The Apocalypse Now

Art by Jeff Easley

A lot has been written about the "Myth of the Frontier" underpinnings of D&D, and the games perhaps greater homology to Westerns than traditional fantasy in many ways. Interestingly, despite that clear element of the game's core assumptions, when we look at published D&D settings, we don't really see a frontier and expansion setup.

The implied setting of D&D, as a number of writers have pointed out, can also be said to be post-apocalyptic. That often conjures images of science fantasy writers from Appendix N, but of applies to in the literal sense if not the generic sense to the Hyborian Age of Conan and the 3rd Age of Middle Earth. Materially greater and in some ways more advanced civilizations must precede the current one for there to be so much wealth and magic to be looted in old ruins.

A post-apocalyptic setting allows the frontier to be closer at hand, and indeed really sort of obscures it even being a frontier, as no discernable border but instead the distance between "civilized points." Connecting these dots seems more reclamation than expansion.

That works, but in D&D settings like Greyhawk, Krynn, and the Forgotten Realms, the apocalypse is remote enough so that the current civilization doesn't seem post-apocalyptic, at least no more than the High Middle Ages seems to us recovering from the fall of Rome.

Yet, Greyhawk, for all its map full of named regions, heraldry, and rulers with elaborate titles, is really empty. Some of this exists to facility the desired game play, sure, but that's the Doylist explanation. I like the more Watsonian explanations of humanoid and demihuman groups that are not adequately censused coupled with events that have led to a decline in population.

As Chris Kutalik and other commentors suggested in his blog series of years ago, I think Greyhawk is best analogized not to some science fantasy post-apocalypse but to historical eras like the "Dark Ages" (or early Middle Ages) after the collapse of Rome, or the plague, famine and war riven period of the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages.

In many ways, I think, Greyhawk reads better as a setting where the apocalypse (or at least an apocalypse) is not the remote past but happening now or relatively recently. This isn't so much a total destruction kind of apocalypse but a "civilization is dealt a blow" sort of one. This allows for the breadth and complexity of social structures described in Greyhawk, but also for the population numbers and available real estate for enterprising adventures to carve out something for themselves. 

It's "points of light" to use the modern descriptor, but not (like so many of those settings) a rather static period, but one where there are still roving bands of invaders (humanoids, monsters, or armies of other human nations) and isolated communities that must either grow larger and more resilient or be wiped out. I should add, There's no one way the communities have approach this problem to survive. Orcs settling down to live in some sort of peace is potentially just as possible as driving them out and killing them.

I think this sort of implied framing could be fun to lean into. D&D settings need more Random Calamitous Event Tables and societies in flux (like we see in some epic fantasy like A Song of Ice and Fire). Christopher Buehlman's historical horror novel Between Two Fires and his fantasy series beginning with the Blacktongue Thief where human civilization is still dealing with the fallout from a disastrous (and still simmering) war with goblinkind are great inspirations, as well.

Elven Sects

Another way of recasting different groups of elves I've thought about is to draw inspiration from the wuxia tradition with its various kung-fu sects/schools/cults. Wikipedia has a nice (though I'm sure incomplete) list by author of these.

Though, I'm not opposed to kung-fu elves, mind you, perhaps in the case of elves, these would be based around a particular school or style of magic? They could be based on the elements or maybe the Classical Planets. They would presumably each be centered in a particular locale, probably remote from wider civilization.

Using this approach, different types of elves would have less physical or temperamental differences, but perhaps more philosophical ones. There might be rivalries between them. Since it's not an ethnicity but an allegiance, elves could move from one to the other, though perhaps not without some penalty.

I think this approach also has the benefit of making elven subtypes less background and more factions to interact with in gameplay.

Wednesday Comics: DC, November 1985 (week 1)

My mission: to read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis. This week, I'm looking at the comics that were on stands in the week of August 1, 1985. 

Crisis on Infinite Earths #8: After his fight with Supergirl, The Anti-Monitor makes it back to his base and adopts a new look before deciding to head for Qward where his "plan B" is being constructed: an anti-matter cannon. Psycho-Pirate and Flash have no choice but to accompany him.

Meanwhile in the 20th Century, some heroes are gathered in the old JLA satellite with T.O. Morrow to try to repair Red Tornado. Atom is investigating inside Red when he sees something activating. The heroes scramble to safety as the android explodes. Blue Devil is knock through a portal to the Vega System, and Firehawk is forced to make herself a new costume.

In the 30th Century, the Legionnaires monitor the 5 remaining Earths. Brainiac 5 frantically looks for a means to save them, while refusing to mentally acknowledge Supergirl's death.

