Hawkmoon Comes Calling - The Ruins of Pitzburke For Gamma World Second Edition Session Report

 Two weeks ago I was DMing a friend's second edition Gamma World game & we were playing in the ruins of Pitzburke! My preferred poison for this rpg is the vaulted second edition of Gamma World with the Larry Elmore artwork. There's something very primorial about the savagery and super science of Gamma World second edition. We went over the ruins of Pitzburke back here on the blog.

A random encounter came up in our game and that's when the PC's came across a recovery team from the  foul Granbretan empire! That's right the party ran across a group of animal masked warriors from  Hawkmoon’s Tragic Millennium Europe. There were a group of Mantis masked scientist priests & a group of boar warriors guarding them.  

The party was a mix of mutants and AD&D first edition characters about seven players total. They decided that the digression is the better part of valour after getting a look at the boar warriors sporting some sort of long spear like weapons topped with odd looking crystals on them. The boar warriors were engaged with slaves who were lifting some sort of odd relic out of a hole in the street that appeared to lead into a tunnel.

The boars had the remains of an automaton that they were hauling out of the hole with a winch and pulley system. Each of the boar masked warriors was a 3rd level fighter and there were six of them total while there were three Mantis warriors. Two were 4th level cleric leader and the third is a scientist armed with a Gamma World style laser pistol. There are three boar warriors armed with laser lances guarding the site. 

The party is hiding and seeing what's happening. I simply pulled Hawkmoon elements from an old dragon  magazine  add for the 198o's Stormbringer rpg Hawkmoon boxset. I also came across a fantastic article on the Hawkmoon  set on Wayne's Books site here. 

Commentary On The Ruins of Pitzburke For Gamma World Second Edition and Your Old School Campaigns - Updated

 Let's talk Gamma World & Gamma Terra for a moment. Gamma World can take ordinary Dungeons & Dragons characters into a world of primitive saverage & sorcery. And my preferred poison for this rpg is the vaulted second edition of Gamma World with the Larry Elmore artwork. And while Mutant Future & Mutant Crawl Classics both have excellent emulations of the classic game. So last night I spent  on Gamma Terra thanks to a friend of mine out West with a Guinness and I've got some thoughts on these venerable tomes of post apocalyptic adventure. 

I did a bit of horse trading with a friend out West for some tables and campaign help for a bit of Gamma World stuff he wasn't using. What I got surprised me was the fact that I got a first and second edition Gamma World rule book and the Ruins of Pitzburke


The Ruins of Pitzburke is one of the most iconic and dangerous places you can send a group of PC's in Gamma World. This place is a mix of  ruins, death lands, mutants, madness, robotic horror, and more meant that your little party of adventures could be swallowed up by the ruins without even a second thought.



And if you think that your Mutant Future PC's would fair any better in Pitzburke, I took a party of Mutant Future rpg players through the ruins and the whole affair was a total party kill. The ruins were designed to keep the Gamma World game campaign going for a long time to come. I've taken Boot Hill PC's and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st edition parties through those ruins and the though the results varied there were some interesting adventure campaigns.


What makes this such an iconic adventure is the fact that the Ruins of Pitzburke essentially teaches the dungeon master both the fine art of stocking the ruins, NPC encounters, NPC factions, and Cryptic Alliances. Not to mention the numerous natural and radiation hazards of the Pitzburke setting. But still this was for me an essential setting for post apocalyptic campaigning almost as much as Keep on the Borderlands and In Search of the Unknown is for B/X Dungeons and Dragons. In the past I've run this adventure and placed the whole thing in a valley on Carcosa just to mess with player's minds. They weren't amused by that turn of events especially when they realized just what this meant for their community in the long run. But that's another blog post.
There are several pieces of free gaming goodness that have made running the ruins easier and can spice things up for an experienced group of players:

• One is Kellri's 100 Gamma World Events available down the right hand side of his blog under downloads 
• The second is a break down of the various editions of Gamma World and conversion to Mutant Future available on the Mutant Future Wiki 
• A nice version of the Pitzburke map so if you already own this map it makes things very nice for a tablet or lap top. 
• This topic on Dragon's foot has some damn righteous 1/2 Edition Gamma World ideas and material 

I might also suggest downloading Mutant Future unless you've got collector's cash because Gamma World is going for one hundred and fifty dollars on Flea bay. Catch you all in the ruins until next time.

