Saturday, June 30, 2012

Forgotten Cinema Classic -Megazone 23

Megazone23-part1-DVDcover.jpg
 Years ago I used to spend my weekends over friends houses in Manchester Ct & then head over to the local comic shop for their Anime night as well as play games all weekend. The shop is now long closed. The games are done. The friend have moved away.
The memories remain. One of those  anime classics was Megazone 23 a serious mind f&*% anime before the Matrix was even conceived!
The plot goes something like this :
The events take place in a post-apocalyptic future. The story follows Shogo Yahagi, a delinquent motorcyclist whose possession of a government prototype bike leads him to discover the truth about the city.Shogo Yahagi lives in what appears to be 1980s metropolitan Japan. He meets Yui Takanaka and discovers her roommates are his friends Mai Yumekano and Tomomi Murashita. Shogo's old friend Shinji Nakagawa shows him a military prototype Garland motorcycle (labeled "Bahamut") that can reach over of 300 km/h. He barely escapes as Shinji is killed by unknown agents. 
I remember stumbling back to my friend Andy's house in the 90s after watching this till about 4 am & getting our minds blown.. 
Publisher ADV has compared the series to The Matrix, but the Wachowski brothers have denied it was an influence during the development of the film series. Its actually lots more useful then the Matrix.. 

I was in love with mecha at this time & I still I'm actually.. Sigh it was the Garlands from Megazone 23 that were my favorites!  They were a sort of protomech that transforms from a motorcycle to a mech. They had some pretty impressive computer capabilities.
Megazone 23: Part II MZ-22 Maneuver Slave GR-2 Garand Model Kit 1/32 Scale

Megazone 23: Part II MZ-22 Maneuver Slave GR-2 Garand
 
 

Stats coming up tomorrow for Stats Without Numbers & Human Space Empires 

The Cast of Characters 

 