On Qward, the Flash breaks free and takes Psycho-Pirate captive. He threatens to kil him and forces the villain to manipulate the Thunderers into attacking the Anti-Monitor. With that distraction, the Flash sabotages the energy core of the cannon. Running faster than he has every run before, he turns the energy back on itself. The cost is his own physical integrity, as he painfiully begins to disintegrate. He mentally says goodbye to his friends and family (mentioning Fiona who was forgotten in his comic by the end!) and feels himself slip back in time as he dies. He tries to warn Batman and the Joker, before he is gone leaving only his ring and costume. Unlikely Supergirl, none of the other heroes are aware of his passing or his sacrifice.

I feel like Crisis is improving in this second half. The first six issues seem mostly putting the pieces in place and establishing the stakes. There is still more than a little "just go with it" with Wolfman's plotting, but it's an engaging read.

Blue Devil Annual #1: This is called Blue Devil Summer Fun in the monthly checklists published in the issues. I feel like this issue was the real highwater mark for Blue Devil. My brother and I read it and re-read it as kids. I'm happy to say, I feel like the work done here by Mishkin/Cohn and Cullins/Martin holds up. Thanks to Wayne bringing back a crystal ball-like egg from Ile Du Diable and stashing it in Dan's workshop, Blue Devil is drawn into a battle with Felix Faust which has already entangled several occult and weird guest stars: the Creeper, Man-Bat, Madame Xanadu, Phantom Stranger, Etrigan, and ultimately Black Orchid. The heroes fail to stop all the imps that hatch from the egg from reaching a birthing pit, despite Dan chasing them with a butterfly net, and Etrigan gobbling up everyone he can find. The imp is transformed into a duplicate of Nebiros made of sand. The heroes manage to pull him apart, but the battle is only over when Phantom Stranger sucker punches Faust.

The issue is Blue Devil at its best: an action-comedy romp. One of my favorite bits is Xanadu and the Stranger at various points each telling conflicting versions of the origin of Black Orchid. Xanadu's tale is a pastiche of Daredevil's origin, while the Stranger's is a pastiche of Spider-Man's. Mishkin/Cohn also have a lot of fun with Etrigan's rhyming commentary.

It's a shame the series wasn't consistently this good, though its humorous approach was probably not what the majority of comic readers wanted in 1985. 

DC Comics Presents #87: Maggin and Swan/Williamson introduce the last Superboy of the pre-Crisis universe, the Superboy of Earth-Prime. Superman is mourning the loss of Supergirl, presenting an opportunity for the Superman Revenge Squad. They send him to an alternate Earth. Shortly after his arrival, the last son of Krypton of that Earth begins to manifest his Kryptonian powers. Superman introduces himself and the starts coaching the boy on his powers. They work together to repel an alien invasion. After that, they work to return Superman to Earth-1 via the alien's technology, but as soon as Superman's through, he's again ambushed by the Revenge Squad.

The backup story tells the origin of Superboy Prime. In this universe, Clark Kent and Superman are well-known from comics and media, but there is still a real Krypton and Jor-El, and this one has developed a teleportation device. Due events, only the infant Kal-El is sent to Earth where he is adopted by Jerry and Naomi Kent. They name the baby Clark, after Naomi's maiden name, realizing they have named him for a comic book character. On this Earth, Clark Kent grows up with super-powers.

Fury of Firestorm #41: Kayanan's back on art, and we get a Crisis crossover. Like a lot of these, it brings Firestorm up to where we see him in Crisis #1. Ronnie and Stein have move to Pittsburgh and Vandermeer College. Doreen and Cliff Carmichael are here, too, so Ronnie has similar social dynamics to before. Harbinger arrives to recruit Firestorm, but her job is complicated by Psycho-Pirate who she brought with her. His emotional manipulation of Stein causes Firestorm to fight at first.

Hex #3: Fleisher and Texiera/Garzoin don't give Hex a minute to catch his breath. He flees Borsten's minions through the desert, them gets set upon by punks looking to rob him when he stops in a town to wonder at the populace all hallucinating from some drug. He's rescued by a guy in an aircraft that offers him a job as his muscle, but then he turns out that guy is the dealer pushing the drug by aerosolizing it in an area and getting people addicted, before starting to charge. Hex objects to all this, the two fight, and the pusher falls from the aircraft.

Meanwhile, Borsten's under pressure by corporate types to deliver the Wild West gunfight he promised, as they're tired of watching kidnapped World War I soldiers fight it out. He yells at his minions to get him Hex so he can save face. The pressure must be getting to the old guy, as he again has to rushed to the rejuvenation tanks. 