OSR Commentary On Skirmisher Publishing's The Living Building By Derek Holland, & The Skirmisher Group For the Mutant Future Retroclone & Gamma World Rpg

 “Just after dawn, a village scout dashed from the forest carrying a wondrous, and perhaps even terrifying, story of a huge, circular shell with a door, a massive coiled building that sprang up during the night. And it is still growing … ”

"Whether from forgetfulness, mental blockage, or intrusions of the dread “real life,” every storyteller has probably experienced that sinking, not-so-prepared feeling before a game. This sourcebook provides a remedy for the next time that happens, and includes an adventure location that is both a little pre-generated and a little homemade, is immediately expandable and adaptable, and can be replayed without seeming like a re-run, because the building changes even as the characters explore it."

“The Living Building” includes background and physical description for the title structure; a floorplan for a particular living building; problems with living buildings that can make them interesting and dangerous places to explore; tips on using living buildings in game sessions; tables for determining the contents of rooms; hazards that characters might face in living buildings; and a section on monsters particularly likely to be encountered in living buildings that includes four new creatures and three new mutations. "

So I'm going be needed an adventure location for our upcoming OSR Science Fiction or Science Fantasy rpg campaign over the weekend. And it's gotta be weird, dangerous, etc. Here's where the classic Skirmisher Publishing's The Living Building By Derek Holland & the Skirmisher Group comes in.  The Living Building is a great stand in for a near human alien building especially for a B/X inspired OSR game. And that's exactly where the sweet spot is for our weekend games. But why?! Because Skirmisher has put in some time & effort for OSR  games such as Mutant Future. 

And these conversions is where this Dragonfoot thread comes in really handy according to  Finarvyn back in July 2011 he says, " The answer to this is totally based on how well you take adventures from one game and use them in another. Can you take OSRIC or B/X D&D or S&W and use them interchangibly? If so, then you're in good shape for the editions of GW that you mentioned.

I think that in general 1E/2E and 4E are all extremely interchangible philosophically. All are very similar to old school D&D. (B/X perhaps.) Mutant Future is based on Labyrinth Lords, which is also similar to B/X D&D. All of these use quite similar mechanics, etc, and adventures for one can be used for another with minimal effort, in my opinion.

As long as you steer away from the oddball versions of GW (3E was based on the MSH colored chart, I think 5E was the one created for Alternity, the newest GW is written for D&D 4E) you'd be fine." 

And to bring this back to the Living Building there's the entire building & it's contents all in one. This means that the DM has everything as it also includes the monsters as well. This makes the Living Building a snap to drop into your own OSR games. 
And this is one of the best reasons to use 'The Living Building' by Derek Holland for alien adventure locations & according to Drivethrurpg reviewer Jason A.; "I was not expecting to get as much as I did from this book, buying it just for the novelty. But there is so much material in this book, each room giving detail and source for new items to be brought into my Gamma game, and room by room an easy way to organize the info. Imagine a structure growing from the ground, encroaching on a location, but with such wonders for your post apoc group, except something is wrong, it keeps growing and there are dangers the original builders never thought would be a worry to the original owners, but as a post apoc group, the things inside are strange and deadly. Good tables too, new mutations, and interesting monsters." 

I'm going to adjust the mutant monster encounters, and the artifacts table for our humanoid near human alien colony that the players are going to be encountering. And  ' The Living Building' has everything that I need going into DMing this weekend. And this makes   The Living Building  perfect for Stars Without Number, Hulks & Horrors, and other OSR Science Fiction  games that use a B/X base. 

Or   The Living Building  could be used with Siege Engine rpg games as well especially James Ward excellent Starship Warden rpg.  Still available through Amazon even though Troll Lords has moved on. 

 The Living Building  is a self contained encounter & works well as an unexpected adventure location that the player's PC's run into. All in all I'm glad to dig out this classic Skirmisher Publishing resource. 

