Return to Planet Funhouse Dungeon

Back in 2016, I wrote a post suggesting that there had never really been a sci-fi rpg equivalent of old D&D in the sense there had never really been a gonzo, promiscuously borrowing from all sorts of media sci-fi game of exploration that is generic. I think that statement is still largely true, if we limit it to games that really capture the gaming zeitgeist. Currently, horror science fiction hybrids seem to the order of the day.

It's true that gonzo/less serious science fiction has never been its most popular form in other media, but I feel like it's as popular as it has ever been with Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: Ragnarok, and less popular but still big budget movies like Jupiter Ascending and Valerian.

The think, though, that the best model for a game of this sort is a show from nearly 60 years ago: the original Lost in Space. Sure it was aimed at kids and the amount of money spent on episodes left it with special effects like something from a decade earlier in comparison to Star Trek, but the mix of the lack of concern for serious science fiction (or logic at times) that came from making a kid-focused so combined with chasing the aesthetic of the popular Batman tv show, created encounters with the "unknown" that would be at home in any old school goofy dungeoncrawl.

A vending machine that can deliver androids to order--but then you have to pay for them. Faceless aliens in besparkled bowler hats. A space prospector that look like a miner forty-niner (complete with mule) but is blasting away to find an element that can create (or bestow) life. Space hillbillies. The Great Vegetable Rebllion.

Of course, Lost in Space has a bounded setting--and I think this is important. The Space Family Robinson are lost and marooned for most of the show on first one planet then another. This makes there adventures closer to a dungeoncrawl or at least wilderness crawl of a specific area. Of course, we never see the Robinson's methodically exploring, but there isn't a lot of ten foot pole poking around in Sword & Sorcery fiction either. If you want that sort of thing nothing stops you from doing it. 

In any case, I think the appeal of a science fiction campaign limited to one world, like Vance's Planet of Adventure or Lost in Space, but a world that is pretty gonzo as appeal.

Plasmoids of the Anadem

These rubbery, elastic invertebrates are one of the most commonly encountered nonhumankin of the Anadem. They have few wordlets of their own but can been found on many multi-kin habitats. They are generally easy of disposition and gregarious. They can often be found among the ranks of entertainers. 

It is believed that the ancestors of the plasmoids were discovered on some distant world by ancient human explorers. This world has been lost or at least misplaced, so that none of the scant visitors Old Earth receives from the outer galaxy can recollect any details regarding it. The tale told on Old Earth is that the pre-sophont ancestors of the plasmoids were known as zhmoon and came from a pleasant world called (appropriately, if unimaginatively) the World of the Zhmoon. Earlier spacers happening upon the world noted the gelatinous species, with seemingly no fear of other creatures. They also noted the tastiness of zhmoo flesh if appropriately prepared. 

It is possible hungry visitors would have caused the extinction of the zhmoon had not conservationists noticed them beginning to exhibit signs of intelligence greater than that of an animal. These behaviors, curiously, seemed to increase over time. It was generally accepted that exposure to human behavior and culture had triggered an aptitude for evolutionary mimicry, though there were other opinions. A renowned scientist, noting the malleability of zhmoo structure, suggested the only mimicry had been in the reciprocal consumption of some hapless would-be zhmoo hunters. The zhmoon had thereby absorbed human knowledge and mental structures. The scientist, determined to prove his theory, disappeared in the wilds of the World of the Zhmoon.

Shortly thereafter the zhmoon present humanity with manikins, the vaguely human-shaped, living but nonsentient snacks still cultivated on Old Earth today, demonstrating a biochemical know-how heretofore unseen among them. The snacks enjoyed a brief period of faddish popularity, but they were the plasmoids entre to galactic society.

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 1982 (week 1)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! Today, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands on the week of  October 8, 1981. For the first time since I've been doing this series, DC has four weeks of releases with this cover date.

Arak Son of Thunder #5: Thomas and Colon/DeZuniga Carolus Magnus is holding a tourney and Angelica and family shows up. Arak wants to fight them, but he can't because of the tournament truce. The champion of White Cathay defeats Rinaldo with help from Angelica's sorcery, and they force him to accompany them back to their country. Arak and Maligigi follow to get proof of sorcery, but they are beset by monsters and defeated. Angelica wins this round!

DC Comics Presents #41: Clark, Perry, and Lois are headed off to Los Angeles, but so are the Joker and the Prankster. The two villains are temporarily working together to steal from a comedian-turned crime boss the two super-villains have a grudge against. When Prankster double-crosses the Joker and kidnaps Perry White, it's Superman and the Joker who must become uneasy allies. Pasko manages to take a number of digs on L.A. and Hollywood. I like how the script uses a the then-common not psychopathic but still potentially deadly Joker, and ups the menace of the Prankster, so the two are roughly as "serious." Jose Luis-Garcia Lopez art helps everything, though, and this is no exception.