Justice League of America #244: Conway and Staton/Machlan deliver a different perspective on the last few pages of last Infinity, Inc.issue. The JLA members that escaped the assault last issue regroup in the satellite then go to Earth-Two to enlist the JSA for help. Meanwhile, the Infinitors begin to suspect Heywood and Mekanique mislead them just in time for the JSA/JLA team to arrive. Mekanique gets away, but Steel and Commander Steel get a one-on-one combat, which Steel wins.

Outsiders #1: I bought this back in '85. I seemed special with the metallic ink on the cover. Barr and Aparo present a direct sale only book in the style of New Teen Titans and Legion of Super-Heroes. Like those comics, there's a time jump between this issue and the concurrently published Batman and the Outsiders. The Outsiders are in L.A., they have a new member, Looker, and they are no longer partnered with Batman. They make a reference to "bad blood," but that's as much as we get.

The team is undercover, guarding the controversial opening of a nuclear power plant. They are unprepared for a group that acts and talks like a mid-century TV family that breaks into the core and seems to absorb radiation, the Nuclear Family. The Family turns out to be androids. The Outsiders let them go with a disguised Looker in the place of Mom to trace them to their base. She gives herself away, though, when she gasps in horror at their radiation-scared creator's plan to cause a nuclear explosion in Los Angeles. 

Vigilante #23: Cool Smith/Maygar cover. Kupperberg and Smith/Mitchell pick up the story as Judge Chase is heading into the courtroom. In flashback, we find out Marcia noped out of his craziness. With that and the faux Vigilante still out there, Chase is a wreck. His first case doesn't help because it's exactly the sort of thing he and so many other 80s vigilantes are always going on about: a drug smuggler gets off on a "technicality." The Killer Vigilante gets the smug lawyer that got him off, though, and unfortunately a young woman he is partying with. Meanwhile, the Electrocutioner reappears, doing his own killer vigilante thing. Marcia goes to a therapist to seek advice for how to help Adrian, spilling his identity, though attempting to conceal his name.

Elves and Insects

I've suggested (way back in 2012) slapping some antenna on elves and giving them some organic-looking armor--in other words, reskinning them as the 80s Sectaurs action figures. I think the relationship between the faerie and insects makes elves ripe for this twist. I liked the idea so much, I made the elf stand-in species the Ieldra in my Gnydrion science fantasy setting have more insect like with brood queens and instars.

Back to regular old elves, though, I think replacing the Tolkien-inspired nations/tribes (or "subraces" in older D&D) of elves with insect-themed groupings has a lot to recommend it. For one, that group of bad elves, the drow, already have that sort of relationship with spiders (yes, I know they are arachnids, not insects), so there would be a certain symmetry in it. 

What particular insect type would depend on specifically how you envisioned them. Organized, social wood elves might be patterned after wasps or bees, but maybe they are solitary warrior badasses like Crow from Hawk the Slayer with more affinity for mantises?

I think the aloof gray elves would have the bushy antenna and pale complexions like some sort of moth, along with an ethereal strangeness. High elves might be bee-like (and matriarchal) or nimble warriors like dragonflies or damselflies.

I know that Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadow of the Apt series has insect-themed races, so their might be some inspiration there, but I haven't read them to say. I know you could do a lot worse than checking out Bug Wars by Aaron and Asrar.

Wednesday Comics: DC, October 1985 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on July 25, 1985.

All-Star Squadron #50: I suspect both the Crisis tie-in banner, and the character-filled Ordway cover attracted my attention on the stands. This wasn't the first issue of the All-Stars I picked up as a kid, but it was the beginning, I believe, of a short period of getting it more frequently.  Reading it again now, though, it's apparent how much of this story is just plugging continuity holes. Even the Crisis tie-in portion is showing how and when Harbinger recruited Firebrand, and then using Harbinger's presence to advance the next story Thomas has planned. Beyond that, we get the Quality Comics characters leaving for Earth-X and Steel displayed to Earth-One so he can be the grandfather of the JLA's Steel there.

Several JSA members are also captured and put into rockets by the Nazi's to launch into space. Seems it would be easier just to kill them, but no, this becomes a way to do a modern version of some Gardner Fox stories from the Golden Age in upcoming issues.

