Stuck in Medieval with You

I may ramble a bit here as the argument is still forming...

I've been thinking of late about fantasy, both as a literary and rpg genre, and whether there's room for old school-style adventuring outside the bounds of "medieval fantasy."

Obviously, I don't mean the literal, real-world European Middle Ages, but stories with a technology level somewhere between the Iron Age and the Renaissance. Sure, at least on the blogosphere, there's been an emergence of science fantasy, mixing remnant super-science with more primitive technology. Some of these baroque worlds are pretty divergent from real world analogs. There's a definite sort of Heavy Metal dream-logic feel to some, which tosses all sorts of technological assumptions out the window. Still, even in these worlds, one gets the feeling there's a fair number of swords being swung.

I don't think the issue comes down just the firearms, though maybe that's a bigger deal than I'm allowing. Is there any reason dungeon-delving couldn't be accomplished with more "modern" weapons? Would there presence drastically alter the mood?

There's the subgenre of urban fantasy, which may be underrepresented in rpgs, but does exist. Urban fantasy, though, rooted in bringing fantasy to the familiar, doesn't really capture the unknowable aspect that underpins a lot of pulp fantasy. Too much unknown in an urban fantasy setting, and its likely to veer into more of a horror mode.

Then there's fantasy in sort of Victorian-esque settings--what's often called steampunk--a term which really seems to easier to apply as a certain sort of visual aesthetic than literary genre. Some of works often placed in this category, like China Mieville's Bas-Lag stories, and the works of Stephen Hunt take place in full-fledged "secondary worlds," not the usual alternate histories. Mieville's work in particular, could no doubt serve as inspiration for a dungeoneering-based rpg (there are even D&D-style adventurers making an appearance in Perdido Street Station), but is there an rpg work in this direction yet?

Heading across the Atlantic would give us Western (meaning the genre, of course) fantasy. Stephen King's Dark Tower series is even an example of secondary world (epic) Western fantasy, to contrast with the more common alternate history fantasy of, say, Deadlands. There was a d20 supplement or two that grafted elves and dwarves into the Old West, which seems to a surefire way to suck any "unknowability" or "weird" out of the setting with the leech of predictability.

That's been precisely the problem with a lot of fantasy space opera/fantasy-space. We get Dragonstar instead of Starlin's Dreadstar. Really, no works have given us weird space fantasy, or dungeon (asteroid?)-delving space fantasy, as far as I know.

So fantasy with firearms is clearly do-able, but its tougher to find those fantasies combined with a world designed for pulp fantasy--picaresque, secondary world settings, with elements of weird, and the unknown/unknowable. I'm not convinced this can't be done, though.

It seems to me what you need is a setting that is removed enough for our time to have been mythologized a bit, much in the same way that the pre-modern world has been. You could set a dungeon-delving campaign in an alternate 1960s, but then you would get urban fantasy (of a sort) not pulp fantasy. The Old West and Victorian England, are definitely mythologized enough, but probably so are the Roaring Twenties and the Napoleonic era, and others. The future is--ironically--pretty mythologized too, but set things too near-future and you're in urban fantasyland.

While traditional fantasy will always have a preeminent place in my heart, I can't help but think that these other eras can be mined for new settings to expand the vistas of fantasy gaming. I'm not sure adventurers should be confine to a technological level that's largely a historical artifact of the fantasy genre's evolution.

I'm gonna think more about that.

From Here to Eternia

A recent post and discussion over at Spell Card! got me thinking about my love for Masters of the Universe. I don't mean the 80s cartoon with a Captain Marvel in purple tights and a Prince Valiant haircut, a cowardly lion tiger, and a moral for kiddies every episode. I mean the first, more pulpish, post-apocalyptic, sword & sorcery version--before even the 1982 DC comics limited-series. I mean the version appearing in the the four original mini-comics (though these first few were picture books, not comics).

These four were written by Donald Glut, who knew how to adapt Sword & Sorcery material for younger audiences with his comics work, including Dagar the Invincible and Tragg and the Sky Gods for Gold Key. Glut talks about the origins of some of the concepts in an online interview. The evocative art for the four stories was by Alfredo Alcala, a Filipino comic book artist who's worked for DC and Marvel, on books including Conan, and Kull the Conqueror. What the two gave us was darker, moodier, and more streaked with pulpy highlights, than the decidedly brighter, more superhero-esque cartoon to follow.