Skirmisher Publishing's The Living Building By  Derek Holland, & The Skirmisher Group For the Mutant Future Retroclone &  Gamma World Rpg Is Available Here 

OSR Post Apocalyptic Commentary On 'Daylight's End' 2017 As Inspiration for Your Old School Campaigns.

' Daylight's End' is one of those lower tier or lower budget films that seems to slip under the radar as the later '00's rolls by. According to the Daylight's End wiki entry; "Daylight's End is a 2016 American action horror film directed by William Kaufman and written by Chad Law. It stars Johnny Strong as a drifter in post-apocalyptic Texas who agrees to help survivors, played by Lance Henriksen, Louis Mandylor, and Hakeem Kae-Kazim, escape to safety. Mixed martial arts fighter Krzysztof Soszynski plays the leader of vampire-like creatures that attempt to kill them."

Also according to the Wiki entry; "The initial conception came from Chad Law, who had submitted a script to Project Greenlight. Shooting mostly took place in Dallas, including the Dallas Municipal Building,^[2] and throughout U.S. Route 66 in Texas. Influences include The Road Warrior, Assault on Precinct 13, 28 Days Later, and the novel I Am Legend" 

So we went into 'Daylight's End' not expecting much the other night. But we were incredibly surprised at how good this film is. There's a great cast, solid non original plot, and lots of action. Because this was shot mostly out in Texas the film has a very down home post apocalyptic quality about it. And it's incredibly well done for what it is. Why because this film isn't trying to be anything else then what it is. An entertaining popcorn flick with an action outer core. And it's well done. The writing is fast, the dialogue well written, and it wears it's mostly 70's influences on it's sleeves. 

If your going into Daylight's End expecting 'Shakesphere' then you've got the wrong movie. If your expecting an end of the world or apocalyptic film that has a double the butter on the popcorn film then this hits the highnotes. 

'Daylight's End' is a very 
quick paced & deadly little film that blends the action & monsters in equal measure. 
The setting is laid out, the characters find each other, and things move very much along it's track with a few twists. 

This film is a great inspiration for a low level Gamma World or Mutant Future rpg adventure or posssibly a start to a mini campaign. 
The characters here are former mililtary, cops, SWAT, & survivors. They've all lost people along the way & it shows. The cast of performers is well used and the gore is solidly done. 

For my own money Skirmisher Games Wisdom of the Wasteland issue #52 Nanotech undead would be the way to go for either a Mutant Future rpg mini campaign or a Gamma World Halloween romp for 'Daylight's End'. 

'Daylight's End' takes many of the elements discussed within and throws them into the blender of Eighties horror action films hence it's inspirations. And that's fine because there's enough bones to take it beyond the film's intentions. 

And this is also where Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778's 'Gregorius21778: 20 zombie encounters for the irradiated, weird, post-apocalyptic future' comes in very handy. Because this little pdf is in the same vein as 'Daylight's End' it's a perfect 'jump scare' add on for a mini campaign. 

Finally 'Daylight's End' is a perfect inspiration for a Bloat Games 'Survive This' campaign starter! All of the above resources can easily be used with this OSR rpg as well. 

'Daylight's End' hits all of the 'Survive This' high notes including unknown zombie types, weird circumstances, a familar United States location. 
Other survivors who may or may not be what they seem. Eighties horror movie style encounters and lots of mayhem all within the confines of a solid little highly underated film. 
'Daylight's End takes the usual zombie themes and uses them to excellent effect. This movie doesn't apologize for what it is but instead revels in it. 
And this makes 'Daylight's End' an underrated gem in my opinion. It's out to entertain and make the audience scared by it's own admission. There's no high agenda or anything resembling a Disney+ venue. What it does is give us a group of people trying to survive the post apocalyptic world of 'Daylight's End'. 

OSR Commentary On GW1 Legion of Gold By Gary Gygax, Luke Gygax, & Paul Reiche Ill & B2 The Keep on the Borderlands

 Over the holiday weekend we got together & played quite a bit (more on that later on). But what came to mind was our old GW1 Legion of Gold adventure romp. And the fact that the module was never resolved per say. Was GW1 ever actually resolved?! Was the Reaper A.I. destroyed per say? 