Action Comics #572: This issue has three quaint stories that continue the trend of this book feeling like editorial is burning inventory before Crisis finishes and things are different. The first by Boldman and Boring/Hunt has a scientist revealing to Clark Kent the moon is suddenly inhabited by a bunch of copies of Clark! Investigating, it turns out to be Gollo and his pals, derpy-looking green saurpodish aliens with chameleon powers that Superman has met before. They are exiled due to aggressive other creatures on their homeworld, but it turns out their hero-worship of Superman (and taking on the form of his secret ID) is why the predators suddenly took interest.

The second story by Sabbatini and Bender/Oksner, has Superman safe was fluffy, cute animal creatures from an obsessed alien trophy hunter, and then is rewarded by their time traveling evolution descendants for his compassion. 

The third is the first DC work by Mark Waid. It's got art by Hoberg/Mitchell and is one of those "can you solve the mystery first?" stories involving the contents of the Fortress of Solitude disappearing after a close call with an unusually magnetized meteor. 

Detective Comics #554: Moench and Colan/Smith have Batman and friends setting up a sting to catch Boomerang and Mirror Master. Using his Matches Malone identity, Batman sets the bait by spreading word that Bullock will be transporting a valuable museum piece solo. Boomerang sends the supposedly hypnotized Mirror Master to steal it. The trap fails, and he kidnaps Bullock. In the hideout, Mirror Master reveals he was merely pretending to be hypnotized, and he and Boomerang start fighting. Batman and Robin show up to arrest them both.

In the Green Arrow backup by Maggin and Giordano, Ollie is pickpocketed on the way to pay his rent. When he pursues the thief as Green Arrow, he stumbles on to a gang stealing an ancient Greek artifact. He manages to stop them, then grab his rent money back when he happens to see the pickpocket at the police station.

Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1: Levitz and Giffen, Kessel, and a host of other inkers, get around to solving the mystery of who shot Laurel Kent. The team of investigating Legionnaires figure out that other murders and attempted murders are related. Brainiac 5 deduces the murder is going after descendants of JLA members. They eventually track the murder to his cryogenic chamber where he has been only periodically awakening since the 20th Century and directing a robot. 

It's good to see Giffen back with the Legion, and I think the story is good in concept, but stumbles a bit in execution. I get the idea that each chapter, focusing on a different part of the investigation, is meant to be in the style of a different sort of mystery subgenre, but only Shrinking Violet's hardboiled narration, and Chameleon Boy's Holmesian turns of phrase give a hint of this. The styles of the other chapters are obscure to me. Also, they frustratingly never reveal the identity of the murderer. From what they did say, I thought Professor Ivo was a possibility, and that's who the internet is certain it was, but it seems a mistake just not to name him in the story.

Nathaniel Dusk II #1: MacGregor and Colan are back with another hard-boiled detective story with the same colors over pencils art style that makes the whole thing look like you're viewing the images through a rain spattered window. A lot of basic shapes and blobs of color. In this installment, Dusk is hired by Amanda Cooper, a wealthy woman, to act as a bodyguard for her father, Cranston, a former businessman reduced to selling apples from a cart on the street corner after losing his fortune in the stock market crash. Someone tries to shoot Cranston as a hurricane remnant hits the city (placing this round September 8, 1934) and Dusk has to fight the guy, but the would-be assassin gets away.

Star Trek Annual #1: Barr and Ross/Smith present a story of Kirk's earliest days in command of Enterprise. This is first of two annuals Barr did telling "untold tales" of Star Trek history. We get to exactly how he took over from Pike, the fate of Number One (injured in an accident), and Gary Mitchell's introduction to the crew. In fact, this issue marks the first ever comic appearance of Pike, Number One, Dr. Boyce, Mitchell, and Kelso. The aliens which appear in the story and have a history with Pike are beyond the budget of the TV certainly but fit in well with the short of things we see in tie-in novels. In fact, the novels will tackle this same idea in 1986 with McIntyre's Enterprise: The First Adventure, but Barr got their first. 

V #9: The cover of this issue is weird because it doesn't seem to relate at all to the contents. Donovan, Parrish, and Willie go to the New York City to offer to train the locals in resistance fighting to deal with a Visitor attack they believe is coming. The Mayor is completely dismissive of the possibility, and we find out (though our heroes don't) that that's because she's a Visitor herself. She sends some goons to ambush the LA crew, but when they defeat them, the demonstrable presence of Visitors in New York only serves to make the people come to them for training.

Meanwhile, there continues to be rivalries and jockeying for position among the aliens. Lydia convinces the brutish Walter than the human Donovan is in the way of him being with Diana, and she convinces Diana of a plan to send Walter to New York to stalk and kill Donovan.