To illustrate what I mean, let's take a look at the first in the "saga." Here's my commentary on 1981's He-Man and The Power Sword:

We open with a bona fide Hero's Journey "Call to Adventure." He-Man, greatest warrior of his primitve jungle tribe, leaves his people to go defend the legendary Castle Grayskull ("a place of wonders") from the forces of evil. Instead of having a secret identity, He-Man is part of a proud (sometimes) barbaric lineage of Sword & Sorcery characters. He's got a nobler goal than Conan or Brak, but like those forebears he's fascinated by a wondrous elsewhere.

He-Man becomes the first of his people to "trudge the craggy cliffs and quake-torn valleys" outside of the jungle. It's not long before his courage and "jungle-bred stength" is needed. He sights a jade-skinned woman in a cobra headress fighting a purple monster that looks like it might be from a lost in space episode. He-Man rushes into the fray and despite the woman's mystical blasts ("She is a sorceress!" he thought), he pretty much does the monster slaying himself.

Had this not been a kid's book, the shapely Sorceress might have rewarded the warrior other ways, but since it is, He-Man instead gets "Supernatural Aid" (again with the Hero's Journey!). The Sorceress gives him the treasures she's guarded all these years, things made "centuries before the Great War by Eternia's scientists."

Here's one of those cool details. We've got a Great (so great its capitalized) War, and scientists making medieval appearing weapons. "What kind of scientists are those?" one might well wonder. I know 8 year-old me did.

He-Man takes the loot which includes a "strange vehicle" (understatement) that's "combination battering ram, catapult, and space-warp device." Those pre-Great War scientists did some out-of-the-box thinking.

Meanwhile, Skeletor, and his minion Beastman, and ogling the "warrior-goddess" Tee-La (it was hyphenated here) who's watering her "unicorn charger." The two villains attack, as Skeletor plans to make Tee-La his bride. We're told she "fights like a demon, her body possessing the spirits of many ancestral champions," but Skeletor's energy blade wins the day.

They carry her with them to Castle Grayskull--"a fortress so ancient no one knew its origin." Over the objections of the Spirit of the castle, Skeletor forces open the Jaw-Bridge. Skeletor's after the other half of the Power Sword so that "the magic fires, created by ancient scientists and sorcerers will blaze again." Cool.

It turns out Skeletor is from another dimension. The Great War ripped a whole in the walls between dimensions and threw him into Eternia. He plans to open another rift and bring through an army of conquest.

Elsewhere, He-Man is visited by Man-At-Arms. What happens next is weird: "'And what brings the famous Man At Arms to my humble house?' He-Man asked sarcastically." Why all the sarcasm, He-Man? Anyway, Man At Arms ("whose people are the masters of all weapons") fills He-Man in on Skeletor's shenanigans. The two set out to stop him, with impulsive He-Man space-warping ahead.

Somehow, in the bowels of Grayskull (sold separately), Skeletor knows He-Man is coming and sends Beastman up to shoot the turrett laser at at him. Beastman proves surprising effective at this, and has He-Man down when the Man-At-Arms cavalry arrives to turn the tide. The He-Man makes the Jaw-Bridge open wide and the heroes head inside to find Tee-La.

Skeletor's had enough time to get the the Power Sword reunited. As the blade crackles with "green fire" he boasts: "I am invincible. There is nothing I cannot do. Nothing!" The best use this power for is apparently making weapons come to life and fight He-Man.

At that moment, the Sorceress reappears glowing with the same green energy as the power sword (Ah hah!). She chastises Skeletor for abusing power and splits the sword again. He-Man, Man-At-Arms, and the just freed Tee-La throw a beating on the two villains, but let 'em cry "mercy!" and run off (it's a kid's book, remember?). The Sorceress again hides the Power Sword and changes the lock on the castle.

"Do you think that's the last of those two or the Power Sword?" Man-At-Arms asks.

Do I really have to tell you He-Man's answer?

There you go, Great Wars, green Sorcereress, extradimensional portals, barbarian heroes, super-science, and sorcery. How cool is that?

Peoples of Arn: Llysans

To the east, across the sea from Arn, lies the diabolical apostasy of the Kingdom of Llys. Though a former colony of Thystara, and a former bastion of the Issian faith, a cruel and foolish king opened the door for a revolution supported by diablerie, and the rise of a new aristocracy who treat with the denizens of the Hells to support their decadent rule.

Centuries ago, before the fall to infernalism, Llys sought in religious zeal to expand into Arn. Eastern areas of Arn fell under their sway, and crusader fiefdoms were established. Under later, inept monarchs, these fiefdoms gained greater and greater independence. After the revolution, Llys was in no position to reassert control, and in fact, the expatriate Llysan population in Arn was bolstered by refugees. This region continues as a remnant of Llys-that-was within Arn. Later, young Llysans nobles and even veteran commoners came to Arn as filibusters, seeking to reclaim the old territory and conquer new in the name of their dread queen--but mostly for their own enrichment and glory.