GW1 Legion of Gold By Gary Gygax, Luke Gygax, & Paul Reiche Ill premeired in Nineteen Eighty One. And Legion of Gold leaves more question then answers. Even though GW1 is for first edition, this module has been played in first, second, and fourth editions of Gamma World over the years. But GW1 leaves more questions then answers. Such as the fact that the Barony of Horn has to be employing other adventuring parties to have emassed such a powerful presence in the region. And this was made even more evident by this thread on the Piazza website here. What if the Barony of Horn is actually a wasteland warlord living in the shadow of the Orgs?! 
But what were the Legion of Gold's original purpose before the programming of Reaper was perverted by the ages?! There are several things that can be deduced from the cybernetic menaces. One they are immune to all mind influence magicks & powers, two they are under the direct control of the A.I., and two they have a very limited decision making abilities. 
So the Legion of Gold are the perfect weapons to use against the brain lasher menace. And yes, I do realize that this is Mutant Future but hear me out. Check out the Mutant Future wiki entry on them; "The Brain Lasher (also known as Mind Flayers) is a sinister humanoid alien. Its head resembles an octopus, with a round mouth lined with four large suckered tentacles, and four small, slime dripping tentacles. Its lanky body is humanoid, but it has four fingers on each hand, all of the same approximate size with no distinguishable thumb. The tips of its fingers have retractable, hollow claw-like talons. It wears clothing, but its visible hide reveals metallic green and copper colored, swirling patterned slimy skin.

"Brain Lashers are very intelligent and have powerful minds. They will often attack by stealth and subterfuge rather than full out assault. They will try to capture their enemy with henchmen, instead of intervening outright. If they intervene, they prefer to soften threats with mental attacks, before they close in by grasping the opponent’s heads. Once grasped, the hollow claws will puncture the skull in a few seconds, and instantly suction the victim’s brain into accessory stomachs within the Brain Lasher’s forearms. Once the slimy probes reach the brain, the victim is instantly killed, and the Brain Lasher will have all the victim's knowledge and memories. They may retain some key details (usually stuff that will give them a tactical edge), but much of it (typically the mundane things that are of no importance) will go away after 24-hours."

Jeff Dee artwork used without permission from S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

"It is rumored that Brain Lashers come from some other, distant world, which may not be impossible due to t their ability to plane shift. Others have said that Brain Lashers have control of alien technologies, which they wield to further their goals of domination, power, and enslavement."

"Brain Lashers are usually loners, and they do not operate in large numbers unless motivated by a common cause - such unions rarely last, as they are constantly scheming for power. They prefer to live deep in the depths of the earth, often occupying dangerous underground ruins or deep, expansive caves. They will usually have a bond of Homo erectus slaves - usually about 30 - which they create from humans with ancestral form, and breed as slaves for excavating their dwellings and using for other unspeakable tastes.

"As aliens, they live in spaceships or high-tech bases, and they make use of alien technology. They use ancestral form and genetic manipulation to spawn strange creatures or even living instruments."

Brain Lashers card stock characters from Skirmisher publishing available here. 

If we look deeper into GW1 then we find that the Barony of Horn's borders are perfect to drop in Gary Gygax's B2 Keep on the Borderlands. The Brain Lasher menace sits quietly in the background waiting patiently to feed on the PC's. 

So the Barony of Horn becomes very important as it allows the PC's to be recognized as legitiment minor royals taking on the role of wasteland or wilderness barons themselves. And this is especially true when these two old school resources are combined with Adventurer, Conqueror, King's Barbarian Conquerors  of Kanau. 

OSR Atomic Campaign Commentary - A Most Dangerous NPC Count Zaroff Amazing Adventures Build Part II

 Count Zaroff is a menacing methodical hunter who hunts only the greatest of prey mutant, mutant animal, or human. Zaroff is a master hunter starting with bow & arrow, then moving on to modern firearms, and finally unleashing his pack of mutant hunting dogs to chase down his prey. He is merciless, quick witted, and highly dangerous. And this blog post picks up straight from here. 