Shogo Yahagi (矢作 省吾 Yahagi Shōgo?)
The main character of Part I & II. Shogo is a reckless youth who begins to take on dire responsibility as he discovers the true nature of his world. His best friends are Morley Hiroki and Chombo. In part II he teams up with a gang of bikers to reach Eve and ends up on Earth along with his friends.
Voiced by: Kazuki Yao (Japanese), Vic Mignogna (English)
Yui Takanaka (高中 由唯 Takanaka Yui?)
An aspiring dancer who falls in love with Shogo, Yui lives in an apartment with two other girls, Mai Yumekano and Tomomi Murashita. Interestingly, Her last name is the same as the protagonist of the third part.
Voiced by: Maria Kawamura (Japanese), Allison Keith (English)
Mai Yumekano (夢叶 舞 Yumekanō Mai?)
Mai is a singer, songwriter, and keyboard player who comes from a rich family. Her father seems to be involved in the incident. She left after the murder of Tomomi. Notably, She is absent from Part 2, and her fate is left ambiguous.
Voiced by: Mayumi Shō (Japanese), Sasha Paysinger (English)
Tomomi Murashita (村下 智美 Murashita Tomomi?)
Tomomi is an aspiring filmmaker and scriptwriter who likes beer. In Part 1, She is assassinated due to her latest film being about the truth of the Megazone.
Voiced by: Mina Tominaga (Japanese), Hilary Haag (English)
Eve Tokimatsuri (時祭 イヴ Tokimatsuri Ivu?)
A popular singer in the city. In reality, Eve is part of a computer program named Bahamut which is supposed to keep the people of the city content, ignorant, and safe. Notably, In the second part, she helps Shogo learn his planned place in the world, and in the last part, the original Eve in person helps Shogo's replacement in the same way. Eve was the last original programmer.
Voiced by: Kumi Miyasato (Parts 1-2), Saki Takaoka (Part III) (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)
Shinji Nakagawa (中川 真二 Nakagawa Shinji?)
An old friend of Shogo Yahagi, Shinji has become a motorcycle test driver for a secret military program. Was killed by agents early in the show for stealing the Proto-Type Garland.
Voiced by: Kōichi Yamadera (Japanese), Illich Guardiola (English)
B.D.
A powerful military leader who is intent on taking control of the Megazone ship from Bahamut. B.D.'s plans become tenuous with the involvement of Shogo. He left Shogo alive returning a favour. In part 2 he directs the main operation while keen on hunting down Shogo. He left Shogo for his final battle after ADAM was initiated.
Voiced by: Kaneto Shiozawa (Japanese), Andy McAvin (English)
Lightning
He is the leader of the motorcycle gang Trash. In the second movie, Lightning has befriended Shogo and aids him with retrieving the Garland and making contact with Eve. He also helps Shogo with his second, more organized raid on Bahamut.
Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English)
Gutz
Gutz is the muscle of the Trash gang. He helps Shogo and Lightning with their plan to confront the military and contact Eve.
Voiced by: Kozo Shioya (Japanese), George Manley (English)
Cindy
A member of Trash and the girlfriend of Lightning. Cindy befriends Yui and teaches her how to drive a motorcycle. Her appearance is deliberately modelled after the American pop singer Cyndi Lauper.
Voiced by: Yoko Ogai (Japanese), Tiffany Grant (English)
Lieutenant Shiratori
A soldier liaising with the Tokyo police investigating the Tomomi Murashita murder case. Holding high pride about his job. Shiratori has been tasked by B. D. to capture or kill Shogo and his companions and does not mind sacrificing his life.
Voiced by: Sho Hayami (Japanese), John Gremillion (English)
Eiji Takanaka
Main character of Part III. A hacker, top gamer, and motorcyclist who joined E=X. Attracted interests of Yacob & Sion and ended up taking the task as "Operator 7G" originally by Shogo Yahagi to liberate the human race from computerized supervision. There is no apparent relationship between Eiji Takanaka and Yui Takanaka of the first two movies.
Voiced by: Takeshi Kusao (Japanese), Jay Hickman (English)
Bishop Won Dai
The human interface of Eden City's "System" - a supercomputer that serves the same purpose as Bahamut. Won Dai has created an apocalyptic quasi-religion based on humanity's relationship with the planet Earth. Is later revealed to be a major character from the first two parts.
Voiced by: Kouji Nakata (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)
Yacob Halm
The director of the E=X company and a zealous supporter of Project Heaven. Yacob answers only to Bishop Won Dai. Was killed in the original Garland while confronting Eiji.
Voiced by: Unknown (Japanese), Illich Guardiola (English)

Megazone 23 & The OSR (Major Spoilers Ahead)  

Megazone 23 is a classic way, way ahead of its time. This is old school anime at its best  actually. This is when animes didn't talk down to their audience. In case you don't actually know what's going on here. The idea is that everyone in this anime is actually experiencing a virtual reality simulation of a modern day Japan.
One character reveals the truth about the whole thing Bahamut is a supercomputer that controls the events in this world, and that they are actually living on a spaceship, and that the real time is actually 500 years in the future. Read about all the cork screw turns right Here
 The anime plot could be transformed into a Mutant Future campaign very easily. Or it could be used for a Metamorphis Alpha game with very little change & a very large surprise at the end. The whole thing could be ported over to a Carcosa campaign for a real mind blow on the players. I don't recommend this though. You might get dice thrown at you.
 Personally I've dug this out because I'm in the process of converting the 
MZ-22 Maneuver Slave GR-2 Garands over to Stars Without Number.
I used the entire anime as the basis for a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign back in the late 80s & early 90s. This blog entry is a result of those notes. Megazone 23 has connections to other animes & homages to movies in the background.
The Connections
  