The majority of Llysans trace their ancestry to the sharp-featured Deaslith people of Llys and the Old Thystaran Empire it sprang from. Most have dark hair and eyes and pale skin, though many in Llys, and many more in Llysan Arn, show the traits of admixturing with the fairhaired, and often ruddier complected, Ilsdaana peoples.

Llysans have a reputation as aesthetes, and sticklers for concerns of honor and etiquette. They are often stereotyped as vain and supercilious by other ethnic groups of Arn, but also as highly cultured.

MANY LLYSANS (roll 1d20 3 times):
1. Think of themselves as superior to other cultural groups.
2. Proselytize about the glories of Issus the Revelator.
3. Dress in the finest garments they can afford.
4. Take pinches of analeptic zauphur snuff from tiny snuff boxes.
5. Deride those not of the Issian faith as heathens.
6. Have their family coat of arms on their shields or surcoats.
7. Call the Kael "savages."
8. Pray to Issus before battle.
9. Quote Thystaran or Llysan literary works.
10. Defer to their social "betters."
11. Expect their social "inferiors" to defer to them.
12. Use peoples formal titles, and expect the same courtesy.
13. Duel over offenses to their honor.
14. Wear perfume.
15. Fastidiously trim their facial hair (if applicable).
16. Know courtly dances.
17. Prefer wine to beer or liquor.
18. Think all Hazandi are thieves.
19. Claim chastity as a virtue, but don't practice it.
20. Aspire to restore the Issian faith to their homeland.

SOME LLYSANS (roll 1d10 once):
1. Are diabolists--perhaps secretly.
2. Carry folding fans.
3. Are paupers, but live beyond their means.
4. Pretend social rank they don't have.
5. Are the illegitimate child of a noble.
6. Regale companions with the deeds of obscure (perhaps fictional) Issian saints.
7. Have a weapon of quality, which is a family heirloom.
8. Compulsively vow to do various valorous deeds.
9. Carry the favor of a mysterious paramour.
10. Have a lackey or squire.

Free Talislanta!

As many of you perhaps already know--and the rest should--Stephan Michael Sechi has liberated his creation Talislanta--at least from the black iron prison of out-of-print obscurity. Many of the old books (and perhaps, eventually, all) are offered as free pdfs under the Creative Commons License on talislanta.com.

For the uninitiated, Talislanta is an rpg created by the aforementioned Stephan Michael Sechi, and wonderfully realized by the art of P.D. Breeding-Black, first published by Bard Games in 1987. Most of us first heard of Talislanta through the ads in Dragon proclaiming "No Elves!"

And there were no elves--at least not by name. Indeed there weren't any of the usual Tolkienian or Nordic/Celtic influences common to fantasy gaming. Instead, the eclectic and (dare I say) slightly campy setting, is very Vancian (and is, in fact, dedicated to Jack Vance). Sechi outlined the rest of his Talislantan "Appendix N" in an online interview:

"Besides Vance, there was also Marco Polo's The Travels, Lovecraft's The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath, certain of the works of William S. Burroughs (from which many ideas of Talislanta's illicit substances were derived), and many others. Visually, I was very much influenced by Salome, a three-part story published in Heavy Metal magazine, and written and drawn by Phillipe Druillet - I've looked for it ever since, but with no success. Richard Corben was also an influence, especially his vivid use of colors; also Steve Ditko's Dr Strange, and his depiction of spells and other dimensions. Those are just a few."

Talislanta has always been a setting I've had a a great deal of affection for, even though I haven't actually played in it that often. It's just fun to read, particularly the Chronicles.

Check it out, if you haven't already.

Warlord Wednesday: The City in the Sky

Let's enter the lost world with another installment of my issue by issue examination of DC Comic's Warlord, the earlier installments of which can be found here...

"The City In The Sky"

Warlord (vol. 1) #8 (August-September 1977)

Written and Illustrated by Mike Grell

Synopsis: Morgan, Machiste, and Mariah are loungingin Kiro, admiring Machiste's new mace-head prosthetic, when their attention is called to a flock of pteranodons descending on the city.  The three do battle with the flying reptiles, unil one snatches Mariah in its talons and flies off with her.

