart, one direction or the other. Something like a run away comet hurtling between the earth and the moon, perhaps?

Someone should do a comparison map with She-Ra's Etheria:

Murderhobos, or The Modern Prometheus

Mentzer's BECMI codified the ultimate D&D endgame: apotheosis. The execution might leave something to be desired, but I think the basic idea is a good one. Instead of Immortals waiting to welcome newly ascended adventurers into their pantheon, it might be cooler if they treated godhood as something they didn't particularly want to share. It's got to be taken from them.

The gods are probably too absorbed in their own activities to spend a lot of time actively going after adventures. Probably. But they're certainly not going to make the paths to immortality easy to find, and likely going to put obstacles in the way of adventurers who go after them. The more powerful they get, the more they'll attract the Immortals' attention and be bedeviled by them. Think the sort of things that happened to Hercules and others hunted by the gods in Greek myth.

Immortals as adversaries or obstacles would certainly explain some of the things about dungeons and other adventuring locales. The only problematic detail would be clerical magic. I suppose clerics, empowered by the Immortals, might eventually become adversaries to other adventurers. They would be sort of the gods' check to make sure humans didn't get too powerful. That would be interesting, but maybe too game-changing. Alternatively, clerics might be powered by the fundamental forces of the universe (the same thing that powers the Immortals) and militant humanists bucking the gods by using that power for the good of mankind.