Count Zaroff 

Class/Level: Hunter 6/Archer 5 

Alignment: Lawful Evil 

Abilities: Str 13, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 10 Cha 13, 

Prims: Str, Dex, Int

AC:19 

BTH: +5 

Costume: Black outfit, gloves, tunic,boot, hunter's sash all in varying shades of black depending upon area of hunt 

Hit Dice 5d8 

Hit Point: 35 

Class Abilites: Master Archer, Eagle Eye, Unstable Shoot, Master Bowyer,Blinding Speed, Rapid Shot, Dead Eye Shot, 

Fate Points: 8d8

Backgrounds:* High Society, Military, 

Languages/Knowledges: Russian, French, Latin, Classic Literature, Russian & International  Military Forces & Weapons 

Traits: Arrogant, Suspicious, Aggressive  

Gear: Compound Recurve Bow embedded with South American charms, Score of normal hunting arrows, Score of explosive arrows for during military operations (-2 to hit, but explode to deal +2d6 impact damage to a 5' radius; Dex save for half), Hunting Rifle

Count Zaroff hunts only the most dangerous prey regardless of mutant,human,or mutant animal. Zaroff is one of the most obessive hunters on planet Earth. Count Zaroff has a castle abode & retreat on 'Shipwreck island' where he often has his mutant tribal minions set up ships for wreck. The crews & passengers of these wrecks then become his prey for his hunts. Because Zaroff is retired Russian military he has extensive access to arms & armorments. Zaroff  he has an undergound vault & trophy room below his island. Zaroff's island is covered in rough & dangerous mutant animal infested jungle. Because he is independently wealthy & belongs to one of the most influencial families in Russia he not for want of money. Count Zaroff  has vast resources with  a landing strip,motor pool, and facilities for his island. 

Count Zaroff often farms out his services to many communities across the world where mutants & mutant  animals have become a problem. He will hunt these menaces for free with the understanding that his methods nor the hunt can be hindered or questioned. 

OSR Atomic Campaign Commentary - A Most Dangerous NPC Count Zaroff Background Part I

 So as we once fold back into the Siege Engine mode play there's an mini campaign idea that came about because of consolidating campaign ideas. The 1960's Atomic War dimensional plane has been a mini planar branch that our Amazing Adventures PC's sometime found themselves upon. You can read about that mini campaign in part I here & part II here. 
And upon this planar wasteland Earth there's a mighty hunter of human & mutantkind Russian Count Zaroff, & his faithful mutant servant Ivan. World War III is long over and 'Shipwreck island' has become a hazard to shipping routes throughout the South American Coast off of what was once Chile. 

Fall Out has become a real hazard as it sweeps across the globe periodically wiping out entire communties and regions as it sweeps down from the Earth's atmosphere. The world of mankind has been reduced back to the technological level of the 1920's & 1930's. Mutation has made the wilds of Earth all at much more dangerous. 

And 'Shipwreck island' is a small dot owned by the Russian Cossiack oligarch Count Zaroff. Zaroff survived World War III with the rank of general and claimed the island with it's chateau & underground fallout shelter. 'Shipwreck Island' has a reputation of death, it's impentrible jungles holding only the deadliest of beasts, mutant animals, & worse. 
Count Zaroff hunts only the deadliest mutants & humans across his island & beyond pitting his prowess, abilities, and equipment against the best this world has to offer. Zaroff only keeps the most expressive parts of his prey the head. 
Zaroff is incredibly dangerous having a vast array of weaponry of Korean War & World War II era in prime condition in a motor pool  as well as mini airport on his island. Because Zaroff employs his own tribe of mutant henchmen everything is ready to move at a moment's notice. Count Zaroff has retired to his island but keeps his ear to the pavement for any 'exceptional prey' human or mutant. 

Count Zaroff may become an NPC ally or enemy for the players as he hunts mutant menaces for wasteland  communities for the thrill of it. 

Count Zaroff & co. are anti heroes & complete heels mysteriously helping a wasteland community only to disappear back to 'Shipwreck island' in time for a banquet fit for a king or at the very least a count. Count Zaroff is taken from a 1932 American pre-Code horror film 'The Most Dangerous Game' , directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack, starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray and Leslie Banks.
Next time we'll get deep into building Count Zaroff in Amazing Adventures. 