From Wiki: 
In Part I, the police that drive in pursuit of Shogo closely resemble Lupin and Daisuke Jigen from the series Lupin III; director Noboru Ishiguro had worked on episodes of Lupin III Part II. When Mai comes home, having been scouted by Tokimatsuri's directors, she throws a duffel bag labeled "Dagger of Kamui" onto a chair. Posters of the movie Streets of Fire can be seen during the first parts of the OVA, as well as references to the Coca Cola company. The Eve character also shares some distant similarities with fictional contemporary Max Headroom from the 1985 TV movie 20 Minutes into the Future, which features a broadcaster called Network 23, though this is probably coincidence.
In Part II, Trash members play a pinball machine that is covered in logos and characters from Thundercats and Silverhawks, which are cartoons animated by the same studio as the Megazone series, AIC. Also in Part II, the screen of a military computer briefly displays the words "Harrison Ford", "Blade Runner", "Frank Baum" and "Dorothy". Throughout the show, reference is made to cigarette brands, in addition to Budweiser and Heineken beer.[9]
In Part III, the Psycholand Video Arcade Employee database lists Yui, Tomomi, and Mai from Part I, as well as the surname Miyasato.
The Garands were instrumental in the designs of  the hard suits from Bubble Gum Crisis. I've had friends go so far as to use the Garands as protypes for the hard suits in several Cyberpunk 2020 games & a Bubble Gum Crisis campaign.

I still miss the comic shop Father & Sons down in Manchester Ct & Andy if your reading this give me a call man.... 

Glitter Dome Station For Stars Without Number Campaign



Glitter Dome is the gate way to the Apostate worlds & stands as the trading port,customs area, & mall to the stars. The place has been in service for decades & has gone frequent overhauls. The station is of the Peerless Class & maintains a crew of over 30 at all times including service,security, maintenance. 
The Corporate Apostate worlds maintain the place as both show piece & neutral meeting ground with the powers of the galactic community. 


Glitter Dome Space Station 
 Powers 60/5 free  Mass 100/2 free 
Cost: 11,445,000 
Hit points: 100
Crew: 30/1000 
Speed-
Armor:10 
AC:9 
Weaponry: Jitter Beam Projector (+3 to hit/3d8+1,AP15,Phase3,Plasma Beam (+3 to hit/3d6+1 AP10) 
Defenses:Hardened Polycermanic Overlay, Micro Mutronic Defense Field 
Fittings: Armory, Braker Gun Array,Hydroponic Production, Life Boats, Orbital Lifters, Ship's Lockers, Workshops, ,13000 tons of cargo space


The Black Market Under Belly 
Glitter dome hides its secrets well beneath its slick corporate exterior. Here deals are done & cargoes of all stripes move through the place like fleas on a dog. The corporations actively encourage these dealings allowing nanotech weaponry, phage drones, & all styles of deals to be done. They encourage this style of deal because it keeps their hands free of any wrong doing.
A special class of  mafia has emerged. The gangster is gone replaced by the corporate bankster. These sharks of the corporate world are the dishonored & disrespected of the boards who have sunk to new levels . Here they operate with impunity in all of the galactic brushfire wars & weird semi criminal dens of scum & villainy throughout the known worlds.
 From identity clone theft to retro world razing these maniacs & psychos will do anything to make a buck. They are whispered rumors of these guilds being tied to eugenic cults & worse.
 Not all that glitters at  glitterdome is golden. 

Shepard's World 

This Super Earth World has been subtly terraformed with pretechnology into a show place of  beautiful beaches, incredible resorts, & mind boggling corporate show places. The planet is a trade world with thousands of ships lifting off from the central space port & jumping into the depths of space. This world has its own standing army & internal corporate police force to ensure the peace.
The world is more of a show piece but its the gate world to the man made paradise of the Apostate Worlds.

Warning 
 The owners of this blog are not responsible for the 20% tax on all in coming cargoes into Glitterdome. The service charges that might be incurred while dealing with any guild representatives. The loss of limb or life when dealing with any cargoes presented by the guild or corporate interests. The small brush fire wars that may be encountered within any of the Apostate Worlds or their colonies . Remember to use caution when traveling the Apostates because even through they are corporate owned these systems are the target of frequent raiding clans especially of the Nargas & Yoka. 