There's a "A Bold New Direction for... Wonder Woman" insert by Thomas and Colan/Tanghal where Wonder Woman receives her new "double-W" halter from a feminist organization, and then returns to Paradise Island. There she has to best Hercules in a contest of strength and Hermes in a contest of speed to win freedom for the Amazons. Oh yeah, and Steve Trevor is dying--again. I've complained about Conway's wishy-washiness about how powerful Wonder Woman is. Thomas clearly comes down on the "very superhuman" side.

Ghosts #108: Squire Shade presents an unnecessary frame regarding a wrestler who has had three lifetimes to be tested. In the first story by Gill and Gonzales/Martin a treasure-seeking tender of his family gravesight is forced by his wealthy brother's ghost to pursue the bikers that took a metal, gargoyle-head ornament from his tomb. The man receives it and returns it, never noticing the jewels he had been seeking leaking from it. Snyder and Craig have a young man on vacation confronting a haunted house and defeating it's illusions with his refusal to believe. O'Flynn and Texiera/Celado reveal the hubris of a scientist who takes credit for his assistants discovery of a means to demonstrate the the soul leaving the body in a sensory deprivation take. When the scientist's eagerness to gain fame leads to his assistants death, the assistant's spirit seeks vengeance. 

The last story is another weird science fiction piece from Drake and Vicatan. Two criminals and their collaborating guard escape a future prison, discover a means to make their spirits leave their bodies after an alien encounter. They visit a utopian alien civilization who offer them the formulas for all sorts of societal improvements, but when they return to their own bodies the one them memorized the formula is left without a body. 

Justice League #198: Conway and Heck/Breeding break out a Old West crossover. In 1978 amnesiac Leaguers Green Lantern, Zatanna, Flash, and Elongated Man encounter and enlist the aid of Jonah Hex, Cinnamon, Scalphunter, and Bat Lash, respectively, all while under the watch of a shadowy, glowing-eyed figure.

Back in the present, Superman heads to the Grand Canyon where his colleagues disappeared but winds up being defeated by a Kryptonite-containing robot serving the Lord of Time. The villain explains that he is responsible for sending the League members back into the past. He knows that a cluster of antimatter energy is going to fall in the Arizona deserts in 1878, and he plans to use the League to collect the powerful energy source for him!

Weird War Tales #107: In a story by Newman/Carrillo a German commander must contend with the Furies of Greek myth who bring his plans to ruin and then get him arrested by his own people. Next Snyder and Trinidad present a non-weird non-actual war story about National Guard re-enactors in Oregon who change the result of the battle of Rappahanock Station. Newman is back with Rubeny for the story of a mercenary crew hired to terrorize and drive out indigenous peoples in Africa, find themselves in trouble when the people they are attacking hire a mercenary local sorcerer.

Barr and von Eeden/Smith present a presumably a fall of Skylab inspired story. The Wanderer satellite is going to fall to Earth and peoples fear leads to a political push that shuts down the space agency, effectively ending America's exploration program. However, a young boy sees the satellite falling like a shooting star and is inspired to one day go to outer space.

Wonder Woman #287: With the DC Comics Presents preview promising a "new direction" for Wonder Woman starting next issue, Wolfman and Heck are left to finish the lame duck "old direction" here--which means a Titans guest appearance. Wonder Girl and Starfire respond to a mysterious summons to a New York harbor dock and are attacked by costumed assailants, who manage to capture Wonder Girl. Starfire captures one of the gang, and contacts Robin, who in turn calls Diana Prince to get Wonder Woman's aid. Wonder Girl is being held prisoner by Dr. Cyber, who lures Wonder Woman to her hideout, intent on having Dr. Moon transplant her brain into Wonder Woman's body. Rather than risk Donna's life, Wonder Woman appears to agree to Cyber's terms. But the Teen Titans bust in to free their friends. Wonder Woman defeats Cyber, and Wonder Girl breaks herself out of the glass prison she had been held in. I feel like this one was better than most of the Conway issues that preceded it.

Travelers Tales at Bar in the Anadem

The blogging equivalent of a clip show this week, as I give you a chance to catch up on my posts in the Spelljammer-ish setting of the Anadem:

Lycaon, the Werewolf World

Those itinerant Earthshiners

The mysterious Toymaker

Weird Revisited: In the Blood

This post originally appeared almost 10 years ago to the day...

 

The element iron has a special status: it carries oxygen on our blood; it’s the most abundant element in the earth’s crust; and it has the most stable atomic nuclei. More to the point for fantasy gaming: "cold iron" is said to ward off or harm fairies, ghosts, and/or witches.