OSR Commentary On Mindok The Mind Menace Thundarr The Barbarian Season 1 Episode # 3 18 October 1980 For The Mutant Future Rpg & Other OSR Post Apocalytic Campaigns

 Mindok is perhaps on the most dangerous foes that Thundarr the Barbarian & co faced. Mindok is articulate, intelligent, magically capable, psionically aware, and utterly insane.  'Mindok The Mind Menace' is from Thundarr The Barbarian  Season 1 Episode # 3  18 October 1980 & the plot goes something like this;'The evil wizard Mindok lost his body in the Great Cataclysm 2000 years ago though his brain remained immortal. He, General Zoa, and their minions seek out cryogenicly frozen scientists named "Ice People" in a plot to build Mindok a new robotic body to house his brain in.' The following is based on the Thundarr The Barbarian wiki entry on Mindok the wizard found here. 

Mindok is perhaps one of the greatest rivals of Gemini the Wizard within Thundarr's world. Mindok controls from his Carribbean  island fortress up through the Florida Panhandle Into Maryland's Northshore. And Mindok has the mutant troops to back up his claims as well as millions of
human slaves. The General Zoa series of cloned mutant warriors are a 7th level fighter commanding perhaps as many as garrison of other mutant troops in Mindok's army. Zoa is much taller than most Humans. If Thundarr is 6 feet tall, then Zoa would be around 8. Other than height, distinctive features inc
lude a hooked nose, clawed hands with only 2 fingers and a thumb and the same tan/grey skin color as the soldiers. Mindok's mutant warriors are capable of independant thought but don't seem to have much ambition beyond serving Mindok. Perhaps they might have dark vision and perhaps a minor healing ability. 

Mindok's mutant warriors use a shoulder mounted minor plasma gun to deal with their enemies and for suppression of crowds of human slaves during frequent uprisings. Mindok's mutant forces ran his day to day operations in his labs,factories, and even his food growing & processing industrial farms. 

Shoulder Mounted Plasma Gun 

Damage: Special 

Trigger type: Normal 

Maxium Range:100 feet 

Weight: 15 pounds

Ammo:

- Powerclip (10 shots), Beltpack (25 shots), Backpack (50 shots)

The shoulder mounted plasma gun was originally developed by the Ancients as an agricultural aid to clear large swaths of land of folliage & undergrowth. The plasma gun has since been adapted by Mindok's troops as a means of crowd suppression and as a symbol of fear. The weapon does 1d6+5 damage to anything it hit instantly setting alight any flammable objects within a 4 foot area. Unattended objects also take this damage. The explosion creates almost no pressure.

Mindok's Carribean base was unattended & perhaps abandoned after his exiling into space by Thundarr & co. Mindok himself was/is perhaps a 10th or even 11th level wizard. All of Mindok's holdings were most likely seized by another rival wizard of Mindok perhpas Gemini looking to heal after his own thrashing by Thundarr. This may have lead to Mindok's own mutant clones causing a palace uprising against Gemini. And leading to the wizard fleeing to his own holdings including the Hawkoid tribes  within the Mexican Californian panhandle. 

So who takes over the vast holdings of Mindok after the events of 

'Mindok The Mind Menace' ?! What if infact it's Mindok who takes over his own holdings again? How?! What if Mindok put a post mind control command in the minds of the Ice People (the Post Cataclysm scientists) to built him another robotic body. Since Mindok is a master of both magic & psionics then it's reasonable to assume that he'd easily have master the art of copying his mind into an A.I. form! Then its a simple matter of downloading his mind back down to Earth into another robotic body. From here Mindok assumes control of his holdings again & then seizes Manhat and Gemini's own slaves, lands, etc. 

So how do these events change things besides being incredibly depressing?! There are a few things that the return of Mindok means besides a lot of pain. Thundarr & co. have moved on and it's going to be up to the characters to fill their shoes. Mindok is going be incredibly formitable with his defeat at the hands of Thundarr going forward. 
There are several ways for getting the PC's involved in a Mindokcentric campaign: 

1. The party teleports in on Mindok's lab as he messes around with planar travel. 
2. Mindok purposes kidnaps the party for one of their wizard's knowlege. 
3. The party runs into Mindok's mutants who are searching for a magical artifact or item. 
4. Mindok is looking into causing havoc with the 'past' for some minor treasure or item. The party crosses into Mindok's purview 
5. Mindok destroys some part of a dungeon the party is in for some book or other esoterica. 