File:Kanadehon Chūshingura by Toyokuni Utagawa III.jpg


Note that Glitterdome was constructed using information from the BannerJee Construction Solutions supplement available right Here

Friday, June 29, 2012

Happy Birthday Ray HarryHausen




Happy Birthday Mr. Ray Harryhausen & thank you for all of the incredible creations & memories! Happy 92 today! 

















The Celestial Toy Box Mission

A Mr. Zumdish artificial person who is looking for adventurers for a dangerous undertaking. Do you have the experience & quantifications for this incredible undertaking?  
The House of Zumdish has been operating the so called Cosmic Department Store Corporation for centuries but something has gone terribly wrong with their last 11 shipments.
The corporation provides minor items of pretech manufacture to wealthy 1 percent clients across the universe. They pride themselves on their  technology level four manufacturing capability. However after losing 2 free lancer parties they have been able to determine that two of their crafts have been shunted to an extra dimensional anomaly of undetermined origin..
The transportation craft pictured above had several valuable cargoes aboard & they are rather impatient to collect these!
The other ship was an inter system vessel with a highly radioactive cargo of fuel.
The patron is willing to offer a reward if the cargoes can be collected in a timely fashion & delivered unharmed

Mr.Zumdish is willing to provide coordinates within system for the entrance to the planar location of these craft in return for the utmost discretion in the matter.
There are after all other crews of freelancers willing to take on the job for the right price.

 Who knows what sort of fate awaits those who venture into the depths of interplanar space for these treasure hoards of  salvage.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Stars Without Number Character Clinic - Actual Play





 I spent most of this Thursday evening going over Character creation with my group. After going over rules, character generation, skills, & lots of smaller details. I'm firmly convinced that this game is a real departure from the traditional OD&D rules as we know them. 
  • Combat is very different & the skill rolls really shake things up. This is a step away from many of the other retroclones out there in the OSR 
  • 13 people can choose one of the three main classes but each & every one are going to be different from everyone else's. The secrets are in the backgrounds & skills. There is far more customization then I was first aware of. 
  • Having everyone doing the character generation together allows  a cohesiveness to the party even if the world hasn't even been described. After running the 10 player Flash Gordon games it makes things run very smoothly for smaller game campaigns. 
  • The rules for psychics are very well done. These make fare more sense then some of the other rules that are available in other OSR games. 



The roll call 
5th level beginning party
  1. Forrest - Playing an expert with a hot shot pilot's skill set with a bounty hunter past & a mysterious secret that haunts him. 
  2. Bob - Psychic Researcher with some shady deals & some very nasty characters hunting him. Forced to follow a mercenary life style this man is desperate & looking for his break. The life of a wandering adventurer among the stars allows him to play the part of the dashing hero 
  3. Russ - Combat Psychic a veteran of a thousand psychic wars wanders the stars with his fellow heroes.
    The Party has a Free Merchant star ship & has landed with little money in their pocket & their looking for the next big break.
    A star port awaits them among the largest planet of the Al Divine star system. A place of danger, intrigue, considered by many to be the cross roads of the universe.
     A stranger watches from the shadows of the star port sizing the fresh meat that just walked into his backyard.
  4. Mecha & Psychic powers are going to be playing a big part in this game & I'm already hard at work on a brand new sector. The fact that I can customize the setting is big plus in my book. 
  5. The  weapons & equipment sections are interesting enough to provide this campaign with some story hooks even while the players are buying stuff for their characters. 