In the novel Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington, magical attitude is inversely related to iron in the blood. A necromancer explains it this way:

“Iron, as I’ve told you, is one of the only symbols that represents what it truly is, here and on the so-called Platonic level of reality...Because it is true material and not just a symbol of something else, iron restricts our ability to alter the world, be it talking to spirits or commanding symbols or however you put it.”

Not only does this nicely tie some of the real properties of iron with its folklore properties, but it would have some interesting implications in fantasy games. Prohibitions against metal armor and the working of magic make sense in this light. Even more interestingly, it might it explain why D&D mages tend to be physically sort of weak--they need to be somewhat less robust in order to work magic well. Maybe higher Constitution scores actually impairs magic, or impairs the “level” a mage can advance too? That might also example the traditional dwarven poor magic aptitude: they’re hardy, creatures of the earth (where iron’s abundant).

Howl at the Moon

Scholars disagree on whether remote Lycaon, the Wolf World, should be considered part of the Anadem proper or not, lying as it does on the far side of the Moon. That face of Luna, forever hidden from Earth, looms large and bright in Lycaon's sky, and that has a particular effect on the Wolf World's inhabitants.

It is said that in a previous age suffers of lycanthropy were deported to the Outer System in an effort to eradicate the curse forever from Old Earth. In the time sense, a tribe of werewolves were given leave by the Elven Queen to settle bring a worldlet into the orbit known by the ancient designation of El-Tu. Why the Queen of Elves should allow this is unclear, but the lycanthropes benefited greatly from close proximity to the celestial body that governs their malady.

The Wolf World is by all accounts beautiful with its old fashion castles and keeps and deep shadowed forests, but it is seldom visited. The werewolf lords are high-handed and capricious hosts. One might be the guest of honor at a lavish feast, or the quarry in a hunt under the bone pale moon.

Wednesday Comics: DC, December 1981 (wk 2 pt 2)

My goal: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands around September 24, 1981. 

Adventure Comics #488: Two Dial H stories here. In the first by Rozakis and Infantino, Jinx, a villain with bad luck powers is convinced that all the superheroic duos appearing in this one small city most be the same people, and he surveils them long enough to confirm his suspicions.  In the end, not even bad luck can stop the ring-throwing Captain Saturn and the cold-powered Snowball from taking him down.

The second story by Kashdan and von Eeden is weird because it's odd to see the Dial H stuff drawn by anybody but Infantino. Beyond that, it isn't memorable at all, as the kids take on the poison-wielding Belladona, "Princess of Potions." 

Detective Comics #509: Conway and Newton bring Catman sets a trap for Batman as he wants to retrieve the scrap of his cape Batman tore off last time they met. Catman is convinced his cape is magical, giving him nine lives, and the tearing of the cape ruined it's magic--and now Catman has a scarred face to prove the loss of his luck. He thinks the cape can heal it. He puts Batman in a rising tide death trap, but of course Batman escapes. He tracks Catman to where he has Selina Kyle captive and he has finally recovered the missing piece of his costume. His face isn't fixed, though, and Selina explains that perhaps the magical cloth has been used too many times and it doesn't work anymore. (She doesn't mention she might have used it to cure her illness.) Batman defeats Catman. Later, Selina tells Bruce she is leaving Gotham because her past is always in the way between the two. Meanwhile, Bruce, unaware that he is being watched closely by someone from his past, who is determined to find a connection between Bruce Wayne and Batman.

In the Batgirl backup, she is still trying to take down the Annihilator who has siphoned Supergirl's power. Batgirl manages to free her friend, but they are unable to defeat the Annihilator (who continues to mutate), and he teleports away. Annihilator decides he's going to repopulate Gotham (after he destroys it) with his own super-progeny, but he needs to mind the right mate. He starts building a ray to use on the woman he wants to carry his offspring. Batgirl and Supergirl have tracked him down, but with his precognitive powers he knows they are coming. He muses that Batgirl is a prime specimen for his mate.

Legion of Super-Heroes #282: I get the feeling Thomas fashioned this entire arc just to give an explanation for the Reflecto statue in the adult Legion story in Adventure Comics #354, and it shows. Anyway, we've got most the Legionnaires still imprisoned on Earth in the 60s as commies or something, and Superboy, Dawnstar, and Phantom Girl are in Bgztl. Luckily, Superboy regains his memory, and even more luckily, Dawnie is able to track down the not-dead Ultra Boy. Also, the Time Trapper is defeated, the other Legion members escape, and back in the 30th Century they change the statue of a dead Ultra Boy to Reflecto, 'cause he kinda died. Sure, Roy (and Paul).

