Retrospective For The Second Stringers - The Galaxy Trio

Much of the cartoons back in the 80s were reruns of classic 60s cartoons dressed up & repacked for cable. Among those was this guy. Bird Man & The Galaxy Trio. Lets forget about Birdman for a moment & concentrate on the Trio. The Trio were the perfect example of a small plot that a dungeon master could use for a space going campaign.. Hear me out here. Seriously this is a great concept for three reasons. 

1. They've got a space ship which means cross over without tears. Need some npcs to pull out  the pc's bacon from the fire. Their right there. Space ships allow the dungeon master infinite opportunities. Hell Star Frontiers didn't even have space ship rules until the advanced game.
   The transporter ermm Displacer allows the party to save on costs without tears. The displacer is perfect for allowing the dungeon master to have say over its potential. Don't want it go through solid rock or lead. Then it can't. 
2. Super Heroes INnnnn Sppaacce. Each of the trio were super heroes whose powers worked very well together. Super Heroes in space are always golden look at Space Ghost but that's another blog entry. The powers of the trio were always second stringers, these were the guys who cleaned up the lesser interstellar criminals. 
3. Greater background - These folks were interstellar law enforcement they had the Chief: A man referred to only as "Chief" is a recurring character in Galaxy Trio. He fulfills a similar role to that of Falcon 7 in Birdman. Whose the chief in a game like this? Well you are Mr, Dungeon Master. Need information conveyed quickly, easily, & without tears here's your puppet to do it with. 
   

The plot & background of the Trio : 

Galaxy Trio

The Galaxy Trio is a group of three extraterrestrial superheroes, Vapor Man, Meteor Man, and Gravity Girl, who patrol space in their cruiserCondor One maintaining order and fighting evildoers in the name of the Galactic Patrol law enforcement agency. The ship was equipped with a "displacer" very similar to the transporter device on Star Trek,^{[citation needed]} which was a contemporary show.

• Vapor Man (voiced by Don Messick) - He has the ability to transform part or all of his body into gaseous form (a power shared by at least some residents of his home planet of Vaporus), enabling him to fly, escape from physical bonds, and squeeze through very small spaces, as well as producing various forms of "vapor" (such as "freeze vapor") from his hands.

• Meteor Man (voiced by Ted Cassidy) - A native of the planet Meteorus. Meteor Man is distinguished by his ability to increase or decrease the size of any part of his body. He gains superhuman strength in any limb that he chooses to enlarge.

• Gravity Girl (voiced by Virginia Eiler) - She has the ability to bend the laws of gravity to her will, allowing her to fly and lift very heavy objects with her mind. The daughter of the king of the planet Gravitas, she left her luxurious home and life of privilege at an early age to fight crime with the Galactic Patrol and was subsequently assigned to the Galaxy Trio team, with whom she has served ever since.

[edit]Minor characters

• Chief: A man referred to only as "Chief" is a recurring character in Galaxy Trio. He fulfills a similar role to that of Falcon 7 in Birdman.

Updating The Galaxy Trio For The OSR 

The trio's concept for the OSR is one of the most easily accomplished!
 

Its not enough to say that these types of characters were born on planet XYZ & this is why they have special powers! With a game like Human Space Empires its easy to imagine them being bio clones. Human beings adapted to conditions found on various planets instead.
 Yeah I know that this was used in the Buck Rogers Rpg but hey its older then that! 

Both James Blish & Fredrick Pohl have done series to reflect man adapted for space & planetary conditions. For the cool powers however Human Space Empires, Marvel Super Heroes, or Stars Without Numbers has everything you need to run this type of a campaign.
 If you'd really want an odd campaign then adapt something like Fredick Pohl's Man Plus where mankind is adapting himself to the stars Here
Personally retro is the way to go with only having to increase the power levels for something like Human Space or Stars Without Number