For a moment, Morgan thinks he's lost her, but he notices a pteranodon that hasn't taken flight yet.  Morgan jumps on its back, hoping he can ride it to their roost and find Mariah.  While cursing Morgan for a fool, Machiste nonetheless follows.

Their perilous flight takes them over the jungles of Skartaris to a city floating in the sky.  Dismounting before the pteranodon reaches its perch, Morgan and Machiste discover that despite the wondrous nature of the city, its in fact decaying with age.  They set off in search for Mariah, but are themselves discovered by a squad of security robots.  The two warriors make short work of them.  Feeling a greater urgency than ever to find Mariah, they run through the city streets with weapons drawn.

Hearing voices from one buidling, they charge in to find Mariah engaged in relaxed converstation with a bald stranger.  The stranger welcomes them to the city of Skyra and offers them wine.

Morgan remains suspicious despite their host's friendly demeanor and demands answers.  The stranger gives his name as Tragg, and explains that the pteranodons are trained to hunt meat for him to supplement his synthetic food supplies.  They picked up Mariah by mistake.

Skyra was built by the Atlanteans before the Great War as a defense station.  The task of running it was beyond the capacity of the human mind, so Tragg--a cyborg--was created.  The computer interfaces in his brain allow him to control every function of the city with his thoughts--which he demonstrates by having an energy weapon blast a carnosaur in the jungles below.

After that display, Morgan is ready to leave the sky city, but Mariah (ever the archeologist) wants to see Tragg's collection.  Morgan agrees to a quick look around, and he and Machiste step forward into a dark--and strangely cold--room.  Unseen, Tragg grabs Mariah and pulls her away.

The doors shut behind Morgan and Machiste, and they find themselves in a meat-locker full of frozen humans.  The leering voice of Tragg suggests they "stay for dinner."  Morgan realizes that this is what became of the inhabitants of Skyra--the supplies stopped coming and Tragg turned to humans as a source of food. 

Jets of cold liquid began coating the pair, feezing them to human ice-sculptures.  With great effort, Machiste manages to use his mace hand to break free Morgan's right hand--and his gun.  Morgan shoots the freezing device.  That gives Machiste time to smash through the ice and free them.  Before hunting for Mariah, they quickly improvise gliders so they're sure they can make good their escape.

Meanwhile, Tragg offers Mariah the choice to become his bride--or die.  Before he can carry out his threat, he's interrupted by Morgan who has a gun to his head.  Tragg still controls the city, however, and activates jets of flame that trap Morgan and Machiste, and make Morgan drop his pistol.  While Tragg gloats, Mariah dives for Morgan's pistol.  Before the cyborg can react, she's put a bullet through his skull.  

The instant of Tragg's death, Skyra begins to quake.  The three run for the gliders.  They fly away as the sky city crashes into a snowy mountainside.

Things to Notice:

• This is the first appearance of Machiste's mace hand.
• Tragg's hunting pteranodons weren't able to find any easier picking that plucking Mariah from the palace of Kiro?
• Atlantean robots are built from sub-standard materials--Morgan is able to tear 'em apart barehanded.
• The Atlanteans made Tragg with scary-sharp teeth for some reason.

Where It Comes From:
The idea of a floating city is a common one in science fiction and fantasy. It goes back at least to Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726) and the flying island of Laputa. Once such floating city Grell no doubt encounterd was Stratos in the 1969 Star Trek episode "The Cloud Minders."

Tragg's appearance recalls (albeit with a different color scheme) the Silver Age appearance of the Superman villian, Brainiac--who was also an artificial being (at least after a 1964 retcon):

Tragg's plot and freezing modus operandi are clearly inspired by Box, a robot in the 1976 film adaption of Logan's Run. Box operates a freezing facility for foodstuffs ("Fish, plankton, sea greens... protein from the sea!"), but when the food stopped coming he began freezing and storing escaping runners instead:

Interestingly, though the movie Box is a robot, in the original Nolan and Johnson novel he's a cyborg like Tragg.

The Gonne-Slinger

"The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed."

- Stephen King, The Gunslinger

A gaunt revenant stalks the wastes of the world of Arn.

No one knows what sorcerer summoned this entity from some alternate material plane, nor what sorts of strange magics animate his deathless form, nor what blasphemies are held back by his rawhide-sown lips. Perhaps he was called forth with the sepulchral sorceries of the Tomb-Lords of Amenti, or perhaps he's wandered since the days of the God Makers, themselves.