New Adventures of Superboy #24: I had this issue as a kid. After the Curator strikes Superboy with a Red Kryptonite bomb, the Boy of Steel is blind without his Kryptonian glasses, imperiling either his effectiveness as a hero or his secret identity. A blind Superboy is still an effective one, though. In the Superbaby backup by Rozakis and Calnan, Superboy foils an alien invasion while being baby-sat.

Sgt. Rock #359: Kanigher and Redondo bring back the Iron Major, who manages to capture Rock and beat the hell of of him but doesn't kill him since Rock spared his life last time. The next story by Bill Kelley with amateurish art by Ron Randall has a young woman getting close to a Nazi officer to get travel papers for her husband. The Nazi double-crosses her and kills her husband but is killed accidentally by his subordinate, trying to shoot the woman. 

The Men of Easy feature has whistler Canary providing the wedding march for a couple whose church pipe organ was destroyed by a German attack. In the last story, a WWI pilot's cat, Blind Faith, helps him after a crash when he has been blinded. The cat jumps at a German sneaking up on him, allow the pilot to turn and shoot.

Unexpected #217: In the cover story by Sheldon Mayer, Lincoln is removed from the timestream moments before his assassination and brought to 2265 in order to run for president of the galaxy. The ol' Railsplitter figures out everything is not on the up and up, and turns the tables on the disguised aliens, foiling their plans. Next up, Sciacca and Carrillo give a slightly modified version of the Japanese Yuki-onna legend where a man marries a beautiful but mysterious wife and has kids, but loses it all when he asks too many questions about his wife's past.

Mishkin/Cohn and Speigle present the tail of a hat store owner who chooses not to ask too many questions when his business turns around with the patronage of an odd man and his equally odd friends--even after he discovers they all are hiding aliens under the hats they bought. Drake and Vince Perez/Vicatan present the sort of story you might have seen in an EC sci-fi book.  In the future, a criminal left adrift in space after she tried to steal from her partner crashes on a planet with deformed mutants, descendants of the victims of ancient Earth nuclear accidents. ("3 Mile Land," offer as example.) They want to breed with her to produce normal children, but she isn't having any of that. After poisoning the mutants, she escapes with a seeming "normal" human only to find he is another mutant concealing that all of his limbs are separate mutants, and all vying for her affection.

The closing page is another meta bit, signaling the 3 Witches will no longer be hosting the book. We see tombstones of other DC horror hosts like Destiny and Dr. Geist and features like Johnny Peril and Dr. Thirteen.

Unknown Soldier #258: Haney and Ayers/Talaoc love their dramatic set-pieces gets to battle a Nazi in the bell of the Notre Dame Cathedral on a mission in Paris to find the injured Allied spy, the Sparrow. In "Swan Song" by Mitchell and Spiegle a young pianist turned "demo man" plays his last to lure German soldiers toward a home before he blows up their artillery outside. 

The Captain Storm story has got a guest appearance by JFK, as Storm goes on a mission to find the missing PT-109, unfortunately, the story ends on a cliffhanger with it unclear if they all make it back home with a Japanese sub blocking their way. I'm guessing they do, but we'll see next issue!

World's Finest Comics #274: In the Burkett and Gonzales/Breeding pick up from last issue. With Batman now super-powered but dying thanks to the Power Charger, he rushes off to save Superman from the Weapon Master. Armed with futuristic weapons stolen from the Fortress of Solitude and maybe elsewhere, he's tough to handle, but even he can't stand up to the combined might of Superman and Super-Batman. In the end Weapon Master makes his escape, and Superman has to let him go to rush to save Batman. Using the Weapon Master's device to drain the powers from Batman, the Dark Knight is depowered but not dying. The Barr/von Eeden Green Arrow story plays on the plot of the reporter refusing to reveal his source after the police want to know how GA knew about a drug deal he busted. Ollie refuses to reveal his source and a judge gives him 24 hours to change his mind or go to jail. Ollie does some soul-searching, but ultimately decides to take the jail time for his ethics.

In a new Zatanna feature, Conway and Colon pit the the sorceress against a mystically empowered food critic who becomes The Shrieker on a fancy cruise. Rozakis and Saviuk have Hawkgirl live Hawkman and take the rocket so he can't follow. Katar tries to enlist his JLA friends to follow her, but they aren't willing to get involved in this marital drama. He goes home and let's himself go for a bit, but a serious of robberies at the museum get him to pull himself together and get back in action. In the Marvel Family story by Bridwell and Newton, Captain Marvel is stymied by a villain with the ability to create silence, which keeps Billy from turning into his heroic form. Billy's a smart kid, though and has a plan involving a telephone and a tape recorder.