Perhaps its time to dust off an old classic & do a few side conversions for  this old classic. From another perspective of course for Stars Without Number  



The Total Recall Trailer & The Original Novel Revisited



Total Recall is one of those movies that's a weird Saturday night classic. The Remake is too me a visually stunning movie. The movie trailer looks like something out of  a Concept Art website. The action is fantastic & its a virtual feast for the mind's eye.
We Can Remember It For You Whole Sale by Philip K. Dick is the novel both movies are based on.
But where is this movie going? When I first heard that they were remaking this I was very interested... but wary. The original novel is a study in paranoia & switching loyalties,perspectives,etc.  Its not an overly complicated novel by no means but very well done in its simplicity
 SPOILERS AHEAD -THE PLOT OF THE ORIGINAL NOVEL 
Douglas Quail, a simple and ordinary man, wishes to visit Mars. Unable to afford it, he visits a company, Rekall Incorporated, that offers implanted memories ("extra-factual memory"). The attempt to implant some exciting Mars memories of Quail as a secret agent reveals that Quail actually is an undercover government assassin with a mind full of dangerous secrets. The Rekall staff quickly get Quail out of their office; he heads home and finds certain physical evidence to support his new old memories. His handlers initially seek his death but instead Quail, being an assassin, avoids this and goes on the run. Unfortunately, he has an implanted device which can be used to read his thoughts. He therefore makes a deal in which the memory of his Mars mission is replaced by a false memory of his deepest desire as analyzed by psychiatrists - that he saved the world from an alien invasion at the age of 9. The Rekall staff begin the memory-implanting procedure, and run into the same problem as they did earlier - the incredible memories they are about to insert are already there and real.
Personal Opinion Ahead 
 The new trailer looks like its closer to the original novel in most places. The problem I'm having is that the trailer & pre marketing of these trailers is giving to much of the damn movie away!
 The marketing for Promethus was brilliant .It got everyone excited but seriously I knew way more about the plot before I saw the movie

 
I'm a fan of the older version of  Total Recall from 1990. The film is even farther away from the original novel then the remake! I've reread the novel by  Piers Anthony  based on the 1990 movie which is light years away from the Dick novel. We're dealing with two very different authors here.

 The plot was loosely adapted into the 1990 film Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the film, the hero, renamed Quaid, actually travels to Mars, but the initial memory implant scene foreshadows much of what he achieves: kills the bad guys, gets the girl, saves the planet, blue sky on Mars.
The script maintains deliberate ambiguity as to whether the events are occurring in the physical world or only in Quaid's own fantasy, which was an artistic decision by director Paul Verhoeven. In fact, in the 1997 re-release DVD, Verhoeven explains in the commentary that he chose to fade to white rather than black, as that technique is typically used in cinematography to indicate either death or awakening from a dream
 The 1990 movie plays with perception & ups the spy/space drama with a great megadungeon lurking in the background.
I'm hoping that the remake ups the spy drama & heightens the action/cum spy drama. Both of these movies provide fodder for a space OSR style game from different perspectives. The Remake already has two or more nods to the 1990 film..

 WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN FROM AN OSR VIEW POINT? picture


We the novel by Philp K. Dick has been around a very long time 
"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" was first published in the April 1966 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction


The idea of playing with player's perceptions, loyalties & realities in games has been around since the beginning of the hobby. The films could provide a very different slant on a game of Mutant Future or Metamorphis Alpha. 
For a completely different take the players might journey into the memories of a long dead war hero. Relive his life from different vantage points. Ultimately to find some sought after goal.
They might journey to a mega dungeon left over from the alien invasion of the film. The technology could be used in a game of Carcosa to download the memories of a sorcerer or even a ... gasp serpent man.
 Human Space Empires might regularly employ this technology to insert spies, activate moles, & gain advantages over the numerous enemies of the Empire.
Stars Without Number has several technologies that have a wide variety of applications in both the military & civilian arenas. 
Pretty much the sky is the limit with what can be done with this.

Given the number of mind bending & effecting spells in OD&D & AD&D this stuff can easily, in fact too easily be slipped into a fantasy game. 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Retro 1970s Science Fiction Television Trailers


I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for a simpler time when television had some awesome television shows on it! TV has changed but here's a quick look back at some of the weirder off beat science fiction. Notice the difference between the Original Battle Star Galactica & Buck Rogers. There was a similar vibe with some of the episodes & the reason why was because the props were used by both shows.