OSR Commentary On The Free Thundarr The Barbarian Sourcebook By Tim Snider For The Mutant Future Rpg & Other OSR Post Apocalytic Campaigns

 Let's pick this blog entry up from the last time we were working with Goblinoid Games here.  It's been a couple of years since Thundarr The Barbarian was popped in the old Blu ray player. But after a long game night tonight it seemed like the appropriate thing to do. Thundarr The Barbarian ran from 1980 -1981 and was way ahead of it's time in many ways. Thundarr The Barbarian was also partially responsible for getting me into the Savage Afterworld blog back in 2009. 

In many respects Thundarr The Barbarian was hugely responsible for me getting into Metamorphis Alpha & the  Gamma World 1st edition rpg's respectively. The series ruled Saturday mornings for many years & according to the Mutant Future wiki ; "Thundarr the Barbarian is a Saturday morning cartoon series, created by Joe Ruby and Steve Gerber (of Howard the Duck fame), and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions (a studio made up of former members of Hanna-Barbera Productions). This is a show about a stubborn Barbarian (Thundarr), a know-it-all Sorceress (Princess Ariel), and a Wookiee-like Beast (Ookla the Mok) who roam the post-apocalyptic wasteland fighting savage mutants, and evil-wizards wherever they travel. The main characters are designed by famed comic book artist Alex Toth, and when he became unavailable, Jack Kirby (another famous comic book artist ) took over to design most of the villains and secondary characters." 
Binge rewatching the entire two seasons brings a few things to mind here. First there was a lot of weird technologies happening in the world of the Ancients. Did the Ancients actually summon the comet accidently or on purpose back in 1994? Looking through this Enworld thread about Thundarr The Barbarian as D&D setting from 2018 member Thomas Bowman brings up a solid point; 'A giant comet passed close to the Earth, more like a rogue planet to show the tidal effects in the opening sequence. My guess is, for the purposes of this campaign, the "comet" was no ordinary comet, the disasters shown were only the tip of the ice berg, the comet opened up a rift with other dimensions, and when that rift opened, some other creatures stepped through and magic was unleashed unto the world, this also had a detrimental effect on technology, and for a while this technology ceased to operate, this caused the death of billions of people, from which only a few survived, because without the technology and the transportation networks, most people starved to death, some of whom survived by cannibalism, and the descendants of those people still live today. Some people, such as Ariel's people learned to use magic. After a decade or two technology became functional again, but by that time it was too late, the damage was done, the World had reverted to savagery.' This really is the way I'd play Thundarr The Barbarian as a campaign. But the heavy lifting for a Thundarr The Barbarian campaign was already done by Sniderman of The Savage Afterworld with  THE WORLD OF THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN FOR MUTANT FUTURE. The free sourcebook is on the right hand side of the page with the Thundarr The Barbarian cover that looks like this. 

The Free Thundarr The Barbarian Sourcebook By Tim Snider goes into most of the major NPC characters, many of the monsters,artifacts, & more of Thundarr's world. For me the The Free Thundarr The Barbarian Sourcebook hits all of the major high points. But there's one villain that defines Thundarr's world. Gemini is a major villain within Thundarr and we almost get a sense that Thundarr & co have clashed with him in minor ways before his appearance 'In Secret of the Black Pearl.' Gemini next appears In Last Train to Doomsday, Thundarr encountered Janus and after Gemini was revealed to be alive. In between & after these episodes the other wizards in Thundarr's world seem to grow far more bold. And within Thundarr's world I believe that Gemini was a stablizing force on the wizard's council. After his defeat, North America's wastelands become open & ripe for conquest. So the wizards of North America go to war over the domains open up by Gemini's defeat. Why?! Because of the fact that wizards are insane, crave power, and Gemini's holdings  were up for grabs. Wizards probably control millions of slaves & these are held within wizard's kingdoms. Mutant mercenary forces are the norm with a mix of human & mutant slaves toiling away for the wizard masters. 
There were hardly any human settlements as Thundarr rode through the wastelands of North America. Gemini controlled the wizard's council & the North American wastes through a combination of fear, power, reputation, & magic. His defeat meant the break up of the kingdom of Manhat. But this only one of his holdings which is why he fell back to his Janus persona. Gemini needed time to heal, regroup, & deal from the shadows with his rival wizards. Gemini could only deal with his loyal hawkoid mutants. 
Reading between the lines that Gemini controlled at least three or four types of mutant mercenaries & I would almost think that it would also be ape gangsters around the Chicago area of the wastes. Here's where  Mark Hunt's B/X Gangbusters edition comes in very handy to create such gangs especially mixed with Apes Victorious! 