World's Finest #320: Continuing the story from last issue, Batman manages not only to survey his plummet from an airplane into the reservoir but to wrap the cannister full of drugs in his insulated cape so it doesn't release in water. We get Rem's origin as a therapist turned super-villain after his mind in damaged using a device that allowed into to enter his psychotic patient's psyche. When Batman reaches the Fortress of Solitude, Rem has made Superman a sleepwalker under his command. Batman uses the Phantom Zone Projector to send Superman into the Phantom Zone, which has the effect of freeing him from Rem's control. Batman and Superman defeat Rem, but unbeknownst to them, the villain known as Chronos starts planning his attack on the world's mightiest heroes. There's also so more of the shadowy Power Broker talking to folks viagrainy monitors. 

[Parsulan] Zagartha

 

Zagartha is a floating island wandering some 1000 feet above Berlaith. Like the other floating rocks of Parsulan, it contains large amounts of thaumatite. It was ejected from the surface during the early years of the Demon War owing to the magical surge from the weakening of the Great Barrier.

Zagartha, when it was an earthbound mountain, contained a large temple complex and was the site of a famous oracle, but it was abandoned after it was desecrated by demonic forces. At least two conflicting stories are told regarding its reinhabitation. The first holds that the Seven Great Sages, disputing some obscure points of the oracles last series of pronouncements, journeyed there with their followers and were holding a symposium there when Zagartha rose into the sky, stranding them. The second holds the Sages led a group to a place of (relative) safety from the Fomori on the already skybound island with a magical conveyance that was wrecked upon landing. Even among Zagartha's inhabitants, both stories have their adherents. 

The original sages passed long ago, and the number of students their successors enjoy have dwindled over time as they tend to be drawn from outsiders, not from the ranks of locals who feel a sense of duty to the sages and support them materially but have little time for their ascetic lifestyles and philosophical arguments. Both groups dwell in and among the ruins of the previous temple complex. Either the buildings have been repurposed or their materials used to build new structures. The locals are mostly craftsmen, farmers, and merchants. They maintain the all-critical cisterns, tend the small fields, and conduct trade with the "ground-folk." 

One important aspect of their lives is the capture over other floating rocks. Some of these are added to Zagartha to expand it. Others are mined for materials. In both cases the rocks are reached through the use of the skywires and skywire harnesses that use small thaumatite to shoot lines at force. The skill necessary to employ them effectively takes years to master but makes many Zagarthans skilled aerialists.

Fantasy Superheroes

A common criticism of later editions of D&D from fans of older editions is that they produce "fantasy superheroes." I don't agree with that characterization. In fact, I wonder why we don't see many rpg examples of fantasy superheroes because, like Stargazer here, I think it could be an interesting idea.

For clarity, I don't mean characters in a fantasy world that have secret IDs and codenames and fight crime wearing costumes--though I think a Zorro or Iron Monkey sort of frame of masked fighters for justice could easily fit what I am thinking of. Mostly, though, I'm just thinking of comic books like Battle Chasers or Dreadstar (the latter is really space fantasy, but its basic setup is a useful example) and animated series like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002, particularly). Epic fantasy stories featuring super-powered characters. 

So what makes those examples "superheroic" in a way a 4e campaign isn't necessarily? In Superhero: The Secret Origin of A Genre, Coogan lays out his "MPI" definition of a superhero. That is, a superhero is a person with Mission, Powers, and Identity. He also has the fallback of "generic distinction" to catch characters (like the Hulk) that might fail by the initial test and to exclude characters that might seem at first blush to fit but are better accounted for in another genre.

Regardless of whether the fantasy heroes I'm thinking of would be superheroes in Coogan's estimation, I'm think about characters that:

• Have a mission, which might be something like "defeat Sauron," but could be something more like "overthrow the God-King who betrayed us." This wouldn't be the place for picaresque wanderings or "get rich or die trying."
• Have powers that are beyond reach of regular folks to a notable extent. Those powers would tend to require explanation and come with an origin of sorts. That could be as simple as "born an air bender," but whatever it is, it would set a character apart from most people. While this pillar is where there is the most overlap with modern D&D, I think D&D's approach to powers that largely makes then originless (other than being a particular class) and outside of spells, more an artifact of game rules than a setting element, fails to place it within the proposed genre.
• Have an identity, in the sense of being distinct, likely from other heroes in the party, but certainly from broader humanity. The difference between characters a normal D&D party is something like the difference between the members of the Fellowship of the Ring, but here the difference would be more like the differences between the members of the X-Men or Legion of Super-Heroes. I feel like a lot of identity is in a distinctive visual, but that probably comes from this subgenre being mostly a thing of visual media. Still, I feel like it would be something to think about in an rpg.