 I threw in some science fiction Saturday morning shows for a bit of comparison & color. I hope you enjoy because I've got  more Human Space Empires, Stars Without Numbers, & a few more surprises. 























 Had to throw some Land of the Lost in there as well



 

The Naashaiarhu - The A.I. Monoliths Of Eliza Five For Your Old School Space Opera


File:Mount monolith 001.jpg
A memory sea seen here isn't water or liquid of any type but the totality of 34 billion A.I. consciousnesses communing with each other at mid afternoon. 


The Naashaiarhu - The A.I. Monoliths Of  Eliza Five 

There are worlds where the very air hums with the voices of a billion artificial throats & sings with the chorus of  alien minds still busy after 2 billion years.
Eliza five is such a world created for the alien artificial intelligence that rest within their crystal matrices across the planet.
This is a world that has been terraformed into a paradise before the Silence & the Scream.
Bought by the Delos corporation this world is a paradise lost to mankind & taken  by his toys & creations.
Here Delos creates the delicate & intricate neutral networks that form all of their products across the universe. 
Androids,A.I., & a thousand other evolved electronic lifeforms are created here.
This is a paradise of life but also one of electronic death 
The very rocks hum with the electronic life of alien life created by who knows a billion years gone. 
File:Monolithes Mingan.jpg
The rocks are crystal nano matrices powered by the sun light itself. Here billions of artificial souls commune with each other in a sort of android afterlife.
 The very soil swims with their lives & each hillside. Perfect rock formation are not at all what they appear to be. 

In actuality each & every monolith is the living creation of  artificial minds & the nanodust of countless entities all busily working together. The monoliths are their thoughts given form. The power of all of those minds has given many a psychic strokes & spasms to be sure as they get sucked into the vortex of psychic thoughts & lost worlds within! 

File:Barents island monolith.jpg
Entities of frightening power form within hours, days, & last for months only to be dashed upon the rocks of strange shores. The process starts again within moments & hours.
The Delos corporation itself harvests these entities & places them within the electronic frames of  its products . They act as farmers of this world gaining countless advanced creations that are both unique & in some cases utterly frightening

The Lives Of The Naashaiarhu 
File:Badrulchau Stone Monoliths 2.JPG
The counsel of the 15 are seen here just before the monoliths break apart only t o reform in the morning . The crystal matrices of the  counsel extend deep within the soil of this world.  
The Naashaiarhu as they refer to themselves are scattered across their world born upon microscopic impregnated winds full of the nano dust. Delos will decontaminate any visitors so that secrets of  the world will not leave. 
A single A.I intelligence can spawn millions if not billions of spawn. There are reports of items & products simply being created over night.
The Deep Thinkers 
File:St albans freestone monolith purbeck.jpg
Some of the A.Is go into a sort of state where they become what are called deep thinkers. Artificial intelligence that look into other dimensions & places of deep mechanical & ordered revelation. These deep thinkers have been known to contact psychics from time to time with great prophecies & missions of the most dire nature. They are found at the top of mountains & by the shores of the artificial seas.
Those who disturb their peace of mind have been known to go mad as the intelligence turns its face toward the trespasser. The person is assaulted with cosmic truths & strange vistas of order never meant for the minds of men. 
The Religions of Eliza 
File:Monolith statue made by Bhuta Cult.jpg
There are some 200,000 humans & near humans scattered across the surface of the planet. These are workers in the employ of Delos who have turned to a strange religion called Char'ree. The religion centers upon the facets of logic that are revealed by the artificial intelligence themselves. They view the creatures as being the true lens through which the divine is truly glimpsed. It is from within their ranks that some of the best programmers & electronics experts emerge.
There are those who whisper that these beings are no longer human & that the strangely hued robes they wear mark them as copies created from the very nano dust. These beings some rumors warn will strike down those around them when the A.I. wars come.
The Tourist City
The city of  Right Haven is a city built upon the scale of humanity. Here the Delos corporation hosts the galaxy & sells its wares. Any piece of electronics up through technology level 3 verging upon 4 can be bought here for the right price.
Artificial persons, animals, plants, & other more unique things can be bought here. As long as the price is right things are for sale.
There are four resorts that Delos has recently opened. They cater to some very rich & strange clientele.