The kingdom of Manhat supported Gemini's manufacturing base then it's not hard to see that a group of wizards could theoritically completely transform the face of North America. And here's where Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg with it's domain play would come in handy. 
But no one wizard would help to heal the wounds of the world of Thundarr. Why?! Because almost everyone of them is utterly & completely insane.  Thundarr's world could easily connect with the Elsewhere but those wastes could be another potential source of monsters, mayhem, and insanity. 

OSR Campaign Commentary - Palladium Games 'After The Bomb' First Edition rpg By Erick Wujcik From Palladium Games

 "After the Bomb is a post apocalyptic role playing game by Erick Wujcik and published by Palladium Books for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness, based on the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic books by Peter Laird and Keven Eastman."

First edition After The Bomb by Erick Wujcik holds a very special place in my heart. Supplement for the  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness rpg was one of the rpg books that I had with me in hostipal after a rather nasty car accident in September 1986. After The Bomb was one of the books that kept finding its way into my hands again & again. And there's few reasons for this. One is the fact that according to its wiki; ' After the Bomb introduces a post-apocalyptic setting centered on the Eastern United States, where most of the area is populated by the mutated animals that form the majority of society.'

After the Bomb introdices an Eastern Seaboard that hasn't entirely been bombed back to the Stone Age. And New York City is right where its always been sans the mutant animals, mutates, and the Empire of Humanity. The Empire of Humity is an nasty bunch of racially pure pro humanity   in a world of human vs mutant animals. 

The dynamic gentic viral changes quickly over the campaign setting's history leading to the apocalypse;  ' The same technology led to both the elimination of viral disease as a major problem, and the introduction of diseases as pranks. Kids would come to school with a vial of "homebrew" and infect the class as a joke. Because such diseases were easily cured, these pranks were regarded as "harmless".

Eventually, someone came up with a way to concoct an incurable disease. A virus was created which possessed an entire copy of a human genome; any cure that targeted the disease would also target the host.

This disease wiped out seventy-five percent of the world's human population. It infected most animals as well, and the animals that survived had human genes spliced in by the virus. These semi-human offspring displayed human characteristics in varying degrees. This would have merely resulted in a population mostly dominated by mutants if the leaders of the world's governments had not made the assumption that the disease was a bio-weapon sent by their enemies. The response from all sides was all-out nuclear warfare that devastated the entire planet.

The game can be assumed to take place a generation or two after this apocalyptic event, which is referred to as "The Crash" or " 'The Death"

So what does any of this have to do with the OSR!? Well looking over the Mutant Future wiki I came across this entry. Not, only does it show you how to run an After the Bomb rpg first edition  campaign using Mutant Future . But it goes into the 'ins' & 'outs' of PC generation & full on mutant adventuring in an Eastern Seaboard  post apocalpytic landscape. 
The adventures in After the Bomb first edition range from low level all of the way up to full on campaign changers. And its not just me who thought that After the Bomb first edition was a solid game accord to the game's wiki; "Marcus L. Rowland reviewed After the Bomb for White Dwarf #79, and stated that "It's all good fun, if you can accept the basic premises involved, but seems a little limited; I find the present-day setting of the original game more satisfactory, since it offers more opportunities for plot development and diversity." I can't really speak to the second edition of After the Bomb because its not a book that we personally own or have played. Everything that I've read on line seems to indicate that it continues the original's post apocalpytic goodness! 
So is the first edition TMNT rpg 'After The Bomb' still viable?! Absolutely it is! There's a ton of 90's rpg   nostalgia tied up with it. After the Bomb has stood the test of time