Whatever the case, the grim walker may be encountered randomly in sparsely inhabited deserts and badlands across the world. He is a tall, almost skeletally thin man.  His weathered skin has the corpse-pallor of the undead. Beneath the wide brim of his hat, his eyes glow with blue-white witch-fire. His dust-colored long-coat flaps in the breeze--even when there isn't one. 'Round his waist is a low-slung leather belt, and odd scabbards--holding even odder weapons--hang on either side, strapped to his thighs.

The sole weapons of the man are cunningly wrought gonnes in miniature. These weapons fire fast, and they never need to be reloaded. Those who don't die on the battlefield from their eldritch shot typically succumb later to a wasting sickness, unless clerical magic is used to cure the disease.

This bounty-killer from the Outer Dark may be hired by leaving a piece of paper, with the likeness of the person to be killed drawn upon it, in a ruined (and so unconsecrated) church of a lawful good deity in a ghost-town in the wilderness, or at the edge of a desert or waste. He will only accept a commission from a person once in their life. The price for the killing is variable, but always includes gold--and ages the would-be employer in the bargain.

Mechanics: The Gonne-Slinger can be tailored to fit the needs of the campaign. Warriors & Warlocks stats for my current game aren't as easy, but here's some Old School-ish guidelines: I'd suggest a rough level of say the AD&D Fiend Folio Death Knight (AC 0, HD 9, Magic Resistance: 75%) though with a number of attacks reflecting the RoF of his guns (3 shots/round, maybe?). The cost of the killing should be based on the hit dice of the target, and perhaps the aging should, as well. Despite his undeadish nature (and the resistances/immunities that might imply) the Gonne-Slinger can't be turned, commanded, or destroyed, and is immune to the effects of holy/unholy symbols, holy water or the like.

The Peoples of Arn: The Kael

The Kael hold sway over the wilds in the northern reaches of Arn. These ethnically Ilsdaanan (mostly fair-skinned and -haired) tribesmen once held all of Arn, only allowing the Hazandi gypsy-folk--with whom they have an ancient blood-pact--to pass unchallenged. The coming of the forces of the Thystaran Empire changed all that, leading to years of warfare. Whole tribes of Kael were lost, and their names are no longer spoken. Gradually, the tribes were pushed further and further into the less hospitable hills and broken lands of the north.

While they still claim all of Arn as their ancestral right, the Kael only control the areas of the Ael-Uthaidd Plateau, Shielddome, the Delanoch Hills, and the Chailéadhain Highlands. The loss of the south is an ever bitter draught, and the young and disaffected tribesmen still launch raids against those they consider interlopers.

There are seven tribes of the Kael. These tribes are divided into bands, which are in turn divided into local groups composed primarily of families in of one matrilineal clan. Marriage within clan is not permitted.

Kael are predominantly pastoralists, though some live a completely nomadic lifestyle following auroch herds. Though war and raiding is generally considered the province of men, both boys and girls are trained to ride, and in the use of the bow and spear. A Battle Woman (seen as being imbued with the spirit of the war goddess) accompanies war-parties and gives counsel to the male leader on the treatment of prisoners and the division of spoils.

Inspired by the random tables originating in Aaron Kesher's "The Devil's in the Details" in Fight On!, here are a couple of tables to flesh out cultural/personality quirks of Kael characters:

MANY KAEL (1d20 3 times):
1. Dislike cities.
2. Prefer to sleep in stables near their horse.
3. Take trophies (scalps, ears) from defeated foes.
4. Treat elves with deference--and wariness.
5. Sing tribal war-chants before battle.
6. Have tattoos in geometric patterns.
7. Have tattoos of stylized animals.
8. Think battle-scars make them more attractive.
9. Name their favorite weapon.
10. Try to interpret their dreams to divine the future.
11. Have a mohawk haircut.
12. Spike their hair to look fierce.
13. Are afraid of ghosts.
14. Have an idiosyncratic taboo placed on them at birth.
15. Are illiterate.
16. Talk to the stars as if they're family elders.
17. Are mistrustful of magic-users and call them witches
18. Believe having a dwarf in a party is a auspicious omen.
19. Believe weapons have spirits.
20. Take new names to reflect noteworthy deeds.

SOME KAEL (1d10 once):
1. Are hiding from an arranged marriage.
2. Call all non-Kael or Hazandi humans "Thystari."
3. Smoke djesha-leaf immoderately
4. Have a feud with another Kael clan.
5. Have a totem animal they won't kill.
6. Attach feathers to their spears.
7. Think halflings are funny--even the anthrophagous kind!
8. Find non-Kael exotically attractive.
9. Speak the common tongue without an accent.
10. Are fascinated by civilization.