Near the poles of the planet are the whole sale outlets for the various corporate entities. Here the weapons, nano phages, & other dangerous wares are sold & distributed.
Here the pretense at anything that mankind might be used to is gone. Tri crystalline lifeforms & the like guard the places & the hums with nano phage clouds ready to strike. This is the Delos Corporation at its truest face.

The Memory Seas

These are places but weather events where billions of A.I.s create virtual seas of grey infinite nanites. These creations share billions of memories,experiences, etc. over the course of a few days. Here artificial persons come to be reabsorbed by their brethren in what is known as the Communion. These events might last for days, hours, but no longer then a week.
Those who wish to speak with or communicate with some of the lesser known A.I.s should do so at these places. There are rumors of the alien A.I.s taking charge of these events & questioning any humans at length about off planet affairs. Caution should be exercised.

Delos As Corporate Entity

 

Delos remains a force to be reckoned with in the fields of electronics, artificial life, & many electronic areas. The corporation remains one of the only  truly independent corporations left within space. They have their fingers in every aspect of robotic & human partnership within space.
Their influence, clout, politics, etc. remains firmly entrenched within the life blood of  human affairs.
Their slogan of the Future Today remains true as it was before the Atomic Wars of old Earth! 

Monday, June 25, 2012

Flash Gordon One Shot Using Crypts & Things & Carcosa




 We were  playing Flash Gordon but your on the ice moon of Frigia. You can either go to the weapons depot & recover the lost technology from the mega dungeon. Or you can run for your life from the Wampas that Ming has imported in to guard his pleasure palace the choose is yours.. 
Yes running away is an option... 

I don't kill characters they do that themselves especially checking out strange ice caves in the sides of blue mountains. Oi Vey 
So far no one dead... yet!  
They manged to kill the Wampa but it cost them a fighter! Also important fact here - Wampas have mates! She's a pin cushion from the thieves arrows! 
They're looting the cave now.. Lets see if they find the Mongoian ice slime at the bottom of the pit?

Yup they found it
!
Rot grubs in an ice cave? Yup along with a secret entrance to the megadungeon! Mike the player whose fighter bought it has another fighter ready to go! Well it looks like there was a live prisoner in the Wampa cave along with the loot & some rot grubs..Joined by another 4th level fighter! Uh oh I'm in trouble the others players just showed up! I've now got the usual gang of ten! I'm taking a break for 5 minutes as I revamp the adventure for 10 players instead of the usual 6 I had!
‎Six characters barely escaped with their lives from the Robotic Tombs Of Mongo - They learned the secrets of the Wampas, Ming clones wholesale. The players made it to a rocket ship & blasted off from Mongo as the robot guards called for reinforcements. The players found out that the pleasure palace was a hunting ground & they were the prey!
‎4 out of the 10 players died & it wasn't pretty at allMarathon game detailed below using Crypts & Things as the back system. Nice to know it doesn't crap out with 10 players. The DM is another story..
They want me to run this again next week! 
 
A Few Things From Tonight's Flash Gordon One Shot 
Rite Of Robot Reactivation & Revivification 

The caster must obtain the 23 names of the Gods of Robotics & the essential oils from a down space craft of the Erickinic'a robotic life forms. The caster must then find a bone yard of robotic lifeforms that he wants reactivated. For over 23 hours he must recite the names of the Gods Of Robotics. Upon the first hour of sunrise the next day. The robots, androids, & cyborgs will revive with limbs, power packs, etc all fully restored to working order. The whole thing is a sham & unless a robotic expert is able to preform a full tuneup & maintenance at the end of the rituals effects in 1d3 days. The robotic life forms will return to their previous condition unless the proper repairs are made. This rite animates 1d10 units of robots.
All information about Mongo was taken from Here

THe map for tonight's game can be found right Here